The night is a success, according to her, but it is not over when she announces that it is time for her guests to leave. "That jaluk will stay behind," she mutters to her slave, pointing to the man with the necklaces. His tongue still lolling out on an imaginary dick, he turns his gaze toward him. She rolls her eyes. "You no longer feel the phalluses. Stand up and clean while I get to know him a little better."
He moves slowly to his feet, sore from holding his position for so long. He rolls his wrists and rubs his jaw, but not before he makes his way over to the tables and gets to work.
It is almost worse, to do the drudgery of regular servitude. As a footstool, he had been able to focus on the less than tender rhythm of the imaginary dicks, the discomfort of staying still for so many hours, the tingle of his pulse in his own dick as his innermost lust was stimulated. He had lost track of time in that state, without a task or objective to distract him. He had accepted his role as useless, ignored, suffering in silence. Best of all, he had his mind to himself. He had been free to lose it, to discover his own numb oblivion.
But now, with stiff knees and an asshole that had never actually been full, he collects the silks for washing. He blows out the candles, unhooks the delicate garlands, prepares the leftover food for keeping. She had not told him not to eat, so he takes the opportunity to pick through the scraps. He hates that he must scavenge, that she so often forgets to let him eat. He hates that his favorite part of the evening was the part where he was outside of himself. But most of all he hates the jaluk with the necklaces, for stealing his mistress's attention away.
He catches glimpses of the drow man, who first moves to the edge of the couch adjacent to her chair. His thin lips are quiet but charismatic. His lax posture is mellow but mysterious. His gently gesturing hands are clever but compliant. The human catches himself staring and moves along, but the next time he glances over he sees those glittering necklaces frame her face as the jaluk has moved to perch on the arm of her chair. After what feels like only a moment, the slave looks back to find that the merchant has knelt before her and is massaging her bare indigo foot between his navy blue fingers.
The jaluk probably isn't forced to center his entire existence on the comfort of her feet, or memorize every centimeter of every curve and toe. He gets to smile and chat with her, to improvise and surprise her. Which he certainly seems to do, as a delighted laugh bubbles up from her and she kicks him playfully away.
"We're going upstairs," she announces, her gown sweeping around her as she stands. For a second, the slave is allowed the brief fantasy that he will be left alone. But then she adds, "Bring the wine!" And he is compelled to follow.
He enters the bedroom last, a bottle in one hand and two glasses in the other. He immediately sets them on the vanity and fills them without being asked, resentful that he must anticipate her orders even without the Geas to control him. It does, however, demand that he strip naked when within the room, which he does without ceremony.
Meanwhile, she is falling back onto the bed and her gown is riding up to her thigh, but he knows tonight it is not his to touch. Instead he plays the role of the jealous cuckold without even the honor of a marriage to betray, as the jaluk gets to run his hand over her smooth skin and pull the pins from her soft hair. The human stands quietly beside the vanity, his hands behind his back, as the other two kiss and whisper and explore each other.