Smoke and mirrors. [TALLY!] [M]

[Rhi-Rhi]

Jake jumped, snapped his head up--and froze.

Of course it was Aydan.

Of course he'd show up.

Sliding his eyes back to the table, Jake leaned back in his chair to put more space between them and folded his arms over his chest. "No."

[Tally]

Aydan let Jake stew there while he looked him over.  Mm.  Gods above, he was so fucking cute.  Aydan couldn't wait to see that face looking up at him from the floor.

"As it happens," he said, by way of explanation.  "My sons are Pilots.  Do you need a reminder of what Aedolis does to draft dodgers?"

[Rhi-Rhi]

Jake cleared his throat, but his voice still came out strained and quiet. Even though they were out in the open, it felt crushingly claustrophobic, the air thick and hard to breathe. "N-no."

[Tally]

"Relax, Jake.  This won't be so bad, I promise."

Aydan nodded at the seat beside him.  "Come and sit next to me."

Jake may as well start getting used to following Aydan's orders.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Jake's fingers dug into his arms through the thick fabric of his hoodie sleeves. Not so bad. It was already bad. It was bad the moment he'd gone with Aydan to that bar.

"I'd rather sit here..." he said, though he wasn't stupid enough to believe that would matter.

[Tally]

Aydan took a sip of his coffee.  "You'll sit where I tell you."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Jake closed his eyes, held them shut for a few heartbeats, but when he opened them again, he was still in the same spot, and Aydan was still there, and this was all real. His breathing grew a little quicker as the realness of it began to sink in. Even after finding that note, that video, it had all felt surreal, and he had gone about the last few days automatically, without really thinking about it. Now that he was here...

He licked his dry lips. Aydan was the father of Pilots. He knew his name, what he'd done.

Don't do anything stupid.

"Okay."

Moving shakily, he rose and slid into the chair next to Aydan's, but pushed his chair away to give them some space. "So is that what all this is about?" he quietly said, still not looking at Aydan. "You're gonna turn me in?"

[Tally]

That honestly took Aydan by surprise.  The kid hadn't figured out yet that Aydan wanted something from him.  That all this business with Aedolis and draft dodging was just leverage.

A short laugh bubbled up.  "No.  No, of course not!  That's why we're here, to avoid that."

Aydan gave some attention to his coffee for a few moments, mostly as he thought over how to phrase this.  Finally he returned his full focus to Jake.  This was important, this part of it.  This was everything.  "I like you.  I want more of you.  I have reason to be on Cancer regularly, for business.  When I'm here, you're going to keep me company."

[Rhi-Rhi]

It was like being dunked into icy water. Jake's throat tightened, his breath caught, and a chill went all through his body, raising the little hairs along his arms and neck. Never had the words I like you sounded so...sick. In another context, it could have been a confession, but here the words were damning, and Jake was trapped.

There was no one he could go to. No one he could report this to. When he could breathe again, it came out short, panicky, his hands curled into fists in his lap.

"Okay." He wasn't looking at Aydan, but was looking at the table instead, and desperately wishing he could be anywhere else. It wasn't a statement of assent; it was a statement to acknowledge he'd heard Aydan.

[Tally]

Aydan's head dropped into a tilt.  Jake looked sweet with the spice of fear upon him.

"Don't worry," he said, smiling in a way that might be taken as kind, were they not talking about Jake submitting the use of his body in exchange for his life.  "You'll entertain me for awhile, is all.  And when I'm tired of you our mutual friend in the Marshals will see you receive a nice promotion for your trouble."

[Rhi-Rhi]

"A promotion," Jake repeated numbly. A promotion, like that was exactly what he wanted, to keep working in this place among the people that had allowed this to happen, the people that had violated him. As if he could ever feel safe here again, knowing it could repeat itself whenever someone wanted to, and that there was nothing he could do about it.

He swayed a little where he sat, feeling ill.

[Tally]

Aydan lay a steadying hand on Jake's shoulder.  Mostly he wanted Jake dealing with this and processing it as quickly and successfully as possible.  The sooner Jake wrapped his head around all this, the sooner Aydan could get him back to his apartment and see how he looked when he was well-fucked and conscious.

"Breathe, Jake.  Nothing's happening right now.  You're just in a cafe, you're fine."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Jake reacted without thinking, jerking violently to shake Aydan's hand off. "Don't fucking touch me!"

[Tally]

Aydan let it go--this time.  Once Jake'd had enough chance to calm down, he would have to submit to this kind of thing.  Aydan would demand nothing less than his submission, both in public and in private.

He sighed, and pulled out a credit card, which he slid across the table toward Jake.  "This is for you.  It's for certain requirements I'll need you to take care of, but you should use it for whatever you like.  It has no limit.  You can have the rest of the day and most of tomorrow to yourself, but I'll expect you at your apartment by seven tomorrow evening."

[Rhi-Rhi]

Jake stared at the card, then stared up at Aydan. He...he could not believe this. This had to be a dream. A horrible nightmare. This man, this monster, couldn't actually be talking to him like this, like this was all completely normal, like he hadn't drugged him and...

He shuddered, swallowing back bile. This did not feel real. This was not how real people acted. This couldn't be happening to him.

"I...I don't want your money." He meant it to come out harshly, but it came out as scarcely a whisper. Worse, much to his shame and horror, he felt his eyes start to burn and blur. Grabbing the card, he slid it back across the table to Aydan and shook his head. "I don't want it. Look, I don't want any part of this. I just...I won't tell anyone, just...leave me alone..."

[Tally]

Aydan stared at him.  That fucking face.  The waver in his voice. 

A pleasant heat coiled in Aydan's groin, most insistent but he couldn't indulge.  Not yet.  Jake would be too much of a crying mess if he forced him into anything right now.  He at least needed the kid coherent.

"You may not want it, but you'll need it."  He stood, to give his next words the weight of physicality.  "You're to start tanning regularly.  I need you a bit darker.  And before you arrive tomorrow you're to visit the Boutique Veronde on the aft-side plaza courtyard.  They're expecting you.  They'll have new clothes and a stylist who will see to your hair."

And that was that.  He walked away, without sparing another word or threat.  If Jake ran, the Marshals would have him before he made it out of the district.  And he suspected Jake knew that.

[Rhi-Rhi]

Jake watched him leave, his throat and chest tight and making it difficult to breathe. Every instinct screamed at him to run, and yet he knew, with a hollow pang in his gut, that his visa had been denied for a reason. There was no running.

He was fucking trapped in this place that had once been his second chance.

This still didn't feel real.

Jake stayed where he was long after Aydan left, until his breathing normalized and he stopped shaking so much. When he felt like he could stand again, he rose and headed back to his apartment, moving like he was in some sort of disconnected dream. He had to start tanning. Had to get his hair and clothes seen to. It was so absurd it was almost funny, if anything about this could be funny, yet by the time he got back to his apartment and had the door locked behind him, he felt like laughing. Hysterically. And before he knew it, he no longer felt like laughing but was in the full throes of it, cracking up until he was sobbing.

This can't be real.

But the credit card clenched in his hand was proof enough that he wasn't as crazy as he felt, and though he wanted nothing more than to cut it up and toss it and be anywhere but here at seven tomorrow...

The Marshals knew. They were working with him.

Fuck, he'd die if he didn't.

Fear of death and torture, of all the things Aedolian Pilots could do to him, was more powerful than even his fear of Aydan. It was that fear that got him out of bed the next afternoon, it was that fear that took him to that boutique, credit card tucked into his pocket. He couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with anyone there as he slipped inside. Did they know? Did they know Aydan and what he did--and thus know what had happened, was going to happen, to him?