Worthless (Camren)

"I'm glad it pleases you"

"Look at you, all cleaned up." Lauren exclaimed, smiling warmly as Camila joined her in the kitchen a few minutes later.

"I'm glad it pleases you," Camila answered, making Lauren's smile falter for a moment.

She let her eyes wander over Camila briefly before she turned back to the stove to stir the soup she was warming up. Camila was drowning in her clothes. Lauren couldn't help but look down at her own body to compare. The shirt the slave was wearing had been somewhat tight on Lauren, which was one of the reasons why she had given it to Camila in the first place, but it still hung loosely off Camila's shoulders, leaving parts of her prominent collarbones exposed. The same was true of the sweatpants; if it weren't for the adjustable string, nothing would keep those pants on Camila's hips.

She vaguely remembered one of the slaves from the garage being this thin, years ago, when her father had first bought him. Lauren herself had been a little kid and she couldn't remember which one of the men it had been, but she remembered the effect skinny arms and sharp cheekbones had had on her back then. The man had reminded her of a skeleton and caused her some nightmares. Her father hadn't taken her to the garage for a while back then, not until the man had become healthier and less terrifying to a child's imagination.

"I'm warming up some soup. Do you think you're up for another snack or would you rather wait a little longer?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at Camila who was still standing in the middle of the room awkwardly. "Oh, please, sit down, have a seat, you shouldn't overexert yourself with those knees."

Camila dropped into a sitting position on the floor before Lauren even noticed that she hadn't told Camila where to sit; it hadn't even occurred to her that she should have specified, even though she knew a lot of people didn't permit their slaves to use the furniture.

"I'd rather you sit on a chair, if you don't mind, okay?" Lauren said calmly, walking over to where Camila had sat down, extending her hand to help the other girl off the floor. Camila nodded before scrambling to her feet without Lauren's help.

"You can always sit on the furniture, doesn't matter if I'm there to tell you to or not, you can sit wherever you like, alright?" Camila nodded once more and sat down on the chair nearest to Lauren, looking up at her expectantly.

"So, would you like some soup?" Lauren repeated her previous question.

"Yes, Lauren." Camila burst out eagerly before adding "Please, Lauren."

A few minutes later Lauren placed a bowl of soup and a slice of toast in front of Camila. Although Lauren hadn't really had breakfast, she wasn't feeling hungry. She just sat with Camila while the other girl ate.

She was at a loss at what to say. More than anything she wanted to put Camila at ease, but nothing she could say could possibly make Camila believe that she was safe and had nothing to be scared of anymore.

Camila's eyes were starting to droop halfway through her soup, her movements becoming sluggish. Lauren smiled in sympathy at the almost adorable display of sleepiness battling the instinct to finish eating. She watched Camila's inner struggle a little longer until she was fairly sure Camila was about to fall asleep at the table.

"You should get some rest, you must be tired" Lauren suggested. Camila looked at the kitchen clock in disbelief. It read 11:20.

"I can sleep?" She asked tentatively.

"You can, if you want to." Lauren confirmed. At Camila's rueful look at the remaining food on her plate she added "You don't have to eat it up now, I promise there'll be food for you later."

Camila thanked her in a whisper and allowed Lauren to guide her to the guest room by her elbow.

"I put some clothes in the dresser for you. Let me know if you need anything. I'll leave the door open a crack, but you can close it if you want to."

"Thank you, Lauren" Camila sat down on the bed, looking at Lauren questioningly.

At Lauren's nod of approval she lay down on her side, pulling the blanket up to her neck.

When Lauren glanced into Camila's room half an hour later, she found the other girl curled in on herself, sound asleep under the blanket, with only her head and hands poking out. Lauren could see her wrists were crossed, resting on the pillow in front of Camila's face as though they were bound together by an invisible rope.

She decided to let the other girl catch as much sleep as she could and moved on to the living room where her father and Chris had made themselves comfortable in front of the television.

"Hey baby girl", her dad smiled at her, patting the spot on the couch to his right "how's Camila doing?"

Lauren dropped into the indicated spot next to her father and sighed "Tired, mostly, I think she's doing better though, she's much steadier on her feet today. SHe's sleeping now."

"Probably for the best, she needs all the rest she can get by the look of her."

Lauren felt tired; her night in the chair had given her a stiff neck. "What are we watching?" She asked conversationally while suppressing a yawn.

"The longest commercial break in the history of ever", Chris snorted. Mike nodded in agreement, scooting to a more comfortable position on the couch.

Lauren watched in amusement as her dad looked over the back of the couch, checking to see if Clara was around before putting his sock-clad feet on the living room table with a sheepish grin. Seconds later Chris did the same.

"Feet off the table!" Clara called from the kitchen, making both men jump. Lauren snorted.

"How does she do that?" Chris asked wide-eyed, moving his feet back off the table with a pout. Mike looked just as puzzled, mumbling "Sorry" over his shoulders before obeying his wife's order.

All three of them whipped their heads around when loud patriotic music started blasting from the TV.

"Are you sick of  having sick slaves?So am I." A dramatic male voice said, patriotic music making his words sound far more impressive than they were.

"Oh come on, not that douchebag again." Mike grunted, turning down the volume.

"Our properties cannot be damaged" The voice continued

"Isn't that the guy who proposed a law in favor of putting down slaves?" Lauren asked, frowning.

"Yeah, he's Brad "The stick"'s dad. He owns this huge chain of slave markets", Chris said.

"Vernon Simpson will personally ensure that you will never be bothered by damaged properties ."

"Seems like he found his next worthy cause", Lauren snorted as a huge red X appeared over a picture of badly hurt slaves.

"I am Vernon Simpson and I approve this message!" A different male voice said proudly. A campaign logo started appearing and the first male voice read the words of it out loud. " Vernon Simpson for ending the misery of damaged slaves!"

Lauren's heart sank when she recognized the logo. Camila's first master had been the biggest homophobe and pro-slavery activist in the Senate, Vernon Simpson.