Empty Gold

Donnie nodded at this. She seemed eager and willing to do what needed to be done and he couldn’t fault her for that, now could he? No. He would do what needed to be done for her. He would help her out. He would work with her to get her where she needed to be. That was something that he could handle. 

“Good,” he said. “As long as you hold up your end of the bargain then I’ll hold up mine. I won’t cross any lines as long as I feel as though you’re putting your best foot forward with all of this.” He watched her and ran his fingers along the desk lightly as he did so. “But you’re going to have to learn how to trust me.”

Natalie didn’t trust him, he could say he wouldn’t do anything, but it’s not like she could actually believe that he wasn’t until he didn’t do anything, until he proved himself over and over again, then she would start to trust him, but until that happened he would have to grow used to her looking at him with distrust in her eyes. 

“It’s not going to be hard to keep up my end of it. I like doing my work, and my grades are important to her.” If he looked at her grades, he’d see that she did work hard, even with the stuff going on at the school, even with rentals, even with everything. She worked hard so she could get out. The brunette laughed at his words, but didn’t push it. 

Clementine decided to go for a walk. She needed to find someone to show her the ropes. She walked around the island, intending to explore the campus first. She was nervous,being thrust into a position of power, but still a bit of clay to be molded.  She grinned and waved at someone “ Hey! I’m new here and new to all of this, looking for someone to show me the ropes.”

Natalie liked the long hours of freedom that came with the summer break, but she hated how even though she had all this freedom she was still so limited in what she could do, in where she could go, in what to do with her free time. So, she was sitting curled up on a bench in the shade, reading another summer read, another book to tear through before school came back and she had homework and projects and no time again, a juicy beach read that she could enjoy. But when she heard the other, Natalie looked up and looked over her lack of a collar, over the role she had as a Mistress, and she couldn’t tell if she really was trying to be this friendly because that’s who she was, or if it was all an act. “What kind of ropes?” Natalie asked with a raised eyebrow, not really believing her act. 

“First off, I want you to start staying after class. I’ll go through the assignments with you and we’ll figure out what you’ve been missing, see if we can connect the dots and see where you’re getting lost. After that, we’ll take it as it goes.” 

He had every intention on moving past the academics but she didn’t need to know that right now. She’d figure it out soon enough. He smiled a little bit, trying to reassure her. “I also may have you work on a paper. Pick one of the subjects we’ve talked about and give your point of view on it.”

The brunette nodded at what he was going to want from her, she could do that, Natalie could show up after class and stay here longer with him, she could do the assignments he wanted that would be extra and go over the material that she was trying to catch up on that she lost since the rental. The rental was over now but Natalie was trying to catch up on what she had missed and lost when she was gone and going through the rough rental, while keeping up with the new material. 

Natalie took her grades seriously, she hated that she had messed up and was getting behind in her grades right now, she hated that she was getting bad grades, she hated that the rental had messed her up so much. But she was happy that he’d give her extra credit, real extra credit to push ehr grades up. “This sounds good. I can do all of this, I promise.” Natalie said. 

Basia wasn’t sure what they were expecting, but when the stranger screamed they couldn’t help but grin a little. Oh they scared her properly, they found that quite amusing. “I’m not a psycho, I’m just training, lady, don’t lose your head over it!” Basia shouted back at her, then chuckled. “… you still have your head attached to your shoulders, so be happy.” They added, walking over so they could grab their axe back, glancing at the woman briefly before taking the weapon out of the tree trunk.

Natalie knew there were lots of dangerous things here, and that many Masters and Mistresses wanted to hurt the slaves here, but Natalie had never had someone throw an ax at her, someone who threw something so dangerous at her with no warning when she didn’t know them at all. The brunette was still breathing hard, still shaking, still scared since the ax had been right by her head. “Don’t lose my head?” Natalie laughed. “I almost lost my head because you decided to throw a stupid ax at my head!” She glared at them, mad at how close the stupid thing had been to her head, she could have really gotten hurt! 

Training // Basia & Open

They could tell now why Klesane forced them to come to this place. It certainly had a… very interesting thing going on. The djinn didn’t love it, but whatever, this meant easy access to food and no need to hunt, life was about to get a whole lot easier and for that, they couldn’t complain. Yet that of course meant they would get less chances to train. There would be no fights, no more sparring sessions with the Madwoman, but they needed to keep themselves sharp in case… well, just to be sure. Klesane would kill them if they got lazy and weak.

The djinn disliked the outdoors, but the beach here was quite alright, they figured that throwing an axe again and again at the same palm tree would help them stay strong. Their aim was as good as always, but their focus wasn’t quite there, and this became obvious when they noticed the person behind that palm tree a little too late. They didn’t get a chance to warn them, the axe stuck into the tree and made it shake, startling the stranger. Basia felt bad for a second and was about to ask if they were okay, but immediately remembered their training. So, instead of worrying, they stood up straight and stared at the person. “Who goes there?” They asked in a low, confident tone.

@the-institute-starters

Natalie liked the trail that went by the beach, there were times when the palm trees cleared and she could see the ocean, it was crystal clear blue and so pretty, and when she got to the end of the run she could usually go for a swim and cool off before heading back. The brunette was nearing the end and she was hot, she was looking forward to the swim to cool down in the ocean and was slowing down to a walk as she took her headphones out. But then an axe hit the tree right beside Natalie and she jumped back, letting out a scream before she looked at the person who threw it, then the tree with the axe then back at them. She was scared, she was terrified that the axe could have hit her and killed her, and they hadn’t even said anything before throwing it, Natalie was feeling her fear go towards anger and she stood there shaking, breathing hard before they yelled at her. “What kind of psycho throws a fucking axe at someone?” She demanded, still shaking in fear, still shaking at how close that had been to her, to getting hit. 

“I follow through with my big words,” he assured her. He cocked his head to the side ever so slightly and sighed. “Look here’s the thing, I pride myself in being able to guide others. Help them let go and give over to whatever is holding them back. Trust is usually earned in that process. This isn’t purely selfless,” he admitted. “When you fail, you make me look bad. I don’t like looking bad.”

He sighed a little bit and rubbed the back of his neck. “What if I give you extra credit? For allowing me to try and help you get caught up? I think that will be worth it. At the end of the day, I get the feeling you want to pass this class at the very least. Let me help you do that.”

The brunette gave him a doubtful and dubious look, but she didn’t push it, didn’t tell him again that he could say until he was blue in the face that she should trust him, she wasn’t about to until he showed her that he could be trusted, that she wasn’t going to get hurt for doing that. She just made a little noise and looked away. “Well, it’s not like I set out to fail.” Natalie muttered, hating that she got a bad grade in the first place, he prided himself on helping others, but she prided herself on doing her best and that grade would haunt her now. 

“Umbrellas are for the weak.” He explained, the joke leaving his lips followed by a chuckle since she was correct and he hadn’t thought to bring one. He wasn’t actually sure he owned one, usually just the hood of his sweater pulled over his head was enough to protect him. “I see you were smart enough to bring one along though.” He nodded towards the protective device that rested too close to the offending door. “May I?” He asked, holding out his hand and reaching for the umbrella, with a gentle tug he took it from her and opened it. 

“What did you need to get?” It wasn’t any of his business, but he was curious about it. This woman had made him curious from day one, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on why, something about her just seemed so familiar. With the umbrella opened he gestured with a nod towards the rain. “Let’s get you back, yeah?” As she said she would have rather been in bed, he was certain she probably wanted this shopping trip of hers to end. Holding the umbrella he made sure to cover the brunette, even with some of the rain falling on him, it wasn’t like he could get anymore drenched. “Would you like to stop somewhere?” He asked, curious if she was hungry or anything of the sort.

“Is that so?” Natalie asked, and before she could think of it, a smirk came to her lips, she thought it was a little funny, and a small smile that found it all funny came to her lips, but it was small, just showing a little of who she was to him. “See... I’d argue that umbrellas are for the dry since I’ll stay nice and warm and you’ll look like a drowned cat.” Natalie said, smirking a little and having a smile show up just a little, just a little tease of her teasing him, of finding the whole thing funny and not being so nervous to get in trouble for talking to a Master. “Oh.. uh...” But he took the umbrella and opened it up for them before Natalie could take it or tell him to stop. “Oh... um thanks.” Natalie gave him a tiny, hesitant smile. 

“Just some stuff for a project and some shampoo and other things like that.” The brunette was running low on some stuff, and she needed to get some more before she ran out, and though she didn’t like going out in the rain, she was at the last bit and knew she had to, she’d waited too long for the rest of it. “Yeah, thanks.” Natalie started walking with him, now that she was with him she didn’t have to worry too much about the curfew or getting back in time, not when she was with a Master, who she still didn’t totally trust, but he had been pretty good the last time she saw him and that was a lot since she’d been alone with him and had even showered there too. “Oh... you mean like another errand? I don’t have anywhere else. Or do you mean you have to stop somewhere?” Natalie asked, not sure what he was asking, though she was hungry, she wasn’t even thinking that he was thinking of stopping for food.