The Collaring of Chloe Ch. 33

Chapter 33 -- A Step Back To Go Forward

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From outside the plane's small window, Chloe watched the patchwork landscape below drifting past her view. From so far up, it appeared almost like an old quilt, composed of a multitude of scraps of different things, held together by thick dark green seams. Towns and cities seemed like worn places in the fabric, roads like runs in the weave. It was a beautiful image, in its way, making the world look less real and more like the creation of some artist.

In some ways, it felt strange to be on an airplane again, her last time being when she'd flown in to meet her new owner and Master for the first time, a few months ago. It seemed both like only yesterday and long in the past, surprising to her that so much time had already gone by since meeting him and his amazing 'pet cat'. In some ways, it felt like she'd already shared so much time with them, which also felt at odds with the truth that she'd really only been with them for a short time.

In many ways it also felt completely wrong to be on this plane now, despite how certain she was that this was the right course of action for her. Even when it had first struck her just what she needed to do, before she could even fully explain why it was right, she had simply known it was the right choice. However, not fully being able to articulate it, at first, had proven a bit of a challenge to a thoroughly shocked Holly.

"Wait! What?!" Holly had said after a moment to absorb the initial profession of her intentions.

"I have to go back...well, it's not 'home' anymore, I guess, but I need to see Master Heron." Chloe tried to explain, still struggling to fully understand her own epiphany. "Ford is his real name, but I knew him as Master Heron. He was my mentor and protector back in my old community."

"Why?" Holly asked, guiding them to a small picnic table beside the convenience store where they'd been heading. "Are you leaving Rachel and James?"

Chloe started to reply with a quick 'no', that she only meant she needed to see Master Heron, not that she was moving back there. However, it struck her that, with Mistress's plans in motion, she might very well be leaving them. The thought renewed her tears and she fought to keep from breaking back into sobs. Swallowing the surge of emotion, she struggled to make a proper reply.

"I..." She started, had to pause, then tried again. "I just need to see Master Heron. To talk to him. I..." Again, she faltered, though not due to welling emotion. She realized she wasn't fully sure why it was that she needed to speak to him. The basic idea was there, that she needed his advice on her current situation, but just what it was that she wanted to ask him hadn't fully managed to form in her mind yet. It was rather maddening to be so sure of what she needed to do, but so confused on what it was that she would actually be doing or why it was so important to do it in the first place.

"Can't you just, you know, call him?" Holly asked. "Or are you not allowed to?"

Chloe blinked a moment, realizing that the thought of calling him hadn't even crossed her mind as an option. "I suppose... If I can't go see him in person, that might do, but..." She took a deep breath, finally getting herself mastered with a resolve that she still didn't fully understand. "It really needs to be in person. I think it is the only way I'll know just what it is that I have to ask him."

Again, Holly looked utterly confused. "Wait, you don't know why you need to talk to him?"

"Yes...and no." Chloe admitted. "I need his council on something that's going on. I'm just not fully sure yet what the exact question I want him to answer is. I just know that, with everything that is going on around me, it's important that I talk with him."

Holly eyed her with an ever-deepening puzzled expression. "Can I ask what is going on? Are you having troubles with Rachel or--"

Chloe waved her hands quickly to dispel even the idea of it. "The opposite. Completely the opposite." She said quickly. "It's...something else."

Holly waited a moment, to see if Chloe would volunteer it on her own. When she didn't, she leaned forward and spoke in a softer voice. "What is it? Or is it something you want to stay private?"

"Would you promise to keep it just between us?" Chloe asked, leaning in herself.

"I promise." Holly said, making a cross over her heart, an almost child-like gesture that made Chloe smile a little.

"I have someone that is planning to purchase me from Master." She explained, feeling a sudden wave of relief flooding through her as she spoke the words. She'd been holding onto this for a few days now and she hadn't realized how much she'd needed someone to confide in about it. "A Mistress who I was staying with the last week and some change. We really connected during our time and she is actually more in tune with what I had originally imagined my role as a slave would be. I like how that makes me feel."

She took a deep breath, eyes drifting down and inward as she continued. "In a lot of ways, just the idea of being sold is exciting to me. The thought of being truly reduced to a complete slave that can be sold or traded around without any say in it is what I've been really wanting, even expecting originally." Absently, she began playing with the 'O'-ring of her collar, gently pulling at it. "I've come to love Master and Mittens though. Love them more than I ever dreamed I would. Part of what makes Master so amazing is how much love I feel from him. However, that's also part of the problem."

She noticed the look on Holly's face and grinned mirthlessly. "That must sound stupid. I'm sure it's not easy to understand. It's sometimes a little strange to me too."

"I think I get what you're saying though." Holly said. "It's not that he's doing something bad, just that he's not what you'd been looking for?"

Chloe paused, realizing how to the point that actually was. "Pretty much, yeah." She agreed. "I wanted, still want, to be a real, honest-to-goodness, slave in the lifestyle. To be reduced to just a 'thing' that is owned. I don't even really know why. Master makes me feel good, makes me feel taken care of, but he doesn't often make me feel like I'm just some possession of his. I want to be made to feel like I have no power or choice." She gave a little chuckle, despite herself. "That must seem so ridiculous."

Holly gave a shake of her head. "Not ridiculous. I can't say I completely understand it personally, but I do get what you're meaning." She took up Chloe's hand and gave it a squeeze. "The heart wants what the heart wants, as they say. Like I said before, I have my own kinky interests, so I get the idea of needing something that seems strange." She leaned in, as though imparting some conspiratorial secret. "I have trouble getting off unless it's part of some kind of role-play thing and I'm all cosplayed out. Like I have to be someone else other than myself just to get in the mood."

Chloe smiled coquettishly. "Sounds fun, actually." For a moment, she imagined Holly all dressed up and playing out some erotic scene. She was honestly a pretty attractive girl; a with a rather spectacular pair of... Chloe quickly cleared her mind, realizing that Mittens was apparently starting to rub off on her.

Blinking out of her momentary lapse, Chloe cleared her throat. "When Master first bought me, it was arranged by Heron, outside of my control. I had no idea who he even was until the first time we met, after he'd already bought me. It was what excited me the most about it all, having been sold to a stranger without any say or input into it." She leaned her face on a hand, reminiscing about that first afternoon, stripping down in the rear yard and bathing in the small pool. "I hadn't expected him to be someone so wonderful. Nor had I expected someone like Mittens, in any capacity. I've become so attached to the both of them that a part of me hates the idea of being forced to leave them."

"But, the very idea of being sold against your will plays right into what you've been wanting, so..." Holly continued for her, obviously grasping the predicament. "In your original fantasy, your owner would be someone you obeyed, but didn't feel emotionally attached to, just owned by."

"Exactly." Chloe said with a sigh. "So I'm now torn between getting to have the fantasy of enslavement that I've been really craving or staying with two people who have come to mean so much to me, but who may not be able to truly make me feel like the slave I started out to become."

"How does this 'Master Heron' play into that?" Holly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's pretty certain that Master, because of who he is, will sit me down to ask me what I want." Chloe sat back up, frowning a little. "Part of what makes him such a good Master is that he does take the time to make sure that anything lifestyle-related we do is something that I am actually open to. He's sometimes very subtle with it, gauging my reaction to suggestions, but he's always careful that he's not pushing me into something that will make me uncomfortable." She gave a wry grin. "Emotionally, at least."

"Sounds like a very good man." Holly replied.

"Yes, he is." Chloe agreed. "Maybe too good. A part of me actually WANTS to be made uncomfortable emotionally. It would make me feel more like I am truly a slave, without say or rights. Mistress did push me, did make me feel more like I was at her complete mercy. She was always cautious with how far she pushed, but I feel certain that, as she got to know my real limits, she'd be able to push me further and further."

"And you don't feel like James can do that?" Holly asked, her tone suggesting she was more trying to help Chloe through her thought process than anything.

"He is...well, like Mistress put it, he' a 'nurturer'." Chloe explained. "He does try to push my boundaries and has his own ways of making me feel owned, but he just isn't the kind of hard person that Mistress can be. Very much in control, very much a Master, but leads with his heart, not his heel." She gave a sigh. "Which is one of the things I love about him. And about Mittens. Which is why I'm so conflicted."

Chloe looked back down the street, in the direction of the comics shop. "When Master asks me what it is that I actually want, I'll have to decide which is more important to me: the fantasy I came here for or the people that my heart has fallen for. As simple as that might sound, it's a choice that I don't know how to make."

Holly gave a nod. "Because, as much as you might love him, feeling like he can't fulfill what you need might cause you to resent him." She supplied, posing it as a statement and not a question.

"That would certainly be a fear." Chloe admitted. "However, choosing Mistress over him might make me feel like I've betrayed him and broken Mittens' heart. The girl I was dating, the one that I had the bad 'break-up' with yesterday, part of why I could never get close to her was that I kept feeling guilty whenever I did anything with her. Like I was cheating, despite that I had Master's full blessing and Mittens' support."

Holly leaned forward suddenly, seeming to finally catch on. "So, you're wanting Master Heron to tell you want to do? Who to choose? Since he was your mentor, you're hoping that he'll know the best answer to give."

Chloe paused a moment, considering that, turning it over in her head a few times, then nodded. "I think so. Or, at least, to help me understand which is more important to me."

As though all that needed to be said had been, the two sat there in silence for a few moments before looking at one another and laughing awkwardly together. With that, they had stood up and continued back to the task of getting something to eat, as well as grabbing a small bottle of milk that Mittens had requested before they'd left. She'd also taken a moment or two to clean herself up in the bathroom, not wanting Mittens to become alarmed at any evidence that she'd been crying.

By the time that they were back to the comics store and the gaming table, Chloe had managed to get her mind under rein enough to finish out the afternoon playing at being a superhero with her new friends. Before she and Mittens had left, though, she gave Holly a very warm hug, quietly thanking her for both lending an ear and saying nothing about it upon their return.

Sitting now on the plane, watching the world spinning past below her, she thought on her better understanding now of why she needed to see Master Heron. With some time to really work it through, she'd managed to sort out her real motives better. It wasn't that she wanted him to tell her what to do, but that she needed his help to try and understand why it was that she wanted so badly to be a slave in the first place. Maybe, if she could understand why it was so important, she would know what to do.

Of course, the hardest part had been finding a way to explain to Master why she suddenly needed to fly halfway across the country, especially when they'd only just reunited. Which was made even harder by not being about to mention Mistress's desire to purchase her, a detail she was even more determined than ever to stick to. This new wrinkle had helped her finally understand that her decision to allow Mistress to be the first to brooch the subject had stemmed, unconsciously, from the fact that she'd needed time to sort out what she wanted herself. If she told him about it, he'd spend the time until Mistress brought her proposal trying to discover what it was Chloe wanted and she didn't yet know the answer to that.

She also sincerely wanted to be able to have that time to spend with them without the weight of the impending offer looming over all of them. However, leaving to go see Heron for a few days was altogether counter to that idea. Regardless, she was certain that this was something she needed to do. Master Heron was someone she trusted to help her work through most anything. Still, needing to be apart from them again, with possibly so little time left to be together, was almost more distressing than her own conflict over what to do about the offer.

Smiling, she looked away from the beautiful view out the plane window to look at the pair of them in the seats next to her. Master fully absorbed in reading a mystery novel, oblivious to the tiny river of drool that Mittens was leaving on his shoulder where she was sleeping. As much complication as it might bring to her being able to sit and talk with Heron privately, having them with her for this trip only made it easier for her to make.

Reaching over, she gently put a hand on Master's arm, caressing it adoringly. He paused in his reading to look over to her and return the smile, his eyes saying so many wonderful things. Leaning over, she put her head on his other shoulder, taking comfort from the contact. As she nuzzled against him, her mind wandered back to her return home that evening after the game, when she'd finally plucked up the courage to try and explain her sudden need to go see Master Heron.

She'd bade Master to sit down in the living room and knelt down before him, Mittens choosing to sit in the floor with her. It had taken her a moment to finally say it, essentially just blurting out that she wanted to go see her former mentor. As worried as she'd been about how to ask him, his first words on the subject had caught her completely off guard.

"I've already got your ticket, actually." He said wryly.

"What?" Chloe blurted in utter surprise. How could he have known already? She'd only realized it herself only a few hours ago. "How?!"

Master gave an amused chuckle. "The ticket I bought for you to come to me was actually an open-ended one, just in case things hadn't worked out well. You spoke so dearly about them and expressed a desire to see them at some point, so I never cancelled the ticket once it began to look like things were going well. I figured it would be easier to just purchase a one-way ticket for your return whenever you felt a yearning to see them."

Chloe gave a sigh of amusement. "My brilliant Master."

"So now I'll just need tickets for myself and Mittens." He added without missing a beat.

Chloe goggled at him. "Huh? But...but you and Mittens just..."

He gave a playful shrug. "Well, we're still not fully unpacked, so that just makes it easier."

Mittens gave a little giggle, leaping over to wrap Chloe into a hug from behind. "Yay! More road trips!" She gave her a kiss on the ear. "Nows we cans induct ya inta tha club!"

"The club?" Chloe asked, still feeling a little off-footed from how this was going.

"Oh, you know. The 'Mile-High Club'?" Master answered with an amused wink. "She even talked about getting an official membership card made when we arrived in Montreal." He gave a laugh.

Chloe couldn't help but laugh too, though her laughter was as much due to just how easily the whole thing had gone. Neither of them had so much as even questioned her sudden need to see Heron, just seen it as a new adventure. This time, one that they got to share with her. Somehow, it seemed almost too easy though. She thought about that first day and Master already having his 'pending' collar ready and waiting for her. He'd often been a couple steps ahead of things, able to surprise her, but this seemed almost too convenient.

Though she felt a little suspicious, her trust in him was too strong for it to matter. In a lot of ways, it even made her feel all the more comforted, as though it were simply proof that Master was always ready to catch her. Which also made her need to speak to Heron all that much stronger.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Mittens giving a brief, snort-like, snore. A moment later, both her and Master began a soft tremor of laughter, both trying not to wake Mittens, but too tickled by the moment not to react. After a moment, Master leaned his over onto Chloe's and whispered.

"So much for inducting you in the club." He gave her a little kiss on the top of the head.

"And I wanted one of those membership cards too, Master." She replied with a playful pout.

Mittens' paw came up suddenly, producing a card like a magic trick, though the rest of her remained exactly in the same position. "I wents ta Kinkos before we left." She muttered sleepily. When Chloe started to reach for it, she drew it back from her attempt and added. "First ya has ta earns it."

Master laughed at the exchange before glancing over at the cat-girl. "Then where's mine? I think I certainly earned it, considering the trouble I got in on the flight to Montreal."

Chloe blinked and looked up at him. "Trouble?"

"I's gots excited." Mittens said in faux bashfulness, opening one eye to look impish at her.

"She means she got loud." Master amended. "VERY loud." His own smile was just as impish, though he pretended to glare disapproving at Mittens.

"I yowled." Mittens admitted, any attempts at making it sound sheepish failing outright.

The image in Chloe's head of a flight attendant pounding on the plane's bathroom door to the sounds of Master and Mittens' activities was too much for Chloe not to burst into gales of laughter, into which the other two quickly joined. After a moment, when he noticed some of the other passengers staring at them, Master made an effort to quiet them all down.

Once they'd recovered though, Chloe chewed her lip and gave them a sultry look. "So, will all three of us fit in the restroom? I don't want to miss out on my card."

"About as easily as three people in a toilet stall, I'd think." Mittens said with a grin that made her nose wrinkle playfully, but quickly waved a paw to dispel the initial suggestion. "However, it should be jus' tha two o' ya. I want Master to have a little one-on-one time with his slave. I hads plenty o' solo attention lately." She paused a beat before adding. "And two makes it less likely of getting caught than three."