Slave to a Gladiator
By Brit Columbia
Chapter Ten
Fandom: Fake
Pairing: Dee and Ryo
Rating: Teen. The naughtiness is over for now. But more is on the way…
Spoilers: to Volume 7
Disclaimer: These characters belong to Sanami Matoh, not me. I was not paid in any way for the creation of this story.
Summary: Various mishaps happen to a gladiator, a slave, and the supporting cast at Diana's Halloween party.
Author's notes: 1. LEO stands for Law Enforcement Officer. 2. I chose the New York Palace Hotel for my location, even though I've never been there. The function room I'm picturing for this story is the Villard Ballroom, minus most of the tables and chairs.
Thank you to mtemplar, moontatoo, and ladyfeather for beta-ing this.
Slave to a Gladiator
Chapter 10
Ryo took another sip of his wine, wishing that he and Dee could leave. But he knew that wasn't going to happen, since they had only just arrived. And certainly not until after he had managed to flirt with Diana, as requested. He wondered what she expected him to do. Engage her in witty banter? Put his arm around her? Drag her into a corner and molest her? He hoped it wasn't the latter. He wasn't sure how to proceed. But one way or another, he had to do something, as it was the price of getting out of there. His eyes scanned the room, looking for her.
There she was, approaching the mysterious palanquin, which was being carried around the room in a slow promenade on the shoulders of four athletic looking men. Ryo watched as the curtain twitched open a little and a hand emerged from it, extending slowly toward Diana like the hand of God reaching down to Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.
"Kyaaaah!" Diana squealed suddenly. "Berkie! I can't believe you made it!"
"Berkie?" echoed a deep voice at Ryo's shoulder. "Well, it looks like Commissioner Rose has deigned to come, after all."
Ryo turned toward the voice and saw a broad, powerful-looking man of middle height surveying him with sharp, predatory eyes. He wore a quantity of black leather and had a coiled whip dangling from the side of his studded belt. He was accompanied by a pair of similarly-clad young people of indeterminate sex. They both wore dog collars and leashes and peered at Ryo with a combination of jealousy and interest. Ryo noted with aversion that the ends of both of their leashes were wound around the thick, hairy forearm of the man who had spoken to him.
"Excuse me?" he said politely, but with a slight chill to his voice. He didn't take kindly to the way the man was looking at him.
"Commissioner Rose of the NYPD," the man said, gesturing with the cigar that he held in his free hand. "I heard he originally wasn't going to be here tonight."
"I heard that, too." Ryo glanced at the palanquin again. It had been set down, the bearers standing at attention, while Diana exclaimed effusively over 'Berkie'. Ryo would have been happier not to run into the Commissioner tonight of all nights, when he happened to be wearing a slave costume, of all things. Inwardly he cursed Dee, Diana, and finally himself for the series of circumstances that had led to his standing in the New York Palace Hotel, dressed like this. He was glad he had insisted on wearing his jeans to this party. He didn't care how ridiculous Dee said it looked--he didn't want to give the Commissioner an excuse to ogle him any more than he usually did.
"Are you FBI, like Diana?" the man asked.
"No, I'm NYPD," said Ryo shortly, turning away. He didn't want to be ogled by this guy, either.
"Hey, now, don't run away so soon. My name's Niko, Niko Kominos. I'm not in law enforcement like most of Diana's guests tonight. I'm just a businessman. Cigars, among other things. You like cigars?" He snapped his fingers and one of his slaves hastened forward to bow low before Ryo while proffering a small lacquered tray of cigars.
"Please Master, have a cigar," mumbled the slave.
Ryo hesitated, nonplussed. He didn't want to be rude to a poor guy wearing a leash and dog collar. "Um..." he said.
"Go on, take one," Niko urged. "These are the best quality."
"Sorry, I don't smoke," said Ryo.
"Take one anyway. I bet you know someone who does."
Ryo looked uncertainly at the cigars, thinking of the Chief. "Hmm…yes, I do," he said. "Thank you. I think I will."
"Good, good." Niko grinned at him and extended his hand. "What's your name, by the way?"
"Randy MacLean." Ryo shook Niko's hand, wondering where Dee was. Hopefully he had recovered from being knocked down by JJ.
Niko's grip was warm and meaty and he held onto Ryo's hand for just a moment too long. "Say, that's an interesting costume you're wearing," he said. "What are you supposed to be?"
"Um, Roman citizen," said Ryo, taking a quick glance around the room.
"Citizen? You sure? That looks like a whip you've got wrapped around your waist."
"Yes, I'm sure," said Ryo firmly, feeling the color rise to his cheeks.
"Can you guess what I am?" asked Niko, indicating his own costume, which was quite tight-fitting. Abundant chest hair protruded over the top of the costume's square cut neckline.
"Er... no idea."
"Dungeon-Master," said Niko with a self-satisfied smile. He gazed fondly at his two companions, who both simpered under his regard.
"How...um, interesting," murmured Ryo. Where the hell was Dee? Or Diana? Anybody?
Niko leaned in closer to Ryo and tugged on the tassel end of the younger man's whip-belt. "You look like you should be with me tonight," he said in a soft voice, his eyes meeting Ryo's with an unmistakable invitation in them.
Ryo was just opening his mouth to reply, when he heard JJ's voice saying, "Hi, Ryo!" He turned around with relief, much happier to see JJ than he would usually be.
While Ryo had been talking with Niko, matters had been developing over by the palanquin. Rose's two female companions, whom Diana recognized as Pamela from the front desk of the 51st precinct, and Gwen, Berkeley's extremely overpriced hairdresser, had gone into action to secure their territory, which seemed to consist mainly of Berkeley. Pamela was winding the curtains around the palanquin's four posts, and Gwen, a bowl of grapes in her lap, was nestling herself close to Berkeley where he reclined regally among tasseled cushions. Diana's barely hidden irritation at this scene was not quite assuaged by the fact that three of Berkley's four muscular attendants were looking appreciatively at her. In fact, she barely noticed them.
"'Diana the Huntress', I presume," observed Berkeley in a laconic voice. "You look lovely, Dee-Dee."
"Lovely? You don't think this costume makes me look heavy?" Diana preened a little for the benefit of the other two women. She knew her tits and legs were better than either of theirs, even with Gwen's 'surgical enhancements' taken into account.
"Certainly not, and you know it." Berkely's blue eyes showed a spark of amusement.
"Well, I'll accept your compliment, then." Diana flashed him a flirtatious smile and then looked him up and down. "Hmm. Now, you would be...Caesar, naturally."
"Naturally. 'The foremost man of all this world', my dear," said Berkeley with a smile. "At least, I aspire to be, in your eyes."
"My lord 'Caesar', can you make some room for me?" Pamela broke in, climbing onto the litter to join the Commissioner and Gwen. She pressed her body up against his suggestively, and rested one forearm on his broad chest. Catching Gwen's eye, she opened her mouth for a grape, and Gwen obliged her by slowly pushing one in. Pamela licked Gwen's fingers, while Berkeley watched with interest. Both girls looked at Diana and giggled.
Diana gave them a grim smile. Bitches. They had no idea who they were dealing with. They would, though, and before the night was very much older. She promised herself that.
"Let me get you all some drinks," she said sweetly.
On her way to the small bar that was set up opposite the help-yourself drinks table, she had passed JJ, who was carrying a large crystal punchbowl and staggering slightly. Was the young sharpshooter already tipsy? Diana had taken a hard look at him as he went by. His eyes were fixed keenly on one person -- Ryo. He was clearly up to no good.
JJ reminded Diana of nothing more than one of those yappy little cute-as-a-button dogs that ran about madly, alternately licking people's hands and snapping at their heels. Every time she saw him, she wanted to slap duct tape over his mouth and lock him in a closet. The only time she ever felt any respect for him was when he had a rifle in his hands.
"Oh, JJ," she called in a voice that dripped saccharine.
He stopped, and actually blanched at the sight of her, which made her want to roll her eyes. Just because she had stuffed him into the rat-infested crawl-space under a house once, for crying out loud. If he had an ounce of red blood in him, he would just get over it already.
"Uh, hi Diana."
"Listen sweetie-pie, I don't know where you're going with that punchbowl or what you intend to do with it - " she held up a hand to forestall his protestations of innocence - "and I don't want to know. All I wanna say is that if you somehow manage to break that thing, the hotel will bill me an arm and a leg for it and you can bet the amount will make my credit card weep tears of blood. And if that happens...I will hunt you down and make you weep tears of blood. Are we on the same page here?"
"Uh...totally." JJ began backing away nervously.
"Oh goody. Well enjoy the party and stay out of trouble!" Diana abruptly turned away and resumed her journey to the bar, confident that she had delivered her message.
&.&.&.&.&.&.&
"Hi JJ," said Ryo. "Nice costume. Was that Drake I saw earlier dressed as Batman?"
"Yeah, it was," JJ replied with a big smile. "D'you know where he is? I seem to have lost him and I want him to try this absolutely delish punch."
"Well, you didn't have to bring him the whole bowl," said Ryo, eyeing it dubiously. "One glass would've probably been just fine. I could help...." He trailed off as he realized that JJ was not only not listening to him, but in fact his attention was fixed on a point somewhere behind him, the big smile fading rapidly from his face. Ryo turned around to look and was just in time to catch sight of 'Batman' disappearing through the door that led to the lobby with his arm around a curvaceous woman wearing black latex and cat ears. Perhaps Drake was in luck tonight, Ryo thought, feeling happy for him. His co-worker had recently been complaining about how he hadn't had a date for almost two months.
Ryo turned back to JJ who suddenly seemed to be crackling with restless energy.
"Ryo, hold this for a minute," he said, his eyes still on the velvet curtain. Thrusting the punch bowl abruptly in Ryo's direction, he took off across the floor. Ryo made a sound of dismay as punch sloshed all over his jeans and sandals, but JJ was already too far away to notice.
Niko took the punch bowl away from a shocked-looking Ryo, and let go of his slaves' leashes. "Slaves," he commanded, pointing at Ryo's feet. "Lick his sandals clean!"
"Yes, Master!" they chorused.
Ryo took an alarmed step backwards, but he wasn't fast enough. In a flash, he had a slave clinging to each ankle, and he felt their wet tongues licking and slurping at his feet. Not only was it incredibly embarrassing to have this happening in front of everybody, but it tickled as well. "Stop that!" he protested. "Let go of me, right now, please!"
The slaves ignored him and kept licking. Niko watched, his eyes heavy-lidded with pleasure. "Randy," he said in a low voice, "they'll lick any part of you I tell them to. Wouldn't you like to come home with me?"
"No, I would not," spluttered Ryo indignantly, struggling to free himself from the grip of the slaves. He didn't want to harm them if it could possibly be avoided. "Please call them off before I do something we might all regret!"
At that moment, a familiar voice snarled, "What the hell?" and suddenly a pair of strong hands descended onto the bent necks of both slaves, hauling them upright and practically off their feet by their collars.
"Dee, don't hurt them," Ryo said quickly, his eyes flashing a quick look of gratitude at his lover.
"No? Whatever. They'd probably like it, I bet!" Dee glared from one to the other. The one on the left was nodding and quivering all over, his--or was it her?-- eyes tightly closed. The one on the right was turning blue, his tongue still protruding.
"Put them down," said Ryo urgently. "That one's choking, I think..."
"Unhand my slaves immediately!' boomed Niko from behind Dee, and Ryo was in a position to see Dee's face light with sudden sharp anticipation mingled with a kind of unholy pleasure. In Ryo's experience, confrontations were a necessary evil in the average workday of an LEO, but he nonetheless viewed them as something to be avoided whenever possible in one's personal life. He was still, after all this time, baffled by the way that Dee seemed to enjoy getting into fights and arguments with just about everybody.
With a simultaneous flick of both wrists, Dee sent the two slaves sprawling off to either side of him, and turned slowly around to face whichever sonofabitch had sicced his 'slaves' on Ryo. Nobody was allowed to put their tongue anywhere on Ryo, except he himself. He would have loved to make that claim out loud, but they had attracted a small crowd by that time which may or may not have contained observers of the co-worker variety, so he knew he'd better not.
What he said instead was, "Who the fuck are you?"
"Niko Kominos, and I don't need to ask who you are because the answer is clear. You're a bully." Niko squared up to Dee, his chin thrust out belligerently.
"Yeah, I'm a big meanie, here to spoil all your fun. But that's better than what you are, which is a wannabe leather-dom with human accessories." Dee jabbed two fingers hard into Niko's chest. "I find my partner soaked with punch and a social retard like you holding the fucking punch bowl. If that's not a 'smoking gun', I don't know what is."
At those words, both slaves started protesting passionately from where they sat on the floor, waving their hands around and pointing in the direction of the lobby. Niko was also declaiming loudly, and even Ryo was trying to make himself heard. Dee couldn't understand anything that anyone was saying, and consequently found himself feeling almost grateful when a piercing female voice screeched, "QUIET!" at close range, making everyone jump. Niko nearly dropped the punch bowl.
Diana stood there, her mouth a hard line and her eyes blazing. When she was sure she had their undivided attention, her threatening expression vanished between one second and the next, leaving her beaming at everyone in an enchantingly feminine way. Ryo shuddered. It was really quite disconcerting when she did that. Effective, though. Dee and Niko had abandoned their macho posturing and were both looking back at Diana warily.
"You naughty children," she crooned, shaking a finger at them. "Don't spoil my nice party by fighting and making a scene, or I'll be forced to do a teensy-weensy, ever-so-slightly violent martial arts demonstration. All in good fun, of course! But you probably wouldn't like that, would you?"
Everyone grumbled assent. The slaves got to their feet and Dee and Niko stepped back from one another.
"Good!" said Diana. "Niko, darling, would you like me to introduce you to Commissioner Berkeley Rose? Berkie is a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to cigars. I'm sure you two would have a lovely conversation."
"Oh yes, I'd love to meet him," said Niko eagerly, snapping his fingers for his slaves to approach. One of them picked up the tray of cigars he had discarded earlier when he had been ordered to lick Ryo's feet. The other one glanced shyly at Dee.
Diana turned to where a young bartender stood waiting with a tray of drinks. "Let's go, Todd," she said, jerking her head toward the palanquin. As she passed Ryo, she stopped and laid a compassionate hand on his cheek, whispering, "Don't leave yet, sweetie. I'll be right back to help you out. By the way, he's watching. Kiss me, okay?"
"Huh? Who? Dee?" Ryo looked at her uncomprehendingly, and failed, in his confusion, to deliver the asked-for kiss.
Diana sighed. "The guy I'm after, pretty boy. But I guess we should get you cleaned up first, so we can get your mind back on my little problem, instead of your wet jeans. Ta-ta for now, but get ready to pucker up when I get back, hmm?" She winked and followed Todd.
"Oh right.... Sorry," Ryo called after her weakly. Dammit, he had wanted to use this as an excuse to leave, but now Diana was calling him on his promise to help her snag some guy. This night was NOT going well.
He looked down despairingly at his sticky, wet jeans, wishing he had a change of clothing. He wondered if any of the hotel gift shops were open, and if they sold trousers. He looked up and found Dee's eyes on him.
"Bad luck, huh, dude?"
Ryo just nodded. "Could you believe that guy? Sometimes I feel like I'm a weirdo-magnet."
"It's Halloween, babe. Look around you. Weirdo city. Uh-oh, here comes another one."
Ryo turned his head to follow Dee's line of sight. The brooding rugby player was bearing down on them purposefully, his fists clenched.
&.&.&.&.&.&.&
~end of Chapter Ten~
The next chapter will be published here in a week. If you want to read Chapter 11 right now, go to my homepage, which is in my profile. I always publish on my homepage at least one week before I publish anywhere else.
Thank you very much for reading my story! If you like this one, then please have a look at some of my other Fake fics as well.
Take care,
Brit