6. Parlor Tricks

Ryan and Sandy’s apartment

	“Hey Sandy,” Ryan said, fumbling through a stack of bills.
	“Yes?” she said from the bathroom.
	“This bill says you owe over ten thousand dollars on your 
credit cards.”
	“Already?” she asked.  “Has it been a month since you moved 
in?”
	“A little more, actually,” Ryan replied.  He counted the 
weeks by battles now, not by days, and the next would be his 
fifth.  He wasn’t as worried about winning as he had been - his 
confidence in his powers had grown by each victory to the point 
where he no longer feared losing.  He knew he had to win, and to 
keep vigilant on Fridays, but he also knew he could do it.  
Stardust had been playing by the rules as well, and seemed to be 
enjoying the game.  He wondered if she was holding back to keep 
the game interesting.
	Sandy had been great this month as well.  She had impressed 
upon him the need to lie low for a month or two, after which she 
would allow him to go out and to find a job.  Ryan hadn’t found 
out until a week ago that Sandy had been working as a masseuse at 
The Rub, a trendy spa near the middle of town.  He had laughed 
and told her that the job fit her personality perfectly.
	“Come with me today,” Sandy said.  “We will talk to Raoul 
about getting you a job at The Rub.”
	“You mean I actually get to work now?”
	Sandy rolled her eyes back.  “Wait until you have worked a 
few weeks,” she said.  “You have had things easy in the palace.  
You will learn what true tedium feels like.”
	“When you have nothing to do all day but read and exercise, 
then you will understand why I want to work,” Ryan rebutted.
	“Very well,” Sandy said, adopting her ‘lets bet on it’ face.  
“You will take my job this week and I will stay at home and do 
nothing.  We shall see who has it worse.”
	“Will Raoul mind?” Ryan asked.
	“I will call him and tell him that my brother and I are 
switching jobs for a week.  He will not mind it if he knows I 
will be back next week.”
	“At least I know how to give a massage,” Ryan said.
	“A professional one?” Sandy asked skeptically.
	“Yes,” Ryan said.  “I had practice at the palace.  Who knew 
that all those nights with princesses and duchesses would teach 
me a trade?”
	Sandy slapped the ex-prince’s arm.  “Pig,” she said.
	“Why should you care, sister?”  He emphasized the last word 
as a dig.  She hit his arm again.
	“Do you know where The Rub is?” she asked, changing the 
subject.
	“I’ve ridden by it in the back of a limo before, but I’ve 
never actually gone in.”
	“Then you should be on your way.  My shift starts in a half 
an hour,” Sandy said with a grin.
***
The Rub

	Ryan opened the door, ringing the bell that heralded the 
entry of every customer.  A completely bald black man stood 
behind the ebony counter, polishing the lacquered surface.  He 
looked up at Ryan and glared.  “Ryan, right?”
	“Yes.”
	“I already told Sandy that I am against this little game of 
yours, but I’m short staffed today, so you can stay if you’re 
competent.”
	Ryan smiled.  “I shall prove myself worthy of working for 
you, sir.”
	Raoul shook his head and a smile cracked his angry 
expression.  “Boy, you’re as freaky as your sister.”
	“So I have been told once or twice,” Ryan said.
	Raoul laughed even louder and handed Ryan a black leather 
book.  “This is your clientele list for today.  Most of them will 
be coming from their workouts with our personal trainers 
upstairs, so treat them gently.  I hope you have some part of the 
skill your sister has.”
	“I have some tricks of my own,” Ryan said, getting an idea.
	“You two and your tricks.  Sandy’s clients come off of her 
table completely relaxed and wanting to take a short nap in the 
tanning beds.”
	“Maybe I will ask her how to do that tonight,” Ryan said, 
almost to himself.  “When do I start?”
	“Ms. Jennings is in room four right now.”
	Ryan took the appointment book and went through the swinging 
door to the hallway behind the main room.  The door had a 
stylized four over it, which sparked something in Ryan, but he 
couldn’t figure out what it was.  He opened the door to see a 
rather nondescript middle-aged woman lying on her chest on the 
table in the middle of the room.
	“Miss Jennings?”
	“Ms.”
	“I am here to give you your massage.  Sandy is out this 
week.”
	“Raoul told me when I got here,” the woman said gruffly.  
“Just do a good job.”
	“I will try,” Ryan said.  Suddenly, a flash of Saggitarius’ 
knowledge flooded his brain and he laughed, knowing what to do.
	“What’s so funny?” Ms. Jennings snapped.
	“Trust me, Ms. Jennings,” Ryan said, “you will enjoy what I 
do to you.”
	Ryan’s eyes arced with electricity as he placed his hands on 
Ms. Jennings’ back.  “Ah,” was the closest English comes to 
expressing the diminutive sound that she emitted as the gentle 
current of electricity slid through her muscles, causing them to 
contract and relax slowly.
	“What did you just do?” the woman asked, more curious than 
cantankerous.
	“Sandy isn’t the only one in this family who has little 
tricks,” Ryan replied.
	“Whatever it was,” Ms. Jennings said breathily, “do it to me 
again.”
	“As you wish,” Ryan said, lowering and airing out his voice.  
He proceeded to work over Ms. Jennings’ body, muscle by muscle, 
causing various sounds of pleasure to erupt from her mouth.  When 
he finished, she was breathing heavily.  She sat up, put her hand 
to Ryan’s cheek, and pulled his head over to hers suddenly for a 
kiss.  She then reached into her purse and pulled out a rather 
large tip, placing it into Ryan’s hand.
	She clasped Ryan’s hand, the bill still inside of it, looked 
into his eyes and said, “thank you,” and walked out.
	Raoul entered the room a few minutes later, smiling.  “I 
don’t know what you did to her, boy, but keep it up.  I’ve never 
seen that woman smile so much.  Best thing, though, is that she 
went back upstairs to work out again, saying she had a lot of 
energy to work off.”
	“I told you I have tricks of my own,” Ryan said.
	“Sandy relaxes ‘em and you energize ‘em,” Raoul mused.
	Ryan smiled.  “You could put it that way,” he said.
	“You don’t really know what you’ve done,” Raoul said.  “Ms. 
Jennings is our toughest customer to please, and you cracked her 
in twenty minutes.  Only Sandy could do that.”
	“Runs in the family,” Ryan said.
	“You ready for your next customer?”
	“Sure thing, boss,” Ryan said with a smile and a fake 
gangster accent.
	“What a freaky family,” Raoul said as he left the room.

***

Ryan and Sandy’s apartment

	As soon as Ryan opened the door, he knew there was trouble.  
The toaster flying at his head was his first clue.
	“How could you?” Sandy demanded as Ryan ducked the airborne 
appliance.
	“What did I do?”
	“Raoul called.  He said you did such a good job that he wants 
to hire you.”
	“I have trouble seeing how that could be bad,” Ryan replied.
	“He said he wouldn’t need me any more.”
	Ryan’s heart sank.  He had really enjoyed working at The Rub 
today and would have liked to have kept working there. “I am not 
going to take your job,” he said.
	“How can you stop him from firing me?” Sandy said with tears 
in her eyes.
	“I will not work for him when this week is over,” Ryan said.  
“He will not fire me because he has no other masseur.  Do you 
really think I would work for a man who would fire my sister?”
	“Oh thank you Ryan,” Sandy said. throwing her arms around 
him.  “You truly are a prince.”

***

The Rub

	“Are you sure you won’t stay and work in Sandy’s old job?” 
Raoul asked once again.  It was Friday and Raoul’s last chance.
	“Sandy’s present job,” Ryan corrected.  “And no, I will not 
work here if it means that my sister will be unemployed.”
	“But I can’t afford to keep both of you,” Raoul pleaded.
	“Then keep Sandy,” Ryan said.
	“I want you,” Raoul said.  “You bring in more money.”
	“Too bad,” Ryan said.  “When The Rub makes enough money to 
keep both of the Noctans, I will work for you.  Now who is my 
last customer so I can finish up and go home?”
	“Ayre Reed,” Raoul said.  Ryan just groaned.
	“Ryan,” Ayre said as the ex-prince walked into the room.  
“You don’t know how excited I was when Raoul told me you would be 
massaging me instead of Sandy.”
	“Enjoy it while you can,” Ryan told him, “because Raoul might 
not be keeping Sandy around, and if she is fired, I will leave 
too.”
	“You’re so sweet,” Ayre said.  “I’d be all over you if I 
wasn’t in love with someone else.”
	“What a pity,” Ryan said with blatant sarcasm.  “Who is the 
poor...err...lucky guy?”
	“Senshi Saggitarius.”
	Ryan broke into a fit of laughter.  “You are in love with a 
super hero?”
	“He saved my life,” Ayre said dreamily, “twice.”
	“And you think he will love you in return?
	Ayre changed the subject and glowered.  “Have you seen the 
news lately?”
	“No,” Ryan said, “I don’t watch television.  Why?”
	“Because the newscasters are saying that Senshi Saggitarius 
is really the missing Prince Ryan,” Ayre stated.
	Ryan’s eyes went wide.  “What else do they say,” he demanded.
	“Relax, Ryan,” Ayre said.  “A person would think you had as 
big a crush on the Stellar Senshi as I do.”
	“I am just worried about our prince,” Ryan lied.  “I had the 
impression that he was dead.”
	“That’s what the royals believe too.  They had a funeral for 
them and everything.”
	“You don’t agree, I take it.”
	“Not at all,” Ayre said, taking off his shirt and lying on 
the table.  “Senshi Saggitarius showed up right after Prince Ryan 
disappeared.  He has the same hair and eyes as the prince as the 
prince, and he has a very princely manner to him.  I know because 
I’ve watched the taped of his last three fights several times 
each.  Anyway, he has to be Prince Ryan, Ryan, it’s all too 
coincidental to be otherwise.”
	Ryan began the massage and Ayre jumped.  “Whoa! What was 
that?” Ayre asked.
	“The reason why Raoul wants to keep me instead of Sandy.”
	“Makes sense,” Ayre said.  “Keep going.”  Ryan continued, and 
for the rest of the massage, Ayre made no more sound other than 
the various moans of approval all of his customers made.
	Ayre thanked Ryan nervously as he put his clothing on and 
left quickly, without giving Ryan a tip.  “Maybe I am too good,” 
Ryan said to himself as he cleaned up the mess on the table.
	Suddenly, there was a crash outside the room like breaking 
glass and Ryan’s ring began flashing.  “So close?” he asked 
himself.  “Oh well.  Saggitarius Power, Make Up.”
	Senshi Saggitarius ran out of the room and down the hall, 
following the light from his ring.  The door at the end had a 
small window looking into the front room, which he looked through 
to assess the situation.  In the room, he saw a bot that looked 
like a dwarf, but with giant white gloved hands.  It made a 
motion as if it were squeezing and Ayre dropped to his knees, 
screaming in pain.  Raoul was sprawled across the counter out 
cold.  The jar of mints he kept for the customers was shattered 
on the floor.
	The Senshi leapt through the door and tackled the bot, but it 
quickly threw him off with its giant hands.  He landed next to 
Ayre sitting on the floor against the counter.
	“Nice to see you again,” Ayre said.
	“Yes, but you are not letting anyone else play as the 
victim,” Saggitarius quipped.
	“I like to be in the spotlight,” Ayre replied.
	Senshi Saggitarius would have responded, but just then, the 
bot decided to use its power on him.  As it squeezed its hands, 
Saggitarius felt as if every muscle in his body was cramping up.  
He howled in pain.
	“Hey!” Ayre yelled.  “You’re hurting him.”
	“That’s the point,” the bot said.  “There’s a reason my name 
is Crampy.”
	“The eighth dwarf?” Ayre asked.
	“The thirteenth, actually,” Crampy said, “but that’s a long 
story.”
	“I have time,” Ayre said.  Senshi Saggitarius screamed in 
pain.
	“Well,” said the dwarf, “Snotty, Stinky, Sickly, Hungry, and 
Peaches are the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth 
dwarfs, respectively.”
	“Peaches?” Ayre asked.
	“Don’t get me started on Peaches,” the bot began.
	“Saggitarius Lightning Arrow!” Senshi Saggitarius groaned and 
fired his arrow into Crampy’s gloves.  Crampy erupted into a 
shower of sparkling dust which twinkled to the floor.
	“I don’t know whether to give you the win or not,” Stardust 
said as she appeared by the front door.
	“Your rules didn’t say I couldn’t use whatever help is there 
during a battle,” Saggitarius said.  “Besides, seizing of an 
opportunity or luck is part of what makes the game interesting.”
	“This is true,” Stardust said.  “A power versus power battle 
to the finish would get boring after a while.  The win is yours, 
fairly.”  She gave him a bow and floated backward into a portal.
	The Stellar Senshi turned to Ayre.  “You did well, Ayre,” he 
said.  “Your distraction allowed me the advantage of surprise on 
that bot.  I thank you.”
	The bell on the door rang and Sandy stepped through.  “What 
happened here?”
	“The Negaverse sent a bot to get us, but Senshi Saggitarius 
and I defeated it,” Ayre told her excitedly.  He then proceeded 
to tell her the whole story, with details the Senshi didn’t even 
notice, at about three times the speed of normal human speech.
	As Ayre talked, Sandy went over to Raoul and started reviving 
him by massaging the thousands of cramps out of his muscles.
	Ayre finished his version of the story just as Raoul was 
waking up.  “Thank you, Sandy,” he said to her.  “Where’s your 
brother?”
	“Senshi Saggitarius came from back there,” Ayre said.  “Maybe 
he saw Ryan.”
	“If Ryan is the white haired boy I saw running out the back 
door when I arrived,” Senshi Saggitarius said, “then yes, I saw 
him.”
	“That coward,” Raoul said.  “I don’t care how good his 
massages are.  He ran out on me when I needed him, so he’s out.  
I sure am glad you’ll be back on Monday, Sandy.”
	“Since everything is as it should be here,” the Senshi said, 
“I will be off.”  He tousled Ayre’s hair with a smile and the boy 
gave him back a silly, star-struck grin.  “Thanks again, kid, you 
were a big help,” he added as he walked out the front door.

***

Ryan and Sandy’s apartment

	Ryan heard the key in the front door as he was watching the 
news account of what had happened earlier at The Rub.  He quickly 
jumped between the side of the couch and the wall and curled up, 
shaking and wide-eyed.  It took Sandy a few minutes to find him 
there, but when she did, she looked amused.
	“Oh cut the act, Ryan,” she said, smiling.  “I know you ran 
out on purpose so Raoul would want me back.”  She held out her 
hand and helped Ryan stand.
	“Is my acting that bad?” he asked.
	“Worse,” she said.  “But your sweetness makes up for it.”
	“I’m glad you have your job back,” Ryan said.
	“So am I,” Sandy agreed.  “If I had to stay here another week 
without anything to do, I’d throw myself off of the balcony.  It 
was only knowing that I’d be back at work next week that got me 
through.”
	“Well I for one, loved working,” Ryan said.  “It might be 
because I have never done it before, but I liked it all the 
same.”
	“I guess you win,” Sandy said.
	“What do I win?”
	“You get to go find a job,” Sandy answered.  “These bills are 
killing us.”

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