Author's note: This particular story is about five percent fiction, ninety five percent nonfiction. There will be, I imagine, many more stories about this particular pair to come. Of course, no pun intended there. In the meantime perhaps I will look in and see what Teresa and her Master have been up to. No good, I am sure.
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Michael led the slave up the metal stairs to his door, opened it and bid her entry. The girl went willingly, doing her best not to show her anxieties or fears; she had acquired this new situation by way of being released by One she had served faithfully for several years. Lifestyle changes demanded that she be let go. The deal was simple: Find another to serve or one would be found for her. It had taken a very long time for her to find the man holding the door open for her, and the reality was that she had known a long time previous to this moment that her heart swelled with love and adoration of Michael. They had 'It', and both the black-clad Dominant and the slave knew it. It thrummed in the air around them.
The girl, Lynn, was overwhelmed to the point of tears as she climbed the interior stairs that led to the apartment in the turn-of-the-previous-century house nestled into a quiet section of the city. She could feel that her face was paler than it normally was, and without her realization the pallor was further enhanced by the purple color of her hair. Hiding the burning liquid leaking from her eyes was impossible. The moment that Michael demanded her attention he would see these tears. The man knew this one was prone to such emotions, and seemed accepting and kind enough about it. Somehow this frightened Lynn even more. Her mind reeled; this man was kind and warm...by no means the kind of handler she had become accustomed to. He demanded eye contact, and she had been well trained to keep her eyes averted. Terror welled within the slave's chest, and she hoped fervently that she could learn to change.
Lynn heard the outer door close, just as she reached the top of the interior stairs. She stood aside, head down, and waited for Michael to ascend to the hallway landing. When he arrived, he took her hand and lead her to a small parlor and seated her on a small stool-like chair. One could hardly move around the room, there was so much musical equipment. Her heart sank at this: she had for years held a strict No Musicians policy. The reality was, to her, that musicians tended to hurt those they came involved with, and hurt deeply.
The profession almost demanded such, she perceived. Lynn's existing terror doubled itself as she carefully reached out and traced the edge of an obviously well used cymbal on a nearby stand; some of her fears began to dissipate, albeit slightly, as she allowed herself to look around the room and found a variety of things she found comforting...things she could relate to...such as a Native American wall-hanging, a dreamcatcher, bookshelves, a computer stand, a small ceramic sculpture of Darth Vader. Her face flared crimson as she noticed that it was her own image being used as the wallpaper on the monitor of the laptop computer.
This surprised her for several reasons, and she realized yet another difference between this, her new Master, and the previous. The latter was a cold man, a man who kept Lynn a secret from every aspect of his life. A man who made perfectly clear that she was, for all intents and purposes, a toy, a hobby, nothing to be taken very seriously. For her to have appeared on the previous handler's computer wallpaper would have been as strange as seeing a kangaroo driving a pickup truck.
The slave nearly jumped out of her skin as Michael took a seat directly opposite her own, their knees touching as she sat, head bowed, hands folded in her lap. He lifted her chin with a gentleness that was alien to Lynn. Long moments passed in this manner, the silence in the room seemed deafening. Lynn could hear her pulse in her ears and realized she also felt slightly dizzy. Finally, the silence was broken as Michael began to speak to...No! her mind screamed...he was speaking WITH her! He was asking her questions, telling her things about himself. Michael touched on some of his expectations of her, and asked of her expectations of him. For a moment Lynn thought this was a trick of some sort, and then a strange inner sense of calm settled over her as she realized that there truly was a thing as a kinder, gentler Master, and that Michael was just this. Oh, certainly, he was firm, and this was something that Lynn needed and he was able and willing to provide. But he did it in a nice way that was still just a bit frightening because it was so very different to her.
Suddenly it occurred to Lynn: A scene had begun and she had not even been aware of it. Her heart felt as if it skipped a beat. After a while, the Dominant decided that Lynn seemed to be calming, seeing that her eyes had become dry and clear. Without realizing it, both people were having similar thoughts of the other. Both saw so much in the other's eyes, that it almost seemed the use of words was no longer needed. Michael stood, and took Lynn's hand. A gentle tug brought her to her feet, and she was drawn against the tall darkhaired man. He held her, stroked her hair, reassured her.