Visitor! (Darius/Cassiel) - Darius and Crew

"Well, many kindred treat ghouls as if they were slaves. I don't agree with that."

He shook his head.

"No, it's not about treating a ghoul as a slave -- it's about being seen as hanging around with someone beneath your station. An issue of status, so to speak."

"I get that. Others don't. I new a ghoul... she was treated like a dog. There is no reason for it," she shrugged a little.

His brows rose.

"Treated like a dog... as in led around on a leash, made to bark and do party tricks, or treated very poorly?"

"Treated very poorly. I do recall a leash. I know another who lost the tips of his fingers if the laundry wasn't folded the precise way."

He blinked once.

"That seems like a very counter-productive way to get what you want from a ghoul."

She chuckled.

"Good way to get it out of me."

"I think it's cruel..."

He smiled.

"Eh, Bethy makes a good point, though. Unless it's a reward because the ghoul enjoys pain."

She shivered at the thought, but tried hard not to make a big deal out of it.

He tilted his head.

"You disagree?"

"It's just not my thing."

She smiled.

"Not many like Bethy out there."

He laughed softly.

"I think the majority of the world would agree with you. But some... ah, now some need to be hurt."

"Yeah, they do. Or dropped off cliffs."

His other brow rose.

"So, then, if I were to tell you that I routinely turn Elizabeth over my knee for a spanking of her bare bottom, you think I should be dumped off of a cliff? Even though she squirms and moans and writhes in ecstasy?"

He tilted his head.

"I'm a bad man for making her happy?"

She soooo did not need to hear that. "Is she likes it, then so be it. But there are those who don't. That's all I'm saying. There's a line that many kindred tend to cross. But if she likes it, I am not one to complain."

His head stayed tilted.

"Yet, you still think poorly of me for doing it."

She frowned and then bit her lip. She wanted these two to be friends.

"Are you beating her to within an inch of her life? Or do you spank her because she likes it? In one scenario, yes, I would think poorly of you. In the other, not so much. I'm not saying you shouldn't have a ghoul. I'm saying there are others who shouldn't."

He nodded.

"I understand that philosophy. And I am in agreement that many should not have ghouls. However, no, I'm not going to beat her to within an inch of her life. A certain sense of control and responsibility must be displayed when one chooses to reward a ghoul -- or even a human -- in such a manner. Too often, people are unfamiliar with that sort of control or restraint and bungle it, making it abusive rather than a reward or anything constructive. Elizabeth, for example, is a slave to me, but it is in the sense of the word that she wishes. I cook for her, I bathe her, I read her stories and when we are in public, she knows that it is I who will take care of her and keep her safe from the world if it is becoming too much... for example, that party. That is why she hides against my chest -- not because I mistreat her. But because, I fear, I am the first one who has treated her properly in a very, very long time."

"If she's happy, I have no complaints," she said simply. "I'm glad she has you."

He smiled at that, looking her over.

"You've been hurt badly, haven't you?"

She shook her head. "No. I've just known those who have been. I wasn't ever a ghoul."

He shook his head.

"I didn't mean as a ghoul and I didn't necessarily mean physically."