Can you hear it
A cry to be free
Oh I'm forever under lock and key
As you pass through me

Ghost -- Indigo Girls


"I'm sorry," is not the first thing Kyle expected Dylan Neal to say to him once the Commerce broker had given Kyle over into Master Neal's keeping. "I didn't feel that, under the circumstances, a Closing was necessary."

If Kyle hadn't been both nervous and exhausted, he'd have had to bite back a laugh. It wasn't like he didn't know Master Neal, wasn't like he hadn't been extensively questioned by him while drugged during the gathering of slave testimony for the trial.

Speaking of which....

Kyle waited until they were settled into Master Neal's car before speaking. "Master, may I ask a question?"

Master Neal sighed. "I'll have to explain how things work when we're both a little less tired, but yes, you may always ask me anything."

"What...what was the verdict?"

"Jesus, they didn't tell you?" Before Kyle could say anything Master Neal shook his head. "No, of course they didn't.

"We won," he continued. "All of your former master's property, including those poor slaves from the Fresno and Tulare breeding farms, has been confiscated by Justice and Commerce."

"And Lord and Lady Parsons?"

"Based on your testimony and the testimony the other household slaves it was determined that Lady Parsons had no knowledge of her husband's crimes. It'll take her attorney and the people at Justice a while to separate her assets from those of Lord Parsons and in the meanwhile, I understand she'll be staying with her family."

Master Neal paused and when he continued, his voice was less formal, quiet and almost sad. "Lord...Mr. Parsons will be punished to the full extent of the law."

Good, Kyle thought, keeping his face blank. I hope a pharmaceutical company buys him. Or one of those genetic engineering firms. Life on a mining platform would end too soon. I hope he lives a long, miserable time while they test things on him. As for her.... He bit the inside of his lip to keep from grinning; his former mistress and her mother loathed each other.

But never mind them, I need to start working on charming this guy....

"Thank you, Master," Kyle said, letting his voice go just a little husky. "I'm sure the farm slaves would thank you too."

"It's my job," Master Neal said quietly. He glanced over at Kyle, but it was too dark for Kyle to see his expression. "Don't feel you need to stay awake; it'll take a while to get to the house."

Before Kyle could say anything more, Master Neal reached out and pushed a button on the car stereo. The sound of classical guitar--Kyle recognized Villa-Lobos after a moment--filled the car. As he leaned back in his seat, Kyle tried to concentrate on the now and not the past.

He'd been rebuffed just now, but that didn't mean anything. It wasn't as if he'd done anything any other new body-slave wouldn't do, and if there was one thing Kyle had learned in his time with Lady Parsons, it was mental and emotional flexibility.

Master Neal didn't stand a chance.

Kyle dozed for the rest of the ride, but he never fell deeply asleep. He made a good show of it, though, breathing evenly but deeply as he listened to the music. Why does he have to like guitar? he wondered a little resentfully. Why not piano or full orchestra or something?

He kept to the pretense that he was asleep even as the car slowed and then stopped. When Master Neal touched his shoulder and said his name, Kyle murmured a low, sleepy "Hmmmm?" and then blinked and looked at Master Neal. "Master?" he said.

"We're here," Master Neal said, after staring at Kyle for a moment. As they got out of the car, Kyle smiled to himself; even without his makeup and in the boring clothes provided by Commerce, he knew he looked good.

They were met at the door by a handsome looking man; Kyle guessed he was in his mid-30s and he wondered if the guy was a former body-slave. If he was, it spoke well of Master Neal that he'd kept him on, but it might not make things easy for Kyle. He smiled politely when the guy looked him over.

"Craig, this is Kyle," Master Neal said. "I'm sorry about the short notice...."

Kyle was stunned when Craig interrupted. "Don't worry about it; your call gave us enough time. We've got the room all set up for him."

The fuck...? Kyle knew that he was good, knew that his surprise wasn't showing on his face, but still, this was weird. He glanced at Craig again, but no, the guy definitely had a collar. But whatever; Kyle pushed the minor mystery aside and concentrated on the fact that he was apparently going to have his own room. What's up with that?

The house was large, but nowhere near the size of the Parsons' estate house. It was also far more tastefully decorated; even if Master Neal wasn't as well off as Kyle's former owners, he either had taste or knew to hire it.

Kyle felt a little better when he saw his room. While it had a door onto the hall, it was also connected to the bathroom of what had to be the Master's suite. Maybe Master Neal didn't like actually sleeping with another person in the bed, or maybe he had a girlfriend or a boyfriend who didn't like to share. That could get complicated, but at least there wasn't a wife to deal with; Kyle had managed to get that much information from the people at Commerce.

He didn't have anything of his own to put away, so once he'd looked around the room--it was on the small side but the furniture was nice enough and it didn't feel like a remodeled closet--he made his way through the palatial bathroom and into Master Neal's room.

Master Neal was undressing himself and Kyle shook his head a little. That would never do. "Master, if you'll allow me?" Kyle kept his voice even, although he sure as hell wasn't going to be as casual as Craig.

"Okay," Master Neal said, continuing to undo his tie. "Let me explain a couple of things right off. One, I really prefer not to use 'Master' or 'Master Neal.' It's Dylan, if you're at all comfortable with that. Two, when we're here, at home, I don't expect you to act as my body-slave. I'm perfectly capable of dressing and undressing on my own." He smiled at Kyle as if he were doing Kyle a favor.

Taking a chance, Kyle frowned just a little--the frown he'd used with Lady Parsons when he thought she wanted him to be just a little contradictory; she'd called it cute. "What will my duties be?" Biting back the "Master" wasn't as easy; Lord Parsons had been a stickler for protocol.

"I need a body-slave in public, but here?" Master Neal shook his head. "We'll figure something out." He paused and then sighed. "Look, it's late and I've got to be in the office early tomorrow. You don't need to come in with me, so just sleep in and then...can you drive?"

"Yes...sir."

"I'll have Craig give you a card and you can drive into town and pick up whatever you need." He paused, hands on the buttons of his shirt. "It's okay, Kyle. Just...go to bed, all right? We'll talk tomorrow."

Kyle bowed his head just a little and headed back toward the bathroom. Pausing in the doorway, he looked back. When he spoke, he was, probably for the first time as Master Neal's slave, utterly sincere. "Master...um, Dylan? I meant it earlier. Everyone the Parsons ever owned owes you their gratitude."

Master Neal smiled, but his voice had that strange note of sadness again. "Maybe someday my kind of law won't be needed. But until then...places like those farms, they're wrong. I'm just glad we won this one, for all of you."

Oh fuck, Kyle thought as he bowed his head and made his way back to his room. I've been sold to an abolitionist.

-tbc- 

Notes: Okay yeah, obviously some of the blame must be laid at poisontaster's door, because this is set in her fantastic Kept Boy universe. But really, most of this particular arc is Darkrose''s fault, because really, poor Dylan is fucked up and needs a little love too.

This takes place about the same time as the beginning of "A Question of Compromise." The title is from the Indigo Girls' song "Ghost" which is pretty much Dylan's theme song at this point in his life. :) My thanks to my lovely spouse-person, Darkrose for going over this with me and siccing the bunny on me, and as always, thanks to poisontaster for being so generous with her world.

continue to Chapter Two

return to the Kept Verse Index