Haunted House 25: Finding Him

[aldersprig]

First: A story featuring a male keeper and a female Kept.
Previous: What If?

🌳🏚🌳

Mélanie knew, in a sense, that a Kept could tell where, loosely, their Keeper was.  That is: they could usually get a sense of “how far away” and “in what direction?”

She herself had used that ability to steal a few minutes of rest when her previous owners had left her alone, but it had never been a very strong connection.  Once, in a peaceful moment when they hadn’t been ordered to silence, another Kept - an older one, and one that had worn thin with years of bad Owners - had told her that the stronger the connection between the Keeper and the Kept, the less the Kept fought the bond and the orders, the more that they would be able to tell where their Keeper was.

Jasper had only Owned her for a day and a half.  He had been kind to her, yes, friendly and considerate, but that couldn’t had formed that strong of a Bond yet.  She closed her eyes and hoped it would be enough.

The trick was to not be thinking of anything except your Keeper.  That required not thinking about what had happened to him, or that she was out on her own for the first time in a very long time, or-

She shook herself.  Jasper. The crooked smile he got when he talked about his previous Kept.  The way he was careful to introduce her to the house. The way that it felt when he gave her an order.  The way it felt when he was happy with her, or when he touched her. The way it felt when he’d left for the day.

read on…

Comments

[kelkyag]

that a Kept could tell where, loosely, their Keeper was
Huh! Has this come up before? Does it work the other way, too?

[aldersprig]

You know, it’s come up in RP, but I’m not sure - other than a couple pieces written by Inspector Caracal/Inventrix - if it’s come up in WRITING.

And it doesn’t work the other way. :-D

[sauergeek]

That sounds like a fine way for Kept to play keep-away from their Keeper. "60 meters at eight o'clock, heading away." "Uh oh, 80 meters at five o'clock and closing, time to hide."

[aldersprig]

Yep!

This is why some Keepers will do orders like ‘be at x place at x time every day.’

:-)

[sauergeek]

Mélanie has stealth Workings and at least moderately functional Keeper radar. How has anyone managed to Keep her for long? Lock her up?

I hope she can get clear of the horses fast enough to make herself inodorous, too.

[aldersprig]

Locks and orders - she can’t disobey orders, and if she was ordered not to use her Workings except as directly ordered (which she was)…