Chapter 3

Guy removed the pan of fried vegetables from the burner as he heard the front door chime, signaling that his employer was home. Using his only available hand, he quickly shook the vegetables onto the two plates on the table, which already held sizzling meat and rice, then set the pan down and shut off the stove. He took a moment to inhale and appreciate the sight and smell of the meal; a meal he would have never dreamed of having growing up in Ceres as a bastard mongrel.

He set the pan back on the stove, turned the burner off as a tall Onyx entered the stepdown kitchen. “Welcome home,” he offered quietly, and ignored the pinch in his heart.

How he had longed to say that one meaningful phrase to Riki when they had been pairing partners; but Riki had always rebuffed the idea of living together. Fucking was fine, sharing a bed, hanging out and eating together, even fighting and stealing together was all perfectly okay, but living together or sharing a place to call home? No. Riki always drew the line at anything that would make them a real couple and he resented the hell out of that.

Unlike Mink or Orphe, who always wore their long hair loose and down over their shoulders like some kind of royal cloak, the Onyx chose to wear his luxurious ebony hair in a variety of ways; today he had it tied neatly in a single braid down his back. Shiao also wore less ostentatious clothing than most of Jupiter’s children, far more casual than the expensive, draping fabric he’d seen other elites wear. Most surprisingly, Shiao only wore gloves when he drove and removed them and set them in a glass tray by the door whenever he came home.

“Well now, you’ve been busy.” Shiao slipped out off his long leather raglan, draped it over the back of a chair the settled at the table in another chair.

He used to employ a boy for things such as hanging up his coat, cooking and general housework, but after his last one died, he did not feel the urge to hire another. Cleaning and cooking were unattractive tasks, but he did well enough on his own to get by. He never considered the idea of hiring Furniture, since they reminded him too much of his past. They were also registered with the Syndicate and that made him slightly paranoid; especially when much of his business needed to be unnoticed.

On a rare visit to Amoi, he found the tall, gorgeous mongrel working in the bathhouse, and had extended his stay far longer than he should have, just to get the chance to visit the bathhouse more often. Asking Guy to become his companion and housekeeper had been a genius idea, as it gave him the help he needed as well as someone to talk to in the evenings. Guy seemed to like cooking and Shiao was enjoying the meals Guy prepared. One thing that seemed to inspire enthusiasm in his companion was the array of real and natural ingredients now at his fingertips.

He’d furnished Guy with a prosthetic arm, as promised, and had even offered to pay for a bionic arm, but Guy had refused. He used the prosthetic when they went out, but at home, he did not bother with it. Shiao sensed some sort of self-punishment was behind the young man’s decision, but he did not press the matter. As long as Guy did his job, Shiao was not interested in any past mistakes. However, it had been almost six months now and the young man still had not lost the inner sadness that seemed to plague him.

“It isn’t like I have much else to do,” Guy replied.

Shiao had offered him a place to stay and a job after the fiasco with Orphe. He should have been grateful for the opportunity to get away from the slums and Riki and all that shit; to start fresh. And he was grateful, the Onyx has really saved his ass, not once but twice. He would never forget the debt owed to him.

Shiao hadn’t blinked when Guy had asked him to stop calling him Dale, which was the name he had decided on after his memory ad been erased. Not knowing his own name, he’d started using the Dale, but then when he regained his memory, he’d confided to Shaio what his real name was. The Elite didn’t ask him any questions or make a big deal, just asked which name Guy preferred.

Shiao, while not as wealthy as the Elites on Amoi, seemed to make a good living and in turn paid Guy a very good wage, for the little he did. Far more money than Guy ever thought he would see in two life times. They lived in a nice two - level apartment just outside a bustling city, on a planet called Zandere. He was free to come and go as he pleased, so long as he was home when Shiao returned so they could spend time together; after all that was his job. They played games or watched programs, or sometimes just sat and Guy would read aloud. Shiao was more than capable of reading, but claimed he liked the sound of Guy’s voice.

Guy was not a pet, not like Riki. Shiao did not own him, he was paid a salary. It was a job and there was nothing sexual about their relationship. He had no master, not now, not ever, but still he ached at the idea that Riki had chosen to subject himself to such a shameful and lowly life rather than be with him, someone who loved him and would take care of him.

Being a mongrel was bad enough, at least according to others, but being a pet? That was the lowest of low and yet Riki chose first to return to his master, then to die with him. Then, with Orphe, Riki had fought to save Iason Mink, and Guy just couldn’t understand why. Was life as a pet that good or was Iason Mink’s brainwashing really that unbreakable? Guy still couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Did Riki perceive he owed some kind of unimaginable level of debt to Mink? He was always adamant about paying his debts, and Guy had learned to be as well, but sometimes Riki’s reasoning seemed too extreme. No matter what the debt, why would he allow himself to be controlled and kept like a dog?

Guy could not deny that he felt obligated to Shaio, but he would never humiliate himself or consider the Onyx his master because of it. He never really went anywhere, other than to run errands or to purchase groceries, and that was because it was his job and not to enjoy himself. Shiao did not pressure him to do things he didn’t want to and he never claimed to own him.

His old gang in Ceres probably thought he was dead, Riki probably hoped he was. No one here knew or cared that he was a slum mongrel and when he did go out, he was treated with a level of respect that he was still trying to adjust too. Still, in the time he had been here, he had made no friends and only spent time with Shiao.

Sometimes, Shiao returned to Amoï, and it took everything Guy had not to accept his employer’s offer to accompany him. He couldn’t risk running into that Katze guy again, or worse, Iason Mink. He’d been given a free pass twice now, and he knew he would not receive a third reprieve. If he was truly honest, he couldn’t trust himself not to try and contact Riki if he was on planet; even though Riki warned he never wanted to see him again.

“It smells delicious.” Shiao said taking a bite as Guy finally settled opposite him, but the other man only picked at his food. “Eat up. No point letting a good meal go to waste.”

Guy nodded and slid a piece of meat into his mouth, real meat, not the meat substitutes he’d been raised on in Ceres that always tasted faintly of floor dust. The food on this planet was lush and exotic, and everything tasted amazing, even with his meager skills at cooking. When he realized that much of the fruit and vegetables from Zandere were shipped to Amoï, he couldn’t help but wonder was this also the kind of food that Riki was eating?

Had it been the lavish lifestyle and abundance of great food that had changed his friend? Guy couldn’t deny having something other than generic food packs once or twice a day, chased by bad whisky, could certainly turn a man’s head. So could having a warm bed, actual hot water for a shower and a solid roof over your head that you didn’t have to sell your body to keep, but he’d thought Riki was above such materialistic things. He thought Riki had more pride than to be swayed by comfort.

His own luxury of living with Shiao was certainly a welcome change, but Shiao had never tried to intimately touch him. He wasn’t a pet and Riki was. Riki had chosen to be a pet and Guy didn’t comprehend how Riki could do that. He didn’t have a tenth of Riki’s pride and yet his short time spent as bath boy had made him feel dirty and cheap, even before his memories had returned. And for a mongrel to feel shame over their own body meant there had to be something really wrong with the situation.

If he could only understand what kind of hold Iason Mink had over Riki, what had turned his friend and lover from a proud rebel to an obedient dog ... No. He didn’t think he would ever understand it. Iason must have tortured Riki, must have done unspeakable things to him and Riki was too ashamed or too conditioned now to leave the Blondie. That had to be it. What else could it be?

“Guy?”

Guy glanced up, saw that Shiao had finished and had already risen and set his plate in the cleaning dispenser.

“I’d like to take a bath.”

“Okay.” Guy shovelled the rest of his food into his mouth, because growing up on the streets of Ceres had taught him not to waste what was given to him, even if he didn’t feel like eating. “I’ll be right in.”

Shiao nodded and stepped down into their living area to head upstairs. “Bring some wine would you, the number four Pachio.”

“Okay.”

Guy put his plate in the dispenser, as well as the dishes he used to cook with and pressed the button to run the cycle. He wiped his hand on a dishtowel, then pulled at the snaps of his shirt. Most of his clothes were adorned with simple fasteners now so they would open easily with a quick tug. Getting a T-shirt on one handed was a struggle, so he had stopped wearing them.

Remembering the wine, he opened the door to the wine cellar, stepped down the four steps, and selected the right vintage. Returning to the kitchen area, he tapped a button under the sink and a small cart robot slid out from a side cupboard and hovered a few inches above the floor.

“Support tray,” he instructed. The serving droid pulled two of its stubby arms together and flattened them into a solid surface over its head.

Guy set the bottle and two wine glasses on the tray and stepped down into the living area. “Follow.”

They entered the large, luxurious washroom of Shiao’s apartment and Guy ordered used a device on the droid’s body to open the wine as it stopped just short of the huge sunken floor tub. He filled the two wine glasses and set them on a shelf over the massive bath. Sending the droid to rest in the corner, he turned to the wall panel and set the dual faucets to run. Adjusting the temperature to what Shiao preferred, he then programmed some soothing aromatic bath salts, and finished taking off his shirt just as the Onyx entered wearing a long blue robe.

Shiao clipped his braid atop his head, then allowed Guy to remove his robe and stepped into the bath, lowering himself with a long sigh. “Ah, this is better.”

Guy shucked his jeans, having long ago gotten over being naked in front of someone else because of working in a bathhouse, then stepped in behind Shiao so his back was to the side of the tub and the Onyx was in front of him. This was the easiest position because with one arm it was hard to keep his balance sometimes in the water.

He picked up the body sponge, pressed a button on the dispenser on the wall slightly above him and slid the sponge under it until it was well layered with fragrant soap.

“Still having trouble with that shipper?” he asked, knowing that Shiao liked conversations while bathing.

“Dealing with Foh is tedious. If I thought I could get the product from anyone else I would do so and have the rodent exterminated.”

Guy smirked reached his arm around to wash Shiao’s chest. “And start a war with his three million children?”

“I don’t believe he has that many, perhaps just a few hundred thousand.” Shiao smiled and lifted his arms over his head so Guy could continue the service. “It’s a shame they are the only race that can properly milk the Thadus Roots.”

“Hmmm. Forward please.” Shiao obediently leaned over his knees so that Guy could reach his back. “You’re an Elite, couldn’t you just make a machine to do it?”

“The roots are too delicate, they would never survive a machine, no matter how well made it was, and they are too prickly for humans to milk, even with insulated gloves.” Shiao sighed again and leaned back against Guy’s chest. “Unfortunately, because Foh uses his family for the work, the cost of employing that many people, or building so many machines to replace them simply isn’t cost effective.”

“What about making the roots into a paste?”

Shiao sat up and turned to meet the mongrel’s gaze. “A paste?”

“Sure. You use the milk to make thread for Arusan Silk, right?”

“Yes.”

“We never had real milk in Ceres, we had milk paste, but if we boiled it into liquid and froze it, we could make it last longer. Kind of like a milk sucker.”

Shiao stared at him, then slowly took the sponge from Guy and indicated he should turn around. “I see. But if we grind the whole root, we risk contaminating it with the poisonous thorns.”

Guy turned his back to his employer and felt the sponge slide across his back. This was something that Shiao liked to do, wash each other, and he didn’t mind it. It never became intimate. “Does the milk come from the thorns?”

“No, it’s inside the root.”

“So, freeze the root, use a cutter to shave off the thorns, which should grow brittle when cold, then squash the root into paste.”

Shiao dropped the sponge into the water with a quiet plop. “That is an inventive idea.”

Guy shrugged, pulled the sponge out of the water to add more soap, then slid forward and nudged Shiao to lean back against the tub and raise his right leg to be washed. The Onyx did so, bracing his very long foot on the young man’s shoulder.

“Even if it doesn’t work, you could threaten Foh with the idea of it and maybe he would be more reasonable. If he thinks you might have another way of milking the root he’ll want to hold onto his contract.”

Before Guy knew what was happening, Shiao had dropped his leg, grabbed Guy’s face and planted a full kiss on his lips. “You are a genius!” He rose and grabbed the robe off the hook where Guy had hung it. “I have to call my team and see if this can be done, what it might cost and the effectiveness of the...”

Shiao continued to talk to himself as he walked out and Guy stared after him, aghast. He put his fingers to his lips and found they trembled. No one had kissed him since Riki. He’d allowed men in the bathhouse to fuck him, but that was just a job and he had felt nothing. Shiao had never made any sort of move on him, sexually, and he couldn’t even say that the kiss had been intended as anything more than Shiao’s excitement and yet ... yet...

He glanced down at his reaction and felt his face heat with shame. What the hell was that?

Riki walked with purpose through the marketplace of Eos, heading for his usual place in the arboretum, fully aware of all the gazes aimed at him. Some things never changed, he still garnered unwanted attention whenever he left the condo, but at least not all the stares were filled with hatred or disgust now.

He usually avoided this area because it was often filled with pets out shopping with their Masters, or some just on their own, but there was construction in the main courtyard and so he’d had to detour through here. A fierce glare was delivered to the boys who tried to make eye contact, and he deliberately avoided meeting the gaze of any females. Even after all this time, his lesson with Mimea had not been forgotten.

“You’re Riki, aren’t you? Master Iason’s pet?”

Riki didn’t even bother to look at the young pet running after him. The kid had enough gold jewelry on him to start his own stall, and was dressed in the usual revealing pet attire; a see-through half-shirt and ridiculously small, tight shorts. Riki didn’t bother to acknowledge him and kept walking.

“Wait, I want to talk to you!”

Riki sidestepped the kid easily when he tried to step in front of his path, and continued walking.

“Why are you such an asshole?” the boy called out, giving up.

Because he had to be, Riki thought grimly. He didn’t quicken his stride, he never ran from a fight or anything else; well except for Iason; but nor did he intend to stay and chat with anyone. He’d given up the idea of having his own gang here; not in this place. A spike of misery shot through him, but he pushed it back. He didn’t need friends or a gang or any of that anymore. He had Iason, and that had to be enough, didn’t it? What other choice was there? If he ever was stupid enough to make friends with someone, Iason’s jealousy would wind up getting that person hurt.

“OW! Please, stop!”

Riki glanced towards one of the maintenance areas between a couple of permanent stalls and saw two older, pets, one with pale brown hair the other blonde, roughing up a much smaller one. His hands curled into fists and he continued walking. Wasn’t his problem.

“You broke it!” the blond insisted slapping the smaller pet again. “My Master gave me this! Do you know what he’ll do when he sees it’s ruined?”

“I ... I didn’t mean it! I ... I never...”

He slapped the kid again. “Why can’t you watch where you’re going? Stupid!”

“What do you expect from an In-Bred?” the brunette scoffed, looking bored. “They’re as stupid as they are ugly.”

“I ... I’ll pay for it. I’ll ask my Master and he’ll...”

“I don’t want your Master’s money,” the blond sneered grabbing the kid up by the hair and shaking him. “You have to pay for it!”

The boy’s eyes grew wide. “I ... but I don’t have any money!”

“Then you’ll have to make it up to us.” The blond sneered again, and knocked the kid down. “My sandals are dirty. Clean them.”

The young pet glanced up confused, then started using his hands to wipe at the perfectly clean sandals.

“Not with your hands. Lick them clean, In-Bred.”

The boy’s eyes filled with tears, but having no other choice, he started to lower his mouth to the older boy’s toes

“You plan on having him lick your tiny dick too?”

The smaller pet lifted his head, startled as the two older pets turned to look behind them. When they spotted the, dark haired man leaning casually against the wall of the alcove, his arms crossed over his chest, their eyes widened. As relaxed as Riki appeared, dangerous waves emitted from the dark eyes that held them all in place.