Year 100 of Lee Kingdom. Lavender Farms. Palace Grounds Shadows Academy.

"You're awake." The first thing Taehyung sees is Hoseok's smile and he leans into the gentle pets on his head. It takes a few minutes for his brain to piece it together that they came to the Palace Academy this morning and he out during the claiming ritual. Sure enough, when Hoseok helps him to sit up, Taehyung registers a new strange sensation along his spine, almost like an electric current running through. It is not painful but it is not entirely comfortable either. Just that he is aware of the feeling, much like he is way more aware of the male holding him than before he went to sleep.

"Some general ground rules," the third male in the room speaks to him, and Taehyung focuses his gaze on the headmaster, Namjoon, who performed the claiming ritual for them. "We've undone the binding ritual done in the village, your body is now under the claim of Master Hoseok, bound to the fourth degree. What it means is, the sensation you may be feeling in your spine, neck, wrists, waist and ankles, they are all binding curses. They will become active and burn using your flesh and blood as fuel if you are more than a hundred feet away from your master. Now, I've been informed that you've experienced the burning already on your way to the palace," Namjoon regards the slave boy cooly for a few moments, somehow making Taehyung feel guilty despite only meeting the head a few hours ago. This is not the man to be crossed. "Keep in mind that fourth degree binding is much more powerful than the village binding ritual. You may not be so lucky the second time. Now, since you will be enrolled in the academy, the binding does not take effect within the Lavender Farms. If you attempt to leave the Farms without your master, we will not be responsible for you nor search for your corpse, is that understood?"

Taehyung nods, only noticing now that Hoseok has his hand in one and the other has been rubbing his back in small circles this whole time. Taehyung slips his hand out of the master's and moves an inch away, attempting to make the movement seem nonchalant. He almost regrets it immediately when the currents running through his body seem to return full force and the slave boy lets out a soft gasp. It doesn't go unnoticed by the other two males and Hoseok is by his side again, not taking his hand back but he's close enough that their arms touch. As much as Taehyung does not want to admit it, the master's presence is comforting and it seems to ease the pain a little. The boy doesn't move away this time.

"You might be disoriented for a few hours," Namjoon explains, "your master has graciously allowed you to accompany him until the effects wear off. Otherwise, it would have been worse and more painful for you. Depending on your behaviour and your master's training preferences, he may release you to third degree bind or lower. But you don't need to worry about that now. You've had prior shadow training in your village, but we will start you as claimed first rank in the academy, so that you will behave befitting of your master's status," Namjoon finishes, watching the pair. Taehyung's clouded brain doesn't register a lot of what Namjoon said but he concludes that he will not burn and die as long as he sticks to the academy grounds or stays leashed to Hoseok. The boy hangs his head in shame.

"He needs extra speech, obedience lessons and he is also afraid of water. I want that erased," Hoseok tells the head Shadow before turning to Taehyung and touching his cheek gently and smiling fondly, "as cute as I think it is." Taehyung glares at the older, turning his head away.

"Of course, sir," Namjoon answers, his eyes on the ten-year-old shadow. Taehyung and Hoseok will be an interesting pair to be enrolled, to say the least.

"Tae," Hoseok smiles and ruffles the boy's hair as they are having dinner that night, "are you feeling better?" Taehyung has been getting dirty looks from the other shadows in the household since they sat down, it seems masters of the house do not usually invite their shadows to have sit-down meals with them, let alone allow them the same food. "Try this, it is bacon," Hoseok says gently, his chopsticks' tip at Taehyung's lips. Taehyung doesn't open his mouth but he must admit, a few mouthfuls he has had so far taste so delicious. Everything in the plate is new to him. Back in the dunes, they eat the same type of grain every day.

Hoseok sighs at the resistance. "I don't want to be repeating all my orders, Taehyung, and I don't want to force you with the bond for these small things. I asked you to eat with me because I want company. Now, you're either eating what I feed you or you're not eating at all, which is it?" the master asks coldly, still holding out a piece of bacon near the slave's lips. Taehyung turns his head away after he gives a pointed look at the master, even though his stomach and tongue say otherwise. The bacon smells really good. He wants a bite. But he also does not want to eat from Hoseok like some kind of animal. It is bad enough to be invisibly leashed to the male as it is.

"Very well, go and stand there," Hoseok orders pointing at the row of five household shadows standing at attention by their dining table. He looks exasperated as he beckons forward a young shadow, around Taehyung's age, to take the boy's place. "Eat," Hoseok pushes the plate towards the new boy once he sits, giving an annoyed look at his own shadow. 

"Thank you master," the boy answers with a small bow as he starts on the food, seemingly scared that he might make a mistake dining with the lord's son himself. "Here," Hoseok hand-feeds a piece of meat to the younger which the boy laps up immediately expressing his gratitude. Taehyung would be lying if he declares there's only a tiny bit of him that cared. He has this red, hot urge to push the boy away for no reason and Taehyung averts his eyes to the ground. He'd rather not be seeing Hoseok praising and petting the shadow. It almost does not even have anything to do with the fact that Hoseok has been doing nothing but focusing on him for the past week since they first met. The possessive feeling is more primal, like every fiber in his being makes him want to claim Hoseok, let the other shadow know who he belongs to.

Get a grip, Taehyung. It's the stupid bond. Taehyung closes his eyes, trying to focus his mind on anything but the scene before him. He thinks about the dunes, his friends, the way sand storms start and how they will have to run and take shelter. It is always so harsh and hot in the deserts but it is all he has ever known and Taehyung misses it dearly. He started working in the coal mines since he was around seven and although life was hard, he didn't have to be dependent on a murd-

"Tae-" Hoseok is watching him when he opens his eyes and Taehyung immediately looks away, guilty. If Hoseok notices it, he doesn't say anything. "The house shadows will wash you and you will join me for bed." Taehyung wants to protest that he can wash himself but he stays quiet, at least the other shadow has been dismissed for now. 

The bath is long and miserable tonight, he is still hungry and he actually feels pain all over his body from the bond. For a breathless moment, Taehyung panics in the tub, holding onto the lady washing him as he forgets to breathe. This is all maybe a cruel trick played by Hoseok. Bonding with him and letting him die for sport. Wouldn't it just be funny if he orders him to take a bath and the master wanders off far enough that he will burn from the curse and die? It takes a few seconds for Taehyung to calm down, to actually register that even though he is feeling the constant burning sensation within his body, there is no actual physical burn.

And when Taehyung is finally dressed and ushered to the master's room, Hoseok is peacefully sitting in bed, a book in hand.

"Come here," the master pats the spot beside him and Taehyung reluctantly sits beside him after a long pause, his feet still on the floor. "Read with me for a bit, Tae," the master says calmly, as if their earlier little episode did not happen. Taehyung confusedly gets his feet under the covers, still expecting a punishment for his insolence but all Hoseok does is telling him to help himself with the cookies and a glass of milk from the bedside table.

The slave boy bites into the cookie slowly, grateful that Hoseok is not making him go to bed hungry, his eyes following the words on the master's book. He doesn't understand a lot of the words but it doesn't seem to matter. The atmosphere feels relaxed and comforting, as if Hoseok genuinely just wants him to sit beside him while he reads. Besides, Taehyung feels calm and gets reprieved from his pain when he is this near to the master. Almost as if this, beside Hoseok, of all the places in the vast universe, is exactly where he belongs.

The boy scolds himself for being disappointed when he is ordered into his floor pan when bedtime comes. He tells himself that it is only because it is the first day. Tomorrow, his academy training starts and he won't even have to spend time with Hoseok. There is an eternity for him to hate his master.

How long do you want these childhood plots to continue? Are you guys enjoying these initial introductions and interactions?