“Boy?” Ray asked. “Where are you?”
Sen came back in from the garage. “Here, Sir. How may I serve you?”
Ray smiled. “Wash your hands. I have a late Christmas present for you.”
Sen perked up. For a boy that had given up a large part of life to serve the man he loved, he sure did love receiving presents. Christmas was one of his favorite days of the year, right up those with days he got released from his chastity cage. Usually, that was also Christmas too. Sen was extremely curious about the present he would receive, since the the last holiday season had been very fruitful.

Sen obediently washed his hands and kneeled at his place in the living room. Ray told him to sit on the sofa. Sen sat, hands neatly folded in his lap. He was wearing his cream service out, leggings and an oatmeal colored henley to ward off the chill.

Ray sat down next to him.
Ray cupped Sen’s cheek and traced the curved of his jaw with the back of his hand. “Do you remember what you told me when I first hired you? Back before we fell in love, before we got married, before we had our collaring ceremony, back when I was a cranky business man who was annoyed his boyfriends kept breaking up with him?”
Sen couldn’t suppress a smile. “May I speak candidly?”
“Yes boy.”
“Yes, I do, Sir. You’re still a bit cranky, but far less so.”
“I was cranky because I couldn’t figure out why I, a handsome bachelor with lots to offer, was still single and frustrated and horny all the time.”
Sen was still smiling. He loved knowing he’d tamed such a narcissistic man. “I remember we had so much sex for the first month that nothing got done in your house and you nearly fired me for something that wasn’t my fault.”
Ray laughed. “I was not a very good Master then was I?”
“Well, no, but I was serving you, was I not?”
“Mmnn you were, but as a siren not a houseboy.”
Sen ran his fingers over the back of Ray’s hand. “I don’t know if I would have stuck around if the relationship was just sex, you know. I’m glad you pushed to have me stick around as your houseboy. You really needed one.”
Ren straightened his back, surprised. “Really? You would have left?”
“As you said, you were a narcissist back then. I would have been another boyfriend that left you.”
Ren was momentarily dumbfounded. “Wow, that never occurred to me.”
“We are a good match,” Sen said. “You really needed a houseboy.”
“Yes. Yes we are, and yes I did.” It was Ray’s turn to smile. “Do you remember what you said though, in the beginning? I asked you what the most important thing was in a relationship. I thought you would say money or a good job or good looks or a big dick or something but you said…”
“Compromise! The ability to compromise.”
“Yes!” Ray patted Sen on the thigh. “Good boy.”
Sen beamed.
“I’m very pleased you remembered that. Compromise. I was astonished you said that. I turned that over my head for weeks after. You said something about how a relationship can’t be defined by one person insisting they’re right every time an argument breaks out. The other person isn’t going to magically agree with them at some magical point in the future.”
Sen nodded. “You had a habit of telling your exes – my way or the highway, and they all picked the highway.”
“Yes,” Ray sighed. “I was an idiot. But that was the beginning of correcting my behavior.” He paused.“You’re probably wondering why we’re talking about this.”
“Yes Sir, I am.”
“Well. There’s one thing you have been asking for, for Christmas or birthdays, for about…three years now.”
Sen furrowed his brow.
“I saw the merit of it, but there was one thing that stopped me from getting it for you. Hair. I just did not want all that hair in my house.”
Sen’s eyebrows went up. He knew what Ray was saying, but hesitanted to get his hopes up that he’d gotten it after wishing for so long.
“Sir did you….?”
“Well, I wasn’t going to – cause you know, hair – and then…well. You’ll see.” Roy smiled, and got up. He went into the other room, and came back cradling a towel. “She fell asleep in the laundry basket.”

When Sen saw her, he gasped and his hands flew to his mouth. “Oh my god. Oh my god Sir! You got me a cat??” he squealed. “Oh my gosh look at her, she’s so precious and tiny and oh my god can I hold her?” Sen flailed.
Ray sat on the sofa and set the towel on Sen’s lap. He picked up the small kitten who mewled at him, but seemed to accept being distruped when she felt Sen’s warm hands around her. Sen cuddled her to his chest. “Oh my god,” he sniffled. “She’s perfect. She’s beautiful. She’s… she’s…”
“Yours,” Ray finished, blinking away tears. “I saw her on a bulletin, she’d been rescued with a bunch of other hoarded cats. Rebecca, the lady at the shelter, said she was not handling stress well and would do best in a quiet home with not a lot of other cats. Some people expressed interest in her for breeding, but since her line couldn’t be confirmed or whatever, they fell through.”
Sen was half listening. He was captivating by the small black thing purring in his hands. He couldn’t remember feeling such strong love. It was a different love than the kind he felt for Ray. It was a protective, soft love.
“She’s mine,” Sen murmured, pushing tears away with the palm of his hand. “Thank you so much, Ray.”
Ray leaned over to kiss his partner, overjoyed by the reaction. “You’re welcome. See? Compromise. She hardly has any hair.”
Sen half laughed, half snorted. “Yes, you did compromise. And I’m very proud of you.”
They kissed again. Sen’s gaze went to his new pet. “I think it makes her cuter. Does she have a name yet?”
Ray rubbed the kitten behind her ears. “They were calling her Blackie at the shelter but I feel like she needs a name with more personality.”
Sen scoffed. “Blackie? That won’t do at all.” He cupped her by the rump and held her up high. “I think I’ll call her Little Empress until her personality shows through.”
Ray beamed. “I love it. She’ll be treated as such in this house. Merry Christmas, boy.”
Sen chuckled. “Merry Christmas Ray.” He paused, then smiled again. “Ahh, I can’t believe it, I have a kitty!”

Ray felt himself feeding off the joy rolling in waves off of his boy, and knew now more than ever before how wonderful it could be to put to make someone else happy.

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Captions are fictional.