Caged Among the Stars, Ch. 11 (Patreon)

Sorry for the late post everyone, but had a busy day with The Crown and the Collar's release! The book is out right now and ready for you to read! Onto the story!

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“Nice job today, Zekram.”

“Not too bad yourself, Urmatin.”

As the holofield around us returns to normal, Kaylin and I compliment each other at the end of a successful field training session. His squad beat mine to the target, but it was close right up until the end. It’s been a pretty good day. A pretty good week, actually.

“Tuck and I were gonna hit the rec room for a few rounds of Geonomic Extraction. Wanna come with?” I ask Kaylin as I aim myself toward the showers.

“Actually, I think I'm gonna hit the gym for a bit,” he informs me, ready to head in the opposite direction. “If that’s okay with you, sir?”

“More than okay, boy.” I smile at his public use of sir - something he's only recently gotten comfortable with. Not that he has to ask me permission to go to the gym.

“Maybe you could swing by my room later, and we can get dinner?” he asks me next.

“Sounds like a plan.” I smile. “I’ll see you later boy.”

“See you later, sir.” He hesitates, then leans forward to give me a quick kiss on the lips before turning on his heel and heading for the gym. Public displays of affection are also new for him.

After Kaylin’s day before the tribunal, things around the academy slowly started to return to normal. Or at least as normal as they can be. Kaylin and I are both still receiving the occasional funny look from people, but a few people have actually come up to congratulate Kahimylin. Some of the other submissive students have even thanked him for what he did. The officer’s program is going to get some long overdue submissive recruits next year.

Our classes have mostly gotten back to normal as well. The professors are actually paying Kaylin attention again, for the most part. It seems like there might still be a few people determined to knock Kaylin down a peg, like when Cmdr. Geeta still put Kaylin in my group on our field test at the start of the week. Thankfully, after we helpfully reminded her that the Academy’s got a lot of eyes on it right now, he was back in charge of his own squad today.

See, someone (*cough* Len *cough*) leaked to some of the local Cabrian media exactly what’s been going on between Kaylin and the Academy for the past few weeks, and the story spread like wildfire from there to the rest of the Galactic Union. Turns out most people in the GUreally don’t like hearing about discrimination, especially not when it’s happening in one of the GU’s own academies. As a result, some “observers” are being sent to monitor the Cabrian branch’s policies and ensure Cabrian submissives are being treated fairly.

Sure, they’re mostly just doing it because they want to avoid any more bad PR, but it works in our favor, so we’ll take it. A few reporters have contacted Kaylin directly, hoping for an interview, but he’s turned them all down. He’s happy things are improving, but he doesn’t exactly want to be the face of the issue.

As for our relationship, if that kiss earlier wasn’t enough of an indication, that’s still going pretty great too. Other than our relationship being public knowledge now, not much has changed between the two of us.  I’ve gotten a few unwanted comments from other cabrian doms, congratulating me for “putting such a rowdy sub in his place,” but I’ve been quick to shut assholes like that down. Kaylin’s a stronger person than all of them.

“I’m telling you man, the buttons on that controller stick sometimes,” Tuck makes excuses as we head for the dorms a few hours later.

“That was your excuse last time, too,” I remind him of the last time he lost to me.

“Because I was using the same controller!” he insists.

“Uh huh. Well maybe grab a different one next time,” I roll my eyes as we approach Kaylin’s door.

“Get the fuck off me!” a voice cries from behind the door. Kaylin?

I don’t bother knocking and open the door with my OCID, already keyed to grant me entry.

“Hold him still.” I see the back of someone - Cadet Malprin - and over his shoulder is Kaylin, struggling as Cadets Gommi and Dun’vat, Malprin’s flunkies, hold him in place by the arms. They push him to his knees as Malprin reaches for his zipper. “Think that you're better than us? That you belong here? Time to show a bitch like you his proper place.”

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I shout as I explode into the room. Relief washes over Kaylin’s face as Gommi and Dun’vat quickly release him.

“Who-AHH!” Malprin isn’t even finished turning around when I throw myself at him.

“You piece of shit!” I pull my arm and swing, before everything I see goes red.

“Unbelievable.” Admiral Milock shakes his head at us from across his desk. “Not even a week later and you’re already causing trouble.”

“Excuse me?” I get offended on all three of our behalfs. “We didn’t cause any trouble. Malprin and his goons did.”

“And I’m sure that once Cadet Malprin regains consciousness, he will disagree,” Milock fires back, unimpressed

Kaylin, Tuck and I are sitting in Admiral Milock’s office not an hour after I walked in on the scene in Kaylin’s room. After getting in a few good licks on Malprin, his buddies jumped in to try and help him - but then so did Tuck and Kaylin. Students called for security once the fight spilled out into the hallway.

It was an ugly scene. They had to pull me off Malprin, his face bloody and swollen. He was out cold. He’s in the medical wing right now with a broken jaw, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good giving it to him.

“I don't even understand why we're here,” Tuck complains next. “Why aren’t you talking to Gommi and Dun’vat?”

“Because the three of you started the fight in the dorms!” Milock exclaims from across the desk.

“Bullshit, we didn’t start anything!” I’m ready to start yelling. “Those two were literally forcing Kaylin to his knees while Malprin unzipped his pants!”

“And you’re sure this wasn’t consensual?” Milock sneers.

“It wasn’t.” Kaylin finally speaks, quietly shaking in his seat. “Those three followed me back to my room from the gym without me noticing. They forced their way inside as soon as I opened the door. If Vaiken and Tuck hadn’t come when they did...”

“You do understand that it's your words against theirs?” Milock offers with false sympathy on his face.

“And do you understand what all this is going to look like to the public and the GU observers?” I challenge myself as I stand and lean over Milock’s desk. I'm so sick of this dick. “Not even a week after proving how discriminatory this academy is, your most high profile submissive cadet is nearly raped in his own dorm room - which you then try to blame on him.”

“I-- I-- I was not attempting to blame... I will need to speak to the other academy heads about--” Milock stammers, his face turning white.

“Yeah, you do that,” I don't let him finish. “Since we clearly can’t trust you to do the right thing, maybe we go directly to the media and GU observers ourselves. Come on guys.”

“Wait!” Milock cries as we stand and walk from the room, but of course we don’t.

“Can you believe that guy?” I start as I lead the way out of the admin building. “You’d think they’d learn after last week.”

“Vaiken...” Kaylin says from behind me.

“I don’t exactly know how to get in touch with the GU observers, but your brother probably does,” I continue without turning around. “And I still have the contact info of one of the reporters you talked to a few days ago.”

“Vaiken,” he says again.

“We can call him after we talk to Len.” I keep walking, feeling full of righteous fury. “We are not going to let that prick get away with--”

“Vaiken!” Kaylin shouts, forcing me to stop and turn.

“What’s--” I get a look at Kaylin’s upset face and cut myself off. “What’s wrong?”

“Can we please just go back to your room right now?” he asks, sounding tired.

“I’m not going to let that prick get away with this!” I declare heroically. “I’m going to make sure he--”

“That’s what you want to do.” He doesn’t let me finish. “A dom rushing into a fight without bothering to ask his sub what he wants.”

“What?” I ask dumbly, hurt by the insinuation. “I’m doing this for you.”

“I know that, and it’s not that I don’t appreciate you coming to my defense,” he starts, taking my hand. “But are you sure the reason you’re so fired up isn’t because your pride is hurt?”

“I... Okay, maybe.” I sigh and try to reel my emotions in. “So, then what do you want to do?”

“Right now? Go back to your room,” Kaylin repeats his earlier request. “Please, sir.”

“I’ll catch up with you two later,” Tuck, who has been standing awkwardly at our side, makes a graceful exit.

It’s a silent walk back to my room, though thankfully I’m not sensing any anger from Kaylin. Mostly just sadness. I understand some of why he reacted that way - it was stupid of me to not think about taking a moment to talk to him - but I’m worried, because he just sounded so defeated.

“I’m sorry,” I say once we’re back in my room, the door sealed. “I should have stopped and talked to you before just making decisions like that.”

“Thanks,” he says with a small smile as we both take a seat on my bed.

“So then... What do you want to do?” I ask hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” he answers with a sigh. “I’m just tired. Tired of hiding, and fighting, and none of it ends up mattering.”

“What do you mean?” His words surprise me. “Of course it matters.”

“Does it?” He looks over, his eyes bloodshot. “Even after all of that, even with practically the whole fucking system watching, Malprin still felt like he could get away with... with...”

“Fuck Malprin.” I slide off the bed and stand in front of Kaylin, lifting his chin. “You are so much stronger than that dickhead.”

“No I’m not.” He looks away to the side. “I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid.” I drop to one knee and try to refocus his gaze.

“Yes, I am.” He sounds determined to hate on himself. “I should have noticed someone following me.”

“Why would you even think you would be followed like that on campus?” I try to reason with him.

“It doesn’t matter!” His hands start to shake as he lifts them. “Because I didn’t, I let that asshole follow me all the way back to my room. If you and Tuck hadn’t come by when you did, h-he would have... He would have...”

“But he didn’t,” I reassure him.

“But if--” He stops, though the tremors have spread to the rest of his body. “Shit.”

“What is it?”

“Len’s calling me.” He stares into space at the incoming call he sees on his OCID. “I... I don’t want to talk to him right now.”

“Forward it to me,” I tell him confidently. “I’ll talk to him, for now.”

He looks as though he wants to ask if I’m sure, but then wordlessly swipes the call over to me. I see Len’s contact picture in my OCID a second later. I accept the call as I retake my seat next to Kaylin.

“Vaiken?” Len is confused to see that it’s me answering. “Where’s Kaylin? I just got a call from the admin office. He was attacked today?”

“Yeah, by a cadet in our officer’s program,” I confirm. “A cadet currently recovering from a broken jaw and concussion in the medwing.”

“Shit,” Len curses. “Is Kaylin okay?”

“He’s fine, or as fine as he can be,” I answer and squeeze the trembling sub at my side. “I stopped them before anything serious went down.”

“How’d it happen?”

“They followed him back to his room and forced their way in behind him.” I hear Len suck in a breath. “And then one of the admirals from the tribunal tried to blame the whole thing on him.”

“What?!” Good, Len’s angry too. “Unbelievable. Well, not only is that little shit of a cadet not going to get away with this, I’m gonna get those damn dickeads on the leadership board fired.”

“I figured you’d say something like that.” I try not to smirk.

“I’ll get started right now.” He sounds confident. “Can I talk to Kaylin? Just so I have all of the info.”

“Actually...” Between the trembling and the way he insulted and blamed himself... “I think Kaylin is about to drop.”

“Shit, really?” Len is back to being worried. “Do I need to--”

“No, I’ve got it.” I squeeze Kaylin again, not wanting him to feel like I’m talking about him like he’s not here. “We’ll probably be MIA the rest of the night.”

“...Alright.” That’s as close to a blessing as I’m going to get from him. Then I’ll talk to you both in the morning.”

“Talk to you then. Goodnight, Len.”

“Goodnight.” He ends the call.

“ ‘m not about to drop,” Kaylin mumbles, leaning against me.

“Don’t you start bratting on me now, Zekram.” I kiss the crown of his head.

I help Kaylin to stand and then carefully help him disrobe, stripping him down to just his tight pair of boxer briefs. Then I do the same with myself, and pull us both onto the bed. For a few minutes, I just hold the trembling boy in my arms, hearing the occasional sniffle. It’s time for me to take care of my boy.

I climb off the bed, returning a moment later with a glass of water that I make Kaylin sit up and drink. While he does that, I turn to my toy drawer to grab the items I’m going to need for the evening. Nothing major, just some massage oil and a pair of metal claws that I can wear right over my knuckles. To top it off, I start some soft music playing over my room’s speakers.

With my boy hydrated, I have him lay on his back at the center of the bed. Then, with the massage oil in hand, I straddle his waist and get to work. I pour some oil into my hand, warming it as best I can before dribbling it over Kaylin’s chest. I begin to slowly massage it into his skin, starting with his pecs and then moving to his shoulders, and then arms.

Some doms might not see giving their subs a massage as a very dominant thing to do, that they should be the ones on the receiving end. And while that’s certainly true sometimes, I disagree that that’s the only way this works. I’m clearly the one in charge here, and besides, sometimes subs need a little pampering, especially when they’ve been good.

When I’m finished with his arms, I move further down Kaylin’s body, stripping off his underwear as I go. I watch his face carefully as I pass over his stomach to work on his thighs and legs, pleased to see that he’s relaxing with my touch. But that’s just the beginning. I flip him onto his stomach and straddle him again, ready to work my way down his back.

“You’re amazing, you know,” I tell him softly as I dribble oil on his shoulders. “One of the strongest people I’ve ever known.”

“I mean, I always knew you were smart and talented, but as far as I knew you were also kind of a loner asshole before,” I continue, pleased when I get a small huff of laughter beneath me. “I know you were hiding, and doing it well, but I’m almost mad at myself for not seeing this sooner. For missing out on this part of you.”

“What happened today was not your fault.” I move down his back. “I know you logically know that, but there’s a part of you that wants to blame yourself. There’s no excuse for what Malprin tried to do today. It’s monstrous. You didn’t deserve that. No one does.” I hear a few sniffles. That’s good. Crying is good.”

“Should’ve fought harder,” he mumbles, his head turned to the side. “Look at me, I’m not strong. He’s already won.”

“You're not weak for feeling the way you do now,” I correct him. “For not wanting to keep constantly fighting for your right to be here. And he hasn’t won anything yet.”

“You may not see it, but even if you don’t want to continue this fight ... someone else will.” I work on his glutes, sitting over his thighs. “You’ve inspired a lot of other subs all over the school to do the same thing. You did that.”

“I didn’t do--”

“Sshhh. This isn’t ‘arguing with sir’ time.” I give him a quick spank. “Just relax, and feel, and let me do the worrying for a little bit, boy.”

“...Yes, sir.”

I finish massaging his lower half, using a towel to wipe any excess oil from my skin. Then, after grabbing my claws, I restraddle his thighs, just below his ass. Time to take this boy to subspace.

“This might be cold and tickle at first,” I warn as I lower the claw in my left hand. “But just try and relax. I just want you to feel.”

He jumps slightly when he feels the first blunt claw tip against his skin, the cold metal giving him goosebumps as I trail it down his back. I repeat that a few times, barely pressing it to his skin as it moves. As he gets more used to the feeling and less ticklish, I start to use all four claws with more pressure.

I gently scrape up and down his back with the claws on both hands, tracing patterns, shapes, anything along his skin. And after the massage he just got, Kaylin seems to be enjoying the change in sensation. He’s relaxing more and more, but I also have a feeling that if I checked under his groin, I’d find a small wet spot.

But it’s not that kind of evening, which is why my underwear is still firmly on. I’d really love to do this after a spanking of flogging one day, but right now I’m not trying to get him off. I continue to praise my sub gently as I work, enjoying every shiver I pull from his body. I continue to work as the soft bass of the music plays and the body beneath me relaxes.

When Kaylin feels like a boneless puddle, I climb off of his back and put down my tools. I crouch down, checking his eyes to see that his pupils are blown wide: he’s for sure in subspace right now. My perfect boy.

I clean myself up quickly, not wanting to leave Kaylin on the bed for too long. After making sure there’s some water in reach during the night, I turn him on his side and climb back on the bed, pulling him back to my chest and cuddling him.

“You’re such a good boy,” I say against his neck. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

I stroke my hand over his arms as I spoon him from behind, listening as his breathing gets softer and softer until I know he’s asleep. It takes me a little longer, even though I know I should get to sleep. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be another tough day.