#whump tag
choose your color
Himself
inspired by @whumpshaped’s post here!
CW: pet whump, collars, leashes, whumpee calling whumper Master, abuse (implied), abusive relationship, intimate whumper, possessive whumper, vampire whumpee, disassociation (mostly after the timeskip), whumpee misgendering himself while disassociating (using they/them/their as a gender neutral pronoun), nudity (not sexual and not explicitly described)
“Open your eyes, pet.”
Dirk didn’t want to. He didn’t want to open his eyes out of fear of what he would see in the mirror. Because he knew it would be a part of himself that he hated.
A part of himself that Jackson claimed was his true nature, and that Teddy agreed with, and that both of them worked to chain and command as their own.
Taming a beast with a human face.
Leashing a wolf wearing someone else’s skin.
Himself
inspired by @whumpshaped’s post here!
CW: pet whump, collars, leashes, whumpee calling whumper Master, abuse (implied), abusive relationship, intimate whumper, possessive whumper, vampire whumpee, disassociation (mostly after the timeskip), whumpee misgendering himself while disassociating (using they/them/their as a gender neutral pronoun), nudity (not sexual and not explicitly described)
“Open your eyes, pet.”
Dirk didn’t want to. He didn’t want to open his eyes out of fear of what he would see in the mirror. Because he knew it would be a part of himself that he hated.
A part of himself that Jackson claimed was his true nature, and that Teddy agreed with, and that both of them worked to chain and command as their own.
Taming a beast with a human face.
Leashing a wolf wearing someone else’s skin.
The leash hanging from his collar was heavy, a gold chain to match the gold tag that dangled from the leather collar, jingling with even the smallest movements. A temporary mark of ownership in the form of Master’s insignia to match the permanent one branded on his lower back.
The collar squeezed his throat when the leash was tugged.
“I won’t repeat myself, pet.”
Dirk opened his eyes, and his fears came true.
There he was, kneeling on the bedroom floor in front of the body mirror, shamefully exposed. Clothing is a privilege, not a right. And he lost that privilege when he misbehaved. He didn’t even remember what he did.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was Master sitting behind him on the bed, holding the handle of the leash in one hand, the other close to some object on the bed. When he looked closer, he realized that it was a muzzle - a broken muzzle, because the gag that was supposed to keep his mouth open and his fangs exposed was bitten clean through.
He didn’t even remember biting it.
But that didn’t matter.
“What do you see in the mirror?”
There were many answers. Myself was not one of them.
Dirk saw individual parts that somehow still failed to make up a whole person. He saw shame in the flush of their cheeks and the way they hung their head, like a scolded dog. Guilt in their eyes, heavy enough to outweigh any anger. Fear in their tense body, unable to relax while their Master was unhappy.
And devotion in the bruises that kissed their skin.
No.
Hisskin.
That’s what set him apart from the person in the mirror. Reminders of Master’s love, pressed into him with loving fingers, beaten into him with loving hands. That’s what he saw.
Proof of his loyalty to Master, and Master’s love given in return.
He swallowed down whatever doubts remained.
“Your pet, Master.”
The look of approval on Master’s face made him happy. And that was love, wasn’t it? Making each other happy?
He chose not to dwell on it as Master gestured for him to come closer. And so, he crawled, turning his back to the mirror and all of his attention to Master. He kneeled between Master’s legs expectantly, waiting to be told what to do, to be given a chance at making up for his disobedience.
Master pat his thigh. “Turn around and sit on my lap.”
His pet obeyed. He faced the mirror again as he sat down, suppressing a flinch when Master’s arms came to wrap around his waist. A single knuckle was used to gently tilt the vampire’s face up, making eye contact with Master’s reflection before quickly averting his eyes.
“Despite all of the trouble you give me,” Master said, moving his hand up to pet the vampire’s hair, “you are the best pet that I’ve ever had.“
His fingers skimmed across the back of his pet’s neck, eliciting a shiver. “And you are the onlypet that I will ever have. Do you know why that is?”
He does. His pet knows because Master has told him again and again, with both punishments and rewards.
“Because I was made for you, Master.”
A hum of approval. His pet almost smiled, and was proud of himself for not flinching this time when Master kissed his temple, still petting his hair.
“Good boy,” he murmured, and the vampire swelled with pride.
—
Dirk stared at his reflection in the mirror. But the longer he looked, the more he started to feel like he wasn’t looking at himself. That the reflection staring back at him didn’t match the image of himself in his mind.
The bruises from earlier had already healed over, like an author deleting words off the page. He wanted to see them. He neededto see them. Because they were marks of Teddy’s love, and he wanted to be marked, he neededto be marked to know that he was wanted, and loved, and himself.
His neck was uncomfortably bare. No collar, no leash, nothing that made it clear who he belonged to, and that was a scary thought, not belonging to anyone.
Not belonging to Teddy.
Not belonging to Master.
He would always belong to Master, right? Master said that himself. Said that he was the best pet, his only pet, a pet made just for him.
His pet touched the barren skin of his neck, trying to picture the collar there. He pressed down with his fingers and squeezed, hard enough to cut off his air, hard enough to force out a choked breath. But it wasn’t the same. It wasn’t his collar. It wasn’t Master.
It wasn’t him.
The vampire stared at the person in the mirror. Who was it? He moved his hand down, over his collarbone, feeling water droplets stuck to his skin. The hand in the mirror moved down too, but it wasn’t his hand, and it wasn’t his skin, and he was starting to think that these weren’t histhoughts.
Whose were they?
It scared him not to know, but the fear just swelled inside of him and stayed there, trapped under the stranger’s skin. He didn’t move. They didn’t move. Neither of them moved, but one of them thought, and they wanted to stopthinking.
They wanted to know who they were.
But only Master could tell them that.
Eventually, they saw him. They saw Master enter the room, and a part of their mind familiar with Master’s schedule knew that he had just gotten back from a business dinner, and that’s why he was wearing a fancy suit and tie. They heard him say something.
Did you shower thislate?
But they couldn’t process the words, just the sound of his voice, and the sight of him approaching in the mirror. There were more words.
The floor around you is all wet, Dirk.
Dirk.
That was their - that was his name. Dirk. Not the stranger’s name. He didn’t know who they were, or what their name was, but they must have left because Teddy was there, Master was there, and he was starting to remember who he was.
This time, he understood Master’s words.
“Is something wrong, pet?”
Pet.
Master’s pet. That’s who he was. Made for Master, made to serve him, and obey him, and love him. Dirk blinked, and he realized that his skin was pruning, that the floor was all wet, because he had been standing there for hours after showering.
“I’m sorry, Master,” he blurted, referring to the state of the floor.
Master looked surprised. Confused. It wasn’t an expression Dirk was used to seeing on him, and somehow he caused it, so he rushed to explain. “I took a shower earlier, way earlier, but then I was drying my hair in the mirror, and I - I somehow lost track of time, s-so I accidentally got water on the floor and I’m r-really sorry.”
Master frowned. “You don’t know how long you’ve been here?”
Dirk shook his head. “I…I thought I was someone else,” he admits.
Something seemed to click for Master. And his confusion warped into satisfaction, which was confusing to Dirk, because he thought Master was upset about the floor. “Dirk,” he said, and it was more fond than scolding. “Say my name.”
“…Master?”
“That’s my title,” Master corrected. “Try again.”
Dirk thought for a moment. And eventually, a name rose from his memories, breaking through the mindless haze of obedience.
“…Teddy.”
“Correct.”
Teddy smiled and cupped his face. Dirk instinctively leaned into it, allowing himself to close his eyes for a moment with a relieved sigh. He suddenly felt exhausted, like he had been running away from something chasing him, and now his heart was still pounding, his legs threatening to give out.
“You will always be my pet, Dirk,” Teddy reassured him, easing him over to the bed. Dirk sat down with trembling legs. “But you’re also my underboss. My second in command,” the mob boss said, with a hint of pride that made Dirk smile. “You won’t be able to work if you keep getting lost in your thoughts.”
“I’m sorry,” Dirk said, another instinctive apology. But he knew apologies meant nothing without a promise to do better. “I…I won’t use that mirror again. Or any mirror.”
Teddy seemed to accept that. “Unless I tell you to,” he said, because that was always the exception to Dirk’s boundaries. “And that way, I’ll be there to keep you from losing track of time again.”
Or losing himself.
no Google i do NOT mean a scalded dog wtf is wrong with you
