Zoey smiled softly at the men's hesitance. Clearly they had not learned their lesson completely but they were duly cautious around her. She found it exhilarating and had to remind herself that she was not in command of anything anymore. She had promised to be good for her master and she would but that did not need to preclude reminding them of yesterday. She also had to firmly block out the new, tiny voice that liked the attention that they paid her, lest that voice lead her to trouble.<br/><br/><span style="color: indigo">"Well then, <i>gentlemen</i>, I do apologize for being early. Master likes me to be punctual but I will wait until half past eight as you have said and given the Master's mood yesterday, I would doubt that he is too concerned with your moods at present." </span>She stood a little taller, confident that the men would remember the lesson from last night. She was careful to keep her legs together and not arch her back in the least. If something did happen she wanted to be sure that the only thing that could be blamed on her was her nudity, and because Quentin had not instructed her to cover herself she could hardly be blamed for even that. Her face stayed neutral when the first invited her in and politely shook her head no. She knew that if she stepped over the threshold for any reason other than to retrieve the food that the young men would take it as a sign of her agreement to be their 'company'.<br/><br/>The outburst of the third caused her to quirk an eyebrow and for a second the faintest ghost of a smile crossed her plush, pink lips. She could tell by the looks that the other two shot him that they realized his mistake as she had. The leader's backpedaling made the cute little smile flicker across her face again.<span style="color: indigo">"My Master forbade you to touch me, so I would be doing a much greater to him if I went against his wishes. Furthermore, His meal will take until precisely half past eight as you said. It would be a shame if I let it slip that you three conspired to have me even after your punishment. You should all thank me as it is, for I only narrowly avoided a whipping of my own for my lenience toward you. I can attest that if Master Quentin feels the need to take a personal interest in your punishment you will like it even less."</span>She let her words sink in for a moment, watching their eyes drop in unison to the bruise along her jaw from where Quentin had cuffed her and the myriad other marks that discolored her once pristine pale flesh.<br/><br/><span style="color: indigo">"So to reiterate, I would strongly recommend that my Master's breakfast be served promptly but I would not mind in the least if you were to take the brunt of his anger. I could use a day to recover." </span>Her gaze was cool as she leveled it at the leader, bringing to bear all that remained of her noble bearing. She would not tolerate these boys ruining her master's mood already.<span style="color: indigo">"Does that not sound reasonable?" </span>Her voice projected a calm authority that she did not feel in the least but she could surely fake it.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>