bring on that delicious mmm-mmm angst

"I'll talk whenever I please—"

Another slap, and her head whipped to the side. Tears of humiliation were stinging her eyes. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't. "You'll find that it's much easier to follow the rules of the house than to act out constantly. Your arms will go numb in their restraints, the blood from them will pool into your head, you'll get dizzy, you'll beg to be released… I've seen this process tens and tens of times. You're not special, sweetheart."

"Stop calling me that!" she snapped, and she was once again backhanded. His stupid rings were tearing at the sensitive skin of her cheeks.

"I'll call you whatever I want," he said, still not angry, still just a cat playing with a cornered mouse. She wished he would let her out of the restraints for a proper fist-fight. She would've demolished him. But she wasn't free, and he could just do with her as he pleased.

She glared at him. Wordless. He smiled.

"Nothing more to say? I'll gladly stay and slap you around."

She had to conserve her energy. There was no point to fighting a losing battle. Even though everything in her screamed at her to be defiant, to not give him the satisfaction of thinking she was breaking from a few slaps, she stayed silent. She would pick her battles.

"Good," he said. "This is a step in the right direction. Of course, you'll need to be much more obedient for me to release you from the restraints, but I find a few nights of sleep deprivation, a possibly dislocated shoulder, and hours of staring at white walls usually does the trick."

Don't talk back. Don't talk back. Don't talk back.

"Speak," he said graciously. She didn't. Instead, she spat at him.

That was the wrong move. He wiped his face, then reeled his hand back and punched her in the cheek. This wasn't an open-handed slap anymore, this wasn't just humiliating, this hurt.

"I'm a patient man," he said, and she could detect the anger simmering just beneath the surface. He wasn't all that amused anymore, and though that should've scared her, it just made her feel accomplished. "But I don't let much slide. You'll learn that with time."