Chapter Five
Waiting For You
—
"You enjoyed Mimea without my permission," Iason calmly scolded. "Did you really think you could wrap up everything so cleanly after I found out?" He grasped onto Riki's chin. "You are my pet and mine alone. I'll pound that fact into the marrow of your bones."
Pain. Excruciating pain pulsed through Riki's crotch and radiated through various parts of his body through his nervous system. His body convulsed uncontrollably, every muscle falling victim to the electrical shocks of torture. The currents raced through him until every fibre of him was screaming in pain.
"Enough! Won't do it...ever again! Please!" he begged, hating that he had to, but needed to in hopes of ceasing his torment. His pleading died down into screams as the pain seemed to increase.
"You are my pet," Iason whispered frigidly.
—
Riki sat up, his scream strangling his airway and causing him to go into a coughing fit as his hands instinctually flew to his crotch to attempt to ease the pain.
"Riki!" Ryker yelled, hurrying over from his sleeping spot as he heard his big brother screaming. "Riki, what's wrong?" He jumped onto the edge of his bed and grasped onto the hacking sibling's shoulders. "Hey, hey, breathe!"
Finally calming down and gaining his breathing pattern, Riki grasped onto Ryker's shoulder as he panted briefly. "S...sorry..."
"It's OK," Ryker softly assured, patting his nude tanned back. "You all right? You were screaming pretty loudly."
"Just...another nightmare," Riki dismissed, shuddering at the lingering feeling of the pet ring on his penis. It was almost as if it were still there. He winced, running his hand to his head. "Ugg..."
"Another headache?" Ryker guessed, tapping his forehead to Riki's. "And you're burning up. Stupid brother."
Riki grinned mildly through his pain. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm just the worst."
"I'm losing sleep cuz of you! It's one of my only nights off!" Ryker lamented, hurrying away to get the headache remedy.
Riki pulled back the sheet, glancing down at his penis and sighed in relief to find that there was no penis ring. "Thank God," he exhaled, covering his lower half back up. He reached over and grasped onto his pack of cigarettes and lit one up, hoping it would calm him.
A smile slipped onto his face as he remembered the one time he had lit up a cigarette inside Iason's condo. The appalled look on the blonde's face was priceless, but the punishment was fairly brutal. "Not today, Iason Mink," Riki smirked, knowing he was safe from reprimand in his own place. "Not today."
—
"Hey, Riki!" the boss yelled.
Riki lifted his head, just finishing tightening the last bolt of the airbike into place. "Yeah?"
"You can go early," the boss grinned. "It's a slow day and I'm closing early. My wife wants to go out for dinner." He rolled his eyes. "That women wants everything her way."
Riki laughed and set his tools back into their spot and tidied up his workspace before heading through the doors. He unzipped his coveralls and tied the sleeves around his waist so his black shirt was visible and the blue coverall pants hid his jeans underneath.
He headed back to the apartment, hoping to catch Ryker at home and maybe cook a light meal for him before he took the night shift. Quietly, he entered the home and peeked over, seeing that Ryker was still asleep.
Riki slipped through the kitchen and into the bathroom through the other exit. He washed his hands and forearms, scrubbing away the grease and grim before drying himself off. He decided to make a simple meal of spaghetti and meat sauce as Ryker seemed to enjoy fairly basic dishes. Ryker was so innocent, and especially humble in that he never complained about their lack of wealth.
It had been two years. Two years since the fire. Riki had thought he was back at Dana Burn, flashbacks haunting him as the flames grew nearer.
When he snapped back to reality, he threw Ryker over his shoulder and hurried out of the home. He had assumed that their parents were already waiting for them, but it turned out they were on the top floor and the fire prevented their escape. Apparently the blaze was so hot it melted the plastic of their windows together so they couldn't even pull open the one and jump. And breaking the glass wasn't an option as their windows had very thin bars protecting it.
They had burned alive.
Riki had covered Ryker's ears so he wouldn't hear their screams. By the time the fire department arrived, they were long burnt to a crisp.
After they were treated for injuries and the fire was put out, Riki learned that they were going to be shipped to an orphanage as they were still minors. Recalling the life of Guardian, Riki refused to have the same thing happen again.
While the people were busy, Riki slipped over to his parent's car and realized he had left his backpack with his laptop and wallet in the backseat. He also found his dad's money stash and wallet he always had in the vehicle in a hidden compartment because he often forgot it and threw that into the bag as well. Without another moment of hesitation, he snatched Ryker and they ran.
They ran and ran, dodging the police that were searching from them as they arrived late to the scene.
When sunrise arrived, they had made a nest for the night in a dumpster and then found their current apartment. They laid low for awhile, but it appeared that no one actually filed a missing person report on them.
This was their life now.
Riki poured the pasta into the boiling water and then proceeded to open the can of meat sauce. He poured it into the warmed pan and stirred it. Deciding to do better, he dug around in the cupboard and found an onion and garlic and cut them up and threw them into the sauce.
There. No one could say he didn't try. He wasn't a five star chef, but at least he could spice up a can of premium meat sauce. Or at least that's what the label promised.
The door beeped and slid open before Ryker poked his head into the kitchen. "Spaghetti?" he said hopefully, his dark eyes filled with yearning.
Riki grinned. "Spaghetti."
"I love you!" Ryker beamed, before yawning and hurrying over to the washroom. He paused to look at the meat sauce. "Oooh! Fancy, fancy. An onion and garlic. What's the occasion?"
"Shut up, ya twerp and go shower," Riki scolded, threatening to playfully hit him with the stirring spoon.
Ryker laughed. "I'm going, I'm going!"
Riki continued to stir the pot of noodles and the sauce. Their life now wasn't horrible, but again he was lacking parents. Secretly, he had hoped that this time he would have a family. But at least he wasn't alone, he had Ryker. And that was enough for now.
—
Riki leaned over the balcony railing, smoking another cigarette. He inhaled deeply, a single thought plaguing his mind again.
Iason.
He wondered about Iason often. Much more than he should. But he couldn't help it. He had secretly fallen in love with Iason in his past life and never really had the opportunity to show him. The time their love had become mutual, they were surrounded by fire.
He exhaled, and then sighed. If he had been reincarnated then shouldn't Iason he somewhere too? Or did Blondies not have souls? No. Katze had said that despite their android bodies, their brains were biological and therefore human. They were untouched physically, but had augmented knowledge stored within through sessions with Jupiter. That also came with the price tag of stripping away emotions so that they were not weak.
But that's what made Iason unique. Ever since his beginning, he seemed to still possess the ability to have emotions beyond the norm. This is what made his anger sometimes be horrid, as there was unequal distribution with him possessing the other forbidden emotions.
But as time went on, Iason seemed to be able to control his normal emotions better and also awaken his softer ones when it came to Riki. Perhaps that's how he had come to love Iason? First it was his body, a physical attraction but then there was something about Iason that he fell in love with as well. Something in his ways just connected with Riki well enough to make him fall in love.
Riki extinguished his cigarette and looked to the star filled sky. "Well, Iason, ya blonde bastard. If you're out there...I hope we meet at least once again," he sighed.
—
"Iason!" Riki screamed, sitting up and panting uncontrollably. He ran his hand through his sweat drenched hair. "Fuck..."
It was the dream. His death alongside his Master. It were almost as if it were a summed up version of his life and then his death scene seemed to roll out painstakingly slowly. He took the drag of the poisonous cigarette, leaning against Iason and then darkness arrived.
But he could swear he felt the heat and heard Iason whisper something from the abyss. For seventeen years he had wanted so badly to know what the fuck he said. No matter how many times he dreamed it, he couldn't ever make out the words.
Hit with sudden emotion, Riki felt his body tremble before he broke into tears. Normally he would've reached for a cigarette, but at this moment the thought of one made him sick. He pulled his knees close to himself, shaking horribly in fear and sadness. "Iason..." he whispered.
—
"Riki?" Ryker called softly, rousing him from his slumber. "Riki?"
Riki rolled over, staring into the darkness. "Mm?"
"Can I sleep in here?" he whispered.
"Why?" he asked, annoyance and sleepiness thick in his voice. "You're not dying. So why do you need to sleep in here?"
"No, I'm not dying..." Ryker agreed, then softly added. "I dreamed about the fire."
Ah, so he was scared. That was reasonable. "Yeah, sure, sleep on that side," he agreed, offering the other half of his bed.
Ryker climbed in and stayed over on his half. Just when Riki thought it was safe to sleep he heard Ryker roll over. "Riki?"
"Hmm?" he grumbled.
"The house didn't collapse while we were inside, right?"
Riki perked up. "No."
"And there was no blue...electricity...bolts," Ryker mumbled. "Or lightning, right?"
Riki felt his heart pound faster. "No..."
"And the fire wasn't on the floor we were on...right?"
Riki suddenly realized what fire Ryker was dreaming about. So he too had memories of his past life. He guessed that was to be expected, considering at one point in the womb they were one. "No," he whispered, rolling over toward him and saw he was crying. "Hey..." He reached out and ruffled his hair. "It was just a nightmare. Your brain just made that up."
"It felt so real," Ryker cried, wiping his eyes hurriedly. "I was sitting on the floor and I just knew I couldn't leave. The fire...just kept getting bigger and bigger and..." He breathed in a shaky breath. "I couldn't leave. I felt I couldn't leave someone behind. That they were...with me."
"Hey, hey," Riki whispered. "It was just a dream." Only it wasn't just a dream. It was a different version of the frequent nightmare he had. "You're alive and you're fine, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Then that's all that matters," Riki assured. "So don't worry anymore. I'm with you and nothing is on fire. OK?"
"OK," Ryker whispered.
"Good night."
"Night...Riki."
Riki rolled over, closing his eyes tight as he recalled dying in Dana Burn so vividly. Everything his brother had described matched up. His new fear was, what memories did Ryker possess and what else would he remember?
—
To Be Continued
