The club was busy, and Kev could see Dale taking his position behind the bar next to a monkey-man with pointed ears. The macaque-man moved with a quick, almost frantic energy, his dark fur a stark contrast to his bright, intelligent eyes. He was arguing with Dale, gesturing emphatically with a cocktail shaker, but Dale, looking exasperated, just shook his head and the monkey-man quickly, with a final, dramatic huff, tossed a half-made drink from under the bar into the sink.
"I guess not everyone gets to drink at work," Kev grinned. He changed his sights to the band that was spilling off the stage. He saw Gerald standing next to the platform, still taller than the other seated musicians. The music was a wild, almost chaotic cacophony. Asmodeus's frantic piano was the driving force, but it was layered with the complex, interlocking melodies of multiple woodwinds, the deep thrum of Gerald's bass, and a riot of percussion, tinkling triangles, crashing cymbals, and the thunderous beat of the bass drum.
As Kev went to take another sip of his drink, Fang's voice made him look over. "I find myself in a strange position," Fang said, playing with his glass on the table. "I need to know."
Fang turned to face Kev. He leaned in, his amber eyes intense, searching, all the earlier frustration and anger gone, replaced by a raw, almost pleading sincerity. "Do you want me to quit the Mafia?"
"No!" Kev said, surprised. They had just joined. "Where is this coming from? You seemed to really like the deal. You even were willing to call Baphomet 'Pops'... I know that wasn't easy for you..."
Fang turned back to the table and clicked his glass down. "The rabbit... I know you have an issue with the way that pool shark was dealt with..."
"You'd... you'd let him go if I asked?" Kev questioned, his own voice a whisper.
"If I did... he would run to the council. To Romulus," Fang growled, before turning back to his human once more. "But I would, if you asked... insisted."
Kev smiled, a small, sad smile. "That's okay, Fang. I don't want to mess up your Mafia deal. I know you were working on it for a while, even before I got, uh... hired."
Fang shook his head in surprise. "What? You were very upset about Pedro. I thought you'd want Bryan out right away."
"Just knowing you aren't happy about the situation makes me feel a bit better," Kev said. "Normally, you'd just beat him up a bit and send him on his way, right?"
Fang blinked but didn't say anything.
"Right?" Kev pushed.
"Right..." Fang said reluctantly. "...as long as you are safe, my love."
Kev leaned in to Fang a bit and pulled his drink closer. "You know, it's not like I have any right to judge, considering my last job."
"Oh?" Fang said, his interest piqued. "You know, you haven't told me much about what you did in your... previous life... something about 'engineering,' you had said. No wonder you wanted books, my little bookworm."
Kev was glad Fang had made him cringe so hard that he was smiling. He hadn't meant to bring up his job, but he had started drinking again and was feeling a bit too relaxed. "Oh, you know, just engineering stuff."
Fang nodded. "What kind of engineering stuff?"
"The, uh... kind where you design things, and then they get built, and you test them and stuff..."
Fang laughed. "And you say I am bad in social situations."
Kev frowned and pushed his drink away. "I designed drones."
"Oh! That is interesting," Fang said. "I see those little flying things whizzing around all the time, and our housekeeping has someone pull them out of the trees if one flies too close to the electronics-free zone."
"Really? I hadn't thought of that," Kev said, his mind already starting to imagine how far a drone would travel if it suddenly dipped into Kaiote's signal mute. "How high up does the electronics-free zone go? Is it a sphere or a cylinder?"
"You'd have to ask the crow herself. I haven't the slightest."
"Really? It can't go too high, right? Or it would mess with planes and other flying stuff. You must have some idea."
"Look at you," Fang chuckled. "It seems you like the drone stuff. Should I get you one?"
"No." Kev didn't mean to say it so loud, but he would much rather not put his hands on a drone again.
"Come on," Fang said. "You never tell me what I can buy for you, and this is so easy. So tell me, what kind do you want? Or wait... what kind did you work on?" Fang draped his arm over Kev and pulled him close. "I can get you something similar. As a memento from your past."
This had already been a rollercoaster of a day, between worrying about Fang, the tour, the dinner, and now Bryan... ugh...
"I don't want a memento. Not that kind, at least," Kev said as the wolf leaned in to listen. "I really hated my old job. It was... shitty."
"Well, now you have no job, my partner," Fang rubbed Kev's arm.
"Yeah..." Kev sighed. The wolf was really piling it on.
"So tell me about your shitty job," Fang said. "And do you care if I finish your drink?"
"You want my Cape Cod?" Kev asked incredulously. "Have at it. I've had enough to drink for now."
"It tastes like you do," Fang said, pulling the drink to his nose. "Now, shitty job. You were saying?"
"..." Kev said, too quietly to hear.
"Sorry, didn't catch that."
"..." Kev whispered.
"One more time."
"..." Kev said softly.
"Really, I'll have to tell Asmodeus to turn it down tonight. My love, I didn't hear you."
"I designed swarm drones that sweep buildings for hostiles..."
"You what?"
"I... just... you know... drew them up on the computer, and then we had some printers and stuff, and we just... gave the drones AI brains and made them all talk to each other and stuff..."
"Oh my. That is very impressive, my love."
"The company was scaling really fast because of all the contracts we were getting. It was like no matter what I designed, people would be willing to pay for it. But by the end, I just couldn't do it anymore."
"Did you make bad designs?"
Kev snorted. "That's not what I mean... Most customers have price constraints, so the end product is not... the most technologically advanced product that one could possibly conceive of, but a good value for the money they are spending... But even when I was designing really... expensive things... the customers were willing to fork up the money, even if I went way, way over budget."
Fang beamed. "My partner would be no one less. Making your expensive designer drones, just like Marybelle."
"Not like Marybelle," Kev laughed dryly. "They were for the military."
"Oh," Fang said happily. "A tech entrepreneur in the camera business."
"They had cameras on them... but they... didn't just film." Kev felt that familiar, cold pain in his heart as he thought of his old work. He would take working for Lanon over going back to that. "They... finished the job."
Fang cocked his head. "Your drones... did they edit the movies too?"
"NO! They killed people!" Kev grabbed Fang's arm and hugged it close before finally letting it all off his chest. "I didn't want to do it anymore. But I didn't know what else to do. I had gone to school for so long, and I majored in 'neural-quad matrices in AI additive manufacturing and its relation to heli-robotic engineering'... No one would hire me for a different job with a degree like that! There was no way for me to pay for my degree other than to design more and more unhinged murder bots for the government! I hated it! And I had to watch the fucking footage. And you know what the people in the room would say? They would say it could be 'better.' It could be fucking better at killing people!"
Fang looked down at the human under his arm, his amber eyes wide, his jaw slightly slack with pure, unadulterated shock. He was completely silent, just staring.
Kev closed his eyes tight and clung to Fang's arm. "I hate that you sold Pedro. And I hate that we are holding Bryan hostage. But... compared to watching videos of people being sawed apart and then being told to make it able to saw through at least thirty percent more body before getting gummed up..."
"You..." Fang sounded mystified.
"Sorry, but you wanted to know," Kev let go of the wolf's arm. "I am disgusted by it... I tried to do anything I could... I even signed up to donate my body to-"
Fang pulled Kev into a fierce, desperate kiss. "My love, you..."
Kev tried to push away. "I'm a monster... Maybe Warlock smelled like blood, but I doubt he's hurt more people than I have..."
Fang just pulled him back into the kiss, deeper this time, a raw, almost frantic claiming.
"No," Kev sputtered, turning his head. "I'm trying to say I'm bad! I can forgive you for Bryan because you're letting him live!"
"Kev," Fang panted into his human's ear, his voice a low, possessive growl, "you are not bad. You are... magnificent... You are mine."
Kev turned and looked at Fang. He looked just like he had in those first few days. That raw, predatory intensity was back in his eyes, a look that had terrified Kev then, a look he'd thought meant Fang wanted to eat him... or... Now that Kev had had some time to get to know the wolf... what was that look? It was pure, unbridled hunger. It was overwhelming, possessive awe.
"You think that's magnificent?" Kev laughed dryly. "Me being guilty for all those atrocities?"
"No," Fang declared, his voice a low, rumbling vow. "For being so strong."
Kev finally allowed himself to be kissed, truly kissed. He didn't feel strong for what he had done. And he did not want to mention that his job had pushed him to being a bit reckless with his own driving... He had gone numb after seeing too many of those awful videos... sitting in those sterile rooms with the drones he'd made, being congratulated for his murder-babies...
But he loved that Fang was trying to understand him. And calling him strong... even if it was just in the heat of the moment...
When they finally pulled apart, Kev slumped against Fang again. "I had a job and skills," he said, his voice a low, weary murmur, "but nothing I did prepared me for this sort of place... I don't think I can twist my degree like Lanon did and get us some new amenity. And I'd rather not ever touch a drone again."
"You don't have to work," Fang rubbed Kev's arm.
Kev looked up at Fang. "Come on. I don't want the others to think I'm a lazy gold digger who's just waiting for you to croak from a stress-induced heart attack."
Fang tried to choke down a surprised laugh.
"I'm not joking," Kev pouted.
"My love," Fang said, "you do the most important job."
"'Mine' isn't a job title," Kev reminded the wolf.
"But you are," Fang said, standing from the booth and reaching out for Kev to take his hand. "You are mine. You keep me sharp... you assist me."
"I just got you to say 'partner'," Kev said, as he allowed himself to be pulled from the booth and took his spot under Fang's arm. "Let's not fall back into the 'assistant' thing... 'Partner' is much better..." Maybe we skipped 'boyfriend,' but 'partner' is okay. It's kind of ambiguous as to the status of the relationship... but in a good way.
"Yes, my love, I called you 'partner'," Fang said, before nodding to Twitch and Skippy as he led them out of the VIP section.
"That really made my night," Kev said, causing Fang's tail to wag. "I feel like I'm really getting to know you well."
Fang nodded. "Yes, my love. You are a fascinating human."
"And that dinner," Kev giggled, "I didn't think you'd be getting adopted tonight."
"That was a surprise to me too," Fang agreed.
"Oh, and please don't tell people you get 'excited thinking about your father' after kissing me," Kev said flatly. "It will give people the wrong idea."
"Yes, my love," Fang said.
"Did you and Baphomet talk about anything else interesting in the garden?" Kev questioned. "We heard a bit about the witness that we were asked to protect. I guess we'll be meeting them tomorrow."
"That's good. Horns will know the room should be nice, my love."
"I guess I'll have two new roommates here, haha," Kev said. "I hope Horns doesn't end up having to buy groceries for us all."
"Yes, my love."
Kev glanced up at Fang. "Uhh, you okay, big guy? You're-"
He stopped. The familiar, soft carpet was under his feet, the quiet hush of the second floor surrounding them. The scent of old wood and the flickering, golden light from the wall lamps were all around. They were standing directly in front of his apartment door. When had they gotten here? He remembered walking out of the VIP section, the music fading behind them, but the grand staircase, the entire journey up... it was a complete blank.
Fang looked a bit sheepish. "Would... would it be alright if I came inside?"
Kev looked dumbly between his apartment door and Fang, his brain still trying to catch up.
"YES!" Kev said, suddenly snapping back to reality. He quickly turned and fumbled with his keys, unlocking the door. "Please! If you want a drink, or you can use the restroom, or..."
He stumbled into the room as he rushed to get in and quickly found the lantern. After filling two glasses with water, he turned to see Fang standing right behind him in the kitchen.
In the soft, flickering lantern light, Fang was no longer just the imposing owner of the club. The shadows played across his handsome features, softening the hard lines, making his amber eyes gleam like molten gold. The quiet intimacy of the room stripped away the layers of authority, leaving only the wolf, the man, his gaze fixed on Kev with an intensity that was both tender and ravenous.
"I don't want water," Fang said, his voice a low, husky growl.
Kev put the glasses on the counter and looked back towards his bedroom. "Did you want to sleep?"
"After," Fang growled.
He pulled Kev close once more in a fiery kiss, leaning him back, lifting him slightly so his feet were off the ground.
Kev felt the world tilt and he closed his eyes. The kiss was wonderful, but he was taken by surprise when Fang suddenly swept him up, giving him much more airtime than was necessary, before catching him in his strong, massive hands.
"Please don't do that," Kev said, his heart hammering as he hugged Fang's neck and nuzzled against the wolf's warm fur.
"Sorry if I was too rough with you," Fang said, his voice a low rumble against Kev's ear. "I'll be sure to be careful tonight."
Kev bit Fang's ear lightly. "You can get a little rough."
Fang yelped. "Watch it! My ears are sensitive!"
Kev chuckled darkly as Fang kicked his bedroom door shut. "Sensitive, you say?"
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END OF ACT ONE