▼: The convoy of drones and trolls, some of the latter hovering with the aid of their abilities, comes to a halt outside the Imperial City. The part of it for landdwellers, anyway. The impossibly grand architecture was reserved for the gilled sort. The mechanical clanking of the drones ushers them into the Culling House, where lowblood arrivals were processed and assigned to the homes best considered for them. But first, lots were to be drawn. Her Imperious Benevolence always took in one troll from the batch of arrivals. She often said she was ashamed of her inability to take all of them, but she just didn't have enough space.

▼: The name drawn... Tavros Nitram. A gasp from a group of four or so trolls emanates from somewhere in the mob, accompanied by profanity and askings of "Why couldn't it be me?" He steps forward from the group and indicates himself with a pointed finger. "Report to this location once you have said your goodbyes," comes the drone's mechanical as it hands him a printed sheet. And he does just that, giving Nepeta a hug, then Aradia, then proceeding through the indicated door.

▼: So he stands, awaiting the harbinger of his culling.

▲: Feferi comes forth, wearing a long, flowing dress with a rainbow of colors put on it in a way that amazingly actually looked elegant and beautiful. She smiles down at him and leans down, extending her arms outward to invite him into a hug. "Hello darling" She says with a bright, loving smile. "Are you ready to come with me to your new home?" She expected him to have many questions in truth... How things would actually be run perhaps, or why she was doing this. Or why pick him. Most of her new pe- er... Actually yes, pets, asked similar questions.

▼: He clutches some plush animal or another to his chest as he looks up at her. You won't need your lusus, he had been told. The city highbloods will take care of anything they could do for you and more. No troll over four sweeps would admit it, but they all kept stuffed versions of their lusus around for when the real thing wasn't available. But he seemed scared half to death. "You're... Her Benevolence, right? I'd like to leave as fast as you can if that's okay." His fear likely stemmed from meeting one of her enforcers, the subjugglators used to quash any troll far enough out of their head to come up with some idea that was deemed a threat.

▲: She nods, smiling and reaching down to take hold of his hand "Of course. I understand the changes coming into the city are hard to understand and cope with, but I'll tell you all about it once we arrive in the palace." She says, starting to guide him along. The city itself housed the top four highest blood castes aside from Fuchsia in truth. Cobalt, Indigo, Purple and Violet. However there was a district specifically for the seadwellers, the highest class district there was. She began to walk him through the land portion of the city towards her palace and what he saw was... Strange...

▲: There were highbloods all about, many of them with a lowblood on a leash, sometimes multiple, or sometimes the highbloods were on their own. The lowbloods weren't forced to do anything or work or being mistreated in the typical sense of the word. Almost all of the lowbloods on leashes were completely naked, the ones that weren't, clothed in just barely enough to cover their privates. There were specific stores scattered around with food and objects of entertainment specifically for lowbloods as well... It seemed more like they were treated as pets here than trolls... But, well... Nobody was mistreated at least.

▲: "Are you uncomfortable with this?"

▼: He didn't need his hand held, he thought. Until he saw the painted faces and leashes. This place was strange, foreign, alien to him, and he didn't know whether to cling to the Empress for security or try and pull away because she was one of them. He decides he should at least stow the plush Tinkerbull in his sylladex for the moment, at least. He wasn't about to add insult to nerves and get himself called a wiggler. "If you want the honest answer... yes."

▲: "Don't worry sweetie, you'll get used to it." She says, smiling down at him. It wasn't long until they arrived at her palace. Most of it was above water, since it was public access, but she had many chambers there below the water specifically for her. She guided him into his own, new chambers and sat him on the bed, sitting next to him and putting her hands on her lap "So... Do you have any questions?... Feel free to say or ask anything you like. No question is a stupid one."

▼: "Can I keep my clothes? And all the other stuff I me have with me." He didn't cherish the idea of being kept in the nude so close to the sea breeze and wasn't fond of losing the mementos of his hive either.

▲: "Of course you can. But it's quite warm out this time of sweep, I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable! But, if wearing clothes is what makes you comfortable, that's fine."

▲: "However I'm sure you look absolutely adorable without them," She says, smiling sweetly at him.

▼: If he had a smarter mouth, he may have asked if she understood the concept of tact. He just returns her smile with one that had its fair share of plastic. "I'm allowed to not like what you say, aren't I? And not do it if I don't really don't like it?" It was astounding how much of a pushover he made himself sound like in his attempts at making himself look assertive.

▲: "Yes, of course you can, you're free to leave here anytime. You'll find that no troll is here that doesn't want to be."

▼: "But what happens if I do leave? Am I stuck here, without my lusus or any idea how to get around?"

▲: "No no no! Of course not! If you wish to leave, I would never let you go off without help. I'd send my drones out with you to reunite you with your lusus."

▲: "Or, do you mean just in the city?"

▼: "Knowing about both would help."

▲: "If you wish to walk around the city, I'm sorry but I need to be accompanying you, but, I'd love to take you for a walk anytime you liked."

▼: "Please, if you ever want anything, anything at all, just ask."

▼: "I suppose you COULD go around on your own, but you would get lost easily most likely..."

▼: "Can you please not call it taking me for a walk? It sort of sounds like I'm not really... a troll, to you."

▼: "Of course you're a troll to me, you're a just a lowblood is all." She smiles at him again, reaching down to take hold of his hand. "And I wish to use every ounce of my knowledge and experience gained over the sweeps to care for you and give you everything you need"

▼: "So please, for that, I would very much appreciate if you would listen to me and trust me... I would NEVER do anything to hurt you, and just want what's best for you."

▲: He nods, moving slowly to keep his oversized horns from her face. She wouldn't injure him, but the mental costs were another matter entirely. "I think that's about everything for now. Tell me if you feel like there's something I should have asked."

▼: "Not in particular... If there's something that should have come up, you'll probably ask it eventually..."

▼: "I understand this is very different, but please understand, this is the best, safest place for you... You'll be taken care of by older, wiser trolls that know how the world works, and know what's best for you."

▲: He just nods again. It was all difficult to swallow and begged the question of how those he had come with were faring. "If... if you say so."

▼: "Now... Is there anything you would like to do?" She says, smiling a little. "I'm more than happy to help you relax."

▼: She shifts so she was sitting behind him now, letting his head rest back on her breasts as she kisses the top of his head.

▲: "I'd like to see my room, if that doesn't bother you." He tries to avoid thinking about his current position but can't keep his cheeks from flushing hot bronze against the much cooler skin the higher bloods possessed.

▼: "This IS your new room" She says, gesturing outward... It was so luxurious, perhaps he had assumed it was HER chambers. A large, soft bet with high grade silk and materials for the blankets and sheets, dressers made from the finest woods, and a massive adjacent bathroom.

▲: He assumed the bed was for relaxation and was really searching for the contours and green slime signifying a recuperacoon. "Well, then, I guess I'll start putting together what I brought with me then then."

▼: "If you're looking for a recuperacoon, don't worry." She smiles and gets up, heading towards a part of the wall and pressing a button, sliding out a large, king sized coon "Here. I thought it might be better to have it tucked away."

▼: She slides it back into the wall, looking back over to Tavros. "Feel free to empty your sylladex and put your belongings wherever you like."

▲: Let's see what he's got in there... a few spare sets of clothes, some fiduspawn cards, the host plush, the eggs... he decides to keep his lance and plush lusus stowed away for the time being.

▼: Feferi waits patiently for him to finish putting away his things, laying down on the bed and patting the spot next to her after he finishes. "Here, come closer..."

▲: Well, the bed did look invitingly plush. He takes his seat next to her and needs some time to run his hands over the sheets and pat the bed. He hadn't felt anything like it before.

▼: As he comes closer, she gently wraps an arm around him, kissing his cheek and smiling "Tavros... I understand, coming from the outside, this is hard to understand... But highbloods are supposed to take care of ALL their lowbloods needs..."

▼: Her hand slowly moved down his body, towards Tavros's member slowly...

▼: "I could show you an example if you like..."

▲: Her skin was so smooth, and there was something exciting in the way her cold blood felt against his heated skin. It forces a shudder out of him and he finds himself trying to fit his arms around her waist. Trying and failing but it was the effort that counted.

▼: Her slightly cold hand slips into his pants, gently taking grip of his bulge and letting her fingers run over it... She kisses the top of his head softly, trying to help him relax, like he was some animal that could be easily spooked "Shhh... It's okay..."

▼: "Just relax and enjoy it, alright?"

▲: Is he... crying? He was so nervous. He tries to keep his sobs quiet but somehow turns them into strange, choking noises. His first day of getting culled and here he was, shivering against the Empress while she told him he she would take care of his needs.

▼: She leans down to kiss away his tears softly, smiling at him reassuringly "Shhh... It's okay..." Her hands moved on his bulge, stroking it and squeezing slightly... "Mama's here."

▲: His bulge was about as average as such a word could apply in everything but its thickness. It seems somehow reluctant to intertwine with her fingers, apparently not quite as slick as it would be ordinarily. Hopefully she would be able to coerce him further into relaxing.

▼: She wrapped her other arm around him, closing her eyes and smiling softly as she held him close, letting his head rest on her breast again as she continued stroking. She wasn't really in a rush. Her pets were often nervous about this, but she felt it was best to get them accustomed to the idea that this was okay early on in their culling.

▼: Her hand stroked and massaged his bulge more, working it between her fingers herself. "Are you alright sweetheart? Do you want mama to stop?"

▲: He shakes his head against her chest, seeming to have forgotten about his horns despite the persistent reminder of their weight. He doesn't feel them run into anything, so that's at least a good sign. The tears seem like they're slowing, but barely.

▼: She smiles and strokes his cheek, rubbing his bulge a bit more and running her fingers over it, feeling herself get a bit aroused as well. "Do you want to touch me? You can if you want." She says softly, sweetly, kissing the top of his head again, never stopping her rubbing and stroking of his member

▲: He decides to slip a hand under one of her dress's straps and fumble around inside until he finds something heavy and firm. There was something strangly comforting in being able to squeeze her like that, much as the hand in his pants was squeezing him.

▼: She closes her eyes, smiling and letting out a content sigh, squeezing his bulge more roughly as she felt herself get more aroused... "See?... Here you don't even have to let your desire be all bottled up..."

▼: "You can ask mama to come help you anytime you like... Alright?"

▲: He starts making some more noise, tiny pathetic whimpering moans that he tries to stifle against her chest. Some part of him tells him that he was being ingracious, just sitting here like this, and he decides to contribute some small something by slipping the straps of her dress down her arms and letting the portion of it covering her chest fall.

▼: Feferi smiles, not blushing out of embarrassment in the slightest. She was used to this. She enjoyed it... She reached down to raise her dress a bit, moving her panties to the side "Here... Turn around and face me alright?"

▲: He does as she asks him. That dress hid her figure well. It was no small wonder why she liked to show her pets these things. A tiny, deviant portion of his mind starts telling him to ask if she had ever had to service pets, plural, at the same time, but the other parts of him were far too bus with other matters.

▼: She reaches down, changing the grip on his bulge as she brings her body closer to his, her breasts come closer to his face "Here... Go ahead and suck on them" She says, smiling as she lets his bulge rub against her nook a little, feeling her own heart beat faster as she began to grow more excited.

▲: How kind of her to keep her bulge in check for him: it meant he wouldn't be reduced to a shuddling bundle of nerves upon penetration. Her age and status likely came with a size best marked as "unbelievable" as well. The offering of a place for his mouth is gladly accepted. He would have something to moan into and hopefull be less ashamed at the volume of his cries.

▼: Feferi moaned softly as he sucked on her breast, spreading her legs a bit more as she let him press his bulge inside of her, moaning out a little. She made sure to keep his bulge away from his, she didn't want to intimidate him or anything... To Tavros's surprise, he felt like as he sucked on her breast, he was drinking something from her... Apparently Feferi had taken to letting her pets suck on her breasts so much, that she had started to produce milk. "Ahh... There... Is that good?" She said, smiling down at him.

▼: Her milk was sweet on his tongue, and sort of cool, just like the rest of her body.

▲: It was pleasantly rich and creamy, much better than most of what he would usually eat: the luxurious diet of Her Benevolence seemed to lend her milk some of its qualities. It was almost addicting, and it inspired him to keep thrusting forward in spite of his shaking.

▼: She moaned, breathing deeply and smiling as she wraps and arm around him, stroking his hair softly s she let him thrust into her. She could feel his bulge wriggling around inside her nook pleasantly as he suckled from her breast. She knew just how addictive it was. For all her talk of letting him make his own choices, her real goal was to make him so dependent and needing of her that he would never even dream of leaving to go out where it was dangerous.

▼: "Mama will take care of you sweetie... Anything you want..." She says, smiling softly

▲: He keeps moaning, the slight whimpering now seemingly gone. The coolness she exuded was somehow calming and seductive at once, and he seems to melt in her arms as he stains her and the sheets below them with bronze.

▼: She smiles and nuzzles into the top of his head, wrapping both her arms around him now and holding him to her breast as he fucked her... It was certainly a pleasant sensation, and the fast that he had loosened up and begun to relax made it all that much better. "Drink up sweetheart, it'll make you big and strong~" She says sweetly, blushing a little as she feels him drinking from her.

▲: He hadn't stopped drinking. His body remains full of the warmth of afterglow and it seems like the only thing on his mind is keeping himself in her embrace and continuing to swallow.

▼: Feferi smiles and strokes his hair again, wrapping a leg around him to press his hips closer to hers, grinding her hips against him and squeezing his bulge with her nook. Even if he had cum, she knew it was still pleasurable to him, she'd just have to take care of that for him too. "Alright sweetie, just let mama make you feel good while you drink up okay?"

▲: He shudders, not quite ready for another round, but the action seems sort of lethargic. Her milk was pacifying in more ways than one.

▼: She didn't expect him to get worked up again or go for another round, she was doing it solely for his pleasure, and a little for her own. But in the end, she just wanted to make him feel as good as possible. She kept her leg wrapped around him, pulling him into a closer embrace as she moved her hips slowly, gently, and kept her arms wrapped around him as she pet his hair. Her pet... Her little grub...

▼: She wanted nothing more than to take care of his every need, to protect him and make him happy and relaxed.

▲: He seems almost like he's falling asleep. His eyes droop and his quiet moans and suckling noises seem to be fading. He finally quits drinking and just curls up against her to the best of his ability.

▼: She smiles down at him and strokes his hair, kissing the top of his head and whispering softly "Goodnight sweetheart... Mommy loves you..." She stayed there, stroking his head and letting him cuddle up to her for a good time before she slowly, gently left his grasp, moving him using a moist towel to clean him off as well as the bed before getting him under the covers and tucking him in. "Mama will be right back, I just need to do some work, alright?..."

▲: He makes some small noise and clutches the sheets to his chest. He was out, alright.

▼: She kissed his forehead again, purposely leaving a big, pink kiss mark from her lipstick before standing up and righting her dress, leaving his chambers quietly and heading into her private chambers to wash up before going to give various citizens an audience and perform various other official, royal duties.