Sebastian put his arm around Brenn's waist, holding him close. He wasn't letting Brenn out of his sight.
"Let's go get you a proper collar," he said softly. There would be no way for Brenn to take it off. Sebastian turned, pulling Brenn along with him whether he wanted it or not.
"N-no. . .p-please." Brenn pleaded quietly, but it didn't seem to phase the other boy, either that or he could care less about what he had to say. "I may belong to you, but I won't wear a collar, that's too far." He said under his breath, just loud enough for Sebastian could hear it. But again, it seemed as though the other man wasn't going to listen to him, and Brenn didn't want to be beaten again like how he had been earlier. He was a stubborn boy, but he wasn't a fool..
"You'll do whatever the hell I tell you to," Sebastian said, holding Brenn close still. Sebastian was basically carrying Brenn by now, so he just started to actually carry him, holding him close. Brenn would have to deal with it. He headed into his own room, going to the closet. He pulled out a large metal shackle, specifically for Brenn's neck. There was a large lock on it.
When Brenn saw the shackle he began to panic, N-no, no, no no no no no no no noo no n-no. He normally hated to show his fear, or how scared he was, but this, this was going too far, he just couldn't deal with this. This brought back all those repressed memories, the reasons why he hated to be touched, the reasons he hated to get too close to anyone, the reasons why he felt like he couldn't trust anyone. All of the emotions going through him and all those memories swirling through his head caused Brenn to nearly lose it. Tears began to stream down his cheeks and he struggled against Sebastian's grip again, "P-please. . .don't, please. . .I-I won't ever leave, again. . .I-I anything, except that, p-please. . ." His words were barely making sense to him, but he continued to plead with the man hoping that Sebastian might stop his actions, and maybe just go a bit easier on him, or just not use that as a collar at all.
Sebastian's arm tightened around Brenn, holding him close. This wasn't normal, even for this situation. Just what was wrong..?
"Anything?" Sebastian said again. "You'd be my lap dog, you'd have to sleep and eat and stay with me at all times. Would you choose that over this?" Sebastian set the thick metal collar down, holding Brenn carefully in his arms.
Brenn nodded furiously, among his tears and shudders of pure terror, "A-anything besides that, sir." He added as his tears slowly began to stop and he moved a little bit to look up at Sebastian, his eyes red and bloodshot from crying to hard, "I-I would sir, anything over that." He said quietly, looking away from Sebastian, doing the thing he had done before, where he would avoid the man's gaze, "T-thank you sir." He said quietly, wanting more than anything for this to be over and for that collar to be gone and out of his sight.
This truly was strange. Sebastian put the collar away, moving to sit down on his own bed with Brenn in his lap. He picked up a tissue, lightly wiping at Brenn's tears.
"All you have to do is behave," Sebastian murmured. "And I won't hurt you, okay? Good boy…"
Brenn didn't particulary care for the option given to him, but as he had said before, anything was better than that collar, anything that he could do to keep himself from that level of imprisonment and that level of degradation he would do. He nodded to what the other man said and moved a little closer to him, feeling slightly more secure. It almost seemed as though the old brenn who had been cheerful and happy and headstrong had been replaced with a more meek and timid one, almost as if the boy had finally been broken, as if Sebastian had gotten what he had want which was a pet. Brenn had no more intentions of running away from this place, no more intentions of going home or anything. The boy that had been speaking and playfully teasing the other boy earlier was no longer there it seemed and it didn't seem like he would come back for a long long time.
Sebastian had thought this was what he wanted. He'd been trying to gently manipulate Brenn to this before, after all. But now that he had it… Sebastian felt empty. Why did it hurt to see Brenn like this? Sebastian leaned his head on Brenn's, so very close to apologizing for this, for everything. Then, he finally did.
"I'm sorry," Sebastian said softly to Brenn. "I'm so, so sorry…" Sebastian pulled back a bit from Brenn. He didn't like to be touched, right?
Brenn smiled a little bit at him, as to say that it was alright. He felt just a bit scared to actually say something to the other man, but he knew that it would be rude to not say anything to the man, and he might get in trouble for doing that, "I-its a-alright. . ." He said quietly, his voice soft and mellow, "Please don't be upset." If anything, it wasn't anything that Sebastian had done though, all his past memories from his childhood to his life before this had sort of put him in shock for a little bit. Also, the fact that he had thought that he might have been beaten to death only a short hour before was still imprinted in his mind. But, he could tell that Sebastian was upset by this change, so he tried to force a smile for him and pushed himself to sit up, still wincing in pain a bit. The spots were he had been hit, or thrown against something were now aching, but he wanted to just please Sebastian, even if it was only for a second. "I-I'm alright. . ." He said quietly, still trying to smile for him, and he ever so slightly moved closer to him, trying to comfort the other boy.
Sebastian shook his head.
"No, no," he said softly. "I'm sorry, Brenn, I-I let my anger get the best of me, I hurt you. I- I actually tried to break you, Brenn…" Sebastian felt horrible. Why did he feel horrible? He had done this hundreds, thousands of times, but… this was different.
"B-Brenn…" Sebastian saw the wince, saw how much his actions had actually hurt Brenn. He stood again, holding Brenn to himself as moved towards the bathroom. There must be something in there to help Brenn feel better.
Brenn shook his head, as they moved to the bathroom, "N-no, I'm alright, you don't have to help me. I'll be alright. I can just walk them off." He said hastily, not wanting to bother the man anymore than he had already, "You did a nice thing for me, and I had to spoil it." Brenn said quietly, trying to get Sebastian to stop, but knowing that the boy wouldn't, they both knew that those bruises or whatever had really happened to Brenn was something that the boy couldn't possibly walk off or anything, but he still wanted to believe that. "Please, Sebastian, I know you want to help me, but I'll be okay. I promise."
"That doesn't mean I should have hurt you like this, Brenn…" Sebastian set Brenn carefully on the cool bathroom counter, already looking for something to help. He eventually grabbed a couple cold compresses, wrapping them before lightly pressing them to the bruises forming to help with the pain.
"Please, Brenn. I-I'm the one who did this to you… please, please let me be the one to fix this."
Brenn sighed shaking his head a bit, "I-I, you're not supposed to help me, you're supposed to do what you're supposed to do which is whatever a guy like you does to a guy like me, I disobeyed you, I hurt you, I betrayed you, so you acted on instinct, although you should know that I never would have turned you in, at all." He winced when he felt the cold compress press against his skin and he tried to hide the pain that he was feeling, "Please sir, I-i"ll be alright, I-you have things t-to attend to anyway, that must be more important than me."
"Brenn," Sebastian said softly. "Right now, there's nothing more important than you to me right now. And there's no way in hell I won't help you right now." Sebastian's touch was gentle against Brenn, so much different than before.
"I'm not going to do that to you ever again, Brenn. It doesn't matter how hurt I am, I'm not going to try to do the same to you ever again."
"No, y-you can't do that Sebastian, people will come back expecting to me half dead and completely yours, you doing this, that'll change everything," Brenn mumbled, not trying to stop the other boy. He knew his arguing was futile and that Sebastian wouldn't listen or even care about what he had to say, but he was still going to try. "Sebastian," he started lowering his voice a bit, "If anyone ever found out about this, they may not even want you as their leader anymore. They won't trust you to do what you're supposed to do if you were willing to help what they think of as a toy, a worthless pet." He sighed, not wanting to have to say this, but he was just hoping that Sebastian might just stop if he did and that he wouldn't get angry again. "You need to believe them. I am just a pet to you, nothing that truly matters, and you need to treat me that way." Brenn mumbled, now looking up at Sebastian. He slowly reached up and moved Sebastian's hand off him, "Please, I can take care of myself for now."
Sebastian had tried to ignore Brenn's words, he really had. He faltered the more Brennan continued, though, hands shaking just a bit as he let them be pushed away.
"B-brenn…" There was no way in hell Sebastian would hurt Brenn again. He couldn't do that. But… perhaps this was enough. Enough to convince his friends. He closed his eyes a moment.
"We could keep pretending," Sebastian said softly. "They'd never have to know…" They'd need to lay it on thick, Brenn doing every little thing Sebastian said when his friends were around, but they could do it.
Brenn looked slightly confused, "Could that really work again? Would they buy that?"
((I know it's short, so sorry))
(It's okie! As long as it furthers the plot!)
"I… it wouldn't be like before. We'd… it would have to be what I had said earlier. You'd have to do *everything * with me, always ask for my permission." Sebastian opened his eyes, looking at Brenn.
"Could… you handle that?" Sebastian kept his hands at his sides, watching Brenn a moment before looking away. He just wanted Brenn to be safe.
Brenn nodded a little bit, a sad smile on his face, "I-I could do that. . ." He said quietly, fixing the cold compresses on him. "I-I'd do what it takes, sir." He mumbled a bit, moving off the counter of the sink, "I-i'd do anything." He gently patting Sebastian's hand, "M-may, I go back to the l-library?"
Sebastian watched Brenn, nodding just a bit.
"I- yes, of course," Sebastian said softly. "Do… you you need anything else?" He asked. He wanted to help Brenn, to keep him safe. He'd do everything he could to never hurt Brenn again.
Brenn nodded fixing his shirt a bit, "N-no, I'm alright. . ." He said softly, then he got an idea, "I uhm, do I have to sleep in your room now?" He asked quietly, knowing the answer already. "I-if I do, should I start moving my things here then?"
Sebastian looked down a moment.
"Just at night," Sebastian said softly. "You're room is still yours. We just… can't afford to have anyone see otherwise." Sebastian put his hand on the back of his own neck, still not looking at Brenn.
"I'm sorry."
Brenn nodded, "O-okay. . ." Then he stepped forward and hugged Sebastian gently, then out of instinct he gently kissed the boy on the cheek before pulling away. "T-thank you." He said softly before stepping away. "I really appreciate this." He didn't think that this was possible, or that Sebastian would actually want to help him. It was odd in a way, and Brenn found himself wishing more and more that he hadn't run, and that he had just stayed with Sebastian that day. Things would be so much better right now for him, and he wouldn't be in pain either, or be feeling so lost.
Sebastian hugged Brenn back, his touch light and cautious. He didn't want to hurt Brenn, to touch the injuries he himself had inflicted. He was surprised by the kiss, but he didn't show, he couldn't show it. He hated his inability to show what he was feeling in this moment.
"I…" Why was Brenn thanking him? Sebastian was the reason Brenn was going through all of this.