Rebel Ch. 05

"A... computer?"

"Yeah. It's for you."

"Wha- for me? To do what with?"

"I'll show you. Can I come in?"

"Uh... Sure. " Rebel stepped aside so Tom could come inside.

"Oh, Rebel, you never finished your breakfast. You okay? Did you not like it?" He set the computer on the ground next to her desk.

"I.. I just wasn't hungry this morning." She muttered.

"Are you okay? Have you been pumping?"

Rebel covered her chest and blushed. "What do you care if i was or not? More importantly, that's none of your business!"

"I suppose not, I'm sorry, haha. Anyways, I've got the monitor downstairs, let me go and grab it real quick." He hurried out of her room.

Rebel looked at the tower at her feet. 'He got this... for me?'

Soon, Tom returned carrying a dusty old monitor. He carefully set it on her desk. "Sorry, it's not anything spectacular, but with this-" he plugged it into the tower, "you should be able to at least surf the web. My internet is not spectacular, but you could load some videos too. Might take a while to buffer, though."

"Why are you doing this for me?" Rebel looked away. "I thought I was only good for my milk here."

Tom finished plugging in the computer and turned it on. It slowly started to boot, the blue screen loading in. He put his hands on the desk. "I did. At first. I did only want your milk. I saw you at that farm and I thought I could do a better job. I thought I would have you all figured out. But that was naive." Rebel looked back at him from the corner of her eyes as he continued. "Now I... I just want to do this right. I won't ask you for your milk just to sell on the market. I need you to give it to me. To actually WANT to give it to me. I have to earn it. So, with that being said," he logged on to the computer and started setting up her user account, "I'm going to give you more independence. So you can create a life outside of just being a hucow. So you can be a regular girl. A regular young lady."

Tom stepped away from the computer, offering Rebel the chair. She looked at him with wide eyes, suddenly blinking them rapidly and turning away. "I have to use the bathroom!" She darted out of the room.

"Uh... Did I do something wrong? I hope I'm not overwhelming her..." Tom opened up the window and looked out at his pasture. 'It's a lot to take in. And she may not even trust me again after how I commodified her. But I have to try. If anything, for her sake.'

Rebel splashed water on her face, her hands shaking. She took deep breaths, looking at her own reflection. 'Take it easy, get a hold of yourself. This is nothing. Just a weird... Thing he's doing. This guy will go back to his old self like all the others, just give it a few days. A week at most.' She wiped her face with a towel, and blew her nose. Then, straightening her back with a deep breath, she headed back for her room.

"Alright then. What are we doing on this computer?"

"Pretty much anything you like. You can surf youtube, watch shows, keep up with news-not that I'd recommend it-play games, talk with friends, learn things about the world."

Rebel sat on her chair and rolled herself up to the desk. "Learn about the world?"

"Yeah, you know. Like what's out there, how things work, stuff like that. Aren't you curious about it?"

Rebel was quiet for a moment, looking at her home screen. "I guess I am. I don't really know what's out there besides from farms and making milk. But... I don't even know where to start looking."

Tom scratched his head. "In that case, I don't really know either. Is there something that you like? Something you are interested in?"

Rebel thought for a long moment. "I... I like the food you make me..."

"Oh? Uh.. Erm..." Tom rubbed the back of his neck. "How about we look up a few cooking videos then! You know, to give us a bit of inspiration on what to make next?" He leaned over her to pull up Youtube on the web browser and find a good video on introductory dishes. Rebel saw his blush as he tried to find a video. She smiled a bit.

---

While Tom was in the kitchen making something yummy, Rebel remained at her desk, scrolling through videos. She was watching cat videos, nature shorts, makeup tutorials, gaming clips. Her eyes sparkled as she took it all in. 'The world is so much bigger than I thought it was...'

Tom had mentioned earlier how he would take her into town the next time he went. It was a twenty minute drive from his farm house, and it would give her the chance to see shops, parlors, and other attractions. She wondered what the world would look like beyond the confines of a barn. He had also mentioned that he would save up for a motor scooter for her if she wanted to find a part time job over there, or just to hang out in town and meet people.

She rolled back in her chair and stretched her arms over her head, letting out a satisfied moan. She winced as she brought her arms down, feeling her chest fill with that familiar ache. "Guess I'll pump before I go back down there."

As she was sitting in her wooden chair by the window, the pump pulling at her breast gently, she thought again about her situation. Why had Tom opened up so many doors for her? What would he want in the end? And if she really got a scooter from him... Would he be okay with her leaving the house as much as she wanted? She looked around the room. What if she didn't come back?

She switched the pump to the other breast, letting out a sigh of relief as she felt the milk start to drain. She closed her eyes. "This guy is really putting a lot of faith in me here." She opened her eyes and gazed out the window at the golden field of grass, rolling in the wind under the sunset. 'If I left here, where would I go? There's no where for a hucow except under the boot of a master. And half of them are assholes. The other half are useless. This guy, he's... He's different. I don't feel like I'm being forced into something here. I feel like... I actually have a choice."

She took the pump off her breast and looked at the container. More than half full with her milk. "Is this stuff really so important to these people?" She popped the cap and gave it a whiff. It smelled the same as it always had. She set it down on her desk, watching the evening light reflect off the plastic. 'Is there really more for me than just my milk?'

Her thoughts were interrupted by her stomach howling. "urgh.." She got up and headed for the door, but stopped and turned around.

Thomas was just finishing up a stir fry when he heard Rebel coming down the stairs. "Oh, just in time. Sorry for lack of variety, I know we were watching those cooking videos but the truth is, I'm a bit of a novice myself. But I'm willing to learn new dishes. We could try making them together." He paused when he saw Rebel's face, blushing and turned away. "Hmm?"

She walked up to him, hands behind her back. "Here." She shoved something into his hands, then walked over to the table, still steaming red. Tom looked down and saw it was a bottle of her milk. He blushed too. "Hurry up and put it away. I'm hungry."

"Oh, uh yeah, okay." He quickly went over to the fridge and put the bottle onto the shelf. He quietly dished out two plates of stir fry and brought them to the table.

"Thanks." Rebel started eating, still avoiding his eyes.

"Don't mention it." The two of them ate in silence for a while. After a couple of minutes, Rebel cleared her throat.

"You know, I think... I think it would be kinda nice. To make something else. Not that this isn't good, it's just... I want to learn how to cook too. And stuff."

Tom quickly gulped down the water he was sipping. "Yeah! I mean, yes, that sounds- that sounds great. Was there anything you had in mind?"

Rebel shrugged. "not off the top of my head. But- I guess I can research something. A recipe. Nothing too crazy. Just... something new." She finally looked at him. "We're gonna have to go into town to buy ingredients though... If that's okay."

"Yeah, that's totally fine. You find something tonight, and we'll go tomorrow."

Rebel smiled. "Really? I- I mean, sounds good. I'll look something up, or whatever." She hurriedly finished her food and got up to wash her plate, before setting in the rack and headed back to her room. "I'll be upstairs if you need me. And... Thanks for dinner." With that, she headed up.

Tom felt a weight in his chest like he hadn't felt in years. It was a soft squeeze that replaced the quiet dread that had filled his heart for the past few days. Maybe, just maybe, he would be able to do something for Rebel after all. He hummed to himself as he washed his own dishes.