Claude remained silent the whole walk to the inn where Ashton was staying. The shock of finally getting away from Shin had worn off, so now he was at a lost of what to do. He wasn't a cold-blooded killer, so that was never an option. Besides the guy hadn't done anything to him yet, other than buy him, that is. Plus, Claude felt like he owed the guy SOMETHING for getting him out of that. A night with that Yarou guy might have killed him from what he had heard from other slaves. Claude didn't know if he should press his luck and try to talk to his new owner or not. So, for the most part, Claude was left to his own thoughts and kept silent. Ashton, however, was trying to figure out why Claude was worth so much. He had heard that there was a market for blonde males, but that couldn't have been the only reason. He was attractive, most sex slaves were, but there wasn't anything visible that set him apart from anyone else. Ashton glanced at Claude out of the corner of his eyes. He was surprised to see Claude ideally staring at the clouds, not really paying any special attention to the collar, leash, or Ashton. If it wasn't for the collar and leash, Ashton would have thought Claude was going for a walk! The casual nature only heightened Ashton's curiosity. He decided to try and talk to his new slave. He cleared his throat. Claude immediately snapped his head towards Ashton. Guarded blue eyes met stern green eyes. They both stopped walking.

"We'll be at the inn soon," Ashton stated. "Once we get to my room, I can decide what I want to do with you. I wasn't looking for a slave, so I honestly don"t know what to do with you."

That was a shock to Claude, but it did raise his opinion of Ashton. "What would you like me to call you?" Claude inquired civilly. Ashton shrugged.

"Call me what everyone else calls me; Ashton," he replied. Claude gave him a half smile and Ashton felt something in his stomach jump.

Okay, now he could understand why Yarou had paid so much. It may have been fake, but it added something to Claude that made you want to screw him silly. Ashton squashed his hormones and looked at Claude inquiringly. The blond was giving him the most scrutinizing looks.

"What?"

"You've never bought a slave like me before, have you?" Claude guessed. Ashton rolled his eyes.

"With my parents, the need's never come up. They do all the buying for me. Not that I want them to buy one for me. They just do."

"Then I suggest we get outta here before people start wondering why you're treating an sex slave like a normal person," Claude advised. "It's a little weird. Most people don't consider us any higher than a toy."

"Oh! Right," Ashton agreed. "Come on. I'm staying at Xine's nest."

"Make yourself comfortable," Ashton instructed. "I'm going to see if I can find something to remove that collar." Claude nodded and looked around the room to try and learn something about his new owner. Though Ashton had bought him, Claude had a hard time believing it. The brunette treated him more like an equal and without pity for what his position was in life. Almost no one had treated him like that for a long time. Not since he'd been captured, actually. Cause of this little reason; Claude wanted to get to know Ashton better.

Not much. Guess he wasn't planning on staying long. Claude observed. The room was large for a single person, especially since Ashton hadn't decided to fill up the room with his belongings. A single bed, a chair, nightstand, a dresser, and a washbowl with pitcher were the only things out. Ashton's things were stowed away in a trunk resting at the foot of the bed. At this moment, however, the contents of the trunk were scattered all over the room as Ashton searched for something to free Claude.

Claude sighed when he couldn't find anything that would suggest that Ashton was, well, like Yarou. He walked past Ashton and sat down on the bed. He unconsciously tugged at the collar, as he looked Ashton over.

I guess he's okay. Claude admitted. The clothes make him look moody though. I wonder, Claude�'s train of thought was interrupted when Ashton's head popped up from inside the trunk. He was grinning from ear to ear and his hair was slightly messed up. His face was flushed and Claude wondered what type of women Ashton preferred, mentally cursing them and not completely understanding why.

"Did you find something?" Claude inquired. Ashton nodded and quickly took a seat next to Claude. In his hands was a small dagger. Claude looked at it questioningly.

"I'll pick the lock with this, then we can talk without looking too weird," Ashton stated happily.

"Man," Claude voiced. "You really weren't planning on getting a sex slave were you?"

"No. I came here to do some errands for my family," Ashton explained. Claude tilted his head up to let Ashton have better access to the lock.

"Then why did you do it?" Claude inquired further.

"Yarou may be a business partner of my family's, but I can't stand him. Denying him something and generally making him look stupid gives me great joy," Ashton replied. Claude smiled.

"Well Ashton. I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Huh?"

"I probably owe you my life for one. Another thing is that I like your reasons. Sounds like something I'd done not too long ago."

"You weren't always a slave?" Ashton asked innocently. He was almost done now. Those lessons from Precis were really paying off.

"'Most people I know didn't start out as slaves," Claude informed him. "Things happen and that's where they end up. No one chooses to be a complete slave; especially not a sex slave."

"Then how did you end up as one?" Ashton heard a small click and the collar came off. It fell into Claude's lap. Claude rubbed his neck with a grateful sigh, but didn't answer Ashton's question. Ashton waited for him to respond. Claude caught Ashton staring at him and he turned to meet his gaze.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to answer my last question?" Claude lowered his gaze and spoke in a deadpan tone.

"Most people never tell anyone how they ended up as slaves. That's a rule I follow as well."

"Oh." Ashton kicked himself for bringing up such a touchy subject.

�"Forget it Ashton," Claude instructed, waving his hand absently around in the air. "You didn't know. Now! What are you going to do?" Ashton was glad for the change in conversation, but confused at its turn.

"Excuse me?"

"Ashton. You have in your possession a brand new servant. What are you going to do with him?" Claude joked. He picked up the collar, snapped it shut, and started tossing it into the air, like a toy, all in one motion.

"Um, Couldn't I just let you go?" Ashton suggested meekly. Claude chuckled which made Ashton a little mad and embarrassed. "What's so funny?"

"Do you even remember how much you paid?" Claude inquired, his attention completely on the collar. The heir shrugged.

"It's not that big a deal," Ashton assured. "Think of it as me helping a friend out."

"A friend huh?" Ashton nodded. The blond kept tossing the collar up and down for a while, deep in thought. Finally, Claude stopped messing with the collar ad looked Ashton straight in the eye. He actually seemed cheerful and friendly. Whatever he had been thinking about must have ended with a positive result. The brunette wondered again how someone like Claude ended up as a slave. "Then I'm going to treat you like a friend and repay you," Claude declared.

"WHAT?! Oh no! You don't have to! It was just..." Claude silenced him by covering his mouth with his hand.

"It's settled buddy. I'm going to stay with you until my debt is paid off and there's nothing you can do about it," Claude finalized. Claude removed his hand to let Ashton speak. Ashton struggled for an argument, but the look on Claude's face told him there wasn't going to be any arguments. Giving in, the brunette said the first thing that came to mind.

"This is one weird friendship we've started."

"Yeah," Claude agreed. "But considering how we met and the alterative, it isn't so bad. Hell, we already act more like friends instead of owner and slave, might as well make it official."

"My parents are going to hate me," Ashton said with a grin. "For being friends with someone like you." The unspoken 'but' hung in the air and Claude had to promote Ashton forward.

"But..."

"But the hell with them. It's a weird friendship, but a friendship nonetheless.