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Joe looked himself in the mirror: he was wearing a suit for the first time and man, did he feel unconfortable in it. He sighed for a moment, silence filling that big bedroom he was in. That day was his eighteenth birthday and he had to attend something very particular, but he didn't know exactly what or where it would be held.
Being the eldest son in a rich and famous family surely had his pros: money, a butler all for him, being brought wherever he pleased without having to drive himself... Joe was the next heir to the throne, his father wasn't in a really good shape, so since one year he had done his best to fullfill his father shoes.
But now that he was finally eighteen years old, all would change: his family had a past of taking... care of slaves, Joe totally knew it, but what he didn't think about, was that on that same day he would have to choose one of the many he would be presented. He had to say that he liked the idea of having a slave at his side, but was he even mature enough for that?
He snapped out of his thoughts as soon as he heard a knock on the door. He was sure it was his mentor Paul Heyman, but he didn't answer, instead he kept looking at the mirror, fixing his jacket for the hundreth time. He heard another knock and he sighed, finally moving toward the door before opening it slightly. Like Joe thought, it was Paul who was there, waiting patiently for an answer.
"Sorry for interrupting you, my tribal chief, but we are running late. We have to go now, or we won't reach our destination on time and..." That was typical him: he could go on for hours and hours just talking, even when it wasn't necessary.
"I get it, Paul. We can go, I am ready now."
The Samoan cut him short, heading finally to the limousine which was already waiting in the park. When Paul finally opened the door, Joe sat on the back seat, trying to feel more confortable. The driver started the expensive car and drove off that villa, while Paul and the boy kept silence. Joe ran his hand at the cuffs of the black tuxedo he was wearing, trying to fix them as best as he could. When he was finally satisfied, he went to fix the red tie, which was probably a bit too tight, relaxing as soon as he was done. He sat still, looked out of window, expecting to understand where they were headed, but he really had no clue and he didn't like it.
It was making him nervous not knowing what was expecting him, he had tried many times to ask Paul, but his mentor had never answered, probably because his parents had told him so. He tapped his knees with the hands: he was becoming impatient and it seemed like that journey would never end.
"Paul..." Joe's voice was low, but at the same time he sounded calm.
"Yes, my tribal chief?" The silence had been awkward, but Paul hadn't dared to speak, because he hadn't wanted to disturb the boy.
"I'll ask you this, one last time: are you totally sure that you don't want to tell what awaits me?" He couldn't wait anymore, but he couldn't really force his mentor to open up.
"M-my tribal chief..." Paul sighed for a moment, looking down at his legs. He had assured that he wouldn't say it, but it was really hard to keep it still hidden.
"We are here."
The voice of the driver came after the limousine stopped, just in time to save Paul, who sighed with relief: at least now Joe would get to know where they were and why, without him spitting it. Paul was the first to exit the limousine, followed not much after by his Tribal Chief: it was good for him to breathe in some fresh air, now he was definitely calmer than before. When Joe walked past him, Paul looked intensely at him, who was indeed scanning the building he was about to enter.
The courtesy of the man standing outside of the building, how he was wearing a tuxedo too, his stance, made Joe understand that it was something really important. Sure, it was his eighteenth birthday, his family was well known everywhere, but he could feel that there was something... solemn? To all that.
"Mr. Heyman, Sir Anoa'i welcome here today. Please follow me."
Both Heyman and Joe nodded and were quickly following the man inside. Looking at it, it seemed like a majestic villa, just like the one where they both lived in. As they walked through several hallways, Joe couldn't help but notice that many things were made out of gold: the frames of the mirrors, candle holders, even some frames of the windows. Not even his house had so much gold in it, but it was for the best, since he didn't really like it when it was that much. It was okay to showcase their being a rich family, but when it was too much, it was simply too much.
They reached a room with a majestic golden chandelier in the middle and many studio lights around it, it was strangely set up, but their destination still wasn't that one. Still following the man who had greeted them, they all got to a spiral staircase which went downstairs, into some sort of basement. Joe hesitated for a moment; he was definitely having bad feelings about all of that and was starting to feel not at ease. His gaze met Paul's and his mentor smiled encouraging at him: there was no need to be tense and the Tribal Chief himself had to understand that, no matter how much time it could take him. That was a safe place, Paul had already been there one time and all had gone good, but he couldn't quite tell him that aloud... thanking the fact that both of them could read lip language, the mentor told Joe that it was all good, that nothing bad would happen and only at that point, Joe motioned the man to guide them down. There the only source of light was the candles on the walls: it was a sudden change of atmosphere, since it seemed like that part of the building was almost abandoned, but the atmosphere changed as soon as they reached a closed door. Even though it was closed, muffled music came to their ears, but it wasn't some normal one, like from a party, it was more of a... sensual type. Joe looked back at Paul, turning towards him, a silent question in his gaze: was that place what he was thinking it was? Now it started to make sense in his head, slowly, but it was making sense.
"Is this referred to what my family does? You know what I mean, Paul." Joe was still very calm, it was okay if that was it, but why should it have been such a secret?
"Yes my Tribal Chief, it is." Paul didn't feel guilty: Joe had unsterdood it alone and saying it out there, or just let him walk in to find the answer by himself didn't change anything.
"You can go in."
The man interrupted both and finally opened the door slowly, letting them get into the room. The lighting there was completely different: there were no candles to lit it up, some spotlights were pointed to what seemed like to be a boxe or wrestling ring, all around it it was full of chairs, some of which were already taken by people Joe didn't remember. Some of them were probably acquaintances of his father, but he couldn't recall any of them. That was for sure a strange location where to show slaves for people to bring home, but after all it wasn't completely bad either.
A lady quickly brought them to their designated sits, just few steps away from the ring, Paul sitting right behind his Tribal Chief. The chairs they were sitting in were really comfortable, covered in black leather and they could feel a buzzing sound, while their back was being massaged. The bosses there surely knew what to do, to make everyone feel at ease.
"First we would love to congratulate Joseph Anoa'i for his eighteenth birthday today."
Joe didn't expect that, so he wasn't even sure what he had exactly to do, he just nodded and smiled, sitting better on the chair, remembering what his parents had always told him. He was a more than respectable person, he couldn't let others see him act like that, sit like that, that was all. Sometimes he just hated coming from such a family, sometimes they were simply too strict about what he could and what he couldn't do, how he should or how he shouldn't dress... Actually his family was responsible for him wearing that tuxedo that day, he would have liked it more if he could have been able to put on some jeans and a button down shirt, but they had insisted that wasn't gonna happen, so there he was.
It still needed ten to fifteen minutes before that show started: the light got down, only one was illuminating some kind of runway, where the slaves started, one after another, parading, dancing as soon as they were in the ring. It was strange looking at all those men or women who were parading in front of them, they had every kind of body, but none of them seemed really appealing for the young Joe Anoa'i. He never had thought of what kind of slave he wanted to have, he didn't start to think about it in that moment either. He didn't really care if it would be a woman or a man, it would be the most appealing to him, that for sure. Around thirty slaves had already paraded in front of everyone's eyes, Joe was starting to feel tired and bored: he still hadn't found a single one who could, even in the slightest, interest him.
"Paul, bring me something to drink, please." Joe didn't even know how many still had to parade, but it was slowly becoming too much for him.
"Yes, my Tribal Chief."
Paul stood up, got him something to drink and, by the time he got back, Joe was definitely more involved with the guy who was currently parading. He seemed like to be about Joe's age, maybe one or two years older at max, that guy for sure was smaller than him, but was handsome. He had black short hair, his eyes were blue and he had a bit of beard. He was wearing a leather jacket and some kind of really tight boxers. Joe couldn't simply take his eyes off that guy, who reached the ring in a slow motion, a slow kind of dance. The guy stepped onto the apron and stopped right in front of him, leaning on the ropes of the ring to put his lower body in good sight. He was so muscular everywhere and those boxers certainly didn't leave much to the imagination. Joe passed his tongue on his lips, smiling: now they were being serious... that guy seemed perfect to him, was really appealing too and the more he watched him exhibiting for those who were still there, the more he wanted to snatch him before anyone else could.
"Paul, I want him." He declared to his mentor, now satisfied with his choice. It felt like he was the best between all the others he had already seen.
"Sure my Tribal Chief." Paul left his back yet another time, coming back shortly after with another man.
"Mr. Anoa'i, I am glad that you found interest in one of our slaves. He is the most problematic we have, all previous masters he had brought him back after one month at most, but maybe everything will be different with you. You can still stay here, while Mr. Heyman does the necessary paperworks and after we are done, he is all yours to take home." The man waved at Paul, who nodded, while Joe was still looking at the young slave.
"I don't care about his past. I'll tame him somehow."
He was serious and determined about that: he would do whatever it took him, to keep that guy with him, no matter what. Maybe with time he would get to know him better and understand what went on, but at that moment it was irrelevant for him. Joe wanted him and no bad behaviour would ever make him bring that guy back there.
"What's your name?" Joe asked first when they were all in the limousine, going back to his house.
"Fergal Devitt, sir. In the slave market it was Finn Bàlor." He answered, looking at his legs, and not directly in Joe's eyes.
"Good. I see you already know how to address me, that's already a point in your favor. We'll see if things with me will be better for you, or if it'll be the same as it already happened. Not that I know anything about your past, but I was told you are a problematic slave. I can assure you, I'll tame you, no matter what you do, so you better don't make me too angry and just behave like a good slave."
Edited by catching_hearts - 20/1/2022, 01:53
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