<span style="font-family:Metrophobic">Moving almost felt robotic for him in the dawns of activity. There was no reason that anyone else would ever comprehend for him to still be alive or for him to have the motivation to actually get through a day while achieving things; at least, there was no reason that anyone else would have described as pleasant. There was always fear and fear was often enough of a reason for the Silver Dreamers to get anyone to do anything. Those who were too strong for fear to be effective upon were encouraged with payments of other value and they weren’t always monetary either. Coins couldn’t always grant what someone sought anymore and sometimes it was easier to go to the source of euphoria directly. <br/>
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Sex. Drugs. Alcohol - although that was a drug in its own right, now. Death. <br/>
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The dreamers trafficked in everything that any being could ever want, need, crave or desire and they certainly kept plenty of it for themselves as well. There was no one to stop them, no one powerful enough to last for long if they tried stealing from them, and there was also no law still standing that even attempted to deny them what they believed was their right. It was their right until someone tried to tell them it wasn’t. Then that someone vanished, and it became their right again. That was just how the world seemed to spin and Mathieu was a part of that world even when fate once said he wasn’t supposed to be. <br/>
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Mathieu was Ezra Stirling’s slave by right and even the boy wasn’t going to argue that. Ezra knew it, all of the other Dreamers in Ezra’s inner circle knew it, and Mathieu himself knew it. There were some days where he managed to do good even from his lowly post, and until those days ended, Mathieu wasn’t about to run away from them despite all the terrible things he also endured because of them. <br/>
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Others even went so far as to tease him for his seemingly illogical attitude. This morning was one of those mornings, too.<br/>
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He hadn’t been looking for any trouble at all; quite the opposite, actually. As he rolled out of bed precisely on time, got himself dressed in the only outfit he had before cleaning up what little space he could call his own and heading out the door. Mathieu walked the same route every morning because it was the only route he knew; unfortunately, that made him easy to find, easy to follow. Her name was Katalyn Marrow and she had decided that the world hated her on this particular morning; she decided that she needed to find someone the world hated even more than her and with her family’s connections to the Silver Dreamers, she’d heard many a story of Mr. Stirling’s pet. She’d even watched her father beat him one evening after the little rat had proved entirely incompetent at a simple request. Katalyn herself didn’t know what the request had been, but surely her father hadn’t been unreasonable. <br/>
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Watching him walk, for a moment, Katalyn almost doubted that it was him. Almost. Not quite, though. He had this weird way of walking in that he always kept his head to the ground like he was afraid of making eye contact with anyone who he might run into on the way to wherever it was he was heading. She didn’t have to care about the details. All she had to know was that it was him and the strange way that his eyes seemed glued to the ground was enough for her. “Hey, Dog!” she yelled out, unsure of whether he would actually respond or not. <br/>
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Now comes the question of… “Why dog?” Well, dogs are loyal to a fault. They have one master and they stick to it without fail. Anyone else might be able to get them to listen, but not quite to the same degree. Mathieu was the same as far as all the whispers about him went. He obeyed Ezra without any deviations - at least, when he could. The man had developed an amusement from giving Mathieu tasks that he actually wouldn’t be able to accomplish simply to enjoy watching the little pet of his fail. Mathieu always tried, too, even when he knew that it wasn’t possible to succeed. What Ezra and all the others who watched didn’t know, though, was that Mathieu honestly believed it might be possible someday. The more he tried, the closer he got to that point. The distance was never certain, though. <br/>
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Despite his loyalty to Ezra Stirling, Mathieu’s head did turn, half because he realized someone could be talking to him and half because he was curious as to what kind of dog would be wandering around right now. Katalyn walked out towards him and his first instinct was immediately to back away. She was probably a year or two younger than him by his guessing, but she walked with much more presence than he ever could - than he would ever even dare to try to. Even her outfit glistened with jewels, marking her as someone who Mathieu would be punished for harming. He didn’t back away far, though. <br/>
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“Where you off to today, Dog!?” she spat at him. <br/>
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Turning his gaze away, Mathieu mumbled, “I’m going to where I'm always going.” It was a simple and honest explanation. Mathieu neglected to mention that if he was late, then he didn’t get breakfast; that detail went without saying, though. After all, there had to be some reason why he was so thin. In fact, Mathieu understood that reason so well that he tried to just turn and keep walking. He made it about five steps before he felt a hand grip the neckline of his shirt and yank him backwards hard. The breath knocked out of him, the only thing he could focus on was his breathing. <br/>
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“You’re going to have a bad day, Dog!” Katalyn asserted. “You know why?” Her fingertips wrapped around his neck and squeezed so hard that Mathieu couldn’t breathe for a moment. “Because I said so!” <br/>
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He could’ve fought her. Mathieu still had two perfectly functioning legs and he could’ve kicked with them. In fact, keeping them under control was probably more challenging than kicking would’ve been. That wasn’t his way, though. Instead his eyes just locked on her, unafraid and accepting of whatever would come his way. It was his look that frustrated her even more and Mathieu always offered it when someone tried to make him feel less. <br/>
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“You don’t deserve that heart they put in you,” Katalyn sneered. “You’re barely worthy of being Stirling’s pet!” Shoving him to the ground, Katalyn proceeded to spit on him and then tear his shirt for good measure. She wanted his master to know that he’d failed once already this morning. And if Mathieu failed, that meant she succeeded at something. That was a good enough feeling for her. Without another word to him, she stormed off, still with more presence in every step than Mathieu could ever imagine. And he was left lying on the ground, struggling to make his shirt function as even half a shirt, when she vanished from his sight. <br/>
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When he finally was able to scurry on his way, Mathieu knew he would be late. He was more ashamed than afraid, though. It was always that way when he knew he would be disappointing his master. <br/>
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Just as Mathieu would’ve expected, when he brought up the food, he was immediately snapped at and sent to get fresh food. His master would not accept anything but the best and that food was certainly cold by now. It could not possibly be the best anymore. There was nothing but obedience in Mathieu’s eyes, either. As he headed back down the elevator and got out on the main level, he didn’t even look before he started walking. Of course, that was a terrible idea, particularly with a tray full of perfectly good breakfast foods. He found himself tumbling right into someone who was apparently going up to meet with the master. That was the only place that particular elevator went to. <br/>
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“I’m… uhm… sorry,” Mathieu mumbled as he started trying to pick everything up. “Please… you can just continue on your way. I’ll manage to clean this up. Mr. Stirling is expecting you.” As soon as the pieces came together in his head, Mathieu understood them. There had been a sitting place set up for a guest up in the master’s office. Perhaps that was why Mr. Stirling hadn’t been more… severe, this morning. As he tried to usher the man on his way, he noticed that he’d spilled some syrup on the man’s shirt. <br/>
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“Oh dear…” <br/>
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Today was not a good day for Mathieu so far.</span>