Life at Crale Manor (in progress, parts six/seven)

CHAPTER SIX

Aurich

Aurich watched the sauce begin simmering with real joy. Cooking was one of the gold-striped skunk’s true pleasures in life, and as the longest-serving varlet in the Crale household, Aurich had enjoyed expanding his culinary skills over the years. In fact, Aurich had trained with some of the most respected master chefs in the world, and the nightly dinners he prepared for the household would easily be considered worthy of being served in some of the finest Michelin Star-awarded restaurants anywhere.

And Aurich enjoyed serving his master meals fit for a king. For many, being taken as a varlet and becoming someone else’s property would be a nightmare, but for Aurich it had been lifesaving. The skunk had become homeless as a teenager, wandering the streets of Seattle and scraping by the best he could, sleeping under overpasses and in abandoned warehouses. Aurich had done honest work anytime he could get it, but being an unskilled, homeless youth left him with few prospects, and so he often begged or stole meals just to survive.

When the city of Seattle had worked out an under-the-table arrangement with EverTech to quietly begin funneling homeless people into their varlet program, Aurich had been scooped up and shoved into an unmarked van in the dark of the night, drugged into unconscious oblivion when he had tried to fight back against his strange, masked abductors. The then eighteen year-old skunk had awoken strapped down to a table while people in medical gowns and masks were poking and prodding him, writing down measurements and consulting with each other, all the while ignoring his tearful, angry pleas to be released.

It was then that he had first laid eyes on Laguna Crale. The pink-and-white badger had quietly entered the exam room and was silently watching the medical staff work from a darkened corner. Aurich was instantly transfixed by Laguna’s appraising gaze, the skunk calming almost as soon as the well-dressed badger had entered the room. 

Laguna must have liked something he saw in Aurich, because after a time he turned to one of the medical attendants and quietly said, “This one. I want this one. But I don’t want him processed. Just get him cleaned up and have him escorted to my office.” Laguna had given Aurich a final parting look and departed.

Aurich had been quickly stripped, bathed and then had his wrists cuffed behind his back with metal handcuffs, then he was led down an unremarkable hall to an elevator by a pair of burly orderlies. They boarded and rode the elevator up in silence, and when the trio disembarked the orderlies quickly led the confused and scared Aurich into a fancy office just past the elevator. The badger from before was seated at a fancy, ornate cherry-wood desk. The orderlies brought Aurich to stand before him, and Laguna had then dismissed the orderlies.

“What is your name?” the badger asked when the pair were alone.

“A-Aurich, sir,” came the skunk’s timid reply.

“Aurich. That’s a good name. My name is Laguna,” the badger said with a gentle smile.

Laguna had then explained to Aurich what was happening, that Aurich was going to live as Laguna’s servant and would be expected to wait on his every want and need. In return, the skunk would be well cared for, fed, given a warm bed to sleep in, and would be allowed a degree of autonomy not usually afforded to varlets. Aurich had nodded wordlessly; he’d sold his body before while living rough, so he was no stranger to pleasing men. Having a roof over his head and warm food in his belly sounded like a dream come true, regardless of what he’d have to do to earn it. However, terror overpowered him and he didn’t trust the situation he was being thrust into, and it took a long time for him to adjust to and eventually embrace the reality of his new life.

And the reality had turned out to be far better for Aurich than anything he could’ve dreamed of at the time. Laguna Crale was a man of refined tastes, and he’d quickly arranged to have Aurich properly trained as a classical chef de cuisine. The EverTech nanites that had been injected into Aurich exponentially improved his capacity for learning, and in just two years he’d mastered the art of fine cuisine to a degree that most chefs spent a lifetime pursuing.

Aurich took pride in his service to Laguna, and as the other varlets began joining the household one by one, Aurich felt his own standing in the household improve. He was the only one of Laguna’s varlets to wear a chastity cage electroplated in gold, and Aurich took great delight in that fact. He enjoyed being Laguna’s favored pet more than anything, and he truly loved his master in a way that few other varlets ever would or could. Aurich truly believed that Laguna had saved his life, and so he took pains to please the badger in every way he could. Aurich always made it a point to show off his Black Rose brand with pride, for it served as proof that he was Laguna’s. He read literature and philosophy books in his spare time, so that he could better engage with his master intellectually. He wore carefully selected shimmery silk scarves as sashes or tied around his waist, to highlight his assets and be more attractive for Laguna.

This last point was especially important to Aurich, because Laguna’s most recently acquired varlet, Zave, had taken to wearing the same sorts of pretty silk scarves, annoying Aurich intensely. Zave was young and pretty but as far as Aurich could tell, that was all the racoon had going for himself. Looks aside, Aurich saw Zave as a lazy, somewhat vapid piece of eye candy who drew Laguna’s gaze far too often for the skunk’s taste. Though Aurich was careful to keep his opinion of the racoon to himself, this quiet internal rivalry fueled Aurich to go even farther to win his master’s favor. 

Aurich hoped that tonight’s sumptuous meal would win Laguna’s approval and draw his eye away from the garish little raccoon. He gave the Bordelaise sauce a good stir and then checked on the progress of the peppercorn beef tenderloins currently baking in the oven. He put a small amount of truffle oil on to warm and then began washing asparagus spears.

Though tonight’s dinner was going to be spectacular, he had something truly sumptuous planned for Joven and Callahan’s anniversary dinner two nights from now. Hopefully all this extra effort he was putting in would win Laguna’s favor and highlight how much more Aurich loved Laguna than Zave ever could. 

Aurich tasted the simmering Bordelaise, then decided it needed to be reduced a little longer. This sauce had begun as a recipe Aurich had learned while training under the world’s most famous (or infamous) Scottish terrier chef, Gordon Ramsay, though the skunk had since tweaked the ingredients several times to coax yet more flavor from the merlot that served as its base. It was one of Laguna’s particular favorites, and more often than not it won Aurich a trip to Laguna’s bed to serve as the badger’s after-dinner entertainment.

The skunk smiled, well pleased with himself. “And I bet the stupid racoon couldn’t even warm up a can of Chef Boyardee without setting himself on fire,” he muttered under his breath, grinning. “And what a cultural loss that would be for the world,” he smirked. He checked the tenderloin again; another five minutes and it would be ready to transfer to the stovetop for a final sear.

Aurich reached down and gently fondled his gold chastity cage. Aurich wore his cage with immense pride; so much so that he felt exposed and somewhat uncomfortable on the one day a month he was allowed release. Like the rose pink collar he wore, his cage served as a visual and tactile reminder that he belonged to Laguna, and as such Aurich had formed a powerful emotional attachment to it... just as he had to his master.

Aurich tossed the asparagus, appraising its tenderness. In a few minutes he would ring the dinner bell and the household would assemble in the dining room. Though cooking a daily meal of this caliber was taxing without staff to assist him, Aurich took pride in doing all the work himself and ensuring that every component of each meal met his exacting standards.

With a few finishing touches, the meal was ready. Aurich reached over and pressed a small button on the wall near the door to the walk-in refrigerator, and a pleasant binging tone echoed throughout the manor, summoning the mansion’s residents. Aurich began plating the appetizer course, gouda-stuffed mushroom caps in a white wine sauce. For the gold-striped skunk, presentation was just as important as flavor, and so he wiped the edges of the small appetizer plates with a towel before placing them onto a serving platter. Aurich carefully walked the platter through the swinging door and into the dining room, where the various members of the Crale household were beginning to find their seats. Laguna was seated at the head of the table in his place of honor, and he sniffed the air and smiled as Aurich entered.

“That smells excellent,” the badger said, eliciting a pleased smile from Aurich.

“Stuffed mushroom caps in white wine. The main course will be beef tenderloin Bordelaise with sauteed asparagus, and then for dessert we’ll be enjoying raspberry tart with lemon zest crème fraîche.” Aurich smiled at his master and carefully placed his appetizer plate down onto the fine silk tablecloth.

“And, as usual, your cooking will be fit to make the angels weep,” Laguna said as Aurich slowly made his way around the table to serve each of the diners, skipping past Nate and Dakota as he made his rounds.

“Your chicken nuggets and mac and cheese will be right out,” Aurich told the pair, sighing. Just once, he would have liked for everyone in the household to share in his cuisine, but Nate insisted on having a toddler-appropriate meal for Dakota every night, and he frequently shared in the toddler meals himself depending on his mood and on what was on offer for the rest of the household that evening. 

“Don’t forget the apple juice,” Nate called with a grin.

“I never do,” Aurich muttered as he served the remaining seated members of the household. He noticed that Zave’s seat was conspicuously empty.

Laguna raised a brow. “He’s probably playing on the VR and didn’t hear the bell,” the badger said, wryly amused.

Aurich sighed. “Then I shall retrieve him,” he muttered, annoyed. “Please enjoy your appetizers and I’ll be back in a moment.”

Aurich strode off toward the living room. As soon as he departed, Nate giggled and grabbed Zave's plate of stuffed mushroom caps for himself, much to the general amusement of the other seated diners.

Aurich rounded the corner into the living room with a sigh. Sure enough, Zave was wearing a VR headset and was swinging an imaginary sword, ducking and weaving and grunting to himself, lost in his game. Aurich grimaced, then tapped forcefully on the naked racoon’s shoulder, startling Zave into a yelp. Zave removed the VR headset and his expression became sheepish.

“Oh, sorry… i-is it dinner time already?” the young racoon asked bashfully.

Aurich frowned. “Yes, and everyone else is already seated and waiting for me to finish serving them.. which I would be doing right now if I were less charitable and had decided to just let you starve. Go wash your paws and then find your seat. Quickly.” Aurich quickly turned and walked back into the dining room with a dramatic eye-roll, before Zave had time to reply with some excuse or another.

I really, really dislike that vapid little trash panda, Aurich thought as he passed through the dining room and into the kitchen to begin plating the main course. What purpose he serves in this household, I’ll never know. 

That last thought was a lie, and Aurich knew it. Zave’s purpose was to be eye candy for Laguna… a position that Aurich himself had filled for a very long time. Though Aurich was still regularly called on to service Laguna sexually, if he were being honest with himself he would admit that he considered Zave his only real threat and competitor for the master’s attention.

Aurich quickly plated the four adults’ featured dishes as well as two brightly colored plates of mac and cheese with dino nuggets for Nate and Dakota, then he returned to the dining room with his serving tray and skillfully began serving the household. As was his tradition, he himself would eat alone in the kitchen once dinner had been served to everyone else.

Once everyone was served their main course, Aurich quickly went around the table pouring wine for the grownups and sippy cups full of apple juice for Nate and Dakota, then he returned to the kitchen to check on the raspberry tarts. They were ready for the final touches, so he removed the mini tarts from the oven and topped them with finely shaved lemon zest and white chocolate chips, then set them to the side to cool while everyone was enjoying their beef tenderloin Bordelaise and sauteed asparagus.

As Aurich waited in the kitchen, he couldn’t help but think about how happy he was with his life in Crale manor as Laguna’s varlet. He’d gone from living on the street to finding his passion and calling in life, and his admiration for and appreciation to Laguna had slowly turned into true love. His great pleasures in life were exploring the world of fine cuisine and pleasing Laguna, and the life of a varlet suited him better than he ever could’ve imagined.

Aurich smiled and dipped a finger into the leftover sweetened crème fraîche, then licked the sweetness from his fingertip. As long as he kept cooking like this and continued to please his master, Zave couldn’t possibly compete. Zave was certainly pretty, but Aurich knew that he himself was the total package. The master was free to have his dalliances with the pretty boy, of course, but Aurich was certain Laguna knew who really cared for him. It wasn’t even a contest.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Dakota

The sapphire-scaled kobold was careful to remain completely motionless. Nate had told him to “stay still”, and Dakota was programmed to obey orders as literally as possible. The tiny kobold’s eyes began to burn from the lack of blinking, but then the nanobots in his body activated and began moistening his eyes for him.

Dakota was standing in the center of the nursery, completely naked but for his pink collar and tiny metal chastity cage, arms straight out and palms facing the floor, held rigidly in place by Nate’s directive. Nate was scrambling around the nursery, looking for the perfect outfit to dress his pet in, while Dakota was content to wait silently.

“What about this one?” Nate called, holding up a ridiculously frilly pink and white satin dress on a hanger for Dakota to inspect. It went far beyond girly and deep into humiliatingly sissy territory, and for the briefest flicker of a moment Dakota felt a flash of annoyance before his brain clamped down on his feelings.

These momentary flashes of emotion were slowly becoming more frequent as Nate worked to instill a personality in Dakota. From teaching Dakota to play video games to their weekly tabletop role playing sessions with some of the other varlets in the house, Nate had been working to turn Dakota into the ideal playmate. This had the unexpected side effect of giving Dakota a flickering internal flame of individuality and the slightest hint of a sense of self. For the first time since awakening after EverTech’s processing, Dakota was beginning to have thoughts of his own, independent of his directive to serve Nate. The cunning little kobold kept this fact to himself.

“That is a lovely dress, if Master would like me to wear it,” Dakota said charmingly.

“Hmmmm,” Nate pondered. “No, not this one. We’ll save that for another occasion. I’m thinking…” he said as he thumbed through outfit after outfit.

Dakota gazed adoringly at Nate, but again the kobold felt a sudden, unexpected wave of annoyance. Just pick something, he thought, though his face never revealed even a hint of his internal dialog. 

“I’ve got it!” Nate called. The sea otter dashed back and forth across the nursery, collecting the clothing and accessories he wanted to use to dress his plaything. When he was at last satisfied, he ordered Dakota to lay down on the changing table and lift his bottom up. The kobold complied happily, and the nanobots rewarded him for his compliance with a burst of serotonin. 

Nate shoved a pacifier into Dakota’s mouth and then began layering diapers and stuffers under the kobold, thicker and thicker as Dakota patiently held his position. Satisfied with his handiwork, Nate gave Dakota’s crotch a good dusting with sweet-smelling baby powder and then began taping the layers of diapers onto the kobold’s midsection. The result was a behemoth diaper, so thick and crinkly that the tiny kobold couldn’t hope to bring his legs together. 

“Now sit up, silly baby,” Nate ordered. The otter carefully worked a shirt down over the kobold’s head and arms. The extra-short, lap-shoulder shirt barely made it down past Dakota’s pecs, falling well short of his navel. The soft blue shirt featured a cute, smiling teddy bear with a thought bubble that read “Warning: Flood Zone”.

Nate removed Dakota’s pacifier, placing his paws under the small kobold’s armpits and lifting the thickly diapered kobold off the changing table. “There now. Can you stand, silly baby?” Nate asked with a grin.

Dakota attempted to stand up, but the sheer bulk between his legs caused him to wobble and fall. He landed on his bottom with a loud thud. “I cannot stand, Master,” the kobold reported happily.

“Good, then the silly little diaper baby will have to crawl for the rest of the night!” Nate proclaimed. 

“Silly little diaper baby!” Dakota repeated back with a cute giggle.

Nate sat down on the floor next to Dakota and began putting short, pale yellow socks on the kobold’s feet, then added comically oversized velcro shoes. As a final finishing touch, the sea otter added a bright rainbow-colored propeller cap to Dakota’s head and gave the propeller a playful spin. 

Nate left Dakota sitting in the floor and hopped up onto the changing table to change himself. “We have quite a busy day today, you know,” he said as he began changing his own diaper. “We have to go into town and pick up the decorations and supplies we ordered for the party tomorrow, but we can’t have Callahan drive us in because he’ll wonder what we’re up to. So we’re going to have to sneak out of the house and take the driverless car. Like ninjas!”

“Like ninjas!” Dakota repeated happily, clapping his hands together.

Nate quickly dressed himself in a cute pair of khaki shortalls and a multicolored pastel shirt. Still toddlerish, but not the obscenely over-the-top look Dakota was sporting.

Nate tiptoed quietly out of the nursery, Dakota loudly crinkling as he crawled behind the otter. Nate cautiously peered around the corner, grinning as he tried to stealthily sneak over to the stairs. Luckily, nobody seemed to be around, because stealth was rendered entirely impossible by the amount of noise Dakota was making crawling across the carpeted floor.

The pretend-ninjas made it to the top of the stairs. Nate quietly made his way down, putting his weight on the outside of the one creaky step. Dakota wasn’t able to crawl down, so he slid from step to step with a thump-thump-thump, landing on his thickly padded bottom with a loud thud with every step.

“Shhhhhh!” Nate cautioned with a playful sparkle in his eye. At last the pair made it to the ground floor and to the foyer. Nate quietly closed the front door behind them before picking Dakota up and carrying him piggyback to the driverless car. 

Nate pressed his thumb against the door of the spacious black vehicle and the door opened itself automatically. He slid Dakota down off his back and got the small kobold strapped into his car seat already waiting for him in the back seat on the passenger side, struggling a bit to tighten the belts due to the remarkably thick diaper he was having to work around. 

Nate climbed into the back seat on the driver’s side next to his kobold pet. “Okay car, navigate to Party Palace,” the otter commanded. The car pinged a pleasant confirmation and the doors closed as the engine rumbled to life. Nate snapped the straps of his own car seat closed as the car began to back itself out of the driveway.

“Do you think Joven and Callahan will like the decorations we picked out?” Nate asked Dakota.

“Yes, I believe they will. Callahan is very agreeable and tends to be grateful whenever someone does something nice for him, and the colors we chose are very close to Joven’s favorite shade of blue, within the margin of error for being visually identical under normal eyesight,” Dakota answered. His brain rapidly calculated a 94.725% chance that both Joven and Callahan would be extremely pleased with the choices they had made, with only a 0.183% chance that either of them would be truly displeased with the outcome of the decorations.

One of the many advantages the EverTech nanobots provided Dakota was the ability to almost instantly calculate probability, especially useful for determining what actions would have the most likely outcome of pleasing others. And that was, after all, the reason for Dakota’s being.

“Okay car, play children’s music!” Nate called out. The car pinged in agreement and began playing KIDZ BOP Radio. Nate bounced in his carseat to the beat, while Dakota sat quietly and wet his diaper.

After around ten minutes of riding and listening to overly cheerful children covering today’s pop hits, the car arrived at Party Palace and parked itself smoothly. Nate unbuckled himself and then hopped out of the car to grab a nearby shopping cart. He unbuckled Dakota and carefully lifted the kobold into the shopping cart’s toddler seat. Once the pair were clear, the car closed its doors and locked them automatically.

“We’ll stop at the service desk to pick up our order last, but I want to look around first and see if there’s anything else we might want to pick up while we’re here,” Nate said as he began pushing the shopping cart toward the store’s entrance.

A young lioness was exiting the store as they approached. “Oh, look at the cute baby!” she cooed. “What’s his name?” she asked as she reached forward to tickle Dakota’s tummy.

“Hello. My name is Dakota and I am a silly diaper baby,” Dakota replied with a smile, just as he’d been told to do anytime he was addressed in public.

“Oh… my….” the lioness said, blinking. She quickly walked away, shaking her head. Nate was trying his best not to burst into hysterical laughter as Dakota smiled and waved at the retreating, astonished woman.

Nate wiped a tear from his eye, the corner of his mouth twitching with mirth. “I think you startled her,” he said to the kobold. “Now, let’s see… we already have streamers and a big congratulations banner and those cute little heart-shaped place cards for the table. What else can we get while we’re here to really bring everything together?”

Dakota considered for a moment, his brain rapidly processing through options. “A festive tablecloth would be a good addition, although there is a high probability that Aurich will dislike anything we purchase and consider it tacky. Confetti would be messy and would likely upset Joven even if he is reassured that he won’t have to clean it up himself.” Dakota connected to Party Palace’s website through his HUD and began rapidly browsing options aisle by aisle. “In Aisle H-6, there is a set of very cute cake toppers, a pair of teddy bears in top hats. Joven has secretly begun sleeping with a teddy bear, unbeknownst to anyone except Callahan. That might be a cute addition to their anniversary cake, and there is a moderate-to-good chance that Aurich will not object to adding it to the cake he has baked.”

“Then we’ll get one of those!” Nate said as he began steering the shopping cart toward H-6. “What a clever baby you are!”

“Clever baby!” Dakota repeated with a flush of joy.

The pair quickly found the cake toppers and made their way to the checkout. A bored teenage jackal was waiting for them. “Did you find everything you needed?” he asked, the tone in his voice betraying the fact that he didn’t care if they did.

“We did, thank you,” Dakota replied. “We also have an online order waiting at the service desk under the name of Crale, if you would kindly retrieve it for us,” the sapphire kobold said with a congenial smile.

The jackal’s draw dropped. “Your, uh, baby is very well-spoken,” he said to Nate, who was already laughing again.

“He gets top marks in preschool,” Nate replied, chortling. The cashier briefly excused himself to retrieve their online order, returning with two bags of decorations. “That’ll be $10.42 for the topper,” the teen said, eyes wide as he stared at the thickly diapered kobold.

Dakota leaned forward and paid with the RFID tag hanging from his collar. “Thank you very much for assisting us,” Dakota said to the bewildered cashier as the giggling Nate placed the bags in the shopping cart.

“Thank you for shopping at Party Palace,” the cashier replied, in a perfunctory monotone voice. His wide eyes never drifted away from Dakota as the pair exited the store with their haul.

“You’d think he’s never seen a baby kobold before,” Nate laughed. “Do you think we should stop for milkshakes before we go home?”

“If you want a milkshake, Master, we should certainly stop for one,” Dakota replied pleasantly as Nate put their shopping bags in the car’s trunk.

“Okay, but don’t tell anyone, I don’t want Aurich fussing that we’ve ruined our dinner,” Nate said conspiratorially. He got Dakota strapped into his car seat and then returned the cart to the nearby shopping cart corral.

Once Nate was strapped into his own car seat, he ordered the car to drive them to the nearest Shake Shed. The cashier working the drive thru window was more than a little surprised to see a car pull up, sans driver. Nate rolled down his window and ordered a pair of triple chocolate milkshakes. It never failed to amuse him when he took the driverless car to a fast food restaurant; EverTech driverless car technology wasn’t publicly available and so the fast food attendants were always mystified.

The pair of overgrown toddlers drank their milkshakes as the car routed them toward home. When they arrived, Nate stealthily disposed of their paper cups in the curbside trash container, then he and Dakota made their way inside and back to the nursery without being noticed by any of the manor’s residents.

“Well, that was fun!” Nate said as he closed the door to the nursery. “Like ninjas! How’s your diaper, baby?”

“Me make pee pee! Silly baby!” came Dakota’s reply. For the briefest moment, Dakota experienced a wave of annoyance at being forced to reply in such an embarrassing way, but thanks to the flood of serotonin released by his nanobots, the feeling quickly passed when Nate praised him for being a soggy, silly baby. 

“Well, that diaper can hold plenty more, I’m sure. We’ll wait until after dark and then sneak back out to the car to bring the bags in so Callahan and Joven don’t see them, and we’ll get everything set up after everyone else goes to bed,” Nate said. “In the meantime, maybe we can talk Zave into playing a video game with us until dinner.”

Dakota nodded happily, cooing up at Nate.

“Besides,” Nate said, “tomorrow is the party and we don’t want to get too tired out tonight. We’ll just have a quiet, chill evening until it’s time to put up the decorations.”

“There is a 99.633% chance that the party will be a tremendous success, and a 99.721% chance that it will result in Master Laguna’s cock getting sucked,” the sapphire kobold chirped helpfully.

Nate blinked, then grinned. “Noted. Such a clever, silly diaper baby!” he said, tickling the sparkling scales on Dakota’s tummy lightly.

“Clever, silly diaper baby!” Dakota repeated happily.