Brolesque

Posted on Tue Jul 26th, 2022 @ 3:41am by Dominique LaFramboise & Jarrod Lask & Nathaniel Cunningham

Mission: Prequel - Or How We Met
Location: Brolesque

Since they hadn't gotten much information from small di- er, Alpha Matthews, Nicki and Jarrod decided to pay the Beta a visit. Nicki had been keen on just turning up, but Jarrod had insisted on calling ahead and setting up a proper meeting. So they found themselves waiting in the Beta's office in a theater that seemed a bit offbeat, but fun all the same. Nicki wondered if it was basically a burlesque show with men or if it was a drag show. Either way, it sounded like a lot of fun.

But she didn't tell Jarrod that. He'd never let her hear the end of it.

It took about five minutes before Jim came in, dressed extremely casually in a pair of short basketball shorts and a skimpy tank top. Then again, he had worked the meeting in between a morning rehearsal for his newest crop of performers and the afternoon pre-opening routine. He had a pale bit of sweat on him, but was otherwise not much affected. He took in the two guests in his office. He already knew they were present on lycanthrope business, and both his sense of smell and general sense of the supernatural told him they were likely hounds. He addressed them both, "Good morning Ms. LaFramboise, Mr. Lask. I apologize for the delay. We were wrapping up and I thought it pertinent to send everyone out of the building for lunch just in case. Would either of you like anything?" He paused to root around in a fridge, obtaining a bottle of water for himself as he awaited a response.

Well, at least this one seemed much more genuine than the alpha. That in itself was enough to make Nicki instantly like him. "No, thank you," she said with a glance at Jarrod, who merely shook his head. "We're fine. Thank you for meeting with us. We met your, uh... Alpha yesterday."

"Yeah, he wasn't very helpful," added Jarrod, almost as an aside.

Jim laughed as he moved to his desk. "That's not surprising. I'll eat my own g-string if you can find someone who will claim him to be outright helpful without any ulterior motive, though I suppose he has his uses and charms" he said lightly. "At any rate, Nathaniel Cunningham at your service, though please call me Jim. How might I, hopefully, be of assistance to you, ma'am, sir?"

"Oh, yeah, I like this guy a lot better," commented Jarrod.

Nicki grinned. "We're new to the area," she said. "Hounds, if you hadn't already guessed. We just had a few questions about the climate regarding lycans, and who else may be in the area."

The beta wolf quirked his head at Jarrod. "Not that I mind compliments from attractive men or women, but that wasn't exactly a high bar. Welcome to Nashville, and I'll answer what I can. I hope I haven't missed anything with what's going on in Nashville. May I ask if there is any specific reason you came to Nashville?"

“I did some studio work for my cousin and several other musicians have expressed interest in me doing some work for them,” answered Nicki. “And since Jarrod is a firefighter, he can work anywhere.”

“Anywhere there’s risk of fire, anyway,” agreed Jarrod. “Which is one of the questions we had. What’s the policy for hiring lycans in emergency services? If you know, that is.”

"Officially, lycanthropes are unfit for service according to the state due to the inability to work any schedule at any time," replied Jim in a tone that conveyed just exactly what he thought of that policy. "Unofficially, Nashville's fire and EMS has an unusually large number of members who worship Selene or Luna along with Artemis and/or Hecate. If you indicate that, everyone knows what it means and your application will make it to one of the station commanders who makes it their life's goal not to question the religious choices of their firefighters. That they also happen to be amongst the better pin-up models for the charity calendar is just a happy coincidence."

“I don’t know about pin-up model,” said Jarrod, looking both pleased and embarrassed.

“I’ve seen him sans clothing; he is,” Nicki told the Beta.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jarrod replied with a side eye to Nicki. “Thanks.”

“The only other question we had,” continued Nicki, trying not to giggle at Jarrod’s expression, “was if there were any jackals or similar unsavory types- vultures, crows, that sort. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve met some very nice vultures. But their command structure is… well, there isn’t one. And on the whole they tend to cause problems.”

The wolf managed to not laugh at Jarrod's discomfort. "There is nothing wrong with being an attractive man, Mr. Lask, which you are. Though if it makes you uncomfortable I'll refrain from further commentary and requests for charity assistance. As for vultures or jackals, Ms. LaFramboise, only the metaphorical kind one would expect in a city of corporate offices. The Memphis wolf pack had it in their head to try and run drugs through the city and recruit, but after an unfortunate incident that landed their recruiter in the hospital and now a most comfortable federal prison, they seem to have gotten the message. All the groups in Nashville like to keep things above board. It plays better in the press and with the legislature since this is the capital. Can't say that having some hounds around to help reinforce that image is a bad thing either."

"Looks like I may need to look into getting my witch's license again," Nicki mused. "Everybody is so well behaved here, what else is there to do? Do you know any witches, by chance?"

Jim grumbled internally about that fact being the only reason Fred Matthews was still around. "I can't say that I know any personally, ma'am. I know there's at least one coven in town, but I've never met the coven leader or anyone who proclaimed themselves to be a member. Another point against him is that Alpha Matthews has an annoying tendency to quote Christian scripture when the subject of witchcraft is brought up. While I most strenuously do not share this view, the witches are understandably leery about interacting with the pack as a result, lest he ever attempts to make 'thou shalt not suffer a witch to live' into an actual command to the pack."

Nicki frowned. "They're still using that around here?" she asked. "Forget the fact that there were like five thousand words for "witch" at the time that was written and that at least sixteen of them referred to lycans. Okay, that's an exaggeration. There were five. And one referred to lycans. Hell if I remember the terms, but that particular one was for a practitioner of dark magic- or, more precisely, magic with ill intent. In reality, there's no such thing as black magic. And you might be surprised to know that witches do not suffer that kind to live, either." She narrowly avoided a shudder. "I've seen their punishment first hand. It's... harsh. Be that as it may, know that the witches are under my protection. And if it should come up, feel free to tell the Alpha about that," she added with a rather wicked grin.

"Nicks!" said Jarrod, almost scoldingly.

"What?" she defended. "I'm not allowed to have a bit of fun?"

Jarrod just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Sorry about her," he told the Beta.

"No need, Mr. Lask. Regardless, I do not pretend to know the mind of Alpha Matthews. I would say nor do I presume to know better than the Holy Mother Church Ms. LaFramboise, though I'm hardly batting 100 at complying with those strictures anyway, so make of that what you will. I would just caution you that God is a major power here, considering how many church headquarters are here, but that is neither here nor there. Just know that ordering a war on witches is likely to be the last order Alpha Matthews ever attempted to give."

"That gives me ideas," mused Nicki, a faraway look in her eyes.

"Nicks," said Jarrod wearily.

"Only joking," she assured him, but gave Jim a wink. "Also, call me Nicki. Everybody does. Except Jarrod. He calls me Nicks. Not sure why."

"Neither am I," admitted Jarrod. To Jim he said, "And call me Jarrod. Please."

"In any case," continued Nicki. "You have been very helpful. If the Leesh can help you in any way, just let us know. All... all two of us," she said, finally remembering that she didn't have 25 people at her disposal anymore. “Oh! I just remembered,” she added with a snap of her fingers. “Do you know a good contractor? I need some renovations done to my house.” My house. That sentence made her almost giddy.

Jim thought for a moment. "Figueroa's," he said. "The man who owns it is a rat, and I mean that literally, and flames louder than most lions roar, but the work his crews do is excellent, and he knows who to send you to if he can't do it in-house." He paused for a moment more to consider and then decided to give the two some extra information. "As for assistance, should either of you ever need anything, if you tell the doorman or whoever answers the phone that you want to talk about 'the church of the moon' they'll put you through to me. If it's an emergency and warrants dropping whatever I'm doing at the time, make it the 'church of the blood moon' and they'll pull me off stage if necessary."

Nicki gave him a warm, authentic smile. “I appreciate that,” she told him. “As soon as the Leesh has more than two members and a consistent means of communication, I’ll let you know. Until then,” she added, pulling a business card out of her purse and handing it to Jim, “here’s my cell number. I usually have it on me, even in hound form. Don’t ask me how; we don’t like to think about it.” She and Jarrod both shuddered almost comically.

Jim laughed. "I don't have to ask. I have experience," he said with a bit of a grimace of his own. "Unfortunately, unless you want to help me teach a bunch of half-naked men to tastefully pretend to be bisexual, we'll have to draw this to a close."

"I guess that depends on if they're gay or straight," replied Nicki.

"Nicks," said Jarrod irritably.

"Oooh, someone's jealous," she replied with a grin.

"A little, yeah," admitted Jarrod. It wouldn't do to lie to her; hounds could smell emotions.

"I guess that means we'll pass," she said, standing. "Thank you for your time, Beta Cunningham."

"A mix of both, along with a fair smattering of actual bisexuals. Come by some night and see if you can figure out which is which," Jim teased, primarily just to see if it would wind up his counterpart beta. "Regardless, you are most welcome Alpha LaFramboise, Beta Lask. If I might offer a final piece of advice, your real estate habits are going to gain the attention of the high society. Annoying as they are, they can also be helpful with introductions if you have designs beyond being a session musician. Have a pleasant day."

Nicki didn't have any such designs but appreciated the information nonetheless. "You, too," she replied. "May your rehearsal go swimmingly."

They saw themselves out, letting Jim get back to business. "Well that was much better," commented Nicki as they left.

"Yes," agreed Jarrod. "I found out I'm suddenly a worshiper of Selene, Artemis, Hecate, and... I forget."

"Luna," supplied Nicki.

"Oh, that's right," he said. "That's the easiest one to remember. Are we coming back to see the show?"

"You mean you'd come?" she asked, astonished.

"As long as I'm not expected to be half naked," he said. "And as long as you come home with me."

"Why would I go home with anyone else?" she asked.

He chuckled, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "That's my girl," he said.