Chapter Text
"Please Master Riki. You need to be cleaned."
"With all due respect Cal, fuck off. I'm not in the mood." Riki shoved Cal out of his way.
They had settled into an understanding or at least a system. Riki seemed to understand that certain behaviors were expected of him. Iason hadn't had to discipline him in months.
"You will obey, Riki," Iason said. "You were so very good at the pet show. Don't spoil it now."
“I'm past caring about what those freaks think,” Riki spat.
“You are close to the end of my patience,” Iason warned, his hand cupping under Riki’s chin.
"I'm past caring about what Jupiter's pet thinks too," Riki retorted.
Iason slapped him so hard it sent him careening backwards but it didn’t keep Riki down for long.
Riki rose and swung, ducking under Iason’s arm to hit him square in the nose.
Riki's eyes glared at him with a grim smugness at having drawn blood.
Iason activated the ring.
He jerked Riki upright, dragged him to the playroom. Riki fought like a demon. Kicking and shouting as Iason tied him down.
He let the ring stay activated for a good few minutes as he checked his nose which had started to bleed.
"I had thought my Pet knew better than to bite. It seems you require more training. I think 30 lashes will suffice."
At the first strike Riki didn't make a sound, going utterly silent.
"Count pet."
"Count yourself you bastard."
"Very well. We shall do 50 strikes."
Iason hit him harder.
"Count. We won't begin until you do."
Riki still didn't comply.
His blood splattered on the walls and floor in an arc as the whip landed.
"Count Riki. Do not make me ask you again.”
"One." He gritted.
Each strike was deliberate and calculated to inflict the most pain with the least harm and Riki dutifully counted.
Iason fell into a rhythm.
Riki's nails dug into his palms. His jaw tight. Sweat covered his body. Blood flowed around his ribs and dripped onto the floor.
"Riki. How many," he commanded.
"Thirty-nine."
"Good."
The strikes continued.
At the 47th strike Riki weakly scoffed.
"Was your arm always this weak?"
Riki was shaking, could scarcely breathe around the pain, his eyes wild with agony. It was disrespectful. It was utterly suicidal for someone in his position. And it was, Iason realized, deliberate.
Almost immediately Iason’s resolution evaporated, leaving a cold, hollow cavity in his chest. For the first time in years he was off-balance.
This was not defiance; it was provocation.
He landed the last 3 strikes with quick succession with enough force that Riki finally screamed. A harrowing sound ripped deep from his core.
The silence that followed was heavy and absolute.
Iason stood over his pet. Riki's back a ruin of angry lines, his body shuddering with each ragged inhale.
"Are you satisfied Riki? Did you get what you wanted?"
Riki didn't answer. He showed teeth in a weak smile before dropping his head. Going so far as to do a rude gesture with his hand.
Iason cast down the whip. He removed his bloodied gloves and allowed those to fall to the floor as well.
And then he walked out. Leaving Riki where he lay.
Riki could stay in the playroom for the night. He would ensure Cal knew to watch him so he did not bleed out. He instructed Cal to summon Katze to him in the morning and to wake him when he arrived.
Blondies do not sleep. They do not dream. And Iason was grateful for that fact that night.
*****
"Did you want me to talk to him?" Katze asked when he arrived in the morning. Cal had already served him coffee and a few breakfast scones which Katze ignored.
"You do not seem surprised to be here." Iason observed.
Katze raised his eyebrows for a moment before his features smoothed over but that moment had been enough.
Katze sighed.
"One of my employees passed away 3 days ago. An ironworker named Kav. He was a mongrel."
"And Riki?" Iason's voice was dangerously quiet. "What was his relation to this mongrel?"
Katze chose his words carefully. "Kav was a mentor to many young workers. He was influential to many."
"That is not what I asked." The chill in the room deepened. "Did my pet care for this mongrel?"
Katze didn't look away, but he lowered his posture by a degree.
"Care for him? If you’re asking whether the mongrel mattered to him…yes. Riki respected him. Enough that losing him would deeply shake him." He fidgeted.
“How did he pass?” Iason pressed.
“He had been ill for a long time. He passed last night in his home. Riki was one of the first informed.”
Katze sighed.
“I assumed you already knew," he added after a moment.
"Send me this mongrel's file by this afternoon."
Katze recognized a dismissal when he saw one.
Alone, the memory returned, unbidden, of the resigned grin on Riki’s face.
Iason gripped the coffee mug until the ceramic shattered.
He gathered himself and re-entered the playroom. Riki remained tethered to the floor where Iason had left him.
"I know you are grieving." Iason began.
"Congratulations." Riki huffed weakly from his place on the floor. His voice cracked and dull.
"Was he another lover of yours?" Iason asked coldly.
"What's it matter to you? He's dead."
"It matters–" he said, activating the ring. Riki tried to curl up in pain but the restraints kept him still. "–because you are mine. And I do not share. Not even with the dead. I will not have you thinking of him in my bedroom."
"He was my father!” Riki snapped. Offended by Iason’s insinuation.
Iason released him and Riki reached the end of his endurance. His head fell to the floor.
Riki the Dark did not cry. In all their time together, Riki had screamed, cursed, snarled, threatened but Iason had never seen him openly weep.
He ordered the room’s bio-cleaners to standby, delaying their entry. A part of him knew that to send them in now, while Riki still wept, would be to cross a line even he could not articulate. It was the only mercy he could conceive of: the mercy of leaving a broken thing alone in its ruin. He would review the data later, when the variable of emotion had stabilized.
"Cal. Clean him thoroughly. Put him to bed. Make him comfortable. I'll deal with him when I get home."
Cal appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
"Yes Master Iason."
****
The night had been terrible for Riki and the day hadn't gone much better. With every beat of his heart his back throbbed red hot. He had fallen into an uneasy sleep. He had dreamed of his father seeing him bloody on the floor.
"They're burying you with your leash, my boy," he said. He had turned his head away. Refusing to even look at him.
"Kav."
"–Riki? How's your pain level? You need to drink something," Cal shook him awake. Riki had been moved into a bed at some point. How Cal managed that Riki couldn't recall.
Riki snorted.
It hurt.
Everything hurt.
"I'm going out," Riki muttered, moving to sit up. "Katze’s waiting."
Cal groaned.
"Are you sure Master Riki? You're in bad shape. Are you even allowed out?"
"I'm sure. It's important," he winced.
Cal helped him put a shirt on. The bandage Cal applied actually did a good job of protecting his back.
Katze was waiting outside for him in his car and wordlessly drove him to the outskirts of Tanagura where a few of their coworkers had gathered. They circled around the forge. Smoke rising against the pink and orange skyline.
"Who would like to say a few words?" Katze began.
*****
"I have failed to understand what is mine." Iason later tells Raoul.
“Sometimes I think you enjoy being exasperated. Why else would anyone keep a pet that causes so many issues? You've tethered yourself to a wild beast and you wonder why it bites you.”
“This was new. I have never seen him like this. He invited injury. He provoked punishment.”
I don't know how far he will go. Iason did not say.
"The punishment was administered within parameters," Raoul shrugged. "The bio-readings from the room suggest a controlled application. The injuries, while severe, are not critical. He will heal."
Iason steepled his fingers, his gaze sharpening.
"In your line of work, have you ever had a pet purposefully seek out punishment?"
“The issue there is you are not talking about a pet. You are talking about a mongrel.”
“A mongrel who is now a pet and likely shares many similarities with other pets.” Iason defended.
Raoul threw up his hands. Relenting.
"Very well then. It's not a common behavior in pets but it is a known pattern. To remedy it you must separate the pain from the punishment. You must make punishment something else. Something they do not crave. Such as boredom or isolation. That or eliminate their desire for pain. I'd recommend a thorough mindwipe."
“I would not risk that. Not with him. What are the alternatives?”
“Alternatives would require understanding why he wants it. Pain as penance, as proof of existence, as the only thing he can control? Perhaps he's come to derive too much pleasure from it. Maybe he seeks oblivion. Maybe mongrels don't know how to live without suffering to some degree. Each requires a different approach.”
Iason rejected the first proposal. Boredom or isolation would likely just make Riki more erratic and disobedient.
Just then he got a notification from Cal indicating that Riki had left the apartment. Iason sighed. He finished his drink quickly.
"If you'll excuse me Raoul. I appreciate your insight on the matter."
"Let me guess, it's the mongrel pulling on his leash again," Raoul sighed, waving him off as he left.
*****
The funeral was simple. They left a drink on the table in honor of Kav. They each shared a story or said a few words about the old Mongrel as they passed it around.
When it was Riki's turn he stared into the bottom of the glass.
“He lived his life his own way and died on his own terms. That’s all any Mongrel can hope for.”
Riki closed his eyes. His hands shook as he lifted the glass.
The sun set and the fire died down leaving them bathed in the twinkling lights of the stars overhead.
The other men bid them farewell as they left to return to Ceres. Leaving just Katze and Riki standing over the embers.
“He wasn’t alone. He still was looking after a few boys from the streets. I offered them jobs as runners. It’s what he would have wanted. I had the opportunity to meet him a few times before he got sick. He was a good worker. A kind man. He always did good work.”
“Thank you Katze.”
Katze lit a cigarette and passed it to Riki before lighting his own.
“What would you say about me if I were to die?” Riki asked.
"Death is not freedom, Riki. It’s just death."
“Maybe,” Riki muttered, pulling at his collar. “But it seems quiet.”
Katze kicked the gravel under his shoe.
"I'd say that you were a pain in the ass. Stubborn. That you were gone too soon. The usual stuff people say at funerals." A pause. "I'd say the world didn't deserve you—but that it took you anyway.”
“Would you remember me as a mongrel?”
Katze paused.
“You're a good man Riki. He'd be proud of you.”
Riki didn't look at him.
"What pride can I have as the pet of a blondie?" Riki spoke in that gentle, sad way.
–The hum of an engine interrupted them. Lights turned the corner to reveal Iason’s luxury car.
Katze sighed, and put out his cigarette.
"I'll talk to him,” he said.
Riki didn't look away from the darkened pit of ash.
“Master Iason, it is good of you to come. We’ve just finished the funeral proceedings.”
Iason raised an eyebrow at that. Katze continued in a hushed tone.
"I would not presume to tell you how to manage your affairs sir, but if I may make a suggestion?”
“You may.”
“He’s not himself tonight. I wouldn’t expect obedience from him in this state, sir. Pushing now may complicate matters later.”
“Should you overstep like this again I shall make my displeasure known. Are we clear Katze?” It was said without heat but Katze knew not to push him.
“Yes sir.”
“You may go.”
Iason approached the fire. Riki was beautiful in this light. The dim light of his cigarette lit up his eyes and cast a gentle shadow over his lashes and sharp cheekbones. Despite their complications, the sight of him still made Iason ache.
"It is not my desire to hurt you unnecessarily. I won't tolerate insolence from you but,” Iason began.
Riki didn't interrupt. He flicked his cigarette to the ground. Leaving them in the dark.
"You will mourn," Iason said. "Openly or not is your choice. You will not be punished for it. If you seek pain again, you will inform me first.”
“So you can what? Stop me?” Riki laughed, devoid of mirth.
“So I can loosen your leash. Privately. Or tighten it. Whatever you need. You are my pet.”
"I was his son before I was your pet." Riki dug his feet in.
He waited for Iason’s cold retaliation but instead all he got was a frosty, "Then he was a man of some discernment.”
“He was.” Was all Riki could manage in his moment of confusion.
“Tell me about him.” Iason ordered.
“Pfft. You likely have already read all about him. You nosy bastard.”
Iason reached out to him in the dark and Riki shook him off. Ready for another confrontation.
“Riki,” a warning but it was quickly dropped. “I have no father to compare. I only have Jupiter.”
Riki bit his tongue to stop himself from saying that was a poor substitute. He took a breath.
“Kav was....old. I think he was just born old. I'm surprised he lived as long as he did. Mongrels are lucky to live past 40. People thought he was scary. He had this burn across his face. Said he got it in a mining accident as a kid. He did work for an Onyx once who offered to remove it. He declined and when I asked him about it he responded ‘I've had it for so long I don't know who I'd be without it.’”
“I see. So it is a mongrel behavior to want to suffer,” Iason noted clinically.
It startled a bark of laughter out of Riki.
“Maybe it is.”
“I didn't know mongrels had fathers.”
“We don't generally. Kav didn't care though. All he wanted was a family. Once mongrels age out of the care units we often have nothing and are thrown to the whims of the more established. Kav protected us. I don't think most of us would have seen adulthood without him.”
"I have never heard you talk about your time in the slums. You speak of him as though he was a…meaningful man. If he shaped you, then I will know him."
Riki rubbed his eyes. Thankful for the darkness.
It was the closest thing Riki had ever seen Iason come to approaching empathy. He'd been afraid talking about his father would trigger Iason’s possessive streak.
Riki didn't know what to do with that.
“I'm ready to go home.” Riki announced.
This time when Iason took hold of his shoulder to guide him back to the car, Riki allowed himself to be led.