The day after the auction, Calix had come to Brandywine University's Companion Education Department (affectionately known to students who helped train pets as The Pound because of the amount of sex that took place there and the way so many pets were gathered to wait for their Owners in one place) to pick up the person who was nominally his pet. Charon, the trainer who had taken him in charge, had asked Calix if he wanted to watch Nova emerge from his last VR reinforcement session.

 

Calix was unsure why he had said yes. 

 

He already had a lot of respect for Nova, having worked with him on Jasper's case long enough to have had the occasional one-on-one conversation. He thought it was disgusting what had happened to him, what Aristotle was doing in these and other labs. Even Calix, despite what anyone might say about him, believed in consent. 

 

But Nova would be different now. Maybe that was why he had decided to watch. It would give him a chance, in those early subconscious moments of wakefulness, to see just how much Nova had changed. So, he watched through the glass as Nova adjusted his neck and stretched his arms, the VR headset still on. He felt his heart leap strangely as Nova took it off, revealing those big, intense blue eyes and that onyx-black hair. The idea of Nova as a pet apparently had a power all its own to transform Calix's thoughts about him. He had never really considered it before, even at the auction, because that had been a time to act. Everything else before then had been a rush of anger, surprise, and planning to try to save this man. 

 

---

 

The VR training program just couldn’t keep Nova’s attention today. With eyes still not adjusted to the light in the room, he habitually hung the headset back on its rack without looking, then slipped out of the chair and down the steps towards his clothes.

 

He stripped off the VR suit, sniff-tested his armpits, and judged that he was still perfectly clean. Then, he pulled on the clothing that Charon had laid out: a loose-fitting black crop-top with black pants. He took a deep breath before leaving the suite. 

 

Charon and Calix were waiting for him. Charon gave him a smile and Calix gave him a look that Nova interpreted as almost worried. Strange. Calix rose to his feet and offered Nova a hand.

 

"Nova! It's good to meet you. My name is Calix. I'll be taking you home."

 

A brief silence hung in the air. Nova blinked. His Owner was trying to shake his hand? Out of the corner of his eye, the pet could see a quizzical look on Charon’s face as well.

 

Nova shook his Owner’s hand, trying to meet Calix where he was at. "I’m glad to finally meet you, sir. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time." Whatever Calix had planned for their dynamic, it was definitely going to be unusual. But, that was fine. He would adapt, as always.

 

If, for an instant, Calix seemed disappointed, it was gone by the time he finished shaking Nova's hand. "Great. That's great. I've finished everything with Charon. I'm told you have no personal belongings to collect, so we can get going immediately." 

 

Calix gave a sedate wave to Charon and turned to leave. His impulse was to take Nova's hand and run, but of course, instead, he gave Nova a smile. "I'm eager to spend some time together alone." 

 

A practiced expression of attentive contentment covered Nova’s excitement. Just the word ‘alone’ had the pet’s heart rate up. "That sounds wonderful." He wanted to say more, but a jolt of uncertainty silenced him as they headed toward the front door.

 

Nova found that his pace slowed involuntarily as they approached the doors. He was leaving. He had given himself over completely to Charon's training and he had become a damn good pet. He had worked hard to make himself appealing and capable of serving any Coin to satisfaction. Charon had declared him ready. That was why he had been selected for the charity auction in the first place. And yet, he felt vulnerable and on edge, like he was on a job that was starting to go South.

 

He’d been training and training for this exact moment, but now that it was finally here, he froze before even reaching the door. Thoughts of Charon flooded his mind. He didn’t want to abandon him.

 

When Nova paused in front of the door, Calix gave him a look of benign confusion. Then, the short-haired Coin smiled gently, took Nova by the hand, and pulled him across the threshold. 

 

After a brief, blank moment on the other side, Calix watched Nova return the smile. It wasn't the smile that Calix remembered — maybe a little dreamier, lacking Nova's wry depths — but it was something. 

 

---

 

It was only once they were in the air above the University and on their way to Calix's apartments that the Coin felt like he could ask Nova any real questions. He reminded himself to be gentle, like when Marin had first come home. Nova's brain had been through a traumatic injury. 

 

They didn't know the edges of that. They also couldn't just take Nova to a clinic without raising some potentially dangerous questions for anyone interpreting the scans. It was ultimately Seth, in the absence of anyone else who knew Nova well enough to make a decision for him, who decided that they should only take him to a hospital as a last resort. 

 

It wasn't like Aristotle would have allowed him to be sold if he was about to drop dead from the fuckery that had likely been done to his brain. 

 

Calix let the autopilot do most of the work, though he kept a habitual hand on the wheel. "Nova, do you remember me?"

 

Nova hadn’t expected that question, but he none-the-less considered Calix’s face and build. "Now that you mention it, yeah, actually."

 

Calix perked up.

 

"I’ve worked security for events you attended. I think at one of them you got punched in the face..." Nova’s voice trailed off as he realized what he’d just said. He hoped Calix wasn’t offended. 

 

Calix’s stomach dropped out. Of course. That would’ve been too much to hope for.

 

"Ah, I thought so," said Calix after Nova fell silent. Yes, this was about what he should have expected. It still tasted bitter.

 

While his new owner didn’t seem to be bothered, Nova still felt foolish for the rude slip. He would take better care with his words in the future. Well, even if it would be strange to bring it up again now, he could apologize by showing his Owner his other skills. "Kyrios, now that we're alone, let me show you my body."

 

Calix's eyes flashed around the airborne car, looking for something to say. Nova had always used to seem to avoid the subject of nude bodies and sex. "I have seen you from every angle already in your scans, pet. Better to wait until we get you home and settled in."

 

"Why the false modesty? It would be perfectly normal for a Coin to strip his pet down as they made their way to his home..." Nova hadn't been marketed on his deference. 

 

Sisyphus's stones! This was happening too fast. The Mnemosyne already made the thought of genuine consent laughable. But, Calix had known that he would have to face this at some point. He had wanted to give it at least a day before anything of the sort. A mere twenty-four hours of not fucking his mindfucked friend. "If we started now, we’d be interrupted when we get home," the Coin said matter-of-factly. "I’d rather our first time be relieved of any time pressures and in a proper bed. Let’s wait."

 

"As you wish, Kyrios," said Nova, fiddling with the top button of his shirt as he sat across from Calix, grinning suggestively. 

 

Fuck, they had really done a number on stoic, serious Nova. Calix licked his lips subconsciously, feeling bad when he realized he was doing it. "That's a good pet, Nova. Thank you."  

 

Hearing those words from his new owner sent tingles up Nova’s spine. It told him that he was doing everything right. That his training was yielding the desired result: finally, he was the pet of a handsome, kind Coin, who he could tell wanted to fuck him. Now all he had to do was... wait. Again.

 

"What is your day to day schedule like?" Nova asked, trying to keep the conversation moving. "Who am I likely to see regularly among your employees, friends, and family?"

 

Calix watched their approach to his apartment's carport as an excuse not to look at Nova. "Well, the people you'll see most often are my twin, Anthix, and our...friend, Marin. I only occasionally entertain other Coins; Anthix is more of a host than I am, and we are quite close. We share custody of Marin. You might also see some of Marin's friends." He nodded his head as they approached the carport door. "We're just about home now, Nova. Er, as to my other employees, I have a cleaning service and a chef that I book with regularly, but I enjoy the minutiae of caring for my own home, when I can."

 

Calix opened the car door and gestured for Nova to get out. "You don't have any bags with you, so we can just head right in."

 

Curious to see his new home, Nova stepped out of the car, stood straight, and stretched. He hoped Calix was watching.

 

Calix walked by Nova, doing his best to avoid ogling his pet's curves and definition. "I'll show you around to get you more accustomed to my—our apartment."

 

The Coin pulled a large, ornate key out of his pocket and slid it into the equally ornate wood-panel door. To Nova, both looked like they predated electricity, but when Calix turned the key the faintest sound of an electronic lock could be heard beneath the heavy clicking tumblers. This kind of aesthetic was not what Nova expected, but he liked it.

 

"Welcome home," Calix said, holding the door open for Nova. 

 

The pet didn't know what to say. He smiled, nodded, and walked past Calix, trying to exude an air of cool confidence despite the slight blush warming his cheeks.

 

Nova had only entered the first room and he was already unsure where to look. The simple but beautifully made wooden furniture and wall trims gave an impression that was older and more rich than any Coin's apartment that he'd seen before. With the trained eye of a woodworker Nova immediately noticed how each piece of wood appeared to have been selected to show off its natural qualities and imperfections. Yet despite feeling overwhelmed by the attention to detail in what Nova looked at as art pieces around him, the room still felt understated and spacious. "You certainly have an eye for choosing furniture. These chairs and benches have so much character. They're beautifully made."

 

Calix quirked his eyebrows. "Well, thank you. You can take a look at the carpenter's workshop later on in the apartment tour. It's just down the hall."

 

Calix had said he didn't have any employees, which must mean... "Did you make these?" Nova ran a hand over the smoothly oiled wood grain. "I whittle, a little."

 

Calix smirked at the rhyme. "Well, you will be most welcome to use my workshop, so long as you clean up after yourself. There's a larger one at the family estate, but I make do here in the city." 

 

"I think I'd like to take you up on that." Nova's smile was bright and hopeful. It was strange that Calix was keeping an uncomfortable distance between them, but maybe they could bond over the workshop if they spent some time there together.

 

Whittling was another thing they could use to bring Nova's memory back. Calix would mention it to the others. Calix found the pastime quaint, but maybe Nova had never had access to the sorts of tools he would have needed to take on more complex projects. "Perfect."

 

After showing Nova the modest kitchen and its various automated gadgets, the dining room, and the small solarium and balcony, Calix realized that a full tour would include his bedroom and decided that skipping it would only make Nova feel more out of place, more unwelcome, than rejecting his advances already must have. He entered through the master bathroom, which was connected to the hallway so that anyone wanting to clean it could enter if he was still in bed. He gestured for Nova to follow. "This is the master bathroom, off of my bedroom. You're welcome to use it if you like, though the guest room has a perfectly serviceable en suite of its own."

 

Nova stepped inside the bathroom and wasn't sure whether to stare at the floor, walls, or ceiling. On the walls and floor, there was a black and white mosaic depicting nereids pouring water into the large bathtub. Inside the tub, Poseidon lounged with his trident loosely gripped in his hand in an attitude of relaxation. The ceiling had the look of being carved from a single piece of marble, and it very well might have been. The whorls and eddies in the corner pieces made it look as though the ceiling was part of a stylized ocean. He went silent in admiration.

 

Calix rubbed the back of his shorn skull. "I like a nice long bath. The mosaic and the carvings give me something to look at instead of my implant." 

 

"I don't suppose you're a stone carver, too?" Nova said, still unable to take his eyes off of the wave-like details on the ceiling.

 

More laughter slipped out of Calix's body like it was trying to relieve the tension of having Nova, vulnerable and mindfucked, in these intimate spaces. "No, no. I much prefer to work with wood."

 

Still drinking in the masterful stonework, Nova nodded almost absently. "I thought about trying soapstone, but it is harder to affordably source compared to the small wood cut-offs and discards I usually work with."

 

The warmth from the light in Nova's eyes felt good on Calix's face before he forced himself to look away. He could not allow Nova nor himself to catch feelings until Nova knew the truth. "If you still want to try, I can get the stone and the tools, you know."

 

Just as he was about to refuse, Nova paused. That was one of the benefits of being a pet. Your Owner was supposed to care for you, give you the things you needed to be happy and healthy so that you could be a good pet for them in exchange. So, resolutely, Nova caught Calix's eye and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good. Thank you, Kyrios." 

 

With a nod back, Calix opened the door to his bedroom. "This is the master bedroom. Watch your step," he half-joked.

 

The furnishings were just as beautiful and creative as the others. The dominant shared feature between them was the way the wood followed the lines of nature rather than straight, manufactured edges, each piece asymmetrical but flowing. Each followed the grain and seemed to bend as though gravity was pulling it in multiple directions at once. Everything in the room was arranged to draw the eye to one point: the bed inset into the floor.

 

A series of concentric wooden circles formed steps down to a large, round bed. Calix had managed to make the bed the focal point of the room without raising himself on a pedestal, like so many Coins would. The thought made Nova feel hopeful or even relieved, but he couldn't tell why.

 

"Something wrong?" Calix asked after a moment of silence.

 

Nova grinned at his Owner and motioned to the steps surrounding the bed. "Did you really make fucking into a spectator sport?" Nova shot back playfully.

 

His lips curling in amusement, Calix put his hands on his hips. He liked Nova all the more when he was speaking his mind. Now, they just had to get that mind fully back. Then...then Calix could indulge in whatever feelings he was having, with Nova's full participation, if Nova wanted anything to do with another Coin after all this. "I suppose I really have designed a stadium of sorts. But, I prefer to think of it like a nest. That's why there's no sharp edges." 

 

Nova thought about that for a moment, then walked down the steps into the centre, sitting down at the edge of the bed. "Thank you for sharing your nest with me. I look forward to becoming one of your gladiators. Even if just for a cuddle until you're ready to claim your pet more fully." 

 

Calix flushed and swallowed his spit. "Sure. We'll get there. I want to show you your room, next. Maybe you'd like to get some rest after that?"

 

Hiding his frown, Nova ascended the wooden rings back to the ground floor of the room and hugged his arms to his body. "I can only imagine it's just as palatial as the rest of my new home." 

 

Calix ignored the waves of hurt and discomfort radiating from Nova as best he could. He hated hiding the man's condition from him, but what little information they had about Project Mnemosyne suggested that they had to be careful about how they introduced the information about what had been done to him. There might be some self-destructive triggers or other psychological dangers. 

 

That was also why Calix had to act as a proper Owner. Nova had been conditioned. But Calix had promised himself those twenty-four hours. To let Nova acclimate. To see if meeting his old friends triggered anything. To feel a little less like he was taking advantage of this man he had come to consider a friend. 

 

"You're just down the hall. Come along," said Calix. The hallway had floor to ceiling windows in the warm wood trim that Calix seemed to favour, interspersed with walls where art in a wide variety of styles was hung or painted. Although the schools of art were varied, they seemed to reinforce Nova's impression of Calix's temperament: not given to ostentation, quietly passionate about the things he liked, and direct about the things that he didn't. 

 

When they entered the guest room, Nova looked at the singular piece of furniture: an ornate wooden bed with a sweeping circular staircase leading up to the mattress. The floor was tiled, the ceiling clad at the corners with more warm wood, carved into ornate cornices and shapes, with two beams intersecting in a cross that divided the room into four (empty) sections. He found himself a little surprised that this room wasn't more decorated. Was the bed meant to be such a striking centrepiece that nothing else was needed? Well, all he needed was a bed, really... 

 

With his arms spread out wide in a gesture of welcome, Calix looked back at the (well-hidden) consternation on Nova's face. He frowned, looked deep into Nova's eyes, and then realization dawned on his face. "By Theia, that eye implant is ancient. That's no problem, I do keep a spare control interface for this room." 

 

When Calix strode across the floor, Nova noted that his footsteps sounded different as he stepped across certain tiles, as though there were hollows beneath them. He watched as Calix reached into a cleverly hidden alcove under the bed and pulled out a thin sheet of glass polymer. He walked back and handed it to Nova. "Here you are."

 

Nova took the tablet in hand and, as he did, accidentally brushed one of the touchscreen buttons. A panel opened in the wall, revealing a mirror. In surprise, Nova's hand glided across the glass tablet again. Around him, the room activated with chiming alerts and warning sounds. Calix laughed and pulled Nova close as a section of the floor began to rise beneath his feet. 

 

Nova found himself held tight in Calix's arms, looking up into Calix's smiling face. "Hi." 

 

"Hi. Sorry, I maybe should have warned you. To save space in here and accommodate all my very different guests and their interests, I made this room modular. Everything you might need is hidden behind panels in the wall and floor," said Calix.

The room had changed entirely while Nova had been staring into Calix's eyes. A divan had risen from the floor to face the bed. The door to the bathroom had been revealed. There was a mirror in one alcove and a closet door in another. Furniture that Nova didn't even have names for now filled the room. 

 

Calix made sure that Nova was steady on his feet and gave him a bit of personal space. He gave Nova time to explore the interface. Nova swiped across the screen to see more of what the room had to offer. "You can set them for voice activation, too," Calix offered. He leaned in over Nova's shoulder. "And, I left room to add things. A workbench, maybe?"

 

Nova shook his head and smiled. "I'd rather share yours. That way, we get to spend time together. That's what I'm here for, isn't it?"

 

"Yeah, I guess that's why I bid on you at the auction," said Calix, false-bright. "Let's head over there now."

 

---

 

Exactly twenty-four hours and five minutes after Calix and Nova stepped into Calix's apartment, Calix's front door opened. Quiet footsteps made their way to the kitchen and opened the large stainless steel fridge door. Out came a ripe peach and some heavy cream. The peach was rinsed in the sink and cut into precise cubes. The heavy cream was whipped in a metal bowl. The peaches joined the cream, along with two spoons and some mint garnish. This metal bowl and its precious contents were carried down the hallway to Calix's bedroom. The door opened, whisper-quiet, on Calix sleeping in his nest.

 

There was the softest of clatters as the bowl was put down, and a soft harrumph after that. 

 

After a moment, Marin stamped his foot on the top wooden step outside of what Nova had implied was Calix's stadium view of the bed. "Where's Nova?!" 

 

Calix groaned and rolled over in the bed. "Marin...? Nova's in the guest room. Why are you here? We were supposed to give him time to adapt, remember?"

 

"You said twenty-four hours," said Marin firmly, crossing his arms and jutting out his lower lip in a pout. "I waited." 

 

With a flop and a chuckle, Calix fell back onto his pillow. "I'm sure you did, Blue-eyes. Now that you're here, maybe you can help me with the next steps." The still drowsy Coin raised his arm and beckoned the pet to him.

 

Pulling their loose-fitting chiton over their head and tossing it aside, Marin picked up the bowl of peaches and cream and stepped carefully down toward Calix's bed. They set the bowl down beside the round mattress on the wood and then climbed into Calix's arms, relaxing into the embrace habitually. "Why isn't Nova in your bed, Cal? He must be so lonely..." A few strands of Marin's glossy dark blue hair fell across his cheek and the pet tucked them back behind their ear. 

 

Calix pulled Marin in close just the way that he had instinctively done yesterday when Nova activated all of the guest room furniture at once. He let some of the weight of his muscles press down on Marin. "It wouldn't be right to take advantage of him right now, Marin. He doesn't know all of the circumstances yet."

 

Marin moved one of Calix's hands over to his hips and pressed his smaller hand into it. "You don't understand, do you?"

 

"Understand what, my dove?" said Calix, reversing Marin's grip and pulling that arm up to his lips to kiss the inner wrist. 

 

Marin purred and closed their eyes. "This. You might think that you do. But how it feels, as a pet, when you kiss me there. When you touch me at all. When you give me your attention and I can feel your desire for me..."

 

Calix opened his eyes and started to listen more closely, his lips still pressed to Marin's skin. "Okay. Tell me more."

 

Marin rolled onto his back, their head still cradled against Calix's shoulder. Calix adjusted his body around them. Marin reached a hand between Calix's legs and began to stroke his dear friend's shaft. "I can only speak for myself. But if Nova feels anything like I do..." Marin squeezed a drop of pre-cum from Calix's glans and massaged it into the cockhead. "I was engineered to be a pet. And then I trained for it, my whole life. This is my purpose. Right now, it's Nova's purpose, too, and even if he didn't choose it, he doesn't know any better. To him, all he knows is that his Owner doesn't want to play with him. And since he knows better than to blame you, he'll blame himself."

 

Calix reluctantly stilled Marin's hand between his legs. "Fuck."

 

"Yeah, that's what you need to do to fix it, Perianthos!" 

 

Trying to turn his guilt into something useful, Calix leaned up on his arms. He had misunderstood what might actually be best for Nova. He had not thought to ask an actual pet about it. "Gods, it was so much effort to hold back from fucking him from the start." Calix shifted, adjusting his heavy, full balls. "And you're telling me I should have just gone for it. I need to apologize..."

 

"Not yet, Cal. You can't just go in there like Hercules ready to fight a lion!" Marin's smile was soft, but it quickly turned cheeky. "Tell me why it was so hard to hold back. You never wanted to fuck Nova before -- at least that I could tell."

 

"I never let myself think of him as an option...and now he transparently wants it. Wants me. He's got a pet's training now. It changes things. I... I can't really explain it."

 

"Mmm," said Marin, fingers dancing across Calix's thighs. "Well, you need to be calm and ready to guide him through this first fuck. Why don't we practice a little?" 

 

Calix's attention was immediately redirected to Marin's touch on his thighs. "And just what guidance will this highly trained pet need?" He slid a hand gently through Marin's hair, stopping at the back and grasping the entirety of the back of their head with one large hand.

 

Marin let Calix move their head toward the polearm between his legs. He pressed his lips into the soft skin of the shaft and kissed it with his plump lips. "It's hard to say just how highly trained he'll be. I trained for years, but he might need a little direction to know what you want..."

 

Calix turned Marin's head just enough so that their soft cheek touched Calix's hard cock, and brought the pet's lips further down to his balls. "So you're saying I need to be direct in telling him exactly what I want and when."

 

"That's right...nonverbal cues should work well, too, and you have to leave a little room for him to improvise." Marin poked his tongue out of his mouth and gave Calix's balls a long, slow lick. They flattened the powerful muscle against the left ball and began to engulf it into their warm, wet mouth.

 

As usual, the tight sensation of Calix's ball squeezing between Marin's lips made Calix tense up briefly. Marin's agile tongue slipping around and massaging the plump, round teste melted that tension away. "That's good, pet. Draw on the surface with the tip of your tongue. Try to spell out just how much you want me to fuck you."

 

Marin was enthusiastic but unhurried. They slowly traced indiscernible patterns on Calix's balls, making sure that no part of them went untouched. Their hand went to Calix's cock and began to milk it. This also kept Calix's dick out of Marin's face, giving him better access to those full, heavy balls. Their other hand reached up to play with Calix's nipples. Marin felt Calix harden further in his hand, felt the way his muscles were starting to tense and his cock was starting to leak more and more.

 

Calix was pleasantly surprised by Marin's hand on his chest. "I can see what you mean about improvising." He slowly pulled Marin's head back from his crotch and made them look Calix in the eye. "Do you think Nova will be ready to assert himself like that?"

 

Marin licked their lips and stared back at Calix hungrily. "Maybe not at first. But he's been offering himself to you, hasn't he? He's ready for you to take ownership over him and give you his best." 

 

The lab-engineered pet that had been one of Calix's closest friends for a decade pulled himself closer to Calix so that his thighs were wrapped around Calix's cockshaft. "Fuck my thighs, then pick a hole." They paused for a moment, then smiled. "Please."

 

A look of exaggerated contemplation crossed Calix's face. "Hmmm, I suppose you did say 'please'." He put a hand on either side of Marin's hips and, with little effort, lifted the pet and began to slide his dick along Marin's slit, the plump pussy that hid behind their shapely cock and balls. 

 

Marin's juices flowed almost immediately, making their inner thighs slick and coating Calix's shaft generously. The skin of his inner thighs was so sensitive, and the warm, wet sensation along with the stir of the apartment's air conditioning only made it better. "Mmmmm...thank you, thank you...please keep going. Just like that. Just...mmmph! Like! That!"

 

"I'm not the only one who's pent up, am I?" Calix said, enjoying every quiver through Marin's needy slit and thighs. "I'd have thought you'd be getting fucked by Iskios daily by now."

 

"Iskios isn't you," said Marin, neatly sidestepping the question of his relationship to Autolycus's replacement. Calix noticed the move, of course, but let it slide. "I want you." 

 

And the way that Marin said it, engineered and trained to drive a person mad, Calix knew that he was the only thing on his friend and sometimes-pet's mind right now. "Then, since you're such an amazing pet," Calix lifted Marin higher and rotated their whole body to line it up how he wanted. "I'm going to give you exactly what you want."

 

Calix put Marin's legs up on his large Coin shoulders. Marin's holes were soaked and ready, and Calix slipped deep inside his warm cunt. The pet's shaft pulsed and twitched with every few inches that his hole took, spurting droplets of precum onto Calix abs. He sometimes thought he could see Marin's belly shift just from being so full.

 

Calix's cock slid against Marin's engorged walls, stretching and filling his front hole entirely. Marin's cervix shifted to accommodate more as Calix bottomed out inside of them. The sensation of fullness felt so right and good. The sheer amount of nerve endings that the glans glided against as Calix pulled almost all the way out and slowly thrust all the way back in made it impossible to think of anything but sex. It felt perfect. 

 

Calix knew Marin's favourite rhythms. Marin felt his body thrumming with a rapturous need to get fucked. Unable to reach much of the large Coin's body, Marin settled for a naked display of ecstasy on his features, shuddering with it, their hands gripping at Calix's wrists. 

 

"I want to hear you, pet," Calix said. "Don't hold back."

 

Each thrust pulsed pleasure through Marin's body. Both of their breathing synchronized with those pulses. Calix might as well have been pumping Marin's diaphragm with his cock. Marin's dick bounced with each thrust, leaving smears of precum against his thigh and belly. "Fu— Oh fuck, Calix I..." The Coin had pushed the pet to the edge, and slowed the pace. He let Marin feel every bit of him as Calix let him hover near orgasm.

 

Marin squeezed Calix's cock greedily, wringing every bit of pleasure that they could from the experience for both of them. "Please make me cum," they begged, their voice breathless with need. "No -- not just yet...I want to be teased. I... no, fuck, I need to cum!"

 

Calix drew almost all the way back, his cockhead resting inside of Marin's lips. "Which is it? Do you want me to edge you or do you want to cum your brains out right now?"

 

"I...I wanna be your good pet..." Marin whispered, eyes downcast. "Please...just do what feels right." 

 

"No, I think you have more of an opinion about sex than that, Blue," said Calix, easing his dick deeper into the inviting warmth of Marin's body. Calix watched gleefully as Marin's eyes fluttered.

 

A quiet high-pitched moan escaped from Marin as he was pulled down onto Calix's shaft. They twitched slightly, forcing Calix's cockhead against his sacred spot and driving Marin over the edge. The noises he made were incoherent half-syllables, stutters and starts and stops of pure, animal ecstasy. His cunt tightened around Calix, pulsating in rhythmic flutters that were completely outside of Marin's conscious control. 

 

Knowing just how sensitive Marin must be feeling, Calix slowed but didn't stop. "Now you're my good pet." He eased Marin down onto the bed on their back, reached for Marin's dick, took it in hand and stroked it slow. All the while, he kept pumping his own cock inside of his friend. "Where do you want my load, hmm? Then we can take care of Nova just like you said."   

 

Marin didn't hesitate. "Fill me! Gods, please cum in me!"

 

"Gladly," Calix tilted his upper body forward, slipped his tongue into Marin's mouth, and thrust deep into his wet pussy. Calix gradually sped up the rhythm until his own moans started to join Marin's. As Calix was reaching climax, images flitted through his head of Marin, then Nova, then both. The Coin threw back his head, his powerful spine arched as he sank down to the hilt, and came. 

 

The flood of cum filled Marin's cunt to the brim, leaking out around Calix's thick shaft. Calix pushed Marin's legs up and back, then lowered his mouth to those cuntlips, his long tongue plunging inside to enjoy the mixture of their juices. Marin's eyes rolled back and shut tight as he moaned, his modest dick spurting into Calix's silver hair. 

 

"Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck..." Marin moaned, squirming, oversensitized, as Calix's tongue scooped his load out of Marin's hole. They clamped their thighs around Calix's ears. "Oh...please, oh, fuck, Calix, I just...I'm so fucking sensitive..."

 

Grinning, Calix pulled his face back, moistened his fingers in his mouth, and shoved two of them back inside Marin's pussy, wriggling them mercilessly. "One more time, Marin. One more time. Come on. You can do it. Be my good pet." 

 

Calix's fingers moved rhythmically up and down Marin's walls. Every time he reached the top and bent a finger back toward him, Marin's breath hitched. "I can see how close you are, pet," Calix said sweetly. "Let it out for m—"

 

"Ahh! Ahh, oh fuck, I'm cumming...I can taste it...I can taste the sweetness of it in my mouth, the pleasure...!" Marin wasn't exactly shouting, but their volume control was completely out the window. They humped Calix's hand instinctively, the synesthesia making them feel the orgasm in the back of their throat, on their tongue. The reverberations made their body shake, like little earthquakes. 

 

When Marin stopped shaking, Calix withdraw his fingers and cradled Marin in his arms, picking them up and walking them up out of the nest toward his bathroom. "Good pet. You should have called before coming, but now you've made up for it with your tributes. Let's take a quick shower then bring those peaches and that cream over to Nova, hmm?"

 

---

 

It was boredom that initially drove Nova to flip through the control options for his new room. That quickly faded when he saw the amount of amenities that his Owner had hidden behind the panels in the floor, walls, and ceiling. Entertainment, a small dining table with chairs, lighting options, wardrobe storage, a boudoir dresser, a writing desk, a beverage dispenser, waste chutes, a well-stocked sex toy cabinet by the bed, and a list of other things he hadn't figured out yet. This must have taken ages to plan out.

 

Nova lounged on one piece of what he assumed to be sex furniture and considered how long he should wait now before he tried to find Calix. Or maybe the kitchen. He hadn't expected to be left to his own devices so soon, or that his excitement for the contract would so quickly give way to boredom in the absence of his own agenda. He wasn't even really hungry. Eating, too, would be a way of managing his boredom and disappointment. 

 

Beneath it all, he felt a kind of strange emotional blankness. He couldn't quite bring to mind his habits from before all this. Carving, sure, and taking care of his body's needs, but there was a piece missing...He had known other people that he would have spent time with. Maybe there was someone he might call up now to check in with? His memory was that his work truly kept him busy enough that he rarely had time for boredom, but it seemed unlikely that all he did was sleep, eat, carve, and work. 

 

He remembered his old life. But, somehow, he couldn't really remember the experience of living it. 

 

And now, his new life, already a day in, was nothing like he had expected. He called up a mirror on the wall and looked at himself critically. Why hadn't his Owner claimed him the way that he had been taught to expect? Why had he rejected him? 

 

That, Nova reflected, was the danger of letting someone else become the centre of your world: maybe they didn't want to be and maybe you weren't the centre of theirs. He sighed. He felt sure that Calix would give him whatever he wanted to keep himself busy. But, why had Calix purchased a pet that he didn't want? 

 

Okay, maybe it was a little ridiculous to draw those conclusions after just a day, but Nova allowed himself the pity party for a moment. He draped his body dejectedly over the hilly divan, hanging his arms and head off the side, one arm over his eyes in a classic pose of woe. 

 

A gentle knock at the door shook Nova from his thoughts and he immediately sat up. 

 

"Good morning, Nova!" Calix said with an energy that he had lacked the day before. Nova hopped off the divan and was on his feet before the door started to open. "May I come in?" 

 

"Yes, of course, Kyrios!" answered Nova brightly. 

 

Calix beamed as he walked in with another person in tow. They were obviously a pet. They were beautiful, much shorter than Calix, with chin-length deep blue hair, bluer eyes, warm brown skin, grace in every movement, a mischieveous smile, and old white scars running up the length of their forearms. That was strange. Pets normally had any scars removed. "We brought a treat!" the new person said, hefting a bowl full of white and yellow.

 

Nova felt his heart drop at the sight of them. The two of them had an unmistakably deep and casual intimacy. It was evident in the way they stood, the way their bodies brushed as they entered the room. It was no wonder Calix didn't want Nova. He clearly already had someone to warm his bed. The two were both a little damp, freshly showered, no doubt after some morning sex. Calix's tastes and preferences were obvious. Nova wasn't brought here because his owner wanted him, he was purchased to keep the real pet occupied. Or, worse, since he was bought at a charity auction, maybe he had been purchased for social capital with the charitable organization. Maybe he was a literal charity case.

 

Nova realized that he hadn't spoken a word since the pair had entered. Calix was looking at him expectantly as though waiting for an answer to a question Nova had missed. When Nova looked confused, Calix smiled and repeated himself. 

 

"I hope you slept well?"

 

Nova mustered a weak smile. "Comfiest bed I've ever slept in." He turned to the blue-haired nymph that had accompanied his Owner into the room. "Hello. I'm Nova."

 

"I'm Marin," said the elegant creature, walking forward with the bowl of yellowish chunks and white cream-looking substance. They took out a spoon and raised it to Nova's lips. "Here. Taste." 

 

Nova's lips parted and he accepted the spoon between them. The sweetness lit up his tongue immediately. The juiciest, sweetest peach flesh chased by the mellow fat of the cream, soft and delicate on his tongue. He closed his eyes in sincere enjoyment. When he opened them, Marin was smiling up at him.

 

"Good, right? I made it for you for breakfast, but you can't just eat it out of the serving bowl. We have to plate it," they said, and turned back to Calix. 

 

Calix looked around the room briefly and a cushioned platform slid out of one of the walls, similar to his own bed but more ovoid. The bathrobe Calix wore slipped off of his shoulders and he laid himself down on the bed. 

 

"Theeere we go." Marin approached and began to spoon the peaches and cream over Calix's body. "Remember, Licks, your job is to stay as still as you can." 

 

Nova looked on in shock as Marin ordered Calix around and turned his new Owner into...a breakfast plate? 

 

"There's a bit of stabilizer in it, but that whipped cream is still going to melt, Nova. Let's get to eating!" Marin offered Nova a slightly sticky hand and led him to Calix's body. "I hope you don't mind if I join you for breakfast?"

 

"Of course not. There's too much for one person, anyway." Nova approached as Marin covered his Owner's chest in cream. An instinctive relief flooded through Nova at the clear acceptance of him as a pet. The excitement he felt when he first met Calix the day before was rushing back.

 

The white cream flowed slowly and tantalizingly along Calix's curves, painting his skin so it began to look like marble. Nova's Owner's body was trim and muscular. He reminded Nova of a statue of Herakles he once saw while working in a Coin's apartment one night with someone whose face he could barely recall. He couldn't remember why he was there, only that the statue had been too heavy to take...

 

Again, he was pulled from his thoughts by Calix. The big Coin's eyes screwed shut as he held back a laugh. A piece of peach had run down his chest and around the back of his neck. "Ooo, not there, it tickles!" 

 

Nova groaned softly at the sight of Calix's shoulders and pectorals tensing up from the wet chill.

 

Marin gave a soft laugh and plucked the fruit from Calix's neck, bringing it to their plump lips and pressing it inside. They were watching Nova's reactions carefully, the expected dynamic between Owner and pet subverted in this first sensual encounter. Calix, too, was watching both pets. Marin had such startling insight and emotional intelligence. Calix knew that most Coins did not give much credit to the idea that their pets could know better than them. Calix felt sure that Marin was way less at sea with Nova's situation than he was. 

 

Marin placed a small, gentle hand between Nova's shoulder blades and, slowly, wordlessly, guided him closer to Calix's body. Nova felt a nervous tension in his gut and almost pulled back, but the thought of pressing his lips to Calix's body and licking up that cream compelled him forward. He didn't resist the pressure of Marin's hand.

 

When Nova's lips touched the skin just above Calix's left nipple, Calix's whole body tensed up, muscles pulled taut, before he relaxed again with a soft sigh of pleasure. Calix's hand rose and touched the hair on the back of Nova's head. Nova tensed up, the movement of the soft bristles against Calix's hand sending a pleasurable shiver down his back. 

 

"You were supposed to stay still," said Marin, their joking disapproval just as soft and sweet as the rest of them. "Disobedient Coins...but I like seeing the two of you like this, so I'll allow it."

 

Nova's entire face burned. An uplifting feeling of calm eagerness washed over him as his tongue ran back across Calix's chest, pausing at the right nipple. Calix's hand stayed on the back of his neck, just below the base of his skull. The pet thoroughly sucked the spot clean, and Calix moaned louder. With an eager sense of purpose, Nova forced himself to move on. He let his tongue glide over to Calix's sternum before moving down toward the abdomen.

 

He ate a chunk of peach that had gathered in the shallow valley between Calix's abs, his teeth grazing the smooth, warm skin. Nova felt a burst of arousal in his lower belly as he began to smell Calix's natural scent below the peaches and cream, intermingling into something slightly spicy but still sweet. The new pet's chin and mouth were covered in cream and peach juice. He paused to lick it off, looking up at Calix. The horny light in Calix's eyes did away with any doubts that Nova had about being wanted here.

 

Calix smiled at Nova. "Eat your fill and do what feels right. I want you, but I'll wait for you." 

 

Marin sat down on the bed near Calix's head, beaming at Nova just as brightly as when they first came into the room. As Nova watched, they tilted Calix's head to the side and began to lick his throat with long swipes of their tongue. 

 

Nova reached down and palmed his own hardening cock, giving it a stroke or two. He felt self-conscious about the moan that came through his lips, but thought back to Chiron, his training, the eagerness that he had felt back then. It had all been for this. He was safe here. He could be vulnerable. This was his purpose. 

 

Calix watched Nova's eyes glaze over a little. He didn't look completely present, and it reminded Calix uncomfortably of the night that Marin had been injured while playing with Rhys. He moved his hand to cup the back of Nova's skull. He didn't want to disturb Nova, so he put on a smile. "Hey, feeling all right, Nova?" 

 

Nova's eyes focused and met Calix's, that glassy look disappearing entirely. "Yes, Kyrios. I'm grateful to be fulfilling my purpose." 

 

Calix's dick jumped at those words. He rose up, a few pieces of peach sliding down his body. His voice felt thick in his throat. The ovoid cushion, still slick with cream, slid back into the floor. "On the bed, please, Nova."

 

A deep sense of relief washed over Nova as he obeyed. He felt lighter. Nova wished that he hadn’t been made to wait, but he put those thoughts aside. Instead Nova focused on what he needed to do now. Images of Calix’s body and his scent dominated his mind. Nova imagined the heft of his Owner’s hardening cock in his hands. He would finally get to do what he had trained for.

 

Nova casually tossed the mound of blankets he had left on the bed aside and slid onto the biggest bed he’d ever slept in. As Calix and Marin approached, Nova looked up at them with a quiet excitement in his eyes. "What now, Kyrios?"

 

"Now, I claim you on more than just a piece of paper. You're safe here. You belong with me," said Calix firmly, the words echoing within him, a profound, visceral sense of rightness flowing through him. This was the best way he could protect Nova. What's more, he could give him a better life than he ever had before. For...well, for however long this lasted. No matter the outcome afterwards. 

 

Calix rolled Nova over onto his stomach and activated a drawer in the bed with his implant, lubricant, wipes and other necessities hidden within. Marin perched on the bed near Nova's head, giving him gentle touches as Calix prepared his ass, tender and patient. Nova's ass yielded beautifully, just as his enhancements were designed to facilitate. 

 

The thought that Nova made a beautiful pet didn't make Calix feel guilty. It was factual. And right now, even if it wasn't what Nova would have chosen before paying a visit to Aristotle's chair, it was what every fibre of his modified being needed. Marin had helped Calix see that. 

 

"I know what you're feeling," Marin said, voice soft and sweet. "Your Owner’s thick, dexterous fingers caressing you. Stretching you open." Their hand drifted from Nova’s arm to his neck. Nova’s neck tensed and arched in response. "Watching you giving yourself to him is so fucking sexy. You’re making me so hot, Nova." 

 

Nova felt Marin's words plunge into his belly, a spasm of horny need radiating out with every word. Where Marin touched, Nova's skin tingled, and the tingle spread across the surface of his body. Meanwhile, his ass throbbed with deep, aching desire. He couldn't see Calix's face, but he felt the tenderness with which his Kyrios made his body bloom open for him. 

 

"Please...please take me, Kyrios. Take my ass," Nova moaned, turning his head sideways so that his words would not be muffled.

 

"You stretch so greedily for me, pet," Calix said. "Yes, I think you’re ready." Spreading the excess lube on his fingers over his cockhead, Calix shifted onto his knees behind Nova. He met Marin’s gaze and saw approval and arousal. Calix mouthed, "thank you" to his friend and sometimes pet.

 

Nova instinctively rose up onto all fours, presenting himself to his Owner. Calix obliged him, gently placing himself up against Nova’s hole. To his credit, Nova barely flinched, and quickly leaned back enough to open himself around Calix's thick member.

 

Nova kept pushing back and his hungry ass kept swallowing Calix's fuckmeat. The silken heat inside made Calix close his eyes in pleasure. He stilled Nova's hips with his large hands and began to push himself in instead. He felt the tunnel part around his cockhead smoothly. The warm flesh almost seemed to suck at him. Calix's lips parted and his mouth fell partially open. 

 

"Fuck, yes, pet!" Calix said and gripped Nova's hips even more tightly. He finally bottomed out with a grunt and laid his body across the top of Nova's, not leaning with his full weight but letting Nova feel the closeness. He was as deep as he could go, they were joined, their bodies pressed together, his shaft buried in Nova's hole. 

 

The fullness felt great, making the sensitized nerves in Nova's hole sing, tingling with growing sensation. Nova clenched a little and a wave of horny hunger flowed through him. He felt safe under Calix. It felt right to be beneath him. This was all the purpose he needed. 

 

Calix had taken the edge off with Marin but being inside Nova felt so perfect even as it felt especially illicit. Marin was right that this was the best thing for Nova's psychological well-being and safety, but Nova had up until this point been forbidden, untouchable. Seeing Nova react this way, Calix let himself believe for the moment that it was truly for him, that Nova reacted to him this way because of who he was, not just because of his pet training. 

 

"You sold yourself to the highest bidder, but now that you've met me, I'm sure you know I'm the only Kyrios for you, aren't I, Nova?"

 

Transfixed, Nova felt an overwhelming sense of rightness. Although he didn’t know it, layers upon layers of carefully engineered programming were knitting themselves deeper into his psyche, with Calix at the centre of his universe.

 

"You’re perfect," Nova answered, voice strained. "Everything that I need and more."

 

The strain in Nova's voice was one of the most erotic things that Calix had ever heard. Nova needed this just as much as Marin had said. The sounds of Nova's yearning touched Calix in his core, setting off a series of sensual pulses in his balls. Calix set the rhythm of his thrusts to them, amplifying that pleasure. 

 

Knowing that it wouldn't be the last time that day, Calix lowered his chest to Nova's back and hilted his erupting cock inside. His muscular body surrounded Nova, twitching and seizing with the pleasure of the moment.

 

Nova felt enveloped in his new Owner's care, a deep sense of peace and purpose flooding his body. He felt an unfamiliar smile spread wide across his face. 

 

"Hot," offered Marin.

 

---

 

Nova had not recognized Seth, Iskios, or Anthix. The group of strange bedfellows were gathered in Anthix’s rooftop garden. Marin had just taken Nova down to show him their room. That left Calix to explain the decisions he’d made in the last forty-eight hours.

 

Seth tried not to let the betrayal that he felt bleed into his voice. "I thought we had agreed that you wouldn’t fuck him."

 

"I already told you," Calix answered. "He needed it. Badly. Even just the one day that I waited was causing him psychological torment. Marin helped me to see that."

 

Feeling his temper rise, Seth glanced at Anthix for support. Their face was contemplative and impassive. He’d get no help there. Iskios, though, gave Seth a nod, encouraging him to say his piece. 

 

"So, while caring for one mindfucked pet, you decided to throw all of our planning and efforts out the window by listening to another mindfucked pet?"

 

Calix's brow knitted in frustration. "Listen. I won't pretend that I didn't enjoy it, but Marin isn't a mindfucked pet and they aren't stupid. They know better than any of us what Nova is going through." 

 

"I did not need to know that you fucking enjoyed it. That makes it so much worse! How are we supposed to trust your judgment if you're busy getting your dick wet as part of the arrangement?"

 

Anthix finally uncrossed their arms. "Show us the footage. I know you probably didn't watch it but I also know your house is monitored. Show us that Nova was miserable, Cal. Help Seth understand."

 

"After everything, you would think you would trust me at my word," grumbled Calix. "What if I refuse?"

 

"Then we'll take Nova back home and take our chances," said Seth firmly. "Right, Iskios?"

 

"I mean, I guess so, Seth. We don't have their resources..." Iskios looked doubtful. "Nova needs all the help he can get. Is a little sex going to hurt him that badly?"

 

"If it reinforces the mindfucking, yes, it very well could! We don't know!" Seth was shouting now. He got to his feet. "I don't believe you because all of you fucking Coins think with your dicks. You would have taken any excuse to fuck him! Because all you want to do up here is fuck. That's how we lost Adrien!"

 

Seth's anger had let his truth slip. This wasn't just about Calix the man doing his best to help, it was about Calix the Coin violating someone in the way that so many slum dwellers would expect a Coin to do. Calix wanted to argue, to refute the base assumptions that Seth was making, but, for once, he hesitated. Seth  was hurting and scared. There was no chance of reasoning with him in that moment, especially if Calix chose to go on the defensive.

 

It was a pleasant surprise for Anthix that Calix bit his tongue. This whole situation seemed to be bringing out the best in him. Or maybe it was taking responsibility for Nova?

 

Calix quietly looked up the monitors for Nova's vitals along with the footage of him from their time together in the last two days, from the moment he had picked him up until the present. He opened a shared viewing channel and scrubbed through the footage, sharing Nova's vitals signs on-screen over the video footage along with the algorithmic analysis of his mood. 

 

Nova went from despondent, high anxiety, with stress markers through the roof, languishing on his bed, to perfectly calm, happy, smiling, held in Calix's arms. It did Calix good to see it.

 

Seth watched the footage, his face reddening further, hands clenched into tight fists. What did any of this "evidence" matter? Calix should have told Nova the truth before touching him at all. And even if that hurt him, it would still have been better than this. When they got Nova back, he would remember being used against his will by some sex-starved Coin while he wasn't in his right mind. He got to his feet and strode out of the garden without another word. 

 

Iskios got up to follow, looking apologetically at the others. He felt for Seth -- Iskios didn't think that he had anyone in his life who would go as far for his friends as Seth had gone for first Autolycus, and then Nova and Julian. Iskios remembered Nova saying what it had been like when Autolycus went missing, the sleepless weeks that Seth had spent looking for him. And he had witnessed the lengths he had gone for Nova. He couldn't blame him for feeling a little raw about it all. "I'll handle this, folks. Sorry."

 

---

 

When Seth had entered Marin's room, Marin had been in Nova's lap. The pair were kissing, Nova's strong arms wrapped around Marin's shoulders. Of course they were. All the Coins and their pets thought about was sex.

 

They did stop when Seth entered, Marin slipping from Nova's lap and welcoming Seth to his room. Seth had immediately rushed to Nova's side, grasping his shoulders. Nova had drawn back, but Seth had caught his hand before he could withdraw fully.

 

At first, Nova's expression was empathetic, if not pitying. But three or four minutes into Seth's ranting, it had become decidedly annoyed.   

 

"...Nova. Please. You have to come home. This place isn't good for you. They've got you all fucked up," Seth pleaded, holding his old friend's hand.

 

"No. Stop." Nova pulled his hand away, hugging that arm to his chest. "I don't know you and I don't want to go with you. Just stop."

 

Marin was distraught, their face a mask of worry. Iskios came in just then and placed a hand on Seth's shoulder. Seth was openly weeping. 

 

"Hey, man. We'll get him back. This is just for now. Calix, Marin, and Anthix are going to help us," said Iskios. "Maybe we should just leave Nova and Marin alone for now and go back to the guest room."

 

Seth hadn't been home in months. He had lost three of his friends to these fucking Coins and their games. He shrugged Iskios's hand from his shoulders. He fell to his knees in front of Nova. "Please. Nova. You gotta remember something. You're not a pet. You never wanted to be a pet."

 

Nova covered his ears and shut his eyes. "I don't want to talk to you. You're talking nonsense."

 

Marin frowned. They knelt beside Seth and wrapped their arms around his shoulders. "It's going to be okay. We need to give him time."

 

"You! You..." Seth's voice flared with anger before dissolving into a sob. "You're the reason Calix fucked him...you..."

 

"I care about Nova. And I care about you," said Marin, rubbing Seth's back. "And Julien and Jasper, too. How could I not? You're hurting so badly."

 

Hearing Marin call Adrien "Jasper", Seth pulled away from them and rose back to his feet, sending Marin sprawling to the floor. Nova opened his eyes just in time to see Marin fall and he set his lips into a grim line. 

 

The larger man, billed in the auction as both sex pet and bodyguard for a reason, grabbed Seth by the collar and brought his face in close. "You don't fucking touch Marin. They were trying to comfort you, asshole. You're fucking done here."

 

He carried Seth from the room. Iskios and Marin scrambled after him. Nova was headed toward the elevator. 

 

"Hey, man, stop it! You can't send him down there. It's dangerous for us to leave—" Iskios began. Nova's stride never slowed.

 

Marin rushed after all of them, speeding up so that he overtook Nova and Seth, placing his small, delicate body between them and the elevator door. "Nova, don't hurt him. It was a mistake. I'm okay. Please."

 

Nova's expression softened at the sight of Marin interceding on Seth's behalf. He paused, unclenched his jaw, and set Seth back down on his feet. "All right. But leave us the fuck alone. And you had better believe that you won't get a third chance to hurt Marin if there's a second time."

 

Seth was silent. He looked at Nova and saw a stranger, just like Nova saw when he looked at Seth.