8. My Head's Not Yours, Its Mine, And I'll Take My Fucking Time.
CW: explicit references to slavery, force feeding, literal boot-licking, references to violation of bodily autonomy (non-sexual), fantasy religious stances, extremist fantasy religious beliefs, references to fantasy devils, references to floggings, Evan’s terrible language, usage of ableist language, attempts at conditioning.
Warning: Any opinions held by either Maynard, Evan or Trygve are not my own. They are the characters opinions. Additionally, a lot of issues presented are addressing world building quirks.
A few days crawl by as Evan’s back recovers from its assault. He remains in the little safe room for the first couple of days after the flogging, though the boredom proves to be worse than the actual wounds. Trygve visits frequently, keeping Evan fed and in good company, whilst also keeping the boy updated on how long he can hide for.
Finally, the half-orc enters being greeted by an incredibly twitchy and bored Evan. Trygve has a look of sympathy on his face and an apology in his eyes. “Good morning…”
Evan looks around, as a flash of excitement dashes across his face on seeing this man. Company. Finally. “Did you bring food?” He pauses and his expression falls as Evan sees Trygve’s grim expression.
Trygve pauses with a nod, passing over a bread roll and some cheese, which Evan eagerly devours. “How’s your back?”
Evan shrugs as he eats before swallowing “Painful as shit but… fine... Why...?”
Trygve lets out a long sigh that he’s clearly been holding in. “Because Lord Maynard is asking for your attendance. I- I’m sorry… I couldn’t do anything more… just…” He sighs again, shifting from foot to foot.
Evan’s face falls for a moment, before he pulls his features into an upbeat expression, despite the dread beginning to pool. “It’s not your fault he’s a colossal cunt.”
Trygve pinches the bridge of his nose before squaring up to Evan. He puts his hands, heavily onto the boy’s shoulders. “Don’t say that. I don’t care if you think it’s true or not, saying it will get you beaten again… At. Best. In this place, you must learn not to just blunder forward and say what you want.”
Evan brushes the warm, calloused hands from him. “I won’t say anything. Promise.”
Trygve narrows his eyes, eyeing the boy with suspicion. “Why do I feel like you’ve never not said anything in your life.”
Evan fights back a smirk until his dastardly face betrays him, and he gives Trygve a shit-eating grin.
Trygve holds eye contact with the boy, with both a look of exasperation and some level of quiet amusement. Finally, he relents. Picking up a shirt nearby and tossing it to Evan. “Pull your shirt on and let’s go. Let’s not keep him waiting.”
***
As they make their way out of the small corridors that are clearly only meant for servants and slaves, Trygve’s animated expressions vanish. Instead, they are replaced with a neutral, almost apathetic look. They pass guards on the way to Lord Maynard. They pay Trygve no mind as he pauses and ducks his head to let them pass before continuing to Lord Maynard’s chambers. Evan watches this closely, mimicking Trygve’s expression, which seems to cloak them both as they move to the door of the chambers.
Trygve pauses and knocks.
“Enter.”
Trygve drops back and gives Evan’s hand a quick squeeze. “Don’t get hurt. Please.” He mutters to Evan before vanishing off to complete his own chores.
Lord Maynard is in the process of affixing a belt over a red velvet tunic as Evan enters. “Ah. Good. You are finally here.” He adjusts his clothes and picks up a pile of papers. Maynard looks at Evan, his tone commands attention. “The first order of business today. You are going to scrub these floors until I can see my reflection in them. Do I make myself understood?”
Evan stands straighter than normal and nods slowly, his eyes scanning the size of the room “Yes…. Sir…”
The Lord looks pleased with this response. “I have business to attend to. I expect to see it finished when I get back.” He takes his time to collect a few more things, before striding off through the door, locking it behind him. Leaving Evan stood alone with a bucket of water and a cloth.
Evan looks behind to make sure his new master has genuinely left the room before muttering “A please would have been nice... Prick.” Under his breath. He looks slowly at the cloth, poking at it with the toe of his shoe. He lets out a groan “Head… down. Right… I guess I can’t just duck out of this…” He picks the bucket and cloth up and scans the room until he spots a corner that would be a good place to start.
Making his way over, Evan slowly, gingerly gets onto his knees, wrinkling his nose as he does it. He’s fine with getting dirty, gods that’s been his life for the past six years… but it’s about the principle. He takes the cloth, dumping it and his hand into the water, “Gods above! Fuck me… you couldn’t have made it colder if you’d fucking tried!” Evan pulls his hand out quickly, waving it around to warm it up.
The cloth slowly begins to sink back into the ice depths of the bucket in response to Evan’s yelps.
Evan lets out a long groan before plunging his hand in and grabbing the cloth. He then slaps it onto the floor, beginning to scrub.
***
After a few times dunking his hand into the water, his fingers begin to ache from the cold. The battered skin on his back also complains as he kneels washing the floor. After maybe ten minutes, Evan pauses and stretches his muscles before getting back to it, letting out a groan as he does. More minutes tick by and the boy changes hands. However, it doesn’t take long for that hand to turn white too.
Throughout the next couple of hours, the monotonous back-and-forth motion of scrubbing absorbs him. Evan had never really had a skill for cleaning, but he’d never really needed one. By the time he was eight, he’d already lost the house he’d grown up in. The squat that M, he, and Meg had held up in never really got dirty, just untidy. And they all had an understanding that they all had to clean up after themselves.
His thoughts then drift to M. What would she do in his place? He doubts she would have already been flogged; she’s always been able to keep herself in check. She probably wouldn’t have argued back to Trygve either… just agreed right up until she had an undeniable opportunity to leave. That’s what the rumours about her said at least and… despite M being one of the sweetest, most clever people Evan had ever had the fortune of knowing, he didn’t doubt the rumours one bit. She’d do whatever it takes to get out of a situation like this.
The boy is jostled from his thoughts by the skin breaking on his knuckles. “Fucking bollocks…” Evan grumbles pausing to suck at the stinging skin “Can’t you just keep your shit together for five minutes….?! Please.” He demands from his skin, which of course gives him no answers. Evan sighs and looks around the room. The damp floor glistens in the light from the window. The boy had no idea how long it had taken him, but he was more than halfway done. He gives a smile of momentary satisfaction before he hears footsteps the doors open and His Lordship re-enters.
Fancy boots, covered in mud lead the way in first. They pause as Lord Maynard assesses Evan’s work. He pauses and slowly looks at the boy. “What on earth are you doing?!” He demands.
Evan pauses, not really having expected the anger. “… breathing… before I finish my job… Sir.” He says slowly, fighting the urge to adopt a patronizing tone.
Maynard looks at the room, and then back to Evan. “Do it again.” He says with a hint of disgust as he walks through, onto the wet floor, taking his jacket off and discarding it over a chair.
Evan blinks. Again?? His heart races as the blood pulses in his ears. “I am almost finished cleaning it… Sir.” Evan speaks slowly, keeping his tone level despite his urge to shout and swear.
Maynard stops. He turns on his heel and slowly, agonizingly begins to walk towards Evan. “I told you to clean it again. So, you will clean it again.” His voice is soft, almost like that of a priest in a temple, as he stops in front of the boy.
Evan’s eyes dart between the Lord and the floor. It’s fucking clean. What the shitting fuck does this man want from him?!
Maynard hums, before tutting. He then adopts a tone that you would only use of talking to a small animal or a baby. “I am your master.” He starts, making his words painfully obvious, enunciating every word. “When I say jump. You will jump. When I say kneel, you will kneel. And if I say die…” Maynard takes a deep breath. “Then you will ask ‘What method suits your needs best, master?’ Am. I. Clear?”
Evan looks at Maynard, clenching his jaw before slowly nodding. “Yes… Master.” He fights the need to flip this bastard off.
Maynard smiles. “Good boy. And under my rule, over time, your evil soul will be redeemed. Your work will set you free.”
Evan sets his gaze on the ground near him as he blinks slowly, praying that the Lord can’t see the expression on his face, or read his thoughts. “Yes…. Sir…” Gods above, this man is fucking mad. Evan had interacted with enough of the priests in the temples to the gods both before and after he’d ended up on the streets. Some had been a bit quirky but they’d pass out free food, Evan didn’t have an issue with them. This man though. This man is fucking nuts.
“There we go. You’re learning. How about you put that into practice. Hm?” The patronizing tone seeps into each word he says, making them sickly sweet.
Evan pauses. No, he fucking doesn’t want to put any of this into practice. Piss off, he desperately wants to say, but the tender skin on his back begs him to keep his mouth shut. Evan says nothing, staring dead at the floor to make sure he’s giving nothing away.
A muddy boot is placed in front of Evan. “Clean it.”
Evan pauses, before reaching for the cloth.
“No. I don’t want to have this floor seeped in muddy water. I want you to use your tongue.”
Evan freezes, his nose wrinkling at the thought before he looks at the boot. Running isn’t an option, not really. Nor is the tantalizing idea of dumping the bucket of cleaning water over this man…
The foot is tapped impatiently on the ground. “I don’t have all day.”
Evan slowly shuffles closer to the boot, on his hands and knees. The shadow of his lord blocks the light from the window. He gingerly leans over the boot, taking a second to pull his courage together before licking the well-worn leather.
The mud is warm, and the texture is foul. It’s slimy with bits of grit in it that get between Evan’s teeth. The taste is difficult to place. Salty and coppery together with a strong bitterness that makes Evan want to gag.
“I want that clean. Or I’ll be walking the rest of it around my floor.”
Evan pauses, pulling back, his face flushed from frustration and the humiliation. He looks to the bucket where he can spit his mouthful out.
“And swallow.”
Evan glares at the boot as the order comes. His lips turn down in revulsion, as he feels his stomach begin to protest. No… this… this is better than a beating… if he can play this right…. Maybe he can do enough to slip under the radar properly… swallow his pride. That’s all that this is. Swallowing pride. He takes a deep breath as the muddy mouth vanishes. The boy finds himself coughing and gagging as he feels it slide into his stomach like a rock. He gingerly brings himself closer to the boot again, fighting back bile as he swallows. And again. Continuing until the leather is damp with spit and the mud is gone.
“There. And that’s where devil-worshipping scum like you belong. Isn’t it?”
Evan breathing slowly through his nose, jaw clenched, nose, close to the toe of this man’s foot. He doesn’t dignify it with a response.
“That wasn’t so difficult, is it? Boy.” The shadow of Lord Maynard looms closer and a hand brushes gently through Evan’s hair. It toys with the strands for a moment, like one would with a pet. Evan bites into his cheek to stop himself from lunging at the man, as the sensation of his hand in Evan’s hair makes his blood run hot.
Finally, both the hand and the presence vanish, as the Lord stands, moving to pick up a different jacket from the large wooden wardrobe along a wall. “Now. I want this clean. No talking back next time or I’ll make you actually regret it.” And with that, he continues his business in the room for a few moments, before leaving.
The door shuts. And Maynard’s footsteps lead away.
As soon as he’s certain, that the Lord has gone, Evan spins around and spits into the bucket of water, making sure his mouth is as clean as he can. He then turns and looks at the door bristling as he does. “Cunt.” He growls with venom, making sure to keep his voice low.
Evan gets to his feet, fighting the urge to kick the bucket across the room, he instead brings his shoe into the nearby wall. Once. Twice. Before slowly placing his forehead against it. Letting his breathing slow and the frustration leave him. Instead, all that is left is a feeling of disgust. At the cunt who holds the power. At himself for letting his body and pride be used to hurt him like that.
Evan takes a deep breath. Calm. Slow. Play the long game. He came out of this without a scratch after all. In some perverted way… this is a win…
Trygve is right, not about giving up but about how he should work. If he's going to play this at all… he might as well play it smart.
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AN: I hope you are enjoying my angy boi as much as I am writing him! I plan on pulling together both a picrew of him, at some point and maybe doing some art. Though currently all art I have of him is post what is being written here, so once my wrist stops hating me I'll do that!!
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