The Younger Master

The younger master of the house of Eiringel had been scheming of late. It wasn't in his nature and he wasn't particularly good at it. While he excelled at planning, arranging, designing, even formulating, guile and subterfuge had never fully worked for the man. Thinking of his husband, head of the noble house of Eiringel, the man decided again that it was worthwhile.

The scheming was bringing the man several kinds of discomfort. The younger master of the house had always felt better thinking of himself simply as a scholar. Scheming in this way felt very much not scholastic. He needed something to feel scholarly with and to gain reprieve, and he found both, as he often did, in a book.

The specific book was one of the few sources of viable information he had managed to gather on a race of people who lived in the east. Little was known of them and the people of Aan simply called them felids. Felid meant cat like and was a descriptive term and not a name. The members of this tribe looked mostly like the other peoples of the world but had ears and tails resembling those of a cat. Their existence seemed quite unlikely and was dismissed in most of the world as fantasy and whimsey.

The felid people shared other characteristics with cats beyond just appearance. Their nation related to other races much as mountain cats related other animals, reclusive but with obvious awareness and power. The younger master of Eiringel had so few sources on the felid people because they chose for the other races to know little about them. The information he absorbed through the book was, for this reason, unique in Aan. The younger master thoroughly enjoyed arcana was a specialty and poured himself into the rare knowledge of the book.

In this way the man found himself simultaneously thoroughly aware of the recently acquired felid servant and completely oblivious to him. A second loud knock on the doorframe addressed this, bringing the younger master to awareness of the room around him. Things were just as he had left them with the interesting exception of the tall servant standing in the doorway.

"Please, come in." the man said, though not until after the manner of the servant had made it obvious to him that his stare was discomforting.

"Set places for two, please" he said, motioning to a small cafe-style table by the room's sole window.

"Master." the servant says accompanied by a shallow bow.

While the servant set about the task of setting places for tea the man returned to his staring. The servant was tall, taller even than the man's husband, Eiringel head of the house of Eiringel and one of the tallest people in Aan. The felid lacked the width and solid build of Eiringel, and was slender, though not exceedingly nor to the exclusion of muscle. The servant's ears are much like that of a cat, though more thickly furred. The fir hid the inside of his ears from view. His ears were black on the outside and in the front they ranged from black at the front edge to a snowy white in the middle. The fir looked silky and very soft. The ears had only moved slightly, seemingly under tight control, but it seemed to the scholar that they had a range of motion befitting their feline appearance. The felid's hair seemed more like the hair on the younger master's head but matched well with the felid's ears. The servant's skin is darker than the younger master's skin yet not as dark as the skin of the master's mother-by-marriage. The beautiful woman was from a far away tribe and was as unique to Aan as the felid.

At the same time the servant had made the following observations. The younger master of the house of Eiringel was short, surely less than five-and-one-half feet in height. The younger master of the house of Eiringel was naked by the felid's mores. The man wore just the light trousers of a standard nobleman's outfit that involved a tunic. The tunic did all the real clothing that the outfit involved. The trousers, between their attributes of 'white' and 'very thin', did little to obscure the detail of the man's lower body. Nothing the felid saw in the man's appearance and demeanor evidenced that the man was married to one of the most powerful men in Aan.

The servant has finished his task now. While considering his master and his master's garb, a second factor had joined his master's gaze in unnerving the servant. He found himself adjusting his clothes before realizing it and immediately pretending he had done nothing of the sort.

"Please, sit. Have tea with me." the master said, glad he had planned the tea into the ruse as he was at a loss for how to advance his agenda. It seemed to him that his course should be obvious.

The servant hesitated before satting. The seemingly casual position of sharing tea did little to ease the servant's nerves.

"I give you leave to speak your mind. For the immediate period in this room you may express ideas or actions of your wishing with no repercussion that wouldn't befall a freeman in your position." the legalistic statement meant the servant could say or do what he liked. The last part meant that if he did something a freeman would get in trouble for, say assault, he would still face repercussions. The servant actually seemed more tense after being given this leave and the scholar found it curious.

"Thank you, sir," the tall servant said perfunctorily.

"I was hoping to ask a favor of you, Jon" the master stated, trying to ease himself and the servant both into this potentially embarrassing conversation. He use the servant's household name. His given name was completely unpronounceable, seemingly composed of seven consonants held together by a grown and a short trill. The master chided himself,

just go forward with it, it's not complicated

his thoughts ran, though interrupted in the middle by the stray thought

Did the felid really reposition his trousers just now?

"..." the servant was acting as though the contents of his teacup were very interesting, more interesting than whatever his master felt he needed freedom of expression for, certainly.

"You know I, um, prefer men. I've seen your record of sale and I know you do too." the master started stating. Obvious statements are comfortable. When he mentioned the record, or maybe it was the sale, the felid has stopped inspecting his tea and gone ridged, his ears now flattened to his head.

Ah! his ears do move as I had expected.

the master thought before quickly feeling quite badly about himself. This was compounded by his now perpetual worry that his stupid scheming would hurt someone, possibly the servant. He give the felid time to make some statement himself and for the servants ears had returned to a less pained looking position.

"I don't know how well you know some, um, more intimate, customs in Aan. My husband and I have each given the other freedom to pursue... physical relationships. So long as they remain so. Physical, that is. And custom gives similar leave. This wouldn't be taboo, isn't taboo. Or, if you choose... That is, once I've asked... " the words come out of the man as a mess. The younger master is normally very well spoken and confident with words. That is, he commands words well when he's planning, arranging, designing, or formulating. Now, as part of a scheme, his strengths had seemingly found better things to do and words had abandoned him.

The felid made no move to respond. He might not have managed, to decipher the younger master's tumbling half-statements. The younger master takes a breath and tries to forge ahead again, trying to speak plainly and directly.

"I would like to engage you in an amorous joining, if you would amiable to that." the younger master said, hoping that was clearer. The felid gained a distant lucidity that made the scholar hopeful.

"If you've seen my record, than you expect something I cannot give you." the felid said coldly. The words came to the scholar, simple and direct and confusing all at once.

"What can you not do that I am asking?" the master asked, confused as to what the felid expected to be in his record. And confused as to what he had asked, no acts had been mentioned rather a sort of configuration that could involve, or not, any number of specific acts. He reviewed the information from the file, it was the bare basics: age, height, weight, hair and eye color, price and notes of such depth as 'has feline ears and tail'.

The record contained one relevant page titled 'circumstances of acquisition'. It explained that the merchant that bought the servant was contacted by a third party and informed that a felid would be available to buy. The price was high and contained an ominous rider: if the felid was not purchased he would be put to death. The felid was a political prisoner, to be executed for 'acts of immasculinity', a code phrase for homosexuality in many nations. The merchant hadn't had the capital to buy the felid and had contacted the house of Eiringel. Eiringel, the younger master's husband, moved to finance the immediate purchase and later receive the servant into his house. This was all the record showed, it was all that was known to them.

"I'm afraid I can't receive your amorous attention. What the record says is wrong but it must not be corrected." the felid explained strongly.

"Oh, receive." the young master said coming to just one small understanding but it was enough to continue his scheme, "You think I want to, um, penetrate you. Your record, in your culture only the man being penetrated is being immasculine. I," the man knew this because it was common and not due to some actual knowledge of the felid nation. The man had paused, unused to being so frank but pushed forward again, "I want you to penetrate me."

The felid's eyes brightened and he looked toward, though not yet at, the younger master. This only lasted a moment before he slumped again and his ears returned to half-flattened. The scholar slumped too, though only emotionally. The felid obviously liked the idea of an amorous union now that he understood what the scholar was asking for, yet something held the felid back.

Despite his uncertainty the scholar was sure now of two things. Firstly, the felid's sexual interest was copacetic, matching his such that they could both find their need in a liaison. And, the felid had a fear of the same so strong it caused him to sink to near despondence. He thought over things but gave up on finding actual resolution and knowledge. This surrender stung the scholar slightly. To cede so quickly in the pursuit of knowledge wasn't him.

"Um," the younger master started, forced onward by his scheme. "Would it make a difference if afterward everyone still thinks that you only partake in men receptively, so impression continues to match your record?"

"Why..." the felid starts to question, then shakes his head and starts again, "Yes, that would address my reservation. Um..." The felid trails off again, too many half-formulated questions. The rational mind of the scholar wants to find out why that is of such importance to the interesting servant. The scholar pushed past that, now free to further his scheme and have sex with Jon, so fortuitous that the felid's issues and his seemed to align so thoroughly.

"Then I would like to ask again, or properly for the first time... You are free to say no without repercussion. I would like to join with you amorously, with you penetrating me. Ask any questions you have first, then, please, answer 'will you fuck me?'" the scholar wasn't sure how he had so quickly become comfortable enough to use such a vulgar, descriptive term. He was fairly sure he had spoken clearly enough, though maybe with too much in a single statement.

"So... I would put my, in your... I would penetrate you and not be penetrated myself?" the servant asked the younger master, wanting to be sure he was agreeing to what he thought we was.

"Yes" the scholar responded brightly, glad to be getting somewhere again.

"And we would speak... I mean if it was spoken of... Afterwards if people did know anything it would be a ruse to keep the impression that I was the one penetrated?" the felid obviously feels some need for this to be the case.

"Yes, definitely." the scholar feels an emotional cringe, his scheme was playing him again. The statement is true but he's lying.

"And, um... I can't think of any more questions, sir. You've been taunting me with your nakedness, it makes it hard to think." the felid says, thinking only of the scholar-by-marriage's ass, and of claiming something that only Eirengel before him has claimed if the rumors were correct.

"Do you need anything as preparation?" the scholar says, seemingly able to finally lay aside all thought of schemes and subterfuge and focus only on the beautiful body he's been lusting for more and more in the last month.

"Would you mind turning around?" the felid responds.

The younger master turns in his chair without comment.

"Um, what I meant was, would you mind starting up and facing away from me then staying in that position." the felid corrected.

The man stood, took a step away from the table and then turned to face away from the servant.

"What should I do now?" the scholar asked.

"Nothing, just stay there." the felid responded.

It soon occurs to the man that the felid was likely considering of his posterior. He blushed, the cheeks of his face becoming more and more red as he stood, able to think of nothing but the felid's gaze upon him.

"No. I need no preparation." the felid says after a short time, chuckling softly.

The scholar takes this as his cue and turns around.

So good that you feel jovial,

the scholar thinks, a bright flush still on his face from the thought of being viewed in that manner.

The scholar then realized that he had viewed the servant in such fashion first, in fact it led to his whole idiotic scheme.

And you pointedly deny the gentry and their arrogance and despise the possession of people.

the scholar thinks sarcastically, now rightfully ashamed of how he had viewed the felid, more than he ever had felt while doing the viewing.

Knowing no better way to proceed, the younger master removes his light trousers, not that they had provided any actual clothing. This motion was simple, complicated only by having to maneuvering the waistband past his erect penis before letting the garment fall. It wasn't until he turned around and saw the felid removing his shirt that the scholar realized how badly he wanted to undress the beautiful servant.

"Wait." the scholar said, "Please, let me take those off of you."

The felid instantly stopped mid action, his shirt pulled half way up his chest and around his head.

The younger master had been thinking not of the servant's shirt but rather his trousers and undergarment but took the offered opportunity. He placed both hands on the felid's torso far lower than necessary. It was obviously all pretense, the younger master couldn't reach nearly high enough to actually help the tall servant remove his shirt and barely touched the article of clothing. Neither minded.

With the shirt removed, the younger master's focus shifted downward. The pants the servant was wearing were no more substantial than those the scholar had just taken off, the ones that had scandalized and aroused the felid with their insubstantiality. The servant's ensemble also included an undergarment, small in cut but designed to cover everything of importance. In this way the servant's uniform covered everything while obscuring little.

In little time felid's pants were a puddled at his feet. He did not step out of them, the younger Eiringel's hands were now exploring every inch of his undergarment, or rather exploring him beneath the undergarment. The scholar soon found why the servant had felt need to adjust the undergarment when faced with the provocation of the younger master's state of dress. Without adjustment the garment would have failed to keep the servant decent.

Interestingly the felid's testicles were roughly the same size as the younger master's husband's. It wasn't of any matter but simply interesting. The scholar's arms were now wrapped around the servant and now busied themselves exploring the servant's. The felid's ass seemed more magnificent then he had expected based on his observation of the servant over weeks.

The scholar stood back to better see this magnificent posterior. Able under the garment to see only what he had from a distance, the scholar spoke up.

"Could you take those off now?"

The servant did a simple thing he did every day of his life, it seemed so inconsequential to him, mostly it was part of preparations for the truly inspiring in amorous situations. The younger Eiringel, however, thought differently of the action.

The felid's ass, in it's magnificence, was eclipsed, by the entire backside of the felid taken now all at once with the undergarment gone. The younger master reached out, transfixed, and ran a hand down the length of the now, finally, naked felid.

The scholar turned and looked into the felid's quizzical eyes.

Suddenly shaking his head, the master realized that before anything more happened he needed to handle some legal issues, though ones he agreed with.

"I need to ask once more, but this is the last time." Looking at the naked felid and his erect penis, the similarly naked and aroused scholar felt suddenly somewhat silly. "I suppose you wouldn't have helped me undress you if you didn't want to do this. But it's part of things, I have to ask you again. We, or rather earlier Eiringels, managed to make this required before a master can have sex with someone who isn't free, an attempt to sure the servant agrees and does so with understanding." the scholar says, fairly proud of his husband's family.

"You have leave to deny me. You have leave to exit without permission. Do you understand? Do you go into this willingly?" he released a breath, the younger master Eiringel had never done this before, he could only hope he did everything right.

"I think so, master."

"Please, don't call me master. And you have to day 'yes' or 'no', thinking so isn't adequate. And, your about the put your penis in... I don't know if I can do this if you continue to call me master." the scholar says, the disjoint statements becoming some odd whole.

The scholar walked to a sofa at the side of the room. He had had to have the piece of furniture crafted for him. He preferred not to have expensively crafted furniture, nor other opulent symbols of status in his study. What he valued came from his middle-class origins, he didn't need fancy crystal nor silver nor precious stone. He preferred the books on the bookshelf be the most expensive things in the room, as had been the case in his family's modest home. The only refined and lofty thing he needed was Aaron... He shook his head and the scheme reasserted itself as if with a cry declaring

onward.

The sofa was a chaise, designed to equally accommodate sitting or lounging, he had always like the concept. It has an end without an arm as part of it's design. This arrangement lent itself to certain, arrangement, of people. This is why he approached it now, one of the reasons it had been worth having crafted for him.

The younger master, paused. Looking back at Jon expectantly.

"Oh. Yes, I consent to, well, fucking you." the felid said quickly once he realized he had missed a cue.

"Oh good." the scholar said brightly before suddenly became aware of how much he had done to, or hopefully rather with, the servant before getting his legal permission. It made him feel bad. He made a note to look into extending the scope of what counted as sex in these circumstances.

The scholar had retrieved a jar of salve normally kept by his desk. There were similar jars discretely placed throughout the residence, basically anywhere the masters might find themselves alone together at length. The scholar put one knee on the chaise to aid in applying the salve to his anus. Simultaneously, he did some stretching that would ease things later. While doing this he talked to Jon. He started to worry he might be over preparing, using this necessary activity to put off what would happen next. He then thought about the size of Jon's penis and continued his preparations.