That creeping feeling had already returned. It crept up his spine oppressively, digging into his flesh and rippling his skin with goosebumps in a very unpleasant shiver as the tip of Lithrae's boot prodded under his chin.
There was no mistaking the fact that Eren'ir was young. A young man coming close to his prime, perhaps, by all accounts... but still young. Inexperienced. His exposure to the world was limited, even counting just this isolated biosphere that was the Hive. He'd heard the whispers of the other slaves, sure enough, seen the haunted looks on their faces as they nursed bruises, wounds and lashes that bit into their flesh. It wasn't always the same story, but they had something in common. A man, and a number of Naer.
He blinked, arms reacting before his mind did as Lithrae specifically instructed him to remove his shirt. The cloth had separated from his skin and bared it to the cool air of the room before Eren'ir actually registered what she'd said. Swallowing, he folded the piece in his lap where he knelt. When no other immediate directive joined the first, he dared for a second to let his eyes wander up to Lithrae's face. Catching the look she was passing to Mara, Eren'ir's gaze shifted over to the other woman. The look on his face was one of anxious confusion for a moment, though it vanished as if imagined once the latter instructed for him to stand and follow her. He swallowed back a breath of relief.
The tension in the room was palpable. Eren'ir was starting to struggle in his efforts to ignore it.
It didn't take a smarter man to see it, the way the two women looked at eachother.
Swiftly dismissing the thought after he felt heat rushing to his cheeks, his focus shifted forward---and the heat drained right back out of him as a sense of dread washed over his body. This time the shiver caught him off-guard and elicited a sharp gasp from him. He'd reached a hand up to cover his mouth, though not in time to silence himself completely. The hair in his neck was already standing on end by the time Mara snapped him out of his daze and it didn't get any better after he sat down in front of her as per her instructions.
He was scared, but he did his best not to show it. He clenched his jaw so tight that he was gnashing his teeth, settling his gaze as far away from his body as he could manage, shifting itself between a few select spots on the wall and ceiling. Closing his mind to the tingling sensation of her fingers running along his arms proved a greater challenge than he could reliably conquer and he flinched under her touch. The muscles of his arms flexed unintentionally against the ropes that bound them so tightly together and he winced at the ache it provoked in his elbows and wrists.
Eren'ir couldn't remember a time where his mind and body had been in disagreement to quite the same degree they were at that moment. In contrast to the chilling fear that had him in a vice grip, he couldn't deny the heat that was rushing back into his cheeks and the way it surged into his chest and stole away his breath, every one hitching when Mara's own brushed against the skin of his neck. The warmth of the woman behind him was slowly, but surely, chasing away the chill of his dread.
Despite that, though, his eyes desperately searched the ceiling.
It was infuriatingly smooth and unremarkable.
There was no mistaking the fact that Eren'ir was young. A young man coming close to his prime, perhaps, by all accounts... but still young. Inexperienced. His exposure to the world was limited, even counting just this isolated biosphere that was the Hive. He'd heard the whispers of the other slaves, sure enough, seen the haunted looks on their faces as they nursed bruises, wounds and lashes that bit into their flesh. It wasn't always the same story, but they had something in common. A man, and a number of Naer.
He blinked, arms reacting before his mind did as Lithrae specifically instructed him to remove his shirt. The cloth had separated from his skin and bared it to the cool air of the room before Eren'ir actually registered what she'd said. Swallowing, he folded the piece in his lap where he knelt. When no other immediate directive joined the first, he dared for a second to let his eyes wander up to Lithrae's face. Catching the look she was passing to Mara, Eren'ir's gaze shifted over to the other woman. The look on his face was one of anxious confusion for a moment, though it vanished as if imagined once the latter instructed for him to stand and follow her. He swallowed back a breath of relief.
The tension in the room was palpable. Eren'ir was starting to struggle in his efforts to ignore it.
It didn't take a smarter man to see it, the way the two women looked at eachother.
Swiftly dismissing the thought after he felt heat rushing to his cheeks, his focus shifted forward---and the heat drained right back out of him as a sense of dread washed over his body. This time the shiver caught him off-guard and elicited a sharp gasp from him. He'd reached a hand up to cover his mouth, though not in time to silence himself completely. The hair in his neck was already standing on end by the time Mara snapped him out of his daze and it didn't get any better after he sat down in front of her as per her instructions.
He was scared, but he did his best not to show it. He clenched his jaw so tight that he was gnashing his teeth, settling his gaze as far away from his body as he could manage, shifting itself between a few select spots on the wall and ceiling. Closing his mind to the tingling sensation of her fingers running along his arms proved a greater challenge than he could reliably conquer and he flinched under her touch. The muscles of his arms flexed unintentionally against the ropes that bound them so tightly together and he winced at the ache it provoked in his elbows and wrists.
Eren'ir couldn't remember a time where his mind and body had been in disagreement to quite the same degree they were at that moment. In contrast to the chilling fear that had him in a vice grip, he couldn't deny the heat that was rushing back into his cheeks and the way it surged into his chest and stole away his breath, every one hitching when Mara's own brushed against the skin of his neck. The warmth of the woman behind him was slowly, but surely, chasing away the chill of his dread.
Despite that, though, his eyes desperately searched the ceiling.
It was infuriatingly smooth and unremarkable.
