When Demons Are Redeemed: The Dominant's Muse

Forty-Three - Cartoon Noses (Part 1)

I had to split this chapter in three, here, for PG13. Demons Not Redeemed has it in one, and with original wording.

FORTY-THREE

Cartoon Noses (Part 1)

When Catherine is ready to begin her guessing turns of this cycle’s mini-contest, she and Tristan are four for four in points.

“No pressure,” he informs her. His eyes, however, express the exact opposite, before he disappears behind a black curtain and leaves her completely in control of winning or losing the contest for him.

Catherine is very well aware that her master loves to win, and, more importantly, that he so very much hates to lose. She therefore raises an eyebrow as the feel of that pressure weighs heavily upon her. Over all, however, she is feeling better now, “even,” since Tristan fortunately remembered a mere moment ago that he had her pills on him all along, but just in a different pocket. Since she remains sleep deprived, however, among other things, Catherine is not wholly herself, but the rekindled alliance of her mind and body offers her more stability, and the wall that she recently put up, the one that she believed to so be so tall and imposing that Tristan could not help but to notice it, has been put out of mind. There is just no time for it right now.

While her body parts were the ones being showcased, Catherine was forced to show restraint, due to being restrained. Tristan, however, feared that if she were left un-dosed for this present part of this mini-contest -- this freer part of it -- her behaviour might be different: she might not be able to concentrate on the contest and/or guess correctly, or she might not want to, or her bad mood might escalate to such a degree during this cycle -- with him helpless while away behind a black cloth wall -- that she might then behave erratically, and reject having her imbalance corrected by his touch, literally and not. He therefore suddenly “found” the pills.

At his work station, when she had not asked and had not looked like she needed her drug, he had of course not given her a dose. Perhaps out of curiosity as to what would happen next. Or perhaps because her needing it bothers him more than he is ready to consciously admit to himself, as some part of him wonders why she cannot just deal with things, with him, with what he wants. Men, after all, often wonder why women cannot just want and deal with what men want. They do not consider what they want from a woman’s perspective, being, values. Nature.

“I’d so take tons of pressure for and from Tristan Maller,” a non-refundable close to Catherine longingly utters. “If that meant that he paid attention to me.”

No snap reply leaves Catherine’s lips, and no attack from her mind comes to it either. No elucidation of her situation with Tristan. No words about her prisoner status, and no insults hurled at the women’s stupidity. What if I don’t guess right? Her mind nervously preoccupies itself with instead, since there are punishments to be suffered at Tristan’s hands. Awful ones have already befallen her, this weekend.

“Mistress Tristan, please take your place,” a contest attendant instructs her, his eyes guiding her to walk to the line of guessers, and away from the curtain, away from her master’s body, which is not far behind it.

This weekend, the attendants have no difficulty remembering what true submissive belongs to what master since there are only twenty true, and, although the names of masters are not often used to designate them during events, they are used to call upon a female, when necessary. That use furthermore underlines the submissive state of a woman to her mate by making her an extension of him, under his umbrella, which is his name, and that is not a stretch from what many women continue to freely do, when they marry and change their last name, when they create a new family with their husband under his surname, leaving their father’s behind. Or their mother’s. Consequently, even in this day and age, women continue to take on a new identity and to leave the old one behind. Even now, they continue to want to, in order to change, to be changed, to be new, and to be a man’s. To belong. Out of everything that has happened this weekend, being referred to by Tristan’s name ranks very low on Catherine’s list of grievances.