Spliced: Part 5 - Chapter 4

[flighty_dreams]

TITLE: Spliced 5-4
AUTHOR: flighty_dreams
WARNINGS: NC-17. slavefic. scifi setting. M/m. some graphic violence.
WORD COUNT:  6,295 (this chapter), over 200k so far
SUMMARY:  In a world where clones are made and sold as commodities, Matt Muldane can't resist purchasing an intriguing slave.
NOTES:  The index to this story available here. Special thanks to aurila and to tuawahine

Comments

[kiyadreams]

My first question is do you even like Matt?

All the good will that had built up for Alex over the past few chapters is gone now. Completely. If he dies in a fiery death or at all I will get up and do a jig. I can't even think of what to type next I'm so upset and all the thoughts are just swirling around.

This chapter was like a showcase of how much Matt has changed and what does he get in response? Petulant childish behaviour from Min I'm perfection itself and self righteous ravings from it's my job to make my friend feel like shit Hollis. The song that popped into my head when I read this was A Friend Like You by Billy Miles, with the chorus line of with friends like you who needs enemies. Matt certainly has his quota of enemies in those two. I mean I always go to my friends so they can mock of my failures. I didn't find the wine scene even remotely amusing, I was so embarrassed and pissed for Matt. It's like mocking the slow kid in class because he can't get the math problems as fast as everyone else.

Hollis doesn't take into account that Matt is fighting as much indoctrination and training as his poor Nuit. It is just inconvenient to him to think of since it's harder to pity Matt's indoctrination because it left him with bastard behaviour instead of cowering. Does he even care about Matt as a person or does he just want someone around to feel superior to? If Matt ever changes completely to 'Hollis and Min's List Of Acceptable Personality Traits In Order To Be Loved By Us', will he finally offer some positive reinforcement or will he just look for something new to complain about.

“No, he certainly does,” Hollis said, “but if you fix your part, he'll reciprocate.”

Matt frowned. Knowing his Andorian well, that made too much sense for him to like it.
Bullshit! I call Bullshit on this. Matt has been fixing his part and all that Min has contributed is a little more honesty. Matt has Min in his house, knowing the intimate details of his business dealings, and he's changing himself for Min. What more does he have to give over when he is getting NOTHING in return?

And yes the shirt thing was childish on Matt's part but after having childish behaviour flung in his face all fucking day long it was only natural that he would respond in kind. And really how hard would it have been for Min to say a quick thank you for respecting my feelings about playing netterball with the other slave. But oh no that would make Matt think that Min approves of something about him- can't have that.

And I bet that those two he met in the store are actually siblings of Min, otherwise I don't think he would have dared to walk away especially in front of another Andorian owner, where inviting questions can be dangerous. And if he doesn't come clean to Matt right away about who those two are then the small inch of progress that he has made by being honest will go out the window.

I will keep reading because Matt's situation in this story pings all of my protect the underdog instincts, and the only thing I can do for him is to keep reading and arguing for him until the bitter end.

[flighty_dreams]

Of course I do? That line kind of comes off as a personal attack.

Well, I'm sad to hear you're on the Alex hate train again. The bit with the wineglass wasn't originally in the chapter; I added it later, and decided to keep it even as I thought, "certain people might take this too seriously and not be amused by it." It was just meant to be humorous--they are both annoying each other in this chapter, it's part of their relationship at this point.

And Alex would be the last person to tell you he's perfect. He knows he has issues. I'm not sure where you get this impression that he thinks he's so perfect. Yes, he thinks he knows better than Matt on the issue of slavery, but that's because he's seen it from a far different perspective than Matt has. Believing he's right on this topic doesn't equate to him believing he's perfect.

You're right, Matt is changing. It's not an easy progress, but he's certainly come a long way. And yes, Alex could be more appreciative of that, but it's harder to see so clearly from the inside, and when he sees Matt so much. Change here is a gradual thing, and just like increasing near-sightedness, it's not like you just wake up one day and realize, "Whoa, I'm so blind!" It's too slow for you to notice, except for rare moments that stick out, like someone reading a sign down the road that you can't, or Matt changing his mind about going to the party in 5-1.

And I'll just come right out and say it--those were just two random people, not anyone Alex knew. Sure walking away was a bit odd, but not to the extent that someone would report it or ask questions.

No doubt Matt and Alex have issues, but they want each other and are trying to work things out. Yes, they get frustrated and they both have lapses in good judgment along the way, but that's part of being human.

[kiyadreams]

I'm sorry I don't mean for it to be a personal attack. It's just an honest question as I have author friends who when I read their work generally I fall for a character and when I ask the author if things will get better for my favourite character in the sequel, they generally laugh and say no they don't like the character enough to change things for them. That they wrote the character to be hated. And as this story has progressed and Matt's life is going down in flames I wondered if I had backed a hated character again.

I get the impression that he's perfect in his POV scenes. I will grant that Alex knows more about slavery than Matt, that's obvious. But, for example, with regards to Matt's business Alex seems to think that his ideas and advice are perfect, and that he knows everything there is to know about Matt's job. To which I have to say that although he did work in shipping for a long time there is a vast difference between that and being the boss. It was Kate's business and even though she was his partner she remained the boss since he would take walkabouts every six months. If the advice were to come from Kate I would think the arrogance deserved but Alex has not had that kind of responsibility nor has he been in the business consistently enough to be sensitive to the ebbs and flows of the business the way Kate and Matt are. It falls to Matt to ensure that the business is successful enough to support the employees he has hired and essentially taken responsibility for. It falls to him to stay competitive yet at the same time be able to pay his employees living wages. If he was not thoughtful and careful in his decisions then I would think he is a shitty boss. Yet Alex views that hesitance as an annoyance and something personal which just goes to show he does not understand the scope of Matt's decisions. And I don't want to get started on Alex's thoughts on where his relationship with Matt should go and how it should get there.

I can see your point about Alex being too close to see the changes in Matt. Yet at the same time I can't see how he is missing it. Although I do believe he is beyond self-centred so that might explain it.