Chapter 4: From Aphelion to Perihelion
Author's notes:
So here I finally am again, sorry to keep you all waiting! I've had some readers ask me when I was going to continue this fic, so I hope this chapter isn't too little too late ;) Not too much action in this chapter though, but rather conversation and contemplation. I just feel the story can't be packed with too much random action at this point, with Iason completely out of his element here and Riki not knowing what to expect after having his presumed-dead lover return to him in the shape of a girl no less :P So this chapter is meant to be more of a turning point in the story :) Either way I hope you'll all enjoy reading it! :D
Aphelion: point in the orbit of a celestial body at which it is furthest from the sun
Perihelion: point in the orbit of a celestial body at which it is closest to the sun
Soundtrack: Scandroid – Aphelion
While the mongrels were haphazardly cutting the supposed food and throwing everything into a filthy cooking pot in one big, inedible-looking mess, Iason felt how her eyes were beginning to fall shut against her own wishes. After those anxious years spent as a Pet - not knowing for certain if her beloved Riki had survived the ordeal at Dana Burn – the long-awaited climax of seeing her mongrel soulmate again was pointlessly interrupted due to the exhaustive actions she had subjected this body to in order to get here. Human physiology was simply ridiculously impractical! She went through all of this to see her Riki again, and now her own body was preventing her from reconnecting with him, even after having already slept for days on end! She had as little choice in her body's physical needs now as she'd had in her heart's needs to permanently power down her Elite body at Dana Burn in order to save Riki.
I don't want to power down
But what else can I do?
The only thing she had been able to accomplish during the brief time after Riki's realisation of her survival, was to have another fight with him about their past in Tanagura. She had come to understand many of the mongrel's frustrations with that city and its system of order and control. It was a place where humanity and human feelings such as love could not continue to exist for long before being snuffed out into oblivion by conditioning based on egocentric needs. Riki had been her salvation, the only thing that had been alive and real in a dead, artificial world of materialism and software.
When life breaks my heart I pray to God
That I fall in love with you
When the other Bisons began making arrangements to try and cook their esteemed guest a decent Ceresian dinner, Riki had been momentarily distracted, worried that somehow the other gang members would figure out that the girl knew something their leader had been carefully keeping from them. But that would be absurd, how could his friends even begin to suspect the history he and Iason shared? If someone had told him what he would be reduced to years prior to his capture, he himself would not have believed a single word of it.
When he turned his attention back to the epicentre of both his heart's fears and desires, he was completely caught off-guard by the endearing sight that met his eyes. The vision was so contrary to the turmoil and seriousness of his current inner state, that he could not help but burst out laughing. Right in the middle of their argument, Iason had apparently only needed a momentary distraction in order to fall right back to sleep, the excitement of seeing Riki again combined with the lingering flue virus having taken its toll on her Pet body. All menace of the cold, steel-hard rationality and know-it-all confidence of Tanagura's iconic favourite had melted off of the innocent, tired face of the girl currently lying curled up like a kitten on the bed.
The sheer approachability of the sight of the sleeping girl who possessed Iason's glorious hair, piercing blue eyes and overwhelming mind made Riki's laughter stick in his throat as hot tears came to his eyes. Tears caused by unrequited love for the surreal but no-longer-physically-flawless creature in front of him. Tears that had been building up throughout long years of agony but that had never been allowed to come forth and expose Riki's weakness in the face of the nemesis who had incidentally also become Master and owner of his fierce heart.
For how could the mighty Son of God, the beaming sun of Tanagura's power and grandeur, the very pinnacle of all Amoyan society, ever reciprocate the miserable, human feelings of a lowly, impure mongrel from the filthy slums of Ceres? Opposite ends of that social scale could not possibly come together in any other relationship than that of a slave and a master, therefore Riki's hopes and defiance had been completely unreasonable. Sexual gratification was even far more than he may have ever dreamed to get from the likes of Iason Mink. He should have just accepted his losses and left it at that. But he had already dared to dream of far more, so he simply could not accept that the beautiful, regal being he had come to love regarded him as just an object, a temporary pass-time.
In my favourite dreams I feel your heat
Though I'm farthest from the sun
However somehow the slumdog had – against all odds of the social system – managed to capture the attention of the angelic child of their world's electronic deity. Not only had the Elite developed an interest in the mongrel that bordered on obsession, but he had also taken great personal risk by keeping the wild creature in his own house. Although the android had proven to be just as cold and distant as the white-marbled halls of the utopian city that he governed, at other times Iason had shown a passion so hot that it could have reduced many a mortal man to embers. Fortunately Riki had proven to be of a more resilient breed than most, or else he would have surely perished in the blaze contained beneath that symmetrical, always-composed face. They had been as closely intertwined as any two living beings could physically be, yet at the same time Riki had been as far-removed from him as a man gazing up at the northern star.
But your glowing eyes are cold as ice
You are my aphelion
"Hey man, are you OK? You've been acting weird after we got back... Did she say something else before she went back to sleep?", Sid inquired with a slightly-worried look on his sun-burned features.
After taking a minute to get a handle on his nerves and straying thoughts, Riki turned away from the girl on the bed and towards his fellow gang member with his best tough-guy pokerface on. "Yeah." Dare and ask me for more information.
But Sid and Riki had practically grown up together, so he was one of the few people who did dare to address the infamous Riki the Dark even when it was unwanted. "So what'd she say? She say how she ended up down here?"
"No."
In only a brief moment of hesitation, Riki made a decision that he prayed he was not going to regret. He may have been willing to not mention what exactly had transpired during his two-year absence from the gang, but with Iason right here to keep playing dumb would mean to down-right lie to his gang at some point. He wasn't gonna do that, he was no coward. He simply had to come clean. He just hoped that Iason would keep the more embarrassing details of their acquaintance to herself.
"But knowing her resourcefulness, I don't need to know the specifics to imagine how she pulled it off", Riki shrugged while walking away from Sid, towards the steaming cooking pots on the old stove.
"Wait! You mean... you know her?!" All of a sudden the other Bisons in the room stopped what they were doing and glanced towards their leader. Riki knew that Pet girl? How could that be?
"I guess that's why she ran towards Ceres. She'd have no other reason to come here but me", Riki continued while stirring in one of the pots, ignoring the array of stares he was getting.
"Yeah, but how the fuck would you know someone like that, Riki? I mean she's a Tanaguran class A from the looks of it, even at a later age those never fall down as far as Midas. So how did you even meet her?"
"She ain't no freakin' class A, all right! At least she didn't start out as one. When I met her I guess she was free to go around Midas as she pleased. We met in Sasan on a busy night, about two years back, just a big coincidence really. I wasn't looking for nobody and neither was she, but there we were all of a sudden."
As of late he had often wondered if there really was such a thing as fate. How else could such an unlikely series of events have ever occurred? Not only did they run into each other that night. Not only did the Elite take a fancy to him and even made him his Pet. Not only did Riki end up falling for him in return, in spite of the bloody awful way he had been treated. Not only did Iason show up against his own better judgement when Guy had kidnapped Riki. Riki also went back. Went back to die with the very being who had tormented him for years, who was the natural enemy of the people of Ceres. And now he was right here, in Bison's ramshackle gang headquarters, in the form of a female, runaway Pet.
"This wouldn't happen to be around the time you disappeared on us, would it?", Norris asked with a snort, having always thought it suspicious that Riki never spoke of his time away from the gang and never really having forgiven him for bailing on them without a word.
"Look, I know what y'all thinking now, that I ran after a hot piece of ass and a bright future without even a backward glance at you guys. But I'm tellin' ya that's not how it went down, kay?"
"Then how did it go down, huh? Who is this girl and why the hell are we sharing our food with her without even knowing what she's doing 'ere?!"
"I'm in charge, I decide who gets food and who doesn't! If you don't like that, Norris, there's the door."
"Yeah, so how 'bout you grab that miserable whore of yours and walk right on through it!" Norris yelled while animatedly pointing in the direction of the exit with his half-empty stout bottle before violently throwing it to pieces on the floor right in front of Riki's feet.
"Shit man, you're just jealous that Riki had some way or other got to get to know a pretty girl and you didn't. So just quit the crap and show Riki some respect, man! He don't deserve to be treated like this, he's always taken care of us. If he went and left us for a couple of years then I know he must've had a damn good reason, I ain't gonna question that", Sid interrupted while positioning himself in between Riki and Norris, unwilling to take sides but unwilling to stand by and watch their leader get scorned either.
Riki took a moment to stop his rising anger from boiling over and causing him to do something to Norris he might regret later. The thing was, he was right, the gang had the right to know why Riki had abandoned them like that. How were they to know that sharing the story with them would mean impossible humiliation for their leader? He couldn't share the whole story obviously, or they'd never respect or fear him ever again, but he could tell them the truth about bits and pieces of it. If they'd still hear him after Norris' little outburst, that was. But if anything at least Sid seemed willing to listen to his side of things.
"If y'all just shut up for a second then maybe I can tell you what y'wanna know, morons!" Everyone, including Norris, fell silent after hearing Riki the Dark use his don't-mess-with-me voice for the first time in years. This was the kind of voice he got when you'd made him angry enough to maul and kill.
"Good. So like I was sayin', we met in Sasan and it was pure coincidence. She caught me pickpocketin' but kept her mouth shut. I had to repay her after that, and yeah I didn't mind a shot at gettin' some Tanaguran ass while I was at it either. So I followed her and persuaded her to go to Menos with me. One thing led to another, and before I knew it I was livin' in her house in bloody Tanagura with no way of leaving. Believe me, it wasn't for lack of trying, that place is a freakin' fortress. Locks 'n scanners on all doors, camera's everywhere, centurions at every hallway corner, fire walls run by Jupiter herself. Not to mention I had a fucking tracker in a place I'm sure you wouldn't've considered cutting either."
"If all that's true, then how did you even escape?", Norris questioned, not convinced at all by the non-sense story the other was throwing him. It all sounded highly unlikely, even for one who defied the odds like Riki the Dark did.
"I didn't. They let me go."
"Just like that?" In Norris' eyes the story just kept on getting more and more unbelievable.
"Guess they got sick 'n tired of my insufferable attitude", Riki grinned, thinking that probably everyone in Tanagura but the one who'd let him go had felt that way.
"Why'd they even lock you up there in the first place? What, the chick belonged to some snob politician who had you jailed?", Sid joined in the interrogation. Not to question the truth of Riki's tale though, but out of curiosity for how such an impossibility like a mongrel in Tanagura had come to be.
"Nah. But it was her fault, really, she enjoyed my company a little bit too much. So they kept me there, as entertainment for her." Not mentioning that she herself was the one who kept him there for her own entertainment, being an Elite, seemed like a wise decision at this point. This was as close to the truth as he could make it. For one Norris definitely didn't like her and as she was right now any one lousy mongrel could be a threat to her life. He didn't get Iason back just to lose him again so soon, least of all to his own gang.
"They kept a mongrel to entertain a Pet? No shit!", Luke exclaimed in wonder, having remained quiet before, unsure of what to think or how to react to their leader's improbable story.
"She wasn't a Pet back then. It's some kinda fucked-up punishment for risking her own life to save mine." He couldn't imagine how he, a mongrel used to doing whatever it took to survive and being the social underdog on a grander scale, had come out of the life of a Tanaguran Pet with his dignity more or less intact. But someone as proud, self-assured and authoritarian as Iason Mink, going from top Elite to someone's plaything and following orders to sexually perform? Unimaginable!
"She risked her own pompous, spoiled ass to save you, a mongrel?! How the hell did that happen?"
"That's just a big lie. How could a creature as dumb and selfish as a Tanaguran Pet or whatever she is, ever risk their own lives for one as lowly as us?", Norris threw back into the conversation, still finding the whole thing extremely hard to believe.
"Truth be told, I didn't like her very much either back then. OK, I have to admit that the sex was great, no question there. But as a person? I hated her guts, I'm sure I would've killed her back then if I'd been given the chance. She was the reason I was locked up there and she selfishly kept me there for years on end. Only making out when she felt like it and messing with me, never treating me as a human being but more like a favourite dog. And it wasn't just fun 'n games, they'd torture me for disobeying. They'd hit me with electric whips for hours on end. In the beginning they kept me tied up at all times, and later I wasn't allowed to leave the house. Till I went and did something I wasn't supposed to again, then they'd chain me back up again. I'm telling ya, even cursing a servant or smoking were considered offences, so of course I'd be in a constant state of either punishment or recovering from punishment. Those folks who say that Tanagura is heaven have clearly never been there themselves. I'm telling ya now, that place is hell."
All of the other mongrels were momentarily stunned, just standing there, mouths agape. Many of them had speculated what could have possibly taken place during their leader's absence, but none of them could have ever dreamed up something as horrible and unbelievable as this. Even Norris had to admit that this series of events far superseded Riki's own imagination. And if he had wanted to tell them a bunch of lies just to be done with it, there'd be no way he would have come up with something no man in his right mind would ever believe. So it either had to be true or their leader had gone completely nuts. Not to mention the whirlwind of emotion coming from their usually-fearless idol's eyes and voice confirmed the truth of the events described.
"So you never told us... cause we'd think you weak for being imprisoned and tortured? Shit man! I'm sure those Tanaguran fuckers are even worse than the Dark Men, and let's face it, we all fear those bastards. If they pull one of those electric stun guns on you... Crap, there's no man strong enough to withstand that without screaming his lungs out. To go through that for years on end? Holy fuck, I can't even imagine the strength it would take to survive all that with your sanity intact. Yet here you stand, thinking yourself weak! You don't know the meaning of the word, Riki!", Sid responded in awe, hardly believing the agony his childhood friend must have endured. To him it only confirmed how this man was more than worthy of his deep-felt admiration.
"So the chick saved your life by helping you escape in the end?", Luke asked with a slight frown on his face, suspecting there might have been an additional motivation for doing so other than her affection for a mere mongrel.
"She did let me go at some point, that brief period I was back here. But then she started missing me and they put me back there, threatening you guys to get me to comply."
"Crap. Riki, man, I'm sorry, I had no idea. It's just that when you said you knew the girl, I just jumped to conclusions. I'm sorry, I should've known you were somehow trying to save us and not condemn us", Norris apologised reluctantly but honestly.
"That's all right. I would've probably drawn the same conclusion myself. I guess there's nothing so impossible that it could never happen, even in Midas."
"So how'd you escape in the end, if not with the babe's help?"
"She died and I lived. Or at least that's what I thought until we found her in that gutter over at the bridge tonight." Riki had a hard time holding back his tears after years of thinking Iason dead, mourning who he now realised was the love of his life and resigning himself to forever wonder at what might have been. For all the bullshit that the Blondie had pulled on him, in the end he had proven his affections were genuine, hadn't he?
And all that time I thought I walked these empty streets alone
I never thought I'd be with you, heading into the unknown
"How did it happen? If you were safely locked up in her apartment in Tanagura, then why did you need saving?"
"Another reason why I never told you any of this. Guy was involved, and not in a good way either."
"What the fuck's any of this got to do with Guy? That why he left the gang and just disappeared? Some folks over at the pub even say he's dead, burned alive in that fire at Dana Burn some years ago. Wait... Were you, your girlfriend and Guy all actually there?"
"Yeah. You see, after I got back from my short break in Ceres, I was given a lot more freedom and I started living at Apathia, helping out Katze in the black market again. That's when Guy found out what had been going on with me, and overcome by jealousy he caught me by surprise and took me to the ruins. He had the whole place rigged with explosives and didn't even hesitate to remove my tracker. I swear he was raging like a complete lunatic, I could see in his eyes that he'd totally lost it, the thought of me being compromised by Tanagura having driven him insane. If she hadn't shown up when she had, I'd be dead now, mutilated and buried under piles of rubble. That's exactly what happened to her when she'd come for me, a part of the building fell on top of her, crushing her legs. She told me to get out, only concerned for my safety and not her own. But I just couldn't leave her like that, so I went back in. That's when the rest of the explosives went off and the whole building just came crashing down on top of us."
"Holy smokes! How on Amoy did you survive all that?!"
"Up to date I'm not sure myself. Apparently Katze came along and managed to get me out in the nick of time right after I'd lost consciousness. But he couldn't get her out anymore. I'm guessing the Tanaguran officials arrived and dug her out after the building had already collapsed, picking up her pieces and somehow putting them back together again. I've absolutely no idea how it's possible for her to be alive, Tanaguran science is simply beyond me."
"I can't believe Guy would do something like that, especially to you, Riki! We all know he's practically worshipped you all his life! He must've thought he was saving you more suffering by killing you... What happened to him?", Sid asked, having serious difficulties to keep the moisture out of his eyes at the thought of such a heart-breaking betrayal from one of their most trusted and distinguished gang members.
"Who cares what happened to him?! Didn't you hear, he cut Riki and tried to blow him up! But wait, do you still have... ?", Luke asked while pointing at Riki's crotch, a look of loss suddenly entering his eyes. He'd been trying to get into Riki's pants for years, so of course he'd have a problem if there was nothing inside of those pants anymore. From his perspective Guy's betrayal created an opportunity for himself. The thought that the Tanaguran girl could be competition never even entering his mind.
"He ain't dead, at least not that I know of. Katze got him out before the whole thing came down on us. He got seriously hurt in the fight with ergh... the Tanagurans though, but nothing lethal. I had Katze promise to take care of him afterwards, which I'm guessing he did." He couldn't get any closer to the actual truth without the gang members becoming aware that his supposed girlfriend had ripped off Guy's arm with her bare hands. Blaming the whole thing on "Tanagura" in general was probably the best thing to do.
"I thought you said the Tanagurans only came after the building had collapsed?", Norris' sly voice interrupted again, a sliver of distrust entering his gaze.
"They did, but it was just one android that came early. Grabbed Guy as if he were a straw doll and just ripped his arm straight off. I didn't like watching it but he'd kinda deserved it so I ain't sorry for him. But watching him die, I just couldn't."
"No shit... Those androids are real scary, man! I suppose Guy did deserve it... but I can't help but think his intentions were good, even if things turned out so badly", Sid mused, still finding it hard to fathom he was actually having this conversation. Everything about it was completely unexpected. The way in which fate had brought Riki and the blond girl together. Riki's imprisonment in Tanagura and his subsequent release. Guy's betrayal. An android's violent involvement. Guy's escape. Riki's rescue at the hand of the black market boss. The girl's miraculous survival. What did Katze have to do with the whole thing anyways? Did he just happen to be standing around in the middle of the freakin' desert? He wanted to believe his friend, but a lot of stuff just didn't add up...
"What happened to the android then? Cause I've heard stories about those things, they don't just stop..."
"Apparently they do if tons of burning debris fall down on top of them. How ironic that the burning ruins of the old world are capable of destroying the most accomplished technological feats of the new world, yet fail to destroy the result of millions of years of biological evolution."
"What the hell!", Riki jumped at hearing the well-known calculation and lack of emotion in that high-pitched voice. "Goddammit, Iason, don't spook me like that! How long have you been awake, huh?!"
"Only long enough to hear one of the better parts of the story, which was the removal of redundant body parts of your annoyingly interfering... friend, for lack of a better word", the petite nymph responded with a sweet smile as she was slowly and clumsily climbing out of the bed, or rather the pile of old mattresses that made up Riki's sleeping place.
"Shit, she just stopped being cute and started being creepy...", Sid whispered while taking a couple of steps backwards, unsure of how much damage a young girl could do when pissed off. Up to this point he had simply assumed that women were incapable of being scary in the slightest.
"The ripping off was performed under my supreme management if I may add. In spite of your most interesting horror stories on androids it actually took a great deal of logical deduction and hacking skills on my behalf to have it perform such an act of raw violence over the damaging of a mere Pet. The message being that if you damage or threaten my Riki in any way, I will destroy you limb by limb", the girl cheerfully continued while stretching her dainty limbs, her voice reminiscent of little chiming bells.
"So you really are the one responsible for all the sadistic tendencies, are you? And here I was hoping some of it might have been Tanaguran standard programming...", Riki spoke accusingly, but his gang members – who knew him very well – could hear that he was speaking in jest.
"Tanaguran standards do not include any inclinations worthy of being called emotion, and that includes rage. An android will beat you to within an inch of your life without any need for such a petty, human emotion. A simple transgression on your behalf is cause enough."
"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were speaking in a disapproving way about Tanaguran protocol...", Riki added, a naughty smile beginning to form on his dark lips.
"I do disapprove, thanks to the more primitive feelings you have invoked in me. Living in Tanagura, one is not truly alive. One only needs to behold the beauty of your lively spirit to realise that."
"Strange how you're the only one who's realised it so far then." It was probably best to simply ignore the compliment, although Riki felt the blood rush into his face at hearing Iason praise him for a characteristic other than looks. "Sure you're not the one who's... flawed... in some way or other, huh?", Riki said with a teasing wink as he patiently waited for her to approach him on her still-unsteady mannequin legs. He had an indescribable inclination to just run towards her, grab her and hold her close to him, to never let her out of his arms again... But doing that would make him appear soft and he couldn't have that, especially not in front of his gang.
"Someone was helpful enough to inform me of this on a daily basis, though using far more decibels and foul language than is required to bring across a clear message. After much consideration I have now established approximately the same conclusion: Tanagura is a fucking hellhole full of no-good cowards and lifeless push-overs."
Riki's mouth fell open, soon followed by roaring laughter. Iason Mink as a rebel, this was hilarious and brilliant all in one! "I don't think I've ever heard you use one curse word before, let alone a whole strain of them! You must have been branded such a traitor for bad-mouthing Jupiter's supreme power like that..."
"I am merely making a critical assessment, which fits perfectly within my job description. I do not see how that would make me a traitor at all. If the required information for a sound decision-making process cannot be gleaned from the usual sources, then it is necessarily acceptable to resort to more unorthodox methods, in this case your rude protestations at the social practices of Tanagura." It was so strange to hear such Elitist talk coming out of the mouth of an A-class Pet. But despite that fact some of this creature's features were remarkably similar to Iason Mink's. She looked more or less like how Riki imagined Iason's little sister would look like. Both like Iason and not like Iason at all. She wasn't tall, broad-chested, wardrobe-shouldered, male and deep-voiced, but short, small-framed, skinny, female and chirpy.
Eloquent as her speech may be, her walking movements were anything but as she nearly stumbled her way across the room, stopping to lean on the table for support before apparently combining all of her meagre strength to throw herself across the rest of the room in Riki's direction.
"That sounds like a whole load of mumbo-jumbo crap to excuse yourself from being just as much of a rogue now as we are. You wouldn't need any help to make your way over here would you, princess?" A broad grin currently split Riki's tan face from ear to ear. It was just impossible to keep the glee out of his voice as he watched what he now knew was Iason freakin' Mink stumbling along in a less-than-elegant fashion. Oh, how the mighty have fallen to grovel in the dirt with the rest of us.
"I can't recall you following the straight and narrow after having been physically exerted for hours on end, not even including the highly interesting ways in which you would move about on all fours after having been paddled... my darling", the girl chuckled, the height and fragility of her voice eerily clashing with the underlying sadism.
Iason's diabolical mind inside of that sweet, innocent girl made for an utterly unnatural combination. One moment Riki would feel confident in having the upper hand – from the former Head of the Syndicate of all people! – yet the next those scaldingly cunning words and harsh, arctic eyes would remind him of just who he was talking to. Perhaps some aspects of this unlikely situation were not as blissful as Riki had hoped upon discovering that this little thing was his former enemy and destined lover. Perhaps this was merely the preliminary to a whole new set of future problems. But at least this time around the infamous gang leader figured it would be worth it, he knew what he was fighting for now. He knew that somewhere inside of that frosty Elite's heart was an answer to his own fast-burning passion. Somewhere deep inside that glacier the ice was melting. If nothing else Iason's rebellious words and escape from Tanagura demonstrated that cracks were already forming in his façade of bland order and lifeless lustre. Could it be that Riki – and Riki alone – actually had the power to pierce through that impenetrable wall of cold perfection?
So far away again
My winter has begun
"Holy fuck, dude! Do all Tanagurans have such a dark sense of humour?", Sid asked with a slight look of alarm. Could this Pet possibly pose a threat? And she was the cause for Riki's suffering, wasn't she?
"Only those of us with half a brain", she added in a chipper tone and with a dazzling smile that left everyone – including Riki, who should know better by now – temporarily stunned. After which she added to the drama by plastering her petite form all over Riki's muscled, leather-clad body and lovingly nibbling the part of his neck that she could just reach on tip-toe. I should've taken my high heels with me. And a pair of hand-cuffs might have come in handy as well, because it is impossible to chase him with this worthless body if he bolts.
"Could you just stop doing that? It's creeping me out!", Riki snapped in what was really an effort to hide his own aroused reaction to Iason's close proximity and the unusual evidence of devotion she was displaying.
"Doing what?", the sun-haired nymph asked with a surprise and indignation that was so convincing that even Riki wasn't sure whether it was genuine or feigned.
"Acting all cuddly and lovey-dovey! And putting on those harmless, child-like expressions when you're saying sadistic stuff and obviously thinking of how "delightful" my suffering is to you!" If Iason thought he was just gonna get over all the violence and abuse of the past simply because they had been willing to die for each other and Riki was now acknowledging his feelings – at least to himself – she was sadly mistaken!
"It's this body and the way it's been conditioned, harmless and child-like apparently makes up the default range of expressions for a Pet. I used to find it bothersome but now I believe that I have managed to adapt them to my inner self to some extent at least. In addition I am still weakened, therefore I apologize for being temporarily unable to harass you to the extent I know you're so desperately craving", she softly responded with a voice as neutral as if she was merely reading a weather forecast. As she spoke with an air of distance, she began to play with some loose strands of jet-black hair, overcoming the different hunger the smell of the nearby cooking pots was causing within her. When was the last time she had eaten?
"Adapt them to your inner self? As in come across as scary as hell and totally psychotic? Yeah, I'd say you're definitely pulling that off!", Riki hissed, his annoyance caused not only by the steadfastness of Iason's determination to scare the shit out of him but also by the way in which his own treacherous body was actually turned on by it, even now. But he had not the heart to push her wandering, tiny fingers out of his hair.
The gang members were all staring at the girl's tiny form in disbelief, the sharper ones among them already beginning to see her through different eyes and adjusting their impression of her accordingly. She may not be physically dangerous but that did not exclude that she could still form a potential threat. Just what sort of weird relationship did she have with Riki? Their leader was allowing her to get physical with him in public in ways that had not been permitted even for Guy.
"Did you know that the devil used to be an angel himself? But he fell from heaven when he dared to challenge God's omniscience and called his reign tyrannical, according to John Milton at least", the little girl's voice sounded as wonderingly as if she was reading a fairy tale out of a children's book, while her wandering hands were moving from Riki's hair and nape to slither under his shirt and unto his strong, feline back.
"So... ", he was momentarily distracted from his train of thought by the feeling of small, warm, living hands moving over the naked skin of his back, "so now you're considering the devil as a role-model? This just keeps getting better and better..." And it kept getting more and more difficult to stop himself from hugging her closer to him and kissing the hell out of her. Iason was alive. Iason was right here, willingly offering herself. Moreover Riki would now be the stronger one by far, meaning that he could take their interaction to wherever he wanted it to go. Or couldn't he?
And I can't see when you're next to me
You are my aphelion
"What I mean to say is that it is always a possibility to change sides and monstrosity is merely determined by one's point-of-view. Therefore mongrels are not monsters but merely the first ones to figure out the flaws in Jupiter's system", she spoke matter-of-factly.
"Oh. So you were comparing us to the devil, but of course!" Riki looked in the direction of his gang members and was surprised to see that none of them had said anything in Iason's presence yet. Another look at their eyes told him the reason: they were afraid of her. On some instinctual level, Iason's aura and way of talking had made them realize that they were not dealing with a harmless Pet at all. They were now all closely observing how Riki communicated with the creature in order to try and figure out what to make of her as far as threats were concerned. Did she really have Guy's arm ripped off? How did she even do that?
"What difference does it make? The system is flawed, and we are the only ones who know about it. Logically speaking, it is up to us to take action. When Jupiter presented me with a choice between you and her, between defiance and obedience, between human and machine, it was swiftly made. Of course I have come to care for Lambda 3000's personality over the years, but no computer's faults should be overlooked and left to fester by its human managers", she spoke with a newfound conviction and the unrelenting resolve of one who had made up her mind permanently.
I don't want to go offline
But what else should I do?
"And in the process of taking up said action, I would like to redeem myself in your eyes, to whatever degree that may still be possible. I promise you that you have nothing to fear from me, Riki. I might have grown up believing in the efficiency of Tanaguran conditioning, but I am not a complete idiot when it comes to someone's psychological well-being. Why else would I have even let you out of my sight? I apologize that it took me so long to figure out the meaning of that phrase often used in romance novels: to love someone is to let them go. It was a mistake to try and keep you with me, I should have let you go and followed you, as I did on the first night we met."
With a broken heart I pray to God
I can orbit close to you
"So you're telling me... that even when you'd sent me away... you did so out of concern for me rather than out of boredom with me? Crap... I should've known you weren't ever gonna quit, not really!" But inside of his chest Riki felt his wild heart ticking like a timebomb, for the truth was that all that time he had been waiting for Iason to get back to him. It was only a matter of time before he gave in to the blonde's advances again, regardless of what form his star-crossed lover came in.
"You make that sound as if it is a bad thing, yet we both know that you do not genuinely wish for me to stop pursuing you", she said, and continued her oral assault on his neck and shoulder with complete disregard of how his dark, rough hands had taken a hold of both of her upper arms again. "In fact an existence in which I was no longer pursuing you seemed so unappealing that you chose to die with me rather than live without me. I can count the number of people who would do that on one hand, probably on two fingers nowadays. It is most intriguing how becoming a renegade punished by Jupiter makes one's popularity plummet to nothingness overnight." The slumdog's hands remained but made no attempt to either push her away or pull her closer, as if their owner's mind had not yet been made up.
Riki responded to that last comment with a snort. "Far as I know, you never gave a canned camel's shit about what anyone thought of you. I mean it took some time for me to discover that even one in a position of power like yourself, could barely get away with being associated with a mongrel. So I figured that if you didn't care about associating with me, then neither should I care about associating with you."
Ever since being released by his Blondie he'd had dreams about him every night. They hadn't stopped when his Master had taken him back and set him up at Apathia, and since Dana Burn they had most definitely increased. Sometimes they were wet dreams. Sometimes nightmares. Most times they were both rolled into one. But as of late there was no way to predict what role Iason would play in these nightmares: the role of aggressor or the role of victim. Having been confronted with Iason's mortality and his own acceptance of it in those burning ruins, Riki now considered the older man to be actually human. That Iason was able to die meant that he was real, not just an android but a real person. Ironically, the thought of the finiteness of the Elite had made him more interesting to be had. Riki's dreams were filled with images of Iason's angelic form bursting into flame, the light of the blaze so bright it looked like the sun itself, its rays rendering the divine, artificial body more beautiful even as they scorched it into ashes.
In my favourite dreams you feel so real
Like a fire from the sun
But human and fragile as the tiny, female body in front of him was, it only took one glance at those sky-blue eyes to remind Riki of exactly why he feared this being and would always have the perverted wish to be submitted to its dark desires.
But your foreign eyes are cold as ice
You are my aphelion
The truth had been revealed that Iason had not truly died, but had merely been reborn as something else. Even if that something was arguably far more destructible than the synthetic body of an Elite, Riki did not make the mistake of thinking that Iason's existence would now be fleeting and insignificant.
And all that time I thought I walked these empty streets alone
I never thought I'd be with you, heading into the unknown
The question remained: did he want to be a part of that existence – whatever route it took from this point onwards – or not?
So far away again, my winter has begun
Punishment of Jupiter's, my ass. This was all part of his master plan to get me back, both body and soul this time. That crafty little bastard!
And I can't see when you're next to me
So the bigger question was: did Riki have a real choice this time around?
You are my aphelion
Even as the mongrel's sly mind was working through the different scenarios within its limited scope, firing up the heat of its organic circuits, he could feel the doll's hands in his hair transform into predator's claws by their sheer determination not to let go. Neverto let go.
So far away again, my winter has begun
And I can't see when you're next to me
You are my aphelion
Looking down at the slim girl in his arms, Riki's eyes were held by the sparkle of those long golden tresses that appeared to lure him in like a siren's call, after which that old sparkle he had felt that night at Sasan all those years ago was reignited in full force.
In my favourite dreams you feel so real
Like a fire from the sun
But your foreign eyes are cold as ice
You are my aphelion
He had to follow this creature, this ethereal creation of Amoy's god.
So far away again, my winter has begun
And I can't see when you're next to me
You are my aphelion
He had to hold unto its blinding brilliance, no matter what the cost to his own mortal soul.
So far away again, my winter has begun
And I can't see when you're next to me
You are my aphelion
So far away again, my winter has begun
And I can't see when you're next to me
You are my aphelion
Having made his decision internally, the black-haired man's hands slightly tightened their hold on the pale body currently curved around his bigger frame. Unbeknown to the man, a devilishly satisfactory smile of triumph appeared on his angel's innocent face.
My aphelion
My aphelion
My aphelion
My aphelion
My aphelion
My aphelion
My aphelion
My aphelion
My aphelion
To Be Continued!
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A preview of the next chapter:
Carefully studying the steaming piece of unidentifiable nourishment on the end of her non-too-clean fork, the Bisons' esteemed guest turned up her tip-tilted, mouse-like little nose. "What did you say this dish was called again?"
"Ergh... I'm not sure if it has a name... but we prefer to think of it as chicken 'n rice," Sid answered with a smile that was so unconvincing that it looked more like a pained grimace.