Dear Readers,
I ask for your understanding.
I'm still trying to figure out where to start again now that I have been proclaimed as truly clear of my sickness. I somehow do not know what to do with all this spare time! It saddens me that after the being at the hospital for too long, I never expected to ever come out. Truly thought I was going to stay there for good. But looks like there were other plans for me.
No. I am not abandoning anything. I just need to sort through whatever it is that I need to sort through.
I have to get my life back on track again.
And hope to laugh again.
And cry again.
And write again.
Thank you for staying with me.
Much yours,
Yuri "Yue-chan" the Eighth
P.S Updates:
My doctor told me at a rehabilitation session that it is normal for out-patients to feel disoriented after being in medical care for a while. That it was common for someone like me who had spent most of my last couple years being under medical attention to have this dead-ended feeling, a lack in direction or aim.
The good news is that I can cope with it, she said, and that I can also manage to, eventually, heal from it of my own accord. I can start with therapy. With doing things little by little as we had began two days ago.
So I ended up reading. I started to write small lines and snippets to get a grasp of my dormant talents. I began seeing friends more and talking to those I had not talked to in a while. I also began reviewing my own drafts. I think I had done great progress. The family have been more than encouraging. And then there are you guys helping to cheer me up as well.
I give you all my thanks.
I'm piecing my self up again bit by bit with your help, thus, I should not disappoint.
After such a long time, here is my latest attempt at getting back on my toes. I think it isn't my best, but then I want to see me doing what I love again. My previous state should never really define what my next years would be.
Again, my thanks to everyone. :)
It had been the few days after.
The schedule today afforded enough time for Katron and his siblings to make their final measurements, helping fit Riki into his costume for the Ball, the lace and train spread out on the floor as the finishing touches of light crystals and other jewels were being carefully sewn in the proper places, much like strategic pieces on a map, the threads used being thin and seemingly nonexistent, endless lines like a spider's web sucking in the gleam and reflecting it beautifully.
The Pet was a bit stiff.
He had a frown set on his face and a scowl that made him seem displeased where in fact there was something else running at the back of his mind. The Alpha Furniture sighed, noticing this, peeking from the side while expertly mending a small fold of fabric with decorative stitching.
"Master, you are being tense. Relax or we can't fit you properly into your costume," said Katron.
"Sorry. Nerves," Riki managed to release his breath, biting his paling lip and clenching his fists to follow the suggestion. "I just feel anxious about all this."
It was Katrice's turn to peek from where he was adding diamonds to the train and spreading it out for a full view and some closer inspection. He noted with a slight incline of his head: "The Ball is not even until three days.
"Why is Master nervous?"
Kantre added in with a humble smile, "Master will again be stunning" while beginning to make the crop necessary for effect on the outfit, a match and contradiction to the costume that stood dressed onto a manikin to one side of the room.
It was Iason's 'Knight Suit' in brilliant shades of blue and white. Already it seemed to tower over him and the Pet's mind could not help but feel overwhelmed. The Blondie was always dashing. Physically and inwardly, he was a very powerful Man. Riki at times still could not understand what was it in him that had made someone so mighty crumble.
"Maybe a few crystal into his hair?"
"Would that not be an excess?"
"We ought to consider weight…"
The triplets were at their element, moving with such precision over their work area, fast enough that at times their gestures were a blur. Yet always gentle. Every touch was calculated and quiet, meticulous. Riki again sighed, shifting his weight to one foot, feeling a bit strained. Katron noticed this as well, perceptive like he always was.
"Are you tired, Master?"
Someone offered a seat almost immediately while another offered him some cool mineral water carefully and measurably poured into one of the finely polished glasses on standby in the work area. He could not help but fix his own eyes at their faces for a moment. They all looked similar but not at all similar the same time. They moved like the liquid he had touched to his lips.
"We should make sure the Master gets enough sleep," it was Kantre who suggested.
The other two nodded in agreement, knowing that the Exclusive will most likely need it in the coming days. Already as of late he had been pressed though the stress was not obvious on his persona.
But more unnecessary doting. Great. As if that really helped him in this case. Nor does it even in the least ease the tension of the situation. The real purpose of the affair after all was to make his existence known even more to the world was it? In the form of a Coming Out where *something* was to be expected of him, and that something to the once-mongrel was not fun. He did not agree with it. The thought that he would have to do it annoyed him simply.
Riki growled out finally, "Who wants to be seen getting fucked by another in front of a crowd anyway?" He flailed a bit then soured down into the chair in annoyance. Back to the reality of it all.
Almost instantaneously, the three Furniture looked at each other, only to have the Trinity smile and return to their mending with an honest shrug.
As if to say it plainly, the nagging answer: the Exclusive. Of course.
Elsewhere Underground, the redhead known as the Subarctic Scarface had just finished his third stick of cigarette in twenty minutes, drumming patient fingers against the surface of his desk, looking outside through the clear glass of his office window.
The world unseen. It had in itself built an empire with its rights to trade and business, on opposing wavelengths using neither good nor evil if not but both to succeed. Greedy like it had always been and cruel, however a monster heeling under the gentle stroke and manipulation of its gods.
He could always imagine Iason this way, could always envision him with Riki warped into his embrace as the Blondie settled his pieces on the table, flicking those useless generals aside or saving the pawns as sacrifices for later. Was it evil to somehow be always terrified of this mental imagery? It may have been a nightmare once but does he really have to feel this certain apprehension even until this day? He is now too far within. Life could never be something that he could go back on from this point. Much like everything else he has done in the name of his 'master' thus far…
"Hey Boss...what's up?"
Katze almost automatically looked up, the expression in his eyes likened to that of the Ice Noble known by many names in the upper echelon of this world. He liked the transformation that work had brought upon the other mongrel. Somehow it suited him to be here. Maybe this was the Slums saving grace? Given the right opportunities and management, they flourished quite handsomely.
The redhead stood up. "I need you to accompany me," said the Ex-Furniture, trapping the cigarette between his lips as he quietly walked his way off his seat, prompting Norris to follow his lead without questions...
The apartments for workers. For years Katze had been managing this productive real estate within the backbone of his seat of control, sending his labour residents and mongrels-turned-workers alike to live a fulfilling life here as they earned their keep down below, the facilities provided almost at par with the ones socialites and other typical 'blue of blood' enjoy. Today, it was Norris' turn to learn all about it. All in accordance to Katze's plans.
"Cozy little paradise, this place. Where are we boss?" the mongrel had been spying around, at the sleek townhouses and taller condominiums, the various amenities that looked costly enough to empty one's paycheck.
Katze walked at a leisurely pace, lighting the cigarette he had pressed to his lips, blowing out a huff and watching the smoke billow through the leaves of the trees they had passed before he retorted, "The equivalent of Apatia for my workers Underground.
"Welcome to Gadens..."
There was one building location East of Gadens where the redhead had overseen the construction himself. A set of flats that he was boasting to be the best in all of the area's units. They had reached an upper floor through an elevator easily, the view of a section of Midas seen to the side just protruding above the location's maintained gardens and towering greenery, its lights already blinking though early, its canopied skies bustling with movement and much urgency. Lively of traffic and business. This was Midas seen through the glass.
By means of a virtual key and scanner, they were able pass through a heavy set of metallic doors, into a large space that made Norris whistle as he stepped past the outer carpets into more carpeting, glancing about in admiration of the quaint cleanliness. Where nothing seemed out of place save he. Katze noted his estimation and divulged a few aesthetic details.
"Six room excluding full piece baths and toilets, a central living and kitchen. Garage is down the side with a connecting private elevator so the unit doesn't have to share with the common parking space although there is plenty across Gadens."
The Ex-Furniture stopped, coolly plucking a terminal from a side slot, pulling out the virtual screen to literally 'turn on' the house's system. With no hint of boastfulness, he added, "Fully centralized. You can even bring a Droid in to do the housework or make use of the Housekeeping - those are options as well."
He had moved to the living area and found the massive sectional, sitting down to finish what remained of his lighted cigarette, this time watching the smoke getting sucked in by the vent of regulators fitted inconspicuously with the interior, the slots camouflaged with the lighting. Some people lived by their daily dosage of poison. Katze had himself in mind with this design. Again, Norris whistled.
"This is swanky and all but mind telling me why you brought me here?"
There came the question. Katze did not respond in kind, merely picked from his pocket a card key which he flicked at the other mongrel, waiting as Norris fidgeted and almost let slip the object before he grasped it carefully in his fingers, figuring what it was for.
"Bring that to the Administration in charge of Gadens. The office is on the Ground Floor. Have them scan you into the Registry."
He didn't understand that. Why was he being told this? Katze automatically clarified, elaborating at the details.
"The market is always busy and we are swamped beyond relief these last months. It would be tedious to have you cutting time because of the travel to and from Ceres. Anyway, this Housing Unit is a company privilege. It's just a short distance away from work so you report in early without delay. The neighborhood is a non-discriminating one, composed of mongrel workers that had been in the Underground for a long time and, likewise, Normals. No one will disturb your privacy here."
"Where'd I get the feeling this isn't just about company privilege? Does this have anything to do with the Boss Master and Riki?"
Norris did his own figuring. He might not be the sharpest knife in the kitchen but his instincts knew the feeling of intentions. Had Katze not told him that day? He understood it despite his muddled state beyond the effects of the cheap alcohol. After seeing Riki for the first time in a while, that was perhaps the first day his head had attained a clarity with things.
Katze smiled, except the coldness of his expressions just changed very little at that. "Everything that is the Black Market has got to do with them. I told you, I want to maintain my position of being able to manipulate everything to keep the peace of their relationship. To maintain it in its unaffected state."
Norris took a seat opposite of the Broker, eyeing the key card and recalling the earlier instructions, but vexed, even by a bit, like a small thorn driven into his mind. He pondered for a few minutes then may have perhaps felt guilt...or sadness. He somehow understood it more.
"That much work huh?" he wondered what Riki had to say, about the change in their lifestyle. Had he foreseen it? Or ordained it? Had he known that this would happen after he had awakened?
Katze had an idea of what might be running in the other mongrel's head, reaching for another cigarette but not lighting that just yet, himself pondering on the fact that since this all started be had not really been the only one tirelessly at work to achieve the peace in the Jupiter Couple's lives. He was not the only one and was in fact merely the worker this side of the cliff, so to speak, and someone does the counterpart of it on the other end.
The current ties he has developed with the other Blondie, Master Raoul in Eos, made it so that his Master Iason had his right hand in the public spotlight, but had another silently delving into the darker ends of this unstable spectrum.
Katze did not want any more 'complications' and he wanted to put his foot down on the issue, to quell it before anything else occurred.
"As I said, and I will not repeat that again after this, bringing a powerful Blondie into the Slums, even if it's due to his Pet's insistence, is a thing I will not want to do again. Because they are both safer where they are now," he spoke the next lines with much caution, but to Norris it was directed in full, as if to tell him that his loyalties will now belong to the Underground and to him as his employer. Need it not be mentioned it will likewise belong to Neu-Jupiter and his Exclusive. "You will not believe how many enemies a Tanagura Blondie, no, Neu-Jupiter has. Most always it's not just a group of people. At times it's a country that refuses to acknowledge the power of the System.
"I want to tie up loose ends, and not give anyone, and I mean anyone" he pins the mongrel with his apathetic glare "the edge over them both again."
That look was something the other knew well. It was a look that said it all, threat included, that if he would be that said loose end, it would be easy for someone like Katze here to take care of. He didn't care of Bison really. This 'Boss' of his only cared to fulfill his role and responsibility.
"Then I move here?"
"Good. You catch on quick."
There went the flame and the usual puff of smoke blown past his lips, Katze crossing his legs and relaxing even more into his seat. A figurative representation, of the comfort he feels to be in his natural haunt, of the power he holds over Iason's Underground. But there was still one detail he needed to seal in place.
"You need to likewise tell Max to leave Ceres," the final nail to the coffin and the look on Norris' face confirmed to the redhead that he had hit the proper spot. The other should have known by now that it was his business to know this among other details. "Isn't he a mechanic? One of my senior mechanics had retired recently. Bring him in with you and see me tomorrow. I may need his expertise."
The faceless agent had seen Katze walking off from the office later into the day, followed by a familiar face whom he later distinguished to be Norris, Norris whom he had not seen since that day. The latter looked confused and unsettled, or was that disbelief? Like his expression when he had likewise been brought here.
So Bison would be taken cared of. Does Riki know? But he had not wanted to ask nor was he intending to make any further contact with them. He was aiming it to be so that any remnants of him in their lives would cease to exist. Because having him in their midst will only disturb things once more. This Katze had made him aware of and he was not about to ruin it for Norris.
Guy had caught the redhead's stare from where the latter had paused on the lower level, his new face looking down at the Broker as Katze simply nodded and, without meeting his stare for long, took his leave towards his waiting Aircar.
'Swear to secrecy. Swear to me. Know this, your life belongs to the Underground now.'
That may as well be the same vow Norris had now sworn himself into. A vow into such a dangerous game.
Even for them it was now a hazard and they were the small pieces on the board that would be either secured or destroyed. Katze had their lives on the line and that in itself should be frightening although Guy had only briefly pondered on it.
He was more attuned to the loneliness this experience had left him all this time, this void inside his soul more than the sum of his rational fears.
Near nightfall and at the end of the day.
Riki was seen moving across the room to meet the waiting Aircar at port, all notification and formalities settled as Katron promptly pulled up the side door for him, the entourage ready for this last minute trip the Pet care scheduled on a whim. Though he wondered briefly, noticing something arguably different about the design of this vehicle he was to go into, looking at the extended length, the seeming compartment behind.
It was apparent that there were no Droid Carriers either. Just him, the Furniture...and this sudden unsettling feeling that seemed to gloom about.
"Is anything of the matter, Master Riki?"
The Exclusive could not place a finger on it but the grimace on his face was clear enough. His eyes turned to Katron who had that beaming glow as per his usual, the gentle butler of the Palace, but something was off wasn't it? What was this feeling he was getting? Had something fluctuated in the System somewhere?
Riki scowled. He frowned and shook his head at the notion. "Master?" But then in a moment, everything was fine again, and the look on Katron's face assured him that there was nothing to worry about.
"Ah never mind. Let's go Kat. I shouldn't keep Norris waiting."
As obediently as was expected, he slipped into the confines of the transport for his scheduled visit, releasing that breath he did not notice but had held for a while, dismissing the earlier premonition to be a part of the tension he was feeling as his Coming Out drew nearer.
Maybe it was that.
Maybe it was just his nerves getting the best of him?
Or was it a foreshadowing?
Of the secrets being kept from him?
