“Blaine?” Nick calls. “Blaine, one of the house slaves is here. Sebastian is summoning you.”

Blaine sits up and rubs his eyes, waking slower than usual.

“Blaine?” Nick knocks again, and Blaine winces.

“I’m up,” he calls back. “I’m coming.”

He rises and heads to the door, opening it and smiling sleepily at Nick.

“Please let them know I’ll be out in a moment?” he says. “I just have to go brush my teeth and get presentable.”

“Yeah, I’ll tell him,” Nick says, eyeing Blaine strangely. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Blaine answers automatically. “Just groggy. I’ll be okay in a minute.”

“Okay,” Nick replies uncertainly. “If you’re sure.”

“I am. Thanks.”

Blaine stumbles to the bathroom and gets himself ready as quickly as he can, quickly throwing some cover up under his eyes when he sees dark bags beneath them. No one in the house is at their best after last night, but it wouldn’t do to show up to Sebastian looking old and tired.

He’d only gotten to sleep in the early hours of the morning, close to the time he normally wakes up, and he might as well have just stayed up. His dreams were full of dread, old and new, and he’d woken from a clear memory that he’d spent years trying to suppress. And he’d been largely successful.

Until Kurt.

But he can’t think about it now. Sebastian is waiting.

And not just because of all the conflicting emotions that he elicits. Yes, Blaine has spent every night for the past week aching and hard and filled with the urge to run to the next room and fulfill all of his fantasies about pale skin and being the first to draw moans from Kurt’s pretty mouth. But beyond that, he’s also spent the past week holding off another with, Blaine is sure, the same fantasies.

Sebastian has not been patient. Every day he asks for progress reports, and Blaine has been delaying him as much as possible. He’s lied every morning and every night, allowing Sebastian to believe that Kurt has gotten no further than learning how to give a blowjob.

“What’s taking so long?” Sebastian asks one evening. He pushes away his dinner and sips at his wine, his frustration evident in his face.

“The boy is delicate, Master,” Blaine blatantly lies. Kurt is the strongest person he’s ever met. “I’m afraid if we push he’ll be useless.”

“Do you care about this boy?”

Blaine freezes for only a moment.

“I care about your property, Master,” he replies, keeping his eyes on the wine glass as he refills it. “It’s my duty.”

He is met with silence. When he turns to look at Sebastian, he can see that he doesn’t entirely believe him.

“Well,” Sebastian says, “if you care so much about my property, you will hurry him up. Otherwise, I might grow impatient and decide to take what I want and train him like the rest of them. Am I understood?”

“Yes, Master,” Blaine says, unable to say anything else.

Sebastian uses him that night, and Blaine feels like it’s a punishment. Sebastian is far too rough, bruising him with fingers and hip bones and leaving marks all over the back of his neck and shoulders. Just before he comes, Sebastian starts leaving handprints all over his ass, hitting him hard and quick and spilling deep as Blaine clenches around him in pain. The next day, he can barely walk for how sore he is, and he knows his time is running out.

He might not be able to lie much longer.

The truth is, Kurt has progressed, and at an alarming rate. He’s learned, with the aid of a pillow, the best techniques for frottage. And against his own fist, he’s mastered rimming. The only basic thing Blaine hasn’t accomplished is moving Kurt on to penetration--though not for lack of Kurt trying.

It’s Kurt himself who has wanted to move at an even faster pace. Blaine isn’t entirely sure, but he suspects Kurt still just wants to get it all over with. That, and possibly the fact that Kurt has taken to the work.

Blaine isn’t only tempted by their lessons.

Every night he lies in his bed, completely incapable of blocking out the sounds on the other side of the wall. Every night, he hears breathy sighs and high moans, starting off slow and soft but growing louder and harder as time passes, and Blaine can hear it all. He can only lie there, Kurt’s voice piercing him, stirring things in Blaine he’d long buried, filling his head with fantasies that he could all too easily fulfill, if he were willing to risk everything.

He is feeling too many things, allowing himself to spiral out of control. And he can’t afford to do it--not if he wants to keep himself and Kurt safe. He can’t let this go to the place it went with Jeremiah, no matter how much his body and his heart are telling him they want it. His mind remembers best what the consequences are, and he has to do his best to keep that in the forefront.

But his mind is outnumbered, and it feels increasingly like a losing battle.

If only Kurt wasn’t so...perfect. Blaine was lost the moment the slave dealer dropped Kurt’s hood, but now that he knows Kurt, now that he’s Kurt’s friend and privy to all the wonderful things about Kurt, it seems to be only a matter of time. He can fight it with everything that he is, but everything that he is wants Kurt so badly. He can’t keep resisting, not without losing his mind.

But he can’t.

He knows the other boys notice something different about him. He is happy and peaceful whenever he’s around Kurt, but the moment he’s not he falls into brooding, scolding himself for being so besotted by someone when he knows better. He’s always tired, too--his duties to Sebastian continue, and then on top of that he’s been up late training Kurt and then listening in frustration and agony as Kurt touches himself. And then half the night is wasted in self-hatred, and it repeats.

And it’s only going to get worse.

“I need to ask you something,” Kurt says one evening, sitting in the kitchen with Blaine and eating dinner. Kurt has taken to waiting for Blaine to eat, instead of starting before he gets back like the other sometimes do. Blaine appreciates the consideration, even if it makes everything so much harder.

“Go ahead,” Blaine says, chewing a bite of cherry salmon and wiping some sauce from his lips.

“Okay,” Kurt says, taking a breath that Blaine recognizes as him gathering up his courage. “I think that I am ready to...go further.”

The phrasing hits Blaine strongly. In that moment, he can imagine a life where they met normally, and were free to love without the danger and restriction of slavery.

They would’ve moved slowly--friends first, until they knew everything about each other, and then boyfriends. They’d take all the time they wanted to discover each other, until finally they became lovers, in their own time. And maybe Kurt would have said that, brought up that he wanted more of Blaine, to go all the way, to take that step together--

“Blaine?”

“Um, yeah,” Blaine says, snapping out of it. “I mean...if you’re ready, Kurt, we can start...talking about what comes next.”

“I am ready,” Kurt says. “I know Sebastian isn’t going to wait forever. And...if I could have chosen, and lived a life where I could pick my own pace, I would’ve taken a lot longer. But this is my life now. And I can handle it.”

And then Kurt looks up at him bluntly.

“I saw you limping the other day,” he says. “Was it because of me?”

Blaine tries to brush it off.

“Sebastian was just enthusiastic,” he says. “Sometimes--”

“Don’t lie to me,” Kurt snaps. “Did you forget that I see you naked all the time? It looked like he mauled you. I saw the handprints, and the bite marks. He never does that to any of the other guys.”

“Kurt, you don’t have to do anything until you’re ready--”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Kurt insists. “I am ready. I’m not going to sit around while Sebastian abuses you in my place.”

“It shouldn’t be about that, Kurt,” Blaine protests. “I’m doing this so that you can go at your own pace--”

“This is my pace, Blaine.” Kurt looks at him sternly. “If you don’t start training me on more, I’ll do it myself, and who knows, I might end up hurting myself. I’m so inexperienced, after all...”

He trails off, and Blaine gapes at him.

“You’re really playing that card?” he asks.

Kurt shrugs and smirks, smug.

“So?”

Blaine sighs in defeat.

“Fine. We’ll start after our bath.”

Kurt smiles in triumph, rocking back and forth on his feet and pulling his lips into his mouth. Blaine rolls his eyes.

“You don’t have to gloat.”

They finish up their food and, after Blaine preps Jesse and sends him off to Sebastian, they head to the bathhouse, waving to Hunter, who is fixing his hair in one of the mirrors. Blaine is still shocked at how easily Kurt strips off and slips in, apparently learning to be unashamed of his body.

They’re only there for a few minutes before Nick and Jeff join them, and it’s obvious from their sated smiles and languid touches what they’ve just finished doing.

Hunter walks by just as Nick settles back into Jeff’s arms.

“Could you two be any more disgusting?” he scoffs, not waiting for an answer as he strolls out of the room. Nick and Jeff roll their eyes almost in tandem, and Blaine laughs quietly at it.

“Can I ask you guys a question?” Kurt says hesitantly.

“Sure,” Jeff says. “You should know that Nick is a grower, so if you’re wondering if that’s the only reason why I’m with him, the answer is yes--”

“No,” Kurt says, blushing and cutting him off as Nick elbows Jeff in the side. “I wanted to know--well...”

“Go ahead, Kurt,” Nick says. “Jeff is shutting up now.”

Jeff grins and nods, kissing Nick’s ear and looking at Kurt expectantly. Kurt seems to take heart from it.

“Okay. You don’t have to answer this, but...I was wondering how you two...handle it,” Kurt says falteringly. “Doing what you do for Sebastian when you’re...together.”

“You mean you want to know how we have a relationship when we have to fuck other people?” Jeff asks matter-of-factly. Kurt nods. “Honestly, it’s just the lifestyle. It takes some adjustment, but in this situation it’s just easiest to learn that love and sex don’t necessarily happen at the same time. With just us, they do, but if we’re with Sebastian or his friends...it’s just our bodies.”

“Jealousy is a killer,” Nick adds. “I don’t actually like that we have this job to do, but it’s reality. I trust that Jeff still loves me, even though we have to be physically intimate with someone else. It’s not about that. People have open relationships all the time in the normal world, too, and if they can, we can.”

“Plus it can be fun,” Jeff continues, squeezing Nick’s waist beneath the water. “Sometimes he calls us in at the same time. And you saw what it was like at the party. It’s not always bad, especially when we get to do it at the same time.”

“But you still...enjoy it, sometimes?” Kurt asks. “When it’s just one of you?” When both of them nod, Kurt frowns. “And that’s okay with you? That you...do that?”

Jeff shrugs. “Like I said. It’s the lifestyle. Most of the time Sebastian doesn’t care if we come or not when we’re with him, so it’s simple enough to just hold off and wait till we’re together again to take care of any...excitement.”

“I just don’t know how you could do it,” Kurt says honestly, shrugging and leaning back against the wall of the bath.

“It takes getting used to,” Nick says. “It’s not always easy. But it’s the price we pay to be together. If you loved someone, wouldn’t you do what you could to be with them? Even if the situation wasn’t perfect?”

Blaine refuses to look at Kurt’s reaction. He keeps looking at Nick and Jeff, at how simple and easy they are with each other, how relaxed and happy. And he ignores it when Jeff drags his eyes over to him from Kurt, as though he’s following Kurt’s gaze.

No. Blaine won’t look.

“Well, thanks for being honest,” Kurt says. “I’m pruning; I’m gonna get out.”

Blaine turns and watches as Kurt slips out of the tub, water streaming down his pale body as he pads over to the towels and wraps one around himself, not even bothering to cover with a robe before he starts drying off and heading toward his room.

“You do like him.”

Blaine closes his eyes and shakes his head, biting his lip.

“Nick, drop it,” he says.

“No,” Nick shoots back. “Not a chance. Look, I’m not dumb, okay? We all know you’re the one keeping Kurt away from Sebastian, and we all saw what he did to you for it. You’ve never gone that far for anybody before.”

“I know, I’m sorry--”

“No, don’t apologize,” Nick says. “Nobody expects you to take the fall for us. We’d never ask that. And everyone knows that you shouldn’t, because this life is about survival, and you do what you have to. But you’re volunteering to get hurt for him. That’s not just a little bit of a crush, Blaine.”

“And what do you want me to do, Nick?” Blaine throws his hands up and shrugs. “Do you want me to be with him? I already have orders from Sebastian not to touch him. And I’m pretty sure I got punished because Sebastian thinks I care about him. He’s jealous of him already, and I’d be putting us in an impossible situation if I even looked at him differently.”

“What else are you going to do?” Jeff cuts in. “Are you going to sit back? Just...watch, forever? Are you gonna let Sebastian take something that could make you happy?”

“I’m not gonna risk getting sold or killed and having Kurt go through what I did with Jeremiah--”

“This is totally different, Blaine.”

“How?”

“You’re not Jeremiah,” Jeff says. “And Kurt isn’t you.”

“But Sebastian is still...possessive,” Blaine replies. “He actually told me I wasn’t allowed to fuck him.”

“Well, you know what’s going to happen, then?” Nick asks. “You’re going to keep doing your duty. Every single day, the same thing, over and over. Except then you’ll have to watch Kurt with Sebastian. And he’ll have to watch you. And you’ll stay friends, and you’ll support each other, but you’ll always wish you could have more. And then one of you will get sold, and you’ll never have the chance again.”

Blaine opens his mouth to protest, but Nick cuts him off.

“No, you know it’s true. You don’t think we think about the same thing?” He clutches at Jeff’s arms, strong around him. “When will Sebastian get tired of us? You really think he’s going to sell us to the same place when he does? Or at the same time? You think we don’t know that? We do. But we’re together anyway because for today, we can have it all. Everything we need to make us happy. Because we can have each other.”

He glares at Blaine, and Blaine suddenly feels very small.

“You really think you can deny that to yourself? To Kurt? If you two want to be together, fuck Sebastian. You deserve to have this one thing for yourself.”

“There are too many reasons I can’t, Nick,” Blaine says sadly. “I can’t risk it. And besides, I can’t take advantage of him. I’m his mentor, I’m so much older than he is--”

“What does that matter?”

“--and he trusts me,” Blaine continues. “He trusts me to keep him safe. That’s what I’m going to do. Being with him--no matter how much I wish it could happen, going for it would not be keeping him safe. If we got caught...Nick, you have no idea what the consequences would be.”

“What did Sebastian do to you?” Nick asks. “I know about Jeremiah getting whipped and sold and I know he punished you, but what did he do?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Blaine says with finality, “because it’s not going to happen again.”

He turns and gets out of the bath, ignoring Nick calling after him as he leaves the room without another word.

Blaine blinked a few times, swallowing. He had to think fast. But Sebastian beat him to it.

“Do you love me, Blaine?”

Kurt opens the door in nothing but a pair of briefs.

“Come in,” he says, stepping aside and shutting the door behind Blaine once he’s in. “So...what’s the plan?”

Blaine turns to Kurt and looks at him seriously.

“First, I need to make sure that you’re absolutely certain about this,” Blaine says. “I need to know if you’re just doing this because you’re worried about me, or about Sebastian, because if that’s the reason you’re pushing to go faster, it’s not worth it. It’ll only hurt you in the end.”

“Blaine, I’m a lot tougher than I look,” Kurt says evenly. “I don’t like being a slave. I don’t like how it happened. I don’t like that I have to basically give up my dreams of a perfect fairytale romance. But there is no point in fighting this anymore. I want to do my best to live my life and not have this hanging over my head. So please. Stop making a big deal of it when I’m trying my best to move on and deal with it.”

He looks completely sure, and he has every right to feel the way he does. Blaine doesn’t have any more excuses.

“Okay,” he says. “Then we’re going to start by letting you finger yourself, and we’ll have you wear the smallest plug for an hour. But that’s it for tonight, okay? We’ll move up to the next plug when we’re sure you’re okay with this one.”

“Okay,” Kurt agrees. “So...should I just--how should I do this?”

“It’ll be most comfortable on all fours, most likely,” Blaine says. “At least at first. You can figure out what’s best for you when you’ve tried it out a few times, but generally speaking, hands and knees is best.”

“And I just...go on in?”

“No,” Blaine says. “Have you ever touched yourself there before?”

“Only a little,” Kurt admits, blushing. “And only since you suggested it that first night.”

Blaine nods, clearing his throat as he tries not to think that he’s the cause of Kurt touching his own ass. There’s work to be done, he can’t get distracted right now.

“That’s a good place to start,” Blaine suggests. “After that, when you’re relaxed, you can try slipping your finger in just a little bit, and then you just keep going, as long as you’re comfortable. You should probably keep it to one finger tonight, two at most--and make sure you use lots of lube.”

“Are you--are you leaving?”

“I was going to,” Blaine says. “It’s...I mean, it’s kind of intense, and I didn’t know if you’d want--”

“It’s not like you haven’t been around me doing intimate things before,” Kurt reasons, in an overly formal tone that gives away his nervousness. “And you will be again. Besides, I think it might be best if you can be here for...any questions I might have. Just in case.”

Blaine takes a deep breath, biting his lips as he considers. The only problem he has with Kurt’s request comes from his own desire to stay. It’s probably not the best idea because of it. But Kurt’s right, he might have questions--it’s not like Kurt’s had time to research or anything. Blaine’s his only source, and Blaine will have to do it for him one day.

“Of course I’ll stay,” he says finally. “If that’s what you want.”

“Please.”

Blaine can’t say no to that.

“Um, so if you want to...to get ready,” Blaine says. He walks over to Kurt’s bedside table and pulls out the drawer, removing the items he’ll need. “There’s lube, and wipes, and...you have your box, right?”

“Yes.”

Blaine turns around and sees Kurt stepping out of his briefs, and folding them up. He quickly turns back around.

“Sorry,” he says. “I’ll wait, if you--”

“Didn’t you tell me it was okay to look at you once?” Kurt asks, a tiny laugh in his voice. “It happens, Blaine. It doesn’t have to be awkward.”

“I’m sorry, Kurt,” Blaine says, turning around. Kurt is sitting on the edge of his bed, totally naked, looking up at Blaine openly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel weird. I was just trying to give you what privacy I could.”

“I might as well get used to this,” Kurt says frankly, and Blaine smiles at him.

“You just let me know if you get uncomfortable with anything, okay?”

“I am perfectly capable of speaking up, Blaine.”

“Of course you are,” Blaine agrees. “So what would you like me to do? Do you just want me to sit and watch and help as you need me, or...?”

“That works,” Kurt says. “Just...can you talk me through it? Like you did before?”

“Yeah,” Blaine says. He sits down in the desk chair, hunching down and leaning his elbows on his knees, his hands fiddling a little between them as he watches Kurt kneel on the bed, facing his pillows.

“Okay,” Kurt breathes, grabbing the lube and uncapping it. Blaine notices that just a little bit is gone from the bottle--he’s been using it.

Don’t think about it.

“Use plenty,” Blaine reminds. “Don’t worry about messing up the sheets--we can grab a house slave before bedtime to change them.”

Kurt nods, applying plenty of lube to his fingers, spreading it between them with little rubbing movements before reaching back and uncertainly rubbing them between his cheeks.

“Get as comfortable as you can,” Blaine says, and Kurt fumbles around for a minute before he ends up leaning down on his elbow, his forehead resting on his forearm, his back bowed and his ass tilted high as his hand moves slowly behind him.

Blaine shifts the chair so he can see better, his entire body tightening at the sight of Kurt spreading his legs more, one shiny finger circling his rim.

“How does it feel?”

“Good,” Kurt grunts, pressing in just a little with the tip of his finger. Blaine watches as a shudder runs through Kurt, his hips twitching forward just a little bit with the pressure.

“Just relax,” Blaine whispers soothingly, his eyes glued to Kurt’s gentle ministrations. “Keep touching, let it feel good.”

It must feel good. As Blaine watches, Kurt’s cock swells and fills until it’s hanging heavy between his legs, flushed red and run with veins. Blaine tries and fails not to stare at it and imagine it spreading him, filling him--

“Ah!”

Blaine can only be glad that Kurt’s face is buried and not looking at him when Kurt cries out, because his own hips buck in sympathy when Kurt slips his finger inside himself, his back bowing harder, a flexible curve that sends his cock bobbing below him as he raises his hips, seeking more from his fingers. Blaine bites his lips against the noises his throat is straining to make as he watches, his hands shaking with the need to touch.

“Good,” Blaine says, when Kurt starts moving the finger in and out, just a little bit, and he’s sure he can speak without it coming out as a moan. “Go deeper little by little. Let yourself take it.”

Kurt is panting, his skin flushed and sweating by the time he’s plunging the finger in and out freely, and Blaine is almost afraid to stay with the way his body is reacting. His pajama pants are completely tented out, his cock harder than he remembers it being in a long time, and he periodically has to press the heel of his hand into it to keep himself in a semblance of calm.

“How--” Kurt begins, cutting off in a tight moan before he gathers himself enough to continue. “How can I find my...my prostate?”

“Crook your finger toward your belly button when you pull out,” Blaine says. “It shouldn’t be too far in, and you’ll feel--”

“Oh, fuck.”

“--that,” Blaine finishes, breathless as Kurt strokes in again at the same angle, his lips releasing sweet cries that pierce Blaine’s armor like nothing else he’s ever experienced.

“When--when do you want to put the plug in?” Kurt asks unsteadily, slowing his finger but not stopping as he presses his face harder into his arm, his shoulders tensed.

“Are you ready?” Blaine asks. Kurt nods shakily. “Do you want me to do it?”

At another nod, Blaine stands up, tucking his cock into his waistband as well as he can and pulling his shirt down. It’s not perfect--the bulge is still very clear, but it’s not sticking out like a salute to Kurt’s desirability. He grabs the plug from the box and coats it in lube.

“Okay,” he says gently. “Take out your finger. Slowly.”

Kurt does as he’s told, groaning as his finger pulls out. Blaine watches a little too closely at the way his hole clenches around nothing, waiting for something to fill it again.

Don’t think about it.

He places his free hand on Kurt’s flank, gently petting it in a comforting gesture.

“I’m going to put the plug in, okay?” Blaine says. “It’s about the same width as your finger, so it’s not that big. I’ll take it slow.”

He rubs the tip of it around Kurt’s pucker, the quake of Kurt’s muscles vibrating beneath his steadying hand. He tries to keep it still and firm, but he’s sure he’s quivering in tandem, far too drawn by the way Kurt arches and pushes back, eager for the plug to penetrate him, his cock dripping onto the bed, his balls drawing up tight.

“Here we go,” Blaine rasps, hoping Kurt doesn’t notice his tone, as he slips the plug in gently.

Kurt takes it readily, bearing down onto it until it’s all the way in, his rim closing around the little flare at the end, the shining black and glittering colors of the base stark between his flushed cheeks.

“Does it feel okay?”

“Yes,” Kurt says, his voice eerily calm.

Blaine looks over to see if he’s okay.

Kurt is looking at him. His head is lifted just enough to turn, and his eyes are locked on the straining of his cock against the soft fabric of his pants.

“I’m sorry,” Blaine says immediately. He draws back, leaving the plug safely inside Kurt as he stumbles back. “I’m...I’m really sorry, Kurt. I’ll see you tomorrow.”