Her Public Self

One of the things that shayla is adapting to is her existence as kajira in the mundane world.

Behind the door of her Master's home, it is relatively easy. She is surrounded by reminders of what she is, simply be being surrounded by her Master's things. Of course, the collar on her neck is continually there. In her Master's home it is simpler to maintain the demeanor appropriate to her position.

In the mundane world and at work, it's a different matter. She is surrounded by today's society and all its quirks. Co-workers that encourage her to eat things she shouldn't, participate in discussions and banter that display a lack of regard that would be inappropriate for shayla to show. Shayla works with the public on a regular basis, and she is exposed to and interacts with any number of people that are open, friendly, flirtatious. Even as simple as a casual conversation struck up at the store, shayla encounters the same type of people. They're easy to like, easy to speak with. But at the same time, the interaction is similar to one of equals. The banter they share with shayla is laden with thoughts and comments that she must tread carefully with. Were she to join it with too little care, it would color her mind-set. Steering it towards mundane thinking and away from that of an owned girl.

The people she interacts with away from her Master's home are also something profoundly different from shayla. They are free; directly opposite that which shayla is, an owned, fully Mastered slave. Are they aware that they are free? Probably not, unfortunately. But shayla knows it. Her Master also knows it and expects a certain level of behavior and deference from her towards them because of it.

It's not easy. Much of the banter is the type that shayla, in her previous life, would have easily joined into and enjoyed. It's not her previous life that she's living, though. It's the one she's living now, under her Master's hand and will. At the same time she is growing and thriving, she is also still in the process of departing from the habits and ways of her old life. It is something she is becoming more and more aware of at the times she is away from her Master. She is still slave, still a reflection of him and his training. It is still her duty to him to behave as such when he is not around.

shayla