Alexi hardly hears what the vampire has to say as a short, low, but intense level of anger passes into his system, igniting the feelings that had receded for now into a white hot flame. He lets out a small whine, his fingers digging into Joseph's shoulders, but he says nothing. The anger is fleeting, but the chain reaction inside his body is enough to make him need Joseph for support. The pain rolls over him, crashing into him and leaving him quite lost. When at last him mind begins functioning again he slowly sinks down to sit at the table again. He doesn't look at Erik, but he doesn't appear upset in any way.

[i]'I know he did not mean to do that, and I do not blame him for feeling that way. I only spoke as I know Joseph would actually take seriously. If I had tried to tell him he has all the rights I do, at least in this house, he would have baulk, I know him. . .'[/i] Sighing softly he goes back to eating, his eyes almost closed as he works his way through the molten lead that is Eirk's negativity.

Joseph turned back to Master Alexi and took his hand, supporting him and guiding him back to sit down at the table to eat. It immediately clicked in his mind what had probably caused the reaction from Erik. [i]The phrasing Alexi used. He probably found it offensive. He thinks I'm like the others. He doesn't realize that I deserve this[/i], he thought. 

“I'm not apologizing for that,” Erik muttered, which only caused Joseph to shoot him a rather annoyed look.

Chuckling lightly Alexi nibbles at his greens, “And I would never expect you to. You are free to feel your feelings, and are not at fault for them.” His voice is soft, almost a whisper. “Everyone is allowed to feel, because feelings are a natural part of being alive. . .I wonder what that makes me?” He falls silent, getting the feeling that such flighty and philosophical ideology is not Erik's cup of tea.

"A freak?" Erik teased, picking back at his food. "But an enviable one. I'd trade my life for yours any day. Lacking strong emotions has a lot of perks, right along with living in the lap of luxury." Joseph found himself glaring at Erik again, but merely pursed his lips.

“Maybe. . .”Alexi murmurs, looking up at Joseph. “About before, about how it would hurt you. . .I. . .can not understand it, but I thank you for letting me know. It will hopefully help me start puzzling out this enigma of emotions rolling around inside of me.” Reaching up a hand he pats Joseph's arm. “Not that I ever would replace you. You are unique and irreplaceable in my eyes.” He smiles and goes back to eating, looking over at Erik. [i]'I wonder what else I could possibly say to set him off. After all, I was trying to be nice there. . .'[/i]

Joseph smiled weakly, but there was a brightness behind his eyes that he had not allowed himself since Masters Mois and Alexi had been children. “Thank you, Master,” he replied, bowing as usual. 

When both Erik and Alexi were finished eating, Joseph took the trays and left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

“If you're such a kind master who loves him so much, then why does he act like a freakin' lost puppy?” Erik asked.

As soon as they are finished eating and Joseph is gone, Erik poses a question he knows is a long time coming. Not bothering to move from his spot on the ground the human stretches, curing and uncurling his toes. “Joseph is one of the first hard broken slaves, and while he has never spoken much on the experience, I have researched my family history. The man who broke him lost a child to Joseph, so I imagine the breaking was beyond brutal.” His voice is still soft, but now out of sadness for his beloved foster father. “And since then he has been broken, over and over again. Five hundred years of breaking will leave one rather broken, do you not agree?”

“I suppose you're right,” Erik replied, shivering a little at the idea of anyone remaining a slave for so long, regardless of what he had done. “I can see why you couldn't help him. But why can't you give him your antidote? At least start the healing process?”

Looking down Alexi curls up, wrapping his arms around his legs as he tucks them against his chest.
“Joseph will not accept freedom easily, and I will not order him to take it. He will be free, in his own time.” He looks at the floor, not really seeing it. “As to why I have not started the healing process. . .I need him like this. If I had started long ago trying to help him, he would not have been what I need him to be.” He glaces at Erik. “I need the perfect slave at my side right now, not a free thinking vampire. At least, not another one.”

“So you've let him suffer that much longer, just for the sake of your plan,” Erik retorted. But then he paused for a moment and turned back. “What do you need the perfect slave for?”

“To be my hand and follow my will. To be my tool where I need one and to follow my orders without question should I order it.” He keeps his eyes down, not wanting to see Erik's face as he reveals the colder side of himself. “Right now, even with permission to speak his mind, if I give him an order, he will follow it. Even if he wants to fight it, he can not do it for long, and he cares about me, so it is unlikely he will even try in most things. Mois may be devoted to me, but it still sometimes takes hours to talk him into certain things. Joseph, he will accept orders without them being explained to him.” Letting out a soft sigh he settles his chin on his knees. “Joseph is an extension of my will.”

“And you need him badly enough that its worth leaving him in that kind of pain, just to get what you want from him? I imagine he would follow you either way for a time, so his broken obedience is truly that important?”

Alexi smiles sadly. “Yes.”

Erik nodded, “Okay then. There's no point in fighting you on it. It's not like I have any choice here either. That being said, I've seen what potion breaking does to people. This collar is incredibly humane in comparison. And from the sound of it, Joseph will have a long road to recovery ahead of him, even after he takes the antidote.”

Alexi nods, yawning. Glancing at the door he murmurs, “I think I will go check on Riley now. Elaria will have your computer done by tomorrow morning so I will have Joseph bring it to you after I review it with her.” Uncurling he stands, stretching, looking to Erik to see if he has anything to say before he heads out. He is glad that the emotions coming out of Erik are mild, even if they are generally negative. [i]'I think I shall spend some time before I fall asleep trying to work through some of this jumble'[/i]

The vampire nodded and sighed. “Back to work, I suppose,” he muttered, looking back at the piles of papers with disdain. “I think I'd make a terrible slave. I'm much too lazy for the job,” he joked, glancing over at Alexi before sitting back down at the disheveled desk.

Alexi chuckles. “That is not what would make you a horrid slave Erik. . .” he murmurs, heading out and locking the door behind him. Once more he walks into Riley's room to find more plant growth than when last he was there, and the glow of the flowers surrounding the little critter the only source of light in the room. The M'Tinak glances at Alexi when he peeks into his little nest but instead of grumping about it this time he seems to accept it as a sign that the human simply wants to make sure he's okay.

In a sleepy whisper he mumbles, “Wanna go outside. . .”

Alexi sighs softly, “If you want to go out tomorrow, I will take you, but if I lose sight of you I shall have to put you to sleep, okay?” Riley grumbles but agrees, conking back out before the door to his room even closes. Once back in his own room Alexi goes over to his bed quietly, flipping the lights off after he's sure Erik has his head light, and settling in comfortably. At first he doesn't want to even glance at that dark pit inside of him, a part of him reasoning that soon enough it will go away and all he'll have to deal with is the minute by minute feelings of the vampire when they are in the same room instead of carrying around this painful void, but with a half smile to himself in the dark he knows he's going to at least try.

As he brushes over the mass here and there, like a child petting a dog doesn't know if it will bite or not, he feels the sting of self loathing, of righteous anger, and the low down ache of being unsure of oneself. It is this last one that befuddles him the most. He knows what it is, he understands it's normal for most people, but in his mind it is pointless. [i]'Not believing in one's self is a great way to set yourself up to fail. I know I am insanely lucky that my life has worked out the way it has, but I can not help but think that I must be doing something right other than just being lucky. . .'[/i] Having enough to think about now Alexi lets himself drift away, his breath smoothing out into a low faint rhythm.

~*~*~*~*~

Panting heavily at the end of his run Mois looks up at the mansion from the back garden. Nearby in the pool the new arrivals stare at him with wide eyes, having watched him pass several times already that evening. The disowned master of the house stares intently at the second floor, towards the blank stretch of wall he knows was put up after their father's death so Alexi could have complete darkness as he sleeps. [i]'He said if he was ever to be attacked in his sleep again he'd rather die never knowing his killer's face. . .That man messed him up so badly. . .Hurt him. . .So much. . . .'[/i] With a long sigh that makes the nymphs duck a little lower into the water Mois walks away, taking up a leisurely pace to get back to his own little dark room and after a hot shower, head to bed.

Elaria turned away from her computer with a scowl on her face. [i]This SHOULD be working. I can't find what would possibly be causing that bug... I wrote it as a security browser plug-in, but I don't see what I could have messed up[/i]. Groaning, she turned to her new friend who was standing behind her, staring over her shoulder intently. She knew full well he was teaching himself to read English, but she also knew she did not have time to properly teach him at the moment. This task for Master Alexi was proving difficult enough. 

Taking a short break, she turned to her new lover and grinned. Taking his hand, she hugged him deeply and clung tightly to him. [i]Perhaps some quick fun will relax me enough to help me fix this[/i], she reasoned,  her smile turning a little mischievous. Within five minutes, the pair had transformed and disappeared into their underground home.

In contrast with his statement about himself, Erik worked through the new information quickly. Then he began drafting a list of missions he needed to plan and other information that would be required for each one. It was about an very nearly dawn by the time he finally dragged himself to the bed and allowed himself to nod off.

~*~*~

Joseph looked over his own documents and began drafting the schedules for the next week. He found several candidates who might not mind taking just a few extra hours of his more menial work for now. In the past, he had always put the most on himself, and added in a minimum of 20-30 hours of cleaning or yard work, just to be sure he did not appear “superior” to the other slaves. But starting this next week, he independently chose to delegate that to several other slaves, so that he could have more time to sleep and help Master Alexi with any other problems that arose. It was just a matter of determining who could take the shifts.

Only a few hours after Erik nods off Alexi wakes with a light noise, rolling about under his covers. He hisses lightly at the sting from his wounds but he does his best to keep it down just in case the vampire wishes to stay sleeping. Once he is fully stretched and awake he crawls out of bed, snatching up his phone to check his schedule and biting back a groan as he sees he has to leave the house today. Crawling slowly out of bed he uses a few slightly scented oils in lieu of taking a bath, as he is not really filthy at all, and heads to his wardrobe. After a few minutes he picks out a [url=http://www.gentlemansemporium.com/store/media/002654/002654_01.jpg]more subdued outfit[/url] than usual and puts it on slowly.

Making sure to stay quite he glances at the vampire from around the open door of his wardrobe and smiles softly before heading out to meet the day. [i]'Or at least my breakfast'[/i] he muses, making his way slowly down the stairs. And towards the dining room. His feelings are rather subdued for the moment, his mind on the matter at hand of breakfast and meeting with Elaria afterward. He comes in just as Mois' meal is placed before him and with a slightly startled look the middle aged shape shifter hurries off to get Alexi's. The master of the house simply smiles and gives his brother a hug before taking his seat across from the shorter male. The two share a comfortable silence, one of soft understanding they have when there are others around.

Breakfast is a quiet affair and once the food is all gone from their plates the siblings share one last embrace before Mois heads out and Alexi heads up. Once in his study he smiles as the drake is already waiting for him. Her own smile is not one she normally wears, and in fact he's does not recall ever seeing it before but as he recalls his drake lore he decides against asking about it. Elaria notices the way he drops his gaze a chuckles. As soon as the door is closed she's on her feet and setting up the laptop on Alexi's desk, patting his arm as he passes. Her face lights up in a very recognizable smile now and for the following hour the two of them delve into all the facts and figures, her doing some last minute tweaks to the functions. Once it is all figured out Alexi praises Elaria for her magnificent job before texting Joseph that he can pick it up and deliver it.

“Unless he's a master hacker, your rebel won't find a way around my programming. But just in case he does try something, I have a few magical safeguards in place, including one that will alert me if he's making a serious and dangerous attempt to circumvent the program. Minor attempts and snooping won't alert me, because honestly, I wrote it figuring that he would try,” Elaria commented once she had finished her edits.

“What does the rebel have to do with this, Master Alexi?” she asked curiously.

Nodding happily at her forethought Alexi settles back into his chair rather than sitting on the edge of it as he had been doing throughout the entire discussion. He glares at her slightly for using that particular word which causes her to smirk sheepishly at him. “My guest is being far more cooperative than initially anticipated and due to this cooperation I am able to move forward with this side plot of mine a bit more quickly than initially predicted.” He sighs softly, steepling his fingers in front of him. A concerned expression crosses Elaria's face however she stay silent, wondering if he has anything more to add.

[i]'I can tell he's been having some major ups and downs recently, the signs of it all over the mansion and reflected in his ever present right hand vamp, but it's not like the whole thing's come crashing down. That would have had much more noticeable results'[/i] she muses silently, leaning up against his desk.

In a very soft voice he says simply, “I am sharing the experience with him Elaria, and his has my quite out of sorts sometimes. . .”

She is shocked to say the least, ready to deck him as she knows he's nowhere near the best candidate to “Share” in such an experience, but instead of that she simply sinks her head town on to the desk and bangs it a few times. An unintelligible noise comes from her throat which he's come to recognize as “Idiot” in drake and he smiles wide, as she is the only one with the guts to call him that aside form his brother.

“Yes, I know, not the smartest thing to do. . .” he murmurs, smiling at the top of her head since it's all he can see while she bangs her head a few more times.

“You can't handle the emotions of another, Master Alexi. Your mind is not accustomed to it. In your natural state, you have the emotional range of a teaspoon. And I'm not sure that its the best way for you to spend your last -” Elaria cut herself off. “Was it the only way to get him to cooperate?”

It was just then that Joseph knocked lightly on the door and entered the study to retrieve the laptop.

Alexi smiles gently. “No, not the only way, but most definitely the most humane.” He looks down at his hands, no shame in his voice as he says, “I could have tortured him by drawing it out, telling him nothing, and just getting it done the way I intended, but this. . .” He chuckles. “And I see you give me less credit than I give myself. I at least think I could fill a tea[b]cup[/b].” He smiles at the drake. “It may be the second most unpleasant thing I have ever been through, but I am enjoying it none the less.”

Elaria is about to respond to this, trying to wrap her head around that last statement, however just then there is a knock ad the door opens. She looks over at Joseph and watches as Alexi snaps the laptop shut, handing it over to Joseph. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the vampire knows likely more than she about this situation and for a moment she considers yelling at him. However after a moment her anger vanishes, toward Joseph at least. [i]'He's the perfect slave. He also loves Alexi a lot. He's already in enough pain over this, I'm sure'[/i] So instead she gives him a sympathetic look and gestures to Alexi with her eyes before rolling them. “This guy, huh?” she asks playfully, knowing full well she's likely not to get any real honest answer.

Joseph took the laptop in his arms and bowed, just as Elaria was speaking to him. But he could only allow himself to grimace slightly towards her. “I cannot speak ill of my master,” he muttered. However, something about the way he spoke those words definitely implied agreement with the sentiment.

Elaria grinned, turned back to Alexi, reached across the desk, and took his right hand in both of hers. Her eyes closed and her grin was gone in an instant. “Powerful, even by most creatures' standards,” she muttered, gritting her teeth slightly. “So much underlying pain, and he's not even feeling particularly strongly right now. Minimal proximity, and its only the second dose. You are very brave to suffer this, just for his trust, Master Alexi.” [i]And I know Joseph is keeping a close eye on this. Poor dear, having to watch his son go through this hell. As if their lives haven't been hard enough already.[/i]

Alexi chuckles at the little exchange between the drake and the vampire, making sure to give Joseph an extra smile so he knows he doesn't mind him agreeing with her. When Elaria reaches out to him he almost pulls back, not needing her knowing just how much he's being affected by Erik's input. He looks at her hard for a moment before sighing and allowing her to take his hand. [i]'She knows my resolve. She knows this will not affect the plan. All she can do is glare at me disapprovingly'[/i] He smiles at her honestly, tilting his head to the side cutely.

“It is for more than that now. I must say, one of my less calculated moves, however the only danger here is to myself, and I am willing to put up with the bad here if it will help this all get done sooner.” Her eyes flash in sadness for a moment but then she nods firmly. Of the two people who know what's coming, she is the one that actually agrees with him most. She approves of what he's planning, even if she will be quite sad to see him go. Pulling back her hands she rolls her eyes once more before taking her leave of him. Turing to Joseph he smile lightly and waves that he should take the laptop to Erik now.

Once the vampire is also gone Alexi drops his head to the desk, riding out another wave of negativity before dragging himself up to Riley's room to check on the little guy. The little guy greets him in the usual manner and as soon as Alexi can sit up again he stills. The light grin on his face fades as the M'Tinak looks at him seriously. “What is it Riley?” he murmurs softly.

“You smell different, something changed. Smelled it last night, but I was sleepy.” He mutters, leaning in to sniff at Alexi's face. Alexi brushes the boy's hair back with a smile and nods.

“Yes, something changed, but it was not bad.” He pauses as Riley glares. “Alright, it was and is bad because it hurts, but the ends and goal are not a bad thing.” Riley huffs at this but accepts the answer. Soon he is dragging the master of the house over to a new set of flowers that have begin growing along the top of the now rather lopsided bureau in one corner. After praising it's beauty however Alexi has to leave the little guy, promising him once more to bring him outside. “We shall have a picnic with Elaria and her new friend.” Riley squeals happily and goes over to a patch of ferns to tell them the good news. To most people this would look crazy, but as he knows the relation between M'Tinak and plant life he can't help but just find it cute.

Uwin has the car ready when he reaches the garage and as he slips into his seat Alexi texts Elaria that plan.
-I am going to take the M'Tinak out back for a picnic today and I want you there. I need you there just in case. Even with a sleeper collar and his trust, the call of the wild beyond the wall may be overwhelming. Bring your friend if you like.-
The following hour is spent getting to the new slave device shop he is suppose to be inspecting today, the trail of cars after him a few choice slaves who will be helping him install security strips. Made at home they have a double purpose, but for now they will help the workers feel safe from attack. Even after the missile attack there is very little change in Alexi's stock as there is always a need for slave devices. This particular store will be selling the fashionable and tasteful stuff used on slaves that are dragged around in public, stuff that blends with slave outfits or even normal clothing.