Introduce? What did that mean? Was he going to be given to another Dom? Or more Doms? Or—
There was no point in thinking about it. It was out of Roman’s control. If he just did what they asked, if he could just be good for once, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Roman had to pause for a second as they stepped through the Main House door. It was the first time in over a week that he had been outside, the clear sky a dome over him. Roman didn’t know much about the Meliora coven, only that it was in New Hampshire, the main area where people were housed ringed by forest.
It was, admittedly, a beautiful place.
“There’s Milly’s Bakery.” Tyler pointed out as they walked. A few people were sitting at patio tables, some with laptops, others with friends. “There’s a pottery barn to the left there, I don’t know if you’re interested in that. What we call the Art House is deeper to the south—there are classes and programs and exhibitions of local stuff.”
Roman nodded, unsure why he was being told about something like that. He couldn’t imagine what use he could be in any of those scenarios.
“The market is about ten minutes that way. You can spot it easily under the massive canopy. It’s mostly local stuff, so if you want something ordered special, you can ask Joe—he’s the one with the moustache and the yellow hat. You’ll know when you see him, honestly.”
Roman looked towards where Tyler gestured at and wondered if he would become some sort of errand boy. He wouldn’t mind that, if it meant handling food. Tyler obviously didn’t eat at the Main House every day, so maybe he needed someone to cook for him.
That would be a dream come true.
“There’s a big greenhouse over on the east border, up that path, and way beyond that is Connie’s farm. We don’t use cars a lot in this main area, but it’d be a trek to get to her on foot. Biking is good, too, unless the weather is shit.”
Roman folded that little bit of information away. He had liked Connie, hoped he had passed whatever test she’d put him through with all her questions.
Tyler walked Roman around for a while. The area was more sidewalk than road, with smaller, paved paths leading away to different directions. Tyler kept stopping to talk to people, introducing Roman almost reluctantly, who would nod politely and file away who was a Dom or a sub, who appeared friendly and who was a little colder.
Truthfully, everybody seemed pretty open, but Roman didn’t know how to take that. Tyler talked as if it were inevitable that Roman would be part of the community, but he certainly didn’t act like it.
Roman was getting a little fatigued after not having eaten since the previous night when loud barking stopped them in their tracks. Roman stiffened as Tyler made an incredulous sound, but the Dom smiled fondly as Connie rounded the corner with a bunch of dogs on leashes.
“Bubba.” She sighed at one of the dogs. “It’s a plastic bag, baby. It’s fine. Oh—hey, guys. Roman! Nice to see you out and about.”
Roman’s gaze flickered towards Tyler, wondering if that was a dig at the Dom for not letting Roman out, but he didn’t come across annoyed. “Hello,” he dared to say, giving Connie a small smile.
Both Tyler and Connie blinked at him in surprise, and he dropped the expression at once, looking down. He hadn’t meant to be overly familiar.
“Hey,” Connie said again. “What are you guys up to?”
There was an odd stretch of silence before Tyler answered. “Just showing him around.”
“A week after he gets here. Great timing,” Connie replied sarcastically, and that was one thing he definitely didn’t like about her—she was always needling Tyler for no reason. She was obviously a different type of sub than Roman—a good one, something very different than a Worm—so she wouldn’t be punished, but Roman couldn’t help but fear for himself if Tyler’s anger finally appeared.
“I’ve been busy,” Tyler retorted and then, to Roman’s shock, turned to him and said, “Sorry.”
Roman froze. A Dom had never apologised to him, not sincerely. Maybe a sarcastic, ‘Oh, sorry. Was that too much?’ but nothing more than that.
Roman kept his eyes glued to the ground, barely breathing. Fortunately, it only took a few beats for them to move on.
Connie nodded at Roman. “You like dogs?”
Roman twitched. If someone in his previous coven had known he liked animals, they would have…he didn’t even want to imagine. “They’re okay,” he settled for saying.
“Do you wanna help me walk them? You can take these two, they don’t pull at all.”
Roman was rendered thoughtless again. “I don’t…” he turned towards Tyler, who shrugged affably.
“I’ve pointed out most of the main stuff. You can go with Connie if you want to.”
Roman breathed out slowly. If this was a test… “Okay,” he agreed anyway. Anything to get him away from the Dom.
“All right,” Tyler agreed, and something loosened in Roman. He hadn’t picked wrongly. “Connie, walk him back, yeah?” He turned to Roman. “Unless you know the way.”
Connie waved him away. “I can do it. Here.” She handed two of the leashes over to Roman. The dogs on the other end of the leads were squat, chubby things, obviously old but well cared for.
Tyler said his goodbyes, shoving Connie playfully as he walked away, causing her to shout after him with a smile on her face.
“Idiot,” she muttered fondly. “Anyway. There’s a park nearby, have you been? It has a fenced-in area, we can let the dogs loose.”
Roman nodded and followed after her. He kept most of his attention on the dogs he was suddenly responsible for, making sure he didn’t walk too fast, letting them sniff the poles and garden walls they passed.
“You’re good with them,” Connie complimented as they made it to their destination. Roman let the praise glow through him, a bright light.
“Thank you. Are they all yours?” Roman dared to ask.
“Nah. There’s a program that helps the older people in the area who can’t always take their dogs out, and I volunteer sometimes—it’s mostly kids who do the job, but when I have a bad day I like coming here.” She shrugged.
“Oh.” Roman watched her unclip the leashes off the dogs. There were a few people at the park, some lying on blankets, some with their own dogs, but Connie didn’t approach them. “I’m sorry you had a bad day.”
Connie grinned at him. “That’s sweet, thanks. It’s fine. Honestly, I need some help at the farm—someone with Animal Magic, but it’s hard to find someone with the right skills, you know? There’s nobody at Meliora who really fits the bill.”
Roman nodded. He didn’t have Animal Magic, but he imagined it was a delicate skill—animals were complex beings, much more than the plants Roman was more used to dealing with.
“You can come to the farm sometime if you want, though. You like animals?” Connie offered.
Roman nodded now that Tyler wasn’t there to hear him. “Yes, I do. Don’t have a lot of experience with them, though. My old coven…”
“Right,” Connie was merciful enough to say. Everybody knew what role animals had in Chaos Magic.