Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Greek Love ❯ Introductions ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I don't own Fake.

"Would you like something to eat?" Dee asked the quiet, worn man before him. On the chance occasion that he took on a new servant (he preferred not to call them his 'slaves' and he treated them with the same mentality), the striking dark-haired man of wealth had found that a good meal could go far to win a person's trust. But the young man simply shook his head.

Sitting back on his cushioned dais, Dee looked the man up and down. Normally he wasn't so blatant in his perusal of a new servant, but there was something about this man that Dee couldn't pull his eyes away from. The man was lean and muscular and, despite the premature wrinkling from a brow too often furrowed in worry, he was handsome- and young. Younger than Dee by as many as four years. But it was the eyes that spoke of the man's true maturity. They were black as midnight and beheld Dee with an unrelenting stare that sent a shiver down his spine. Even though the thin blond man was covered in the dirt and grime of travel, his wrists raw from his bonds, the only clothing left to him a scrap of fraying loin cloth, his eyes studied Dee with defiance and an air of quiet dignity. Somehow Dee felt he was the one on display.

"What are you going to do with me?" the road-worn young man asked, barely curbing a seething anger welling up within him.

Dee cocked his head to the side, considering his answer. "I'm going to keep you safe," he found himself saying. The other man did not look comforted. "What is your name?" Dee asked to ward off the uncomfortable silence surrounding them.

The simple question seemed to catch the man off guard. For a moment Dee glimpsed a look of surprise through the anger, then the mask fell back into place. "I thought I didn't have a name any longer; pieces of property have no need for names," he answered coldly.

"And who told you that?" Dee asked, although he had a good guess. It was actually a standard practice to rename servants, but Dee (as he did with so many rules) did not abide by it.

"Bartholomew," the man retorted with disgust, tilting his head back toward the hall's entrance to indicate the man who had brought him there.

"Ahhhh... I see," mused Dee, "Yes, he's a rather barbaric, unpersonable man." Looking the other man in the eye he said, "I hope you will not judge everyone in Athens by one small man's behavior." There was a subtle nuance to his words that conveyed Dee's true meaning: I would not dare judge an entire group of people by one bad example, and neither should you.

The strong-willed man before Dee seemed to take the meaning at once and his anger shifted and softened, but he remained cautiously defensive. "Yet, he is allowed to be a citizen, and I am not," the wary man said with bitterness on his tongue.

Dee sighed, this man was going to make life difficult for himself wasn't he? As much as he might agree with him, Dee couldn't change the injustices of the world and he had learned to live with them and work around them as best he could. If the stubborn young man couldn't learn to do the same he would forever be butting his head against an immovable brick wall. However, If he could accept the rules of the society, he might live a hard, laborious life, and yet still make peace with it. Otherwise... Dee rubbed his temples in frustration. This man had potential, he didn't know for what, but it was there. He had intelligence and wit and a keen eye. Perhaps Dee could find some use for him that could explore his talents. But not if the stranger was going to keep his anger with him like a shield. Something deplorable must have happened to the poor young man. Dee could see in his face that he had been a quiet and even shy person before this ordeal. Certainly he was a private person and rather modest, from the way he tried to hide his exposed body. He looked very much like a turtle pulled from it's shell. But somehow Dee had to gain his trust and so draw out that gentler side of his character once more.

"Life is not always fair," Dee said with nonchalance as he rang a small gong set by his right hand. Immediately two maidservants shuffled into the chamber and Dee requested wine to be brought to him. Once the glasses were set before him he asked the servants to leave and shut the large, heavy doors behind them.

"You are welcome to share in the wine or fruit at anytime," Dee said gently. Though he didn't blame the stranger for his distrust, the Dee wished he would take something; the man was obviously very tired and hungry. Dee added with a knowing smile, "Though I doubt you will, stubborn as you seem." At this the young man's cheeks began to glow a faint pink. Dee found this reaction rather unexpected and, well, delightful actually. He had thought the blond man would glare at him or simply ignore him. He didn't think he would respond like a schoolboy rebuked by his master.

Which was close to what the stranger was actually feeling. Something in the tone of Dee's voice made him feel as if he was being childishly obstinate at refusing perfectly good food and drink on abstract principles when he was in fact starving. Tentatively, he reached a hand to a heavy pile of deep purple grapes and plucked off a small cluster- then devoured the whole batch down to the stems. It had been so long since he had tasted real food (the stale bread and gruel given to him on the long road hardly more than base sustenance), that the tart burst of juices onto his parched tongue nearly made him faint from bliss. But it didn't dull his senses, and he kept a wary eye on the tall, well-built man in front of him, waiting for him to speak.

Pretending not to notice as the lean man finished every last piece of ripe fruit on the silver plate, Dee continued, "I will tell you something of myself that I hope may put aside your suspicions of me so that we can perceive one another with a better understanding." Ryo didn't reply, but the other man could see that he was in a much more receptive mood now that he wasn't faint from hunger. "What if I told you I was once in a situation not far from your own?" he asked rhetorically, watching the blond's face give just a slight hint of curiosity. "You see, my parents were barren and desperate for a male heir to their wealth and fortune. The oracle revealed to them that they would find the answer in the least likely of places. So it was that a few days later my father came upon me in the street. It was a route he normally didn't take and he barely heard my cry on the abandoned road. He took it as a sign and brought me home. My mother rarely leaves her quarters so they pretended to have kept her pregnancy a secret until the actual birth of their child. The loyalty of their servants made sure that the secret was never revealed and I was raised as their legitimate heir." Here Dee paused and he could see that his story had indeed had an impact on the other man, his eyes were wide and attentive. Dee was a bit surprised that Ryo believed him so readily, most people wouldn't have. It was unheard of for such a thing to happen and Dee had barely believed it himself when his father finally confided him in the truth. Why is it, thought Dee, that I am so pleased that this man believes me without any other proof than my word? He didn't stop to ponder the idea further for the quiet man had suddenly muttered something under his breath.

"Ryo," Dee heard him say again. "My name is Ryo." Again, that rush of pleasure at the stranger's acceptance and trust flooded through the dark-haired man.

"You have a unique look about you, Ryo," Dee said in a smooth, warm tone. "I assume you're from the East?" he asked. What he really wanted to know was how the man, obviously well-educated, had come to Greece, dirty, ragged and bound in chains. But he was hoping this 'Ryo' might volunteer the information with some gentle persuasion.

"Yes, my mother was from Japan," Ryo began, his voice growing as he continued to talk of his past. "My father was a merchant she met when trading goods on the mainland. They married and she traveled with him across the continent. They raised me well and we were very happy," he paused, sadness stealing into his voice, "until we were attacked, by one warring tribe or another, and they were murdered. It's been two years since then. I've done my best to survive. A month go I woke up bound and gaged and found myself hauled off to Greece... and here you find me." The man took a deep breath, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders at being able to speak his story aloud, but he was still weak from carrying the burden for so long. He was so very tired. "What are you going to do with me?" he asked again, as he had when he first found himself before this charismatic, darkly handsome man. Under the stress of fatigue and those startling, penetrating green eyes, Ryo was quickly loosing his strength. And he only had so much hope left. If this Dee was as reasonable and magnanimous as he seemed, maybe his life wouldn't be as grim as he imagined those many dreadful nights on the road here. But if he wasn't, if he was somehow merely toying with him, then Ryo wished he would tell him now so he could harden himself for the days to come without wasting anymore of his dwindling hopes on a future that would never come.

Before Ryo had a chance to hear the answer, however, his strength finally gave out and he swayed on his feet. Quickly, Dee swept down and picked the man up in his arms as he fainted. The raven-haired man was disturbed to find how light Ryo felt considering his broad frame. Looking down into his weary face, he lowered his lips to graze Ryo's forehead tenderly and whispered, "I am going to keep you safe."