Chapter 2

Cupcake sat on the bed trying to work the tangles out of his hair, thinking about the boy in the picture. His master's words rang true in his mind- it was possible that he was being a little too judgemental. It was entirely possible that he had everything- the caring master, the big house, the expensive clothes, the numerous toys- only because he had been lucky enough to have been given the chance to earn them. There may not be anything special about him. He was once just like all the other pets in those pictures- just a boy in a breeding center hoping that someone would choose him.

His master had been so young when they met that he had not expected to live long. No one really kept their first pet very long; first pets were experiments. Everyone had told him that his new master, who had just come of age himself, would go "too far too soon" and accidentally snuff him out, or hurt him so badly that he would need to be put down. Cupcake had had no reason not to believe them. He had never expected to live out his full legal lifespan. It consistently shocked him for about a year- but after that, he began to believe that there was something special about his master in particular. Something that made him different from the others.

But his master did have friends, and his friends did have pets, and Cupcake learned from talking with them that every pet thinks his master is special. So he tried not to think about it at all.

He tried not to think about a lot of things- and tried very hard to consistently think of others. Right now, he was thinking good thoughts- humbling thoughts- thoughts that he realized he had let slip away when they had received notification that his next birthday would be the twentieth since they left the breeding center. The notification was a cheerful bright pink, and reminded his master that if Cupcake was still alive, he needed to bring him in to be put down.

Not many pets made it long enough to get the notification, and Cupcake was /thrilled/. Only the best pets ever made it that far, and it meant that his master had loved him long enough to keep him far past the point where more pets were disposed of. It meant that he had stayed interesting and pretty for far longer than anyone had expected, that he had achieved something worth being proud of, the highest honor a pet could get. So he /was/ proud. He was proud of himself for being so good, and proud of his master for training him.

That pride may have... gone a little unchecked recently. A good pet wasn't supposed to put himself above others, and Cupcake knew that, but it was so easy to do with such a big honor coming up.

His master had gotten... weird since the notification. Cupcake wanted to have a party, and his master was absolutely willing to allow it, but he hadn't been nearly as excited as Cupcake, which worried him. He had fretted over it for days, especially while his master was gone, fearful that he had done something, some big thing, so close to the end, to make him angry, to displease him, to ruin everything he had worked for.

One day his master had come home and showed Cupcake the website from the breeding center. Cupcake, like most pets, didn't really use the internet beyond certain sites made for pets, and wasn't immediatly sure what he was looking at. It wasn't until his master explained it that it all slotted into place, all made sense.

"I'm going to miss you," he had said- and Cupcake realized for the first time that his absence may hurt someone, so he was happy when his master continued, "I'm going to try to find a replacement," but his joy was tapered when his master continued further still, "But... I'm not sure I can. I don't..." He had sighed and began again, "I need help. You pick it out for me."

A good pet would not be more worried about his going-away party and preservation than his master's happiness, but Cupcake had just been bad at picking out new pets. It wasn't anything he had done before, and it was a big decision. Part of him thought it shouldn't have been left up to him- but he had known his master long enough to know that he would never give him a task that he thought Cupcake couldn't accomplish.

He stood and wrapped his hair into a bun. It was still a little wet, and it would create waves tomorrow when they went out. He wasn't sure where his master was taking him, but they were doing all kinds of things with his last birthday looming over them. His master had told him that he would take the last month before off of work, and they would travel. Cupcake wasn't particularly interested in traveling, but it seemed to make his master happy, so he thought he would enjoy it.

Some pets took their corsets off when they slept- the pets that Cupcake would consider 'weak'. He had never been allowed to, and never would have asked to see if his master would let him. He had loved the feeling from the first garment he put on, his training corset all those years ago. It had forced him to stand perfectly straight, aligned his spine, and held everything inside him so tightly it felt like a permanent hug. It felt like having a set of rock-hard abs that you didn't need to work for, that you could simply install from an outside source and then forget about.

Over the years he had used tightwaisting trainer to get smaller and smaller- to the point that his master said he was getting an 'addiction' and it 'wasn't healthy'- but he always gave in, and he loved the silhouette, loved the way Cupcake's body felt, and had eventually agreed that it was too beautiful to protest.

The other masters liked it too.

Cupcake had, originally, been allowed out without his master. They were both young, and like many pets, he was supposed to do certain things, like keeping the house. They had lived in a city at the time, where his master had attended university, and Cupcake had been allowed to do the weekly shopping by himself. This continued right through graduate school, when his master found out what he had been doing.

Cupcake always wore his collar, and had his ID chip implanted like any good pet. The chip's location was a secret, but he was pretty sure it was in his back, if he ever needed to look for it- though he didn't tell anyone that. But those markings of ownership did not keep him from getting into trouble.

The law stated that you were not supposed to cause permanent damage to another person's pet- and what you could do was limited by how the person chose to dress their pet. Cupcake was not technically 'supposed' to fuck anyone, or be touched by anyone, except his master- but he gradually wore him down.

Cupcake quickly noticed that those laws were more suggestions. They never seemed to have any follow-through. He had been groped in public more than once in full pants- had been smacked on the ass so hard it knocked him forward into another master who had commented that he could feel the leather straps around his cock through the material-

So he begged his master to let him wear skirts. That particular garment seemed to be exclusively worn by pets, and was coinvent for masters, because it made it much easier to use their pets at any time, and could be worn with things like the weights that attached to the ball stretchers, and the pets would still be considered 'clothed'. At first, his master refused, but one day he came home from class with a gift.

He had given in- but warned Cupcake that he was always to wear something under it- tights, shorts, underwear, but /something/.

That didn't last long either. He had been tightwaisting the entire time, and in his skirt and boots, he liked to think that he looked irresistable. He may have been vain, or he may have been right, but it was taking him longer and longer to get his shopping done, as he drew more and more attention. He wasn't free use- and he had told a few of them that, that he had a chip and a collar, but he was having so much fun that it didn't really seem important. His master had never explicitly told him that he wasn't allowed to have other people touch him, prod him, fuck him-

Hurt him.

It just didn't seem like a big deal. He had met a group of them, in the park by the university, on his way home. They had been so nice. They had made sure all his groceries were safe before they had bent him over the table to gang-bang him, and guarded them well enough that nothing had been stolen. He remembered enjoying himself with one leg planted in the grass and the other held above his head by one of them as he mercilessly pounded into him. He remembered another in front of him on the other side of the table with a cock down his throat. He remembered that he was actually learning how to breath better, that he was proud of himself and couldn't wait to show his master- but then he remembered being wrong.

He had passed out, and woken up to a fight. His master and some of his friends were attacking the men Cupcake had been playing with, and another pet was sitting on the table with him, complaining in a jealous huff. Cupcake knew him; he belonged to one of his master's friends, and they had been in the same breeding center. The other pet was angry that Cupcake was getting so much attention, that the fight had been over him, and that he had such pretty bruises in the shape of fingers around his neck. They would last for days, as a symbol that someone had cared enough about him to leave them. The other pet felt it was a bit... braggy.

His master had picked him up when they heard sirens, and carried him back to their dorm while Cupcake tried to remember how to breath. After that, he had his first real punishment, and had never been out alone since. He was no longer allowed to fuck anyone without explicit instruction, and though he never understood why, he knew that he had upset his master, and would follow any rule to avoid ever doing it again.

But now he was leaving again, going somewhere else where his master couldn't- or shouldn't- follow. And it wasn't his fault. He knew that he had to; there was nothing either of them could do to avoid it. But sometimes, when he was alone like this, it made him feel... like he was bad. Like he had disobeyed. He didn't understand, but he hoped his master would feel better after he got a new pet. He didn't know whether the new pet was coming before or after he would be dead, and didn't really know how to feel about either option.

Part of him wanted him to come before, so he could help with his training- but another part of him, the more selfish part, was so proud of himself for making it to his expiration date, and really wanted his last time to be all about him. He wondered if it was ok to be selfish, at the end- if maybe he had earned it. He hadn't made many mistakes, hadn't needed to be punished often.

He had always tried to be a good pet.