When you go to school, eventually you learn to read and memorize whatever bullshit they put in front of you without thinking about it critically too much, right?

Today, this skill was truly being put to the test.

I had gotten through chapter three of "Training Loyal Pets", at least -- "Keeping Your Pet Functional-- Rewards and Punishment" -- and lay on my back, book at my side, one finger as a sort of impromptu bookmark as it laid on the bed at my side. I told myself I'd get back to it, and I would, but... maybe just another minute.

I heard approaching footsteps, and immediately lifted up my book as if I was reading it, then realized perhaps I was supposed to be paying attention to that? I got into a kneeling position on the bed -- slightly awkward, with how the mattress shifted beneath me -- and put the book down at my side, trying to put a smile on my face as Iris entered.

She smiled back, and then smiled a little more, although it was hard to tell if it was from gentle affection or sadism. "You've been crying?" She sat down next to me and gently traced her fingertip along the lower edge of my right eye. "Get that washed up and get a little makeup on it-- we're going out to eat lunch, and you're coming with us."

I glanced down at my skirt, if one could be generous enough to call it that. Iris's hand brushed over the ruffled red fabric and my thigh. "...if we're going out in public, I suppose you can wear a slightly longer skirt. Don't want you to be flashing everyone-- well, I wouldn't mind that for you, but I have an image to maintain."

Iris patted my thigh a little, and I tried not to think about how it felt kinda nice. Probably the aphrodisiac she had me on, right? "Go and get your face washed up a little, go to the bathroom if you need to." She looked into my eyes, as if making sure I was there. "Okay?"

I hadn't really been responding, had I? "...okay." I made myself make eye contact for a moment, then stood up and walked over to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror... my eyes were noticably tearstained, worse than I had imagined, and I still had the stupid slutty outfit on. I washed up, and went back out to her.

She tossed me a slightly longer pink skirt-- not quite mid-thigh, but at least it sort of covered up my g-string. I took off what barely qualified as clothing, and pulled on the skirt, letting out a soft sigh. It felt a bit better, at least, like something I might actually choose to wear myself, in some other world where I wasn't so sexualized just by existing.

She patted the bed and I sat down next to her, and she stroked my cheeks and ears softly. "You with me there, Serena?"

It felt really good. I looked into her eyes and nodded a little. "...yeah. Just feeling a bit... hopeless, I guess."

She wrapped her arms around me and held me close. "It's okay. We'll get through this."

I clutched onto her tightly. "...you're going to make me cry more."

"Hmm, and that'll make going out to eat a little awkward." Iris stroked my back, and I could almost believe she cared about me. "I'll let you cry all you want this evening, okay? But you need to put that aside for now. Deal?"

I laughed a little at that absurd idea. "...deal. Or, I'll try my best." I couldn't be absolutely sure I could keep this up, after all. "Mistress," I added, a bit too late. I had to try my best if we were going to get through these weeks.

She scratched gently under my chin. No sooner had she started then my body started to raise my chin a little as if of it's own accord-- but after a moment, she let go of me and pulled away just a little.

I stared at her as she put my eye makeup on, close enough to kiss. She really was beautiful.

Iris walked over to the closet and, after looking around a little, came out with a leash that was pink in a way that matched my skirt.

I tensed a little as she approached to put it on.

"Don't worry... this is a breakaway leash. If there's a good deal of force, it will pull off your collar instead of pulling you." Iris's voice was gentle but firm. "Chimeras have slightly stronger necks than humans, but there's still a nonzero risk to having a fully tethered leash around your neck."

I nodded. "Oh, sure, liability reasons." That made sense.

"Well, that too," said Iris. "But I'm trying to take care of you while we're together, you know that, right?" She took my hand, looking me in the eyes. "I want you to have as long and happy life as you can, I'm not going to jeopardize that by hurting you in a way that sticks-- or by treating you with kid gloves so you aren't ready for what your life will actually be like when you go through with this, for that matter." Her gaze was still locked on mine.

My cheeks heated, and I looked away. "Yeah..." She might just be manipulating me, but I guess I had to do my best to believe it.

She stroked the back of my hand with her thumb as she held it.

After a moment, she let go and pulled her hand away, then tugged on the leash slightly. "Time to go."

I stood up and followed her downstairs.

Jimmy was leaning against the wall, scrolling through the feed on his phone. He looked up from it and grinned at Iris. "You ready?"

She nodded. "...Ah, wait, give me one moment."

She handed my leash to Jimmy, and I froze a little, as Iris left me alone with the unfamiliar man who had been just a little off from fucking me a bit ago. Would he be angry...?

Jimmy tugged on the leash, and I stepped a bit closer. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me against his larger, firmer body, and I could feel something hard -- his cock, no doubt -- pressing against me through his jeans. He ran his hand down along my back, and groped my butt a little. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know... what're you so scared of?"

I tried to pull back, but he pressed his hand harder against my butt to keep me from moving away. "You really hate me that much, foxy?" He sounded a little disappointed, which I hated, but he wasn't letting go at all, which was worse, so I was effectively just squirming against his cock.

I stopped, rather than turn him on more.

Jimmy grinned. "That's a good girl."

I tried to keep control of my breathing.

Jimmy spoke quietly, "I bet I'm going to be handsomer than your owner... why not let me fuck you a few times? Well, even if you don't consent, I bet Iris--"

I heard Iris's steps getting closer, and he let go of me, and I stepped away a half step, worried she'd see me getting maximum leash range away from him quickly and disapprove.

Jimmy stroked my shoulder gently as he stared at his phone, pretending he had barely been paying attention to me.

"All right, give me back her leash." Iris glanced down at me as she took the leash from Jimmy, pursing her lips just the slightest bit. "He was just patting your shoulder, you do need to get used to at least that much."

Did she know?

If she did know, would she actually take my side against her friend?

"I'm trying to get used to it, Mistress." I didn't think I was keeping the stress from my voice successfully.

Iris tilted her head just the slightest bit to one side. "Guess you aren't trying to stop him... fair enough." She paused. "You sure you wouldn't prefer to be owned by a woman? I haven't looked at the rates in a couple months, but it'd probably just be a couple extra years."

I nodded. It was a good question, I guess, but even if "a couple" meant "literally exactly two", that was a lot more of being entirely owned by someone. And being owned by a woman might make it harder to go back, too. "I'll be fine," I said, trying to believe it.

We headed outside and down along the sidewalk-- I guess we were walking there? Jimmy and Iris were chatting about some sort of cute streamer, and I sort of trailed behind, careful never to get far enough that the leash would tug at my neck.

I tried to focus on the pseudo-natural landscape of suburbia as we walked past it, and not on the people who could see me on a leash, but when I wasn't thinking about how fucking embarrassing it was to walk behind people like an obvious pet, my mind went back to what had just happened.

If Iris was my Mistress, I'd have to either endure any treatment from her friend or tell her and risk that she'd punish me over it. And if she found out and I didn't tell her or fight back, she might be upset with me too, for making things difficult with her friend. There wasn't really a good option.

Well. I could think about that for later. For right now, I just had to act normal around them, except apparently normal for me when I was being lead around was being a trembling incoherent mess.

"...ever get collared, though," said Iris.

With the word 'collared', my attention was back on the conversation.

"I mean, they aren't about to announce it if they do, are they? There's rumors of at a few streamer girls who got collared." Jimmy sounded a bit annoyed.

"It's pretty easy to spread misinformation on the internet," Iris said dismissively.

"...look, 'Collar, Marry, Kill' is just a fun thing to think about, okay? I'm not going to go kill any major streamers, so it's not even the least realistic part." Jimmy glanced back at me. "Back me up here."

"Uh..." How exactly was I supposed to respond to that?

I looked to Iris, who was also looking back at me, and she rolled her eyes after a moment. "She's not going to get into a discussion between friends, she knows she's just property."

I looked down.

Okay, yeah, like, I know that's what we're practicing, but it still stung.

"I do think it would be interesting to train a streamer girl, though," continued Iris after a moment. "You'd have someone who's very used to putting on a certain presentation, so they'd probably have the acting down, but they're also used to soft control of sorts... hmm, maybe they'd make good support pets...."

Jimmy chuckled. "You're such a wife girl."

"Hey, Jimmy, buddy, pal-- shut the fuck up." Iris laughed too, though.

I glanced back at Iris, Wait, was she really married? Maybe it was like marrying a sailor, who would come back every so often? Or maybe... she was married to her job? Did I want to know if she was married? Would she want to talk about it if she was?

I glanced at her hand-- no ring on any of her fingers at a glance, but that didn't really prove anything.

Maybe it meant something else entirely, injokes didn't always make sense out of context.

It didn't really matter. I wasn't supposed to be interrupting their conversation right now, Iris had literally just told me that.

I tried to tune it out, looking at other people passing by-- some of them clearly pets, or those I suspected to be pets, who seemed a bit friendlier and eager to make eye contact than I was used to... I guess they had now something to relate to, I was one of them rather than another scary person with power that outstripped theirs. 

I was a little relieved as we stopped in front of the the familiar stylized plushie-catgirl sign of Hot n' Stuffed... it was kind of a comfort food chain for me, since I used to go there in college because it was cheap. I didn't like that I was going into it on a leash, but I'd rather go into it on a leash than go into a classier restaurant for... some reason?

...what difference did it really make, though?

Before I could unravel that, we were in line, and Iris took my arm and pulled me in closer, almost against her. "I don't mind you trailing behind a little when we're walking," she said softly, "but it's bad manners to take up more linespace than you need to."

She took the tip of my ear between her fingers and rubbed it gently, and I relaxed a little and leaned against her even as I started to get a little turned on... despite how sensitive an area that was, and despite that she clearly knew what she was doing, it was considered perfectly fine to do out in public, so I couldn't really complain... I guess I had seen more intense things happen at Hot n' Stuffed... I hid my face against her shoulder so I wouldn't have to endure stares, and she laughed softly as she continued to softly torment me.

Before long, Jimmy was at the front of line, and I vaguely heard him ordering some gyoza-- Iris was still rubbing my ear, so it was hard to focus on anything happening around me, much less noise.

She let go as we approached the counter, though, and ordered a few empanadas, a calzone, and apricot dumplings-- with a side of fried ravioli, of course, which made her a little more relatable to me-- almost everyone got a side of ravioli when they were eating at Hot n' Stuffed.

I stepped up to the counter, only for to Iris to take my wrist and lead me towards the cash register before I could order. "Um, Iris...? I haven't ordered yet."

Iris released my wrist and patted my head condescendingly. "Serena, you're a pet now. You don't have any money to order with."

...right.

Was she going to feed me any of her food, or were they just going to eat in front of me? It was entirely possible, I had seen people just eat in front of their pets without feeding them anything before, although it was generally considered a little mean. Still, it's not like anyone would speak up about how someone else was treating their pet unless it got blatantly abusive... people hate conflict.

I quietly waited and followed her to the booth where Jimmy was already spearing a gyoza with his fork and eating it with visible enjoyment.

Iris sat across from him, scooting over far enough in the booth so I could sit too, so I sat next to her, hoping no one would see me... she hadn't slid quite the entire way, so I was still quite close to her. "You're slouching," noted Iris quietly, and then she took a bite of one of her empanadas, finishing it.

I waited awkwardly, trying not to look at either of them eating or feel bad about it. It's not like Iris was about to starve me.

...I wondered if she was paid by her company for incidental expenses like feeding pets, or if she was paid well enough that it didn't matter. She probably couldn't have been paid too badly with that house, but it'd be hard to know for sure.

"You look super uncomfortable," Iris said softly. "Maybe you'd be more comfortable underneath the table sucking my cock." She laughed, but I didn't think it was a joke.

My heart was beating rapidly now, and I was trying not to panic.

I steeled myself, took a deep breath and started to slide down underneath the table...

...only for Iris to wrap her arm around my waist and hold me back. "Hey now. I was just kidding. I might get in trouble for public indecency. It is cute how eager you were, though..." She stared down into my eyes with a slight smile. "Your face is super red and you're trembling... pretty cute." 

She raised a forkful of the apricot dumpling to my mouth, and I started a bit as the familiar, almost too hot, overly sweet flavor filled my mouth.

I wasn't sure if I was relieved I probably wouldn't have to sit here awkwardly as they ate food, or worried that I'd have to sit awkwardly as Iris fed me whatever she wanted.

"Little hot?" Iris lifted her drink to my mouth, and I took a sip of cola through the straw, which cooled down my mouth, although it didn't really help with the sweetness problem and the flavors didn't blend the best.

"This one's a cutie," said Jimmy with approval, smiling at Iris instead of me.

"Maybe Jimmy will end up buying you," said Iris in a joking tone, but even the idea of him owning me made me stiffen. It would only be five years, but it was already pretty clear how callous he'd be. She ruffled my hair. "Hey, you could do worse."

With a sickening feeling, I realized that was probably true-- Jimmy hadn't been outright cruel so far, after all, just a little callous and wanting to fuck me, which was probably true of most people who would want to buy someone like me as a pet.

I wasn't really hungry anymore, but I still obediently ate whatever food Iris offered me, trying to keep my face blank as my mind stormed over if I could actually do this.

But I didn't truly have any other real choice, did I?

The familiar crunch and flavor of deep-fried ravioli definitely helped calm me down a little, though... even though Iris didn't dip any of it into the marinara before giving it to me, like I usually preferred.

She did dip it for herself a few times... maybe she was trying to make a point, but maybe it was just so she wouldn't make a mess feeding me.

It wasn't quite the same, though.

After the eternity of a few minutes of this dragged on, Iris and Jimmy were done eating, and she held my hand as they conversed about some action movie that Jimmy was enthused about because it had truly terrible one-liners or something.

Finally, he took a long sip, and sat down his drink. "Yeah, but I have work, so...." He stood up. "I guess this is... my exit."

Iris kicked him under the table-- lightly, he just flinched from it. "Shut it." She was smiling, though.

Jimmy grinned too, winked at her. "Yeah yeah, next time." And with that, he was leaving.

I slowly let out my breath. Iris reached over to pet my cheek gently with her hand that wasn't holding mine. "Stay with me, pet?"

What, did she think I was going to follow Jimmy?

After a moment I realized I was staring at the wall, and she probably meant in a less literal sense. I managed a nod.

"Okay," said Iris, squeezing my hand softly.

We sat there for a little while.

It was nice to not be alone in this.

Then she nudged me with her shoulder and released my hand, so I got out of the booth.

She lead me out of the restaurant, although I was walking just half a step behind her now, trying to keep pace with her and follow her lead and not think about how she was holding a leash with me on it.

It didn't feel quite as lonely as it did to walk behind her and Jimmy basically ignoring me, at least.

Suddenly, she grabbed my arm, and spun me closer to a building-- to pin me against a wall? No, just further away from a car that was barreling along really close to the sidewalk. I don't think it would've actually hit me, but it was close enough that my heart was beating really quick.

Or maybe that was because of Iris.

Still, I should say something. "...thank you."

"Just doing my job," said Iris breezily, but she ruffled my hair.

It felt nice, but I also wondered if it looked bad now, and tried to sneak a look in one of the store windows-- no, not too bad.

I looked over at her, and she was staring ahead, but she had to be kinda aware of me if she had seen that car coming towards me and noticed it would be a danger, right? She was still walking on the closer-to-traffic side of the sidewalk.

Iris didn't say anything further as we walked, so neither did I, but I was very aware of her presence.

I did wonder as we went further if that was a bit of theater she put on to make me trust her more, though-- I didn't think that she would've orchestrated the car, probably, but maybe she knew it wouldn't hit me and did it regardless.

Maybe I was feeling a little ungenerous because she kept tormenting me, though.

As we got to her door, Iris opened it with her fingerprint, and tugged on my leash a little, even though I was already following her.

I don't know why she felt like she needed to make a point of it.

Hardly the greatest indignity I had or was going to suffer, though, so I just glared at her a little-- she wasn't looking at me as I followed her in, so it was safe.

She lead me over to the couch and sat down, but as I was sitting on the ground next to her, she firmly said "Kneel."

I hesitated, but knelt down in front of her before she got upset with me, but not so quickly I'd hurt my knees. 

She pulled on my leash a bit, and I shifted a bit closer to her to release the pressure on my neck and act obedient. This position was kind of like the first time I had come here, though, after she fingered me... did she want me to suck her cock again?

I glanced up at her. She was looking at the TV-- indeed, there were sounds of a show behind me, now that I thought about it, just all of my thoughts and attention were focused on her.

Another gentle little pull from her, so I laid my head in her lap. I wasn't sure if she wanted her cock sucked or not, after all, and if I got it wrong, she'd definitely make fun of me. She was already framing me as if I was some sort of horny slut, while she was the one who had rubbed an aphrodisiac cream on my pussy and was trying -- or forcing me -- to do sexual stuff all the time.

She petted my head briefly, running her fingers through my hair, and it was kind of nice, so I started to relax... and then her fingers entwined with my hair and she slowly pulled my head up, staring down at me.

I looked up at her, searching her eyes, unsure what I had done or if she now wanted to make the point "your owner can be needlessly cruel to you."

Point made, I guess?

I couldn't read her expression.

"Why are you looking up at me with that expression? Did you really not know what I wanted?"

"I..." I opened my mouth, then closed it, and could feel my cheeks heating a little before I managed out, "I wasn't sure. Is it a blowjob?"

She used her grip on my hair to make my head nod a little, so I nodded with her, not wanting to hurt myself or anger her further. "Yes, that's right. Now, what do you think feels worse for your owner-- her pet not picking up on signals of when she wants oral, or her pet being a little too sexually interested in her?"

My eyebrow furrowed a little. "That's not really fair, my owner has all the power in the relationship, I shouldn't be expected to--"

Iris's gaze down at me turned cold. "What exactly made you think anything about this was fair, Serena?"

I didn't really have a response for that.

She unzipped her pants and slowly guided my head over towards her crotch, making me adjust my position to stay somewhat comfortable, pressed my face down against her semi-hard cock, so I started to lick it.

"Look," said Iris a bit more gently as she ground my face into her cock, "you want to keep your owner happy, right?"

I wasn't sure if this was a rhetorical question, so I answered "Yes." I started licking her cock, since maybe that's what she wanted from me, and indeed, she started to be a little gentler in rubbing my face against her cock, although it was also getting my face all wet from my saliva on it, now, which felt extra humiliating.

"And you want your owner to think of your relationship as pretty much consensual, so they treat you more like a girlfriend and less like an abused object they use for release, don't you?"

I didn't think it was that simple, but it was clear she wasn't looking for nuance here. "Yes." I went back to licking her.

"Now, usually I wouldn't use a mean punishment this early, but you've made it clear that you understood what you were doing was wrong, and it was just your pride, not a mistake... I think you'll remember better if I punish you, don't you?"

It was obvious the answer she wanted. "...yes...." Did she really think that, though, or did just just want to abuse me? Her dick had gotten harder while she asked, but maybe that was from all the licking I kept on doing.

"Now," said Iris sweetly and sadistically, "and remember I'm only saying this since you said it would help you accept your role to be threatened, Serena, but this doesn't mean I'm not one hundred percent serious about it: remember that if you bite down on my cock, I might fail you, blacklist you from programs like this, and kick you out of the house without your ID in your current outfit, so you'll likely get raped even less gently before you get home, and then succumb to whatever debt-related circumstances you have and spend the rest of your life as someone's pet."

I whimpered and moved my head up, trying to wrap my lips around the head of her cock from the awkward angle she was holding me at... maybe if I made it clear I was serious about oral, she'd be less mean. She probably wasn't serious, but I didn't want to test it, and if I didn't take it seriously, she'd be more likely to at least fail me.

"Mmm, okay... since you're serious about it, I'll let you be in control." Iris released my hair. "You're going to see how long you can keep my cock all the way down my throat, and the longer you manage, the gentler I'll be with you." Iris ruffled my hair and scratched behind my ear. "Don't make yourself vomit, though-- I hate that, especially in my house. It's a bitch to clean up."

I took her cock slowly into my mouth, trying to delay the inevitable, and gagged a little bit as the head of her cock hit the roof of my mouth, but tried to take her cock down my throat... but gagged even harder as I hit the back of my throat, and had to pull back. I tried again, and I gagged again, and tears were rolling down my face, but I had to try again, and gagged even harder, my fingers digging into her thighs as I tried to keep some control over my body, which was starting to freak out.

Iris wrapped her fingers into my hair, and I tensed up and started crying harder, anticipating that she was going to pull me down on her cock-- but instead, she pulled me off of it, until my lips were barely touching the head of her cock, and I looked up at her blurry form through my tears. "Okay, you can stop. I think that's a good enough punishment, we don't actually want to hurt you... but you do know I'm being very gentle with you, right?" She stroked my cheeks. "I need to make sure you can emotionally handle a little bit of intense stuff. You can stop giving me a blowjob now, and we can cuddle."

...of course, I couldn't make out her face, and I was worried if I took this offer of reprieve, she'd punish me for it, later if not now... she'd want me to prioritize her pleasure, right? That's what I was supposed to be learning?

I coughed a little as I tried to talk, but then managed a slightly hoarse, "Can I just give you a normal blowjob, Mistress?"

"Awwwh... sure you can. Such a devoted pet I have, don't I?" Iris stroked both my ears at once, the fingertips of each of her hands gently rubbing against the sensitive tips of my ears.

I sucked on her cock as I sniffled, moving my head up and down on it, and Iris started guiding my head a little, softly telling me where and how hard to suck, where to use my tongue, precisely enough that I didn't really have to think about it or anything, and could just disassociate and let my body become a tool for her to pleasure herself with. Part of me was obeying her orders, sure, and part of me was a bit aroused, probably, but all of that barely felt like me.

Iris's hands gripped my hair a little bit tighter and her cum filled my mouth, and that brought me back into the moment a little. "Don't swallow it yet," she said softly, her voice sounding pleased. 

I didn't. I was still kind of obeying her words automatically.

She pulled out of my mouth, and tapped my nose with one finger as her cock, still mostly hard, rested on my cheek, dribbling cum onto my face. "Open your mouth and show me." 

I opened my mouth, somewhat feeling like I was deciding what to make my body do again. The alkaline, slightly sweet flavor of her cum filled my mouth.

"Good girl. Okay, you can swallow." Her words made it sound like she was making me wait with a treat on my nose, which made it just a little bit worse.

I swallowed, though.

"C'mere." Iris patted her lap with both hands.

I climbed up onto the couch and onto her, facing her, and she took my hip in one hand and her cock in the other, and slowly pushed her cock into my pussy, making her moan a little and me gasp. I had gotten wet, apparently, and the cum dribbling out of her cock worked kinda like lube, too.

Was I supposed to ride her now? I started to move, but her hand on my hip held me in place.

"Good effort, but I just want to feel close to you right now." Iris stared up into my eyes. "How're you feeling? You look a little out of it."

I blinked a couple of times, trying to focus. "I'm fine."

Iris traced a finger along my lip. "Feels like you keep on trying to escape me."

I licked her finger a little, partially to stall, but mostly because I thought she wanted me to. "Well... disassociating is better than flight or fight, right? It's kind of, it's really the only coping mechanism I have left."

"There's also accepting that the world is as it is, and not fighting against it, moving with the flow," said Iris softly, shifting her hips just a little and making her cock move inside me a bit.

I furrowed my brow. I wanted to believe in a world that could be just, but that was really hard sometimes. Especially now sometimes. "That's the sort of viewpoint that doesn't change anything."

"Maybe, but it's good for your situation right now." Iris tilted her head a bit to one side, and tapped my nose with her finger. "You aren't really on the first path you would've chosen, either."

It was pretty hard to accept.

"There's also the best reaction besides fight, flight, or freeze-- or disassociate, sure, but that's just another form of freezing." She slowly groped the side of my thigh and my butt, and I couldn't help but let out a soft breath bordering on a moan.

I sort of felt like raising an eyebrow, but instead I just stared at her. There really was very little point in opposing her right now.

Iris leaned in and gave me a little kiss on my nose, and said softly, like it was our little secret, "Fawning. Just accept that I have all the power, and the only happiness you'll get is if I'm happy."

I started to contemplate that idea for a moment, but my body and mind froze up. Iris hugged me close against her, and held me there. "Hey, relax now... I've got you, it's okay...."

I tried to listen to her, and my eyes started tearing up as I trembled violently in her arms.

She squeezed me against her and stroked my back. "It'll be okay. You can do this."

For a little while, there were only the sounds of me sniffling and the TV, broken by occasional murmurs from Iris.

Of course, it's hard for one to remain in panic forever, and eventually I felt silly and a bit bored, and turned my head to try to see the show she was watching.

Iris patted my side with her hand. "Get off my cock and sit next to me if you wanna watch." I guess she had been paying attention to me-- she sounded a bit amused though, not upset.

I pulled myself off her still-mostly-hard cock, and turned around as I sitting next to her, and she wrapped her arm around my waist and held me close.

My eyes focused on the screen, where a scantily clad woman was moving seductively, although the picture definition wasn't the best. The man she was enticing came in close, only for her to smile with militant joy as she sunk a dagger into his chest, becoming more of a smirk as he fell to the ground.

...wait, was she watching Alessa, Queen of Assassins? I think I had seen part of an episode in passing, but it was supposed to be pretty lesbian and campy, and I didn't think Iris would take kindly to me asking to change the channel.

I rested my head on her shoulder, and her hand moved up to pet my head, almost as if it was by habit than by any sort of active choice.

The plotline seemed to revolve around a catgirl thief lady she was working with to kill three evil brothers, each who built their castle with a different elaborate deathtrap theme. It was easy enough to zone out, although part of me remained apprehensive that how the chimera plotline was handled would be terrible since this show was made decades ago, but... okay, it wasn't that bad. It seemed on the whole it was trying to be chimera-positive for the time, if a bit clumsy about it.

Iris patted me on the shoulder as the episode ended. "Why don't you curl up on the ground while I watch the news?"

I tensed a little at both the idea of watching news, which was usually about horrible depressing stuff, and the thought of curling up at her feet... but I guess I wouldn't have to stare at it if I was down there, at least.

Iris took me by the chin and looked into my eyes. "You do know when your owner suggests a course of activity, you should generally follow along unless you have an extraordinarily good reason not to, right?"

I slowly exhaled, and went down to curl up against her feet.

Physically, it didn't feel bad-- the rug was very plush and soft, and her feet were kinda warm.

Emotionally... well, I tried to focus on the physical part. Getting caught up in my emotions would just make me more miserable.

I closed my eyes and tried to shut out the news and my situation. To distance myself from my body and everything else. It was so much easier than whatever Iris wanted me to do, and since she asked me to curl up here, she was practically asking me to do it, right? Even if she didn't want me to, it was impossible for her to know my thought process when I was down there.

I imagine if you experience an eternity in a void, the memory feels like little more than an instant.

So I have no idea when I felt a hand gently stroke my cheek. At first, I just accepted it, as it felt nice-- then I tensed a little as I realized it was Iris.

"Stay with me, girl." Iris's voice was firm, but not angry or cruel. Just insistent.

I looked up at her, trying to remain patient. "You have the news on and you told me to curl up at your feet, I don't know what else I'm supposed to do."

Iris smiled down at me as her hand moved up to run through my hair and scratch behind my ear in a way that made my body relax a little. "Do some cute shit. Think of ways to make me happy later. Nuzzle against my ankles a little. That sort of thing."

"I..." ...was there really any point in arguing with her? "...yes, Mistress."

"You want me on your side," Iris said as her hand ran along the back of my head and my eyes half-closed. "You want me to be able to honestly say when I talk to a prospective customer, 'Serena was an absolute sweetie and eager to please'."

...this whole thing was like a two-week interview, wasn't it? Despair loomed around me. There's no way I'd qualify.

"Shhhh... don't feel down, sweetie, you're doing pretty good-- I just want to help you be the best you can." Iris stared down at me with a smile, and I wasn't sure what that smile meant. Her expression made it hard to meet her gaze right now, so I sat up a little and nuzzled against her knee, looking down as she ran both hands through her hair and scritched behind my ears.

I half-rested against her legs as Iris petted my head and ears, until she stopped.

I looked up at her, wondering what was up, and Iris laughed. "You look like such a spoiled pet right now." She patted my head. "See? It doesn't have to be all bad. Okay, up girl."

I started to climb up into her lap, but she put a hand on my shoulder to stop me, and shook her head. "I mean on your feet."

I stood, and tilted my head a little as I looked down at her, waiting for her next order.

She smiled back at me with that smile I couldn't read. "Now strip."

I hesitated for a moment, but it wasn't the first time I was getting naked in front of her, and what I was wearing only sort of qualified as clothes in the first place, so I took them off, trying not to look like a stripper, but also trying not to look like I was not trying to look like a stripper. It's hard for me to take off my clothes when someone's looking at me and not be influenced by that.

"Could've done it sexier," Iris said flippantly.

"You didn't tell me--" Iris put her finger against my lips as she rose from the couch.

She stared into my eyes as we stood there, me naked, her with her finger against my lips and her at least mostly clothed. "Did you think I might want you to try to be a little sexy for me?" The tip of her finger traced along my lips before she let it rest on my cheek.

I looked away. "I... I wasn't thinking about it, I guess."

She arched an eyebrow, staring down at me.

"...okay, I was just thinking of how not to feel embarrassed. I didn't mean to... not serve you, or whatever. Mistress."

Iris stared a moment longer, then nodded. "Do better next time. I'm not always going to be as lenient with you as I have the past few days. That wouldn't be fair to you." She started to walk away, and then added, "Follow."

That offhand command made me feel even more like I was just an animal to her, but... okay, I followed.

She went to the bathroom and for a moment I thought she was going to fuck me there or something, but she just picked up a bottle and then continued to walk.

...lube, maybe? I hadn't gotten a good look at it, but okay, sure, following her to... wherever this was.

I hesitated for a moment on the threshold of the glass sliding door which gave access to her backyard, but I followed her through, naked, into the sun.

It's not like anyone could see us here, right?

Still, being naked out in the sun felt different, the sun and breeze against my skin and the feeling that people *could* watch at any moment all making my nudity feel more overwhelming.

Iris squirted a good deal of white cream from the bottle onto her hand, multiple squirts, and then bent down a little to put the bottle on one of the wooden chairs near the door, before turning back towards me and approaching.

I tilted my head a bit to one side, trying to figure out the smell as she got closer, as I didn't think lube smelled like that, if anything it smelled like... "...sunscreen?"

Iris nodded as she started to splot the cool cream several places on my body -- ass, stomach, each hip, forehead, on my chest between my breasts -- which felt somewhere between nice and disgusting. She started to rub it all over my body, so I started to help her and rub some of it along my hips, but she grabbed my hand.

"Good instinct, but no. I would've told you if I wanted you to put sunscreen on. If I wanted you to do it, I would've just handled you the bottle. Still, your owner might expect differently, this is just what I want to do to you."

I inhaled. Exhaled.

Iris's hands were still all over me, moving over my stomach, breasts, ass, sides, following no pattern that I could gather, and not particularly focusing anywhere lewd, just getting me all evenly covered and rubbed down... though maybe her movements of her hands were a bit more sensual than they needed to be, and stroked each part of my body more than she really needed to to get the lotion there... maybe she was just trying to work it in, though.

I nodded a little as her hands continued to move over her body like she owned it. "You want to give me a taste of exhibitionism... but actual outside stuff would be dangerous legally... but it's perfectly legal in your backyard?"

Iris slid her lotioned hand along my cheek a bit wierdly, her thumb sliding under my chin. I realized she was trying to turn my head but it was a little slippery, so I obligingly turned my chin up a little and looked at her.

Was she not going to answer me?

As I met her gaze, she smiled down at me. "I suppose you might as well know now-- I'm going to take you to a private club where pets are kept nude a bit later in your training. This is practice for that, and that will be practice for what sort of things you may need to do as a pet."

Inhale.

Exhale-- but it was a bit shaky.

Iris returned to letting her hands drift down my shoulders, my sides, my hips, my thighs. I tensed a little, wondering if this lotion had some sort of special properties that would make my skin more sensitive or something, like the cream she had applied to my pussy.

I was afraid to ask, since that might give her ideas. I was more aware of my skin right now, between her hands as she knelt down to smooth the splots of lotion she had left on my hips down along my legs.

Iris was really near my pussy, which had gotten a bit wet, but she didn't touch it, which was probably for the best since her hands were still covered in sunscreen. Still, it made me very aware, and she was at the perfect level that she could move forwards slightly and touch it with her mouth, and I wasn't entirely sure she wouldn't do that.

But no, she was just focusing on my ankles and feet now, getting everything all evenly coated, the whole experience feeling increasingly intimate and somewhere between worshipful and objectifying.

She glanced up at me, then smiled a little, and leaned in closer to my pussy as she maintained eye contact with me, and my breath caught as her lips pressed against my lower lips... only to leave a soft kiss that would be chaste if it weren't for it's location before pulling her mouth away. "Not going to give you oral, but you looked so cute and expectant that I thought I should give you something."

A very faint sound escaped my lips. It didn't sound dignified, so I hoped she hadn't heard it.

Iris patted my hip and stood up, giving no sign she had heard it, at least. She rubbed the last of the lotion on my arms, where her application had been a bit more scant, then on the backs of her own hands, before looking over to me. "Do you wanna play, pet?"

It wasn't a real question, was it.

"Yes, Mistress." I wondered what sort of horrible kinky or sexual thing she'd do to me now, out in the backyard for anyone to see-- if the fence wasn't in the way. At least the fence was on my side.

Instead, she walked over, kneeled down, and picked up a tennis ball, standing up, then tossing it to the other side of her yard. "Fetch!"

I looked at the ball for a moment, as it hit the grass and rolled, then back to her.

Well, at least Jimmy wasn't here. I walked after it, very aware of the movements of my body, of her eyes on me, and knelt down to pick up the ball.

I stood up, and walked back to her, and it was hard to meet her eyes, but I felt there was a not entirely positive expression on her face, so I had to look.

Iris smiled slightly, though it didn't reach her eyes. "Why didn't you bend over for me and show off your pussy? You know that's the sort of thing I'd want you to do, right?"

"Sorry, Mistress, I hadn't thought of it." I considered that for a moment. "Maybe subconsciously I didn't want to show off, but it wasn't intentional."

She took the tennis ball from me and tossed it to herself, tilting her head a bit to one side. "Do you think you deserve a punishment for that, pet?"

There was only one response for that. Or... perhaps one other one?

I stared down at her, tilting my head to the same side. "Do you, Mistress?"

Iris stared up at me for a moment with a faint smile, then laughed. "No. Not really, no. I'll do some unreasonable punishments to you one of these days, but not today, I think."

She tossed the ball, and I ran after it, trying not to think how ridiculous I must look running naked, then stopped in front of the ball, legs slightly spread, and bent down to pick up the ball with my ass facing her, my hand gripping the ball tighter than it needed to be gripped.

I ran back to her, thinking I had to look even more ridiculous with my breasts jiggling from the running, and came to a stop in front of her, holding out the ball, tail drooping down almost between my legs. Releasing my intense grip on it as she took it.

She smiled, reaching up to caress my hip in a very suggestive way, then tossed the ball again. She was definitely enjoying this-- either she thought I looked cute like this, or she enjoyed making me look ridiculous.

Maybe both.

But I didn't have time to think, rather, thinking was counterproductive, so I ran back over to the ball, bent down, picked it up, ran it back to her.

And she wanted to do it again.

And again.

And again.

It couldn't have been that many times, but it felt like it had been an eternity. My body was panting heavily, and trembling slightly.

"Wow, you are super red, Serena." Iris patted her lap, and I sat my body down in it obediently.

She gave my lips a long, thorough kiss on my lips as she groped my ass, and then finally stopped groping but still rested her hands there as she pulled back a little and looked at my face. "Even redder now," she commented, sounding pleased. She stared into my eyes for a long moment, then shook her head aa little. "Mmm. You're not entirely here with me, are you?"

I tried to focus on her, on being with her. "Sorry. This is a lot. I'm trying my best, Mistress."

She ran her fingers through my hair and pressed another kiss against my lips, pressing her tongue into my mouth. I made my tongue move against hers, trying my best to kiss her sensually given my current kind-of-out-of-it state.

The kiss lasted longer than I expected, and I hadn't gotten a good breath in first, so I was starting to need to breathe.

Finally, she pulled her lips from mine.

I panted softly.

Her fingers scritched against my scalp, and it felt nice, even if I only partially felt like it was my body she was touching at the moment. "I can tell you're trying your best to be a good girl, and I appreciate that." She gave my nose a little kiss. "I think your owner will, too."

Finally, she released her hold on my hair, and gave my butt a little pat. "Get out of my lap, and you're free to stay out here as long as you like and cool down-- if you feel mentally okay, come back and check in with me and we'll maybe do some more training, but otherwise, you don't need to come inside until dark-- I wouldn't want you to catch a cold, as cute as I'm sure you'd be with one, we don't really have the time for it." Her lip curled up just a little. "In the meantime, just enjoy being outside."

I finally registered I should get out of her lap, and stood up, and she stood up too, ruffling my hair before turning back and walking into her house without a backwards look.

I was left alone in her backyard with soft grass around my feet, warm sun embracing me, and a gentle breeze teasing my body

The sensations were all nice, even if the situation was way too much.

I started to sit down in the chair, then thought better of it -- with the painting flaking off there was a nonzero chance that I'd get a splinter -- and sat down in the grass, instead.

The grass felt nice against my ass too, so despite vaguely worrying about some insects crawling on me, I decided to just go for it, and laid my entire body down.

The soft grass was beneath my naked body.

The warm sun was like a blanket above me.

There was a bit less of a breeze lying this low, but an errant gust of wind curled around my side and breast teasingly for a moment.

There were clouds, but none of them were right above me.

I looked up into the infinite blue of the sky.