Elderly Pets

Fic: Elderly Pets

Author: josie_h

Pairing: Spike/Xander

Rating: Mature Audiences (M/M sexual content! And themes)

***Warnings: D/s, Major character death, slavery***

It’s an AU!..... The Premise: A hundred and fifty years after the final battle with the Senior Partners… Demons rule the world. The luckier humans are pets…. Most are bred for food. Spike survived, and in the early days found Xander at an auction, purchased him and did what Spike does best…. Made the most of it.

Author’s Note: Don’t own the characters etc and bow down to their original creators Joss, et al., plus all the wonderful online writers who continue to give them life.


Part 4

Spike was still rocking, it was impossible to stall the tears, so they continued unchecked as he stroked his beloved’s features as if willing him to respond but all the time knowing that his lover was no longer there…. But he stroked…. and cried….and stroked… and stroked….

He knew the beautiful face so much better than his own. The straight nose was as pretty as ever, though the scarred socket where the eye had been lost appeared more sunken than usual. But the mouth…. Oh that mouth, it had brought so much pleasure, but was now slack with a tinge of dark blue around the lips. That was perhaps the most distressing… Yet he could not help but reflect…. Oh what that mouth had been able to do to him… The pleasure was given and received from their third month together until in his final months, his partner had become too frail to enjoy that same act and they had forgone all manner of sexual pleasure in preference to the simple joy of lying together in a tangle of loving limbs…. An anguished cry ushered forth from the vampire unchecked as he remembered…..

……………….


Xander had been utterly confused on that first night as they approached Spike’s home. He remained bound for their trip back to the apartment, was slightly baffled by the kiss, utterly ‘wired’ by the blood exchange, and still unsure of what was to come. As they entered Spike’s home and the door slammed behind him, Xander’s chain, his lead, was immediately dropped. Confusion reigned for the human. After eleven years in ‘service’ Xander did the only thing he could think of. He fell to his knees in a full down position, forehead on the floor, and waited.

Spike had dropped all pretence of ‘master and slave’ behavior as they entered the apartment, not fully realizing the challenge that it caused for his new charge, “Oh geez! Harris!...Whelp! Xander! Get up you silly sod!”

Xander’s head remained bowed as he struggled to his feet, and he gasped as he recalled the old nickname he’d heard in Spike’s demand… His breath hitched again in desperate hope, but he no longer knew for what! Still suffering from the maltreatment of the past five months and the accumulated grief of being ‘let go’, and before that of losing Willow, and Sunnydale before that, and the slavery and being not acceptable… and … and… and… The combination of relief, confusion and grief, was simply overwhelming. Despite his best efforts, his legs began to falter and tears flowed. He almost collapsed to his knees again, desperately grasping a side board in an effort to remain on his feet.

The master vampire had quickly stripped every restraint from the human as he stood supported by the hallway furniture, all the while, patiently explaining that his intention was to keep Xander safe, and that he was *so* thrilled to find the former ally….

With the shock of being ‘rescued’, Spike’s stated innocent intentions, the removal of his slave bindings, and the whole idea that he was, at least somewhat,…. Safe… Xander had done the only thing his stressed system was capable of … it overloaded and began to shut down. His breathing sped and chest tightened with anxiety, as he struggled to comprehend….


In the early days (the first ten years or so of human enslavement), rules for the behavior of slaves in public had varied widely, though traders had a fairly pragmatic practice of ‘learn to submit and follow for instructions, or die’. Xander had been in a household where the codes of slave conduct had been simple and fare. His experience at the hands of the traders had been utterly the opposite.

Spike had watched the former Scooby with concern, he saw near amazement as he continued to explain his purpose for purchasing Xander, and his intentions. The blonde stopped the monologue momentarily after stripping the chattels of slavery, watching in alarm as Xander swayed in his attempt to stand tall for his ‘new master’, then reacted as the human started to fail. Spike remembered speeding forward to catch Xander as he collapsed in a dead faint.

The brunette had awoken in the early hours of that first morning surrounded by sweet smelling soap and a warm bath, his first in over a decade. Still half asleep, he had murmured a love filled thank you to Spike, who was spooning Xander from behind at the time. Spike remembered kissing the bronzed brow and simply rejoicing in the idea that he’d found one of ‘his own’.

From that wondrous first bath on, Xander understood that their roles would be defined in the outside world by the demon laws, but privately and in reality, things would be very different… Later they would fight to change those same laws but in the first hours together, there were no such thoughts, just relief. For the majority of their century and a half together, Xander walked two paces behind and slightly to the right when in public. In private, who walked behind whom generally reflected who was making the drinks for whom that night… and that (like all their intimate acts) had no hierarchy!


It had taken almost two months to nurse the human back to full health, and another four before Xander was back to what Spike considered ‘fighting fitness’ mentally. But that had been ‘OK’, and his convalescence had had the added bonus of the two gradually becoming lovers…

At the start of month number two, Xander admitted to his new protector, in passing…. (well strictly speaking there had been some alcohol and a long night of discussion involved!) that it was over twelve years since he had ‘relations’ with anyone, and more distressingly, as far as Spike was concerned, that it was almost a year since he had found any ‘relief’. His ‘Nanny’ role with the family to whom he had been sold had meant little contact with other humans. And despite their ‘unisex’ status, the sales pens were hardly conducive to any ‘activity’ as they were always observed closely. Anyway various demons had broad preferences, so the human concept of ‘gender’ was rather … silly… and providing the handlers with any reason to ‘observe’, or worse, participate had been terrifying. The most important factor in demon relationships was almost always procreation or power.

As Xander recovered, the political climate also continued to shift toward the more extreme as the fallout from the early Demon wars came to rest. Spike’s role as Master Vampire and Xander’s as human slave was unfortunate but would remain (at least externally) ever more defined. What the outside world remained happily oblivious of, was the shift within one vampire’s home, as Spike’s human ‘purchase’ went from ‘surprise find’ to ‘renewed friend’, to ‘lover’, and after only a few short months became ‘long term partner’.

In the effort to confirm at least the most basic of *non slave* relationships in the first few weeks of Xander’s recovery, Spike had tried to explain their possible future together in terms of some of his own human memories. In particular, his own mother quietly sewing suffragette colors into the hem of her over skirt, and deliberately teaching all her staff to read and write and the girls to sew…. In private the women had also been encouraged to read the newspapers and discussed philosophy, history and politics. In a world that banned women from the vote, it was the best she could do at the time. The lesson, however, bore profound dividends for some of those same individuals, and the central message did not go unnoticed by her sensitive son, after all, it had only been him and his mother, and aught was ever said outside the household.

By the end of the tale Xander was half snoozing, unaccustomed to being so physically comfortable curled up on a thick rug in front of a fire in late afternoon, but nevertheless did not fail to miss the message Spike was attempting to convey. His only confusion was caused by the fact that the same message came via recollections of Spike’s human days, something that he was never privy to in Sunnydale. Spike eventually saw the puzzled look on the human’s face.

“What’s up Luv?”

“Mast…. Spike…. Um… may I ask…?” They were alone, and Xander was only just getting used to dropping formalities, though it was still difficult.

“’S only us…. You’re welcome to speak Pet, told you that ….yeah?”

“Um…. Yes M…. Well, Thank you ...”

“No thankin’ necessary… What’s got your knickers in a twist?”

“Is there such a thing as a midlife crisis for a vampire?”

“What?”

“Mid-life crisis. You know you remembering your Mom and all that. Just… I never thought….”

“You delirious again, pet…. ‘Course I had a Mum! What? You thought some silly bint just bonked, bore me and buggered off? Well I’m right insulted!”

“On so many levels can I just say Ewwww!” The statement blurted out before Xander could think and was so ‘Sunnydale Xander’ that the vampire could not contain his joy at hearing the familiar boy of old and roared with laughter.

“What’s the problem Luv…. I thought with your tauntin’ a vamp when ‘es just been candid ‘bout is ol’ mom is a definite sign of sickness…”

Xander suddenly felt embarrassed, terribly concerned, and instantly fell back on old training at least in word, though resisted the urge to move to a full down kneel, “No Master!!! I’m sorry M… Oh Gahhh It’s Just that …. Well you never told us about you as a human when we were… well you know before…."

Spike saw his friend starting to retreat in on himself again, "'S OK pet, what were you going to say just now?"

Xander looked almost sheepish.... "Mas... Well it just occurred to me ... Do vamp's have a middle age? 'cause how old are you now?”

Spike looked utterly taken aback for a moment then answered in a somewhat bemused tone, “Hundred an’ sixty one if your countin’ from birth… what you thinkin' of buyin me a walkin' cane?!”

Xander looked at him in awe, “God Spike …. That’s amazing! I never really….”

“You ever tell anyone!” Spike fell into game face though Xander did not hear any growling so relaxed a little. He grinned at his ‘Master’.

“’Course not!”

“Good then.” Spike adjusted his position and patted Xander on the arm

“You thirsty?”

“Ho yeah!”

Much alcohol ensued as Xander told Spike a few of his own favorite family memories and of his wish to have more discussions of Spike’s ‘old days’. Their friendship continued to strengthen.

Publicly they were always the perfect master and pet. Privately, they had been lovers and equals from those very first weeks. Xander’s habit of calling Spike ‘Master’ and Spike’s of referring to Xander as ‘Pet’ slipped into their private lives but neither really minded. Slave laws in those days had been fairly simple and the pretence easy to maintain.

One night, a week after their ‘middle age’ discussion, they had been drinking a little and discussing freedom and talking wishes and desires, when Spike had pulled out some very old DVD’s of human porn he had managed to buy from a second hand dealer at the local market. His tastes varied widely and he had been less than careful about the orientation of the various movies. It proved to be a stroke of luck.

As a vampire, Spike’s sexual preferences were fairly ‘liberal’. But he had hardly been ‘pleasing himself’ in any fashion as soul, circumstance, then grief took their toll.

As they watched the second short, very average, ‘arthouse’ feature, they both giggled rather sheepishly as they noted each other’s erections. The film was in Italian, the plot obvious, so Spike turned down the sound and Xander dropped his guard and began to tell Spike some of his most private secrets.

Xander had not had a sexual encounter with a female since before the collapse of Sunnydale, when he and Anya had their final ‘relations’. As a household slave and a ‘non-breeder’ he had slept exclusively in the male living quarters. After eight or so years, a pretty young lad named Stephen and he had come to share a bed, initially for warmth and comfort, but eventually for satisfaction also. Xander had been very quick to add that it was only of the ‘handheld’ (and occasionally mouth) variety….. and vehemently protested his ‘straight’ status after Spike wiggled a scarred eyebrow at the statement. But as they watched a third movie, a definitely male on male feature, Spike saw evidence to the contrary and Xander dropped his guard a little and smiled as they both found their own ‘rhythm’ toward the end of the second scene.

Spike had been lying on the couch and Xander curled up in the old lounge chair for most of the evening. The film ended.

“What happened to him pet?”

“Master?” The auto response slipped out before Xander could check it.

“Stephen luv…. What happened to him?”

“Oh…. He was sold virtually the instant we first arrived at market – even before the auction. God Spike….. He was led away even before I had the chance to say goodbye!…. I prayed to any god I could think of that he went to a ‘good home’…. But……”

Spike saw his friend’s distress and took a calculated risk.

“Come here pet. ‘S OK I won’t bite without your permission.” Spike patted the broad section of cushions in front of him and wiggled his scarred eyebrow in an effort to lighten the mood. Xander complied thankfully. They both knew the biting was no longer much of a problem as Spike had been exchanging small amounts of blood with Xander since their first evening together, something they both (surprisingly for Xander) enjoyed. Initially it had been for Xander’s protection, then to assist his physical recovery, and now was simply one of the most pleasant parts of daily routine.

Xander stretched out next to the vampire, thankful of feeling safe and close to another being and finally realizing that he really wanted to be there. He had learned over the past few weeks that Spike craved and freely gave physical comfort. He had slept in Spike’s bed from the first night and become used to waking with the vampire wrapped around him, with or without a tangle of bedcovers that the blonde seemed to always procure for himself, despite Xander's repeated attempts to hold onto 'his half'. A few times he had awoken to Spike’s rock hard erection pressing against his person, nothing had been said to date, but the last time he had been surprised to note his own reciprocal hardness straining for some friction and almost touching Spike’s.

That night as they lay together on the couch watching the third movie, with Spike’s arm slung casually over his waist, Xander had not found it odd to feel the vampire slowly begin to caress his torso. As the action on screen heated up and Spike’s hand drifted to his groin, he had moved his leg slightly to give better access and the hand released his hardness from the confines of his shorts. By the time the two men on screen were half way through a torrid love scene, Xander had rolled over to face Spike and claimed a passionate kiss, opening his mouth and accepting an enthusiastically probing tongue to tangle with his own, then arching in ecstasy as an experienced hand brought him to completion.

In the days and weeks that followed Xander came to the conclusion that he may well not count himself a lover of men generally but there was no doubt is his mind, he was a lover of Spike…. And in a world as crazy as theirs had become, if that meant he was ‘gay’, then so be it.


……………………..

Still keening and holding the still figure to his chest, Spike caressed his partner’s lifeless cheek yet again…. Who would he be able to debate politics with now? Who would ‘call him out’ when his own vampire nature warred with his soul…. But then his demon had always been weak… Who would William, the poet, turn to when the world was going to hell? Who now would take him in a warm hug and reassure him that their children, their part of the crazy world, everything…. would all be OK?

Another flood of tears ensued…. He hit the dead form of his lover on the arm and turned his head as if to tell a secret to a still conscious person.

Spike could not help himself…. He had lost too much this time, “You *bloody bastard*!!!”

Several unnecessary breaths were drawn….. “I was happy to turn you… I would have been… ahhh no F@#$ but we both decided didn’t we…. and then we….. but I don’t know how to go on now pet… not without you…. never without you….. ‘boys together’…. Remember? We promised remember? And you’re leaving me alone! You sodding bastard… you’re leaving me…. I know we agreed but …. Oh Xan….. I just can’t do this,,,, I just…. ” The vampire released another anguished cry, then hugged the inert torso to his own chest, and continued to keen anew.