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Chapter 52 - The Surreal PC

“Do you have any fucking idea what the hell is happening?” Luke asked Rex during one of the few moments when the two of them were relatively alone.

“Nope. No clue,” Rex replied honestly.

Rex looked over to the far end of the hospital hallway where Brian and Justin were standing together, holding hands and making googly-eyes at each other. They were ALWAYS touching and kissing and looking at each other like that. It was just weird. They didn’t act like a Master and PC at all. They acted like fucking boyfriends or something. If Rex hadn’t seen the PC tattoo on the little blond’s neck with his own eyes he wouldn’t actually believe it.

Not that Rex was complaining or anything. Well, not really. He was more than happy to be out of the Sapp’s clutches. And he was grateful that he was getting some medical care. The doctors here had looked over his injuries, gave him a brace for his ankle - which, thankfully, was merely sprained and not broken - and even checked to make sure the stitches left over from the Stockwell incident were healing correctly. On top of that, they’d given him pain meds that made all the aches much more bearable. He felt better at that moment than he had in almost a month.

He just didn’t understand what was going on or why these people were doing what they’d been doing.

His nebulous and admittedly not-well-thought-out plan had been only to get the phone to the kid, have him call his Master and hope that the police would arrest The Sapp. Rex had assumed that once the Handler was arrested, he’d be saved from whatever the ‘full treatment’ was supposed to be. But he hadn’t really thought about what would transpire afterwards. Now that he looked back on it, he guessed he’d just figured he would be sent back to Bellweather once Sapperstein was nabbed. He hadn’t dreamed he’d be taken out of the training center by a bunch of strangers and taken to the hospital. Or that he’d become the focus of so much attention. He didn’t think Bellweather would be very happy with him for all that attention. More likely than not, Rex was going to land in even hotter water when he got back to his Master’s home.

Well, he’d be the first to admit it hadn’t been a very good plan.

Whatever. Rex decided just to go with the flow and enjoy what seemed to him a sort of ‘time out’ from his real life as a PC. He’d always been a realist. He’d rather accept all the shit that life threw at him and just deal with it head on - fighting it never got you anywhere and was just a waste of energy. So he would just enjoy himself for the next hour or two. He wouldn't think about what was to come. There would be time enough to deal with that shit when it arrived. He’d let these nice doctors clean him up, treat his injuries, give him medicine and he’d rest up while he could so that he’d be ready for the inevitable fallout.

Once Rex had decided to approach things that way, it all became much less worrisome. He actually found himself amused by the little blond boy’s antics. That kid was kind of a hoot. He wasn’t very big and didn’t say much, and yet, somehow he pretty much always seemed to get his way. The way he said his Master’s name - ‘Brian’ - made the man act like a lovesick fool. And the thing was, the guy didn’t even realize it. It made Rex smile, and that was a great thing since he didn’t remember smiling since before he’d gone to Bellweather's.  

Rex had got through the remainder of the hospital visit in buoyant high spirits. He rather enjoyed how everyone was looking after him, making sure he was okay, talking TO him instead of ABOUT him for a change, and generally treating him like a real human being. Rex thought that maybe he could even work this to get a real meal out of the hospital people before they were shipped back to their drudgery. Of course, Luke wasn’t taking it as well as Rex was - he kept complaining about how weird it all was every time Master Kinney and his boy were out of earshot - but other than that, everything was going great.

Right up until that police guy turned up again at the hospital.

Rex and Justin had been sitting with Luke while the big PC was getting some stitches in his back. The poor guy was really torn up. It was probably going to ruin his chances of being resold to a good Master. Rex felt bad for the guy. That’s why he was trying so hard to distract him and keep his mind off things while that Doctor did his work. Justin was being all silly and holding Luke’s hand, treating the older PC like a little kid. Whatever.

While they were all watching over Luke, though, Master Kinney and the cop started talking about everything that had happened at the Handler’s place. At first Rex only listened with half an ear. He was a just a PC, so none of that stuff affected him. Or, that’s what he thought, until he heard the name ‘Bellweather’.

“I have more than enough to pull in Bellweather too. I should have the signed arrest warrant for that creep by the time I’m done here . . .” the cop was saying.

Holy shit! Bellweather was going to be arrested along with the Sapp? What the fuck did that mean for him? Where would they take Rex after he was done at the hospital if his Master was on the way to jail? Not that Rex had any real loyalty to Bellweather, let alone any actual affection - for what it was worth, he hoped the cretin rotted in jail for the rest of his life - but if his Master was going to prison, what would happen to him? Would he be sold to someone else? What if it was someone worse than Bellweather? That possibility was a bit worrisome.

While Rex was still reeling from that news, he was hit with a real shocker.

The doctor working on Luke had finished and then gone over to talk to Master Kinney about how to take care of the boy once he was ‘home’. That whole conversation struck Rex wrong. ‘Home’? What the fuck was that about? And why was the doctor acting like Luke would be leaving with Master Kinney. Wouldn’t Luke be going back to his own Master?

Rex was relieved when Master Kinney started to explain that he wasn’t Luke’s owner and the PC would not, in fact, be going ‘home’ with him. But then that pushy little blond brat had butted in and said ‘Brian’ and everyone just went totally insane. Or at least that’s what it felt like.

The next thing Rex knew, Master Kinney was asking the police detective if it was okay for Rex and Luke to go ‘home’ with him. Even stranger, the cop actually agreed to that plan, basically ordering Rex to go with this stranger. And before he knew what the hell was happening, some woman was handing him a stack of clothing and telling him to get dressed and then they were leaving the hospital with Master Kinney. He still didn’t know how or why this odd thing was happening or what it meant, though.

“Thanks, Cyn,” Master Kinney said after the car they were riding in pulled up in front of a red brick building and stopped. “I’ll call you tomorrow as soon as I’ve figured out what the fuck is going on. We still have a shitload of stuff to do for all these new clients and I’ve let everything go to hell the past two days, but I haven’t given up on Kinnetik. If Sunshine’s up to it, we should be able to get back to work in the next day or two.”

“Good, because I got the Eyeconics contract back today along with a nice big check . . .” The blonde woman replied, making it sound like she maybe worked for Master Kinney.

“I’d be thrilled by that news if I wasn’t so fucking exhausted, Cynthia. How about you tell me again tomorrow afternoon and I promise to be suitably excited then?” Master Kinney joked with her before leaning forward from the back seat of the car, where he’d been sitting with Justin and Luke, and kissing the blonde woman on the cheek. “Thanks for coming to the hospital to rescue me. Oh, and you will be deleting that phone tracker app immediately, right?”

“Of course, Boss,” she answered facetiously. “Whatever you say, Boss . . . Oh, wait, you still haven’t formally hired me yet, so I don’t have to do anything you ask. Darn. Guess that app stays.”

“Remind me to fire you for your insolence once I do actually hire you,” Master Kinney laughed and then proceeded to get out of the car, towing his bond boy along with him. “Rex. Luke. This is our stop. Everybody out,” he ordered, so the two PCs obeyed and got out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, Cyn. Night.”

“Night, Brian. Glad you’re home, Justin. Rex. Luke. You guys take it easy, okay? Night, all,” the blonde woman said agreeably and then drove off.

“Shit, I’m fucking tired. Thank fuck we’re finally home, right, Sunshine?” Master Kinney stated as he walked up to the entrance of the building and unlocked the door.

Rex and Luke were still standing on the sidewalk, heads bowed, as expected, waiting to be told what the hell was going on and where they were supposed to be going. Master Kinney was halfway inside before he realized that the two new PCs weren’t there with him. He looked back at the PCs on the curb, then down at his own PC, then growled, sighed and finally came back outside.

“Rex. Luke. Come with me,” Master Kinney directed, which was an actual order, and the fact that he was finally acting a bit like a Master should was reassuring. Until he ruined it by adding, “please,” and just fucking it all up.

Luke looked over at Rex, his forehead wrinkled with as much confusion as Rex himself felt. Rex shrugged slightly, not knowing any more than Luke. Finally, Justin came back outside, shaking his head at them. The little blond grabbed Luke and Rex, each by one hand, and physically towed them into the building with him. Master Kinney followed looking annoyed.

They all got into a rickety old elevator and rode up four floors. Master Kinney shoved up the gate and exited the elevator. Justin tugged at the other two PCs to get them to follow. They all stopped a meter or so in front of a large, industrial-looking metal door.

Master Kinney was standing there looking at a yellow sticky note that had been left on the door. Rex could easily read it over the Master’s shoulder. ‘Hope you found Justin. I’m taking Lindz to talk with a friend of mine that does criminal law, after which she will be turning herself in. P.S. We cleaned up the broken glass for you. Mel’

“Good. Lindsey better fucking turn herself in. If she doesn’t I’ll be sending Carl over to arrest her ass,” Master Kinney ripped the note off the door furiously. He continued ranting at this Lindsey person while unlocking the door and then stomping inside. “Fucking bitch. I could have killed her this morning when she told me SHE had let that fucker Sapperstein in here. Well, that sure as fuck isn’t going to happen again - first thing tomorrow morning we’re calling a locksmith and changing the fucking locks. Don’t let me forget, Sunshine.”

The Master stopped his complaining only when he looked around and noticed that none of the others had followed. Rex was standing on the landing, waiting like a good PC for someone to tell him what the fuck was going on and where to go. Luke was doing likewise. Justin was standing nearby, looking from the boys to his Master, with a mischievous glint in his eye and trying to hide an odd little smile that Rex didn’t understand.

“Fuck!” Master Kinney growled and then came back to the doorway, pinching at the bridge of his nose as if to stave off a headache. “I do NOT feel up to this shit right now, Sunshine. I have a fucking concussion, you might remember. And don’t even try to pretend that you aren’t finding this funny, you brat.” Justin gave up hiding his smile and outright laughed. Rex still didn’t see what was funny about any of this. “Okay, let’s get this over with. Rex, Luke, get in here.” Master Kinney ordered, pointing to the floor in front of his feet a couple of meters inside the apartment.

The two confused PCs shuffled in, assuming appropriately submissive stances in front of the Master. From under his lashes, Rex saw the man shaking his head and crossing his arms decisively. He wondered if he was in trouble, although he didn’t know what he could have done wrong. This was all so confusing.

“We better get things straight right from the start here. I just barely got Sunshine past all this PC stupidity and I don’t have the patience to deal with it all over again. So, you two listen up,” Master Kinney stated. “In this house we don't do all that PC shit. We are NOT PC. Especially after everything that happened today, we are definitely APC around here. So, when you’re with me, when you're here in this loft, you will NOT act like a bunch of submissive sex slaves. You do NOT stand around and wait for me to tell you what to do. You just do whatever the fuck you want, okay?”

“Yes, Master,” both Luke and Rex answered obediently even though neither of them really understood what they were supposedly agreeing to.

“Damn it! I’m not anybody’s ‘Master’. I’m just ‘Brian’. I thought we already went over that at the hospital?,” Master Kinney stated emphatically. “And you don’t have to answer ‘yes’ to everything I say. You can tell me to go fuck off if you want. Hell, I probably NEED to be told to fuck off half the time. Alright?”

“Yes, Mas . . . Brian, Sir,” Rex responded. Luke hadn’t said anything that time, apparently even more lost than Rex was.

“Good. So, that’ll be Standing Order Number . . . What number are we up to Sunshine? Four? Yeah, I think we’re at four . . . Standing Order Number Four is, you all need to tell me to fuck off.” Master Kinney seemed satisfied with that pronouncement and moved on to the next order of business. “Okay, now, this is what we’re going to do. I’m going to order us some Thai because I’m fucking starving and you three are probably even hungrier than I am. Then, while we’re waiting for that, I’m going to dig out the big floor cushion/futon thing from my storage locker, ‘cause there’s only one bed and I’m not sharing it with anyone other than Sunshine tonight. While I’m doing that, Sunshine, you’re in charge of getting our guests cleaned up and situated. I’m sure everyone’s ready for a nice hot shower. How does that sound to everyone?”

Nobody said anything. Rex briefly contemplated telling Master Kinney to ‘fuck off’ since that was the last thing he'd been ordered, but at the last second he thought better of it. Luckily, it turned out no answer was required of him. The Master just shook his head again, leaned in to give his blond boy a kiss, and then headed to the kitchen area on the left where he picked up a telephone handset and started barking out a food order.

“Does anybody else think that man’s just downright crazy, or is it only me?” Luke whispered to his companions as soon as Brian had left. “I mean, he just ordered us not to listen to his orders. That’s some serious schizophrenic shit, right?”  

Justin giggled and smiled indulgently at Brian’s back then turned back to his charges, taking them both by the hand and leading them up to the bathroom. After showing them where everything was, he shoved Luke toward the shower and took Rex with him back out to the bedroom where they worked together to get pillows and linens out of the closet, help the Master set up the floor cushion and then make up a bed. By then, Luke was done and it was Rex's turn in the bathroom.

Which is when the whole craziness of the day finally started to hit him.

Rex stepped into the bathroom, closed the door behind him, and was alone. All alone. For the first time in fuck knew how long, Rex was absolutely alone in a safe place. He hadn't been allowed any time alone - not counting his punishment in Bellweather’s punishment hole - since before he'd started his PC training. It felt exceedingly weird.

He stripped and stepped into the large shower enclosure. He turned on the water and it heated up almost immediately. He stepped under the warm, cascading water and almost moaned with pleasure. It felt so good on his tired, sore body. Even better, he was showering alone, not in some communal shower with lukewarm water where he had to fight ten other PCs for space. This water was deliciously hot. He just stood there for the longest time and let the hot water pelt down on his skin. Then he took up the soap. It smelled so wonderful - sandalwood scented soap. And the shampoo he used next smelled like coconuts. It felt so great to be clean and warm. And the towels when he finally got out were so amazingly soft and fluffy. Then he brushed his teeth with the new toothbrush Justin had given him and combed his hair and it all felt so refreshing. Shit, he really liked feeling clean.

Finally, Rex picked up the clothing he'd been given earlier and started to put it back on. He was surprised at how wonderful it felt to wear real clothing again. Not that the scrub pants and long sleeved t-shirt he'd been given were anything fancy, but after being kept mostly naked for years, they seemed quite elegant to the PC. Starting with the day he'd signed the contract to become a PC, the most he'd ever been allowed to wear was a pair of boy shorts when he'd been taken out in public and his Handler or owner felt compelled by propriety to dress him. More often than not, he'd been kept in a thong or just plain naked. But this clothing was not only soft and clean, it covered him from head to toe. It made him feel protected, unexposed, almost like a suit of armor. Rex found he really liked the novelty of having clothing again.

He was roused from his admiration of his clothing by a rapping at the door and the Master’s curt, “dinner’s here.” Rex rushed to straighten up the mess he'd made in the bath and then hurried out to the main room. Master Kinney was plating the food which Justin was carrying over to the dinner table where Luke was already seated. As soon as everything was set up, Justin came and led Rex to the chair across from Luke and then seated himself in his Master's lap so he could feed the man a piece of carrot he'd stolen off one of the serving platters. The two of them were laughing, giggling, kissing, teasing, and not really paying any mind to anything except each other. Rex and Luke sat there, staring at each other across the table, completely bewildered.

Finally, Master Kinney realized that the boys weren’t eating yet. He huffed a little grumble. “You’re doing that PC shit again, guys,” he admonished. But since that only got him more perplexed stares, he put down the salad roll he’d been trying to shove in Justin’s face and addressed the other two PCs. “Standing Order Number One - You never have to wait for permission to eat. Ever. If we’re eating here you serve yourselves when you want and what you want. You eat as much as you like and stop when you like. If we’re out at a restaurant, you order whatever you want. And if I’m not around, you make sure you feed yourselves whenever you’re hungry. You don’t need to wait for me to make you food. Understand?”

“Yes, Brian,” Rex and Luke answered in unison.

“And while we’re at it,” Brian continued, only evidencing mild irritation at the method of their response. “Standing Order Number Two - I don’t wanna ever have anyone ask me for permission to use the fucking toilet. You piss and shit whenever you need to. I’m not a preschool teacher - you don’t need a fucking hall pass. Capiche?”

“Yes, Brian,” they echoed.

“Standing Order Number Three . . . What was Number Three again, Sunshine?”

“Calling,” Justin responded with another of those smiles that - Rex had to agree with Master Kinney even though he wasn’t actually gay - was truly fucking adorable.

“Right. Standing Order Number Three - if you ever get worried or upset or need me, you call me right away. Don’t fuck around worrying if it would bother me or anything,” Master Kinney directed. “And, by the way, Sunshine, excellent way to follow Order Number Three today. Calling Debbie was brilliant. Just remind me to have you memorize MY number for future reference.” Then the Master turned back to the new PCs and stared them down. “I think that covers pretty much everything, guys. But, if you’re ever in doubt just remember the Prime Directive - No PC Shit - and you should be fine. Now, eat already before the fucking food gets cold.”

Rex reached out to the platter that was heaped full of Chicken Pad Thai and began spooning a large serving onto his plate. Luke was doing the same with the Rice and Broccoli Curry. Brian and Justin had gone back to feeding each other salad rolls dripping with peanut sauce. Rex tried to ignore them and just concentrate on his food. He couldn’t understand why that seemed so difficult. He was usually great at ignoring extraneous stuff and just getting on with his own shit, but tonight he seemed to be struggling.

It wasn’t until he was most of the way through his dinner, that Rex finally broke. It had probably been coming on all night, but since the shower Rex had noticed the strange feelings more and more. But then, sitting there eating the delicious food, it just suddenly became too much.

The food was so good. Rex thought it was probably the best food he’d ever eaten in his life - or at least as far back as he remembered. It was hot, savory and spicy. Not the bland and badly cooked glop PCs were normally served when their masters deigned to actually serve a meal. More often than not, especially over the past month, Rex had been relegated to scrounging scraps off Bellweather’s plate in lieu of real meals. Here, he was actually sitting down at a table, not kneeling at his Master’s feet. And his plate was full to overflowing with the tasty meal. He didn’t have to beg for it. He didn’t have to share it with anyone. He didn’t have to debase himself just so he wouldn’t fucking starve. He’d been told he could eat as much as he wanted. And he was clean and warm and had clothing and people were actually talking to him instead of about him and nobody was hurting him and . . . and . . . and . . .

And it was too fucking much.

Rex felt a wash of panic sweep through him. He was panting and his vision was tunnelling. He dropped his fork and it clattered down onto the plate, the sound seeming ridiculously loud. There was a ringing sound in his ears. And while all of this was happening, there was a small part of him that was looking on and almost laughing because he was making such a big deal out of nothing. But he couldn’t help it. He just couldn’t stop liking everything about where he was right then. He couldn’t stop and he all of a sudden realized that he couldn’t ever go back there either. He could never again be the person that he’d been just that morning. He couldn’t be the subservient Personal Companion that he was supposed to be. Not after this.

For so long now, Rex had been completely focused on getting through every horrible thing coming at him that he just didn’t have time to think about it all. Starting the day after he turned eighteen, when he’d signed the PC contract in an effort to save his little sister’s life, he’d been struggling just to deal with one disappointment after another. He’d had to adjust to the PC training he’d been subjected to. He’d had to deal with the Handler’s decision to train him for the gay market. He’d had to deal with the news that his sacrifice for his sister had been in vain and she’d died just a few months later anyway. He’d had to subjugate his entire personality to become the PC he’d been told he needed to be. He’d had to suffer through the disappointment of finding out he’d been sold to Bellweather and then fight for his existence every day since then. And he’d been so busy just making it through from day to day with all of that, he hadn’t realized just how far he’d fallen. Not until that moment.

Once he’d seen it though, he knew he couldn’t do it any more. Only, he was stuck. He was a PC. He’d done this to himself and there was no going back. This momentary reprieve was only that. It was temporary. When this time was over he’d have to go back to being the quiescent PC that everyone expected, only he didn’t think he could do it again. Now that he had been reminded of what a real life should be like, it would kill him to go back to that other self. He’d be lost and wind up dead just like the rest of Bellweather’s used up PCs.

No fucking wonder he was panicking.

Rex didn’t realize he was crying. He looked up and saw Luke sitting on the opposite side of the table, noticed that there were tears streaming down the big man’s face, and thought how odd that was. It seemed like Luke had come to the exact same realization as he had at pretty much the same moment. Master Kinney was now standing up and saying something to them both, but for some reason Rex couldn’t understand his words. It seemed he was too busy panicking.

Thankfully, Justin - that same shy, damaged boy who just that morning had been too scared to talk even to call for help - saved the day again. The boy jumped up off his Master’s lap and gently grabbed Rex’s shoulders, encouraging the PC to stand up and then guiding him over to the couch. Rex let himself be led and positioned without resistance. A minute later, he noticed that Luke was seated next to him. In short order, the food was put away and the kitchen tidied. The Master bustled around turning off the lights. Then Rex was led over and told to lay down on the makeshift bed. The PC lay there on his back, staring up at the ceiling beams and trying not to think any more. Luke joined him seconds later. Then Justin was wiping Rex’s face with a tissue and kissing both his new friends goodnight.

Rex was so exhausted and drained that he couldn’t move, but at the same time he couldn’t sleep. His mind was whirling a million miles an hour. All he could do was lie there, listening to the night noises of this strange place, and try to keep himself from flying off into a million pieces.

In the other room, he could hear Master Kinney and his boy chatting quietly. He could picture them in his mind, the way they’d been acting all evening, constantly touching, kissing, always watching each other. The conversation travelled to the bathroom and then the sound of the shower going on drowned out everything else for a few minutes.

Rex’s mind was still reeling and uneasy when they reemerged from the bathroom. He could hear them getting into bed, the sheets rustling, the whispered conversation sounding more intense. And then there wasn’t as much talking but more and louder noises. These noises more insistent, more wild, more intimate. There was the slap of skin on skin. A subvocal moan. Panting breaths. The moaning grew louder and less restrained.

“Yes, Sunshine. Fucking, yes! Yes, yes, yes . . .”

“Brian!”

A crescendo of mutual moans reverberated off the exposed ceiling beams, amplifying the passion coming from the other room, and making Rex feel like he was right there with the two men making love. It was the most vividly passionate and surreal experience of the young man’s life, despite the fact he was only a distant spectator. And when their climax came, he could almost feel it in his own gut.

The little noises that followed quickly died down. There was more rustling of fabric and Rex could picture blankets being drawn up over bodies cooled by drying sweat. Just when he thought they must have finally drifted off to sleep, though, there was one more thing.

“Hey, Sunshine?”

“Hmm?”

“Standing Order Number Five - and this is the most important one of all, so pay attention - you’re not to ever get yourself kidnapped or leave me again.

“Yes, Brian . . .”

Rex was startled when the arm of his up-till-now-silent bed mate snaked around him at that point. The two tired PCs rearranged themselves until Luke was spooned behind Rex, allowing them to share the comfort of their bodies and the support of their shared communion. It was nice to have something real and solid beside him after a day like that.

“He seemed to like it . . .” Rex eventually voiced the thought that was uppermost in his busy mind. “I never liked it. Not even once. But Justin . . . he seemed to like it.”

“Yeah, well, you’ve never had THAT,” Luke whispered, his face so close to Rex’s ear that he could feel the man’s warm breath on his cheek, prompting him to snuggle back even more into the other man’s arms. “What you had was, at best, fucking. Probably, most of the time, you didn’t even get that. All you got was hate - just another way to beat you from the inside out. You didn’t get THAT. I don’t think even I’ve ever got THAT. THAT is fucking rare. THAT’s what love must be like, I think.”

Several long minutes later, after he’d thought that through and found he agreed with Luke’s assessment, Rex sighed. “I’d like to have that some day.”

“Me too.”

“Night, Luke.”

“Night, kid.”