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It had been over a month since Sebastian had inherited his three slaves. Things were going wonderfully as far as them warming up to him went- he had fucked Noel and Erza, and even both of them together!
And as for Larkin…
He knew that some people would call him soft, but he couldn’t bring himself to fuck his slave until he was sure Larkin wanted it. He knew slaves couldn’t really be raped, but still… The idea of distressing the fragile, beautiful man he owned made him feel sick to his stomach. He wanted his slave to crave his touch. To love him.
To try to help in this endeavor, he turned to the library and found a book on bonding with slaves.
I’ve had many masters come to me with trouble bonding with their slaves, and I almost always find that the trouble is they haven’t been giving them maintenance!
It is vital to remember that slaves are very, very stupid. They are also deeply physical creatures. Without a show of your power and dominance over them, they might not understand that you’re their master! And naturally, a masterless slave will always be miserable.
Think of the symptoms your difficult slave may be having… listlessness, moodiness, depression, anxiety, lack of interest in being used, rebellion, possibly even denial of their slavish nature. What do these sound like to you? That’s right- the same symptoms a masterless slave has.
Even if a slave seems somewhat intelligent and verbally submits, they need additional help from their owner to really get things through their thick skulls. It is why I always recommend that when telling a slave a new rule or something else you want them to remember, you tell them while they’re over your knee. That is something I will discuss in a later chapter…
Sebastian felt incredibly guilty. He had known his slaves needed maintenance- what person didn’t know that, in this day and age?- but he had been putting it off.
Like any young boy dreaming about owning his own slave, he had always imagined giving his slaves maintenance punishments with great relish. But his childish fantasies didn’t prepare him for how anxious he’d be. How unsure of himself. What if he hurt his darlings? What if he made them hate him? What if he ruined everything?
He knew he couldn’t put this off any longer, though. The book was right. His beauties needed the structure and stability of knowing they had a master who cared for them. Larkin most of all, but they all deserved to have a master who put them first.
Sebastian thought he’d be even more anxious after finally making this decision, but instead it felt like a weight off his shoulders. He was actually excited! He knew his darlings would be the cutest, sexiest, most submissive little things in the world when they took their punishments. And maintenance was just so romantic! He felt like a hero in a slave-story!
Sebastian set the book down.
“Noel, honey, will you gather the others?” he asked.
His slave was curled up at his feet, dozing after being allowed to suck Sebastian’s cock earlier. He was drooling and using one of Sebastian’s feet as a pillow. At the sound of Sebastian’s voice he shot up and looked around in a panic, eyes still filled with sleep.
“Huh?” Noel blinked, saw his master, and relaxed. “Master! Hi! Your humble little fuckslut was sleeping.”
“I can see that,” Sebastian replied, amused. He loved Noel so much. “Can you go get Larkin and Erza?”
“Yes, Master!” Noel chirped. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, kissed each of Sebastian’s feet and licked up his drool, and then skipped out of the room.
Sebastian heard them coming down the hall not long after. He turned to the door to greet them, but then frowned. He couldn’t make it out clearly, but he could hear what seemed to be angry whispering from Larkin. Were they fighting? He prepared to intervene, but when the three slaves stepped inside none of them seemed overly distressed. Sebastian decided to drop it for now. Perhaps he had simply heard wrong.
All three slaves prostrated in the entryway of the office.
“Your most lowly, humble slaves are honored beyond their worth by being allowed in Master’s presence,” Larkin said softly. Sebastian smiled.
“Come sit up in front of the couch, please, all of you. We need to have a discussion.”
Larkin’s face was neutral, and Noel was beaming as always, but Erza let out a terrified sob.
“This wretched whore is so sorry, Master! So sorry! It didn’t mean to be bad, Master, please, please punish your sinful thing!”
“Oh, darling, no! It’s alright. This isn’t going to be a bad discussion! I’m not angry with any of you, you’ve all been perfect. Come here, lean on Master.”
Erza crept forward, shaking. Sebastian smiled at him encouragingly, and ran his fingers through the slave’s curls once he was leaning against him.
“Good boy,” he praised, and Erza whimpered and buried his face in his leg. “Anyway, what we need to talk about today is your maintenance. What do you all do for that currently?”
Sebastian planned to implement his own routine, of course, but he didn’t want to change things too drastically right off the bat. That would only frighten the poor dears.
“We do maintenance once a week, Master!” Noel said cheerfully. “And-“
“This unworthy one was expected by our honored former master to come up with a new punishment every week, Master,” Larkin interrupted. “Once this pathetic slave came up with an appropriate punishment, all three of your worthless cocksleeves would carry out the punishment on ourselves.”
“What?” Sebastian yelped, horrified. He felt terrible when even Noel flinched, and hurried to calm his voice. “He had you making up your own punishments? How can that even be considered maintenance?”
The whole point of a maintenance punishment was for a slave to rely on their master and stop thinking! How was a slave supposed to be reminded they existed to worship their master if their master wasn’t even there?
And making Larkin think of the punishment himself- that was putting him in a position that was far too dominant! Hierarchies amongst slaves were totally fine, at least in Sebastian’s opinion, but during maintenance? No. Absolutely not.
Also, anyone who didn’t want to watch these beauties cry and suffer for them must be insane. Sebastian understood that everyone had their kinks, and maybe his uncle had just been incredibly vanilla… but still! It made no sense.
“This disgraced property begs Master’s forgiveness for displeasing him, and takes full responsibility,” Larkin said, as calmly as ever.
“Oh! No, no, sweethearts, I’m not angry at any of you! But there are going to be some changes around here. From now on, I’ll be the one giving you all your maintenance punishments.”
Noel squealed and clapped. “Oh, really, Master?! Thank you, thank you!”
“In fact, we’re going to be doing it right now,” Sebastian said, and Noel wriggled happily, flapping his hands. “I’ll just give each of you a spanking since it’s the first time, but depending on what I feel you all need, that’ll change from week to week. Sound good?”
“Yes, Master,” all three voices chorused.
Sebastian gently shooed Erza away to sit next to Noel. “Larkin, come here and bend over my lap, please.”
Noel looked disappointed. Sebastian hid a smile. Darling, greedy little painslut.
“Yes, Master.” Larkin stood gracefully and bent over Sebastian’s knee, lifting up his slip to bare his ass.
His ass was absolutely perfect. Sebastian had to work very hard to stop himself from groping it.
“You’re going to count and thank me after each hit,” Sebastian ordered, trying to keep his voice steady.
“Yes, Master. Your helpless, inferior property will obey.”
Sebastian brought his hand down sharply, but not too hard. He wasn’t sure of Larkin’s pain tolerance yet.
“One, Master, thank you. May your slave please have another?”
He sounded completely composed. Compared to the way the other two yelped and squeaked and squealed at the slightest hits during sex, it was odd, but Sebastian didn’t comment on it.
Larkin grew no more expressive over time. That didn’t feel right. Slaves weren’t supposed to hide their feelings like this, especially not during punishments. A normal slave should be crying, or praying, or something! It made Sebastian feel anxious.
When Sebastian decided they were done, Larkin’s ass was a hot, angry red, but he still wasn’t showing any emotion whatsoever when he stood up.
“Thank you for putting your abject, humble thing in his place, Master,” Larkin said smoothly, and knelt down to kiss Sebastian’s feet.
That had been completely unsatisfying. Sebastian had to hide his grimace. Despite what Larkin had said, he hadn’t put the slave in his place at all.
What use was a maintenance punishment that didn’t break the slave? Not in a way that would hurt them, of course. Only in the way that a slave needed to be broken, that helped them remember what fragile, helpless things they were and how much they needed their master.
The book had failed him. Sebastian felt no more bonded to Larkin than before. Frustrated tears welled up in his eyes, and he forced them down.
It was fine. They’d have another maintenance punishment next week, and for forever, and Sebastian could try until he found something that worked. Every slave had a breaking point, and it was a master’s duty to find it.
“You were a very good boy for me, Larkin,” Sebastian praised, smiling down at him. It wasn’t the poor slave’s fault Sebastian wasn’t sure what the best punishment for him was yet, after all. “Master’s very pleased with you.”
Larkin shivered, more reaction than he’d shown the entire spanking. Perhaps Sebastian ought to be more verbal next time…
“Now please go sit next to Noel,” Sebastian said. “Erza, come here please.”
Larkin’s face became considerably more tense as he obeyed. Noel looked disappointed again. Erza crept forward with his face close to the ground, shaking like a leaf.
“Oh, darling, are you frightened?” Sebastian asked solicitously.
Erza nodded. “B-but this worthless thing will be good for you, Master, I swear!”
“I know you will,” Sebastian soothed. He decided to ignore the ‘worthless’ comment, just this once- he didn’t want to agitate the slave more. “You’re always such a good boy for Master. Stand up, please.”
Erza stood. He was already crying, and Sebastian felt quite pleased about that. This maintenance was already going far smoother.
“It’s sorry!” Erza wailed. “Master! God! Forgive this disgusting maggot, this pitiful worm! It’s been so bad! So, so bad! Eating Master’s food, given so much undeserved rest, manipulated Master into fucking its putrid, rancid body! It needs to be punished, destroyed, made to see Master’s divine rage! It’s sinned against you! It deserves to die! It’s sorry, Master, so, so sorry, please punish it, please, please-“
It was incredibly hard not to laugh at Erza’s hysterics. It was just so cute!
“Oh, honey, it’s okay,” Sebastian cooed. “Master chose to give you the food and rest, and he wanted to use your lovely holes! Master says it's all okay, and you need to listen to Master, not your silly little slave brain.”
He batted Erza’s hands away from his pants and pulled them down himself. Erza always seemed to favor long pants and shirts with long sleeves, only occasionally wearing slips or lingerie like the other two. It was quite a change from how he used to be, constantly naked- perhaps covering up more was his way of mourning his master.
Once Erza was bared, Sebastian guided him over his knee as well, feeling his cage rub tantalizingly against his leg. Erza whined, clinging to his leg fearfully, and Sebastian gave his ass a soothing rub.
“Poor Erza. It’ll be alright, dear. Just relax and let Master take care of you. You’re going to count and thank me, just like Larkin, alright, sweetheart?”
“Y-yes, Master,” Erza said through chattering teeth. “Thank you, Master. Your slave loves you.”
Larkin flinched.
“And Master loves you too! Master wouldn’t be doing this if he didn’t love you. Maintenance is Master’s gift to you.”
“Thank you, Master!” Erza repeated. “Thank you, thank you-
His reaction to the first hit was much more gratifying than Larkin’s.
“T-thank you! Thank you, Master! I mean- one, it was one, Master, sorry, thank you-“
And then he promptly burst into sobs.
When he tried to speak after the next hit, he couldn’t manage anything intelligible.
“Aw, is counting and thanking me too hard for my sweet little Erza?” Sebastian asked indulgently. “That’s alright. You can just be a good boy and cry prettily for Master. I’ll count for you.”
He finished up the spanking much faster than Larkin’s, even though he could have continued for hours and his dick was throbbing in his pants. He didn’t want to overwhelm his precious slave too much.
When Erza stood up, he could see the spot of precome he had leaked on his leg.
“Did your punishment turn you on?” Sebastian asked.
Erza cried harder, falling to his knees. “This whore is sorry, Master, it didn’t mean to, please-“
“I’m not upset, gorgeous,” Sebastian reassured him. “It’s good and normal for you to be aroused by your own subjugation. Master just put you in your place, and so of course your pretty little slave cocklet got excited. You were such a good boy for me, so perfect.”
Erza’s tears didn’t stop flowing, and he began peppering Sebastian’s feet with kisses. “Oh, thank you, Master, you’re so good, so kind, so wonderful, it loves you, it worships you-“
Sebastian let him continue for a bit before encouraging him to kneel back up and sit next to Larkin.
“Alright. Noe-“
Noel squealed, making both Erza and Larkin jump, and ran over and threw himself over Sebastian’s lap.
“Thank you, thank you, Master! Please spank me!” he begged excitedly, squirming and nearly falling back onto the floor. “Please!”
Sebastian laughed. “My eager little slut.”
“Yes, Master!” Noel cried, catching his balance. “I’m a slut, I’m your slut, your little owned fuckslut! Please, please-“
Sebastian groped his ass, making him moan and press into the touch. “Desperate, greedy thing. Alright. Master will give you what you need.”
Noel shrieked at the first hit.
“One! Thank you, thank you, oh thank you, God always gives this whore slave just what he needs, Master takes care of me, such good care of me-“
Noel’s chattiness was one of Sebastian’s favorite things about him, but his goal for tonight was to beat it out of him. He wanted Noel to totally rely on him and be unable to even think for himself, only able to accept what he was given.
He didn’t hold back with Noel- he knew exactly how hard his precious whore liked it.
Sebastian was quite satisfied with himself when Noel could no longer respond properly, and helped him sit up on his lap. Out of the three of them, Noel had pretty clearly gone down the hardest and the furthest. His body was floppy, and he smiled up at Sebastian stupidly. He squirmed in arousal, his lovely cocklet hard against his stomach.
“Love you, Master,” he sighed, nestling in closer to his chest. Larkin flinched again.
“Come here, both of you,” Sebastian called, kissing Noel’s forehead. “Master wants to hold his beauties.”
Larkin and Erza both looked confused, but obeyed. It was crowded with all of them squeezed together, but Noel wriggled happily.
Maintenance hadn’t gone exactly as Sebastian had hoped, but he’d try again next week. He’d do better. He’d be the master they deserved to have.
His little loves deserved nothing less.