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“I can do this myself, you know,”
Sebastian looks down awkwardly, watching the water ripple around him. It’s not the first time he’s been naked around Randal, and it surely won’t be the last, but it’s something he’d rather avoid if he can. He doesn’t fondly remember the last time he was in this tub.
“Hush now, I haven’t bathed you in a long time,” the redhead muses, turning off the tap after he’s decided that this amount of hot water will be enough for his pet.
“That guy’s ( that guy: Luther ) been making me feel like an inadequate owner recently. Bah!” As if to emphasize his point, he plunges his fist in the water, splashing it around.
“At least I don’t treat my pet as an errand boy, right Sebastian?” Randal baby-talks the last part, and Sebastian cringes. He really wants to retort with something not very nice, as Randal’s brother would describe it, but stops himself. It wouldn’t do him good to get mouthy while he’s almost fully submerged in water, he thinks, with this psychopath keeping him company. So he stays silent.
It’s not like Randal ever expected much of his approval for anything before, so it’s not a problem.
Randal rummages around in the bathroom cabinet, spilling half the contents to the floor and pulls out a bottle that can only be described as suspicious. It looks somewhat old, and there’s a clearly handwritten label on it - but whatever it’s been written with has bled into the label, and the text itself is incomprehensible. Luther told him to use it for Sebastian and his fragile human hair and complexion, and that’s what he’s planning to do, until he pops the cap open and takes a whiff.
“That guy…” a vein on his forehead throbs (for comedic effect of course). The concoction smells a bit like an old lady, but that’s beside the point, because it smells like Luther. Randal hates that. Never mind his terrible choice of rose fragrance, he can’t have that nasty brother stench rubbing off on his pet. He’s going to have to discuss this with Luther later.
Randal vengefully slams the bottle down on the counter and pulls out another bottle from the cabinet. It looks- a lot more normal, like a bottle of shampoo you’d find in any grocery store, but the label has still been torn off. Randal’s already taken off his gloves, now he rolls up his sleeves angrily.
Sebastian watches with mild interest, not planning to ask his master what has enraged him so. If anything, he assumes it’s something he probably doesn’t want to know. He’s come to learn that in this house, curiosity is detrimental – asking questions will get you nowhere when the answers don’t even exist themselves. (Little does he know; this just means he’s already getting used to the house. Adaptation is the human race’s forte, after all...)
At least the water is warm… he just might doze off. It’s the only way he’s been able to escape this house so far.
Randal continues his one-sided musings. “I was going to use the one Luther told me to, but I don’t think Sebastian wants to smell like an old fart,” Sebastian cringes again at the use of his "name", but he cringes more when he notices Randal’s wet socks.
Triumphantly, he shows off the bottle in his hands. “So, this is mine.” he opens the cap, and Sebastian’s olfactory sense is immediately hit by a pleasant smell, which he can’t exactly put his finger on. He supposes, as Randal said, it’s better than smelling like grandma’s rose water.
“I’m not sure if it's 100% safe for humans, but it'll probably be fine.” You’re not 100% safe for humans, Sebastian thinks.
“It works just right on my beautiful locks, see?" He flips his hair around to prove his point, but it’s mostly terribly stiff, his little hair spikes holding form. (Sebastian is already mourning his ginger curls.)
“This way, Sebastian will smell just like me," Randal’s cheeks are flushed the way they get when he’s excited.
“And certain people will know you belong to me.”
Sebastian doesn’t even want to comment on that. He decides to ignore it wholeheartedly as Randal starts lathering the shampoo onto his hair. It’s a pleasant sensation; perhaps it would have been enhanced if he didn’t have the displeasure of knowing who the person behind him is.
“I actually do enjoy Sebastian’s natural smell," Randal explains, coating his pet’s hair with the foam lavishly. His fingernails still haven’t grown back. “But it makes me a bit too hungry sometimes… Humans are pretty tasty, from what Luther’s been feeding us huh?”
Sebastian is starting to feel sick. Now this topic, he can’t stand. He can feel Randal’s grin burning through the back of his head.
“But you’d know all about that already, right? Fufufu.”
That he does. He’d liked it, too.
He decides to push through the frantic jumble of thoughts and focus on the sensation of being taken care of. He stays silent and promptly shuts his eyes. Even though Randal is behind him, he’s not sure he’d be able to stand the gut-wrenching sight of him. He won’t lose, he reminds himself, no matter what he’s going to escape this place someday and then none of this is going to matter.
Maybe he should just nap through this, too. He’d never think taking a bath would devolve into something this nerve-racking. Yeesh.
“Of course, I don’t just start drooling at anyone I come across, I’m civilized you see.”
Randal proudly points out. He seems to have gotten closer now, fingers tangling through his hair at a speedier pace. It kind of reminds Sebastian of how one would wash their dog, massaging through the fur. He’s not sure how to feel about being reminded, once again, that he is supposed to be a pet.
“I’d much rather be friends with them… You can never have too many of those, hehe.”
He doesn’t seem to realize that his already one-sided conversation has drifted into further unresponsiveness as Sebastian has started actively making an effort to ignore whatever he’s saying. He rinses the suds off Sebastian’s curls uncharacteristically gently, and Sebastian thanks the gods above, if they’re still up there, that Randal didn’t simply dip his head below the water.
The human relaxes as Randal goes off on another search, for something to wash his body with this time. He’s… really dreading what’s to come, but Randal had used one of those old school back scrubber things before, so it shouldn’t be so bad, right?
Thankfully, he walks behind the tub again, so Sebastian’s happy about not having to see his face. He’s still talking about humans and meat and things like that- that make Sebastian feel quite terrible, so he continues drowning out whatever he’s saying, but unfortunately, he’s pulled out of this calming state when he hears things that are upmost alarming, even more so than before.
“…no, of course I would never hurt Sebastian… but sometimes I do wonder…."
Oh, oh, now things were getting personal. Not good. Not good at all. Somehow Sebastian feels himself start to sweat, despite being in a tub full of hot water. Suddenly he feels a predatory gaze on him, and he feels the need to cover himself up, as Randal’s eyes travel his naked body, but he doesn’t- having him make a comment about it would be much more humiliating, he thinks, as blood rushes to his face.
“I wonder how you taste,”
Sebastian has to suppress a full body shiver when he feels a gust of air over his neck. Oh gods, Randal is panting. “Hmm… I would like to bite Sebastian, right here…” Randal’s lips ghost over Sebastian’s skin, and he subconsciously grips the sides of the tub.
“Hey…”
Sebastian’s voice comes out as a pitiful whimper. His whole body is urging him to fight back, but nothing has happened yet. The looming threat of Randal is still enough to make his heart beat like crazy. God, he wants to punch him, but he's learned his lesson from last time-
Randal’s teeth graze over his neck, and his hands slide down his body under the guise of cleaning. Sebastian’s knuckles turn white from how hard he’s clenching the tub as Randal’s cold, cold hands travel along his ribs, and he can’t help but make pitiful sound after another.
“Eek…”
"My pretty pet," he hears Randal murmur. His lips are a whisper on his neck, and Sebastian's hairs stand as his breath ghosts over his skin. Sebastian feels sick, heat creeping up his face. How fitting for his name, he thinks, that he's now red as a tomato. It's humiliating. He grinds his teeth.
"You know... I read somewhere that pets don't feel as stressed when taking baths if you use your bare hands,"
How ironic. His stomach does flips as Randal rubs down his body. His touch is almost feather light, but his hands are miraculously still cold. He keeps breathing down his neck as he does it, so that Sebastian wants to strangle him. It's... so awkward, and uncomfortable, and all he wants to do is to get out of the damn tub, but he can't find the power to pull Randal's hands off him.
"Luther also told me... that it increases trust between the pet and the master... You know I don't usually listen to that guy, but he might be onto something here..." Randal grins. "Besides, you feel really nice,"
"This is awful."
"You're like, really warm." He gets promptly ignored. "I think I'm gonna bathe you like this from now on."
I would rather shove a fork up my ass than do this again, Sebastian thinks. He's got half a mind to sock the freak in the face, but he's constantly reminded of how excited violence makes the boy- and how utterly naked he is. Not a good mix, but his patience is wearing thin.
"Well, do you feel more trusting of me," Randal's hands close around his neck. It's worse, somehow, than him just choking Sebastian. He's had enough of this- whatever it is- and grabs Randal's hands, prying them off of him. Randal looks surprised.
"Enough," Sebastian's voice is hushed, but it's clear that he's not pleased. (Not to mention absolutely not trusting the red haired freak.)
"Well, if you say so," Randal doesn't seem to be able to read the room, but still he shrugs, and pulls away. "Aw, my hands didn't even get all wrinkly..." He frowns, looking down at his hands, dripping with water, and promptly wipes them on his clothes.
Sebastian breathes out an audible sigh of relief when the creep finally pulls his hands away, and promptly covers himself up with the towel he's handed, stepping out of the tub. At least he's not being dried off like a dog... Surprising, that. Randal would probably have enjoyed that, he thinks, and grimaces.
"Maybe I should give you a sponge bath next time, you know, like an old person. I think it would be kinda funny."
Sebastian lets out an exasperated sigh.
It would certainly reduce the skin contact.