When I returned home, it was to the sight of all of my Mins waiting on the table patiently for me to return.
Or rather, Amber and Mia were waiting patiently as they knelt, still playing the role of the dutiful toys. Miranda, on the other hand, had apparently been pacing, and froze at my entrance, staring at me and the carrier I was holding with a frightening intensity.
Her gaze held until I approached the table and set Sydney’s carrier down with deliberate care, and at that instant it switch to focusing on the case entirely.
“I can’t believe it.” Miranda muttered, beginning to circle the case, “You actully did it.”
I ignored her appraisal and began to unlock the carrier’s door; at the sound of the latch Miranda startled, stepping back slightly before returning her gaze to me. Silently, I gestured in front of the door, so that she’d be the first thing Sydney saw when she exited into my house for the first time. Miranda made a face, but obediently stepped into place.
Getting Sydney, I knew, was something of a risk for Miranda long term; not matter how easy it was for me to overpower her, it would be almost as easy for Sydney to overpower Miranda in turn.
I wouldn’t let the Min hurt her, of course, but it wasn’t like I was going to be around to protect her 24/7, either. Locking her up when I left would help, but that wasn’t an ideal solution, since all I had to do was not be in the room at the time, or even looking, for her to be safe to act.
Therefore, I had to make sure that Sydney wouldn’t even dream of overstepping her privileges in my house, and a suitably impressive first meeting would help make that become a reality.
Quietly, I opened the door and let the new Min out; it took her a minute, since her fit in the carrier was worse than even Miranda’s had been, but she eventually managed to crawl her way out onto the table, only to presented with the sight of Miranda standing proudly before her, a hand on her hip, and a confident grin on her face.
“Hello, Sydney.”
There was a pause as the two of them stared at the other.
“Miranda?” Sydney said incredulously. “What the hell are you-”
She began to get up, but before she could get anywhere my hand closed around her head, and part of her shoulders, before slamming her down onto the table.
“Shut up.” I spat.
There was a brief struggle under my palm before she realized what had happened and gave up.
“I- I what’d I-” Sydney began, only to stop I tightened my grip on her skull.
I leaned down and hissed into her ear. “I said shut up. If you understand, then listen to me and stop making noises, am I clear?”
I waited, and she proceeded to to say anything, so I loosened my hold on her slightly.
“Good girl. Now, listen to me, I want to make something excruciatingly clear about your new situation. Are you ready?”
I let go of her head and she sighed with relief, only to freeze as I looped my finger through her long hair.
“First things first: on your knees.”
“But I-”
I lifted my finger, yanking her hair up and causing her to yelp. Sydney started to rise in an attempt to decrease the pain, but I flicked a finger from my free hand at the back of her leg, sending her back down to the table top.
“On your knees.”
At my snarl, she dropped so fast that I could hear the sound of her knees hitting the wood; wrenched up by her hair, the face that stared into mine had paled dramatically.
“Better.” At my calmer voice, Sydney relaxed infinitesimally.
“Your first lesson, apparently,” she flinched at the emphasis I put on the word, “Has to be this: disobedience will not be tolerated.”
I paused, giving her a chance to protest, argue, fight me: anything to give me another excuse to punish her again.
When she didn’t say anything, I smiled thinly. “So you can be taught. Good. As I was saying, I will not tolerate disobedience from you. You see, there’s a very simple hierarchy here, and as long as you follow it, your life can be pleasant. If you don’t…”
I trailed off leading, and she gulped, the movement of her throat easily noticed with how exposed it was.
“I am at the top of it, obviously. Next is Miranda.”
I relaxed the tension I was putting on her hair, allowing Sydney’s face to lower and face Miranda. Her cocky look had faded, to be replaced by an excited grin so wide it probably hurt.
“Then there’s Amber, and then Mia.” I assumed they had met at some point, considering their mutual history with Miranda, so I didn’t bother to point them out.
“And then there’s Daisy, that spider in the corner of the garage that has been living there for three months now.”
I heard a quiet snort in front of me at that, but I was focusing my attention on Sydney once more, watching her face drop the more I talked.
“And then there’s you, Sydney: the absolute bottom of the barrel. You may think you’re big, but in this house you are nothing, just a bug so pathetic that even one of them,” I gestured condescendingly at the corner of the table where Amber and Mia were staring wide eyed at the proceedings, “Could step on you and not even notice: that is how little you mean to me. If you hurt one of them? I will be very annoyed with you. If I hear you so much as look at Miranda wrong I will be absolutely livid.”
I yanked her hair back again, and she squealed in pain, straightening as much as she dared but staying on her knees.
“You never asked why I picked you, Sydney.” And by now she must have been regretting that oversight, but it was far too late for that. “I think it’s time I tell you your new role here.”
I pulled my finger back another inch, before relenting and releasing the pressure, allowing her to relax with a relieved sigh.
“I picked you out as a toy, Sydney, but not for me. You’re a present.”
Deliberately, I pointed forward towards Miranda.
“Do you see her there, in front of you? I may own her, but she owns you. Miranda is the one that will determine how you will be treated, whether you get food with the rest of them or slop, if you get locked up or get to roam free, if you are rewarded or punished. Do you understand me?”
Sydney nodded as much as she could against my grip on her hair, tears leaking down her cheeks.
“That’s not enough, I want you to say it. Let your new owner hear you say you understand what your role is now.”
I released her hair completely and removed my hand, leaving the two of them alone at the center of the table.
“I- I understand, Master,” Sydney whimpered, looking up my face and shuddering before turning back to face in front once again, head bowed. “I… I am jus-”
“No.” Miranda interrupted. “Not like that, Sydney.”
The large Min’s head rose, allowing her to take in the ecstatic expression her new tormentor wore.
“All the way down, Sydney.” Miranda crooned. “I want you all the way down.”
She made a wordless mewl of terror before complying, kneeling deeply until her head hit the wood.
Miranda stalked forward until she stood just in front of the other woman. She took in the sight of her, the way her body trembled, and what I thought were quiet, muffled sobs, and then sighed in contentment as she turned and sat on Sydney’s head.
She jerked at that, jostling Miranda causing her to frown, reaching down to yank at a handful of hair.
“Don’t do that.” She scolded angrily. “If I’m using you as my seat, then you better not move.”
Moving back until she straddled Sydney’s neck, Miranda grabbed another clump of hair, pulling them both as if to test their strength. Beneath her, Sydney flinched but didn’t move, and Miranda nodded to herself.
Then she began to grind her crotch against her new mount, yanking at the ‘reins’ in her hands as her back arched, causing a squeak of pain before Miranda relaxed with a satisfied sigh.
“Oh, this is nice. Now, Sydney: don’t you have something to say?”
“Y-yes.” The Min whimpered. “I- I am a toy. A g-gift, from Master, to you, Mir-”
Sydney cut herself off, quicking changing her words. “-Mistress Miranda, to be your toy, and to be used for your pleasure and entertainment.”
“Good, good.” Miranda murmured, patting the head in front of her. “That’s exactly right.”
“Can I take it that you’re satisfied, then?” I asked, amused.
Miranda let go of the long strands and leaned back against Sydney so she could look up at me, upside down, from her new spot.
“Oh yes, Ian, this is wonderful, thank you so much!”
“Excellent. Then there’s one last thing to do.”
I turned my attention back to the carrier and opened a small compartment at the top of the case, taking out the object inside and holding it out to Miranda.
“Would you like to to do the honors?”
When a Min was given to someone, along with a case to carry them around in safely, the DMC also issued a small black collar. The collar contained a chip that would allow the Min to be more easily identified, which was the official explanation for them. The unofficial but equally relevant reason was that they were, of course, also a mark of ownership, which is part of the reason I never bother to take them out before: I wasn’t ready, or allowing myself, to make such an obvious claim.
Sydney, of course, was a different story
Miranda looked down at the round object in my hand, large enough that she could wear it like a necklace, even if had been closed, and squealed. Either at the sound, or some other stimulus, Sydney shifted under her uncomfortably.
“Really, Ian? Can I?!”
I smiled. “Of course. I got her for you, after all.”
Jumping up from her seat, Miranda grabbed the collar before running back to her earlier place in front of the larger Min.
“Up!” She commanded sharply, and dutifully Sydney lifted herself to her hands and knees, only to freeze as she took in what Miranda had in her hands, eyes wide and frightened.
“Now hold still, Sydney.” Miranda said. “This should only take a minute.”
A smile on her face, she closed the collar around the other woman’s neck with a loud, final, ‘click’.
As if the sound was a signal Sydney began to cry, silent tears dropping down to bead against the table.
The real reason all the Mins in the story have long hair comes out! It’s easier to pull that way.
Well, that, and they don’t get regular haircuts.
