Out of the Embers

"Ah, my pretty pet," Iason murmured after releasing the mongrel from a minutes long embrace. He looked at the state of his Pet, who held a steady grip on his Blondie master.

"I ain't pretty, Blondie," Riki whispered, his hand flicking a wisp of beautiful pale hair at Iason's face.

"I think you are." Iason made small scrutiny of his Pet. Hair recently trimmed, as seen by the crisp ends, bronzed skin scrubbed a rosy shade. A pair of rust colored trousers fitting loosely on the trim form, and a blanc colored shirt with flowing slits at the sides. The Pet ring peeked out almost coyly on his upper arm. Riki was looking indeed very pretty.

"You're lucky then that I don't give a damn what you think," Riki smiled at Iason in such as a way that it could not be overlooked as being anything but teasing.

"I think perhaps you should, little Pet," Iason soothingly admonished.

"Mm," Riki murmured into his shoulder. "I missed you."

"I did too," Iason admitted, leisurely stroking the firm skin under his palm. "Were you well behaved?"

Riki looked up into the sparkling mischievous eyes. "Maybe," he said uncertainly. Surely he knew about the phone incident.

"That's as best as I supposed I'll get from you," Iason chuckled good naturedly.

"Be glad for what you're getting," the mongrel cheekily grinned. "For what you've got."

"Oh, pet, I am." Iason indeed felt grateful for what he had, what was within his hands. A fawning, grasping Pet whose current position demanded that he was needed.

But for how long? How long would Riki stay the course of an obedient, subservient lover at his side. A lack of Iason's familiar handling made the mongrel easy to keep close. Raoul's undoubtedly harsh treatment would make him cling to Iason and his own approach to dealing with him. Given enough time, he could easily grow complacent with his treatment and start acting out.

Ah, but that he could deal with later. Right now an armful of Riki was all he needed to keep happy.

"Iason," a puff came from the mongrel.

"Hm?" Iason responded in turn.

"When are you getting out of here?" Riki asked, still buried against his chest.

"Soon I imagine. Prognosis so far has been very good," Iason paused, and then amended his words," Or I haven't encountered anything saying against that."

"I wanna go home. Back to the apartment," Riki sighed deeply. Iason prepared to tell him again about Raoul's EP keep of his holdings and estates, the current limbo that it was in. Perhaps the mongrel had forgotten in the excitement of recent times. However, the mongrel instead let loose with his internalized true feelings.

"Anywhere that's with you."

Iason gave a dignified sort of chortle at this.

"And how are you healing, Pet? Here," Iason moved a hand at his crotch. Riki's face took on a vast uneasiness.

"It there. Its healed as much as its gonna get," Riki looked off to the side, ignoring the vague pressure Iason put on it.

"I see," Iason withdrew his hand, discomfort written into his features. Ah, but by Jupiter...

"But you. You're the man of the hour. Lemme know what you know. How are they coming along?" Riki asked, a sly smile, teasing Iason. His hands, however, were not so bold as his Blondie to touch what remained of his legs.

"Very well," Iason nodded, pleased at his Pet's inquiry. He proceeded to tell him about the possibility for reattachment. That he could regain his ability to use his legs. That he would be able to stand tall over his Pet. Riki's eyes grew in wonderment as he was told, his excitement and hope for this refreshing to Iason.

Riki seemed overtly pleased at these developments. Iason smiled and wondered if he should inform him of the other bodily instrument occurring at the thought of his pet. Iason grinned to himself, catching the delight of Riki, and decided against it. Surely Iason would show his Pet soon enough what he thought of him, how he missed him.

Besides, there were some things more important just indulging in physical desserts.

"Do you like it at Raoul's at least?" Iason questioned.

"Hm?" Riki peered at him," Yeah, its okay. Would be better without him there, but I can't complain."

"That's hardly the proper attitude a Pet must take," Iason answered, uncertain now.

"Meh. Drop the 'Pet' stuff. I thought we were past that." Riki looked perturbed. "Why you askin'?"

"Not in the least, Riki. As long as I live you'll always be mine. Pet or otherwise," Iason smiled. "As it stands, I may be a guest long with you at Raoul's residence."

"I've been a guest at his place? Creepy," Riki grimaced. "How does he treat intruders? Like glorified prisoners?"

"Now now. Show some regard, little mongrel." Iason gave his Pet a dark look," He could have easily kept you housed in a Salon or Brothel until I was ready to regain possession."

"Oh yeah, he's treated me like a freakin' prince. At least in the Salons I could've gotten something to drink," Riki dismissed, though his eyes watched Iason for signs of danger if he was unknowingly pushing into dangerous territory. He moved off Iason, settling by his side. The Blondie allowed this.

"If you mean that stout, then I think Raoul was within his rights. His treatment of you was a reflection of how I would have treated you." Iason reminded his Pet. As Executive Proprietor , Raoul was allowed to treat his Pet just as he would his own. Though, Iason thought, some aspects he would want approached a bit differently.

"Not just stout," Riki couldn't resist rolling his eyes a small bit, mostly for Iason's benefit. "You think after what I've gotten at your place I'd wanna go back to that?"

"Not my point, Pet," Iason shook back his head, sending pale strands fluttering back. "But I do remember that you were quick to take back to the narcotic laced beverage once you returned to the slums."

"Yeah, well, when in Romulus. What, was I gonna go around with a bottle that just screams 'Rich Pet: Please Kidnap?'"

"If I recall, you didn't tell anyone about your new status," Iason watched his Pet closely. How would he react to this...

"It was a good thing I didn't ," Riki didn't miss a beat, reacting with a flaming hot temper," When they did, I got beaten up."

"They? You mean Guy," Iason stated. He looked away quite deliberately. "Very loving of him."

"Don't start on that," Riki said in as soft voice," He was upset. I'd have done the same thing."

"You mean the self castration? Yes, I though that was a very 'pairing-partner' thing to do," Iason didn't hide his disdain.

"Hey, I stand by what I said. If it was Guy, I'd do it too," Riki glared from his position. "Besides, he was there with me, saving your ass."

"Yes. Oddly enough, Riki," Iason addressed his Pet holding a level gaze with his companion," I would not have been in that situation if it weren't for him."

"Yeah. And if you hadn't kidnapped me in the first place, we'd have been fine on our own, understand?" Riki flashed furious eyes at Iason. "That wouldn't have happened at all either."

There was a cold unholy silence, and Riki was glad at that moment that Iason didn't have a controlling hold on the Pet ring's remote.

"Is that how you feel?" Iason's frigid voice came through; its crisp icy tone reminiscent of years ago, when he arrogantly met the mongrel. and followed to the beginnings of their relationship.

"I dunno," Riki made a motion to slid off the bedding. A firm a grip around his arm stopped him.

Riki turned back to look at him, more than a bit of apprehension in his dark orbs. Iason the Master was no stranger to showing outright rage and cruelty when enraged in full mode. Despite his many years and experiences of Slum life, Riki never knew when he could successfully take down the impressive Blondie. In this atmosphere, Riki wasn't guaranteed any more success than in any of his past attempts.

"I was prepared to give my life for you, and that deviant. At this point, Riki, all I ask is for your allegiance." Iason's words were softly spoken, their meaning clear. The mongrel stared in horror, at this change. His steely domineering Master was losing that harsh exterior which made trust such an uncertain factor in the relationship. "Not even your love."

Riki struggled from the grip, and then succeeded in pushing himself from the bed. Facing the wall, he kept a broad shoulder away from the Blondie. His force nearly upset Iason's understandably precarious balance.

"Then treat me like an equal," Riki turned about face. His eyes were at the floor but after a prolonged silence, he raised his eyes to meet Iason, gauge his reaction.

This time there was cold amusement. "An equal? Under what powers under the sky are we equal? Explain that to me one day, Riki, and then we will indeed speak."

Riki gritted his teeth, and then forced his jaw to go lax. How he would love to start an open debate right now. But Raoul lurked, ready to discipline any 'unPet like' behavior with a Ring control trigger happy finger. Also, once Iason was like this, taken onto a cause, or really, anything Riki said, there was no reason or way to persuade him of other motions. Best now to steer him in other directions.

"Where is he?" Riki asked, his tone taking on a softened tone.

"That mongrel? Guy?" Iason asked, his voice still not giving room for argument or any other leeway.

"Yeah. I still... don't know anything about what's going on with him. Some of Katze's people took him after the fire and that's it. I haven't been able to find anything else out. Raoul's taking to shocking me if I ever start asking about him." Riki rubbed at his arm, the Pet ring a very prominent band against his flesh.

"Do you know where he is?" Riki asked with a sort of repressed angry nature.

Iason briefly considered his options. He could very well lie outright to the mongrel... but that was not the way of Blondies. Blondies did not lie. Rather they employed the use of poetry and spun words to suit their own necessities and reported purposes. A forked tongue in the realm of the beautiful.

As well as Iason was still irritated at Riki beyond his common level of tolerance.

So... did he know where Guy was? He knew a general area when he was; Raoul himself was flowery with his description of where the bugger went for punishment. Hmm...

"I don't know," Iason replied flippantly.

"Do you know what they did with him?" Riki eyed the Blondie closely. After the last time he'd taken a supposed forward word of his Master, Bison had been disbanded and arrested.

"He is somewhere, serving a sentence of punishment." Iason smiled minutely at his Pet," Raoul did not tell me any more than that. I can imagine it is more than under Jupiter's sanction."

"So he's not dead?" Riki asked in obvious relief; irking Iason further.

"Justice would make it seem rather shameful that, after saving my life, that he be put to death," Iason replied. A fate just as bad, or worse than death, maybe... "Protocol deems he be acquitted from some of his transgression." Iason allowed an unpleasant grimace to come across his face. "I doled out a measure of it on my own."

Riki winced involuntarily, recalling the battered shape he'd found Guy in, how he'd begged Iason to spare further abuse to his former lover. There were no doubts in the mongrel's mind that if he'd not interfered, Iason would have killed him there in the collapsing, aflame building.

"Are you gonna tell me where he is?" Riki pressed, returning to the bedside.

"I think not," Iason answered truthfully. At Riki's stunned and devastated look, he continued. "Guy is a symbol of your past. What I want more than ever, more than naught, is for you and I to concentrate solely on future proceedings and endeavors."

Riki looked distressed but had little time to comment on this. A courtesy knock sounded from the entryway, before Iason's familiar Blondie friend entered the room.

Raoul seemed pleased to see that Riki and Iason were spaced apart; that they were not, as it could be referred to, directly connected at the hip. He took a cursory glance from one to the other before addressing Iason.

"I hope that you will excuse my interruption, my friend," Raoul stated," I thought that maybe your private time with your Pet was enough for now. If you aren't taken down with him. Either way, we have the results in from your tests."

"That was fast," Iason commented mildly. He ventured a glance at Riki, to find that he'd regained a respectful distance from the two of them.

"When Jupiter's own seal comes on these papers, things get pushed through," Raoul stated by way of explanation. "Also, you've seem to made an impression on these fair medical staffers and professionals."

Iason blinked at Raoul, not sure if he was jesting in some hard to detect, subtle way.

Raoul only beamed back a Blondie smile, gentle in its presentation, before returning to business.

"Results can be viewed in this room; I see that there was included a projection screen in your room," Raoul looked at a far corner, unnoticed by Iason. "The doctors will be here shortly to bring the sheets, and of course explain what they mean."

"Can't we just get a summary version?" Riki asked," One two three done, we're out of here?"

The genial look on Raoul's face dropped only slightly when his eyes rested on Riki. Turning back to Iason, he acted as though he hadn't heard Riki specifically ask his question.

"Of course the sheets are fresh from the development labs so the professionals themselves have been unable to see them themselves. "Raoul nodded to Iason," They will be joining us in this room shortly."

"Very good to hear," Iason nodded back his approval

"If you wish, I can have your mongrel reprimanded outside til the hearings are over," Raoul gave an less than enthused grimace at this," No telling what sort of activities he may chose to distract himself with while we attend to business."

"Hey, I have an interest in how Iason is doing as much as you!" Riki replied hotly. He took a menacing step towards the standing Blondie. Another moment, and Riki dropped from a debilitating pain at his arm. It quickly spread to the rest of him, and the mongrel folded into himself.

"Raoul," Iason's voice cut through hard and undeniable," Release him."

No acknowledgments but after several moments Riki's pain subsided a trace amount.

"If you insist on having your Pet with you, then, please note I will be able to care for any discipline problems which may arise." Raoul alerted by way of poorly veiled threat.

"Riki will be in the room," Iason stated tolerantly. "And I myself will have to ask you to cub your enthusiasm for taking it upon yourself to regulate my Pet."

"As your E.P.," Raoul allowed himself to trail off, making a rather convenient point for Iason to interject.

"The majority of E.P. regulations allow for these rules and such liberties and controls when the original owner is incapacitated, unconscious or dead. I am clearly not either of these three, as the medical professionals here will prove."

"And this proves what?" Raoul asked. There were a great many clauses and understated rules involved.

"Relinquish your Pet control Ring." Iason politely demanded. "Not now, surely not, but soon."

"Surely you know I need this to keep your Pet under control." Raoul looked suitably distressed. "Short of daily beatings, nothing keeps him cowed enough to allow my household a moderate smooth progression of activities."

Iason raised a fair hand in warning. "Just a precautionary way of letting you know. This will only apply for when I am discharged from here. Sometime I hope is soon."

"Well, Sir Mink, we will soon know," a small trio came through the door. Lab coats were worn by all three, and one was recognized by the bedridden Blondie as the same professional who'd worked with him earlier.

"Are these your medical confidentiality-sound associates?" one of them asked, indicating Raoul and Riki. Iason nodded. Both of them were more than competent - and privileged -to hear the ensuing results of his medical inquest. Raoul seemed little surprised his mongrel charge was included.

A sea-foam green character entered next. In his hands he held a packet of sealed envelopes, most presumably carrying the results of the multitude of tests.

Riki answered what they all thought.

"Let's do this."

Iason answered in a more eloquent way.

"Please," Iason asked," Let us hear the results."

"Very soon," the doctor nodded," J'Gor is setting up equipment. Soon we will be able to tell just how all of the healing has progressed and what is salvageable."

Lights dimmed. The crowd of physicians moved to the small projector and watched closely as they observed the newest set it up.

Crisp laminated transparent sheets were slipped smartly under metallic clasps. Held tightly to the uber white lighting, clipboards were brought out for notes and hushed voices were raised as comparisons and discussions took place. On screen, a pair of femurs, spread slightly, were shown. They appeared smooth and long, until the tips where a harsh, almost angry and jagged break appeared, and then nothing more.

Iason and his company watched them. Raoul, with some history in medical training, though of a different specialty, could not make out the results of the transparent foils. Riki, finding nothing better to focus on, examined the cut of his hair. Raoul had insisted he trim it before he arrive for Iason, and for once Riki had agreed and acted as he wanted.

Iason was understandably unnerved by the sigh of what truly went on in his anatomy. He was less pleased when another sheet switched places and showed more images. This one he felt lesser comfort for. It showed what he could place as internalized tissue. It reminded him briefly of the fiery interior of Dana Bahn.

The medical team made more noises, some appreciative and others less than assuring, and the slides were changed several times.

Iason waited until his doctor turned to him, after a circled analysis with his peers. His eyes flitted to his note board, briefly, before turning to look back up.

"Restorative surgery would be possible, Sir Mink. Everything checks out and even suggests success for the future."

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Can we say woot?