Secrets of the Enslaved

Shortly after managing to contact the few Nekos he’d befriended over the course of his homelessness, Andy stood on his Master’s front deck, awaiting their arrival. He’d made Ash stay inside, not just because he wanted to have a smoke and knew he’d never been around cigarette smoke, but because he didn’t want him getting hurt. Even though two more Doms were on their way and he was obviously capable of fighting back when backed into a corner, vicious Nekos were everywhere and he wasn’t taking any chances.

Jinxx was a bit nervous about coming over because every Master or Mistress he’d had since he was a kitten had abused him in ways that words couldn’t describe. He was very distrusting of people, especially those known for keeping Nekos as either pets or slaves. It’d taken him forever to open up and trust Jake after they discovered they were mates, although the other Dom had done everything in his power to reassure him. Speaking of, the other Dom and the last of their close group, CC, were fairly wary of anyone who kept Nekos as pets or slaves, too. They, however, could fight back and didn’t worry quite as much as the young fertile.

When he saw them coming up the street, he projected a thought to Jake so he could find him, considering that he was hiding around the corner of the house. He liked his skin right where it was and kept an ear perked for trouble while awaiting his friends. Thankfully, the crazy friend he called Animal was just as astute as he, and quickly checked his hiding place.

“Andy!” he cried, wrapping his arms around him. He picked him up and spun him for a moment, which was a bit awkward for them since he was a good two or three inches taller than him already.

“Animal!” Andy answered, laughing with joy at seeing his friends again. “Jake! Jinxx! Get over here!”

“Cat-pile!” CC cried happily, making sure to get the others in on their hug.

“Hey, man!” Jake greeted him, a smile gracing his lips as his ears rose from his hair. “How ya been?”

“Better than you’d ever believe, Jake,” he answered. “What about you guys?”

“Jinxx and I have been on the run from our Master the past couple months. He thinks we’re dead,” he answered, a grim tone lacing his voice.

“Damn. You guys finally got away from the bastard?” Andy asked, surprised.

“It took a lot of planning on my part and help from Chuppy, but yeah, we did,” the hazel-eyed Neko answered, nodding.

“What about you, Animal?” he asked, turning to his hyper friend.

“My Mistress got killed in a car wreck. Her daughter wasn’t interested in taking her place and turned every Neko she had loose.” He grumbled unhappily for a moment. “She could’ve at least made sure we went to good homes, but no. She cast us out on the streets and said, ‘Good luck. I’ll be praying that you survive and find a better Master or Mistress than Mama’.”

“Are you serious?” The youngest Neko of the group was floored.

“As a heart attack,” his friend answered, nodding.

“So what are your thoughts, Jinxx? I know you’re quiet, but you’re safe here,” Andy said, turning to the only fertile of their group.

Still remaining shy, Jinxx turned and buried his face in his mate’s chest, his claws poking holes in his shirt as he held onto it for dear life.

“All right, all right. You don’t have to speak if you don’t wanna,” he conceded, throwing his hands up. “Let’s go inside. Who knows? Maybe if he observes you guys for a while, you’ll have a home here with me, courtesy of my Master.”

“What? You’re kidding!” Jake gasped, his eyes widening.

“Nope. He found me wandering the streets, realized I was a good Neko that was in trouble, and brought me home with him,” he answered, shaking his head as he headed to the front door. “That was five months ago.”

“What?” This time, it was Jinxx who spoke, his grayish-blue eyes wide.

“Mmm hmm. He’d always wanted to get another Neko to keep the one he already had company.” He held the door open for them, then closed it. “Speaking of… Ashley! Nikki!”

“Yeah, Andy?” he heard his Master respond from his office.

“They’re here!” he answered.

Moments later, he heard a pair of heavy boots moving across the floor as his Master started down the hall to come greet his friends. Even though humans couldn’t hear them, he heard the soft, padding footfalls of his companion from upstairs as he exited his bedroom and started downstairs. He could tell that Ash was a bit apprehensive, considering the attack they’d suffered the day after Nikki’d found him.

Andy watched as Jinxx cowered against his mate, Jake wrapping his arms around him protectively as he laid his ears back and CC taking a protective stance to their side. If he didn’t know his Master was a good man and would just as soon welcome them to his family than hurt them, he’d have been right there with them to protect the fertile, but he knew better. Seeing the one Neko cowering like he was afraid of his own shadow and the others taking protective stances with their ears laid back, the older man stopped a few feet from them so he wasn’t invading their personal space.

He quickly introduced himself while his younger pet cocked an ear toward the top of the stairs to see what was taking his companion so long. Sighing, he called up the stairs to come on down, that they weren’t going to hurt him, and not to make him come up there to get him. Ash let out an almost inaudible squeak, even with the enhanced hearing of a Neko, and started down the stairs. He’d been so gung-ho about meeting his friends before that he couldn’t help but worry about him now.

Nikki suggested they head to the living room so they could make themselves comfortable, rather than crowding the foyer. Keeping a wary eye and ear on the older man, Jake and CC reluctantly agreed, the former picking his mate up bridal-style so he could carry him. Andy couldn’t help but chuckle as he wound up doing the same for his companion, whom he kept in his lap as a comforting gesture once he sat down. His friends, Jinxx included, glanced at him curiously as the older Neko hid his face in his chest, much like the other fertile had done a short while ago to his mate. He tuned them out for a few moments as he whispered sweet nothings in his ear, one of which he scratched behind, to comfort him a bit.

“Sorry, guys. He’s pretty shy,” he said apologetically, glancing up at his friends.

“It’s fine, Andy,” Jake answered softly. “Look at how bad Jinxx is sometimes.”

“True enough,” the youngest Neko agreed. “All right, so you guys have been introduced to my Master, Nikki.”

“We never thought you’d have one of the members of Mötley fuckin’ Crüe as a Master,” CC said excitedly. “I feel like a mere commoner in his presence, Neko or no.”

“I wouldn’t talk like that if I were you,” Andy warned him. “Nikki’s not abusive by any means, but he doesn’t like it when Nekos put themselves beneath him as anything but a pet. And even then, he doesn’t really like that.”

“Seriously?” The other two Doms seemed flabbergasted.

“Mmm hmm. I view Nekos, especially the ones I take ‘ownership’ of, as my equals,” Nikki stepped in to say. “I’ve never thought of, nor treated, a Neko as anything but. And for the ones I do bring into my home as pets, I make them call me by my name. I can’t stand the term ‘Master’ unless I’m dealing with other Masters and Mistresses. It’s degrading to not only me, but my pets, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Wow…” Jinxx breathed softly, his eyes widening as he looked at the older man. “I wish our last Master had been as kind as you.”

Somewhat confused, but not wanting to ask, he merely cocked a brow at him.

“Our last Master…well, to say he was abusive was—and still is—an understatement,” Jake explained. “He targeted the fertiles more often than not, so they always got it the worst. Jinxxy here got it the absolute worst, though. Not only is he a fertile, but also one of the shiest and most submissive fertiles in existence; he was beaten within an inch of his life several times for those reasons alone.”

The other fertile whimpered pitifully, trying to hide himself from their past in his mate’s body.

“I’m guessing you guys are mated?” he asked curiously.

“Mmm hmm. Unless Andy’s found his mate, he and CC are the only ones from our group who aren’t at the moment,” the hazel-eyed Neko answered. “I did everything in my power as a Dom and his mate to keep the bastard from hurting him, but sometimes it wasn’t enough.”

Andy could see the wheels in his Master’s head turning, but decided to keep his mouth shut for the moment.

“All right. Well, Andy was telling me that you guys are musicians like him,” he said, changing the subject so they wouldn’t catch on to what he was thinking just yet.

“Yeah, we are. Jinxx and I are guitarists, but Jinxx can play piano and violin, too. CC…well, he doesn’t get called Animal for nothing,” Jake laughed.

“I’m assuming you mean the Muppet by that?” Nikki asked, laughing.

“Thank you! Someone else finally gets the reference!” the youngest Neko said excitedly. “Other than Ash, you’re the only one I haven’t had to explain why I call him Animal to.”

“So what about Ash?” CC looked at him curiously, his head cocked to the side. “Is he ever gonna look at us or speak?”

“He will when he’s ready, guys,” their Master said. “He’s really shy, and considering that Andy was the first of his kind he’d ever been around in his life, he might be a bit overwhelmed right now.”

The Neko in question whimpered against Andy’s chest, his claws accidentally nicking his skin as he balled his fist up in his shirt even tighter.

“Ouch! Retract the claws, Ash!” he gasped, his eyes widening in pain.

“Sorry, Ands,” the older Neko whimpered, barely peeking out from behind his hair.

“You don’t have to be sorry. I know you didn’t mean to,” Andy told him, gazing into his warm chocolate-brown eyes.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear Andy’s found his mate,” Jake said thoughtfully.

“Why do you say that, Jakey?” his own mate asked.

“Well, first of all, I can smell the fertile on Ash; if I’m lying, I’m dying, and I don’t feel like I’m dying right now,” he answered. “Secondly, look at how tenderly they’re looking at each other. That’s how CC says we look at once another when we’re have a sweet, tender moment, and we already know we’re mates.”

“He’s right,” CC chimed in. “I second that thought, Jake.”

“Shut it, guys,” their friend snapped playfully, his face turning beet-red. His ears were still standing, so they knew he wasn’t really going to attack them.

“Wow… I’ve never seen you blush like this, Andy,” Ash said softly, giggling as he poked his cheek. “Not even when you were singing with me earlier.”

“He actually sang in front of you?” This question brought Jinxx completely out of his shell at last.

Startled and still feeling a bit shy, the other chocolate-eyed Neko merely nodded at him.

“Yeah. I helped him with a bass riff he was working on earlier,” Andy explained. “While we were fitting the lyrics to the rhythm he had going, I sang along with him.”

While the five Nekos continued to talk and get to know each other, Nikki excused himself to the kitchen so he could start working on a huge batch of chili for everybody. He warned Jake and CC not to get too protective of Jinxx when his kids got home in a little while, that while they were a bit rambunctious like CC appeared to be, they were harmless. They’d been around a Neko all their lives and knew better than to hurt one unless it was accidental while trying to protect it.

The other fertile still seemed a bit wary of the people around him, but other than his friends, he found himself gravitating toward Ash. They were both fertiles and understood exactly where the other was coming from, so if there was anyone out of the group that he’d be closest to besides his mate, they all knew it would be the other fertile. Unlike some Master, Mistresses, and other Doms, Jake couldn’t care less who his mate hung out with and got close to, so long as he was safe, so he didn’t get jealous easily. It wasn’t long, though, before CC started to get a little antsy, and everybody but Andy’s companion knew what that meant.

After asking Nikki’s permission, the youngest Neko of the group led them to his studio, where there were enough instruments to satisfy them all. The only thing the Mötley Crüe cofounder didn’t have was a violin, but that was okay; he had tons of guitars and basses, as well as a couple pianos for when he and Tommy wanted to add piano to a masterpiece they were working on.

The one they affectionately called Animal pulled a pair of drumsticks from his back pocket, a quirk of his he’d had ever since teaching himself how to play. Jinxx took a seat behind the baby grand in the corner and started letting his fingers dance over the keys, melodies from the likes of Mozart and Beethoven spilling forth. Ash stood still and awaited his “dad’s” arrival since all the guitars and basses were locked up and he didn’t have a key to the cases, so Jake followed his example. Andy decided to warm up his vocals again by belting out the lyrics to I Am Bulletproof, although he didn’t say who’d written it. He merely grinned while his companion kept his back turned to hide his blush, but refused to stop and tell his friends.

“All right, guys. Who’s playing what?” Nikki asked, coming in with his keys a few moments later.

“Your Gibson Thunderbird, Dad,” Ash answered, grinning. “Well, maybe I should let Andy have that and go get my Greg Bennett.”

“I can always save piano for another time,” the other fertile told him.

“Nah. I kinda wanna see how a piano part would sound in that song Andy was warming up on,” he answered, shaking his head.

“You wrote that?” CC asked, surprised.

“Mmm hmm. It’s called I Am Bulletproof,” the oldest Neko answered. “Anyway, depending on how good Jake is, he can cover lead or rhythm, and whatever he doesn’t cover, I will.”

“Since I’m a bassist, too, I can handle the bass riff,” Andy agreed, nodding. “Jinxx, CC…I guess you two are confined to piano and drums.”

“Hell yeah!” the most hyper of their group cried, refraining from pounding on the drumkit he sat behind.

“Sounds like a plan to us,” Jake and Jinxx agreed, sharing one of their notorious sweet and mushy glances.

Nodding, Ash ran out of the room and upstairs to grab his Greg Bennett and the Gibson Thunderbird he’d left up there earlier, but didn’t worry about amps. His “dad” had so many amps and spare cables and picks that it wasn’t even funny. Then again, being a bassist for a living meant he had to because he never knew when one would go bad and he’d need a new one.

By the time he got back downstairs, the bass strapped to him properly while the guitar was hanging neck-down behind him. He gingerly slipped the bass strap over his head, making sure not to disturb his guitar, which he held steady with his tail, and handed it to Andy. The younger Neko quickly got it settled on his tall, lanky frame, the pick held between his teeth since he wasn’t quite ready for it. He quickly plugged it in and started running a few scales to get himself used to it again, which Ash followed his lead in while everyone else was getting set up the way they wanted to be.

Once everyone had their instrument of choice, or were sitting behind it, in Jinxx’s and CC’s cases, Nikki left the room to head back to the kitchen and finish the chili. Ash showed Jake the lead riff, the other Dom catching on as quickly as his companion’d picked up on the bass riff earlier without him even showing him. Now that the two Doms knew their parts, he started playing a harmony line that sounded great with it, Jinxx adding a piano part that didn’t sound half bad, as well. He decided that the piano part would probably be better on a violin, but they’d need to get their hands on one before he could make that final decision, but he’d mention it later. CC kept them all at tempo with the beat he hammered out on Tommy’s spare kit.

An hour or so later, they were all laughing and joking, the guitars and bass sitting on spare stands. The drummer’d put his sticks back into his back pocket, the pianist of their group going to sit in his mate’s lap the second he wasn’t at risk of dropping the guitar he’d been loaned. Andy quickly reached out and grabbed his hips, effectively holding him still before pulling him down into his lap, making the older fertile squeak in surprise. Everybody laughed as he nuzzled into his hair, purring softly in his ear, which made him blush. All in all, the day had been pretty good so far, but more good news was still to come.

Notes