<strong>Enzo's Clinic</strong><br/><br/>"You're exhorting me to behave myself? Remember your place, Richard. I answer only to Pater and Mater, and the Power itself." His words were harsh, but he couldn't summon the outrage necessary to back them up. Richard's mild needling was one of the few bits of human interaction with something approaching a peer that Enzo had to look forward to. Pater was normally unapproachable, and Mater was simply terrifying. The small menagerie that Enzo played with was a pale shadow of her dark labyrinth, and he suspected his imagination held limits far tighter than hers.<br/><br/>In wordless apology for his outburst Enzo moved to the sideboard and poured two glasses of cold<em>grappa</em>. The Italian liquor had a yellowish tinge. In true Xantelli tradition he offered both glasses to his guest, allowing Richard to choose first.<br/><br/>"Nothing new with me, I'm afraid. I cured an elderly man's cancer this morning. He probably bought himself another fifteen years of life by coming here. For all I know he's a monster, and he'll spend all fifteen grinding more people under his heel. It's not as if I get to vet the applications. Presumably Pater knows best. Made his cock bigger too. They all want that." He had settled back into his favorite chair, and gestured toward the younger man with his glass.<br/><br/>"And you? Have you been exercising your power? Taken any particular slaves of interest?"