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After his first encounter with Abdirak, the priest had certainly made an impression on Tav. His skill with a whip was impressive, he still held the evidence of that on his back, and his presence was captivating. What most failed to notice though, was the think that had drawn Tav's attention the most.
His boots.
Black leather, sharp heels, and tall. They vanished under ceremonial robes, and he wandered just how high they might reach. But they had seen better days, perhaps unsurprising, given the state of their surroundings, a ruined temple taken over by goblins, splattered with muck and gore.For such beautiful boots to find themselves in such a condition? Well, it hurt him. Good leather was hard to come across in these parts. And perhaps there was another reason he was so interested in them too. He was a priest of Loviatar after all...Regardless, his intent was set. As the rest of his companions packed up for the night and made their rest, he put together his kit and slipped away into the night. It was not as good as he would have liked, the collection he had back in Baldur's Gate would have been far better, but beggars can't be choosers. Along their travels he had managed to scrounge up a few brushes and rags, a soft beeswax mixture, and the last remnants of a tin of polish that Zevlor had used back in his Hellrider days. A meagre collection, but enough for the task at hand.Thankfully, the priest was still in his little corner at the goblin camp. He was carefully cleaning his scourge, and Tav couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.He turned immediately at the noise. "Welcome back, dear one." A sharp smile formed as he recognized the visitor. "I thought I might see you again. Although I must ask, what is it that amuses you so?"Tav flushed, anxiety spiking. He did not usually approach people out of the blue on such matters, and although he had felt confident that the Loviatan would appreciate the offer, it was still a risk."Oh, just wondering how you can take such good care of your weapons but let your shoes end up such a state."A spark crossed Abdirak's eyes at that, eyes flicking to the bag Tav held. Not one that had been in him at their previous meeting. He leant back against the wall, slowly taking his eyes over Tav's form."Really, dear one? Quite an astute observation. Few in these parts have your appreciation for the finer things."He smirked as Tav's blush grew, shifting slightly to reveal more of his calf where the robes split, no end in sight to the dark leather."You are most correct, of course. They are in dire need of some care. But I must answer my Mistress's call, and I made the mistake of not really quite how far the journey would be." His eyes were heavy, almost taunting. He knew why Tav had come, that much was clear. But he wanted to make him say it."Well..." Tav stepped forward slightly, forcing himself to meet his gaze, "I have managed to gather a few supplies. If... You were in need of some help, with that?"Abdirak's eyes darkened, and Tav's head ducked instinctively, a sign of respect. They had found a good rhythm earlier, Abdirak commanding him to speak, to let Loviatar hear him, and Tav desperately begging for more, harder, until his back was bloody and his face was streaked with tears.When Abdirak turned, stalking over to the bench in one corner of the room, he followed obediently, hovering in anticipation."Very good." Abdirak's voice was almost a purr, as he took in Tav's posture, head bowed, hands clasped behind his back. "I was right to assume you had experience, was I not, dear one?"Tav nodded. "Yes,-" he trailed off. It was not done to assume an honorific, but he felt the need for one under the priest's heavy gaze."Yes, Sir." Abdirak prompted, and Tav echoes it back immediately. "Now, on your knees."Tav complied immediately, the dull ache as his knees collided tok hard with the stone floor going straight to his head. He was already starting to feel that pleasant floating feeling creep over him once more, as he looked up at Abdirak. "Yes, dear one. I can see what you want. You have missed this, havent you?"Tav nodded. "Yes, Sir." It had been too long already, wen the nautiloid has snatched him up. Since then, tasked with leading their group, making decisions, the weight of the world on his shoulders? He was in desperate need of the pain, the commands. Being put in his rightful place."For this evening, you may call me Sir, or Master." Tav couldn't hide the slight shiver that went through him at that, and Abdirak's smile sharpened. "If you do very well, I will reward you with the pain you so desperately crave. Do you understand?""Yes, Sir.""Then you may begin."Tav reached to the bag, where he had set it down when Abdirak had first led him over, and pulled out a coarse brush. As he did soz though, the leather satchel fell, sending the tins within clattering to the floor. And alongside them...Abdirak's hand shot forward, whisking the item away before Tav could reach it. "My my, what have we here?" He dangled it between to fingers, almost tauntingly. A soft leather band, decorated only by a metal ring hanging from the centre. A collar."You brought this , and yet sook to conceal it from me? I am almost disappointed."Tav had almost forgotten about the collar. It had been in need of some restoration, when he found it, and he must have packed it away along with the rest of his kit when he was done. But oh, now that it was in front of him, in Abdirak's bands..."I apologize, Master. I-""Raise your chin"He froze, words ceasing immediately, and did as he was ordered. Abdirak slowly raised the collar to his neck, giving plenty of time for him to back out, but he held still. As the leather wrapped around his throat, his eyes fluttered shut for a moment, the weight of it familiar and comforting around his neck. A reminder of his place."Much better, dear one. Now, you may begin."It took a few seconds for Tav's mind to process the words, but then he remembered what he was doing. Opening his eyes once more, he saw Abdirak had parted the robes, revealing the entirety of the tall boots, reaching up over his knees, and the pale, scarred thighs beyond. He almost gasped at the sight, even better than he had imagined.There was mud, and a little blood, splattered on the lower parts, and so Tav began with a brush, dislodging the worst of the muck and buffig the surface to reveal the leather beneath. He lacked saddle soap, in his piecemeal collection, but he had brought a water skin, and he wer a rag to wipe away as much of the blood and ingrained dirt as he could. The wax came next, and he conjured a small flame to soften it, in the cold night air. As he scooped some out though, his focus was interrupted by one boot being placed heavily against his chest. He glanced up, and Abdirak was looking down at him, expectantly. Alright then. Not the worst position to work from, he supposed. It left all sides of the boot easily accessible, as he began gently spreading and massaging the wax into the leather. Moving up the length of the boot, he had to reach a little further, and as he was forced to lean into the contact, he felt Abdirak shift, pressing the heel hard into his flesh. A single point of pain, it awakened the hunger within him. Not nearly enough, but then, he hadn't earned it. Not yet.As he completed the first boot and pulled back, Abdirak removed his foot, quickly replacing it with the other. This time, he did not draw it out, pressing down hard enough to bruise, and it shook a quiet moan from Tav. Reaching for the tin of wax, his movement caused his chest to shift, and the sharp heel drug across his chest, drawing a hiss of pain from him. Not enough to break the skin, but it left an angry red line. Abdirak shifted once more, digging a third bruise into his flesh just above the last one. As he worked up the length of the boot it continued, until his chest was pockmarked with tiny bruises.He took another brush, buffing the wax into the grain of the leather, and then reached at last for the polish. As he carefully worked it into the leather, Abdirak begin running the heal of his free boot over Tav's thigh, across his ribs, making him shiver and wince in equal measures. It threatened to overwhelm his focus, but he had a job to do. He would make sure those boots shone.And at last, it was complete. He sat back on his heels, feeling the aching of his legs that he had ignored in favor of his work truly set in now. "Thank you for allowing me to take care of them for you, Master."Abdirak's raised an eyebrow, looking down at him with a glint in his eye. "You have done well, dear one. But I think there is a step you have missed?"Tav felt his face flush red, equal parts embarrassment and excitement. Slowly, he leant forwards, eyes fixed on the toe of one boot as he approached. A heavy weight at his shoulder pushed him down further, and he recognized the shape of his master's other foot, resting firmly against his shoulderblade.It pushed him down, until he was level with gleaming leather, and he opened his mouth, drawing his tongue in a long stroke across the surface. The familiar musk, undercut with the chemical tang of turpentine, sent a shiver through him, the feeling of Abdirak's eyes on him as he degraded himself raising goosebumps along his back. He whimpered as the heel on his back dug in harder now, pressing him into the floor until he lay prostrate before his master, cheek pressed to the cold stone below and still lathing his tongue over the leather before him, as if he were starving for it. "You look so good under my boot, Dear one. You must have been made for it, made to serve at the feet of a master, offer all you are to a higher power."Tav moaned, fingers scratching against the flagstones below. His back arched into the pressure-pain, as he nodded, tears forming in the corner of his eye."Tonight, you will give yourself to Loviatar, my child."Suddenly, the boots were gone. Tav barely had time to register the movement before a kick collided with his ribs, sending him sprawling sideways across the stone. His head span, but as he caught himself, breathing heavy, he heard the recognisable sound of a dagger drawn from it's sheath.Looking up from the floor, Abdirak towered over him, a lethal looking blade in one hand. "Say "Mercy", if you must, my child. I offer only pain willingly given to my mistress." Tav shook his head, just slightly. "I understand, Sir. I want it."The priest's smile grew, cruel and hungry, as he planted one heeled for on Tav's chest, pushing him to the floor once more. "Then *beg* for it, Dear One. Tell Loviatar how dearly you crave her gifts." He stepped down, the weight on Tav's chest making it hard to breathe, but he gasped for air anyway, words flowing in breathless bursts under his master's command. "Please, Master - hurt me, cut me - make me bleed - for Loviatar - for you -anything sir, anything you want- Please!"The foot released , and Tav rolled onto his side, curling defensively as he heaved heavy breaths, trying to catch his breath."How eloquent you still are. Clearly I must be harsher on you, if there are so many words left in that pretty head of yours."The voice came from behind him now, as the priest had walked to lean against the tall stone table, what may once have been an alter, in the centre of the room.He crawled across the floor to meet him, his pride left with his cloak at the door to their little alcove. His trousers scuffed against the uneven ground under his knees, but he payed them no mind, too eager to press thankfully kisses up the length of those boots.As he reached the top, one hand grasped him by the hair, tilting his face upwards while the other pressed the flat of the blade to his throat, just above the collar.He raised the tip of the blade, tracing an old battle scar across Tav's face, then trailed it lower. Down from the base of the collar towards his chest, just nicking the skin as it crossed his collarbone. A single drop of red, the priest caught it on the back of the blade and raised it to Tav's face. "Taste it, child. Experience the bliss of Loviatar's gifts."The metal was cold and heavy against Tav's tongue, as he licked it clean, the salty tang of his blood mixed with the metal beneath. As he withdrew, the tip caught in his lip, and the taste grew as blood welled up in his mouth. His master pulled him up by the hair, dragging Tav up in his knees while he bent down to lick the blood from the wound. So close to a kiss, yet so much darker, more intimate, than any meeting of lips Tav had ever experienced. His hair was released, and he slumped back down, one hand reaching out to steady himself against the floor as his head swam. "Such a wonderful offering to Loviatar you make, dear one. Come, lay on her altar."Strong hands helped Tav up, guiding him to lie back against the stone table, and his eyes met his master's face once more, a cruel delight and anticipation in his eyes that made Tav weak."I see your eyes, the tears that you hold back. Shed them, as your blood is shed, as an offering." Abdirak raised the knife, rapt in religious fervour as he touched it to the centre of Tav's chest, and slowly cut. Shallow, with magic it would not scar, but as Tav felt the cold edge and the hot blood that spilled in it's wake, he mewled and grasped at the edges of the table, desperately trying not to squirm. The sharp pain of the blade grew into a throbbing ache, as his master drew line after line across his chest, some pattern he could not hope to decipher as the fog of pain overtook his mind. He felt, as tears spilled from his eyes, moans and whimpers turning to choked sobs as his master cut lower, the soft skin of his stomach putting up no resistance against his skilled ministrations. Even with his hands free, he was utterly defenceless against the priest, utterly lost in the sensations. Every touch if the knife, every hot rivulet of blood that spilled from the wounds, wrapping around him and dragging him down into endless bliss."Yes, my child, let it out. Scream for Loviatar. Scream for me!"And he screamed. Oh, how he screamed. How could he do anything else, when his master demanded it?"He screamed, into the void, until it consumed him completely. As consciousness found him once more, he felt a soft warmth surrounding him, and a gentle hand in his hair.Slowly, his eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the low candlelight of the room once more. He was on the bench, wrapped in a blanket, his head on Abdirak's lap. Tracing his fingertips across his chest, he felt that the woulda had been healed, leaving only faint lines that would fade in the coming days. The priest seemed to feel his shift, and the hand stroking through his hair slowed. "You return to your body once more, dear one. I hope your penance was healing?"Tav curled into his warmth, not yet ready to let go. "Mhm, yes, sir. Feels good. Floaty."He felt, more than heard, Abdirak's low chuckle. "A common reaction to such things. You did very well, Loviatar was most impressed." He carded his fingers through Tav's hair once more, earning him a soft noise of appreciation. "As was I. You make such beautiful sounds under my blade.""Thank you." Tav's voice was low, just barely more than a whisper, as he tilted his head to look up at Abdirak. "It was wonderful."Abdirak smiled down at him, and the gentleness of it shook him more than any of the pain had. "Sleep now, child, I shall wake you at dawn, give you time to slip back to your little friends. For now, let me take care of you."Tav grasped at the priest, pleased to find his spiked armour had been removed as he pulled him into a gentle embrace. Across the room, he spotted those boots, set carefully across the table, and glistening. And the comforting weight of the collar, resting at the base of his neck, still remained. Gentle reminders of their magical evening. As sleep began to overtake him once more, he smiled.