The next morning, Rune woke and was glad to find that Talen hadn’t mauled him in his sleep. He sat up and peered over the edge of his bed, as if expecting to see some sign of Talen. He listened for a moment, and heard slow steady heartbeats that told him Talen was sleeping. 

Rune silently got out of bed and started his day. He performed his morning routine in the bathroom, then headed downstairs to cook breakfast.

Rune decided on something plain but also nutritious and filling, something that would be good for Talen but also wouldn’t upset his stomach. Adjusting his diet too vastly too soon could do more harm than good, so he’d have to be mindful of what he fed the werewolf. 

He decided on scrambled eggs. Rune wasn’t normally super hungry in the morning, his hunger usually rising in the evening, so he didn’t need to cook anything more. 

After he finished cooking and portioned the food out onto two plates, he turned to open the fridge. As he did so, it put the stairs into view, and he spotted Talen sitting crouched on the very bottom step. To his surprise, the werewolf had the blanket tied in a cape around his neck, leaving it to drape around his shoulders and back. The rest of it dragged behind him. The image was nearly comical, but Rune forced down his smile so Talen wouldn’t think Rune was making fun of him. 

Talen watched him closely. His nostrils flared every few seconds, no doubt drawn to the smell of the food, and Rune could see a primal hunger in his eyes. Talen bared his teeth, a warning. He still didn’t trust Rune.

“Good morning,” Rune greeted. Talen’s head tilted to the side and his brows furrowed. “Are you hungry? You can come eat.”

Rune opened his fridge and dug out a blood pouch for himself. He then opened a cabinet and took out one drinking glass and one mug. He filled one with water and the other with blood. He set his mug of blood in the microwave and heated it up. While he waited, he took Talen’s plate and water and walked it over to the dining table not far from the kitchen. He caught Talen’s eye again as he set the plate and glass down. He nodded to the food, letting Talen know he could come eat it. 

The microwave beeped. Rune took out his mug and brought his own plate and drink to the table as well. He sat down at the other end, farthest from Talen’s designated spot, in order to give the werewolf some space. He glanced at Talen, seeing he hadn't moved from his spot and was still watching Rune with intense skepticism.

“You can come eat,” Rune repeated, gesturing to the other plate. Talen's brows furrowed more, but he crept over on all fours to the chair facing his food. He crawled up onto it and sat perched on his feet, rather than sitting normally on his butt. Rune frowned at this.

“Could you sit normally, please?” he asked.

Talen glared at him again. “Make me,” he snarled.

Rune's eyebrows rose for two reasons, both at hearing him speak and at the abrasive response. Talen's voice was harsh and raspy. Rune shoved down his bristling dominant side and instead took the opportunity to get more words out of Talen.

“I could make you, but I doubt either of us would enjoy it very much,” Rune said. Talen continued to glare at him.

“You would enjoy it,” he growled. “You're a Cruel.”

Rune's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. He found it peculiar how Talen had worded that. He wasn't calling him cruel as a description, but a cruel, like the word was a noun rather than an adjective. 

“I assure you I don't like to be cruel. I don't enjoy forcing my trainees into anything they don't want,” Rune calmly explained. “Did you mean to say it like that? A cruel?”

Talen's upper lip quivered in the beginnings of another snarl. “Yes. You're a Cruel. And you're a liar.”

Interesting. “I like to think I'm quite honest,” Rune replied. “What makes you think I'm a liar?”

Talen only seemed to be more angered by that. Rune could see his shoulders tighten and his back hunch more, a visual of the anger building up inside him. “I'm not stupid. You can't fool me,” Talen growled around sharp teeth.

“I don't think you're stupid, and I'm not trying to fool you. I think we're misunderstanding each other,” Rune said. “Let me start over. You're here because your master–”

“He is not my master! No one is!” Talen shouted, slamming his hands down on the table and digging his claws into the wood. Rune once again tried his best to not grab Talen by his scruff and bend him over his knee. He turned his focus away from the claws digging divots into his table and towards what Talen had said. It sounded as if Talen didn't acknowledge Devian as his master, which struck Rune as odd. Surely they had met and decided on this relationship together? Perhaps Talen was not a brat struggling to accept his place after all.

Rune took a different approach. “Alright. If you don't see him as your master, then he isn't.” Talen's brows furrowed, confusion mixing with his anger. “How did you meet Devian?”

“Who's Devian?” Talen questioned. Red flags rose with startling quickness, and Rune grew concerned. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table.

“Devian is the one claiming to be your master. He's the one who sent you here. He asked me to train you and help you become more submissive and obedient,” Rune explained. “Do you not know anyone named Devian?”

“Oh,” Talen grunted, suddenly unperturbed. “The Head Cruel. I know why he sent me here.” Talen turned a fierce look on Rune and bared sharp teeth at him. “I will not become a Broken. I don't care what you do to me, I'll fight back every time. You will not break me.”

The Head Cruel? A Cruel? A Broken? The pieces were slowly starting to make themselves known.

“Talen, I assure you that what happens here will be done within both of our boundaries. I was hoping to discuss this last night,” Rune responded.

“What does that mean?” Talen growled, obviously frustrated. He gripped the table tighter and turned in his seat to better face Rune. Rune had an inkling that Talen would attack him if he felt too offended. He probably thought Rune was making him feel stupid on purpose.

Rune calmly explained, even despite the fact that his concern was growing by the minute. “Boundaries are like lines you're not allowed to cross, because it would be harmful to you or to me if they were crossed. For example, one of my boundaries is that I don't want to be asked to excessively bring pain to anyone.”

Talen tilted his head and scrunched his nose in puzzlement. He didn't appear to understand, and this concerned Rune even more.

“Clearly one of your boundaries is that you don't want me to forcefully make you submit,” Rune pointed out. Talen's face relaxed a little as he thought it over. Rune gave him a minute to think before asking another question. “Can you explain to me what a Cruel and a Broken is?” 

Talen's expression turned hard and hateful once more. “You should know. You're one of them.”

“I'm trying to help you see that I'm not,” Rune replied. Talen searched Rune, eyes incredulous. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, tilting his head again. He growled again, but it seemed like it was out of frustrated confusion. “Maybe you're stupid,” Talen spat. “A Cruel likes to hurt people. They love it. The people they hurt are Brokens. They can't fight back.”

“I told you I don't like to hurt people like that,” Rune reminded him. “I am not your enemy.”

“So what the fuck do you plan on doing with me, huh? You gonna take this blanket away and laugh at me? You gonna poison my food? You gonna whip me and beat me and leave me on the side of the road to rot?” Talen demanded.

Rune's eyebrows rose and his face softened. “No. I don't want to do any of those things. This food will always be safe to eat. That blanket is yours. I will only punish you on terms that we agree on together. It sounds to me like you don't like painful punishments, so I promise I won't use any on you.”

Talen stared at Rune, breathing heavily. Rune was uncertain if he would attack him after all, but Talen just turned his attention to his blanket, and then the plate of eggs he still had yet to eat.

“You're a liar,” Talen accused.

“Talen. If you're not a Cruel, and you're not a Broken, then what are you?” Rune asked, playing into Talen's world view. Talen thought for a moment.

“I'm neither,” he said.

“Do you think, maybe, there are other people who are neither?” Rune pointed out. Talen stared at him again for a long moment. Enough time passed that Rune was unsure if Talen would say anything.

“You should eat your eggs before they get too cold,” Rune said, gesturing to Talen's plate. Talen slowly turned his head to look at them again. Another moment passed before he eventually settled down and began to eat. Despite the fork right next to his plate, Talen ate with only his fingers, shoving handfuls of eggs into his mouth and barely taking the time to chew them before he gulped them down. Rune ate his eggs as well, although with much better manners and with a fork. Talen finished his food and his water in no time, gulping down the water like he was dying of thirst. Rune still picked away at his eggs and mug of blood, and Talen licked remnants off his plate. While Rune finished his food, Talen simply stared at him, and Rune guessed he was trying to figure Rune out.

Rune finished his food. Once he was done, he stood and gathered his dishes. Talen tensed up as he rose, eying him. “I’m going to take your dishes,” Rune said, to let him know what he was up to. Talen watched as Rune took a couple steps closer to him and held out his hand. Rune worried that he might bite him, but Talen simply slid off the chair and backed away. This time he stayed on two feet instead of crouching down on all fours.

Rune quietly collected the dishes and set them in the dishwasher. He turned to Talen, who still watched him with uncertainty. “Now that you’re fed, would you like to take a bath?” Rune offered.