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[mofi]

hey, this is murphy. i didn't pick up because i don't want to talk to you.

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[mofi]

"You're just as short I'd thought you'd be." He's only saying this because of the dream he had. She was in it, oddly enough. A really good dream, in fact. Murphy clears his throat, uses his shoulder to push himself from his lean.

"The edible kind? How lucky of me." Murphy smiles wryly. He's about to take the box of cookies when he pauses at her question.

Of course, she would ask, why wouldn't she?

"Someone tried to kill me. That's what happened." One of his hands takes hold of the box of cookies and gently tries to tug it from her grasp. "Thanks for bringing these."

[littlepandora]

There's a pause before her hands release, and she's still staring up at him. He's just as dry in real life - big surprise.

"You are showing signs of dehydration. Are you being treated for your injuries?" A pause, and then awkwardly, her voice quieter- "Are you alright?"

[mofi]

She has these big blue eyes. They are just as vibrant as they were in his dream. It also feels like she's boring right down into his core. His glance ticks away from her face and to the box he's now holding in both hands.

"I appreciate the concern but I'm doing just fine." It's a pitiful lie. Murphy knows this but what else is he going to say? The last thing he wants to tell her is that he's been scared to sleep. Scared he'll wake up to Bucky looming over him to finish the job.

But Jack said it wasn't Bucky, it was some kind of mental programming. Something that Murphy still has yet to wrap around his head. He and Jack haven't really spoken since that text exchange. Not only that, things between Raven and him aren't great either.

Murphy is falling apart.

"I'll let you know how the cookies are." Murphy tries to smile again, it's small and strained. "Don't want to make you late for the party."

[littlepandora]

"What party?" He says the strangest things. Pandora regards him for a moment longer, before taking a breath. This was clearly going to require some managing.

It's clear that he's not okay. It's also clear that he probably doesn't want a practical stranger prying. It was probably time for her social obliviousness to work for her for once. "Do you have a kettle?"

[mofi]

Murphy blinks, lashes fluttering. "You're not going to a holiday party or something?" He nods at her. "Or do you just wear fancy dresses for the hell of it?"

He goes quiet at her next question. "A kettle," Murphy repeats, unsure of what she's asking for a second before the realization sets in. "Oh -- Yeah." With a sigh, Murphy opens the door for her to come in. "It's one of those electric ones."

[littlepandora]

She looks down at her worn dress, neatly mended. There were nicer things for her to wear, sure. The dominant she was contracted to certainly had a taste for fine things. This one was comfortable and familiar. It was one of the few things she had left from Before.

"If this is fancy, I'm not sure you've looked around here much."

But she lifts her chin as she walks past him, taking the box on her way. The Up first flats seem to be all pretty similar, and she beelines for the kettle. "Where is your tea?" she asks absently.

[mofi]

"Okay maybe not fancy, but it's a nice dress.," he compliments. "Yeah, come in. Make yourself at home." His tone is a little flat and dry.

She swipes her box of cookies on her way in and it makes the edges of his lips curl into a smirk. He closes the door a passing moment later and follows behind her. "It's over here." Murphy walks around her now so he can get to the cabinet that he stowed away his tea. "I don't have a lot, just chamomile. I looked it up. It's supposed to help with sore throats and sleep."

He moves to the next cabinet over and pulls out a little jar of honey. "This, too." Murphy holds it out for her to take. "You sure I'm not keeping you? I don't want to get you into trouble."

[littlepandora]

She shifts slightly, one foot to the other. There's protection in someone waiting for you but-

It's a bit hard to be wary of Murphy. Particularly when he looks so pathetic. She fills the kettle from the tap. "The dominant I am contracted to is... out a lot. I get a fair bit of leeway to wander."

She sets the honey to one side with the tea, ready to be prepped. "Besides, it's pretty obvious that you don't know how to enjoy cookies. They're best with something like tea."

What she means is - it's clear you need someone to take care of you. "Isn't your submissive around to make sure you drink enough water?"

[mofi]

A soft sigh expells from his chest and out from his parted lips. Murphy frowns at her, "Do you have to tell them where you're going?"

The small part of his back presses against the counter when he leans onto it, arms loosely fold over his chest. "I haven't really had much of baked goods since I got here. I don't normally drink tea either. It's just for my throat."

"I don't have one," Murphy clips. "And I'm not going to get one to take care of me. I can take care of myself."

[littlepandora]

"Are you going to damage his property?" Her question is so flat, it could almost be mistaken for neutral. Mostly, she tried to stay out of the way, invisible. It seemed for the best, and luckily, there were people more interestjng than she was.

She gives him a sidelong once over, the look itself calling into question his statement. "Cups? Saucers?"

[mofi]

"What?" That was an odd thing to ask. "Do...I need to damage his property," he asks, one eyebrow quirks higher than the other. Murphy takes a moment to look her over, eyes ticking down her body to see if he notices any bruising. Some sign of her being treated poorly. Murphy wouldn't damage his property but he'd be stupid enough to confront her dominant personally.

"Hmn?" Pandora asked him a question and he only partially hears her. "I have mugs, yeah." Murphy uses his elbows to push himself away from the counter and walks to the other side of the kitchen. From another cabinet, he procures two mugs and puts them down onto the counter top. "Why do we need saucers? We can just use napkins to put the cookies on."

[littlepandora]

"I'd rather you didn't if it's all the same. But I don't imagine he much cares otherwise." Pandora's always bruised like a peach, so it's rather remarkable that other than some banged up shins, she's pretty spotless. Even she's not sure how she ended up in those chains without some marks.

Still, she lifts a brow at his look over, cheeks pinkening. Maybe because it has her thinking of that stupid dream. Though she doubts he'd ever actually look that way at her. Not in actual life. Who dreams about that sort of thing with someone they're fussing at on the net, anyway? Talk about crossed wires.

"We could," she says, in a voice that says they shouldn't. "I was going to warm them up, so I suppose a napkin would work." She blinks down at the second mug, momentarily confused.

[mofi]

"You sure? I'm pretty damn good at damaging property. " That's what Murphy did best, destroy things. His eyes flit away from her when sees her cheeks warm to a pink. It reminds him of how flushed her face looked after --

"Oh, if you want to warm them up, then here --" He opens the cabinet door again and pulls out a plate. It's smaller than a dinner plate so Murphy assumes this is what she means when she asked for a saucer. "Warm them on these. Microwave safe." He holds the plate out to her.

"What?" Murphy turns to look at the mugs. "You don't like them?"

[littlepandora]

"It doesn't matter if I like them. It's your home. I just- you probably only need one for tea."

She accepts the salad plate. If nothing else, she can warm up a few cookies. Opening the box, she arranges two of each on the plate. He'll have plenty left, since she brought a dozen of each.

"In case I was unclear - I would rather not be damaged."

[mofi]

"Yeah," Murphy drawls. "One for me and one for you? I have enough tea. Honey, too. Unless you want sugar. I got that." In another cabinet, he takes out a box of sugar and puts it next to the honey. "There --" He pauses. " -- Excuse me." Murphy looks and sounds dumbfounded.

He doesn't even know what to say and there's an awkward pause before Murphy remembers how to string words to make a complete thought. "You're not property."

[littlepandora]

She's not sure what she's said wrong at first. Had she offended him? She hadn't meant to do it on accident. But then he refutes what seems to be an obvious truth to her and she flushes with -


Embarrassment, maybe?

"As you like." Was it really worth the arguement? Would she end up with a citation if she disagreed? "Thank you. Honey would be lovely. "

[mofi]

"As you like, my ass," there's a little more bite to his tone now. "Is that what you are to him? Property? That's some bullshit if I ever heard any. Did you sign this contract willingly?" Murphy has so many questions now. Maybe that was her kink. Maybe she got off on being treated like an object?

Well, that's fucked up, Murphy thinks to himself. Why would anyone get off on that?

"Is that what you want?"

This is clearly a very sensitive subject.

[littlepandora]

Pandora's reaction is small but instantaneous. Her narrow shoulders hunch slightly, spine stiffening. He hasn't even raised his voice, but the displeasure is obvious. Keeping her gaze low - on the cups, the kettle, the cookies - seems best. "I don't see why you would concern yourself-"

Her tongue darts out, quick and pink, to wet her lips. It's an interesting position to be in, this new wariness and the old urge to push back. "It's not- you act as if it isn't that way for everyone. Submissives can't even buy necessities without permission from a dominant. What would you call that, if not property?"

[mofi]

"It's not what, huh?" Pandora's looked away from him and Murphy's craning his neck to look at her face. "Look at me." She's a wilted flower and part of him is guilty of making her that way.

"No. No, it's not the way of everyone. There are a lot of people, Doms, that treat their submissives as much of an equal as they can without getting scrutinized. And you didn't answer my question," Murphy points out.

"I asked if this is what you wanted. People aren't forced into contracts until the end of this month. So either you wanted this or he forced you into it. Which one is it?"

[littlepandora]

He can claim whatever he likes, but that's still an order on his lips. What can she do but obey? Even looking at him, her gaze moves everywhere but his eyes. To the bruising on his throat. The unhappy shape of his mouth. Someone had already given him the worst of it. Her heart was beating in her chest like it was trying for its own escape.

She didn't really want to think about it. Gilgamesh was right, wasn't he? Her voice is soft, less steady than she'd like. "I must have," She hadn't held on to her resolve to say no, had she?

The kettle choses just that moment to go off, and she flinches at the shrill whistle. Unfortunately, the kettle flinches, too, sliding a few inches away from her on the counter.

[mofi]

"You must have?" His face twists, sours. "What does that even mean? Shouldn't that be something you remember?"

The whistle captures his attention for a fleeting moment and only offers it a quick sidelong glance before his eyes tick back over to Pandora. Murphy leans over to put the kettle onto something that's not directly onto the counter.

"Who's your dominant?"

[littlepandora]

Pandora is very, very still. She takes a breath and wonders if he's going to react the same way that Waver did. "Gilgamesh. I - Uh, I guess King Gilgamesh-"

There are so many kings here. She's met at least three. "And I do- I mean I do remember. It's just- It's complicated."

[mofi]

"Gilgamesh. What the hell kind of name is Gilgamesh?" If Murphy hasn't made judgments on her dom before (and he has), then he does now. "Sounds like a pretentious asshole to me," he adds.

"Tell me about it." Murphy shrugs and goes back to his lean against the counter, arms fold and rest on his chest.

[littlepandora]

It's impossible to keep all the wariness out of her expression. Pandora had never been very good at lying and that extended to her body language.

He didn't seem like he was going to do anything physical - which had been a concern for a moment ,- but she was very confused by his focus on this topic.

She reaches for the kettle, to have something to do even if that's just making the tea. "Why? It's an... a nonevent. Do you just not know how contracts work?"

Oops, that was a bit mouthy. Her teeth press into her bottom lip.

[mofi]

Murphy scoots himself a little bit out of the way to give her room to prepare tea for them. He affords her a side eye, watching her pour water into the mugs, over sachets of chamomile.

His jaw visibly tenses when she speaks up again. Her voice may be small but her words had a way of being sharp. This is the second time she cuts him. "I know how they work." A beat later, "Raven and I are discussing the contract. Making sure its something we both want and agree on. Doesn't sound like that's what your dominant did."