That was more like it. Mike looking so completely distressed but trying so hard to comply. Liam took in a slow, breath, as if savoring the moment, savoring that hot breath on his hand, that tension around Mike's eyes. The junkie had come so very far already, but there would always be new lessons to teach. The hand over his mouth wasn't to silence him, not entirely. But instead proved one simple fact. When Mike was first brought into Liam's custody, he would have bitten that hand, without a moment's hesitation. Vicious and desperate. But now? Now he didn't even try. He didn't thrash or struggle. He simply accepted it. Just as he would eventually accept this new rule. A rule that they'd building up to since the beginning.

"There, you see?" He spoke almost lovingly. "You'll have just one more task to see if you've earned your reward. Do it well, and you'll be in my best graces. Fail, and you will be performing your next favor for me more frustrated than you've ever felt in your life." His hand tightened further, forcing the other's head back against the bed. "Either way, by the time you get there, you'll understand that the very air your breathe..." His free hand came up to join the first, simply resting there at first. "...is by my will alone..." Slowly, his fingers started to close against Mike's nose, cutting off his air completely.