Free to Feel [Temporarily (??) Discontinued]

Chapter 7

Heather was used to waking up and not knowing where he was. It was this way almost every time he woke up in a new house, usually with sore muscles to remember the beating he received the previous night. But this morning when he opened his eyes he saw the familiar wallpapers, smelled the familiar scent and felt the familiar warmth. He was at home. Finally, at home.

He sat up in his dog bed and stretched, then looked around and his heart melted because of happiness. The bedroom of Mistress was this pleasant colour that made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, some very nice and pleasant shade of orange or brown. She herself was still asleep on her bed, tucked under the heavy blanket. Looked like she had changed the thin blanket she always slept under to this one. But it wasn't surprising, it was rather chilly in the room and so the slave even wished he had some sort of a plaid to cover himself. Maybe if he just curled in a ball he could remain warm?

But there was a weird feeling inside his body. The pet sat up and turned on his other side, doing his best to squeeze himself into a tighter ball. There was some emptiness inside him, yet at the same time it felt like there was something unpleasant in his stomach. He hummed and tried to make a list of things with the same symptoms. Hunger? No, hunger was a much deeper feeling. Some sort of illness? Not that he knew of, plus he had been vaccinated from most of illnesses, so him having one seemed unlikely.

For a split moment his thoughts snapped towards the upcoming trip to the parents of his owner and the knot in his stomach became even tighter. Oh. So that's what it was. Merely anxiety.

Of course he was anxious. He hadn't been this worried ever since being sold for the first time in his life, and even though he'd been too young to understand that feeling back then, now he knew exactly what was going on with him and why.

Going to meet the parents of the woman who owned his body, soul, mind and heart was definitely enough to make him sweat and bite on his favourite rubber fish that had been waiting for him all the time while he was in the hospital. But going to meet the people who had the power over that woman, disliked everything there was about slavery and would probably disapprove of his behavior was a completely new level of fear.

If he couldn't explain to Mistress that he loved his collar, that he didn't have anything against eating off the floor and that acting like a dog was something that made him happy, how was he supposed to explain it to the people that had never even accepted slavery? What if they told his owner to get rid of him because he is too broken?! What if they forced him to act like a free despite him hating everything about it?! What if he never felt happy with these people and disappointed Mistress?!

The woman stirred in her sleep. Heather raised himself on his arms and shivered, not only because of cold but also because of that feeling inside him. He knew that he didn't want to be alone, but she hadn't called for him yet. So... Was he allowed to come anyway?

He hesitated for a split moment, but the blanket and his owner were so inviting. It was definitely much warmer there than in his little dog bed, even if he did curl in a ball to save some heat. Surrendering to the temptation, the slave crawled out of his place to sleep - his body was immediately struck by cold air even inside the house with central heating installed and working properly - and moved towards Mistress. Then he bit his lip and moved the corner of the blanket aside so he could slip underneath it, then he looked up and froze when a pair of kind hazel eyes stared at him.

"You're not supposed to be here." The woman whispered sleepily. The guy looked down and nodded, accepting the fact that he would have to spend the night after the next one on the floor. He knew he wasn't supposed to search for comfort this way. Which is what made it so surprising when two warm arms wrapped around him and pressed him closer to the person he loved more than anything.