Changing Oneself (Entangled side story)

12, A Taste Past the Walls

"Wait..." I said, turning my gaze to the trees that rose above the tall hedges. They were much closer now that I was in the middle of the garden, but they still felt completely out of reach, out of my grasp. "Out... out there?"

Ieli chuckled softly. "Yes pet," he confirmed. "Although you're not allowed off the property, you can still be out there if we accompany you."

"How far are we going?" I asked.

"Far enough to get some decent exercise," he replied. "Which I feel like we all need, since we've been cooped up inside for ages."

"Are we going right now?" I asked next, my legs tensing as I moved to stand, but I cut the action off before I could go through with it. Ieli smiled at me.

"Not quite yet, we're waiting on Yenthyr. But if you like, we can head over to the edge of the property now," he said. This time I did let myself stand, and Ieli stood with me, as if he had been expecting me to. I waited for him to start walking, and when he did, heading towards the far side of the garden next to the vast gathering of trees, I followed slightly next to him and slightly behind him.

"Mind if we hold hands?" he asked, his tone quiet and sweet. He held his hand out, awaiting mine, but not reaching to grab it. Instead of forcing me into it, he let me decide. That struck me as something not very Master/pet, and I wasn't sure what to make of it.

I stared at it, pondering. Did I want to hold his hand? His cold, pale hand. With slender fingers and clear, sharp claws. His hands were smaller than mine, more narrow. I remembered trying to hold Vanilla's hand that one day I had gone to the store with him. He never wanted to hold it. If anything, my advances annoyed him, just like everything else about me.

"No..." I mumbled, shoulders slouching as I felt the weight inside me grow heavier. 

"Aw, you don't? Wonderful," Ieli replied, and he took my hand. I flinched at how ice-cold his skin was against my much warmer skin.

"W-wait, no, I meant- I meant-" I stammered, and clenched my teeth and groaned, verging on a growl. Ieli just laughed it off, swinging our hands between us. 

"Oh, come now, you really don't like it?" he queried. 

"Your hand is freezing. How do you not have frostbite, or some shit?" I griped. He laughed again. 

"Darling, our flesh is basically half-dead," he said, and rather bluntly. For some reason, his words made whatever irritation I felt go away, snuffed out like a flame, and in its smoky wake, I felt only a deep dread. Half-dead.

"But even though it is cold, I now have your nice warm hand to help," he added, and stepped closer to me as we kept walking. Our shoulders brushed every few seconds. "I love that you're warm."

His voice had taken on a softer tone, and it chased the dread away. I felt my cheeks heat up in a blush, and I felt kind of flustered. I wasn't used to compliments, or to anyone saying they liked anything about me, despite how much I fished for them before I was captured. I remembered that Yenthyr had liked that I was warm, too, when he fucked me during that failed reward so long ago. But, then again, he had also said I looked good in a gag, so I wasn't sure if his 'compliments' were really compliments.

I only sighed. Ieli gave me a side glance, and his hand gently tightened. I tried not to let it affect me, but his tiny gesture made my chest tighten, too. 

For the rest of the walk through the garden, we didn't say much else to each other. Ieli would swing our hands between us from time to time, gentle motions, but nothing else. Eventually, we made it to the very back of the garden, to one of the tall hedge walls. The shrubs were easily twice my height.