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Payment in Kind, Part 1

comidacomida copyright 2019

Daniel Fores and I had been friends since we first met in primary school back on Ganymede. Although it's never been the most hospitable of Jupiter's moons, it was a lot easier to establish a settlement there since it was larger than Io or Europa, and its surface composition was more solid than Callisto. It wasn't a fancy upbringing but, then again, what could you expect for a blue collar family's wages that forced them to live in a bubble habitat?

Daniel was also the first friend I made at school. While a lot of Human kids gravitated to other Humans, I never had a problem interacting with Geneticons and Daniel was no exception. Combining the features of a human and an animal, Genticons had only recently received acknowledgement at that point by the Council as free individuals; barely thirty years before that most of them who were considered property. I had more things to worry about at the time though since I had to take care of myself.

I grew up with my mom and dad gone a lot; my dad's name was Gerald, which is where I got mine (even though I've always preferred Jerry), and he worked as a miner at the Hilda complex but at least it was good money. Even though we couldn't afford to live on Mars, most of the time Ganymede was closer to his work sites anyway so it worked out anyway. My mom usually left for work before I got up since she worked as a housekeeper for a hotel on the space station orbiting Europa and had to take a shuttle to and from her job-- she didn't get home until after dinner. This meant that I spent a lot of time without supervision, and probably would have gotten into trouble a lot if not for Daniel and his family.

His parents and my parents had become pretty good friends since I spent so much time over at his place. I suppose it might be weird to imagine a Human kid hanging out with a family of King Shepherds but it's how I grew up and it felt like a second home to me. At the time I didn't really register all the weird looks people gave me or the way kids at school mumbled about me; I was just happy to have a friend whose parents liked me as much as he did. Although it probably wouldn't have been considered 'traditional', it was still a happy childhood.

The fact that Geneticons had certain restrictions on what they could do or where they could be didn't mean a thing to me... until I realized just how bad those restrictions had been. That happened when the last company with the rights to Geneticon ownership closed its doors right when Dan and I went into high school. Man, that was a crazy time.

Life Happens Incorporated, or LHI as most people knew it had spent decades designing and formatting genes to create the 'perfect Geneticon workers'. Although all of the other corporations had run afoul of the Council well before that, for some reason LHI managed to hold onto their right to create and sell life... they were even pretty famous for their Designer Domestic brand. Dan's parents, in fact, were both from the DD brand.

It's not at all abnormal for family-owned corporations to fail when there's a shift from one generation to another, but LHI had a really strange few years when it changed hands from father to daughter; not only had it been doing really well during the transition, but things seemed to be going even better after... at least, that's what Dan told me-- he was studying economics to prepare for business school. Still, for whatever reason, one day LHI declared they were closing up shop and letting their contract to own genetic coding lapse based on moral grounds. Most people, like me, didn't realize the implications right away, but things were about to change... big time.

Dan's folks, along with all of the other Geneticons produced by LHI received a huge financial windfall after LHI closed its doors. It wasn't even a Council-mandated payout-- the owner, Jennifer Thurstenburger chose to have LHI do it on a voluntary basis. As part of the settlement to all genetically engineered individuals, the corporation provided a few million credits and, since both of his parents were first-generation subjects they doubled up on their reparations... which meant that Dan would never want for anything.

It was a really weird thing to experience because, even though both of his parents had already been emancipated, it seemed like were pretty much in the same income bracket as my folks... and that meant all of Dan's studies to get into a good university could have been for nothing if he wasn't able to get a scholarship. Suddenly, that wasn't a problem and, just as suddenly, everyone in class wanted to be Dan's friend. Even though he was suddenly really popular though, he still chose to forsake all of that in favor of spending his time with me. I will never forget just how much that meant the following year when my dad died.

Mining accidents aren't all that unusual in a terrestrial sense but it's even worse when things go wrong in space. I remember being taken out of classes and brought home by my mom, who should have been in the middle of her shift. She explained things as best she could but it was impossible to miss that she was having enough trouble herself so I went without answers to my questions, just bottling them up until I had a chance to understand everything; a lot of them were never answered to this day.

The funeral was quick and simple since we didn't have the money for anything fancy. I was there and so was my mom, and the Fores showed up-- all three of them. The five of us said our goodbyes and a small memorial stone was shot out of the airlock onto the surface of Ganymede; the mining group hadn't been able to recover my dad's body so there wasn't really any reason to do anything more. I skipped school for the next three days, and then went back to things as if nothing had happened.

As the week passed I began to realize that things couldn't continue that way. My family had always just barely made ends meet and without my dad's income we wouldn't be able to keep afloat. Living on Ganymede, though nowhere near as expensive as some place like Mars was still not cheap. Dan was the first to notice that I'd stopped buying school lunches and walked the 4km back to the residential block rather than taking a tram. I hadn't planned on talking about money problems to anyone, but Dan always had a way of getting what he wanted from me even if I resisted.

I remember how angry he got when he found out why I was so concerned about money. He'd had some choice words for me and I'm sure he probably would have rambled off some lengthy statement about friends being there to help, but, barely a minute into being told what I already knew I broke out into tears. His frustration broke in seconds and the next thing I knew my face was pressed against his chest and he had his arms wrapped around me while I sobbed.

Dan was done lecturing me after that, and we sat together behind the tram depot where the argument had started with him holding me as I finally let loose with all of the emotions I'd worked so hard to hold bottled up after my dad's passing. It's true we'd been friends for years at that point, but there was always a certain emotional line that I didn't want to cross with anyone, let alone Dan; I didn't want people worrying about me or making a fuss, and definitely not taking care of me. My defenses cracked at that point, especially when he gently pat my head, speaking softly to tell me "I'm sorry, Jerry... I didn't mean to make you cry. I... just miss seeing you smile."

I looked up at that moment, staring at two attentive brown eyes gazing down at me, the ruffled fur of his cheeks and ears blowing softly in the breeze created by the air scrubbers and face framed by the inset lighting high above in the dome. I'd never really thought about having a partner-- girlfriend or boyfriend; I was always perfectly happy having Daniel, and, in that moment I knew why. To me, I guess he'd been both all along... not that I felt comfortable telling him that. After all, why ruin what we already had? That was more than enough.

Dan took me home that afternoon, not just paying for my ticket, but covering the cost for a month long pass too. Although I hated the idea of him spending money on me I was so emotionally tired at that point I just couldn't manage to put up a fight. My mom was still on half-duty due to all of the bureaucracy she had to deal with regarding my dad's death so he dropped me off at home and told me we'd be going to school together in the morning. He didn't have to press the issue on that point; I didn't want to be alone, and he was the one I most wanted to be with anyway.

Things continued to be hard on me and my mom for awhile, and it was another week before things got any better, but, ultimately, they did... in a big way. The mining corporation in charge of the site where my dad worked contacted my mom toward the end of the following week and she learned that any on-the-job accidents had an insurance payout involved. No, it wouldn't bring my dad back, but the number she was quoted meant that we didn't have to worry about living expenses and, in fact, it was more than enough to see to my college education.

The following years of my high school education went by in the blink of an eye. There was only one high school serving the eastern colony on Ganymede but that didn't mean it had large classes; on the contrary, there were only three class rooms at our age level so Dan and I saw a lot of each other. I was happy to have him, not just as a friend, but for emotional support too. I had a few other teens with whom I was friendly, and Dan had tons-- but most of mine were more acquaintances, and most of his he kept at arm's length because they'd only become friends with him after he came into money.

I guess it wasn't much of a surprise to either of us then that we both skipped the graduation party, preferring to celebrate at home. His mom and dad bought us a small ice cream cake and we spend that night playing videogames until early morning. Dan fell asleep sitting on the floor, leaning back against the sofa, leaving me awake with my thoughts. That was back when I kept an old fashioned paper notebook and took it everywhere with me so I could clear my head by writing in it.

I was awake for another hour writing about how much he meant to me, and how cute he looked when he was sleeping. I'd heard that he wanted to attend college at ACU, and Alpha Centauri wasn't exactly 'next door', and that scared me, and I was worried that we'd drift apart. After recording my thoughts, I stowed my notebook and took a seat down in front of the videogames. When I did eventually get to sleep it was right next to him, his head on my shoulder. I didn't know what the future would bring, or how we only had a few weeks until he would leave for college but, in that moment, I was glad that we were there together.

My mom came to get me in the morning, but, rather than take me home right away we stayed for breakfast with the Fores household, and that was when my mom asked the question: had I figured out where I wanted to go to college? The question of 'IF' I wanted to go had been answered long before that; as soon as we had the money it was a foregone conclusion, especially since my mom wanted more for me than the life we'd had and I knew I wanted that too. Without even needing to think about it I answered with full conviction "Alpha Centauri."

That's all there was to the discussion. Despite the costs of out-of-system tuition or inter-stellar commercial transportation my mom was dedicated to making it happen. I learned later that Dan's parents pitched in to help out; my mom had a pride streak at least as long as mine, but I think she loved me enough to get over it... and, truth be told, I'm eternally grateful that she did.

School hadn't always been easy for me, but getting to choose my center of focus really helped and putting forth the extra effort to do well was worth it. Although Dan and I went to the same college we didn't have a lot of course overlap; he went for a business major with a minor in communications while my focus was in comparative biology, with a major in massage therapy; I found I was good at, and I enjoyed helping people feel better.

Still, toward the end of my time there I was starting to think that I'd chosen the wrong major, but Dan wasn't about to let me give up. We still spent tons of our spare time together and having that support was invaluable. I'd always loved the idea of space travel, for example, but my education focus didn't really facilitate that kind of goal. Sure, even crews aboard space ships and deep space stations needed stress relief and personal care, but massage therapy wasn't the same as xeno-medicine or even physical therapy.

classes progressed and the semester went by; Dan and talked a lot about going to deep space as part of a corporate project; the requirements for signing on with those were always much more lax. He had a leg-up in the process because most deep-space ventures had a preference for genetically modified personnel-- sometimes they relied on enhanced humans, but more often than not it was easier to recruit Geneticons. I was neither.

As our graduation date closed, corporate representatives from AETHER Corp, the largest deep space exploration corporation showed up and spoke to the future graduates about their newest installation in the Tau sector. Tau Delta was a space station circling the fourth planet in the primary system and they needed a combination of workers for military, industrial, and civil functions. Dan got snatched up right away for the business division but my approval was delayed almost two weeks and at that point I learned that my position on the station was actually financed by Dan himself.

I was so pissed at the time and I went to confront him. He let me rant and rave and shout for the better part of an hour but, as he stood there by the university gate he looked at me with those same deep, brown eyes as he had last time we talked about him paying my way for something and his explanation was simple: he was investing in my enterprise. The statement, despite being an easy sidestep for him gave me a warm fuzzy feeling nevertheless, but nowhere near as much as when he added "Besides... it wouldn't be the same without you with me, Jerr."

Although I'm sure I was blushing so much there was no way he couldn't have seen it, I still managed to get over my embarrassment enough to mumble out "Thanks..."

As it turned out, not only had Dan secured a spot for me in the civilian corp, he'd also reserved a storefront for me to serve as a massage therapist for staff and crew when they were off duty. I apologized, of course, but right after that we sat down and talked business; if he was investing then I needed to know the terms. Thankfully, despite his business education background, he kept things simple for my benefit.

I was going to run a proper business offering services onboard Tau Delta so I'd be responsible for my own expenses and, since I was part of the civilian corp, other than a small living stipend I didn't technically get corporate employee pay which meant I'd have to make my own way. That was all fair, of course, and made sense. Dan also said that he expected the investment to pay out. The term on board was a ten year service agreement and, based on my projections I figured I'd be able to get him paid back after three. Plus interest, I'd promised. Things didn't quite turn out as expected.

The cost of doing business so far from core space wasn't something I was anticipating. Although the overhead for a massage therapist aren't all that bad when a lease is paid for there are other costs like oils, ointments, herbs, and, as it turned out, a maintenance fee paid for my spot on the station. I realized by the end of the second year that, even though business was booming, I'd be hard-pressed to pay Dan back.

Six months later I'd cut my own expenses back as much as I could and did everything I could to keep my schedule filled with appointments, which was not difficult since I was the only massage therapist on the station who accommodated all patients. I had regulars, some of whom came to see me three or four times a week-- Dan included. It was during one of those appointments when we finally had the talk; with five days to go I had to tell him that I would still be a few thousand credits short.

He just smiled and nodded before I heard his tail thwap out a soft beat on the massage table. "Yeah... the way you've been avoiding me lately I figured it was something like that."

His statement made me even feel more horrible and, although I tried to convince him that it wasn't anything like that I was pretty sure I failed; I certainly didn't succeed in convincing myself. But I also didn't want to make excuses-- I wanted to find solutions. "How about an extension for a few months?"

Although his smile was friendly it was also the kind you'd expect to see on a business-minded Dog. "Nah, man... gotta pay on time. That was our deal."

I knew I didn't have a right to DEMAND more time but I also didn't know how he expected me to pay him back if I didn't have the money. "But I--"

He flicked an ear, giving me a pointed stare as he interrupted. "Besides... you've told me time and time again that you don't want charity... right?"

His smug grin told me that he was only half-way serious, but he was such an ass for pointing it out. "I... just don't think I can make enough cash in so short a time."

His smile widened. "It's possible to find other forms of payment, bud."

Still not realizing just how serious he was, I had to ask. "You're joking... right?"

Dan's smirk widened, and his tongue even hung out one side of his muzzle before he licked his lips and pulled it back in, shaking his head. "Dead serious, Jerry... I know enough of your customers to hear it often enough. You're DAMN good at what you do, and you have a certain effect on your clients."

I didn't get what he meant at first until his paws dropped down to rest on either side of his crotch, causing his towel to bunch up, revealing that it was tented. I felt my face burn with embarrassment, not only because of what he was telling me about my craft, but at seeing just how HE had responded to my touch. It was quite the reveal... a revelation... and one hell of a distraction. He continued talking and I didn't notice until he finished with "-- and I got some ground rules together for you to look over."

He hopped off the massage table and went to where his clothes and briefcase were situated on the counter while I just stared after him, managing nothing more in the way of a response than a blank "Huh?"

He rummaged around in his satchel and pulled out a data pad. Dan turned it on and tossed it my direction; I stood there without making any attempt to catch it and let it fall down onto the massage bed in front of me. He walked back over, tail waving languidly behind him beneath the towel as he walked around the opposite side of the table to face me as if we were at a desk doing a business deal. He motioned to the data pad. "No funny business... just an optional 'happy ending' after massage sessions for the clients who know it's being offered."

I heard enough of what he was saying to parrot back the parts that were specifically vague. "Happy ending? Clients who know?"

Dan nodded. "Yeah... a 'happy ending'... you know--" at which point he gestured by shaking his arm after making a circle with his thumb and fingers "--considering how well you did with Xeno-biology you could probably have any of your clients writhing in happiness... and when I say 'any', I mean the ones that know about the arrangement."

Although I know I should have been more hesitant to even consider it, I was more curious as to what Daniel was getting at. "...how will they know, exactly? Do you expect me to say, something like 'so... that's usually where we're done for the day, but for an extra fifty credits I'll jerk--"

The Shepherd put up his paws, interrupting me with a huge smile on his muzzle. "Woah! Hold on there Jerr-- no... nothing like that! I can handle all the specifics... I just need you to say that you aren't opposed to it."

I searched his face, looking for some indication that he was leading me on with some elaborate ruse. Maybe I'd say yes and then he'd give me endless grief for admitting that I'd be willing to masturbate my male clients for money, but I saw nothing that suggested he was anything but serious; he even had his business-expression plastered firmly on his face. I hated how easy he made it sound, and that he didn't seemed bothered about me having to do something like that. Part of me wanted him to be jealous... or at least be my first client. I led with that. "So... you want to be my first 'special client' then?"

That statement actually got a response. Dan snorted, pulling away from the table and making a face like he'd just stuck his nose in a pile of pepper. "Me? No! I don't want to pay you for sex... Jesus, Jerry!"

Although the logical, long-time-friendship part of me was relieved, that part dealing with jealousy and hope was hurt immediately; was he so against the idea that he had such a strong reaction? Fine, I realized, if that was the case then I wouldn't worry about how making up my mind would affect him either. "Okay. Fine... so five days and you'll be paid off? That can't be more than... like... what-- fifteen or twenty?"

His ears went up and his expression returned to neutral. He blinked once, turning the data pad back to me after scrolling a page or two. "You don't have any idea how much you're worth in that capacity, do you?"

Looking down at what he'd put in front of me I couldn't control my reaction; I'd expected maybe a 10 or 15% markup but, according to Dan they'd be paying "NINE TIMES AS MUCH?!?!"

Dan nodded. "I already talked it over with a few of the guys I know who want a little something extra from you. You need six of your clients to get the 'bonus package' and you'll be in the black."

Just how far had he gone beyond my back to plan all of it, I didn't know, but I felt both frustrated and flabbergasted at the same time. "You already talked it over with them? Before I even said yes?"

Even though Dan did a great job of keeping his business expression upbeat and neutral I knew him well enough to see his ears drop just a little and the furless skin along the inside redden. "Well... sure... I mean, I had to be able to have a complete proposal to present if we were going to come to an agreement, right?"

I was a little incredulous but I let his explanation slide, still a little wary of what he thought I'd be able to make. "And you even checked with them on the pricing? I'm not sure that someone--"

He cut me off with certainty. "Yes. Every last one of the ones I surveyed were willing to pay at least that."

His answer gave me even more of a reason to pause. "At LEAST?"

Dan shrugged, his flawless business persona returning full force. "Supply and demand, Jerry... and you're obviously forgetting that plenty of your customers are Gens, and I haven't found a single one yet that wasn't interested in the prospect of 'something more'."

His casual statement may have been misconstrued as racist, but he did have a point. Geneticons (or 'Gens', which is the more PC term) had never had as many hang-ups about sex as Humans and, seeing as most of the older generations of Gens were kept chemically sterile with a blunted sex drive it only reasoned that an unfettered one was a little more free with their libido. I really couldn't argue against the logic. "So... IF I say yes, how would it work?"

I had always enjoyed my studies of xeno-biology and, if I was honest with myself, the idea of being desired that much by certain clients was a little bit of an aphrodisiac. Maybe I wasn't thinking clearly, but everything in my thought processes at that moment all pointed to the plan being win-win. Dan's smile led me to believe that I wasn't all that good at hiding my increased willingness to entertain the idea. He motioned to the tablet in my hands. "It's all there on the data pad."

I looked down at the file, and it didn't take long for me to realize that it really was. Dan had obviously spent quite a bit of time preparing the document, which was less of a contract with him as it was more of a set of rules customers would be required to follow. I was surprised at just how in-depth it went. Dan had mindfully included a method for clients to identify themselves as a 'full service' special.

With my health and safety in mind, no client would be accepted without providing me a health report no older than one cycle which, on Tau Delta was 22 hours. In fact, providing me that report was exactly how they initiate the conversation. After that, I'd be free to provide them the standard massage and, when my client was ready they would get their 'extra service'. The crazy thing was that it was all expected to be within the one hour service window of a standard appointment so they wouldn't get in the way of my schedule; Dan really HAD thought of everything.

I continued looking over the file, realizing that a code of conduct followed, explaining what a customer could or couldn't expect from me. In addition to being limited to one hour blocks there was a number of do's and don't's. Clients were welcome to speak to me as always, and they could provide input and indicate if there were problems with my service, but they had no additional rights to me or my body. Even though all of Dan's contract was very straight forward, that point was driven home in no uncertain terms: my customers didn't have any right to my body; I would not be getting undressed; they could not touch me.

Dan remained quiet the entire time I read through what he'd put together. At some point he'd changed back into his clothes and moved his briefcase over to set it on the massage table and didn't say a thing until I looked up. "Everything appear to be in order?

I swallowed the knot developing my throat, still not sure whether it was apprehension or, for better or for worse, excitement. "And I only have to do this with six customers?"

His expression softened and he reached out a paw to rest on the back of my hand. "You don't have to do it with anyone, Jerry... but it's the best way I can think of to help you back in the black. Hell... if things work out maybe you can keep the extra menu item and really boost your business."

It was hard to tell if he was joking or being serious, but I couldn't really concentrate on that thought very much as the warmth of his paw pad on the back of my hand brought up thoughts that I'd been too busy in the preceding weeks to consider. I missed Dan, and I'd been avoiding him, and, if nothing else, I could put all the unpleasantness behind us and get back to how things should have been. "Okay... I'll do it."