For the Touch of a Master's Hand

Dawn came far too early for Nikita. He was wrapped up in his master's arms and a soft blanket and couldn't remember the last time he had been this comfortable. Footsteps on the basement stairs reminded him of the day's scheduled outing. He groaned and burrowed farther into Spike's embrace. His movement roused the vampire and his arms tightened around his squirming lover. “Good morning, Niki.”

Nikita couldn't help but smile at the soft voice caressing his name like that. He looked up at Spike and smiled. “Good morning.”

“That will be the Slayer coming to collect you for your trip to the mall. I mean it when I say do not worry about the little numbers on the tag. Get what you like. And don't feel like you need to rush back to me. You don't have a curfew.” Spike punctuated his words with a tender kiss that left Nikita's knees weak. When their lips parted, Nikita nodded breathlessly.

“I understand, master,” he whispered. Spike smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. The tender moment was shattered by a thundering knock on the door. Spike rolled his eyes and rolled away to sit up. While Nikita pulled on a shirt, he went to open the door for the insistent slayer. Nikita was pulling on a pair of Spike's older jeans over the loose boxers Spike had scrounged up from the back corner of his closet for him to use for pajamas.

“Good lord, girly. What is the bloody rush? Are they demolishing the mall before noon?” he griped. Buffy ignored him and looked over his shoulder at Nikita.

“Niki, are you ready to go?” she asked, not even noticing the sudden tension in Spike's shoulders when she used his nickname for the boy. Nikita didn't miss it and looked up, unsure of what his reaction should be. Spike didn't comment or rescind his permission for the outing, so he nodded slowly.

“Yes, Slayer. I am,” he replied softly. Buffy gave him a strange look at the title, but shrugged.

“Don't you have shoes?”

“No, Slayer, I do not.” His voice was carefully neutral and respectful. Buffy looked back at Spike, who was now grinning. Buffy misread his expression and opened her mouth to scold him for telling Nikita to censor his words to her. “Should we not hurry? If the mall will be demolished by noon, we should go and get what we want before it is destroyed.”

Buffy closed her mouth and swung around to look at Nikita. She stared for a full minute, unable to decide if he was trying to make a joke or if he honestly believed Spike's sarcasm to be truth. Finally, she shook her head and motioned to him. “Come on. Lets get going...”

Nikita stood and went to Spike before following Buffy up the stairs. He stood on his toes to reach Spike's face for a quick kiss goodbye. Buffy turned on the stairs and cleared her throat loudly. Nikita pulled away from Spike and followed her quickly. He had been told to go with her, and having her leave before him hardly counted as 'with' her. Spike's warm chuckle drifted up the stairs after him, encouraging him to hurry with his selections at the mall.

Xander was waiting for them in the kitchen. He was wearing a jacket and spinning his keys on one finger like he was bored. When he saw Nikita come up the stairs, he pushed away from the cabinet he was leaning against and smiled at him. “Hey there, Nik. Sleep good?”

Nikita started a little at the new nickname and nodded. “Yes, thank you, Xander. Will you be joining us today?”

“Yup, my special little favor to Captain Peroxide. I'm supposed to keep Buffy's instinct to humiliate to a minimum. Don't worry. We'll get you some decent clothes. Lets get to it, huh?” Xander responded lightly. Nikita nodded and followed them out of the house and over to Xander's truck. He was more than a little confused at Xander's attitude toward Spike. It had been his impression that the two of them didn't get along very well. There had been more than one dark look directed at his master from Xander's seat at the Bronze last night, but now, it was like he was trying to make Nikita think they were friends or something.

Buffy opened the passenger door and indicated that she wanted Nikita to climb in first. He obeyed readily enough. He didn't care if Buffy was the Slayer, he was confident that, should any harm come to him, Spike would punish her accordingly for damaging his slave. Xander slid behind the wheel and started the engine. Nikita didn't engage either in conversation, he had been told to go out and get clothing, not make friends with the Slayer or her friends. Not that he wouldn't be polite and answer if either of them initiated a discussion, he just didn't feel the need to reach out to them.

The trip to the mall was quiet, almost uncomfortably so, but as soon as Xander pulled into a parking space and shut off the truck, Buffy seemed more at ease. Nikita watched her. It didn't take him long to decide that she had been waiting for more of a fight from him about leaving Spike at the house. He sniffed a little and tried to ignore the offense. He told himself that she was only concerned for his welfare and that she meant no harm, but that only did so much to soothe his stinging pride. Still keeping his thoughts to himself, he followed Buffy into the mall.

Xander hung back to walk beside Nikita. There seemed to be something bugging the kid, but he didn't seem anywhere near ready to talk about it. The two of them trailed behind Buffy, who quickly left them in the dust. The call of the mall had her in its thrall. That was fine with Xander, who, for some reason, was having a little difficulty looking at Nikita without remembering what he looked like sprawled on Spike's bed. He had dreamed of that scene and knew he would continue to do so. "So, Nik, you don't mind if I call you Nik, do you?"

Nikita looked up at him and lifted an eyebrow. "No, I do not mind. What should I call you?"

"Well, most people call me Xan, or Xander. Either one is good for me," Xander responded with more ease than he really felt. His mind jumped back to what Giles had said last night after Spike and Nikita had gone to bed. How the boy had thought that Spike had... 'rented' him or something. A dark, dirty part of him wondered if Spike would consider giving him an hour or two... He jerked himself back to the land of the PG-rated, promising himself a stern talking to when he got away from the kid.

"Very well, Xan. Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Nikita asked. Xander swallowed and nodded.

"Yeah. Um... Look I'm sorry that what I said to you yesterday upset you. I didn't mean to freak you out. I just wanted you to know you had options. You know, if you and Spike weren't... If you or Spike decided..."

"You mean if Spike tired of me. When that happens, I will be subjected to my next master, and it will no longer matter what I want. Unless you are volunteering to become my master when Spike is finished with me?" Nikita asked; his face held no sign of malice. It looked like he honestly wanted to know. Xander gaped at him.

"I... I don't think I could... I mean... it would be kinda weird... right?" he sputtered.

"What would make it weird? The fact that you would own me? Or the fact that Spike already had?" Nikita's words were soft but pointed. And they stung. Xander thought for a moment, still reeling from the question. Both reasons were good ones for why it would be weird for Xander to own Nikita, but neither was the reason that had flooded Xander's mind. The reason he didn't really want anyone to know about.

“Look, let's just forget this for now. I told Buffy that I'd take you to the stores where you won't be instantly scorned for shopping there. She's gonna go do her 'girl' thing and we'll get you clothes. She'll catch up later on at the food court for lunch. Sound good?” he asked, desperately hoping that Nikita would accept the change of subject. Nikita nodded once and let Xander take the lead.

When they reached the first store, Xander motioned for Nikita to go ahead and look around. Nikita nodded silently and proceeded to do just that. He gathered a few items and went back to where Xander was watching a few pretty girls in the small courtyard. “I found these.”

Xander looked at the jumble of fabric in Nikita's hand. “Do they fit?”

Nikita looked up at him, totally confused. “What... do you mean?”

Xander chuckled and turned Nikita around toward the dressing rooms and pushed gently. Nikita yielded under the pressure of Xander's hands and let himself be guided deeper into the store. They stopped in front of the closet-sized dressing rooms and Xander pointed. “You go in there, take off your clothes, and put on a set of the ones you picked out. When you get them on, you come out here and show whoever is waiting for you to show off.”

“Oh. Okay...” Nikita whispered. He was more than nervous and way less than comfortable taking his clothes off knowing that Xander was waiting outside for him. The flimsy curtain that granted privacy would do nothing to protect him if Xander decided that he was bored and wanted to be entertained. He went into the closet and and slowly pulled Spike's shirt over his head. He stood in front of the mirror for a few moments, looking over his slight form. He was lightly bruised and far too pale. His lower lip was still puffy from where he had bitten it to let Spike taste him. All in all, he looked much better than he usually did after the first twenty four hours with a new master.

“You okay in there, Nik?” Xander's voice asked with a spark of urgency. Nikita jumped. The taller brunette was right outside the curtain. His heart raced and he found himself backing up against the mirror in fear. The curtain rustled and Xander's hand became visible at the edge of it.

“I-I'm okay... don't come in...” Nikita called frantically. He knew his voice shook and that he sounded terrified. He only prayed that Xander had not been given permission to take him. He chewed his bottom lip again and wasn't surprised when he tasted blood.

“Alright. I was just checking. You've been in there a while.”Xander explained as he retreated from the curtain. Nikita breathed a huge sigh of relief and managed to focus his attention back on the clothes he had nearly forgotten about. One of the shirts he had chosen was a mint green button up that he knew from experience would accent his eyes beautifully. He shrugged into it and pretended not to notice the tremble in his fingers as he unfastened his pants and let them slide to the floor. The first pair of pants he found in his pile were a deep blue denim. They would go well enough with the shirt, so he pulled them on. They clung to his hips and butt and followed the contours of his legs.

Nikita turned and evaluated his appearance in the mirror with a keen and practiced eye. He had had plenty of masters who had expected him to be able to dress himself appropriately as eye candy on their arms at formal occasions, the finest of which had been an appearance at the court of a king. This outfit was attractive enough, and if he layered it with a plain white undershirt, could be casual or semi-formal as required. Satisfied, he stepped through the curtain and waited for Xander to look up from the magazine he was flipping through. After a minute of waiting, Nikita took a breath and dared himself to speak. "What do you think?"

Xander looked up from the girlie magazine he was perusing while Nikita tried on his selections and found himself staring at what had to be an angel. Not Angelus Angel, obviously, but one who had descended from the clouds to grace humanity with his presence. He looked... confident in his new outfit. He radiated a quiet calm that could put anyone around him at ease and make any girl swoon. And those eyes.... Xander was pretty sure that Spike would kill him and toss his drained corpse over the nearest bridge into the fastest river to the ocean if he caught him looking at Nikita like he knew he had to be. "Um... wow, Nik... That looks great..."

Nikita nodded. "Should I go try on any others?"

"Um... no... I think you have the basic idea of how to pick out clothes down pat..." Xander stuttered, unable to rip his eyes away from Nikita. Buffy, of course, picked that exact moment to walk up with her own purchases in a bag on her arm.

"Hiya Xan, how goes the shopping?" she asked without looking for Nikita. "Hello, Earth to Xander, come in Xander."

Xander jumped and looked up. "Buffy! Hi! It's going good. Never better, in fact, I think that he might even be able to advise me a little on my wardrobe."

"Really?" Buffy asked, finally turning to see Nikita and decide if she agreed with Xander's assessment. Her jaw dropped when she saw Nikita standing there. “Oh, wow, Niki... You look... very nice....”

Nikita bowed slightly but couldn't stop the tightening of his shoulders when she again used Spike's name for him. The way the two were looking at him was a bit disconcerting, almost like they were contemplating pushing him back into the dressing room and tag teaming him. He swallowed and took a half-step back. “Perhaps I should change now...”

Neither Buffy nor Xander gave a response apart from continuing to stare, so Nikita backed into the dressing room and pulled the curtain closed. He stood there, holding it shut and trembling until he heard Buffy and Xander whispering to each other. Only then did he step away from the curtain and change out of the green shirt, opting for the less striking bubble-gum pink t-shirt. Hopefully, it would have a much weaker effect on them so he could get back to Spike without being accosted.