Ms. Tongue's head tilted, and through the zippered slit of her BDSM mask, Kev could see the crinkle of a smile. "Something for an instrument?" she ribbited. "You know, I've never really thought about breaking into the music space. That is an interesting idea." It was a bit off-putting, seeing a cheerful reaction from behind the intimidating leather, but her tone put him at ease.
Lanon, on the other hand, seemed a bit disappointed. "For your guitar? But that's just a child's instrument."
"Who are you, Asmodeus?" Kev asked. "Why does it matter to you?"
Lanon beckoned to Fang, who was inspecting the exquisite marble sculpture of two birds doing the aerial tango. "Mr. Fang has purchased you such a fine piano, and you play something the toucan gave you? What about the guitar excites you?"
Kev looked up at Fang. Damn you, Lanon. Why did you put me on the spot like this? he thought. Yet, when he spoke, he didn't even need to think of the words. "I love the piano, but I don't know how to play it. That's why... when you got me that piano... it was so special." Kev got up on his toes and gave the wolfman a quick kiss. "I can pretend you're sitting there playing it while I'm cleaning up my apartment."
"You do know," Lanon said, watching Fang's tail wag, "Mr. Fang could teach you how to play."
Kev watched Fang stiffen. "If he wants to learn, there is no better teacher than Asmodeus," Fang said gruffly.
Lanon sighed. The wolf's tail was no longer wagging. "I will be back in five minutes, which means I am going pee." The iguana congratulated the zebra-woman one more time before leaving.
"Now, Gretchen, right?" Marsha said, grabbing the pantherwoman's hand. "Come say hi to some of the girls. You really killed it for your first time on the runway."
Gretchen, still looking like she had fallen from Valhalla, asked, "Mr. Fang, is it okay if I leave Mr. Kev for a minute?"
"You already did," Fang growled. "Why the hell were you up on that stage instead of keeping an eye on him?"
"I... um..." Gretchen's eyes were wide as Fang stalked over and looked down on her. "It was a fashion emergency."
"A FASHION EMERGENCY?!" Fang howled.
"Hey!" Kev grabbed Fang's arm. "There was already security at this event, and I was with Lanon."
"Yeah, Mr. Fang," Marsha joined in. "Gretchen was the star of the show."
Fang gazed down at Kev and rubbed the human's cheek. "I don't hire security to be the star of the show. I hire them to secure things."
"I'm secure," Kev grinned up at the wolf. "Like some clothes party could make me worry."
Fang laughed and said, "Alright, go Gretchen. You have until Lanon returns, and then we are leaving."
"Yes, boss," Gretchen said, before turning and finally allowing herself to be dragged away to the gaggle of high-fashion females.
"She deserves it," Kev said, watching Gretchen chatting and looking much more animated around the other girls. "She's been great tonight. If it were Talon, I think he would have tried to fight that wildebeest."
"That's the other thing I hire security to do," Fang said with a chuckle. "It's too bad that pussycat won't be hiring any new staff after running into me."
"That was a lot different than when we saw him at the auction," Kev said gently.
"He had no security there and..." Fang's expression soured like he'd tasted something foul. "...he didn't have an audience to record him."
"But you didn't really do anything to him," Kev said. "You just kinda... talked... and he left." Kev thought that Fang burping in the cheetah's face was almost like talking.
"I had hoped he had changed after three years," Fang growled, "but that shit-for-brains, little fucking coward..."
"Uh, I'm really sorry to interrupt." Ms. Tongue was still standing there. She had been waiting for an opportunity to jump in, but the wolf was intimidating. "But you had asked me for something for your guitar."
Kev glanced up at Fang, who seemed like he was trying to pull back the anger that the thoughts of Maffa generated. "A guitar strap," he said, turning to the frog. "That should be easy enough."
"I'm not sure what a strap for a guitar is exactly," Ms. Tongue admitted. "Is it large?"
I guess she really doesn't sell any music equipment, Kev thought, as he explained the simple concept. "Just a strip of leather. Make sure its edges are nice and smooth, and some holes in a few spots for adjustments."
Kev waved off Ms. Tongue, who declared she would have a guitar sent to the tannery to make sure it was perfect. She seemed very excited at the concept and the chance to break into a new market. "Never know who you're going to find at one of these things," Kev could hear her say as she exited towards the elevator.
Kev wandered over to Fang, who was once again inspecting the marble sculpture. "It's very nice," he said, "but I'm not sure there's a great spot for it anywhere."
Fang nodded. "It's crude, but the craftsmanship is superb."
Kev smiled. He realized he found himself feeling comfortable, standing next to a wolfman and gazing at a bust of two birds... busting. He wished the moment would continue, but unfortunately, Lanon returned.
"Do you find the aerial mating dance of the bald eagle... exciting?"
"Shut up, Lanon," Kev said.
"Oh, but you must be educated," Lanon said, sliding next to Kev and Fang and eyeing the provocative art. "Bald eagles mate for life. They create bonded pairs. And to demonstrate how much the other excites them," he waved his arm dramatically at the sculpture, "they fly up and lock their talons together. A trust fall of love." Lanon smiled. "Their hearts must be racing so fast when they death-spiral to the ground together."
"How much is it?" Fang asked, eyeing the art with new interest.
"Please, no," Kev said. He looped his arm in Fang's and began heading for the door now that he saw Gretchen disentangling herself from the lovely ladies. "It's been a long night, Fang. Why don't we go get ourselves a drink at the VIP booth?"
Fang pulled his arm free from Kev's grip and tossed it over the human's shoulder, pulling him close. "That sounds great."
The elevator ride down was just as long as the ride up. However, at least now Lanon was asking Kev questions about the guitar strap and if there was any way it could be "exciting."
"What if I just say it's for music therapy?" Kev said as they stepped out onto the ground level. Going from the black-and-white fashion zone to the small elevator made the transition back into the atrium even more dramatic. Kev couldn't even see the ceiling, just a dizzying expanse of shops that rose into the sky, countless floors of commerce.
"Music therapy?" Lanon nodded. "Can Mr. Fang perform this therapy on you?"
"Of course," Kev elbowed Fang lightly. "You never told me you could play piano."
"I'm not good," Fang said as they walked through the large revolving doors.
The noise of the street hit Kev. The colors and the hover cars and the wild, clashing cultural garb of all manner of different beastpeople normally overwhelmed him, but now he just wanted a smoke. "Lanon, can I get a light?"
"Of course, my boy," Lanon grinned, pulling his pipe from his argyle pocket.
"Perry will be here in five," Gretchen said, putting her phone back in her bra. "We can wait at the curb."
Kev, after snatching the match from Lanon, enjoyed his cigarette and leaned into Fang on the sidewalk. The pedestrians gave them a wide berth. Apparently, the hulking wolf, a pale, furless mammal, a fully green-and-blue iguana, and a pantherwoman unabashedly wearing golden undergarments were a strange sight even in this crazy city.
Perry's timing was immaculate. As Kev tossed his stubbed butt into a nearby trash can, the black car glided up to the curb.
The ride back to the club was smooth despite Perry weaving past other cars and ignoring the posted speed limit. The streaming scenes of the city whirling by gave Kev a bit of a chance to collect his thoughts, but he barely had time to process half of it before the car slowed down, already back at the security checkpoint.
Rex hadn't even managed to limp over by the time everyone exited the vehicle. "What the hell are you wearing, Gretchen?"
The panther woman looked down at her golden bikini and Valkyrie helm, then back up at her manager. "It's quite sturdy."
"Well, I can basically see your tits. Get inside and put a jacket on," Rex said, sounding a bit confused. "And tell that bird he's dismissed."
"So, Rex, was your evening exciting?" Lanon asked as he walked towards the metal detectors.
"Fuck no," Rex grumbled. "I had to listen to that eagle cry about the secret doors not having locks. He's such a fucking milk dud."
"I thought you loved milk," Kev said, passing through the metal detector.
"Then let's call you 'butter,' because I'm gonna love churning you," Rex grinned.
"It is not butter until after it has been churned," Talon's dry rasp shot back. The suited eagleman approached from the security building.
"Says fucking who?!" Rex turned to face Talon with a hiss.
Talon looked a bit perplexed for a moment before Fang's bark cut off the scrap before it started. "Talon, why don't you and Rex tell me what happened during the enforcer raid today?"
Kev smoked another cigarette as he waited. It was better than trying to converse with Lanon, who was watching the security team scan the car. He listened to Talon and Rex—but mostly Rex—tell Fang about the events of the day.
"You drove my car?! You threatened Wanda?! You knocked an enforcer down the stairs?! You flew carrying Kev?!" Fang ran the gamut of emotions during the story. He even burst into laughter when Talon was forced by Rex to recount what Sabrina had said. "She yelled, 'I have to go poo-poo'?! Oh my god, that girl is a riot! If I could have seen Romulus's face!" Fang said, wiping a tear from his eye.
Talon looked mortified that he had to say those words out loud. He walked over to Kev and Lanon as the security team finished up with the car while Fang and Rex talked a bit more in private. Kev felt bad for Talon, missing out on dinner and a show to talk with Rex for hours... it was truly awful sounding.
"So, three hours with Rex," Kev said, looking over at Talon, who was now staring stoically ahead, having beaten down the memory of his shame.
Talon nodded. "And twelve minutes."
Kev grinned.
Kev, however, did not feel bad enough for Talon to subject himself to any more conversation with Lanon if he could avoid it. He finished his smoke, listening to the iguana ask Talon about a wild gambit of different things and how they related to excitement. Talon's dry, logical rasps seemed to parry Lanon's thrusts every time.
"So, you never told me if carrying the human was exciting."
"It was necessary."
"And I heard a bit about your sister. Did you find her heroic bravery in the face of arrest... exciting?"
"My sister is a hellion."
"How about your new apartment? I hear you are living in the club. Do you find your proximity to work exciting?"
"It is convenient. My car has high mileage already."
This continued for a bit until Fang walked over with Perry, the owl had taken a bit longer at the metal detectors due to his harness. Rex had already retreated to the fluorescent lights of the security building, meaning they were cleared to leave. The group quickly entered the car, ready to get back to the relaxing chaos of the mansion.
"Let's go get that drink," Fang said, as they began speeding up the drive to the club.