Poison Ivy

Listening as the bargain was struck, her gaze flicked away from the wall to study the faerie who was now her master, holding still as Katherine removed the collar around her neck she enjoyed a few breaths of air without the tight collar on. Conditioned to be used to such tight collars, she accepted the collar that was offered to her and put it on, she tightened it leaving it a little looser than the one that Katherine had insisted she wear. It was pleasant to be able to breathe and swallow without feeling constricted, wrinkling her nose a little again at the use of the name Nelly, murmuring a farewell to the princess she followed the man without protest. Following on his heels she stopped when she recognized the unusually coloured cern, abandoning him to go over to it and greet it with a soft clicking noise, she knew the gentle beast having spent quite a bit of time with it. Once the creature had recognized her, she began stroking it a smile finally having graced her features, it gave her a bit of hope regarding where she was going knowing now that at least she'd have one thing she could trust. There was a desire to bury her face in its long fur, and hide awya from everything, she'd still been unable to stop herself from continuing to self harm despite knowing what her parents would think and what god likely thought. She was filthy, unclean, not in the literal sense but in the spiritual sense, it'd been long enough that now she believed what the princess had said to her over the ten long months of being in her care. A part of her knew she had to go to where her new master was waiting, but she didn't want to, she wanted to hide in the brown and tan patched fur.

Smiling up at him as he nuzzled her, the girl was about to murmur to him quietly when she heard the name Nelly, loosing her smile she glanced over at her master. Giving the oddly patched thing one more pat she obediently walked over to the carriage door and got in, sitting next to him she looked out the window starting to plan and prepare. If she was to be a bed warmer for him then she'd drawn on the charade of a bedwarmer that Sofia had taught her, the plain brown leather was gentler at least than the other ones she'd had of late. Happy to sit in silence, she leaned back into the seat, resting her hands on her lap and fiddling with the pen without realizing it, it always helped to keep her fingers busy, the ride was long and the noises of the carriage faded into the background as they were towed forward by the gentle creature she'd spent alot of time with. She'd been happier then, carefully keeping her gaze fixed on the window she was soon lost in thoughts, glancing up as the carriage stopped the orange light outside suggested the sun was setting over the horizon. Getting out of the vehicle that had brought her to her new home, Ellie tucked the pen away for safe keeping and ran her right hand up and down her left arm where the ivy plant had been carefully drawn on. Following him inside, she continued to stay quiet, standing where she'd been left, ellie took in the house noticing the distinct african feel several items seemed to give off, it seemed pleasant and quiet and some how more modest than the extravagant quarters of the princess. He returned and announced that she'd have that night and the next day to settle in before he turned and lead her to the room that appeared to be hers. Taking it in she was surprised at how much was in there although that was wisely kept to herself, if she said anything who knows what might be taken out of the room that to her was very nice. Continuing to take it in, Ellie kept her thoughts about chores to herself, she'd learnt how to just think them instead of letting them come out, it was better that way she'd learnt. Ellie had adapted and survived rather than broken like anyone else might have, although left with abandonment issues and a conflicted inner being she kept these thoughts and feelings to herself. "Yes Master" she acknowledged softly, still rubbing her right hand up and down her left arm, a sort of soothing motion, stepping forward into her room she sat down on the bed and took out her pen adding a few more leaves up the top end of her arm, not expecting food after all she hadn't done anything to earn it and thus was preparing herself for a long night.

Listening as he corrected her, she got up off of her bed and walked out of her room as ordered, "Yes, Niko" the response was quiet and emotionless, after all she was 'broken' that was how broken pets behaved, quiet obedient and empty. She felt empty most of the time anyway so it wasn't that difficult an act to put on, walking out to where the dark man was, standing back watching him throw something together for dinner she was internally puzzling things out. She'd obeyed and now there was food, it was all too easy to put together the way how things would be here, they'd be the same as when she'd belonged to the princess. As long as she did the bare minimum there would be privileges such as food, when he decided that it was time to use her as a bed warmer she'd become the charade she'd long planned and put together. "Thank you for the food, Niko" using his name where she would have used the term master, she was careful to acknowledge him for giving her a privilege like food. Keeping an eye on him as he finished the food and served it, she waited until he'd started before attacking the food, devouring it as quick as she could just incase he changed his mind and tried to take it back, finishing she was up out of her seat and back in her room with the door closed.

Looking over her shoulder at the knock, there was a lack of fear or well anything on her features, carefully schooled to show nothing. Perking up a little at the mention of food her attention remained on him although she took a few steps away from the window, waiting for him to leave so she could go and devour the food. A slight smile flicked onto her features despite herself when he mentioned that she could visit whom she could only imagine as the cern. She wasn't about to attempt to pronounce the name he'd just uttered, and likely would refer to the cern just as she always had, and she made sure to blatantly ignore the carefully neutral tone she wasn't some delicate snowflake that'd fall apart just because she'd had some rough handling. Completely bothered by him standing there, she subtly flicked an almost dismissive glance at him before returning her gaze to the Cern through the window.

Once he'd left she turned and headed out to the Cern, greeting him with a treat she'd saved from lunch an apple that she'd cut into slices. Ignoring the fact that she was wearing sandals and the nice dress still she spent her time out with the animal until it started to get to dark, running her fingers through his fur a few more times she finally bid him farewell and entered the house again. Taking the liberty of having a shower as she disliked feeling dirty and there had been nothing said about not being allowed showers. Heading back to her room afterwards, Ellie perched on her bed and redid the ink on her arm that had begun to fade a little when she'd scrubbed herself clean, quite interested in her art work his call startled her a moment. Tucking her pen behind her ear and with her still wet hair tied back in a bun to keep it out of her face, Ellie got up and walked out to where his voice had sounded from, noticing the collar she walked over to it and picked it up turning it over in her fingers. The material was soft and she liked it, walking over to him she offered him the collar so that he could replace the leather one around her neck with the new one.

Standing still as he swapped the collars around, its lack of tightness once again pleasant, it was nice and pretty too which suited her down to the ground. She liked looking pretty and wearing pretty things it made her feel pretty and not the replaceable pawn that she'd been told and trained to believe she was. Silently agreeing with Niko when the man commented that it suited her better, Ellie was a little surprised when he added that he'd be changing her name. He'd picked up on the fact that she didn't like it, which was interesting, having doubted he'd be paying that much attention to just a pet, not fighting the touch she lifted her chin as he applied pressure with gentle fingers, there was a lack of fear in her gaze that met his own dark eyes. Despite her calm demeanor her gaze brightened subtly when he asked what she thought about the name Ivy, "Yes, Niko, I like the name" it was an understatement and without really paying much attention she leaned into the touch a little more, craving warmth, touch to not feel so alone and empty. She was so alone in the world, the blackness continued to eat away at her, leaving her feeling like she was nothing, how long would it be before the peaceful twenty four hours she'd had would end and she'd be sent back to Kat or sent on to someone else. Ellie was worth nothing, she had been worth something once, but now she was just an item, no rights, closing her eyes and smoothing out her features again, it wasn't her place to show emotions unless it was to do with bedwarming. Still she couldn't bring herself to yank her chin away from the touch, the craving for what she'd been deprived of for several years, the last time she'd had such a thing had been when she'd been Lord Tori's pet before he'd gotten bored of her and dumped her. The worst thing was, she wanted it still, to be favoured, to be wanted to feel loved, but as a bedwarmer that was something that she couldn't have, it was always going around and around in her head eating away at more of her like termites eating a building, somehow it hurt physically her jaw starting to ache painfully.

Taking a half step closer without meaning too, the human pet leaned into the light and gentle touch, such a thing hadn't even been on the cards with Kat and sofia had kept her own touches for her own pet not one she was training as a spare job. Her eyes flicked open and she stepped away when the hand moved to pat her shoulder and he resumed his snack, the term he used when reminding her to eat meaning less than nothing. Faeries used terms of endearment the same way humans used toilet paper, and this one was different to most, if he'd picked up her dislike of the name Nellie then he'd pick up the more obvious reactions to his touch that she couldn't help. She needed the touch and attention, it was a drug that inhibited the empty feeling and temporarily stopped the black monster eating her away, and it did a better job than the temporary release hurting herself did. Watching as he moved about the kitchen, sitting the jar and spoon in the sink, Ellie now Ivy was considering being lazy and just boiling a bag of rice instead of making anything. Having lived with faeries as long as she had, she was used to not eating meat although sometimes when she was waiting for sleep she'd remember the stews her mama would make in winter with mashed potatoes and peas. Back then the girl would mix it all up together and the memory of its taste would make her heart ache painfully as if there was an empty cavity where her lungs were supposed to be, where her family was supposed to be. Brought out of her thoughts by a hand on her shoulder, she watched Niko leave heading back towards his office, slowly collecting the rice out of the cupboard and setting it on the bench while she boiled the water, the females green gaze often flicked to the empty jar of honey and spoon. There was a choice there, but she wasn't sure it was one she was ready to make yet, she hadn't done anything much and yet he'd given her touch, if she did something good then would she get more? At the same time another part of her put on the brakes on that train of thought, that was the first few steps to manipulation, and manipulation in the past had ended up with her being dumped and being treated like she was nothing. Was allowing herself ot be manipulated worth that risk? She wasn't as innocent or naive as she'd once been, manipulation wasn't anything certain, and faeries went through pets like humans through shoes, sure they'd use them and like them for a while but in the end they were worn out and got boring so they'd throw them away and buy a nice shiny new pair. She'd had lots of shoes, lots of clothes too, everything was still too tangled up to let herself be manipulated so easily again. So once she'd had her meal and cleaned up her own mess she walked past the empty jar and spoon, she wouldn't be manipulated again she'd be the manipulator. He'd want the bedwarmer part of her soon enough she was sure and that was once charade she knew she'd excel at, she'd had a very good teacher after all.

Up once again when the sun peeked through the open curtains and hit her face, Ivy pushed back the covers and sighed not used to staying in bed once she woke up, the woman automatically got up and out of bed, making sure that she made it up again so it'd be pleasant to sleep in again that night. Heading straight for the kitchen as she was hungry, Ivy was not intending to hold back on eating regular meals now they seemed to be an okay thing, in her opinion she needed a little more weight so she had curves once again and then she'd begin worrying about a more restrained diet. Upon entering the room, Ellie spied the note on the bench and walked over to it, going over it and discovering the scrap of paper was a chores list the brunette couldn't help but wrinkle her nose. Chores? Ugh, it wasn't like she hadn't done similar work before, after all as a bound human she'd had no choice, but that didn't mean that she liked them like some sort of common house frau! ITicking make her bed off the list since that was already completed the next tasks were read over again, deciding that breakfast was more important there was some internal debate about what to have before settling for yoghurt and museli, while eating breakfast the curiously messy handwriting was deciphered enough that the actual words and their meaning finally was figured out. Once the breakfast dishes were tended to, the ones already in the sink were eyed, disgruntled about it, Ivy did the job anyway although no real effort was made if the bare minimum meant less manipulation then so be it. It didn't escape the pet that the jar and spoon in the sink was a test, deciding to revert to one of her favourite tricks, Ivy cleaned the jar and the spoon before leaving them to drain out and dry on a teatowel on the bench. Satisfied with the small action the rest of the chores were acted upon, the bathrooms avoided for now, things were put away and surfaces were dusted, not quite sure if he was modern enough to have a vacuum cleaner she settled instead for sweeping where she could although again the bare minimum was achieved. Once done, Ivy returned to her room and sat on the floor, starting a new complicated piece of art on her calf, her thoughts plaguing her whilst she created, if honest with herself the fear of being manipulated and dumped turned her away from wanting to try. Even though touch was offered, the canny wary part of her mind told her to keep her distance, do the chores and do your own thing, alas her heart wanted the touch, the comfort to feel like somebody and to feel somebody loved her. The two sides bickered and fought like children, going back and forth constantly, enough that it disrupted her from her drawing and for her to silently plead for them both to stop. She'd stay safe and stick to not being manipulated, it'd hurt less when the human was finally once again discarded, deciding that sitting around and thinking about it all wouldn't help, it was decided that visiting the patched creature would help. So she followed through with that plan, ending up sitting down at the foot of a tree in its paddock, there was a spare space on her right forearm where there was no drawing and so with her pen, Ivy began to draw the cern onto her skin paying close attention to detail.

Finishing her chores about lunch time, a glance at the clock told her she needed to put together something for lunch, admittedly the woman hadn't put much effort into finding different things for him to eat. He got what first entered her mind and the results often varied, however the infrequent gentle touches the faerie gave to her added conflict to it all. Hearing her name distracted the girl from her thoughts, walking out the box on the coffee table drew her attention, moving closer to it and discovering that it held clothes a quick brief smile flicked over the pets features. Green eyes flicked up to meet his gaze briefly before speaking "Thank you, Niko" usually carefully neutral, her voice was slightly warmer showing that the thanks was meant genuinely not just because it was expected for her to thank him for a privilege such as these. Hearing him start to move back to the office, the silent offer of privacy was surprising but accepted, collecting the box Ivy headed into her room and took her time trying all the clothes on. It was so wonderful to be able to try the clothes on and admire herself in the mirror, knowing she was on her own, the girl did nothing to hide the smile on her face. Carefully putting the clothes that fit away in the plain dresser, the rest of the clothes were folded and put back in the box, bringing it out of her room and setting it back on the coffee table, Ivy put together a couple of sandwiches filled with honey and set them on the table. Spying some letters that had been left she hesitated, picking up letters wasn't part of her list, but he'd given her nice clothes and touch, dithering for a few precious seconds before she gave into the thoughts and walked over to pick up the mail. Bringing it back in to set next to the plate of food, walking to the office door she lifted her hand and knocked on the door before entering "Lunch" usually she'd leave it at that and it'd be up to him if he was going to eat or not, "Most of the clothes fit, the ones that don't are back in the box on the coffee table, the mail is waiting too" still very thankful that she'd been allowed new clothes and privacy, Ellie backed off and left him to it, putting the dress she'd been living in into the washing machine without a fuss. Once back in the plain but comfortable room that was hers, Ivy sat on the floor and started to continue the pattern that was starting to take over her foot.

coming out to make dinner with her foot and leg completely covered by the complicated and rather detailed design that was still unfinished. Deciding that dinner would be later since he seemed to be into working late, chewing a nail and itching the back of one leg with the other foot the pet inspected the contents of the pantry. If she was good would she get more touch? She needed it, the warm feeling that came from it and feeling a little less empty inside, like a person not some husk of a thing, biting through her nail, Ellie lowered her hand and tore it off before deciding that roast vegetables with some seasonings would do. It was easy she just had to peel the carrots and wash and cut the other vegetables, turning on the oven to allow it to heat up, her attention was soon turned to the potato, carrot, and sweet potato. Personally disliking pumpkin it wasn't added and it'd be too much effort, getting stuck into it, they were soon in the oven, turning the timer on and perching on the bench to continue her work, the pen was starting to run out much to her discomfort, she wanted another one as well as some fine tip vivids and different colours, a quick of the clock told her that the table needed to be cleared and set. Hopping down and cleaning away the lunch dishes a letter that'd slipped to the floor grabbed at her attention, crouching and picking it up, the letter was turned over in her hands curiously before it was set down next to the placemat. Dinner was soon finished, serving it and setting it on the table a quiet scowl flicked onto her face, cooking wasn't fun and cleaning was the worst, especially bathrooms that was disgusting. She belonged at home with mama and papa, the heart ache physically, their faces and voices had long started to fade from her memories, without even a picture of them it had been only a matter of time, rubbing her face with her hands to try and stop herself from doing something stupid like crying. Managing to compose herself, Ivy knocked on the office door "Dinner" it was his choice whether he came out or not, she didn't particularly care, vanishing into the kitchen to have her own dinner from the left overs, Ivy pushed the food around the plate thinking about her parents more than anything else.

Hanging around for the man to finish eating, cleaning up the dishes and putting them away she was soon tucked into bed, woken up early the next morning by the faerie, the girl had grumbled and withdrawn under her blankets for a minute or so before getting up and dressing herself. Scowling at the time and inspecting herself in the mirror, it wouldn't be much longer before she'd have to start watching what she ate, it would'nt do to become fat and bloated. Wandering out to the kitchen and choosing yoghurt for breakfast she stood in the kitchen eating quietly ignoring the fact that the Faerie was still in the room. She hadn't brushed her hair yet and so it was a bit bushy and all over the place, finishing the yoghurt and washing the dishes, leaving it to dry on the tea towel she began cleaning the kitchen as it was due for a proper clean while waiting for Niko to finish his breakfast and put his dishes in the sink for her to tend to as much as she hated it she was very aware that was how things were, complaining wouldn't change anything it was better to just do it and get on with it.