Daryl

Daryl (ダリル, *Dariru*) was Iason’s furniture for five years, including the first 3 years Riki was in Eos before being released back into the Slums.

As furniture, Daryl was quite intelligent and meticulous. In the 5 years in Iason’s service, he had never been reprimanded, and his owner seemed satisfied with him. He took good care of Riki, or at least as much as Riki allowed him to, and seemed to have infinite amount of patience and tolerance for the pet’s antics.

This is why the incident that marked the end of his service was so unexpected to everyone, shocking even Iason.

> Nice to meet you. My name is Daryl.
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## **Personality**

Daryl’s career as furniture was marked by professionalism. No matter what, Daryl was always subservient to Iason's wishes. His reason and self-restraint were unaffected by emotion, and he relentlessly kept himself in control.

The challenge presented to him when Iason introduced Riki to their household is something that would drive most furniture insane. While it did have a profound and unsettling impact on Daryl, for the most part he managed to keep his emotions under control. He lashed out at Riki only once after being provoked, and would occasionally show empathy after Riki’s been severely roughed up by Iason.

Daryl's demeanor—his calm, contained, logical tone of voice—didn't change whether he was being screamed at by Riki or if he was going down on Riki. Daryl precisely answered the questions Riki asked and had never overstepped the boundaries defined for him as furniture.

He was shy, although not sexually, probably as a result of Iason’s training. But no matter the type and amount of sexual acts he committed, he never outwardly showed any sexual desire toward Riki.

But below this professional façade, a melting pot of emotions was brewing, and he only allowed them to come out once, in the form of the act that led to the *incident*.

## Duties

Upon Riki’s arrival in Eos, it was Daryl’s duty to acquaint him with how things worked and what his life as a pet was going to look like. Since Riki was completely foreign to the whole system, this meant Daryl had his work cut out for him. He had to explain everything from the basic Salon rules, to the structure of the Eos society. He also had to deal with the fact that his charge was very independent and used to doing things by himself.

> I exist to make sure that you spend every day in comfort while in this room. That is the job I was given. That is the source of my pride. For someone like you, who never had to depend on anybody for anything, this must be painful. But what passed for common sense in your world does not hold here in Eos. So I'm begging you, Master Riki, let me do what I have to do.
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Being stubborn and irritable were Riki's strong suits, but Daryl had patience and perseverance to match. It was Daryl’s duty to insert himself in every aspect of Riki’s life. He was to do everything for him – make sure he is fed, dress him, clean him, make sure he is healthy. Daryl had even barged into the bathroom and tried to scrub every nook and cranny of Riki's body clean. Unsurprisingly, Riki gave him hell for all of it.

Daryl attempted to explain to Riki that just as everything he says and does reflects on his master's honor, Riki’s health reflects on Daryl’s duties and responsibilities. And when it came to looking after Riki's health, Daryl was more attentive than most furniture. His sense of obligation as furniture alone couldn't account for it. No matter how much Riki's temper raged, Daryl wouldn't back down.

Until Riki got his registration number and pet ring, which took 6 months, Daryl had to walk him on a leash any time Riki left the room. In those 6 months, Daryl’s duties extended to the bedroom. Iason’s training of Riki included sexual acts performed on him by Daryl. Under Iason’s orders, Daryl went down on Riki daily. Riki would scream and physically lash out, but to no avail. Until Iason gave the contrary order, Daryl would stoically keep at it. He serviced Riki in a disinterested, straightforward manner, hiding his pained expression.

Once Iason started sleeping with Riki himself, Daryl was no longer invited to the bedroom and not allowed to fellate him. However, Iason’s lovemaking habitually left Riki injured and in a pitiful state. It was the furniture’s duty to clean him up and take care of any wounds that might have occurred.

> I live to make sure that you feel at home here.
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## Daryl and Iason

As far as his use as furniture, Iason found Daryl quite satisfactory in the five years he served him. The furniture’s intelligence and obedience meant that he could rely on it to do what was asked without question. Even when Riki would manage to provoke Daryl to the point of reaction, it was enough for Iason to gently reprimand him and put him in his place. For the most part, Daryl was able to keep his own thoughts and feelings to himself, and not let them impact his work.

This, of course, was in part the result of Daryl’s fear of Iason. As Blondy furniture, the standards expected of him were the highest possible, and his Master’s ruthlessness was well known.

> You still don't know, Master Riki. Just how frightening he can be.
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So he obeyed every order Iason made no matter what, and Iason never bothered to hide anything from him, not even his most depraved actions.

However, Iason actually had a degree of appreciation for his furniture. This was best seen during his interview with Daryl after the *incident*. As shocking as it was that the furniture, that should have been unfailingly faithful to him, went behind his back in such a manner, Iason couldn't help but admire Daryl for having the drive and the mental facilities to go through with it.

Iason was also intrigued by Daryl’s motivations and needed to get to the bottom of it, recognising that he, as furniture, had a unique perspective into what was going on with Riki. Iason knew Riki had been healthy the whole 3 years he was in Eos, and made it a point to mention that the doctors credited this to Daryl's attentiveness, but Daryl knew there was more to it than just physical health.

> For that purpose alone, you're willing to sentence perfectly good Blondy furniture to being thrown in the trash?
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During the interrogation, there was a sense that Iason didn’t want this to mean Daryl’s disposal and he tried to convince the furniture to shift some blame on Riki, in order to save its life. When Daryl refused and explained why he had done what he did, Iason felt empathetic, surprising even himself.

## Daryl and Riki

Riki had incorrectly assumed the furniture was bred and trained in special facilities, just like pets, which heavily coloured his view of Daryl, who ended up taking the brunt of Riki’s frustrations.

Daryl followed every command of Iason's, and that made him Riki's enemy. Riki couldn't sympathize with one of his tormentors. While Riki knew all too well how ruthless, proud, and cold Iason could be he reserved his true loathing for Daryl, the furniture that stubbornly dogged him at Iason's word alone, showing no resistance to the Blondy's orders.

Though a pet and a piece of furniture might be kept in the same room, their values were completely different. Riki had considered them two separate species. Riki had no idea how Daryl felt about everything, and he didn't particularly want to know. Still, Riki didn't consider Daryl a disposable appliance the way other pets and masters did, but seeing someone so resigned to his fate and so obedient, it was Daryl's existence he couldn't accept.

So Riki had put up a stubborn front and pushed away any hand that reached out to him. This distance was reciprocated by Daryl for his own reasons. Even Iason noticed this chasm between the two.

That Daryl was always right behind him left Riki constantly on edge. No matter how much he shouted and verbally abused him, Daryl was still there. Even trashing the room hadn't gotten Daryl to stop. And no matter what Daryl did, it just made Riki madder. At times, for one reason or another, Daryl would say exactly the wrong thing or look at Riki exactly the wrong way, sending Riki into a fit of disgust. Even Daryl's speech and conduct had been endlessly irritating. The way Daryl addressed him grated at his pride. He felt that the honorific he used slandered his mongrel roots.

The worst of it was, of course, the sexual abuse Daryl committed on Iason’s behalf.

> Daryl, you will teach this slum trash with your month what all this futile struggle will achieve. Enjoy yourself, but don't let him come. I shall deliver the final stroke.
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Riki couldn’t deny that the way Daryl went down on him was pleasurable, but even so, Riki hated being fellated by him more than anything. He found it even more humiliating than exposing himself directly to Iason. So in a way, when after 6 months Iason started bedding him himself and excluding Daryl, Riki was relieved, no matter how merciless Iason was with him. After that, Daryl’s duty was to take care of Riki’s ravaged body.

After many months of this routine, of Riki’s intolerance towards Daryl, and Daryl taking the abuse unflinchingly, Riki started to realize it was Daryl's way of showing his pride. It took unflagging strength to honestly accept a person for what he was—no matter how violent and aggressive. The realization came to Riki slowly, but came it did. And though he never developed a liking for Daryl, it was better than how he felt about the other pets of Eos.

With time, their relationship stabilised, but they never got over that distance that was established from the very beginning. Riki saw something in Daryl’s eyes he couldn’t quite put his finger on, and it remained that way until the end. But despite this distance, at the very end, Daryl did his best to meet Riki more than halfway.

> He hasn't changed a bit. Even if bound by a leash, he would rather live his life as a slum mongrel than be reduced to the life of a pet. That's why I envy him, and suffer for him. Being able to do nothing but look on and wonder, he becomes an all the more painful sight.
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They parted suddenly when Riki was returned to Ceres, and Riki had no reason to believe that Daryl was no longer Iason’s furniture. Not until, a year and a half later, he returned to find Cal in his place. In the meantime, he learned of Daryl’s origin, and this knowledge haunted him. Riki had been wondering what to say to Daryl when they met again, so his absence came as something of a relief. But at the same time, the loss of his one confidant in Eos plucked at his heart.

## Background

The following section contains spoilers for volume 3!

At age 13, he was recruited from Guardian to come to Eos as furniture, where he was castrated, trained and installed in Iason’s apartment.

## **The Daryl Incident**

The following section contains spoilers for volume 3!

Riki had a habit of loitering in the lobby, staring at the door, the only connection between Eos and the outside world. One day, as if by a miracle, the door in front of him opened, and Riki took his chance and ran. He managed to get as far as Prage before he got arrested, an inevitable outcome given his pet ring was equipped with a GPS tracker.

It was Daryl who, at the risk of his own life, opened the door for Riki. When questioned about his motives some interesting things came to light. Because Daryl remembered Riki from their shared childhood in Guardian, he was in a unique position, as the furniture in charge of him, to view how being in Eos, and being Iason’s pet affected him. In that sense, Daryl had a front-row seat in the face of Riki’s suffering. But what ultimately drove him to his actions was the fact that Riki’s pride never wavered. No matter what he’d been through, he was still the old Riki, and it elicited complicated emotions in Daryl. Ultimately, his act was a test of Riki’s integrity, something that he felt he needed to do for his own peace of mind. I can't stand the thought of Master Riki turning into anything but what he used to be. At the same time, Riki was the only one who treated him as another human being. Even though he was never kind or friendly to Daryl, he never scorned him the way other pets have. This had a strong impact on Daryl, and he saw this as an opportunity to give something back.
Daryl did this willingly and fully aware that he was committing an actual crime that will have dire consequences for him, but he didn’t seem to regret it, at least until he learned that Riki’s escape was thwarted. He had no inclination to flee, deny his culpability or blame anything on Riki, despite Iason’s advice.  He threatened you and you were helpless to resist. Say that and things will go easier for you. After all had been said and done, his only wish was for Iason to have mercy on Riki, and for Riki to not suffer due to something he had no part in planning.
As for Iason, he handled this scandal with his customary cool. Though accepting responsibility for his role in the matter, he squared things away as logically and dispassionately as possible. He even managed to point out the fact that the incident helped uncover the weak links in a supposedly flawless Eos security system.
He was keen on getting to the bottom of Daryl’s motives for effectively throwing his life away. In his interview with the furniture, Iason seemed unusually human, surprising even himself with the level of empathy he held for Daryl’s plight. He attempted to advise Daryl to put some blame onto Riki in order to give Iason a chance to spare him, but Daryl outright refused. In a sense, Iason was satisfied to see Daryl being so brave. But at the same time, what Daryl said tore at unpleasant emotions deep within his heart.

## **Gallery**

Tokuma Shoten edition (2009-10) – Saichi NagatoAs seen in the 2012 anime series.As seen in the 1994 OVA.