Fi nodded. It was clear that this was all very personal for Levi, that even being in the same room as his brother hurt, and that made sense. It would be the same rage he felt if he had been forced to confront his uncle the night they fled. Recognizing that was strange. Johan looked so innocent, so friendly. Forgetting what he had done was dangerously easy for Fi, who had never known him before, who had never suffered at his hands.
He nodded. "It can wait. You could, if you wished to be cruel, drag it out for several days, but… I believe you are better than that. I had a few ideas about his punishment, if you don't mind me proposing them."
"I could. Strangely, it's a nice thought to make him suffer." He tilted his head back and forth while studying Johan's form, almost considering the option. A lot of terrifying thoughts and ideas went through Johan's mind that Levi didn't know about. Until he saw Johannan's brooding candlit expression overseeing the two men who dragged him out of bed, he had no idea how much Johan hated him, and how capable he was of plotting such an atrocious plan against his own family. He shuddered. "But yes," he continued after a moment, tearing his eyes away his brother back to Fiori. "I'll refrain for the better. What punishments do you have in mind?"
"We have not set a time limit for this, so I am assuming that this punishment is meant to last until he had learned his lesson. If that is so, I think we should… give him opportunities to test if he is improving." He glanced up at Levi, checking his reaction. "All controlled, of course, so nobody would be in any danger. If he fails, we have him punished. Something humiliating, I think, so very public, very personal. The best idea would be to cut whatever hai he had grown out and then have him flogged. Which… leads into another question I have. How far am I allowed to push with punishment?"
Levi nodded along, "Yes, that's a very good idea. He shouldn't know about the tests or else he'll play along and do what is 'right' without his understanding changing at all. He's very wily. I believe he'll put on a show just to get out of this punishment as soon as possible." He kicked his shoes off to the floor, pulling up one leg into the bed as he shifted into a more comfortable position. "And you are allowed to push as far as you desire. Just don't… kill him, or seriously incapacitate him." He swung his other leg back and forth, the sole of his foot skimming the floor. "Oh. And overall, if you can, be more stringent with him than were with me. He actually deserves his fate, and I think it will put him in his place. Perhaps you could give him a job?" He lifted his eyebrows at the suggestion, curious to hear Fiori's response.
Fiori nodded. "Yes, I don't doubt that he will begin plotting as soon as his wounds are sufficiently healed. These will need to be kept quiet, but I believe they will be an effective measure of his development so long as he doesn't see them for what they are. His eyes flicked back to Johan and then to Levi and then to his hands. He'd been fiddling with his scar again, rubbing over it again and again and again. He nodded when Levi set out his boundaries, then winced and nodded again at his request. "I will do my best to be… cold, I suppose, but… I do not excel at it. I will admit that my instincts for any person are to care for them, especially when I have been entrusted with a great deal or responsibility for them. As much as I would like to fancy myself a fighter, it is in my nature to nurture." He shrugged. "Though… a job may work. What did you have in mind?"
Levi lifted a hand to rub his chin thoughtfully. For the sake of their progress with Johan, he hoped he was truly asleep and hadn't heard about the tests. "As long as he learns from this experience that he is not entitled to everything, however you go about it is fine with me. You may only have to be very demanding of him when it comes to a task. As for what type of job, I didn't have many specifics in mind. I thought perhaps cleaning the rooms, but I'm not sure how much of an affect that will have on him. You have infinitely more experience with slavery in your country than I do in mine. What sort of jobs did personal slaves have there?"
Fi hissed out a sigh. "Their jobs could be very… diverse. Sometimes they were taken into a household as children, to be companions to the household children. Sometimes they did hard labor. Most of the time a personal slave was hired on to be a helper of sorts, helping with things like finances or acting as a lady in waiting." He combed his brain, pursing his lips when he came across a job he didn't particularly like but did seem appropriate. "And… sometimes they were taken on as pets. Used for… stress relief and the like. Most people have given up the practice, but if you want Johan humiliated…" He shrugged.
“Johan could stand to learn some humility,” Levi agreed quieter, glancing over at Johan once again. Even the sight of him brought anger bubbling to his chest. “The prisoners here often do hard labor. For Johan, maybe a combination of hard labor and whatever you deem appropriate to humiliate him. It is your call. But from what I know if you, and what you said earlier about your nature, I trust won’t be unnecessarily cruel?”
Fiori nodded. "A combination does seem to be very effective. Perhaps… a labor job near the palace— hard, with a crueler overseer. And then, when he gets to the palace, he is expected to fulfill the role of a pet." It was an ideal mix, get him tired enough not to struggle first, and then humiliate him while he's too tired to fight. "Whatever I do, you are right to put your trust in me. I would not do anything he does not deserve."
“Yes, That should work well. I do put my full trust in you with all of this, and I appreciate your willingness to help, my friend,” he offered Fiori a smile of gratitude. “I’ll find an overseer tomorrow. Someone, or even a group of people who Johan couldn’t overpower.” He pulled his other foot up into the bed to cross his legs. “And I think, for the first few days after he regains some strength, he should be restrained. I don’t trust him enough to assume he won’t try and weasel his way out of this as soon as he’s physically able.”
"I agree. Make sure they're not kind enough to give him unearned breaks or cut him any slack because he used to be a prince, but try to steer away from people who would humiliate him. We need his work to be a safe place for him mentally and home to be a good place for him physically." Fi pulled his legs up so Levi had room to sit and turned to better face him. "As for restraints… I would say a collar. The symbolism is there, but it is also very easy to incapacitate someone when they have one around their neck."
“That makes sense, I’ll look through my options carefully.” The overseer would need to be someone who respected Johan enough as a worker, but not as a former prince. Johan had quite a bit of physical stamina from his time in combat. The work itself would have to be chosen just as carefully. “In order to incapacitate him with a collar, it would have to be a lot stronger than the flimsy silver one you gave me.”
Fiori laughed and nodded. "Yes, that was… very decorative. I did not want one that would feel restrictive or be noticable. I am… assuming you wish to take a different approach with Johan's?" Jhan's neck still had heavy bruising, a collar would hurt even if it was the flimsy silver thing Fi had given Levi all those weeks ago. "A leather one would be good, padded enough to be comfortable if fastened properly and easier to adjust. Plus… a dog collar is a humiliating thing to wear. It would put him in his place quite nicely."
“It certainly would put him in his place,” he agreed, “Leather would be strong enough to restrain him, and a hook could be added for a detachable chain.” Just like a dog’s collar. He didn’t have to use a chain with Boris and Alexei. They were trained well enough to stay at his heel, without a chain, when he went for a walk. At this point he trusted his dogs more than he trusted his brother.
"Yes. Make sure it's lined with something more supple or it will chafe, which easily leads to infection." He didn't doubt that it would chafe anyways, Johan seemed like the type to pick at his collar, but soft leather wouldn't hurt his neck quite so much either. "A detachable chain would be an excellent idea, good for keeping him locked up at night too… which… lead me to another question, actually. What should I do about all the knives?"
“If you want them you can have them,” Levi replied, taking a moment to look around the room at all the ornamental blades on the walls. Not all of them were actually supposed to be used in combat, but they were sharp enough to. The handles were mostly decorative to show his wealth. “We can wrap them and put them away in a locked closet somewhere.”
"That would be nice, thank you. I do not think it would be wise to keep them around." He was pretty sure Johan would be slightly less obvious about things but it was just tempting fate to leave them up. "I will need some supplies. Not for the days while Johan is healing, but… after. He will need a place to sleep, some new clothes, and… perhaps something showier. Clothes that emphasize his place in the world, that make him look like… a trophy, perhaps. A conquest."
Levi nodded. “I completely agree. Leaving him with the least amount of weapons possible is the safest option.” He quieted to listen to the things Fiori needed, pursing his lips on focus to commit each thing to memory. “Alright. I’ll just have to make a day of planning everything out tomorrow. The only showy clothing we have at the moment is for the royals and nobles, but I don’t think you would want him to look that distinguished. I’ll meet with the couturier and see if there’s something he can design that’s more of what you’re thinking. Do you want him to wear any jewelry?”
Fiori nodded, pursing his lips slightly. "Yes, less noble, more… trophy, I suppose. As for jewelry, I am not sure. I do not know how jewelry is used here, be it a status symbol or a simple sign of wealth." In Usige, jewelry could show off a person's wealth but was mainly used to mark courtship. It was common to provide jewelry to your beloved to prove that you could provide for and support them. Here he assumed things were much different. "Can you explain it's significance here?"
“Well,” Levi took in a breath. There was a lot to explain about the jewelry, but he knew he could have to condense it down for a brief conversation. “Most jewelry is for fashion. Hair and hair jewelry are the main show of status. Rings are seldom worn outside of high nobility and royalty.” He lifted his hand to his face, grazing his finger over his lip piercing that had been tended to before the ceremony. “Piercings, however, are expensive and high maintenance, so they’re mostly a sign of wealth. Where the piercing is placed is, in essence, a wish to better themselves as a person.” As far as Levi knew, Ialdir had nothing to do with the practice. It was more superstition than prayer. “Every time it is taken care of, cleaned, and kept from infection, it nurtures the wish. I have a lip piercing for good speaking ability, for example. There are too many wishes to assign on a human body, so the piercings can mean different things among different people. If you’d like Johan’s appearance to be trophy-like, I might suggest a navel piercing. As far as I know, they are vastly unpopular in our modestly dressed culture. If a noble had a navel piercing, no one would see it anyway.”
Fi took some time to absorb all the information he'd been given, slowly nodding as everything came together in his head. "I see." There were a few similarities in their cultures after all. Jewelry in Usige was assigned a spiritual meaning, albeit not the same way Widonian's did. Piercings were rare in his culture. The risk of infection was high in the musty humid south, and if you were going into battle the last thing you wanted was another thing for something to grab. Priests pierced their ears with large hoops sometimes, if they were dedicating themselves to peace, but it was a shunted practice. "If we truly want Johan to have the ability to one day come back, I think fostering a connection between himself and his god is a good way to encourage it. A new piercing would be risky, especially because we want him doing hard labor, but if it will take you a while to locate a good job we may be able to take that issue off the table. It would be an effective way to humble him." As well as show him how truly out of control he was in this situation, but Fiori kept that thought quiet. "I see no problem with giving him simple jewelry to fill his piercings."
“In that case, the piercing would show your wealth instead of his. They can be small jewels,” Levi added. They would have to find knew rings for the piercings with different symbolism than he had before. “Johan won’t be starting the hard labor until he’s recovered, I’m sure. Would it still be to risky to give him the piercing now so that it is healed by the time he starts the labor?”
Fiori nodded. "Then small jewels sound good. Piercing him now would be… fairly risky. He will already have a difficult time taking care of himself with his ribs in the condition they are, adding another area for him to be mindful of is… not without risk. Especially considering the location." He gestured to his own torso to illustrate.
“Understandable,” Levi replied with a considering nod, and a “It is completely your choice whether to or not. I have enough decisions to make anyway without thinking about Johan.” Navel piercings were also usually shied away from in order to prevent the possibility of infection. Levi understood Fiori’s caution in giving Johan a piercing there, especially now.
Fiori laughed and nodded. "I am sure you do, my friend. When we were talking earlier about the possibility of getting a new royal advisor who were you considering for the position?" It seemed as though Levi could you the help, and FI really didn't have anything to do but wrangle Johan and attempt to explore the palace. "I think having someone fill the position would be very valuable to you, so long as they fit it well."
