calmness is your enemy
title: calmness is your enemy {pet au}
author: himawarixxsandz
rating: nc-17
pairing(s): himdae
summary: he was drunk, rather tired, grumpy and irritated
warning(s): kinkfic, master/slave relationships
a/n: NO JUDGING ALLOWED BC I ALR JUDGED MYSELF
Himchan was not his soberest when he acquired Daehyun.
He was rather drunk, rather tired, rather grumpy and irritated at the entire world for sending him to the coast for a set of council meetings with the usual island ambassadors as was the duty of the firstborn prince while the king was still alive. He was even grumpier and further irritated by the fact that, aside from his usual servants and guards, he was friendless on this journey as Yongguk was held down in the capitol by his own duties as the kingdom’s general.
On the last night of the week, Himchan, slipped out of the send-off party, brought along one manservant and one guard, and decided to walk about the port city’s nightlife. He shielded himself with a cloak and had the other two men do the same, drunk as he was he had enough sense ingrained in him to know never to travel like a prince unless he had the number of servants and guards a prince should keep about him for safety. He was drunk enough, however, not to have remembered to shed the gold and jewels on his neck and fingers, and supposed he was fortunate not to have been robbed that night.
They wandered around for at least an hour, the ocean breeze whipping through Himchan’s hair as he heard the tide slowly rise in the distance, before Himchan finally found a decent-looking pet shop and lowered the hood of his cloak as he stepped through the doorway. It was middle class at best-nothing like the shops Himchan would normally frequent back in the capitol, and naturally, the pets this shop offered were nothing like the palace pets at court Himchan and Yongguk would use at parties.
But for an inebriated, weary, bored, stifled prince on a business trip without his best friend at his side, they were enough. The owners of the shop fluttered around him, faces red as they bowed and bowed and bowed until he waved them off brightly and cheerily asked whom was available for him to spend a few hours with-as he couldn’t stay long and needed to return to the manor shortly.
The female owner clasped her hands together, flustered, and immediately began waving her hands for a line of scantily clad pets-a mix of male and female, light-haired and dark, to begin parading in from the back rooms. They were all collarless, naturally, and Himchan pursed his lips as he took them in one by one. They were all reasonably pretty, but, for no reason even his sober self would be able to explain today, his eyes simply wandered past the line being shown off to him. Instead, the prince’s gaze meandered into the crowds of pets milling behind them, craning their necks in an effort to catch sight of the king’s eldest son-Himchan’s eyes caught and locked in on a head in the corner, nearly completely hidden by the pets surrounding him.
“Who’s that?” Himchan slurred, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to jump to get a better look. He swayed on his feet when he came down and his manservant grabbed his shoulders to steady the prince.
The owner blinked. She followed his gaze. “That?” she echoed unsurely. “Oh-your Highness-you don’t want him.”
And in Himchan’s intoxicated mind that somehow made absolutely certain that he wanted whoever this pet-he-couldn’t-even-really-see was. “Bring him to the front,” Himchan crowed, throwing his fist in the air, as he swayed so violently this time that his manservant and his bodyguard had to grip him by the underarms to keep him from falling.
The owner visibly sighed, and then gestured for the other pets to part. “Daehyun,” she snapped, “come out here.”
Himchan folded his arms while he waited, and in a moment, there was a young man, a few years younger than the prince himself, standing at the front of the small gathering of pets. He wasn’t dressed as scantily as the other pets-rather, just poorly. His hair was unkempt and falling nearly over his entire face, bare arms scrawny and reedy, tan skin looking burnt rather than glowing with oils as the other pets did, and the look in his eyes was unimpressed and insolent.
“Has this one even been trained?” Himchan’s manservant said, blinking with a grimace.
“No,” the owner said wearily, “it would be a waste of money to send this one to a trainer.”
“Does anyone ever use him?” Himchan’s guard asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Drunkards with hardly a coin in their pockets,” the owner shrugged. “And even then, we felt as though we were cheating them.”
Himchan puffed out his chest, hands on his hips. “I’ll take him,” he said proclaimed cheerfully. He looked around to the owner. “How much?”
She stared. “Your-”
“Don’t,” he held up a hand. “I’m the prince.”
The stare didn’t end. Her eyes merely began to bulge. “Your highness, if you insist on this one for the night, I have no choice but to give him to you free of charge. I couldn’t possibly ask you to pay to use him-”
But Himchan blinked. “I’m not using him for the night,” he explained slowly, as if she was the one who had five too many flutes of champagne in an effort to drown out the Lord of Salas’s ramblings on potato oils. “I’m purchasing him.”
This time, it was his manservant who took him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes in alarm. “My lord,” he said, squinting, “perhaps we should come back here at another time when you are-”
“How much?” Himchan continued, oblivious and determined, as he shoved the man away with one hand and patted the owner’s shoulder with his other.
Her mouth dropped open.
There was an ungodly sort of silence that fell amidst the entire shop.
“Very well,” Himchan clapped his hands. “I’ll set the price myself-five boxes of gold should be sufficient, I think.” He nudged his manservant. “Have five boxes of gold sent down here tomorrow morning-no later than an hour after sunrise.”
His manservant merely stared at him.
Himchan frowned. “Aren’t you going to write it down?”
“I-yes,” his manservant exchanged glances with his guard, “yes, of course, your majesty.” At the same time that his manservant brought out a scroll from the flaps of his cloak, Himchan faced the owner and Daehyun. “This scroll will have the royal seal so if my servants forget, you may come to the manor and demand payment,” he said to her amiably. “I wish to take my pet now, if that’s agreeable. Unless you so very much preferred to have him sent to me once you receive the gold.”
The owner glanced from manservant to guard and back, before finally looking at Daehyun and then to Himchan. “No,” she said faintly, “no-you can take him now.” She gave the pet an unceremonious shove towards the prince. “He doesn’t have any belongings-just what he wears.”
“Mistress,” Daehyun suddenly spoke, voice smooth and flowing, simultaneously boyish and low, the coast’s accent light on his tongue, “I don’t-”
“Is he objecting?” Himchan’s guard narrowed his eyes. “So, you’ve just sold the prince not only an untrained but a misbeha-”
“Do you have a collar here?” Himchan asked lightly. “Just a temporary one I could put on him until I might have one made once I return to court.”
The owner went behind a desk pushed against the wall for a moment, reemerging with a worn, black leather collar with a simple buckle clasp. She jerked Daehyun roughly by the arm, placing the collar around his neck-an ill-fit-and handed the pet over to the guard to pull by the D-ring. “Would you like me to have it returned?” Himchan asked, cloaking himself as Daehyun seemed to struggle in the guard’s hold.
“No, your Majesty,” the owner’s voice was still painfully faint. “Keep it.”
He shrugged, still drunk enough that he was oblivious to the way Daehyun was snapping at the guard-insisting that he could walk on his own, that he didn’t have to be tugged, that he wouldn’t run away. “Well,” Himchan said, waving goodbye to the stunned and shocked pets still staring frozen at the prince and his new purchase, “farewell, friends.”
The party had mostly ended by the time they returned to the manor, and Himchan bid his manservant and guard goodnight at the back entrance. He opted to drag Daehyun upstairs to his room on his own, and whether or not Himchan was stronger when he was drunk-brute strength-or whether Daehyun went willingly, Himchan to this day wasn’t sure of. He just remembered that by the time he and his new pet reached the guest chamber that the prince had been staying in for the past week, Himchan was feeling more than just a little sleepy and sick.
He let go of Daehyun’s collar, leaving the pet standing by the locked door, and began to undress himself-shoes, socks, pants, waistcoat, shirt, undergarments-and Himchan just didn’t have it in himself that night to put on any sleepwear even if the maid had already set it out. He didn’t even feel like washing. He didn’t even notice Daehyun already sitting down on the edge of Himchan’s bed. The only thing for Himchan’s eyes at that moment was his own pillow and how woozy it was getting in his line of vision.
“So,” Daehyun said, as Himchan collapses onto his side on the bed. The pet looked down at him. “You’re the prince.”
Himchan pulled himself across the bed, struggling to reach his pillow with minimal movement. “Mmf,” he articulated, grabbing one of the wooden posts and bodily dragging himself higher on the bed (almost there).
When he finally reached the pillow, his head dropped down on the blessed feathery softness, and while his vision was blurring, he did remember seeing Daehyun flopping onto his stomach, thighs spread, ass raised. “I suppose,” Daehyun said flatly, “you should get on with it.”
Himchan nodded into the pillow sleepily, patting Daehyun’s back once before closing his eyes and snoring.
The next morning, by some miracle, in spite of the throbbing in his head, Himchan woke up early enough on his own without the maid having to bang on his door-without the maid having to call his manservant and break down his door and pull him out of bed by the legs. It was the day they returned to the capitol and Himchan, at the very least, had packed two of his five trunks. He never lost memories when he was drunk, but they were usually hazier than they should be-leaving out details of his thought process. He remembered enough, however, that he wasn’t too surprised to turn and see the fruits of last night’s labor sleeping soundly beside him.
He wasn’t surprised at all actually.
Himchan’s surprise didn’t stem from Daehyun’s actual presence as much as it was from the fact that Daehyun, his pet, was sleeping in his bed.
Even the best of pets, the most well-behaved, well-trained, obedient, beloved, never slept in their master’s bed-not on a pillow, not beside their master, not like a lover. At the most, a good pet slept at the foot of the bed or on a lowered bed beside the master’s. A new pet like Daehyun-one that needed bathing and grooming, Himchan wrinkled his nose-should, by all means, still sleep obediently on the floor.
And on that note, Himchan unhesitatingly rammed his foot into the back of Daehyun’s knees, rolling the pet off the edge of the bed and onto the floor with a thump. Unsurprisingly, Daehyun scrambled awake at that in alarm, sitting up and whirling around to face the prince-face irritable and half-awake. “Have you gone mad?” Daehyun snapped.
Himchan rubbed at his temples. He didn’t have time for this-they were to be at the carriages by noon, and the sun was already high in the sky. He also didn’t have the energy or patience for this with the pain running all through his head. “Shut up,” Himchan said. “You’re the one who’s gone mad-sleeping in your master’s bed and talking back to him.”
“You passed out on me, Master,” Daehyun accused, and the title was tacked on to the end as a scathing remark rather than an honorific.
Himchan’s eyes narrowed. “So if your master’s unconscious-if the crown prince is unconscious-that gives you the leisure to do anything you please, does it?” he said.
Daehyun shrugged, still glowering right at Himchan’s face.
They glared at each other for a good minute before Himchan shook his head irritably, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. “Get ready,” he hissed, “I’ll deal with you when we get back to court. Until then, you shut up and get yourself down to the carriages. And fucking behave.”
Daehyun merely gave another shrug, eyes fading from the glare and appraising Himchan coolly instead as he stood up and left the room, slamming the door behind him carelessly. Himchan was left sitting on the bed and rubbing the sides of his head once more, wishing that the carriages weren’t to leave so soon-or that Himchan didn’t have so much packing left to do-that way, he could have had time to go try and find the shop he’d bought Daehyun from and return him.
Himchan wouldn’t have even demanded the money back. That amount of gold was nothing to the future king. Himchan just didn’t want to have to return to court and admit that he drunkenly bought possibly the worst pet in the entire kingdom.
By the time Himchan had finished packing, sent down his trunks with the servants, and washed and dressed himself, he’d heard a fair amount of shouting and screaming from the courtyard below. There was no surprise at all for the prince to find Daehyun held in the arms of two guards, expression cool as can be as he faced two maids nearly in tears. Himchan pinched the bridge of his nose, bid the guards to let go, and once again, had a manservant yank Daehyun by the collar into Himchan’s carriage.
The majority of the journey was Himchan attempting to sleep off the ride and Daehyun flatly interjecting some rude and crude comment about what Himchan would do to him once they reached the palace, much to the irritation and embarrassment of the three maidservants riding in the same carriage with them. Regardless of what Himchan did to silence him, Daehyun refused to be silent, and even with the pressing threat of Himchan’s bodyguards and manservants surrounding him, Daehyun didn’t seem fazed.
He seemed to know that Himchan wouldn’t have any of them actually hurt Daehyun because Himchan would never do that to a pet.
Himchan had never had to hurt a pet because no pet should ever be this horribly behaved.
The first thing Himchan did upon stepping off the carriage and onto the courtyard of his manor was fling himself into Yongguk’s arms. He’d expected no less of the general than to take a break from court and military duties to see Himchan arrive back at the capitol. He was mildly surprised though to also see Junhong waiting on the steps of the prince’s manor as well. It was only a short walk from the main palace to the crown prince’s quarters, but the second prince was in the midst of the heaviest of lessons these days and Himchan understood, having gone through that period himself, that Junhong wasn’t allowed much free time.
There was banter as the servants who had remained to take care of the manor came out to help the servants who had accompanied Himchan on the journey. There was talk of gifts Himchan had brought back for Yongguk and Junhong, and for his lady cousins at court that he would most likely be seeing within the week for a dinner. There was conversation, and it was all interrupted-all went to hell-when Daehyun stumbled out of the carriage, bare feet stepping slowly over the courtyard’s gravel and grass as he made his way to Himchan’s side lazily.
Yongguk and Junhong’s eyes flickered to the collar, and their expressions contorted.
“Brother,” Junhong said, confused.
“Cousin,” Yongguk sighed, comprehending.
“I’m hungry,” Daehyun announced, folding his arms, weight leaning on one foot as he shook his tangled hair out of his eyes.
Himchan held back the urge to cover his eyes and groan. He opted instead for a simple explanation of, “I drank a bit too much at the party,” before waving his hand at Daehyun. “So I bought a pet.”
“Forgive me if I don’t see how one leads to the other,” Yongguk said dryly. “How much did you give for him?”
“More than I should have but not enough for it to be of any significance,” Himchan said, grabbing Daehyun’s collar again and shaking him. The pet was glaring a little too hard at a startled Junhong. Himchan saw Daehyun’s hand twitch up, as if to hold Himchan’s hand and yank it away.
“You paid five boxes of gold for me,” Daehyun snorted, and Yongguk and Junhong’s eyes widened-whether at the price or at Daehyun speaking out, Himchan didn’t really want to know. “Not even the best pet at that shop is worth that absurd amount, you drunken halfwit.”
Yongguk and Junhong’s mouths fell open.
Himchan closed his eyes and shook the collar in his hand again, wishing that it would throttle and alarm Daehyun, but all that it really brought about was a raise of highly amused eyebrows on the pet.
The embarrassment was fifteen times greater at dinner, and served only as a prediction of the mortifyingly frustrating weeks that followed. At the first dinner, with thankfully only Himchan, Junhong, and Yongguk present-along with handful of servants-Daehyun had sat at the table, and nearly refused to be budged until Himchan had the largest guard he could find intimidate Daehyun onto the floor, and even then, it was only begrudgingly and without much actual fear.
Sex for the first time with Daehyun was good enough in that Daehyun was good, and he didn’t try to bite Himchan’s cock off once it went in the pet’s mouth. He still needed to be kicked off the bed, still needed to be told that he couldn’t just rut against Himchan or touch himself to come before Himchan gave him permission to, still needed to be yelled at for walking around and rummaging around Himchan’s chambers as though it was his own room, and still needed to be reminded to put his collar on after washing and sleeping.
It was more exhausting than the orgasm was worth, and there was something not right about Daehyun having orgasms and Himchan only getting a single orgasm out of the entire ordeal.
Himchan also had reports to write and turn in on what occurred at the meetings with the ambassadors, as well as council conferences to attend with Yongguk. There was no time for him to attend to Daehyun, which left the pet in the care of Himchan’s servants-which left the buying of new clothes and collars and other pet needs to the servants as well, and all the fittings that came with that. Himchan barely had any time to even have sex with Daehyun after the first two nights, and he didn’t know if he was relieved or not.
The next time he had a free night was the night he was scheduled for a dinner with Hyosung and Yongguk to discuss the state of affairs in the southern part of the kingdom-Hyosung’s domain as grand duchess and the king’s niece. Himchan had seen Daehyun wandering the halls-also only something a misbehaved pet would do, but the maids were too frightened to tell him otherwise at this point, and Daehyun’s sharp tongue had even quelled the guards-and the pet looked presentable enough these days, hair cut and skin oiled. He was still rather thin, and still rather ragged-more street urchin than pet-but Hyosung had demanded that Himchan bring him, and Himchan always feared for his sanity when disobeying his lady cousin.
Himchan didn’t want to deal with Daehyun until he absolutely had to, so he simply had his servants bathe and dress the pet and send him down straight to Himchan’s manor’s dining hall-as the palace’s dining hall was too extravagant for a quiet dinner. When the prince arrived, Yongguk and Hyosung were already seated across the long table and in deep discussion over glasses of wine, while Daehyun sat sullenly on an embroidered cushion beside Himchan’s prepared seat.
The pet was in fine clothes, but they still somehow fitted him ill and matched him even less so-something just not right about the gold against Daehyun’s bronze skin, something not quite fitting about the new way the maids had combed Daehyun’s hair in an effort to have him look more like a royal pet than one picked used out of a brothel. Although, with Daehyun’s hair now trimmed enough to actually show his face, Himchan could see that this wayward pet was actually pretty.
When his features weren’t schooled into sarcastic amusement or insolent coolness, Daehyun was pretty-attractive. His lips were full and pink, even when bare, eyes deep and large, nose high and fine, and the tone of his skin was warm beneath the golden candlelight. Himchan wondered what the pet would look like if he smiled-not a smirk, not a wry grin, but a true smile-laughingly and sincere.
“Cousins,” Himchan greeted, as he sat down. He glanced down at Daehyun, and the pet raised his eyebrows indifferently.
“I saw your purchase on the way in,” Hyosung said.
“It’s a work in progress,” Himchan said, as the first course was brought in.
“I suggested reselling,” Yongguk said, while the plates were being laid down. Himchan, out of the corner of his eye, saw Daehyun sit up a little straighter, hunger in his eyes as the scent of melted cheese and roasted vegetables wafted through the air.
Himchan cut a potato into bite-sized pieces, wrapping the cheese generously around it on his own fork and bending down to offer it to Daehyun. The pet gazed straight into Himchan’s eyes as he parted his full lips and pulled the piece off with his teeth.
“Are you feeding him before yourself?” Hyosung leaned to the side, squinting as if she could somehow see from across the enormous table what Himchan was doing with his back turned.
“Reselling,” Yongguk repeated with emphasis.
“You don’t know how to be a master,” Hyosung said, as she motioned for one of the servers to bring her more wine. “And, he’s too pretty to resell-who would take him with that behavior anyhow? Better to send him to a trainer and at least get your money’s worth.”
Himchan was mid-chew when he blinked blankly at Hyosung’s words. He swallowed the bite down with a mouthful of wine. “A trainer?” he echoed, and suddenly there was a small sound beside him, a small rustle of movement.
Daehyun was looking at him again, and for a moment, Himchan thought the pet wanted another forkful. But the expression on Daehyun’s face, for the first time since Himchan had bought him, was sincere-sincerely afraid. Daehyun’s hand was halfway to Himchan’s thigh at Hyosung’s words, as if that would stop Himchan if the prince really did want to send Daehyun to a trainer. The pet’s hand fell limply back at his side and his face turned away, expression schooled back into practiced nonchalance.
Himchan turned back to face his cousins, but one hand drifted to Daehyun’s face, idly touching the pet’s cheek for a brief moment. “I’m not exactly fond of having my property minced up, cousin,” he said to Hyosung.
She blinked, confused for a moment, before smiling, eyes curving and reassuring. “Not all trainers are what they’re rumored to be. All palace pets are trained, and you enjoy them, don’t you? They aren’t minced up, clearly. Don’t you want him turned into a royal pet?” She waved a piece of steak around on her fork. “You’re the prince-and the crown prince can’t have a pet like him.”
Yongguk swirled the wine around in his glass. “She’s right,” he said pointedly, giving Himchan a meaningful look. “Even if you don’t send him to a trainer, something has to be done.”
Daehyun was now looking straight ahead, expression closed off again and indifferent. Himchan didn’t think he’d be eating anymore for the rest of the night. The pet’s entire body posture was sending signals for Himchan to leave him well alone-another trait of a pet that needed to be broken and retrained. “I’ll do something,” Himchan said, and hated how defensive his voice was, “but I won’t send him to a trainer.”
He didn’t miss, out of the corner of his eye once more, how Daehyun’s shoulders sagged with barely restrained relief.
author: himawarixxsandz
rating: nc-17
pairing(s): himdae
summary: he was drunk, rather tired, grumpy and irritated
warning(s): kinkfic, master/slave relationships
a/n: NO JUDGING ALLOWED BC I ALR JUDGED MYSELF
Himchan was not his soberest when he acquired Daehyun.
He was rather drunk, rather tired, rather grumpy and irritated at the entire world for sending him to the coast for a set of council meetings with the usual island ambassadors as was the duty of the firstborn prince while the king was still alive. He was even grumpier and further irritated by the fact that, aside from his usual servants and guards, he was friendless on this journey as Yongguk was held down in the capitol by his own duties as the kingdom’s general.
On the last night of the week, Himchan, slipped out of the send-off party, brought along one manservant and one guard, and decided to walk about the port city’s nightlife. He shielded himself with a cloak and had the other two men do the same, drunk as he was he had enough sense ingrained in him to know never to travel like a prince unless he had the number of servants and guards a prince should keep about him for safety. He was drunk enough, however, not to have remembered to shed the gold and jewels on his neck and fingers, and supposed he was fortunate not to have been robbed that night.
They wandered around for at least an hour, the ocean breeze whipping through Himchan’s hair as he heard the tide slowly rise in the distance, before Himchan finally found a decent-looking pet shop and lowered the hood of his cloak as he stepped through the doorway. It was middle class at best-nothing like the shops Himchan would normally frequent back in the capitol, and naturally, the pets this shop offered were nothing like the palace pets at court Himchan and Yongguk would use at parties.
But for an inebriated, weary, bored, stifled prince on a business trip without his best friend at his side, they were enough. The owners of the shop fluttered around him, faces red as they bowed and bowed and bowed until he waved them off brightly and cheerily asked whom was available for him to spend a few hours with-as he couldn’t stay long and needed to return to the manor shortly.
The female owner clasped her hands together, flustered, and immediately began waving her hands for a line of scantily clad pets-a mix of male and female, light-haired and dark, to begin parading in from the back rooms. They were all collarless, naturally, and Himchan pursed his lips as he took them in one by one. They were all reasonably pretty, but, for no reason even his sober self would be able to explain today, his eyes simply wandered past the line being shown off to him. Instead, the prince’s gaze meandered into the crowds of pets milling behind them, craning their necks in an effort to catch sight of the king’s eldest son-Himchan’s eyes caught and locked in on a head in the corner, nearly completely hidden by the pets surrounding him.
“Who’s that?” Himchan slurred, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to jump to get a better look. He swayed on his feet when he came down and his manservant grabbed his shoulders to steady the prince.
The owner blinked. She followed his gaze. “That?” she echoed unsurely. “Oh-your Highness-you don’t want him.”
And in Himchan’s intoxicated mind that somehow made absolutely certain that he wanted whoever this pet-he-couldn’t-even-really-see was. “Bring him to the front,” Himchan crowed, throwing his fist in the air, as he swayed so violently this time that his manservant and his bodyguard had to grip him by the underarms to keep him from falling.
The owner visibly sighed, and then gestured for the other pets to part. “Daehyun,” she snapped, “come out here.”
Himchan folded his arms while he waited, and in a moment, there was a young man, a few years younger than the prince himself, standing at the front of the small gathering of pets. He wasn’t dressed as scantily as the other pets-rather, just poorly. His hair was unkempt and falling nearly over his entire face, bare arms scrawny and reedy, tan skin looking burnt rather than glowing with oils as the other pets did, and the look in his eyes was unimpressed and insolent.
“Has this one even been trained?” Himchan’s manservant said, blinking with a grimace.
“No,” the owner said wearily, “it would be a waste of money to send this one to a trainer.”
“Does anyone ever use him?” Himchan’s guard asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Drunkards with hardly a coin in their pockets,” the owner shrugged. “And even then, we felt as though we were cheating them.”
Himchan puffed out his chest, hands on his hips. “I’ll take him,” he said proclaimed cheerfully. He looked around to the owner. “How much?”
She stared. “Your-”
“Don’t,” he held up a hand. “I’m the prince.”
The stare didn’t end. Her eyes merely began to bulge. “Your highness, if you insist on this one for the night, I have no choice but to give him to you free of charge. I couldn’t possibly ask you to pay to use him-”
But Himchan blinked. “I’m not using him for the night,” he explained slowly, as if she was the one who had five too many flutes of champagne in an effort to drown out the Lord of Salas’s ramblings on potato oils. “I’m purchasing him.”
This time, it was his manservant who took him by the shoulders and looked him in the eyes in alarm. “My lord,” he said, squinting, “perhaps we should come back here at another time when you are-”
“How much?” Himchan continued, oblivious and determined, as he shoved the man away with one hand and patted the owner’s shoulder with his other.
Her mouth dropped open.
There was an ungodly sort of silence that fell amidst the entire shop.
“Very well,” Himchan clapped his hands. “I’ll set the price myself-five boxes of gold should be sufficient, I think.” He nudged his manservant. “Have five boxes of gold sent down here tomorrow morning-no later than an hour after sunrise.”
His manservant merely stared at him.
Himchan frowned. “Aren’t you going to write it down?”
“I-yes,” his manservant exchanged glances with his guard, “yes, of course, your majesty.” At the same time that his manservant brought out a scroll from the flaps of his cloak, Himchan faced the owner and Daehyun. “This scroll will have the royal seal so if my servants forget, you may come to the manor and demand payment,” he said to her amiably. “I wish to take my pet now, if that’s agreeable. Unless you so very much preferred to have him sent to me once you receive the gold.”
The owner glanced from manservant to guard and back, before finally looking at Daehyun and then to Himchan. “No,” she said faintly, “no-you can take him now.” She gave the pet an unceremonious shove towards the prince. “He doesn’t have any belongings-just what he wears.”
“Mistress,” Daehyun suddenly spoke, voice smooth and flowing, simultaneously boyish and low, the coast’s accent light on his tongue, “I don’t-”
“Is he objecting?” Himchan’s guard narrowed his eyes. “So, you’ve just sold the prince not only an untrained but a misbeha-”
“Do you have a collar here?” Himchan asked lightly. “Just a temporary one I could put on him until I might have one made once I return to court.”
The owner went behind a desk pushed against the wall for a moment, reemerging with a worn, black leather collar with a simple buckle clasp. She jerked Daehyun roughly by the arm, placing the collar around his neck-an ill-fit-and handed the pet over to the guard to pull by the D-ring. “Would you like me to have it returned?” Himchan asked, cloaking himself as Daehyun seemed to struggle in the guard’s hold.
“No, your Majesty,” the owner’s voice was still painfully faint. “Keep it.”
He shrugged, still drunk enough that he was oblivious to the way Daehyun was snapping at the guard-insisting that he could walk on his own, that he didn’t have to be tugged, that he wouldn’t run away. “Well,” Himchan said, waving goodbye to the stunned and shocked pets still staring frozen at the prince and his new purchase, “farewell, friends.”
The party had mostly ended by the time they returned to the manor, and Himchan bid his manservant and guard goodnight at the back entrance. He opted to drag Daehyun upstairs to his room on his own, and whether or not Himchan was stronger when he was drunk-brute strength-or whether Daehyun went willingly, Himchan to this day wasn’t sure of. He just remembered that by the time he and his new pet reached the guest chamber that the prince had been staying in for the past week, Himchan was feeling more than just a little sleepy and sick.
He let go of Daehyun’s collar, leaving the pet standing by the locked door, and began to undress himself-shoes, socks, pants, waistcoat, shirt, undergarments-and Himchan just didn’t have it in himself that night to put on any sleepwear even if the maid had already set it out. He didn’t even feel like washing. He didn’t even notice Daehyun already sitting down on the edge of Himchan’s bed. The only thing for Himchan’s eyes at that moment was his own pillow and how woozy it was getting in his line of vision.
“So,” Daehyun said, as Himchan collapses onto his side on the bed. The pet looked down at him. “You’re the prince.”
Himchan pulled himself across the bed, struggling to reach his pillow with minimal movement. “Mmf,” he articulated, grabbing one of the wooden posts and bodily dragging himself higher on the bed (almost there).
When he finally reached the pillow, his head dropped down on the blessed feathery softness, and while his vision was blurring, he did remember seeing Daehyun flopping onto his stomach, thighs spread, ass raised. “I suppose,” Daehyun said flatly, “you should get on with it.”
Himchan nodded into the pillow sleepily, patting Daehyun’s back once before closing his eyes and snoring.
The next morning, by some miracle, in spite of the throbbing in his head, Himchan woke up early enough on his own without the maid having to bang on his door-without the maid having to call his manservant and break down his door and pull him out of bed by the legs. It was the day they returned to the capitol and Himchan, at the very least, had packed two of his five trunks. He never lost memories when he was drunk, but they were usually hazier than they should be-leaving out details of his thought process. He remembered enough, however, that he wasn’t too surprised to turn and see the fruits of last night’s labor sleeping soundly beside him.
He wasn’t surprised at all actually.
Himchan’s surprise didn’t stem from Daehyun’s actual presence as much as it was from the fact that Daehyun, his pet, was sleeping in his bed.
Even the best of pets, the most well-behaved, well-trained, obedient, beloved, never slept in their master’s bed-not on a pillow, not beside their master, not like a lover. At the most, a good pet slept at the foot of the bed or on a lowered bed beside the master’s. A new pet like Daehyun-one that needed bathing and grooming, Himchan wrinkled his nose-should, by all means, still sleep obediently on the floor.
And on that note, Himchan unhesitatingly rammed his foot into the back of Daehyun’s knees, rolling the pet off the edge of the bed and onto the floor with a thump. Unsurprisingly, Daehyun scrambled awake at that in alarm, sitting up and whirling around to face the prince-face irritable and half-awake. “Have you gone mad?” Daehyun snapped.
Himchan rubbed at his temples. He didn’t have time for this-they were to be at the carriages by noon, and the sun was already high in the sky. He also didn’t have the energy or patience for this with the pain running all through his head. “Shut up,” Himchan said. “You’re the one who’s gone mad-sleeping in your master’s bed and talking back to him.”
“You passed out on me, Master,” Daehyun accused, and the title was tacked on to the end as a scathing remark rather than an honorific.
Himchan’s eyes narrowed. “So if your master’s unconscious-if the crown prince is unconscious-that gives you the leisure to do anything you please, does it?” he said.
Daehyun shrugged, still glowering right at Himchan’s face.
They glared at each other for a good minute before Himchan shook his head irritably, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. “Get ready,” he hissed, “I’ll deal with you when we get back to court. Until then, you shut up and get yourself down to the carriages. And fucking behave.”
Daehyun merely gave another shrug, eyes fading from the glare and appraising Himchan coolly instead as he stood up and left the room, slamming the door behind him carelessly. Himchan was left sitting on the bed and rubbing the sides of his head once more, wishing that the carriages weren’t to leave so soon-or that Himchan didn’t have so much packing left to do-that way, he could have had time to go try and find the shop he’d bought Daehyun from and return him.
Himchan wouldn’t have even demanded the money back. That amount of gold was nothing to the future king. Himchan just didn’t want to have to return to court and admit that he drunkenly bought possibly the worst pet in the entire kingdom.
By the time Himchan had finished packing, sent down his trunks with the servants, and washed and dressed himself, he’d heard a fair amount of shouting and screaming from the courtyard below. There was no surprise at all for the prince to find Daehyun held in the arms of two guards, expression cool as can be as he faced two maids nearly in tears. Himchan pinched the bridge of his nose, bid the guards to let go, and once again, had a manservant yank Daehyun by the collar into Himchan’s carriage.
The majority of the journey was Himchan attempting to sleep off the ride and Daehyun flatly interjecting some rude and crude comment about what Himchan would do to him once they reached the palace, much to the irritation and embarrassment of the three maidservants riding in the same carriage with them. Regardless of what Himchan did to silence him, Daehyun refused to be silent, and even with the pressing threat of Himchan’s bodyguards and manservants surrounding him, Daehyun didn’t seem fazed.
He seemed to know that Himchan wouldn’t have any of them actually hurt Daehyun because Himchan would never do that to a pet.
Himchan had never had to hurt a pet because no pet should ever be this horribly behaved.
The first thing Himchan did upon stepping off the carriage and onto the courtyard of his manor was fling himself into Yongguk’s arms. He’d expected no less of the general than to take a break from court and military duties to see Himchan arrive back at the capitol. He was mildly surprised though to also see Junhong waiting on the steps of the prince’s manor as well. It was only a short walk from the main palace to the crown prince’s quarters, but the second prince was in the midst of the heaviest of lessons these days and Himchan understood, having gone through that period himself, that Junhong wasn’t allowed much free time.
There was banter as the servants who had remained to take care of the manor came out to help the servants who had accompanied Himchan on the journey. There was talk of gifts Himchan had brought back for Yongguk and Junhong, and for his lady cousins at court that he would most likely be seeing within the week for a dinner. There was conversation, and it was all interrupted-all went to hell-when Daehyun stumbled out of the carriage, bare feet stepping slowly over the courtyard’s gravel and grass as he made his way to Himchan’s side lazily.
Yongguk and Junhong’s eyes flickered to the collar, and their expressions contorted.
“Brother,” Junhong said, confused.
“Cousin,” Yongguk sighed, comprehending.
“I’m hungry,” Daehyun announced, folding his arms, weight leaning on one foot as he shook his tangled hair out of his eyes.
Himchan held back the urge to cover his eyes and groan. He opted instead for a simple explanation of, “I drank a bit too much at the party,” before waving his hand at Daehyun. “So I bought a pet.”
“Forgive me if I don’t see how one leads to the other,” Yongguk said dryly. “How much did you give for him?”
“More than I should have but not enough for it to be of any significance,” Himchan said, grabbing Daehyun’s collar again and shaking him. The pet was glaring a little too hard at a startled Junhong. Himchan saw Daehyun’s hand twitch up, as if to hold Himchan’s hand and yank it away.
“You paid five boxes of gold for me,” Daehyun snorted, and Yongguk and Junhong’s eyes widened-whether at the price or at Daehyun speaking out, Himchan didn’t really want to know. “Not even the best pet at that shop is worth that absurd amount, you drunken halfwit.”
Yongguk and Junhong’s mouths fell open.
Himchan closed his eyes and shook the collar in his hand again, wishing that it would throttle and alarm Daehyun, but all that it really brought about was a raise of highly amused eyebrows on the pet.
The embarrassment was fifteen times greater at dinner, and served only as a prediction of the mortifyingly frustrating weeks that followed. At the first dinner, with thankfully only Himchan, Junhong, and Yongguk present-along with handful of servants-Daehyun had sat at the table, and nearly refused to be budged until Himchan had the largest guard he could find intimidate Daehyun onto the floor, and even then, it was only begrudgingly and without much actual fear.
Sex for the first time with Daehyun was good enough in that Daehyun was good, and he didn’t try to bite Himchan’s cock off once it went in the pet’s mouth. He still needed to be kicked off the bed, still needed to be told that he couldn’t just rut against Himchan or touch himself to come before Himchan gave him permission to, still needed to be yelled at for walking around and rummaging around Himchan’s chambers as though it was his own room, and still needed to be reminded to put his collar on after washing and sleeping.
It was more exhausting than the orgasm was worth, and there was something not right about Daehyun having orgasms and Himchan only getting a single orgasm out of the entire ordeal.
Himchan also had reports to write and turn in on what occurred at the meetings with the ambassadors, as well as council conferences to attend with Yongguk. There was no time for him to attend to Daehyun, which left the pet in the care of Himchan’s servants-which left the buying of new clothes and collars and other pet needs to the servants as well, and all the fittings that came with that. Himchan barely had any time to even have sex with Daehyun after the first two nights, and he didn’t know if he was relieved or not.
The next time he had a free night was the night he was scheduled for a dinner with Hyosung and Yongguk to discuss the state of affairs in the southern part of the kingdom-Hyosung’s domain as grand duchess and the king’s niece. Himchan had seen Daehyun wandering the halls-also only something a misbehaved pet would do, but the maids were too frightened to tell him otherwise at this point, and Daehyun’s sharp tongue had even quelled the guards-and the pet looked presentable enough these days, hair cut and skin oiled. He was still rather thin, and still rather ragged-more street urchin than pet-but Hyosung had demanded that Himchan bring him, and Himchan always feared for his sanity when disobeying his lady cousin.
Himchan didn’t want to deal with Daehyun until he absolutely had to, so he simply had his servants bathe and dress the pet and send him down straight to Himchan’s manor’s dining hall-as the palace’s dining hall was too extravagant for a quiet dinner. When the prince arrived, Yongguk and Hyosung were already seated across the long table and in deep discussion over glasses of wine, while Daehyun sat sullenly on an embroidered cushion beside Himchan’s prepared seat.
The pet was in fine clothes, but they still somehow fitted him ill and matched him even less so-something just not right about the gold against Daehyun’s bronze skin, something not quite fitting about the new way the maids had combed Daehyun’s hair in an effort to have him look more like a royal pet than one picked used out of a brothel. Although, with Daehyun’s hair now trimmed enough to actually show his face, Himchan could see that this wayward pet was actually pretty.
When his features weren’t schooled into sarcastic amusement or insolent coolness, Daehyun was pretty-attractive. His lips were full and pink, even when bare, eyes deep and large, nose high and fine, and the tone of his skin was warm beneath the golden candlelight. Himchan wondered what the pet would look like if he smiled-not a smirk, not a wry grin, but a true smile-laughingly and sincere.
“Cousins,” Himchan greeted, as he sat down. He glanced down at Daehyun, and the pet raised his eyebrows indifferently.
“I saw your purchase on the way in,” Hyosung said.
“It’s a work in progress,” Himchan said, as the first course was brought in.
“I suggested reselling,” Yongguk said, while the plates were being laid down. Himchan, out of the corner of his eye, saw Daehyun sit up a little straighter, hunger in his eyes as the scent of melted cheese and roasted vegetables wafted through the air.
Himchan cut a potato into bite-sized pieces, wrapping the cheese generously around it on his own fork and bending down to offer it to Daehyun. The pet gazed straight into Himchan’s eyes as he parted his full lips and pulled the piece off with his teeth.
“Are you feeding him before yourself?” Hyosung leaned to the side, squinting as if she could somehow see from across the enormous table what Himchan was doing with his back turned.
“Reselling,” Yongguk repeated with emphasis.
“You don’t know how to be a master,” Hyosung said, as she motioned for one of the servers to bring her more wine. “And, he’s too pretty to resell-who would take him with that behavior anyhow? Better to send him to a trainer and at least get your money’s worth.”
Himchan was mid-chew when he blinked blankly at Hyosung’s words. He swallowed the bite down with a mouthful of wine. “A trainer?” he echoed, and suddenly there was a small sound beside him, a small rustle of movement.
Daehyun was looking at him again, and for a moment, Himchan thought the pet wanted another forkful. But the expression on Daehyun’s face, for the first time since Himchan had bought him, was sincere-sincerely afraid. Daehyun’s hand was halfway to Himchan’s thigh at Hyosung’s words, as if that would stop Himchan if the prince really did want to send Daehyun to a trainer. The pet’s hand fell limply back at his side and his face turned away, expression schooled back into practiced nonchalance.
Himchan turned back to face his cousins, but one hand drifted to Daehyun’s face, idly touching the pet’s cheek for a brief moment. “I’m not exactly fond of having my property minced up, cousin,” he said to Hyosung.
She blinked, confused for a moment, before smiling, eyes curving and reassuring. “Not all trainers are what they’re rumored to be. All palace pets are trained, and you enjoy them, don’t you? They aren’t minced up, clearly. Don’t you want him turned into a royal pet?” She waved a piece of steak around on her fork. “You’re the prince-and the crown prince can’t have a pet like him.”
Yongguk swirled the wine around in his glass. “She’s right,” he said pointedly, giving Himchan a meaningful look. “Even if you don’t send him to a trainer, something has to be done.”
Daehyun was now looking straight ahead, expression closed off again and indifferent. Himchan didn’t think he’d be eating anymore for the rest of the night. The pet’s entire body posture was sending signals for Himchan to leave him well alone-another trait of a pet that needed to be broken and retrained. “I’ll do something,” Himchan said, and hated how defensive his voice was, “but I won’t send him to a trainer.”
He didn’t miss, out of the corner of his eye once more, how Daehyun’s shoulders sagged with barely restrained relief.