Riki and Bean returned to the whore-house in Ranaya Uugo just after sunrise, leaving Yiela in the car this time, and sure enough the guard named Ren that Jana had described greeted them.

"You have a whore named Jana here?"

"He's just finishing up, you'll have to wait."

"Okay." Riki leaned against the counter. This guy was obviously better educated than the night guard he had spoken to previously. He had removed his tunic and cape and was now in a tight tank-top and slacks. He'd also exchanged the large, Blondie sunglasses for his usual mongrel shades. "Say, I was wondering if you could help me find out about some new merchandise that came in recently?"

"We can't discuss products or clients."

"Oh, that's a shame." Riki stretched, causing his shirt to rise and scrapped his nails against his suddenly bare midriff. "Because I heard sometimes you guys did favors and I…like to watch." He slid his hand under his shirt and caressed himself. "But if it's against the rules."

Ren's eyes followed the path of Riki's hand. "You heard that, huh?"

"Yeah. I heard you guys don't get to sample the merchandise either, unless someone else pays for it." Riki's hand slowly moved down to his crotch. "You're a big guy, just thinking about you nailing some whore makes me really…hot."

The guard stood so fast that his chair fell backwards onto the floor, but then he recovered and glanced around. "How much are you…" He looked around. "Willing to pay?"

Riki shrugged seductively. "Depends on how good the information is."

Ren swallowed several times, convulsively as his lust wared with his duty. "You requested Jana."

"Yeah."

"Is…that who you'd pay for?"

"I hear he's good."

"Yeah, yeah." Ren wet his lips. "He's one of our best sellers."

"So…" Riki backed up, dropped down on one of the client benches and let both legs slide wide to give the guy a good view of his lower extremities, fairly obvious even in the tailored slacks. "Can you help me out?"

"I can take you inside the room," Ren glanced around. "My partner will be back any minute from rounds.

"Inside is good, but what about my information?"

The guard glanced at his screens and one showed a green light over Jana's cell, he nodded. "They must be done. What were you asking about?"

"A really cute blonde boy was brought in a few days ago, real sweet lookin'. I need the names of those who used him?"

"Why?"

Riki shrugged. "I heard he got taken out of here by a Blondie but before he was…" Riki lazily caressed his inner thigh. "They were real thorough with him. I really like guys who are…thorough."

Ren wet his lips and typed some commands into his console, then slid a small data disc into it. "You'll have to pay first."

Riki didn't like the sound of that, he still didn't have any information. "How do I know you can…help me with what I need?"

"I got your info right here, but you'd have to pay for at least the Level three package." When Riki stared him down, the guard shrugged. "I can't enter that room unless Level three or higher is asked for."

"Pay him," Riki told Bean, who stepped forward and offered his credit stick.

The second guard arrived just as Ren stepped out of the booth and they walked through the secured door leading to the cells. They stopped by Jana's room and the guard unlocked the door, which automatically locked again once they were inside.

Jana was still lying on the bed and was slow to move, proving that his last client had been rough with him. When he turned, and saw Riki, tears filled his eyes. "Y…you came back."

Riki ignored him and held out his hand to the guard. "He's all yours, but I get my information first."

"Sure." Ren handed Riki the data disc. "But you'll need the access code to open in, which I'll give you once we've covered your end of the deal."

Riki probably could have just hacked the code, but a deal was a deal and Jana said he would be fine with it. He moved over to the one chair in the corner and sat down. "Have at it."

Ren's eyes gleamed as he turned to Jana whose eyes widened slightly in fear, for the man was abnormally large, but then he crawled onto the bed resigned.

Bean stood passively beside Riki, who tried to ignore the sounds of sex as the giant took Jana hard and fast, once, then a second time. When Ren seemed eager to go for a third, Riki rose and grabbed his shoulder. "I think that settles our bill," he warned. "The code."

Ren tried to toss Riki back, eager now that he had such sweet meat under him to continue. "I'm not done!"

It's not enough. Iason's words entered Riki's mind and he recalled all the times the Blondie had exhausted him with his zealousness. Jana was barely moving at this point, and Riki understood that feeling too. He grabbed a whip off the wall and snapped it around Ren's neck, causing the man to choke and rear backwards.

"I say you're done." With a hard pull, he wrenched the guard away from Jana and dropped him to the floor. Pulling the whip tighter around Ren's neck Riki dropped a foot to the man's exposed crotch and hovered over him. "The code. Now!"

"F…five, six…four…three, nine."

"Our deal is done, now, you understand?" Riki continued. "You got what you wanted, and so did I." His foot pressed harder and Ren cried out. "You do not want to peruse this further. I can make you disappear with a single phone call and not one person will miss you. Are we clear?"

Ren managed to nod through the pain and lack of oxygen.

Riki stepped away and let the whip drop from his hands. "Good." He glanced back at Jana who managed to sit up, though his body was physically shaking. "I guess I owe you too." He stepped over the guard, walked to the bed and grabbed Jana by the hair, he bent down as if he was going to kiss him, and instead stuck a finger in the former pet's ass.

Jana's eyes widened in shock.

"Now, we're even."

Riki straightened, relieved the giant believed his bluff, and moved to the door. He glanced at Ren who was still working on getting to his knees. "Well, come on, unless you want to be found in here on your own."

Ren managed to stand and shakily pulled on his clothes, before moving to the door and swiping it open with his pass. He glanced at Riki who's dark glasses hid his gaze and yet, the guard felt himself shrink against it, then all three stepped out and let the door shut behind them.

With a trembling hand, Jana reached back and pulled out the administrator's pass card that Riki had shoved in him. It would open every door in the facility without sending up an alarm, it would even give him access to a vehicle. Tears streamed down his face.

"Thank you, Riki."

Once they were back in the vehicle Riki opened the back door of the car and spoke to Bean. "Get in."

Bean paused. Wouldn't The Pet need him to drive them back to Eos? "Why?"

Instead of answering, Riki shoved him in and closed the door. Riki then got into the driver's side and bent down over the front instrument panel as Bean leaned forward over the seats.

"What are you doing?" His eyes widened as the engine started and Riki entered a destination code into the auto-drive function. "How did you access…?"

Riki smirked at him in the mirror. "I've been hot wiring cars since before you were born, kid."

"Then…then why did you need me to come?"

"Slide over here, Yiela," Riki instructed as he stepped back out of the car. "You don't have to touch anything, it will drive on its own."

Yiela complied and moved from the passenger's seat to the driver's seat as Riki opened the back door and slid in beside Bean.

"Drive," Riki instructed and the vehicle began to move. Riki leaned forward and activated the privacy screen between them and the front.

"Where are we going?" Bean demanded, since Yiela was in the front he did not have to worry about her hitting him again.

"Drink?" Riki asked as he programmed the in-car bar and a moment later a slot in front of him produced a glass of amber liquid.

"No."

"Okay." Riki pulled out the data console that Iason had given him and popped the disc in to read the three profiles. "Well, these assholes look mean, don't they?" He showed the screen to Bean who looked away, uneasily.

"It isn't my fault, what they did," he muttered. "They had a right to do it, they paid for Cal and…"

"Cal never should have been there to be paid for. You put him there."

Bean had foolishly hoped that the had been forgiven, since Riki had requested his help with so many things. He tried to maintain his calm and reached into his training; a Furniture was prepared to handle any situation.

"What are you going to do now?"

"It's not what I'm gonna do, it's what you're gonna do."

Bean's eyes widened. "I'm not going to do anything! Look, we had better return home. Master Iason will surely be worried and…"

Riki tossed the small console at him. "Call them."

"W…what?"

"Call these men and tell them you have a special deal for them."

"I can't lie to…"

"You've lied before."

"What are you going to do to them?"

"Call them and tell them you've got merchandise that you need to sell, that's too hot for the brothels. Tell them to meet you…" Riki inputted coordinates into the onboard console in front of them. "Here in two hours if they're interested."

Bean's eyebrows rose. "Why here?"

"Just do it!" Riki snapped.

"If I do this, then can we go home?"

Riki sipped his drink and remained silent.

Bean made the calls over his wrist unit, but only managed to get through to two of the men, so he left a message for the third. He tried not be concerned that they all saw his face and would be able to identify him. How would he explain all of this to Master Iason? What if the men filed a complaint and managed to confirm he worked for a Blondie? Was The Pet doing all of this to frighten him, or was Riki going to allow those men to do horrible things to him? He found that he did not have the courage to ask.

"I don't understand," Bean said after he disconnected the last call. "I have apologized. I have done everything you asked! I helped you find these men and I will never say a word to Master Iason about it, I promise!"

"It's not enough." Riki suddenly recalled how often Iason had said those words to him; only now did he come to understand them. True satisfaction was sometimes difficult to achieve, as was true justice.

"It's not my fault! That woman even s…said that it was you who did this to me! I didn't know what I was doing! It isn't my fault! You made me fall in love with you!"

"I thought about that," Riki admitted and it had allowed him a little sympathy and maybe even some guilt towards Bean, but then he remembered what the Queen had said about his unique gift. "The thing is, I can't make anyone fall in love with me."

"B…but that was it, that was how I felt…I…"

"No. You hated me, Bean. You treated me like everyone else did, worse sometimes, but with the same disgust, the same prejudice. You only ever referred to me as The Pet and you pointed out your opinion of me at every opportunity."

Bean flushed. "No!" He looked out the window on his side, unable to face the cold unbreakable darkness of Riki's eyes, and only then realized that the vehicle was running in stealth mode and the windows were covered with armored shields, preventing anyone from seeing in or out. For some reason, this made him more afraid. "I have never treated you unfairly! I obeyed all the rules of etiquette when dealing with a pet and…"

"Exactly," Riki replied. "You never deviated from the protocol of how to handle a pet. You never showed favoritism, you never tried to win my respect…"

"A Furniture cannot do any of those things with a pet!"

"You never looked at me with anything other than hatred or annoyance," Riki continued as if there had been no interruption. "How can you expect anyone to believe that some kind of love spell was cast over you?"

"I… thought about you! I was attracted to you!" Bean cried, desperate to make Riki see reason, to excuse his behavior. "As Furniture, I shouldn't have been, but I was and…and that had to be because of your power!"

"You told Iason you did what you did to Cal because you thought he was being inappropriate toward me."

"Yes, I…I did say that, and that was true! Cal was overly friendly with you and far more attached than any Furniture should be with a pet…"

"But you weren't anything like that and yet you say you were in love with me."

B…because I was jealous and I was afraid of what Master Iason would say because he is so very possessive of you and…and I was unable to see reason because of those feelings! It was like I was in a trance or…"

Riki moved and suddenly trapped Bean against the seat with his arms. "Then kiss me."

"W…what?"

"Now's your chance. Kiss me. I won't tell Iason, go ahead. Show me how much you want me."

"P…P…Pardon me?" What was this? Why was Riki doing this? What was happening? "Why are you doing this?"

"Are you afraid?"

"Of course, I'm afraid! You won't tell me where we're going or what you plan to do to me!"

"What does it matter if you can be with the one you love? If you have the chance to do the things you say you thought about? What did you think about, Bean? Did you think about me kissing you? Or maybe you wanted to suck me off so I could fuck you hard and fast?"

"I…I…."

"Whatever this power I have is, it has nothing to do with love." He had also spoken with Yiela more about the full concept of what his power could do and she confirmed his suspicions. "It can cause people to like me, to want to be around me, to want my respect and attention. It might even be used to persuade someone to trust me, but it has nothing to do with love." Riki's obsidian eyes bore into Bean's frightened ones. "I grew up in Ceres, I know when someone wants me, but I don't see lust, or passion in your eyes. I don't even see like, Bean. All I see is fear."

Bean started to shake.

"You weren't afraid of your feelings for me, if you were you would have asked to be dismissed, or you would have acted more cordially, so that Iason wouldn't suspect anything. You knew that Iason would kill you if he thought you felt that way about me."

"I…I did know. I was afraid and…"

"Cal was the perfect barrier between you and me. Iason would never suspect you felt that way about me as long as Cal was there, because I was close to Cal and if Iason was going to suspect anyone it would be him. Don't you see? You ruined the best chance you had to keep your secret by getting rid of Cal."

Bean turned pale as he realized that Riki was much smarter than he had given him credit for and he scrambled to recover. "I didn't see it that way. Perhaps you're right but my thinking was muddled. It was muddled because of what you were doing to me. I clearly wasn't thinking straight and…"

"Furniture hears and sees everything, Bean, I learned that the hard way. You got rid of Cal, while we were away because you saw the opportunity to do so."

"No…"

"You got rid of him because you were afraid he would take over your position and you'd be dismissed."

"That wasn't…"

"You hated Cal as much as you hated me, probably more. You couldn't give up the status of being Iason Mink's Furniture, and when Cal came back you saw that you weren't needed, that you were impractical and insignificant next to him. You saw that you were becoming obsolete."

"No! I am better than him!" Bean snarled and then realized his mistake and quickly back pedaled. "I…I mean…My qualifications are newer, more advanced than Cal's. I am the highest rated Furniture in Eos so…so I had no reason to be threatened by him."

Riki wished he could be surprised at the confidence, greed and malice that was riddled through someone so young, but he had not been much better as a kid growing up in Ceres. He had never turned on one of his own, unless it was justified, and never hurt another unless it was in self-defense, but he knew other kids that had. Other kids who would steal, betray and even kill their closest ally if it meant getting what they wanted.

He thought, for a very brief moment, of Kirie. Yeah, youth had nothing to do with wickedness, but Bean's actions had not been justified, or in reaction to a personal assault, and that was what pissed Riki off the most. Cal had done nothing to deserve such punishment, he had treated Bean with respect and kindness after he returned, which couldn't have been easy.

"You overheard me talking to Iason about my power when we got back," Riki continued. "And you decided to use it to your advantage. You realized that you had tossed away the perfect opportunity to get rid of Cal by accusing him of a relationship that Iason wouldn't tolerate, so you had to find another reason. You hadn't expected Iason to fly into a rage the way he had, you thought he would excuse your behavior because it would have been my fault."

"No," Bean whispered and literally tried to shrink away from Riki as the truth was fully revealed.

"It's impossible for Furniture to feel sexual desire, Bean," Riki reminded. "You know that. I know that. I learned the hard way, when I had one of you sucking me off for hours at a time and that Furniture never, ever showed even a remotely physical response."

"It…it was you..."

"You sold Cal to rapists for your own ambition."

Unable to take it anymore, Bean shoved Riki away from him, tried to open the door but found it locked. "So what if I did!" he spat "I am Master Mink's Furniture! He picked me. Me! All I have ever worked for are Jades, the lowest possible Elites next to the Onyx and they are appropriately grouped. They are lazy and arrogant and narcissistic! They have no ambition, no power, but Iason Mink is a Blondie, he is the Blondie and he picked me!"

Riki settled back in his seat. "You were only ever a temporary fixture, Bean. Cal was always going to come back, but then, Iason even made accommodation when he did so you wouldn't have to leave. You betrayed his kindness with brutality and deception."

Bean blinked, surprised by the mongrel's eloquence and struggled to find a foothold in the conversation, something, anything that would save him from his certain doom. "You'll be punished," he warned. "Whatever you do to me Master Mink will discover and you will be punished! He'll find out about what you did, about the administrator at Ranaya Uugo and breaking the rules. He'll find out you contacted those men and you'll be responsible for anything that happens to them. You'll die for that! They'll terminate you!"

"Actually, they won't. No one would think I was a pet dressed like this, and they'd never be able to describe Yiela, she's just a whore. You are the Furniture that sold Cal, so they'll recognize your face and name. It's your code that requisitioned this car, voice that requested the coordinates and your credit that the payment at Ranaya Uugo was made with." Riki leaned towards him again and expertly slipped off the boy's wrist unit. "And if they find this, they'll know that you contacted the men that hurt Cal."

Bean's skin turned the colour of ash. "I…But I…I didn't. It was you! You told me to…to do it!"

"Since when does Furniture listen to a pet?"

Realizing how very badly things had gone for him, Bean tried to release the door locks, using his hands, his fists and his voice, demanding to be released.

Riki watched the frantic boy with a dark expression, then flipped out a vibro-blade. "Iason told me to punish you, so that's what I'm gonna do."

"No! NO!" Bean screamed, and again tried to get out of the car, but Riki secured him in a head lock within seconds. "Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me!"

"I'm not gonna kill you, Bean." Riki whispered close in his ear. "But this will hurt." He swiped the blade across Bean's forehead to form a small symbol; A dot within a triangle with a tail.

Bean cried out in pain, but it was over almost immediately and he was released. He cowered against the door, holding his forehead and trying to ignore the smell of his own burned flesh. There was no blood, a vibro-blade cauterized as it cut. "W…what are you g…going to do?"

"You may think mongrels are shit, even more than pets, but we have a code. When we make a deal, we never break it. Those who break deals are considered Screns and Screns are where I come from, they're the very bottom of the food chain." Riki switched off the knife, pocketed it and poked Bean's burned forehead. "This is your new home, Scren."

The car slowed to a stop and Riki reached across to open Bean's door, which was now unlocked. "Get out."

Bean glanced out at the park where several rough looking mongrels were now glancing cautiously at the fancy vehicle. They were in Ceres! Riki meant to leave him here?

"You can't do this!" Bean croaked, even as Riki shoved him from behind. He fell sideways through the door onto the hard, cold ground. "No! No! I don't belong here!"

Riki used his foot to shove Bean away as he tried to crawl back into the vehicle. "No one fucking belongs here!" he snarled.

"I…I'm a child! I'm just a child!"

Bean's young crying face almost, almost gave Riki pause, but then he thought of Cal, sweet seemingly innocent Cal. He knew that Cal was also not a child, but that boy would never hurt anyone. He thought of Cal's smile, his laugh when Riki was teaching him to swim. He thought of how Cal cried in relief when Riki finally woke up after the incident in Dana Bahn and how he always made Riki chocolate cake in an effort to keep the peace.

"No! You hurt a child! A good kid, just to keep your new status in Eos. You betrayed Iason's trust, you broke the deal you made when you became Furniture."

"You said you wouldn't hurt me!"

"I said I wouldn't kill you." Leaving Bean here, marked as a deal-breaker would be far, far worse than death.

"Please!" Bean cried as Riki closed the door, but released the shade on the window so he could lower it just enough so that Bean could hear him, but the approaching mongrels would not see his face. "You can't do this to me! I'm Furniture! I have a Master! You can't do this!"

"I can't do anything to you in your world, but this is my world."

Riki had realized that any punishment he used in Tanagura for Bean may reflect badly on Iason, even though he had been given permission to deal with it. Blondies loved their deceit and debauchery but only in private. They didn't approve of public scandals and he suspected that Bean was counting on that as a reason to remain with Iason; or at least not be terminated.

"Here, I'm not a pet, but a leader. I'm the top of the food chain, a fucking legend, and one thing you never do to Riki the Dark is fuck with his gang. That's a rule. Cal isn't a member of Bison, but he's still one of mine and you hurt what's mine."

"R…Riki, please!" Bean clawed at the window. "I…You can't do this! Why are you doing this?"

"Because you broke a deal, Bean. You broke your own rules and you hurt someone I care about. So now you get to pay with the only currency in Ceres. Here, when you break the rules, everyone gets to collect."

Bean stood up and pounded on the car window. "This isn't you!" he cried. "You're a kind person, you…you're a good person, you…you're a…a Prince!"

"Nah, I'm just a street rat in fancy clothes."

Riki reengaged the window shield as he lowered the privacy shield between the back and front. He poured two drinks and passed them through to Yiela who had remained in the driver's seat.

"Move over," he requested and once she had done so he squeezed his slim body over the seats and dropped into her previous spot.

"Is this your will, Maku?" she asked as he switched the front console to a rear view of the car and watched as four Mongrels descended on the young, screaming Furniture.

Riki didn't have the energy to correct her and he refused to allow even a hint of sympathy or remorse for what was about to happen. "Yeah," he stated as he programmed their new destination and instructed it to drive. "This is on me."

"Does leaving the boy there fulfill your need for justice?"

"He's not a boy." None of them were, Riki thought sadly. No one remained a child on Amoï for very long at all. "He made his choices as an adult, so he has to face them as one."

"Your laws are very harsh."

"Life is harsh." He picked up one of the drinks, tossed it back, and then handed the other one to her. "Anyone that tells you different is selling you something."

Yiela accepted the glass, and did as he had done. White hot liquid slid down her throat and almost made her gasp, but she maintained her composure. "Is it done then? Your quest for justice?"

"No." Riki was suddenly very, very tired, and for some reason just wanted to go home, but he had to finish this. "One more stop."

"Will the other boy, the one who was victimized, appreciate what you do for him?"

"He won't know." He glanced at her. "You can't tell him, ever. You can't tell anyone about what we did tonight. Understand?"

"I am for you," she repeated calmly, then paused. "May I touch you?"

He glanced at her suspiciously. "Why?"

"Just for a moment?"

"Uh…okay." Riki tensed automatically, but she only put her hand on his arm, squeezed gently.

"You are a good man, Riki." She used his name deliberately and with a gentle voice.

"I'm not…I'm not good, I'm…"

"You are a champion for your people, even when the actions you must take are difficult on you and against your true heart."

"Do you not understand what I've done? Do you know what those people will do to Bean, now that I've marked him and left him there? Do you get how much he will suffer?"

"As your friend suffered at the hands of others? As your friend was a victim of injustice, so now will his predator be a victim in much the same way?"

Riki stared at her, suddenly appalled that she did seem to understand, and more so that she knew he was responsible for it. He thought of how good and kind the people of Avalon seemed to be, when they weren't holding him captive anyway. Granted his time there had not been ideal, but he could see the great differences in their culture. People there were happy, satisfied with their lives. Everything was roses on Avalon, wasn't it? How must he look to her then, as a man who was kept as a pet and who passed judgement others so coldly.

He wanted to lower his eyes but his pride wouldn't allow it. "You must think I'm a monster."

She shook her head. "No. I think of you as a Prince, and one day, a King."

"How can you say that after the things you've seen here? After what you've seen me do and say and…be here?"

"You are who you must be," she returned softly. "I am proud of you, Riki, as your parents would be proud. You have had a harsh and challenging life, yet you have maintained your pride and integrity. Rather than shun those around you and levy mistrust because of your circumstance, you allow yourself to care about people and you are loyal to them. You understand the meaning of justice and you are not frightened of taking the responsibility to ensure it is done. You do not wish to hear it, but all of that, all that you, are is what will make you a great King."

Riki blinked rapidly, appalled at the sudden moisture in his eyes and finally looked ahead. He snatched his arm away from her hand. "I'm not a King. I'm a pet. I'm not going back to Avalon so you can quit your bullshit right now."

"I am unsure how an animal's excrement pertains to our conversation, however, I will hold my tongue on the matter if it is your wish, as I will on all matters between us. I am for you, Maku, and only by your leave may I speak or take action."

"I don't want a slave!"

"No. I asked for this, I was not persuaded to be here. I am for you as I wish to be, as the Gods wished me to be."

"There is no God. Jupiter is the only God here."

Yiela faced the front serenely. "God is not a machine."

"How do you know?" he challenged.

She smiled. "Perhaps one day we will both learn that answer."

"Yeah," Riki stared at the viewer, pushed the idea that Bean was dragged off to be beaten, raped, or possibly both, out of his head. He doubted that the Furniture would survive the night, and he really didn't care, but Bean was pretty smart and manipulative so maybe he'd manage it anyways.