Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)
<h1 id="title">Elliquiy Role Playing Forums</h1>
		<h2 id="linktree">Play-By-Post: Bondage, D/s, S&amp;M =&gt; Bondage: Exotic Small Groups =&gt; Topic started by: Top Cat on 01-05-2014, 09:45:01</h2>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>01-05-2014, 09:45:01</strong>
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				NU-438 was a planet on the fringe of Human Hegemony space, colloquially known as Nyota. It was colonized nearly a thousand years earlier, when the colony ship assigned to it crash-landed. The near-cutting-edge technology of the ship malfunctioned as the ship entered the atmosphere - and the world's magisphere. Magic was not unheard of to the Hegemony, but this world hadn't been identified as a magic-imbued planet, and it was still a little-understood phenomenon. <br><br>As a result, when the ship plummeted into the planet's gravity well aiming for a preselected landing spot on the largest continent, everything that could have gone wrong... did. Instead of landing gracefully and unfolding into a small, well-equipped outpost, the ship cratered, killing nearly 2/3 of the colonists and leaving the remainder without any of the expected resources. It was hard... <br><br>But the colonists were chosen because they were survivors, people who thrived on adversity. They scraped out a settlement of their own. And, as humans are known to do, they started expanding, and conquering the hostile world. They learned about the magic of the planet, adapted to it, and thrived. Eventually, over the span of hundreds of years, they conquered the world around them. And the indigenous life, much of which was sentient. <br><br>There were dozens of sapient humanoid races, including Catkin, Saurials, Elklings, and Chimaerae. Humanity steadily conquered them all, becoming the dominant species on the planet (even though they have yet to reach the other two continents, only recently rediscovered), and bent the other races to suit their own purposes. Most became slaves; some few managed to convince human authorities that they could serve best as full Citizens. <br><br><div align="center">- - - - -</div><br>Bengal the slavemaster was no ordinary man. In fact, he wasn't a man at all - he was a centaur. He was one of the very few nonhumans who had been granted Citizenship by the Nyota Colonial Authority (NCA). He loved his job, and today was one of the days that he especially enjoyed - a slave auction. Not only would he be selling off his collected menagerie of creatures, both sapient and non, he would be bilking the stupid humans of their hard-earned money. It was good to be in control. <br><br>He banged on his desk, and shouted at his minions. "Prepare numbers 12, 27, 33, 45, 50, and 55 for showcase display. They get the satellite stages, and we'll put them up in staggered intervals over the course of the auction to keep the interest high. Everything else will be sold off in numerical order." He looked around at them. "Move." <br><br>The assortment of nonhumans that he had working for him scattered. They knew how easily Bengal got angry with the help, and had seen more than once the result of a kick from his steel-shod hooves. They knew the drill, and they knew they only had a few hours to set everything up before the humans started arriving for the auction. <br><br>Winger, a pixie who stood a mere three feet high, banged on the cage of number 27, a cage that was barely large enough for its occupant to lay down in. "Come on, Cat-slut. Get your ass up. Today's the day you get traded to a new home. Maybe you'll get lucky, and get someone who actually values you." He prepared to use the painstaff that was issued to him as one of Korvac's handlers in order to get her moving, hoping that it wouldn't be necessary. Catkin reacted unpredictably to pain. 
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat and Copperlily)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>01-05-2014, 10:29:11</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				<em>27</em>, or <em>Cat-slut</em>, or any number of derogatory names, had once been called Siena. She had been a trader's daughter, in one of the caravans of Catkin who were still free, traveling along the fringes of what the human colonists claimed as their own, trying to scrape together a living. She was a beautiful girl, her coat a soft pink that transitioned to pure white over her breasts, stomach and sex, her hair the deep, flawless red of a ruby. Though she was slender from a life on the move and years of living lean at the edges of human society, she had generous hips and a full, firm bust.<br><br>That had been her undoing. She had been in one of the border villages, selling exotic fruits in a market, when she had caught the eye of one of the spies Bengal employed to 'keep an eye out' for tempting targets. Two days later she had been snatched, hauled into the doorway of a warehouse she had been walking by, screaming and clawing at the floor as she was dragged inside, bound, and taken deep into human territories, where she had been enslaved, humiliated, herded into a cage that forced her into a huddled little terrified bundle.<br><br>She winced as Winger pounded on her cage, and she crawled out as the cage was unlocked, standing stiffly, stretching for a moment as her joins popped, and she whimpered as Winger brandished the painstaff, having no desire, after the last time one of the handlers had stabbed it into the muscles of her hips and stomach, to experience it again. Her bright blue eyes filled with tears, she let herself be herded forward to the prep area, where she would wait until she was going to be hauled up onto one of the satellite stages, the dull sound of living beings being auctioned off in the background, the girl shaking softly.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat and Copperlily)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>01-05-2014, 18:50:39</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Although Siena's meals usually consisted of a bowl of unappetizing slop, generously described as stew, Winger led her to the camp's mess hall. He shoved her into line. "Eat... but not too much." He tapped the butt of the painstaff on the ground for emphasis. <br><br>The entire camp was abuzz with activity. Much of it was sentient slaves being led around and put into position, with some cages of violent nonsentients being carefully moved as well. The energy was unusually high, and as a result, the magic in the area was swelling as well.<br><br>Winger looked up at Siena while they waited in line. He reached up and lifted one of her breasts. "How can you possibly move with any agility with such huge fat deposits?" he said insultingly. "Pixie girls are much more... aerodynamic." 
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat and Copperlily)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>02-05-2014, 05:21:58</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena's stomach growled as she was herded into the camp's mess line, nodding eagerly, staying quiet as she placed several items on her tray - not enough to make herself sick, but looking forward to the painful pangs in her stomach fading for a few hours. She tried to ignore the excitement around her, knowing that she was part of it - but that it was because she was about to be sold off, like a piece of livestock, to an uncertain fate of degradation, rape, and very possibly worse.<br><br>Letting out a soft grunt as he hefted one of her full breasts, she glared at him. "They're wrapped in bands if I had to run. You learn to cope. The same way you could possibly be a slave wrangler despite being three feet tall, and with most of the slaves here able to snap you like a twig."
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat and Copperlily)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>02-05-2014, 06:42:27</strong>
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				Winger chuckled nastily. "You saw that big bear fellow that we brought in two weeks ago, right? I took him down singlehanded. By myself. Without magic." He didn't mention that the bearkin had been starved and dehydrated after a three-day standoff... but even under those circumstances, he knew it to be an impressive feat. He'd been hoping that he'd get a new nickname around the camp for it, but sadly, nobody had decided to celebrate his accomplishment. <br><br>He lifted off the ground, speared a chunk of fruit from Siena's plate, and settled on her shoulder, wings still providing lift to keep from being too heavy for her. "If you weren't too much trouble, I'd consider buying you myself, and sharing you with the rest of the camp." The rest of the camp included two trolls and an ogre - both species only nominally considered sapient - as well as a dozen other misfits, mostly around human height. Her lifespan as an ogre's sex "partner" would be measured in hours, if not minutes. It was about as subtle of a jab as Winger ever got. <br><br>"But never mind that," he prodded. "Just eat, and we'll get you on the stage, and soon you won't ever have to see us again. Probably." He chuckled a nasty little laugh at the thought that a buyer might be displeased enough with her to sell her back, or even demand a refund. "As long as you behave like a good little slave, anyway." <br>
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat and Copperlily)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>02-05-2014, 07:27:14</strong>
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				She watched mutely as he stole a piece of her fruit, eating the rest of them quickly, having become used to the idea that any food she was given could just as easily been taken away. She seemed to shrink down as Winger mused about buying her, trying to look smaller, shielding herself.<br><br>"I...I haven't been trouble." She looked at him, pain in her eyes as he joked about her life ending with a gurgled, painful scream, her body ripped and torn around some ogre's cock. "Why...why would you say something like that?"<br><br>She finished her meal, nodding to the diminutive creature. "I'm ready. A...as ready as I'll ever be."
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat and Copperlily)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>02-05-2014, 07:58:07</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Winger hopped down from her shoulder and led her across the auction grounds, past the small crowd of early shoppers. Some people arrived early to scope out the wares for sale; others liked to take it as it came, checking out each auction as it came up for bidding. Several of them called out heckling comments, generally about giving Siena a try, to see if she was worth anything, or offering ridiculous lowball bids to buy her before the bidding started. Winger just made rude gestures - and there were a few gestures that only winged folk like pixies could manage - and continued leading her. Nobody had enough brass to try to steal here here, now. <br><br>They came to a stop by the #3 stage, which rose nearly 15 feet off the ground, much higher than the main stage. She was an attraction, a show piece - something to get the audience lusting to buy something. "Up you go," he chuckled, pointing at the wooden ladder on the side. While she climbed, he flew, and once she was up on the platform, he chained her into place against the spinal mast of the stage - arms held over her head, a chain at the waist to keep her from trying something dramatic like throwing herself off the platform. <br><br>Once she was in place, he flew down to the water trough pulled a curiously-shaped waterskin out of his backpack, and filled it. He flew back up and hung it over her head, close enough for her to reach if she stood on point. It was shaped like a horse's cock... no, not a horse. A very specific centaur's cock. "Suck on that when you get thirsty. Or if you decide to give the audience a show." <br><br>He leered at her, then launched himself off the platform, off to run other errands, leaving Siena alone on the platform. <br><br>One good aspect of her placement is that she had an excellent view of all of the other stages, including the main stage, and could get a pretty decent view of the crowd as well. She could see other demihuman women being put into place on the other stages, some of which were even more exotic than Siena. 
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat and Copperlily)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>02-05-2014, 10:06:30</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena followed after Winger as they traced through the market place, keeping her eyes down, not wanting to see the leering eyes looking over her body as they shouted suggestions, and faked bids for her that were less than the price of a meal from a street vendor. The girl climbed up the platform obediently, her limbs shaking as she ascended onto the platform, hearing Winger hovering around her. For a moment she considered simply letting go, falling to the ground, but she knew a fall from this height was as lightly to simply injure her, and a battered, broken slave girl was exactly the kind of creature who <em>was</em> passed around camp until she died.<br><br>She eventually ascended the stage, and stood still as she was bound in place, her body stretched by the chains, leaving her ample chest and taut stomach exposed. She gave Winger a weak, pained glance as he told her what the waterskin was for, closing her eyes in humiliation. She told herself she wouldn't drink from that. She would be sold. She would be auctioned off like a horse, naked in front of the eyes of hundreds, but she wouldn't do that.<br><br>Looking out into the crowd, she wondered who would buy her. She was pretty, beautiful, but not as much as some of the other girls - girls who belonged in harems of royalty. Bengal had enjoyed musing about the kind of person who would buy her - a brothel owner perhaps, often the types that could buy the expensive girls, but not the <em>most</em> valuable. Girls who would fetch a fine price for a long time.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat and Copperlily)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>02-05-2014, 19:59:09</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				The area inside the stages slowly filled as more people entered the auction downs. While slavery was frowned on by certain portions of society, it was still quite legal - provided the slaves weren't human. There was considerable pressure from moneyed concerns to keep it legal, so the Colonial Administrators typically just turned a blind eye to it, and the practice flourished. Even though there was a growing Demihuman Rights movement among the lower classes, the position of Administrator was the final arbiter of law and justice, and none of the elected Administrators had shown any interest in changing the status quo. <br><br>The midday sun broke through the clouds, shining hotly down on the filling crowd and slaves alike. Some slaves circulated among the crowd, offering parasols and cold drinks for the patrons. Everyone who attended these events knew the rules - interfere with the service slaves at your peril. Bengal had once interrupted an auction to haul a man up onto the main stage, and had quite methodically broken each of his limbs for abusing a service slave. While many wanted to see such a spectacle again, nobody wanted it to be THEM. <br><br>The six orbital stages were filled. One was a Lamia, a woman with a venomous bite and the lower body of a snake. Although she was restrained by the wrists, neck, and waist, her tail coiled down the spinal mast, as though it was trying to escape on its own. Next to her clockwise was an odd, human-looking woman who had no visible hair on her body at all. She was unrestrained, standing squarely in the middle of the stage in an easy, loose stance, gaze vacant and unfocused. The next one around was a trio of very young-looking wood nymphs, huddled together around a scrawny sapling and chained only by their ankles. The platform after that held a banshee, chained tightly and with a large ball gag in her mouth, struggling weakly against her shimmering magical bonds. And the last platform held an enormous, muscular woman, standing well over twelve feet tall. She had been led calmly to her platform, climbing up easily without using the ladder, and stood passively while her handler chained her into place. But once the handler left the platform, she changed abruptly, roaring defiance and noisily straining against the chains. It seemed that she had limitless endurance, because she didn't stop fighting her bonds at all. <br><br>The sun beat down on Siena and the crowd, shuffling impatently, until suddenly Bengal leaped up onto the stage, megaphone in hand, and paced the stage while the crowd hooted and hollered. Finally, he held up the megaphone overhead, a sign to quiet down, and the crowd obediently subsided. Bengal smirked a superior grin, knowing that he commanded everyone and everything in his domain, and finally held the megaphone up to his face.<br><br>He roared into it, "Let's get this show started. Who wants to take home a slave today?" <br><br>The crowd cheered loudly in response, drowning out even the sound of the giantess's struggles. 
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>29-05-2014, 09:19:10</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion did her best to put aside her growing discontentment with Kasey's continued distance as she prepared for the evening. He was taking her out, something he had managed to avoid entirely during the year since their wedding.<br><br>She had never had high expectations when her father arranged their marriage, especially as Kasey's station prior to contributing his unique inventions to their society had been so much lower than her own. It was to be expected that he wouldn't understand what his societal duties were since his elevation. But that's what she was there to help with. She knew all of the right people to associate with, the parties to attend, the events to be seen at. She had tried so hard to arrange it so that he wouldn't be such a mystery to the world, but he managed to thwart her every effort. <br><br>In fact, as far as she could discern, the only thing that he had changed since marrying her was to have her join him in his home. Otherwise, he spent the majority of his time holed up in his private lab that occupied what was once the grand ballroom. As he never entertained, she had never seen any point in suggesting he find a more appropriate location for his work. Then again, it wasn't really her place. Although, she wasn't quite certain what her place in his household actually was. They shared meals and even a bed, but even then, they seemed to operate on different timetables, leaving little in the way of interaction between them. He was almost as much a stranger to her as to the rest of the world.<br><br>She shook her head, clearing away such thoughts. This was their first anniversary, and she had no intention of ruining whatever it was that he had planned for them to celebrate the milestone. She couldn't help but be nervous, but more than that, she was excited. She was actually a little surprised that he had made arrangements at all. He'd failed to make any observation of any of the other milestones that couples celebrate, all of which she had marked in his personal calendar. <br><br>Finally, she was ready. Her long red hair was pinned up in a rather elaborate up-do, gems winking from the pins and clips used to hold it up. Her gown was tasteful, as they were going out while it was still quite early, only showing a bit of leg, and a hint of cleavage, the deep green complementing the lighter jade of her eyes. Her makeup was light, used just to highlight her cheekbones, add a touch of color to her eyelids, and deepen the hue of her lips. Perhaps tonight she would finally be able to find some connection with him. Maybe now, a year after the ceremony, their marriage might become more than just a facade.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>29-05-2014, 19:26:43</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey was excited. In between his Thaumatechnic creations over the past few months, he had been looking for an auction to go to, somewhere that he could buy a slave. He'd made large amounts of money, and didn't use it all - and frankly, he was getting tired of the complete lack of sexual connection he and his wife had. <br><br>He really didn't know what she wanted. He'd tried a few kinky approaches, but she'd either frowned at him for making such an improper comment, or seemed not to notice it at all. He was getting very sexually frustrated, and he desperately wanted someone he could use, someone who would truly <em>belong</em> to him, and do what he told them to, without questions, without judgement. He knew that Marion was attractive, even beautiful, but he was also convinced that she had no interest in the sort of sexual excitement he wanted - that she was far too "vanilla," as the sex psychologists called it. <br><br>And tonight was one of the biggest auctions of the year. Kasey had been scouring the Technet reports, but hadn't found one that looked good yet. But this one, this one looked to be over a hundred auctions, with some very interesting slaves on the teaser list. He still hadn't settled on what he wanted to buy - he was aware that it was even possible that he might not find anything interesting enough - but at least he had to try. He wanted a pet to own, to use, to play with. He was getting tired of not having <em>any</em> sex at all. <br><br>He spent the morning getting ready, and getting dressed. The semi-permanent slave market was a dangerous part of town, so Kasey started building a light armor suit with some special weapons he'd designed himself. While he knew that there were some nominal rules at the auctions, he'd also found some reports of less-savvy visitors being enslaved, killed, or worse... <br><br>His outfit looked mostly like a high-class suit, although it had an unnatural sheen of pale blue around the fringes. It would stop most non-magical attacks, prevent him from being treated like a clueless tourist. And when that wasn't enough, he'd also added two weapons - a highly visible common-model pain/stun lance on his left hip, and a far more lethal one-shot device that he'd created tucked under his right wrist. He wasn't completely sure that it would work, but even if it <em>didn't</em> reduce the target to unthinking protoplasm, he was pretty sure that it would take them out of the fight regardless. He was dimly aware that it was probably too lethal to be legal, but he also knew that thanks to his job and class, he had a legal waiver that would essentially protect him if it could be proven that his use was purely in defense. <br><br>He didn't realize that it was their anniversary. He only asked Marion to come with him because she was always nagging him about taking her out to events. While he wasn't sure that she'd enjoy this sort of event, he was fairly certain that she'd be downright <em>pissed</em> if he went out to an event <em>without</em> her. So he'd told her that they had a gala to attend, something special, and she had lit up and dashed off to the beauty salon almost immediately. <br><br>Finally ready, he checked the time; it was nearly noon. He knew the auction was to start at 11 AM, but he also knew that early items would be a little on the slow side, and certainly on the dull side. He had no interest in buying nonsapient lizards or hive-thinking bee-queens, although he would admit that the latter at least looked interesting from a distance... <br><br>No, the auction wouldn't get really lively until around 1 PM, when they started getting into the higher-ticket items. Kasey intended to be there before then - <em>fashionably late</em>, as his wife would call it. <br><br>He looked around, then connected to the house network. "Marion? It's time to go, where are you?" he called, looking around the main lobby of their house. 
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>01-06-2014, 04:00:49</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Watching as the minutes ticked by, Marion put the finishing touches to her hair and makeup. This would mark the very first time that they had been seen out in public together for anything that wasn't entirely related to his work, and she was determined that she would shine by his side, complementing his lean form with her curves. Not for the first time, she was thankful for his height, glad that she could wear proper heels and still be the shorter between them. <br><br>The house stair was only another 20 feet and a turn away when she heard him call for her presence. She smiled to herself at knowing his habits well enough to know that when he told her that he wished to leave at a certain time that he would wish to leave at that time, as opposed to one of her suitors who had a habit of waiting to even get ready until the time specified. That had been quite the brief courtship. She paused to take a breath and then stepped out onto the landing, one hand trailing lightly over the railing as she made her way down, watching his face, trying to gauge his reaction as she held her own. The suit he wore was suitably tasteful and thankfully not in conflict with the color of her gown. She might have frowned at the stun lance he was wearing, but it would have been over his refusal to hire a bodyguard, which would have rendered the personal defensive weapon redundant. Lacking a guard or even a driver, however, left their defense up to him, and she couldn't help but be a bit thankful that he took at least that part seriously.<br><br>She found herself smiling as she reached the floor to meet him. He really was rather easy on the eyes in that lanky intelligent sort of way, and she thought that if she could only figure out what it was that kept him from a repeat of their honeymoon night, she'd be quite pleased with the match, even if he continued to be a social recluse. She stifled a sigh, unwilling to ruin the mood before the outing had even gotten started.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>02-06-2014, 21:02:14</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey smiled warmly at her, feeling glad that she'd be there when he bought a new slave, and perhaps learned how to engage with him like the slave would. He put his arm around her, his hand falling comfortably to her ass, caressing it lightly. "Come along, my dear. We don't want to be late." <br><br>He took them to the light flier, one of his easier vehicles, but too low-class for most use. Once they were in and settled, he engaged the system, and started flying south, away from the main section of the city... and away from any likely high-class food establishments. Within ten minutes, it became clear that he was going to one of the seediest locations in the city... the slave den. 
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>07-06-2014, 06:51:05</strong>
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			<dd class="postbody">
				When she realized that they would be riding in the flier, she frowned slightly but did her best to quell any misgivings. Perhaps he was doing something romantic that didn't involve a show of class beyond their own wardrobes. <br><br>But once they were in the air, her misgivings grew stronger, and the lance on his hip and subtly protective garb took on rather more sinister meaning in her head. Misgiving blossomed into full dismay as it became undeniably apparent where they were going. <br><br>She tried to think that perhaps he meant to buy her some exotic pet or plaything and wanted to see her reaction to the various creatures and beasts being offered up, but if so, he had chosen one of the most notorious auctions to do so. She was starting to think that he might not have remembered that it was their anniversary at all.<br><br>She took a deep breath and sat up a bit straighter. She wasn't about to cause a scene out in public, even if it were so far from their station that it might well be another planet. She was better than that and she was going to continue to be better than that. No, this could wait until they were back at their home where nobody but the servants would be privy to the inevitable scene.
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			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>07-06-2014, 07:57:00</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey heard the deep breath, and recognized it. That was Marion trying not to get pissed at him, and giving him some sort of "We'll talk later," glare. He wasn't quite sure why she was upset, but he was starting to consider that a standard feature for any time they interacted. <br><br><em>It's not like I missed our anniversary, or something. That's still...</em> He frowned, trying to remember. <em>That's... Oh. That's today.</em><br><br>He glanced over as he started the descent to the parking region - not that there was any organization or framework on it, it was just an empty lot - and said, "I know that this is our anniversary, my dear," he apologized without quite admitting his mistake,&nbsp; "but this auction probably won't be around for another 8 to 10 months, and I want to buy something tonight." <br><br>He considered for a moment. "I'll make it up to you after we're done here. We can go to a nice restaurant, if you want... Err... we'll have to wait for a seat, of course..." <br><br>He landed with a thump, a poorer landing than he could normally make. The flyer was strong, of course, and wouldn't be damaged by a much harder landing than this. But it still shook up the riders a bit. He had to adjust his position before he could unbuckle the safety bands. "That wasn't too hard of a landing for you, was it, Marion?" he asked, turning toward her. <br><br>- * - * - <br><br>Meanwhile, in the auction, a half hour had already passed by. Lots of small creatures, mostly nonsentient and none of them sexual, had already been auctioned and sold, typically in bulk combos. These were being run by a couple of Bengal's minions; he only showed up to hawk the biggest, best, and most valuable slaves. <br><br>Suddenly, Bengal leaped back to the stage. "Okay, folks, I know we've had some excitement already, but now let's turn it up a notch. We're going to offer the first special of the day..." he turned and posed, pointing at the tower with the wood nymphs on it. "Today, we'll be selling a very rare <strong>trio</strong> of wood nymphs." <br><br>One of his minions climbed up the tower, and pulled the sapling away from the girls. All three immediately started crying out, wanting to get close to their sapling. <br><br>"As you can see, all three of them are bonded to a single plant - something that doesn't happen more than once a decade." He knew that was an outright lie - it was rare, but nowhere near that rare. "Help the sapling grow, and in only a few years, you will have some incredible exotic, erotic plantlife as they grow along with the sapling."<br><br>He laughed aloud. "Not that you have to wait that long before you can fuck them!" He waited for the crowd to laugh, and die down. "All you need is the sapling, and the trio will follow you anywhere, do anything you want. I'm going to open the bidding at the stupidly low price of <em>only ten credits!</em> Do I hear twenty?" 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>07-06-2014, 23:48:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She restrained herself from sighing again. "No... no. That won't be necessary," she told him. If this was how it was going to be between them, she was just going to have to resign herself to the fact that he just wasn't interested in her in any fashion at all. They'd barely consummated their marriage, they never attended anything together since until the auction, and other than one morning of the first week when he had gushed excitedly about a development in the lab where she could only follow three words in five he'd barely spoken to her at all, much less started a genuine conversation.<br><br>The best she could hope for would be that he could find whatever it was he was seeking at the auction and she could go back to the house they shared and do what she could to advance his station while keeping out of his way. It certainly wasn't what she had been hoping for when they'd been set up as a match together, but it was better than a lot of other possibilities. Maybe sometime down the line, she could take a lover. Someone who wouldn't cause a scandal that could see to the needs that he was not inclined to take care of himself.<br><br>The landing was met with a small squawk as physics dictated her assets react to the sudden cessation of motion, though the fit of her dress was such that nothing could shift out of place without a rather more significant jostle, making her rather glad that she chose the spaghetti strapped gown with the tight fitted bodice as opposed to the one with the plunging neckline that would try to shift away from her body at a stiff breeze. Then again, that wasn't really appropriate for daytime outings anyway. "No... no... I've suffered worse with no damage," she answered, determined to remain the devoted wife, even if their relationship was passing at best.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>09-06-2014, 18:49:27</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey slid himself out of the flyer, closing his door, and waiting for her to get out before locking it up. "We should still be in time for the special items," he said, practically dancing in place while he waited for her. "There's one slave in particular that has been causing a lot of chatter on the inventors' net for the last week, and I'm certain that I can nail it down." <br><br>He paused, thinking about how much to explain about the regenerating matrix creation, but reminded himself that she wouldn't understand it, and wouldn't care in any case. <br><br>A deep, growling voice sounded from the direction of the auction. "<em>Eleven thousand, going once... do I hear Eleven-Five? Going twice...</em>" <br><br>"Oh, damn," Kasey shouted. "They're already on to some of the special items... I hope that's not the one I'm looking for! Come on, hurry..." he grabbed Marion's arm, and started running in, forgetting to make sure that she could meet his speed. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>11-06-2014, 06:30:26</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena watched the wood nymphs weep as they were sold, with sorrow in her eyes. She had known a wood nymph when she was growing up. She had sold the fruit that was produced from her tree, and it was the best fruit Siena had ever tasted. Juicy, sweet, always perfectly ripe - and the nymph had been one of the kindest souls she knew. She had even helped her family when times were lean. It hurt to watch three of them be sold off, the crowd practically salivating at the notion of raping the trio.<br><br>And her, when the time came.<br><br>The auction alternated for a long while, switching between the 'center attractions' and the bulk merchandise - now, primarily for labor slaves, or groups of women not exotic enough to warrant being centerpieces, but pretty enough to be sold in bulk to brothels and other, lesser dealers.<br><br>The sun beat down on her as Bengal began selling the Banshee, extolling the virtues to be had despite the gag in her mouth, a nearly eternal pleasure slave who would more than make up for the minor deficit of being able to kill with a scream. Or, of course, it would be a trivial matter to sever her vocal cords. Siena stared off into the market, trying to ignore the heat, and her thirst, willing herself to ignore the waterskin near her head.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>14-06-2014, 09:17:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				They hadn't been out together often, but it had been often enough that Marion didn't make the mistake of thinking that he would open her door for her. Her husband wasn't prone to those little acts of chivalry that were so prized in the circles she was used to being a part of. <br><br>She listened, taking in everything he said, trying to find some way to get into his head and figure out what it was he really wanted. Unfortunately, he wasn't inclined to be much more communicative this time as any other. She was almost certain he was about to tell her <em>why</em> he was interested in that particular slave, but for whatever reason, he declined to share what that reason was. <br><br>Her head came up as she heard what she assumed must be the auctioneer, announcing the current high bid for something that must have been special to be going for that high a price. She had little time to consider, however, as her arm was grabbed and she was forced to keep up, thankful that her heels were modest and that her dress wasn't particularly tight. At that speed, she had no real time to look around, though she got a vague feeling that the crowd was definitely on the seedier side, and she was again thankful for his decision to arm himself, and again irritated that he didn't have a proper bodyguard trained to protect them both.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>14-06-2014, 19:11:23</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Bengal smiled a satisfied smile as people bid weakly, almost bored, at a common-place banshee. He loved pulling out a bait-and-switch to the audience, and the veteran buyers in his auction knew that it had to be something better than just a plain, ordinary banshee in the first place. "Six thousand going once," he called... and then said, "Oh, wait a minute. I forgot. Miss Dierdre up there isn't any ordinary banshee at <em>all.</em>" He turned away from the crowd, spotted Winger, and told him, "You. Go bring her down here, right onto the display platform next to me." <br><br>Winger nodded nervously, but flew up to the banshee's table and started disconnecting the magical restraints from the stage, talking to her quietly. He descended down the ladder, with her following closely, and pulled her up onto the front stage. He positioned her directly next to Bengal and stepped away nervously. Bengal glanced at him and said, "Stay here." He turned toward the banshee, and stroked her head. "Poor Miss Dierdre, so confused and afraid." He started unfastening the gag on her mouth, and the audience rippled in shock - they couldn't imagine why he'd remove the only defense against her deadly voice! <br><br>He finished removing the gag, pulled it away. "That's much better, isn't it?" he crooned softly to her. She looked back at him, blinking in confusion and fear, uncertain as to what she should be doing... <br><br>Right up until he back-handed her, knocking her down and away from him. Her fear turned to rage, and she stood up with a horrible fire in her eyes, opened her mouth, and <em>SCREAMED</em> directly at Bengal. The audience started frantically backing away as she turned to scream at them, as well... another piercingly loud, terrifying scream... <br><br>And everyone started feeling even more horny than they already did. Her scream spiked the libido of everyone with any sexual drive at all, and it was clear that even Bengal's sheathed cock had slid into view. <br><br>Bengal stroked her back, making her jump in fear again. She looked over at him, ready to scream once more, completely unaware of why her first scream hadn't killed him. "Miss Dierdre, I apologize..." he offered insincerely. "Please, feel free to take <em>him</em> as a gesture of apology." He gestured over at Winger, whose eyes went wide. <br><br>The banshee looked over at Winger, and blurred across the stage, pouncing on him and driving him down to the surface of the stage. She mounted him aggressively, and started kissing him, drinking in his essence. It took several minutes, with the audience watching in horror and excitement at the new <em>thing</em> the banshee had been altered into - it wasn't proper to call her a banshee any more, after all - rode and drained the life of the Fae bastard who had given Siena such a hard time just a few hours prior. <br><br>In a few short minutes, it was over. Dierdre stood back up, her shoulders thrown back in pleasure and pride, as she looked toward the audience, looking for another meal. Her regal appearance shattered abruptly when Bengal slipped the ball gag back into her mouth and picked up the magical restraints that could control her. <br><br>With her fully controlled again, Bengal roared, "<em>Six thousand?</em> You've got to be kidding me! We're reopening the bid at ten thousand! Who wants an entirely new creature, never seen before in the entire universe?" Which, of course, was another blatant lie. One sorceror had determined the way to alter magical creatures, and had done more than half a dozen banshees in this fashion. But Bengal knew that the audience couldn't possibly know that, and his grin broadened once again. <br><br>"Twelve thousand to the man on the right, do I hear thirteen?" <br><br>- * - * - <br><br>Meanwhile, Kasey had forced his way through the crowd until he reached a spot that gave him a good vision of the stage and all of the special slaves. "Ah, a banshee," he said as Bengal started the auction. "I'll bet there's something unusual about her," he explained, looking over at Marion. "He likes to sell very unusual, exotic creatures. While capturing a banshee is no easy task, I'm sure there's something more here..." <br><br>Bengal taking off the gag from her caused him to nod. "Yeah, there's no way he'd do that if she were just an ordinary banshee," he said, with a touch of satisfaction. The banshee screamed, and his hand slid down to cup and squeeze Marion's ass. "Oh, very interesting," he commented, seemingly unaware that his hand was molesting his wife. "She seems to be some sort of banshee-succubus meld..." He considered for a moment, then continued explaining, "Almost something I'd bid for, but still far too dangerous to keep around." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>16-06-2014, 04:25:53</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				As the banshee was auctioned off, her novelty - and the effect of her scream, which would undoubtedly heighten the appeal of "certain types" of parties, Siena wanted to cry. She closed her eyes, her body shaking softly, groaning softly as she waited for her turn to be sold off.<br><br>She wanted to cry because of the effect the banshee's scream on her, exposed to the full force of her power, and unable to do anything but wriggle listlessly in her bonds. She wanted to cry as she looked out on the crowd, knowing within it was the person who would buy her, for her body and her life. She wanted to cry as Miss Dierdre fed on Winger, feeling sorry for the lost, scared, tormented woman, and even the twitching, writhing Fae that she was feeding on.&nbsp; And she wanted to cry because in comparison to a trio of dryads, and a priceless banshee hybrid...she was just some merchant's daughter, of a species that was relatively common. What hope did she have, of being anything other than an interesting side note?
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>16-06-2014, 08:26:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion's eyes went a bit wide as the centaur removed the banshee's gag. Even winded as she was, she had heard enough to know what the creature was, and what she was supposed to be capable of doing. When the creature screamed, she felt the blast of her ability wash over her, suddenly very much aware of the hand that slipped down to her ass. She glanced over, then frowned as she realized that she seemed to be more cognizant of what her husband's hand was up to than he was himself.<br><br>Though she had to admit, she was gratified to learn that the creature up on the stage was considered too dangerous for him to bring back to the house. With that said, however, she couldn't help but wonder. "What is it you're here to bid on, then?" she asks, not at all satisfied with the brief comment on the way to the site.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>16-06-2014, 20:14:50</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey looked at Marion, surprised that she was interested, although he supposed that being kept in the dark wasn't really a gentlemanly thing to do. Before he could give her an answer, though, he noticed his own hand, gently resting on Marion's behind. It took him a moment to realize that she didn't seem upset or disturbed by his hand's location, and he ventured to give her a squeeze with his hand before removing it. <br><br>He looked around the orbital stages, and after a minute, pointed at the female who was unchained, as nude as possible, and standing in an unfocused parade-rest stance while she waited. "That one, I think," he said. "She is..." he faltered in the explanation, not sure just how much Marion would understand the concepts of "nano-mites" or "thamagenically crafted." He settled on a simple description that even a child should be able to understand. "She's a magically created humanoid creature that can be used in all sorts of testing. And if I make a mistake in the testing that causes her to die, she resets, and comes alive again shortly afterward." <br><br>He looked at Marion curiously. "Was that clear enough?" <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>Off at the stage, Bengal shouted happily, "620 thousand, to the winning bidder. Thank you, Ma'am. Please report to the payment office by the end of the day to claim your new prize." He bowed as graciously as was possible for him, with a broad grin. "And now we'll return to the more mundane items for a while, before we offer the next gem today." He loped off the stage, leaving one of his lackeys to be the auctioneer in the meantime. <br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>16-06-2014, 23:05:23</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion wasn't sure whether to be scandalized at his behavior in such a public venue or to be gratified that he'd actually shown interest in her. She settled on a little of both as he continued to treat her as more than an accessory.<br><br>However, her elation didn't last long, her eyebrows going up in an expression meant to convey refined incredulity as he proceeded to speak to her as if she hadn't completed her primary educational term, much less gone on to earn an associate's degree. "So she's a magical automaton that can self-repair upon termination?" she asked dryly.<br><br>Although, to be fair, such a creation would be an incredible boon to the work of any technician, magical or traditional. The possibilities were utterly staggering, and she couldn't help but hope that he could acquire the specimen and that it didn't go to waste in some cretin's debauched fantasy lair.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>16-06-2014, 23:14:43</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey was taken aback at her response. He wasn't aware that his spouse was so... <strong>intelligent.</strong> <em>Perhaps after this, we need to have a long talk,</em> he thought to himself. <br><br>It took him a few moments to come up with an adequate answer. "Yes, that's mostly correct, except that she's not an automaton, exactly. She's a fully-functional creation - according to the reports, she's got as much awareness and emotional range as anyone else here." He glanced around at the other people in the yard, and said quietly, "And much more than some, I wager." <br><br>After a moment, he added, "And her memory is intact after a... reboot. She'll be quite able to help identify what went wrong, why she died." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>17-06-2014, 07:13:32</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She blinked at the correction. She wasn't entirely certain, but she suspected that this was the most words they had exchanged between one another for most of a year. <br><br>She nodded, letting him know that she had heard him and accepted the more accurate description. "So it's form is returned to its default state, but the data, it's memory remains?" She turned to stare up at the stage with the creation he planned to acquire. "I do hope buying it won't lead to unforeseen legal entanglements, though I suspect it would still be worth whatever you end up paying," she commented, not willing to come out and state plainly that she was certain the creature had been stolen, possibly even with violence. Witnessing what the auctioneer would do to one of his own for a mere demonstration left her less than optimistic that he'd legitimately acquired all of the slaves he was now selling off.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>21-06-2014, 22:19:40</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Another half-hour passed, with nothing that Kasey had any interest in being offered. He couldn't think of what to discuss with Marion - he loathed small talk, and was keenly aware that he simply had no idea how intelligent she was. He'd always thought of her as a showpiece, someone to make him look good when out in public. He'd known on some level that she was smart, but he'd dismissed it as social awareness, not anything scientific. He'd only married her because his social connections were lacking, and some of his colleagues had made it clear that in order to advance, in order to get permission to make some even more fantastic creations, he'd have to start being more social. <br><br>And he'd failed on that, he realized. Instead of making her his ally, his confidante, he'd treated her as an abstraction, an employee, like a social-themed nurse, or cook, or maid. He vowed to try to improve that, somehow. He wasn't sure how... he wasn't sure he could shift his thinking that much. But he knew he owed it to her to <em>try</em>, at least.<br><br>The crowd quieted suddenly, as he turned to Marion. "Marion, I..." he started to say, but was interrupted by the booming voice of Bengal. <br><br>"Hello again, my customers," Bengal shouted, his voice being amplified by the microphone. "It's time for you to buy one of the gems of the show again." He started pacing across the stage. "Revi, please come up here to the front." <br><br>The unchained humanoid woman on the platform closest to Siena started moving. She jumped to the edge of the platform, sliding down the edge until her hands stopped the fall. After a split second, she let go, and fell the 20 feet down to the crowd. She landed neatly, her legs flexing as much as possible to absorb the impact, and started moving through the crowd. She headed directly for the stage, with most of the crowd moving out of her way. Those that didn't move, she ducked under or dodged around with as little divergence from the path as possible. As she got up to the stage, she flexed her legs, and leaped up, getting higher than any non-augmented human possibly could, and landed neatly on the stage, facing Bengal. <br><br>Bengal petted her head, and said, "Face the crowd." Revi turned around, and started watching the crowd instead of Bengal. Her eyes traveled over the entire length of the crowd, and then turned back, going row by row. "Ladies and gentlemen," roared Bengal, "what I offer for you today is quite simply the most perfect Magitech slave construct ever built."<br><br>Kasey scowled. "That's a crude way of putting it. This dolt doesn't even understand what she is." <br><br>Bengal continued. "She is perfectly obedient, and will obey any command that she's capable of doing. But more than that..." He looked off-stage and shouted to one of his minions, "Swelter, bring that blade up now." A half-deformed Rakshasa climbed up the stage, a small sword being carried carefully. He offered it out to Bengal, and quickly stepped back when Bengal took it. <br><br>Bengal turned back to Revi, and handed the blade to her. "Revi, please kill yourself," he said pleasantly. <br><br>She looked at him and asked emotionlessly, "Quick and efficient, master, or slow and bloody?"<br><br>Bengal smiled. "Quick and efficient, Revi, thank you." The woman pulled the sword up, felt its balance, and made a powerful, sharp cut across her neck, the very sharp blade almost causing her to take the entire head off in one strike. Her blood gushed out, her brain's pressure dropped to zero, and she collapsed on the stage, bleeding out and dying quite horribly. <br><br>Bengal leaned down, picked up the sword, and turned back toward the Rakshasa. "Take this away please, Swelter." Once the sword had been collected, Bengal looked back toward the audience. "I'm sure you're wondering why I just killed something you're going to buy. The answer will be obvious in a few minutes." <br><br>After a minute of silence, Revi's corpse started to twitch, and her head slid back against her neck, the cut slowly disappearing. After a few minutes, her eyes regained focus, and she looked toward Bengal. "I have died, Master. Do you need a summary?" She slowly sat up, the blood from her slash still wet all over her body. <br><br>Bengal shook his head. "No, Revi, that's..." <br><br>Kasey shouted, "<strong>ONE MILLION CREDITS.</strong>" The audience gasped and turned to look at him, while Bengal smiled broadly. "I have a bid of one million, do I hear one point one?" <br><br>Several other bidders started bidding, driving the price up. Kasey was concentrating so firmly on the auction that he didn't notice the thug that was paying more attention to him and his companion than the auction. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>22-06-2014, 11:37:26</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena's eyes widened as the docile woman killed herself, without hesitating, then came back to life, reporting on her stabbing like it was a mild headache. Again, the sinking feeling that she did not belong here, but on this platform, and as such Bengal would either be punishing her for not selling or had some trick up his sleeve was building in her again.<br><br>Then she started to be bid on. Siena couldn't imagine a person's life being worth a million credits. Couldn't, truth be told, imagine a million credits. She was nigh positive, in her lifetime, that much money hadn't changed hands out of the back of her father's wagon. And it was so casually called for this woman, Revi's, ownership. She bowed her head, trying to calm herself as the woman's price began to spiral upward.<br><br>---<br><br>Silas eyed the young couple with a predatory eagerness. That kind of money, at a place like this, meant a lot of it was ready to be spent - Bengal wasn't the kind of person to take 'Invoice in 60 days' orders. Eventually the bank would shut down the credit chips, but in a black market like this, there was a fair amount you could buy with a dead man's chips before they went cold. And the girl at his side...well, she'd find herself in the market for a very different reason in a week or two. Highborn girls had been known to disappear from time to time, and there was a market for them. More than one rich buyer liked having "one of their own" trussed up and bound in the middle of a dinner table at a party, or bound to a rack, writhing as she made up for every slight ever caused by every pretty little rich girl.<br><br>He stepped forward, his plan in mind. A sweeping kick to Marion's feet, and a hand clamped around her throat would be enough to subdue her in place for now. No one was likely to help her here - they'd just as soon buy her. A short thrust with a vibro-knife to the man's kidneys and he should be dear or near to it. Quick, messy and profitable.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>22-06-2014, 12:09:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion turned, eager to hear what he might have to say. She could count the number of times he'd initiated a conversation with her that didn't involve food or shopping on a single hand. She shot a look towards the stage, irate at the menacing figure of the auctioneer as his voice boomed out over the crowd.<br><br>And then she realized which of the slaves was going up next. On one hand, it would mean that they could get out of here that much quicker, something she quite looked forward to. But on the other, once he had his new acquisition, she was certain he would disappear into the lab for weeks, barely to be seen in passing, leaving her much as he had the last year.<br><br>She watched as, without so much as a flinch, the slave Revi nearly beheaded herself at the centaur's bidding. She felt a little ill at the sight, never having seen quite so much blood at any time in her life, even counting some particularly ill-advised vid she'd caught with some friends as a teen. She couldn't help but stare, curious to see how it was that the downed creature would repair and revive. <br><br>She was just turning to comment to Kasey when she heard his voice cry out beside her, the eager bid making her wince. It was obvious that he'd never attended an auction in his life, both the speed of his bid and the amount letting everybody know just how eager he was to acquire that particular item. And while the sudden high bid would scare off the types of bidders who might get into a bidding war with him, it would make the shills in the audience, of which she was quite certain there were a few, eagerly push the bid up higher than they might otherwise dare. <br><br>If she were less civilized, she might slap her palm to her face in reaction, but as she was a woman of breeding, she allowed herself only a sigh and a wince at his naivete. As it was, neither of them saw nor sensed the predator that came up from behind, his kick quite neatly sweeping her feet out from under her, causing her to fall back with a startled yelp into his grasp.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>22-06-2014, 20:15:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Two point two," shouted Kasey, getting irritated at the other bidders. He'd spotted three of them, and at least one of them didn't look like the sort of person who would <em>have</em> two million credits in his possession. He was nearly oblivious to the dangerous activity going on behind him - so much so, that he was in a perfect position for Silas's murderous thrust. <br><br>Thankfully for Kasey, he wasn't some clueless upper-class effete snob, unaware of the dangers in such semi-legal places. He'd started out as a low-class boy, and climbed his way up with a powerful dedication to cybermancy and thaumagenics. His first creation earned him nearly half a million creds from its sheer novelty alone; he'd sold several dozen more, with each one being worth more than the last. But because he'd been born in the low-class areas, he was all too aware that there were some people who wanted nothing more than to kill you and take your belongings. <br><br>Which was why he'd worn a light-armor suit that he'd crafted himself to this event. As Silas thrust the vibro-knife, the armor reacted, both preventing the impact and defusing the weapon. Kasey felt a thump on his side as the vibro-knife detonated lightly, scattering shards a few feet around itself (several of which hit other nearby auction guests, bouncing off their own armor or cutting shallow injuries). His attention was dragged completely from the auction to the threat, and he whirled around, swinging his Pain/Stun Lance into position from his hip. <br><br>And he froze when he saw that the attacker, still realizing that his weapon was gone, was pinning Marion against him with his hand on her throat. <br><br>And what was mild anger from being attacked only a moment ago burned deeply into him, changing into rage for threatening his <em>wife.</em> He growled softly, "If you've got any brains at all, man, you'll let go of her and leave. You won't get a second chance." His left hand had the Lance up and ready, not quite aiming at the thug and his wife, but his right hand was starting to twitch. He didn't want to get this punk arrested... he wanted to kill him, make him cease existing for threatening someone he cared for. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>23-06-2014, 06:54:00</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Silas growled slightly - the woman had gone exactly according to plan, and was wriggling rather pleasantly in his grasp. His knife however was essentially useless, and whole the shattered edge was still sharp enough to do a whole mess of damage to her, odds were decent he wouldn't make it out of this in one piece.<br><br>He settled the knife's ruined edge against Marion and growled in her ear. "Maybe next time..." <br><br>A firm shove sent her piling into Kasey, and by the time the young man had regained his balance, the thug was nowhere to be seen. The auction continued as if nothing had gone wrong, those the creature's price had risen to 2.6 million during the little drama that was unfolding in the crowd.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>23-06-2014, 18:55:22</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Eyes wide, Marion watched as the thug thrust his blade into Kasey's back. "No," she gasped, then flinched as the blade shattered, bits of shrapnel striking her along with others in the crowd, leaving small cuts in the their wake.<br><br>The broken knife against her skin made her stiffen, keeping utterly still as the thug growled at her before giving her a shove. Her arms flailed as she attempted to regain her balance, but the uneven footing would have been difficult even if she'd been wearing more sensible footwear. As it was, she fetched up against her husband and then both went down in a tangle, he on his back, and she atop him.<br><br>She pushed herself up on her arms and looked down, his eyes meeting hers in a nearly identical look of concern. "I... I'm unhurt," she said before pushing herself away and to her feet, the crowd around them having moved away to avoid getting swept up into whatever drama had been happening in their midst, a few quick witted souls recording the incident from a safe distance. <br><br>Once upright she offered her hand to Kasey, to help him to his feet.<br><br>All the while, the bidding continued, the price climbing, more slowly now, nobody seeming to want to break over 3 million, even for something as amazing and unique as what was currently being offered.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>23-06-2014, 19:51:43</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey was glad that the thug had ran away - as much as he wanted to do something fatal to him, not having to do so was a much better option. <br><br>"Two-eight, going once," called Bengal's voice; it was unheard by Kasey, as he was focused entirely on Marion and the disappearing thug. <br><br>Kasey got to his feet with Marion's help, nodding in thanks for her support. "Thank you," he said, looking at her. "Are you all right? You've got a cut here..." he touched her shoulder, and his fingers came back with a dash of blood. "We need to get you to the hospital..." <br><br>"Two-eight, going twice." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>24-06-2014, 21:40:06</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion glanced down at her shoulder, then shook her head. "No, don't be silly. It's just a tiny cut. I've got-" She cut off as her head came up, Bengal's voice reminding her of the reason they were even there.<br><br>She turned towards the stage and shouted out, "Two-Nine!" <br><br>At least, that's what she tried to do. But the thug's grab at her throat had done some minor damage and what came out was a croak followed by a coughing fit that had her doubled over and fighting to catch her breath. She wanted to gesture, to remind Kasey that he had a bid to make, but there was little she could to refocus his attention off of her and she listened as the creature was sold out from under him.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 04:43:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey frowned. "You're clearly more injured than I thought... I need to get you to the hospital," he insisted. He started to try to pick her up, failed at that chivalric effort, and frowned. Before he could continue, he saw her own scowl, clearly frustrated about something. "What's wrong?" 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 05:00:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She couldn't believe he actually tried to pick her up. She didn't actually weigh so very much, but he was not at all accustomed to physical exertion, and his attempt only added to the irritation of the fact that her presence was at least partially, if not entirely responsible for him missing out on his chance.<br><br>She held up a hand and swallowed a few times, letting her throat relax before attempting to speak again. "You missed your bid," she finally managed, her throat a little hoarse. She gave him a moment to let that sink in, knowing it could take time for him to shift gears. Meanwhile, she collected her clutch, nearby and probably left alone due to the fact that not only did it have a bio lock, but a tracker as well, making it more trouble to steal than most experienced thieves were willing to deal with. <br><br>She thumbed it open and pulled out a small makeup tube, about the thickness of a typical lip liner. The contents were supposed to be for evening out makeup, but every woman she knew also used them on scratches to ensure that a minor bit of clumsiness couldn't ruin an otherwise enjoyable evening. She started applying it to the cuts she could see, using her compact to get the one on her shoulder that Kasey had noticed earlier.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 06:18:37</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey blinked. "My bid?" he asked, in the same way he'd said things like, "Eating?" when she tried to get him to put down his work for a while. Kasey tended to fix his mind on one problem at a time, and Marion's threat had completely shattered his focus on the auction. <br><br>It took him a moment, and then he whirled back around. "My bid! What's it at? How much..." He trailed off, blinking, as he saw that both Bengal and Revi were no longer on the auction stage. "Ah, damn!" he cursed, "I almost wish I'd shot that bastard, now..." <br><br>Turning back to Marion, he suggested, "Maybe we can find the winning bidder, and give them a quick profit?" He considered for a minute. "No, probably not... not if Dr. Tonash was the winning bidder, over on the right..." He scowled. "I don't want to have come all the way out here for this and have nothing to take home. I'm tired, I'm still a little pissed, and god dammit, I'm still horny!" His voice had gotten louder with each point. "I want a damn sex slave, Marion. I'm not getting enough from you, I want to have something pliable and obedient for when you're not in the mood." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 07:41:26</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She let him work out what had happened on his own. She could pick up once he'd gotten caught up.<br><br>But as she listened, he went further and further afield, her brows climbing towards her hairline at the last few statements.<br><br>"Not in the mood? Not in the mood!?!," she parroted back. "And just how, pray tell, would you know when I'm not in the mood? It's not like you've even approached me for most of the last year. We barely even share a bed, with the hours you keep. If it weren't for our honeymoon, I'd suspect you were asexual. And it's just like you to be so focused and self-absorbed on what you're not getting that you don't even realize that I'm in precisely the same situation!"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 07:49:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Some of the other auction attendees started to shuffle away from what was very clearly a personal fight that had been brewing for some time. <br><br>"<em>Focused?</em>" he snarled. "Yeah, I'm <em>focused.</em> That's what's made the house you live in, the food you eat, the..." he blinked. "Wait, back up." Kasey was still angry, but his mind made him click to what seemed to be the most important sentence of her own volley. "Did you just say that you want to buy a sex slave, too?" 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 08:39:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Her eyes crossed in frustration then narrowed.<br><br>"I'm worth nearly as much as you, and I've got ten times the connections. I don't <em>need</em> or <em>want</em> your money. I want your attention. I want you to notice that I'm alive without me having to remind you of that fact. And, no I don't want to buy a sex slave! I <em>want</em> my husband. But since that's apparently too much to ask, then I might as well buy someone ready and willing to take care of what you won't!"<br><br>Her voice wasn't nearly as loud as his, but she had a certain way of inflecting that made it sound like she was shouting without actually doing so. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 18:55:13</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Too much to ask?" he said incredulously. "You've never..." He cut himself off. "Okay, we've both got a lot of talking to do, but this isn't the place to do it, and doing it while we're angry at each other isn't going to help us figure out how to fix our problems. Right?" <br><br>He took a deep breath. "I want this marriage to work. We'll have a long talk later. Maybe not tonight. But right now, we need to finish what we came here for, okay?" He took a deep breath and looked up at the remaining slaves on the orbitals. "While the giantess looks interesting, her control only seems to last either for a short time or a short distance, and I think she might be too much of a risk." He shifted his gaze, and continued, "I've heard stories of lamia eating their mates, so that's out." He looked up at Siena. "So the Catkin up there is the only choice. Can we agree on that for the moment?" 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 21:06:11</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion had been ready to set him straight, but as piqued as she was, he was right. This was neither the time nor the place to have this discussion. But it was obvious that he'd never seen her efforts to connect with him at all, and if he'd done the same the results had been identical.<br><br>She glanced at the remaining "stars" of the auction, then down at the holding pens where the regular dross was kept. "I wonder what's special about that one that she isn't being lotted off with the rest of the slaves," she mused, not really asking. The feline female didn't look special. Then again, the last one hadn't looked particularly special, either, and nobody could have predicted the modifications made to the banshee.<br><br>Nodding, she considers the possibility of making her own acquisition. Unfortunately, she'd been telling him the truth. She really did want him, specifically, and his seeming lack of interest once they'd taken up their life together had only made her more frustrated and unhappy as time had gone on, leading to their first fight. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>25-06-2014, 21:30:17</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey sighed and went quiet. His mind kept coming up with aggressive, hurtful barbs he could throw at Marion, and he knew that was the worst thing he could do. So he stood quietly by her, and fumed. After a large number of minutes passed, he reached over and entwined her hand with his, not looking at her, making it a wordless apology of sorts. <br><br>He impatiently waited for the next big auction, wondering how a half-hour could take so bloody long, and started running off the problems of buying each of the lesser auctions being listed. Some of them were even sapient and sexual, but somehow didn't appeal to him as much as the Catkin did, now. Nor as much as Marion did. His foot started tapping nervously, hoping that the Catkin would be the next auction - he felt certain that one of the other two would be the final, show-stopper auction, the unusual gem to keep the bidders there and waiting. And he, too, started wondering why she was up top, instead of one of the also-sold auctions. <br><br>He tried to avoid telegraphing his own intent, now that he was known as one of the big-ticket buyers, but couldn't help looking up at her, peeking up in curious puzzlement. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>26-06-2014, 00:01:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion's first instinct was to pull her hand away, but she resisted. Not only had they caused enough of a scene already, but it would be counterproductive to her stated goal of becoming closer to her husband. After a few moments, she relaxed a bit, her mind going over the last year and how they could both have managed to be so blind to the interests of the other.<br><br>Part of her wanted to blame him, entirely. Another part wanted to wallow in the guilt and take on all of the responsibility for the failure. But the problem was simply a lack of confirmation that the messages they were sending were being received with the desired intent intact.<br><br>They had come from vastly different backgrounds, and as such, they had entirely different methods of interacting. Where she understood the understated maneuvering for affection played out in the upper tiers of society, she was belatedly realizing such small things were far too subtle for someone not already aware of their import to even notice, much less recognize. They were both going to have to take some pains to learn the other's mode of communication and find a way to bridge the gap between them if their marriage was going to be anything more than one of convenience.<br><br>But they both cold learn. She knew she was up to it, now that she recognized that the problem wasn't lack of interest. And he was frightfully intelligent, one of the things that had helped her own acceptance of the match, and was already becoming a more savvy bidder. She couldn't help but smile approvingly at his attempt to hide his interest in that particular slave. It likely wouldn't matter at this point, but she liked watching him think and plan, even if she didn't typically understand what it was he was actually doing.<br><br>As much as she didn't really wanting him buying the creature, she knew that objecting would only drive a wedge between them and damage the repairs to their relationship before they'd even really begun. She'd have to see how things worked out once they had settled into whatever their new routine would be. Perhaps she might even be able to convince him to make her part of the domestic staff and leave the marital duties to his wife.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>26-06-2014, 06:44:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The half-hour finally elapsed, and Bengal's lackeys evacuated the stage, and nearly a minute passed before Bengal leaped up, his grin even broader than it had been all day. "All right, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, here's one of the top gems of the show," he boomed. "If you look to my left, you'll see the young Katkin up there, fully restrained. Her name is Siena." <br><br>He paused as some of the audience started booing. "Wait, wait. I know, you're thinking that Catkin are pretty common slaves - she'd cost only 500 to a thousand cred, tops, right?" He leaned forward and boomed, "<em>Well, you're wrong!</em>" He started pacing the stage, and boomed out, "What you see up there isn't any normal Catkin girl. Most of you probably don't know this already, but the six major Catkin clans actually have a little secret government that most people aren't aware of. This government relates to how their clans deal with each other, what territory they can go in, and so on." <br><br>He turned, prowling back the other way. "And young miss Siena's father, who acts like a normal, simple trader most of the time, is actually the chief argument settler of all of the clans, major <em>and</em> minor. When there's an argument, a fight, a dispute... they turn to him to settle it." <br><br>He paused, waiting for that to sink in. "That's right, ladies and gentlemen, Siena's father is no less than the <em>KING</em> of the Catkin tribes... although they don't <em>call</em> him that, because that would defeat the secret, you see?" He paused again. "And that means that Siena, his only daughter, is the <strong><em>Princess of ALL Catkin.</em></strong>"<br><br>He let that bomb settle for several seconds, before stating, "My associates spent nearly a month trying to find a good opportunity to grab her, but they finally did. I'll open the bidding at half a million, but before we do that, I want to point out that Siena has not been raped or sexually abused by any members of my staff while she was with me... save for one petty fondling, which has been... <em>taken care of.</em> I cannot guarantee that she's a virgin, mind you, because I don't know what her sex life was before we got her, but <em>WE</em> haven't abused her." He boomed up to Siena, "Miss Siena, can you agree that this is true, that you were not sexually abused while you were here?" 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>26-06-2014, 08:10:16</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena's throat was burning, and from the looks of it, there would be time yet before she went on sale, surely one of the more interesting items would be told. She hated herself for it, but she was going mad with thirst, and she arched her neck up, sucking slightly at the lewdly shaped waterskin. Just enough to wet her lips.<br><br>Instead, as she started to lose herself once more to just staring off into the market, Bengal announced it was her he was selling next. And revealed why she was a centerpiece auction. Her eyes widened, and she made a confused little noise, wriggling in her bonds. She had no idea if this was just a ploy, a fictional story spun by Bengal to make a pretty little catkin girl who might have fetched a decent price as a brothel slave into a premium product, or if this was...real. If she was some trophy, daughter of royalty, reduced to a human plaything. Still looking shocked, she realized she was being spoken to.<br><br>"Y...Yes. I haven't been touched." Her eyes lowered slightly. "Before or after I was taken." There had always been the <em>threat</em> of rape in Bengal's camp, but it had never moved beyond that - and now she understood why.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>26-06-2014, 09:22:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion waited patiently as more of the dross was moved, her attention snapping to the stage as Bengal returned to offer the next item. She couldn't help but give Kasey's hand a bit of a squeeze when he announced that it would be the Catkin, the next on his very short list of potential acquisitions.<br><br>Her eyes went a bit wide as he went on to expound upon why she was worthy of the additional attention, and she could only think that were it true, she might have to convince him to free her. Of course they would have to determine that she was who it was claimed she was, first. But if she were, it could be quite a coup to be the one to 'rescue' the poor thing. <br><br>Either way, they'd be leaving with the slave, one way or another. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>26-06-2014, 17:07:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey waited as the bid got started, having realized that being the first bidder wasn't such a great idea. He listened as the bidding passed a million within a minute, his nervous foot-tapping getting faster and a bit louder. But once the bids got close to 2 million, they slowed down... even people who wanted her as a showpiece, even those who wanted to buy and deflower a <em>virgin princess</em>, as she'd more or less admitted to being, were reluctant to spend quite so much. <br><br>"Two million," he called, making sure that he was heard. The moment he made the bid, he pulled his Lance into the ready position, and started warily looking around them. "Keep an eye on the bid, and rebid if I happen to miss one, please," he asked Marion. <br><br>"Two million going once," boomed Bengal. "Two million going twice..." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>27-06-2014, 08:50:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				And like that, she was sold.<br><br>For two million credits, a staggering amount, for a story that she didn't even know if it was fiction or real, hidden from her. She was too shocked, too numb, to even think of resisting as another guard ascended her platform, unbound her, and helped her down, escorting her to the circular area where the purchases of the more expensive merchandise were finalized, guided back down to her knees next to one of Bengal's agents, waiting for the wealthy couple to appear for the credit transfer.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>28-06-2014, 04:55:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				As soon as the word, <em>SOLD!</em> was shouted across the auction yard, Kasey started to push his way across the crowd, looking to make his payment so that the three of them could leave this unpleasant place. After a few steps, he remembered that he had a partner here, and stepped back to grab Marion's arm, and guide her through the mob.<br><br>Once at the guard/payment location, Kasey pulled out his MasterMage card, and used it to pour two thousand 1000-credit bearer chits onto the desk. It was too many coins for the desk to hold - they started spilling out over the ground, making the accountants downright nervous for possibly upsetting Bengal. They started scooping the chits up and stacking them neatly, making a fast and easy way to count them; in all, it took less than five minutes for the transaction to be complete. <br><br>Once the debt was confirmed paid, the senior accountant handed a marker over to Kasey and nodded at the guard holding Siena, who released her, but kept an eye on her in case she started to run. <br><br>"Over here, pet," called Kasey. "We're leaving immediately." Once she got close, he wrapped an arm around her waist and asked, "What's your name, kitten?" He remembered that she claimed to be a virgin... and was uncertain as to how, or even if, he wanted to change that. He <em>was</em> certain of one thing, however - she was his, legally, and he could do what he wanted with her. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>28-06-2014, 05:26:13</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion blinked at Kasey's retreating back for a moment before she started moving in his wake, afraid of what might happen if they got separated by the crowd. While she didn't expect another attempted snatch when she was by his side, once apart, it would take little for some miscreant to abduct her. Thankfully, that line of thinking was interrupted when he stopped and turned to take ahold of her arm. It wasn't the most dignified way to keep together, but it was effective enough.<br><br>Waiting to one side, she thought Kasey's method of payment was a bit ostentatious, but as she hoped they'd neither of them ever have reason to set foot in this or any other seedy market, she reserved comment.<br><br>However, upon hearing him call the Catkin first "pet" and then "kitten" with his arm around her waist was doing entirely unexpected things to her blood pressure. However, this was neither the time nor place to make another scene, so she did her best to pretend it didn't bother her in the least, but she knew that anyone who actually knew her would recognize the set of her jaw and the vaguely indelicate way her nostrils flared with her breathing as a sign that she was quite piqued.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>28-06-2014, 07:57:30</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena watched the spectacle of her new owner paying the accountants, then rose quietly, going obediently to him, her head bowed slightly, an arm folded timidly over her bared chest. She had always been good at reading people, and the woman at his side - a wife perhaps, or a girlfriend? - looked distinctly less excited about her purchase. Viewing her as a threat perhaps, or disapproving of the whole concept?<br><br>That honestly scared her - she doubted, with as expensive as she had been, that she would be released, and she doubted being sold on would be better for her prospects. And worse, she could just as easily vent her distaste on the most vulnerable person in her household - Siena.<br><br>Keeping her head timidly bowed, she spoke quietly. "Siena Master. My name is Siena."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>28-06-2014, 08:05:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey stroked Siena gently on her side, unaware of Marion's reaction to his contact with Siena. "Well, let's get you out of this awful place." He looked over at Marion. "Are you still unwilling to go out to dinner? Or would you rather call ahead and have the Skinks prepare some light dinner?" <br><br>He looked over at Siena again. "You've got to be hungry and thirsty after being up there for hours. Is there anything in particular that you like to eat?" 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>28-06-2014, 08:47:02</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion blinked at the sudden change in topic, and then at the utterly inappropriate idea of going out to dinner, with several reasons behind that, including the fact that their companion was a recently-purchased slave who was desperately in need of some time away from prying eyes.<br><br>"I am not at all unwilling to go out to dinner, but I think it would not only cause a scene but be quite unkind to the girl after the ordeal she's been through. Call and have the skinks prepare both a meal and a bath and perhaps a chamber for her to rest in. And clothes, if you're feeling generous." While her primary motive was actually altruistic, she certainly didn't lose sight of the fact that if the Catkin had her own room for the night, that would mean that she wouldn't be in their room.<br><br>At least he had the good sense to ask what she would eat. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>28-06-2014, 16:02:09</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena didn't nod at her new owner's assertion that she must be hungry and thirsty, though the somewhat dry sound of her throat, and the longing look in her eyes as they discussed food would betray that she was indeed ravenous.<br><br>"I'm...I'm not picky Master. Something warm maybe. Or fruit? I can't remember the last time I had fruit..."<br><br>She looked over at Marion in surprise as she suggested not only a meal and a bath - also something she was in need of, after spending the day bound in the sun - but a chamber and clothing. That seemed unexpectedly generous, and the gesture was not lost on her as she shot the woman a grateful look.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>28-06-2014, 19:51:49</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey put his other arm around Marion, each arm around one of the ladies' hips, and started walking them toward the parking area, skirting around the still-busy auction ground. "You're going to make that call, Marion," he said firmly. "Ask them to get out a variety of fruit, and some warm and filling - perhaps a simple casserole or rice dish?" He knew that Marion would inevitably have a better suggestion for food than he could think of. When she brought him food in his lab, it always seemed to be something he needed. <br><br>He turned back to Siena. "Tonight, you're going to eat, drink, bathe, and sleep as well as you can," he said warmly. "You've had a rough day, at least, and you do need some time alone," he acknowledged, supporting Marion's insistence. "We can talk about what you'll be doing in the household tomorrow... and possibly see about contacting your family, if you know any way to reach them." <br><br>His hand slipped down, stroking her ass gently. "I'm quite certain that I'm not ready to release you, though. If we did that, aside from pissing away two million to Bengal, we'd also be setting you up to be captured again, possibly modified by Bengal's insane compatriots, and sold again to someone who wants to treat you far worse than we will." <br><br><em>And, dammit,</em> he thought to himself, <em>I bought a sex slave, I'm damn well going to make use of her. Even if it means that I have to gently break her virginity.</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>28-06-2014, 21:58:26</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion did her best to suppress the frown as the girl's timidity. She wasn't sure if she was naturally like that of it if was a result of her treatment at the hands of the slavers. Hopefully it would be the latter, as that would mean that she would be less of a shrinking violet once she gets over not being in their clutches any longer. And, as much as she hated to admit it, even to herself, there was really no way that they could release her until and unless she could be made to be less likely to be simply captured again. That would be a terrible use for the two million he'd spent for her.<br><br>It rankled her to think that she was now in competition for her own husband's affections with a Catkin. And a slave, no less. The fact that she was currently also a shrinking violet only made it more irritating. <br><br>As they made their way back to the vehicle, she pulled out her comm and made the call back to the mansion, making all of the necessary arrangements, including one dish in particular considered to be a polite addition when entertaining Catkin and wanting to at least make a show of acknowledging their tastes.<br><br>Once they arrived back at the vehicle, however, another snag in her anniversary made itself clear: He'd brought the two seater. As she was not about to do the flying herself, the only other arrangement would end up with the new slave on her lap and without a safety harness. She let out a small sigh, a bit too weary by how the day had gone so far to be particularly upset at the new development.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>29-06-2014, 02:14:14</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena walked quietly beside her new owner, her hips moving softly beneath his grip as she walked, her gait slightly different from the human woman's on the other side. She nodded softly, smiling timidly at him.<br><br>"That's very kind of you Sir, thank you. I...I would like to get word to my father that I am alive, and what has become of me, but I...I do not know how to reach him." She frowned slightly. "I don't even know where I am."<br><br>She felt his hand settle on the firm curve of her rear end, and made no effort to move it, not wanting to upset him, especially not as they were still within the market. She nodded softly. "I understand Master." She felt Marion's tension grow as they left the market, despite giving her a slight, grateful expression as she ordered a particular dish. It was a strange thing - it was both a polite nod to Catkin taste to order it, but over time, because of it's symbol as 'what the humans put out when entertaining us as guests', the prices of the ingredients had risen to make it a delicacy. It was both a kindness, and a subtle, perhaps even unconscious reminder of who now controlled the power and economy of this world. Still, it <em>was</em> very good.<br><br>When she saw the vehicle, she understood the woman's trepidation - would have understood moreso if she had known this was her anniversary. The vehicle was small, sporty, and ill-suited for a third passenger. At best, she could tuck herself into the passenger footwell, making what should be a luxurious ride faintly cramped. At worse, she would be seated on the woman's lap, a burden, a reminder of what had just been bought, and a dirty creature settled against an undoubtedly expensive dress.<br><br>Her voice was still timid, but matter of fact when she spoke. "There is a cargo bay Mistress." And, in many respects, she was cargo.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>29-06-2014, 04:52:31</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion turned to regard the girl, Siena was her name, with a look that suggested she just suggested that she run back to the house. "Nonsense. I'd sooner walk," she declared, making it abundantly clear that there were certain lines she just did not cross.<br><br>"You'll just have to share the passenger seat with me, and Kasey will have to drive carefully, since you won't be held in by the harness." She gave her husband a glance, almost as if daring him to say otherwise. "once we're back at the house, then we can see to what other arrangements are going to have to be made." This time it was clear that she was tweaking him about the fact that he'd done nothing at all to plan for anything past the actual acquisition of a slave.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>29-06-2014, 05:14:05</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey glanced, annoyed, at Marion, and ignored her barb. "We are just south of the city of Second Light, Siena, about 200 kilometers east of First Dawn... without knowing where you were captured, I can't really give you an idea how far you are from there, and that might make it hard to find your father, but..." <br><br>As he got into the driver's seat of the flyer, he continued the sentence, "Marion has some connections that might be able to make contact with the Catkin Tribes, to some degree." He looked over, frowning as he thought. "If what Bengal said was true, or at least close to true, then some careful political discussion might get a message to your father, indirectly at least." <br><br>He buckled his seat and waited for the ladies to get suitably situated. "Have you flown in a Flyer like this before, Siena?" he asked after a moment. "It can be a bit dizzying if you're not used to it." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>29-06-2014, 23:42:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena fell quiet, and nodded as Marion's swift and very clear rejection of her suggestion. "Yes Mistress." Her eyes widened slightly and she looked a little stricken as Kasey told her where she was - she was hopelessly far from where she had been taken, and if her father moved at all - and his business necessitated he do so - she might as well be on another planet. Without a flier of her own, and this deep into what was unquestionably human territory, she'd be captured again well before she made it home, if not worse.<br><br>She waited for Marion to get in and strap herself into the safety harness before climbing in herself, the lithe, flexible girl having little trouble settling into the spaces Marion didn't occupy. She perched on the woman, trying to keep as much weight off her as possible, to keep from being any more of a burden. The girl looked nervous as Kasey mentioned what Bengal claimed about her father.<br><br>"I...I don't know if its true. I didn't...I didn't know that's what Bengal was going to say, why I was up on the platform..." Marion could feel her fear. "I only knew him as a trader, well liked by his customers for fair and honest dealings."<br><br>"No Sir, I've never been in a flier..." the girl still curiously gazed out the windows, before letting out a surprised squeak as he took off and accelerated, falling against Marion, pressed against her for a moment before struggling back to her place. "I'm sorry Mistress."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>14-07-2014, 02:49:58</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion couldn't help but admire the way the Catkin managed to get herself settled on her lap. While she herself had little interest in other females, she could certainly see the appeal. However, at this rate, she'd never secure her husband's attentions.<br><br>She managed to swallow another sigh and let her arms rest around the slave's waist. It would do little to prevent injury should the flyer make any sudden maneuvers, but it would help keep her in place for the trip. <br><br>She gave a nod, dismissing the slave girl's apology, her mind on other matters. She would have to see about this whole Catkin Princess situation. If it were true, they would best not abuse the thing, lest it lead to scandal. However, should it prove false, she would take some great delight in throwing that back at the distasteful slaver and potentially damaging his reputation. It would be a dangerous gambit, of course, but with her connections and Kasey's skills, she was certain they could weather any storm he might cause. She didn't bother to share any of her thoughts as they made their way back to the mansion. He'd never taken an interest in society goings on before, she couldn't imagine that he might start now.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>14-07-2014, 19:08:41</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey did his best to keep it a smooth, gentle ride, keeping a much broader eye out for possible problems - other fliers, birds, even those damned flying rats that popped up a few years back. He'd love to smack whoever it was that created <em>them.</em> As he got close to the house, he suddenly veered up and away, swinging around for a different approach. <br><br>"Sorry about that," he apologized as he pulled in for a slow, careful landing. "I was about to land in my usual method, which probably would have been a bit rough for you two." Once the craft was down and parked, he unbuttoned his belt and quickly scurried around to the other side of the flier. He helped Siena out, and then offered a hand to Marion while his other arm was curled possessively around Siena's waist.<br><br>"Dinner and an early bed for everyone, I think," he said, smiling at Marion but thinking about Siena. His arm pulled her close, and his hand started teasing just below her waist, not quite reaching her sexually sensitive bits. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>15-07-2014, 08:21:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena remained perched on Marion's lap, her brief intrusion on the woman's personal space dismissed with little more than a nod. Her concern about the woman grew - she didn't wish to be a rift between the two of them, especially as, as far as she could tell, the woman had a quiet but quick wit to her, and that kind of mind could make her life...unpleasant.<br><br>The Catkin slipped out of the flier as he opened the side bay, once again showing her remarkable flexibility as she eased her way out before essentially unfolding as she was free of the vehicle. The girl didn't complain as he wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled the pleasure slave close, his hand wandering - she had experienced far worse, even if the slavers had been trying to keep her relatively free from abuse.<br><br>"As you say Sir...dinner and rest would be...nice." The word seemed less than it should be, but she lacked a word for her exhaustion, and the desperate sense of longing for anything resembling a real meal that had settled in her. She wanted to keep her composure. She couldn't break down.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>16-07-2014, 05:16:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion accepted the hand out of the flier, too fatigued from the worrisome day to continue throwing barbs at her neglectful husband. As it was, he either understood and had already gotten the point, or he was as oblivious as ever and it would just be a waste of what little energy she had left. Briefly, she found herself empathizing with the Catkin in regards to the thought of dinner and her bed.<br><br>"As you are now a member of the household, you will, of course, be provided with whatever you require to keep you healthy. More than that, however, remains to be seen." Seeing as Kasey had at least one arm full and unwilling to be treated on the same level as the new slave, she started moving towards the house, and away from the pair, her steps slow and deliberate. "I'll see that dinner is ready and have the housemaid bring a robe for the new acquisition."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>16-07-2014, 05:41:34</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey guided Siena into the house, following Marion. "What room are we putting her in? I know that both Guest bedrooms are open, but are they clean? And... we've got that spare staff bedroom..." <br><br>He argued with himself in his mind, going through his spotty list of advantages and disadvantages for each of the rooms not being as helpful as he expected. "Um... I think the #2 guest bedroom is the closest to our..." He didn't finish the sentence, seeing Marion's distracted nod. <em>She clearly doesn't want to spend any more attention on this than necessary,</em> he thought to himself. <br><br>"Well, then," he said more brightly, looking at Siena, "Guest #2 it is, at least for tonight." He guided her through the house, into the smaller dining area, where the Skinks had already left out three dishes of dinner, still smoking lightly, having been put out only minutes earlier, along with a small carafe of wine, some empty wine glasses, and several glasses of water. <em>The Skinks must have put them out when they heard the Flier land,</em> he thought, and guided Siena to one of the chairs, across from where Marion was getting herself seated. "Don't wait for polite pleasantries - go ahead and start eating. Or drinking..."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>16-07-2014, 05:49:48</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena noticed how Marion seperated herself, guessing that she wanted to disambiguate her stance from the slave girl by her husband's side, but knew she couldn't do anything about that. Their problems, such as they were, weren't something she could change. At least, not yet.<br><br>She smiled at her announcement, nodding eagerly. "Thank you Mistress, that's very generous of you." She also didn't need a robe, but she would appreciate it anyway - while Catkin didn't regularly where much, she had been entirely naked for a few weeks, and some preservation of her modesty would be nice.<br><br>Trailing her new Master into the dining room, she was struck by the comparison between the two of them - he was happy. Excited to have her. Undoubtedly excited for more than having a mind-numbingly expensive Catkin girl trailing him. She paused for a moment for permission to sit, and her expression was agonized, the smell of food driving her insane, before he gave her permission. She sat down, and downed a glass of water in one gulp, savoring the feeling of the cold, pure liquid on her throat before she started eating, clearly hungry, but doing her best not to simply inhale the food.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>16-07-2014, 06:37:01</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion didn't really know if a guest room was the appropriate place for the girl, but at least he wasn't trying to install her into their bed. If he'd done that, she'd have been the one sleeping in the guest room.<br><br>She was only barely seated when the others entered the private dining room. The housemaid hadn't yet had the time to bring a robe, but the new slave didn't seem to miss it as she restrained herself with visible effort until she had received permission to start eating. "Pace yourself," she cautioned. "You don't want to make yourself sick and end up hungrier than you already are."<br><br>Her gaze on her food as she started eating, she was a bit envious of this Siena. She'd been trying for the better part of a year to engage her husband's interest, and all the Catkin had to do was exist. She wished she knew him well enough to know what part of it he found appealing. Was it the fur and tail? Or was it that she was his possession? Not that it particularly mattered; whatever it was that she possessed, it had become abundantly clear that it was a quality that Marion was obviously lacking.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>16-07-2014, 20:39:28</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Once Kasey saw that Siena had no problems eating and drinking, he settled down in his own chair. He looked over at Marion with a quizzical look, almost a smile. "We... don't eat here together very often, do we?" It was an absurd statement, since he hardly ever came out to eat - he tended to grab something simple from the refrigerators before heading into the lab, only surfacing to eat when Marion brought food to him. He'd only sat here once or twice over the entire past year. <br><br>Waiting for her answer, he started eating, enjoying the greater variety than he normally ate... or even noticed. When he was working in the lab, he barely even noticed what he was eating, much less any fine details or flavors about it. He smiled, and ate more slowly, looking at Siena now and then to make sure that she was enjoying the food. <br><br>After several minutes of eating, one of the Skinks came in, holding a small, stylish cake. Kasey saw it coming in, and thought it looked vaguely familiar, but didn't recognize it. After a moment, though, he remembered that it was their anniversary, and realizing that the cake was something for the anniversary, he winced but said nothing. He looked at the Skink a little more closely, trying to figure out if it was Zib or Zab... their names were much, much longer (and nuanced, giving details of their status in Skink society - which had changed when they were hired by Kasey and Marion), but they were fine with humans using a shortened version. He knew that Zib was male and Zab was female... but they looked almost identical to him. <br><br>The Skinks were a race of reptile that the humans hadn't even had to conquer - they were a jovial and friendly species, typically around 4 feet tall, who considered disagreements to be a private matter. Being cold-blooded, they loved the idea of working with a race that could easily alter the temperature around them, and often took on menial jobs for more affluent people. They loved heaters, and hated air conditioning, but were more than willing to deal with some colder areas (like what the humans preferred to be in) as long as they got their warmth, and the idea of <em>carrying</em> warmth-generating devices in their clothing was heavenly. For them, heat not only affected their physical energy, but also their brain power. A Skink was barely sapient when in a Winter snow-storm, but could be amazingly insightful and intelligent when the temperature got over 38C. Kasey had once considered the idea of introducing one to 40+ degree temperature and showing them how to do engineering, but had never gotten around to it. <br><br>And now, Zab (he thought it was Zab, but wasn't quite sure) was bringing out a cake for their anniversary. Kasey could only imagine how badly Marion was going to react... 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>16-07-2014, 21:47:45</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She gave him a glance, her expression neutrally inscrutable. "You don't, no. I take all my meals here, when I'm not out attending other business."<br><br>The cake tier received only the barest of glances as it was placed upon the table. "Thank you, Zab," she said quietly. She'd always believed that the better you treated your staff, the more you would get for your efforts. As yet, she had only once encountered any underling who had failed to do so. <br><br>She had forgotten about the cake. When Kasey had told her that they would be going out, she had arranged with the pair of skinks to have the cake brought out upon their return to the house. She could only assume that when it had been changed to a dinner in, they had sensibly adjusted the plan to serve it as their dessert. <br><br>She felt a brief flash of anger at the sight, but she had been fighting for her husband's attention for a full year, as of this day, and with the acquisition of the comely little slave he'd picked up, she just didn't have the energy to bother keeping it up. She wouldn't be the first wife in her circle to be replaced with a mistress or slave. Although the other husbands had had the decency to wait longer than a year, and had not acquired said replacements on important dates, but what was done was done.<br><br>Of course, it was going to fall to her to see to the Catkin's place. The room that would be hers, her clothing (at least that which she would be wearing while her services were not being engaged), her meals. All in all, she'd gained another column in her duty ledger. She set her fork down, letting Zib know that she was done with the primary course. She had no interest in eating cake, and had barely tasted most of dinner, but there were formalities to be observed and she was <em>damned</em> if she was going to be anything other than polite and proper.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>20-07-2014, 05:51:46</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Siena ate eagerly, but gave her Mistress an obedient look and tried to slow herself down a little bit, trying to force herself to savor every bite. Despite her distraction, her thirst and her desire for food, she understood the tension in the room, even if Kasey might not have. She knew that some of it undoubtedly involved her. Her Master was not disguising his interest in her, but Mistress...had shown no such inclinations. Which meant all her charity, her kindness, was pointed at someone being brought in as a sexual rival. And she also didn't seem to be relieved, like a burden was being taken from her.<br><br>The cake puzzled her, and she remained silent until she had finished her meal, keeping her eyes down. "Is...is there anything else you need from me Master or Mistress? Or may I go to my room?"
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>20-07-2014, 06:24:39</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				As Siena asked her question, Kasey glanced over at her, and then looked to Marion. He couldn't understand why she felt so... <em>cold</em> all of a sudden. Sure, it was their anniversary, but Siena's presence didn't change things <em>that</em> much... did it? <br><br>"Nothing tonight, Siena," he said, still looking at Marion. "We can discuss things tomorrow, after you've had a nice, long comfortable sleep. And another meal, as I'm sure that just one won't really fix the abuse from being at the slavers' den. Marion and I have things to discuss, still." <br><br>After a moment, it occurred to him that she had no idea of the house's layout. He turned and looked at Siena, and gestured toward the kitchen. "Head into the kitchen and ask Zib or Zab where the Guest Room closest to our bedroom is, and you can get to sleep in no time." <br><br>He waited until she left before turning back to Marion again. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>20-07-2014, 07:33:28</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Marion returned his look with one of polite inquiry. The Catkin was his slave to direct as he chose and she wasn't going to interact with the woman more than her position in the household and civility dictated.<br><br>Her shoulders relaxed slightly as he dealt with Siena, dismissing her for the night and actually managing to direct her to where the staff could see to getting her settled. Although that did make Marion wonder why it was that he wasn't going himself. He appeared about as done with his meal as she was.<br><br>Shaking her head, she let the matter go. It didn't really make any difference in his reasoning. She was placing her napkin on the table as he turned back to her. "If it's all the same to you, it's been a long and trying day and I think I would like to take a hot bath before bed, tonight."
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>CopperLily</strong> on <strong>21-07-2014, 06:06:46</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				"Yes Master, thank you."<br><br>The Catkin girl rose, and padded nearly silently out of the kitchen, glad to be out of it for the moment, not wanting to be both what felt like the center of attention and an unwelcome guest. One of the two lizard servants was easy to find, and while it was clear they too hadn't decided how to feel about the new pleasure slave, she was shown to her room with quiet, competent efficiency, and left in the guest bedroom.<br><br>It was a beautiful room, spacious, artfully decorated by Marion's hand - meant for upper class guests to feel comfortable and welcome for long visits. For just her, it was almost decadently nice, and Siena ducked into the ensuite bathroom for a swift shower, not wanting to taint the staggeringly expensive sheets with the dirt and sweat and scent of fear from the slave market.<br><br>Still damp as she stepped out, she slid into bed, and exhaustion dragged her to sleep for a few hours before she woke up again, eyes widening in the vast darkness of the room. It had been the first time she had been alone in...ever. In the slave market, there were always other slaves - weeping, begging - and guards. The sounds of some of them being raped. Before that, it had been her father's cart, the sound of his soft breathing as he slept, the occasional cough of age catching up with him, the noise and smell of their horses, the ambient energy of a camp that never truly went to sleep.<br><br>And now she was just...here. Alone, in a dark, empty space larger than any she had ever lived in. Her heart began to speed, and her mind to spin faster. She was a slave, a pleasure girl, bought by a man who was wealthier than she could ever think of being - had bought her for more money than she had ever seen.<br><br>And his wife...<br><br><em>She hates me. She doesn't want me here. I'm a sex slave for her husband, and a rival to her. And she...seems to run the household. Will run my life, when he doesn't want me. Can invent a thousand petty ways to make my life miserable. She wouldn't do that, would she? Why not? Could you, if you had to see the girl your husband was with...<br><br>I didn't want this. I didn't ask for this. I'd be a good girl, a good slave, but she doesn't want me. I'm alone here. I'll be alone for the rest of my life...</em><br><br>Panic overwhelmed her. She wanted to be somewhere small, somewhere safe. She bundled up the blanket from the top of the bed, and dragged it to a corner, curling up tightly, wrapped within it, and softly started to cry.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>21-07-2014, 06:57:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey watched Siena leave, and then turned his attention back to Marion. "You're doing a good job of hiding your emotions, enough that I almost didn't notice," he growled. "What's gotten into you? You seemed eager enough to buy her - that buying her was a better option than NOT buying her - when we were at the auction, what's changed?" <br><br>Kasey was still a little frustrated from the afternoon - between the arousal from the banshee's scream, to missing the auction he was actually there for, and of course the threat, which had settled itself suitably... "Can you at least TALK to me, for once?" He slammed his hand on the table, startling himself as much as it might startle Marion. "Talk, dammit. We're not leaving this table until we've aired some dirty laundry, and given it a chance to get clean." <br><br>Kasey mentally looked up at what he just said. <em>Did that make sense? I hope she understands it as I meant it...</em>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>21-07-2014, 07:36:19</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Her eyes hardened as she settled back into her seat and she fixed him with a steely stare, frosted over with ice. "Talk to you? <em>Talk</em> to you?!? I've spent the last year trying to talk to you but you've been so wrapped up in your work, in your tinkering that I don't think you've spoken more than a dozen words to me over the course of it!"<br><br>"I've done everything I could think of to get your attention. Intimate dinners that you never came in for. Lingerie that you never saw because you never came to bed or even looked up from your work. I sent you notes. I arranged trysts. I even had a mock awards ceremony set up to honor you that I don't think you even <em>considered</em> attending because it would mean you would have to spend time out of your precious lab!"<br><br>She stood, her anger too great to remain seated. "And then, to top everything off... Today! You acknowledge my existence for the first time in over a month to invite me out. You don't tell me that we're going to be heading to one of the seediest markets in the region, let me dress us and make myself a target, took a two-seater transport when you <em>knew</em> you were going to be purchasing a slave, and while you did at least realize, eventually, what day it was, at no point did you ever wish me Happy Anniversary, instead offering to take me out somewhere and hope that we could get a table, with no idea what you were going to do with the slave you planned to buy."<br><br>"You don't find me attractive? Fine. I've accepted that. I've accepted that you share a bed with me out of convenience, that our marriage is nothing more than a social arrangement, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to be happy that the first time you pay any attention to me is while going out to find a replacement for your bed." 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>21-07-2014, 08:12:45</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				As Marion went through her tirade, his face slid from irritated to confused, and back to irritated and annoyed again. "You've done everything you could think of <em>except TALK TO ME</em>," he shouted. "Dinners, lingerie, notes... I don't remember any of that. And <em>trysts</em>? Isn't that usually something you do with a, a... <em>mistress</em>, not your <em>wife?</em>" <br><br>His anger got him up to a solid shout, at this point. "And a mock award ceremony?" He paused, trying to remember it. "Aside from how incredibly <em>insulting</em> a fake award would be, do you think my ego is so huge that I need <em>strangers</em> telling me what a good job I'm doing? As though the patent payments don't give enough proof that I'm doing something useful?" He paused. "Waaaaiiiit a minute," he said, lower in volume, but still angry. "Isn't that the Stone Mountain thing, back in April?" he asked. "I didn't go to <em>that</em> because I didn't recognize them! I haven't done business with them, that's why I didn't go." <br><br>Leaning back in his chair, he mellowed a little. "All right, I admit that I'm not the easiest person in the world to deal with," he conceded. "But you seem to keep jumping through all these elaborate hoops to get my attention... instead of just <em>talking</em> to me." <br><br>After a minute of silence, he abruptly stood up, pushing the table away from Marion, making it easier for him to walk straight up to her. "As for attractive... why the hell do you think I <em>accepted</em> the marriage offer?" He leaned in and kissed Marion, knowing as he did so that she was probably in no mood for a kiss. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>22-05-2015, 07:04:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Her mouth was set into an angry line as he spoke. He was wrong about that, as well. She had attempted talking to him, but whether she just had abysmal timing or he really was too interested in his work to put it on the back burner for her she couldn't say. All she knew was that she'd done everything she could think of to get his attention and it had all failed. That he didn't remember any of it was no surprise to her. There were times when his tunnel vision was so acute that even pinching him elicited no more than a distracted wave of his hand as if to shoo off an annoying insect. And hadn't <em>that</em> done wonders for her self esteem.<br><br>She had finally worked through how she wanted to tell him all of that, to explain that she <em>had</em> talked to him and that the elaborate hoops were ever more desperate attempts to penetrate that shell of concentration he so often cloaked himself within when he stood and pushed the table to the side. The sudden motion caught her off guard, and she stepped back, her mouth still slightly open from her intention to speak up.<br><br>But that didn't catch her nearly as flat-footed as when he actually told her that he did find her attractive and followed that up with a kiss. <br><br>Once her head stopped reeling she pulled back and slapped him full against one cheek. "That's for not realizing that <em>you're</em> the one that makes it impossible for us to communicate." Then, before he could do anything else she leaned in and kissed him back. <br><br>As angry as she was, she wasn't stupid and she wasn't about to let this opportunity slip through her fingers. They'd have to figure out later what the hell to do with his new slave, but for now he was finally paying attention to her, and only her, for the first time since the honeymoon practically. Technology was wonderful, but there were just some things that it couldn't render obsolete; at least not yet.
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>22-05-2015, 16:08:21</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				Kasey was unsurprised by the stinging <em>slap</em>, but was <em>very</em> surprised when she immediately resumed the kiss with intensity. After a few more moments of the rough and heated kiss, he reached up and grabbed the front of her elegantly-designed dress. He pulled down recklessly, and the sound of a very expensive dress ripping echoed through the room. <br><br>He broke the kiss to move down, and start sucking on one of Marion's now-exposed nipples, while his left hand moved up to replace where his lips had been, covering her mouth and preventing her from protesting. He wasn't sure that she was going to, but he didn't want her complaint about the dress to interrupt him and spoil his mood. As he switched from one nipple to the other, he pushed her back against the table, pinning her in place for what was obviously coming next. <br><br>If Marion had given him a case of blue balls for the sex session he had wanted with the newly-purchased slave, he was just fine with taking her, instead. That's what he'd really wanted, in any case. 
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Stella Maris</strong> on <strong>23-05-2015, 10:50:24</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				She felt him returning the kiss. She'd had a faint fear that he would have rejected her after she'd hit him, but was pleased that he was as willing to continue as she was.<br><br>She was curious as to what his next move would be as his hand moved down. For a very brief moment she had the urge to stop him from destroying the dress, but she quashed it with vigor, eager to let him continue, to escalate the action.<br><br>And he didn't disappoint. Her head went back and her nipple hard as his lips made contact. She was momentarily confused at his fingers against her lips, but the idea of being restricted, even in such an ephemeral way sent her heart racing faster. <br><br>She let him push her back, raising her right leg up around his waist, her heel pressed against the small of his back, her skirt slipping up her legs, exposing the lacy red panties she'd donned in hopes that something like this might happen. She was almost certain that they would be done for the same way as the top half of her dress and not only didn't she care one bit at the loss, she couldn't wait.<br><br>
			</dd>
			<dt class="postheader">
				Title: <strong>Re: Couples Therapy (Top Cat, Copperlily, and Stella Maris)</strong><br>
				Post by: <strong>Top Cat</strong> on <strong>26-05-2015, 08:00:04</strong>
			</dt>
			<dd class="postbody">
				The dress was pulled off with a simple, destructive tearing motion, leaving Marion nude save for her panties and shoes. It was clear that Kasey still considered that too much clothing for what he had in mind, though, as he tore the panties off with the same energy he'd destroyed the dress with. <br><br>An exploratory finger stroking her pussy let Kasey know that she wasn't quite ready, yet. He stood back up and hissed, "You don't say anything - not a word - until we're done. Got it?" <br><br>Marion's firm nod after a moment of hesitation was enough for him to take his hand off her face and slide down, kneeling in front of her to start an exploratory search for her wetness with his tongue. His hands gripped her bare ass firmly, holding her in place, and ready to strike quickly if she should fail his simple demand. His mind briefly noted that he was overdressed, but he set it aside as irrelevant for the moment - he could disrobe soon enough, when it became necessary. 
			</dd>
		</dl>
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