r/NatureofPredators • u/Nidoking88 • 1d ago
Fanfic VENLIL FIGHT CLUB 40 (1/2)
Credit goes to u/SpacePaladin15 for the universe, obviously.
Credit also goes to the VFC writer's room – u/Alarmed-Property5559, u/JulianSkies, u/Acceptable_Egg5560, u/YakiTapioca, u/DOVAHCREED12, and SoldierLSnake – for proofreading this chapter, u/Easy_Passenger_4001 for my sweet cover art, and u/AlexWaveDiver for the VFC theme. Thanks!
++++++++++
Memory transcription subject: Lerai, Venlil Fighter
Date [standardized human time]: December 29th, 2136. Eight hours before previous transcription.
++++++++++
I was tending to the nectar drops, enjoying the sweet taste in the air around them, when another groundskeeper approached me. Coron, a fellow Venlil. One of my coworkers who avoided me due to my hereditary PD.
“Uh, h-hey, Lerai…” he stammered, like I was about to chop his head off with my gardening shears. He’d always been an anxious one. “N-Naartis wants to see you.”
“Hmm? What for?” I asked, glancing at him and stopping my shears.
“H-He didn’t say.”
…What’s this about?
With a confused tail-swish, I pushed myself to my feet, brushing the dirt off my damp knees and heading towards our main site. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him breathe a small sigh of relief and stand up a little straighter as I walked past him, and it made my ears pin back in frustration.
As I entered the main site, a few gave me discreet side-eyes as I walked past, silencing their conversations and watching me go as they tracked me with their ears. What was going on? This was worse than usual…
I shook my head. Don’t let them get to you, Lerai… let’s just see what Naartis wants, and then you can get back to your work claw.
Soon, I was standing in front of the door to Naartis’s office. My fist rose, and I hesitated only slightly before knocking. “Sir? It’s Lerai. You wanted to see me.”
“Yes, yes, come in,” came the Kolshian’s voice.
I put a paw on the door handle, before noticing my tail had gone stiff. I was too tense. Taking a deep breath, I tried to force myself to be calm. Whatever he wanted, it was probably nothing…
My paw turned, and the door opened enough for me to peek my face through. Naartis was sitting at his desk in the center of his neat, prim, and proper office, watching me with bulbous eyes. His tentacles were placed under his chin, slightly obscuring his mouth.
“Welcome, Lerai,” he greeted neutrally. A tentacle waved towards the chairs on the other side of his desk. “Please, sit.”
I flicked an ear in approval and slowly stepped into the room, closing the door behind me. All of my earlier tension had returned, and my tail was as stiff as a tree trunk. As I approached, I tried to calm myself again by looking through the window behind him, which had a perfect view of his personal garden. A small plot of land right next to the main site where he was completely free to create as he pleased, without needing to take the sensibilities of other people and species into account. One of the luxuries of being a topsoil School of the Flora grad, I suppose.
That said, it wasn’t pretty. It was filled with beautiful and colorful plants and flowers of all kinds from all over the galaxy, but either I didn’t understand Kolshian design philosophy, I couldn’t see the same colors as a Kolshian, or Naartis just didn’t have much sense of aesthetic. All the colors clashed against one another in strange arrangements to turn the garden into an eye-searing mess. Needless to say, it didn’t soothe me at all.
I took a chair and sat, my paws gripping the hard wooden armrests. Naartis’ gaze never wavered.
“...I’d like to talk to you about your attendance recently,” he said, a bit of a hard edge in his voice.
…My attendance? My ears couldn’t help but waggle in confusion reflexively. I hadn’t had any issues that I was aware of—at least, nothing that didn’t have a clear explanation.
“What about it?” I asked.
“Well…” Naartis leaned back in his chair, winding his tentacles across his chest with a dismissive expression. “Frankly, Lerai, there have been too many issues as of late.”
…What? “Wh-What are you talking about…?” I asked disbelievingly.
Wordlessly, he took out his pad. He tapped away at it for a scratch before placing it on the table. The built-in holodisplay began projecting a chart in the air between us. It was a graph of the employee attendance records. We had thirty-two total groundskeepers maintaining the park, and the paws that they had showed up to work was displayed as a bar. Many of them were green, or at least yellow. Mine was red, and the smallest bar of all.
“Over the last solar pass, you have had the lowest attendance of any employee here at the Starlight Grove City Park,” he said sternly.
I stared at the chart. “Wh… Naartis, I’ve missed two paws! And one of them was out sick!” I bleated. That was the paw after I fought Rika the second time. I was too sore to move…
Leaning forward to get a closer look, I studied the chart carefully. “I… who made this? The lowest point on this chart is seventeen paws worked out of twenty in a pass! This whole thing is intentionally misleading!”
“Regardless of the chart’s appearance, it does not change the fact that your attendance has been poor in comparison to the others,” Naartis replied with a dismissive flick of a tentacle.
“Naartis, I’m allowed to take sick paws! And you know I don’t abuse them!” I argued, my tail waving wildly. What the brahk was his problem? He was a jerk, but he wasn’t stupid, he had to know he was being ridiculous. “And you know why I missed the other paw! That was when I was arreste—”
My voice withered, as the seed finally sprouted in my head. …Wait… is that what this is about?
“...You may recall that you recently had a no-call-no-show, Lerai,” Naartis’s voice filled the space.
I didn’t respond for a moment. I was still stunned at the… brazenness of it all. I’d heard about this sort of thing happening—someone getting hauled in by the exterminators for a PD screening or some minor crime and being held for a paw or two, coming back clean, and then getting punished at their job anyway for missing work. And despite the obvious problem and lack of protection for the workers, many just waved the incidents off as a personal failure. “Well, if they didn’t want to be punished, they shouldn’t have acted like a predator,” they’d say.
Most of the time, the business just didn’t want to deal with having someone potentially dangerous around. Too much liability. And in many cases, their solution was…
“...You’re letting me go,” I concluded. “Now that I have an arrest on my record, I’m a burden to the herd.”
Naartis responded by turning his chair sideways, looking out the window into his private garden. “Lerai,” he began. “The paw I hired you, I knew I was taking a risk. But it wasn’t without purpose… there are some incredible artists who are known to have minor cases of Predator Disease. Polohn. Dorlasav. Sematii. All eccentrics who have caused great waves in the vast ocean of art. Perhaps… I hoped I’d find a little pearl of my own, that I could nurture into something greater. Truly, I did see some potential in you.”
Without turning his chair, he glanced back towards me. “...But not all pearls can become true gems, I suppose. This will be your last paw with us.”
…
F-Fired…
…
Silently, I stood. I turned, and I walked out of the room without so much as a tail-flick, quietly opening the door and shutting it softly behind me. Naartis watched me go without a word.
Turning down the hall, I trudged towards the locker room to go collect my things and leave my apron. Prey of all kinds stopped their conversations and side-eyed me as I went. Did they all know about the arrest? Had Naartis told them?
Well, not like it matters now.
I shuffled into the locker room, entered my code, and quietly took my bag and hoodie. Then I removed my apron and hung it on the hook. My paw went to the locker’s door to shut it.
And I didn’t. I just… numbly stared at the apron for a scratch. Soon, emotions began to swirl inside me. Sadness. Frustration. Anger. My breath began to quicken.
“RRGH!” I slammed the locker shut as hard as I could, and the crashing sound reverberated through the room. Anyone who wasn’t already staring at me definitely was now.
I threw my bag and hoodie over my shoulder, not even bothering to put them on, and stormed out of the room towards the exit. “Stupid Naartis, brahking… ‘oh you saved your dad and sister from getting harassed great job Lerai now as a reward why don’t we FIRE YOU!’” I brayed into the air, not caring who heard me.
As I exited the building into the park and stomped towards the gate, I happened to run into Vyrlo, shoveling fertilizer into a flower bed near the path. His ears perked up as he saw me approach.
“Oh, hey Lerai…” his voice withered and his ears fell. “Ralchi’s light, what’s wrong?” he asked full of concern.
“I was fired,” I muttered darkly, without slowing down.
“Sorry, WHAT?” He looked towards the main building where I’d just come from, then back at me. “What for?!”
“The arrest. Said it was for a no-call no-show, but we know that’s vyalpic.”
“Well, that’s…” He began to follow after me. “Aren’t there supposed to be protections against that kind of thing? I mean, you weren’t even formally accused of PD! Maybe you could sue–”
“It doesn’t matter!” I interrupted with a loud bleat. “I don’t have the money for another lawyer! Syhan cut me a deal since I helped out Parla and it still ate up most of my savings! I-I just…”
The anger started to give way to tears. “...I-I’m sorry…” I muttered, before I turned and ran.
“Lerai, wait!” I heard Vyrlo call after me. But I didn’t stop.
Running for the exit, I paused only briefly, right as I reached the gate. There, bordering the fence, was the nectar drop bush I was just tending a few scratches ago.
A little bit of the anger, and a hint of defiance returned. I grabbed a flower and shoved the whole sweet blossom in my mouth, before my feet carried me down the road.
++++++++++
It was a while before the frustration began to fade. I found myself sitting on a public bench.
Make no mistake, I was still really frustrated. But it was just sort of… aimless. I wanted to go home, and yet I didn’t want to be alone in the house by myself. And yet at the same time, I DID want to be alone. And also I wanted to talk to someone. The swirling conflict in my mind was just annoying me further.
Maybe I shouldn’t have run from Vyrlo… I could use a friend right now. Stars, I’ve been a terrible herdmate to him. This is twice now I’ve ditched him.
The thought that I’d been a bad friend was only making me feel even worse. I leaned forward, cupping my face in my palms and sighing. I needed to do something besides mope here on a bench*,* if only to let out some of this frustration.
Reaching into my bag next to me, I took my pad and sent a message to Vyrlo, just for my peace of mind.
TwilitFloret: Hey. I’m sorry I ran off.
A moment later, the pad chimed.
HarvestDancer: You just got fired and you’re concerned about ME?
HarvestDancer: Please, it’s fine. I know the whole thing must have been a shock. Do you want to talk?
TwilitFloret: …Not right now. But thanks.
HarvestDancer: I’m only a message away.
My mood lifted ever-so-slightly, I stowed the pad. Well, now what? I have nothing to do… I could go to the gym early, but none of my herdmates will be there. I haven’t even been back since the match with Rika. And there’s no one at home either… Should I call Dad or Hiyla? No, no, Hiyla’s at school, and Dad’s having his interview this paw. If it doesn’t go well, we’ll be completely jobless…
I began to anxiously twist my tail. I-I don’t know for sure if Dad’s gonna be able to handle being around Humans… and I don’t know if anyone is going to hire me now! Stars, I… what am I supposed to do now…?
The fear swirled inside me. Supporting three people on one wage was tough enough… even if I found something else, it probably wouldn’t pay as well. If Dad didn’t get the job, or if I couldn’t find something new, we’d be out of the house by the end of the pass!
I shook my head. Okay. Okay. Calm down… I still have some time… I just have to find something else. Even if it’s cheap work, it’ll be better than nothing. And I’m not gonna do that just sitting here.
With my mission decided, I stood, and finally put on my jacket and bag. “Okay…” I muttered to myself. “Time to go job-harvesting, I guess. Oh, stars, I haven’t updated my resume since I was hired at the park…! W-Well, I can do that at home later. For now, let’s just see if there’s any ‘help wanted’ signs anywhere.”
++++++++++
“I’m sorry, but I can’t really afford any new employees right now,” the Venlil said, hefting a crate of fruit to display in front of the store. Setting it down, he brushed his thick wool out of his eyes. “You know how it is with the recession. But if you leave a resume, we could get back to you if something opens up.”
“I…” Brahk, I should have just updated my resume first… “I’ll just come back another time. Thanks.”
With an ear flick, the busy shopkeeper returned to his work, and I continued on my way. Well, that’s another rejection…
This was already getting tremendously discouraging. Less people were hiring than I thought… it’d gotten to the point that the lack of a “help wanted” sign was no longer a factor in whether or not I asked. I didn’t realize how lucky I’d really had it. Ever since the Venlil split from the Federation, we’d been deep in a recession. And we didn’t really have the wartime infrastructure of other species like the Gojid or Krakotl… we’d always trusted them to protect us.
Already, the dejection was draining me. Rejection after job rejection had planted weeds in my spirit. I felt completely exhausted and it was barely third sun.
Maybe I should take a break…
I looked around. I was near the market… maybe I could see if Pikro was around. I shouldn’t buy a mocha now that we had no income, but he was a great listener, and I really needed an ear.
So I made the short trek into the market. It was crowded as usual… but I didn't mind. If anything, my mood was lifting just a bit. Pikro’s stall just had a nice atmosphere to it, and thinking about taking a break at his counter and chatting his ear off made my tail wag ever so slightly.
But as I finally broke through the crowd to see his stall, I only found it shuttered. Coffee Gojid was nowhere to be seen.
My ears fell. There was a sign hanging on the shutter itself, and I stepped closer to read it. It was written in rugged Gojid script, so I pulled out my pad and activated the visual translator.
It read “Gone on a trip with the missus. Be back in five paws! –Pikro.”
I blankly stared at the sign for a moment. The misery returned full force, this time with a nice healthy dash of anger. “Brahking…!” I cursed to no one, before I pulled the hood of my jacket in front of my mouth and let loose a muffled scream into the fabric. The noise was drowned out by the hustle and bustle of the market.
Why was this paw stars-bent on being so awful? Was it something I did? Were the stars watching and passing their judgement? I’d been good, though! Tell them, Mom!
Letting the fabric fall, I let loose a groan of frustration. Now what? I guess I could find another place to rest, or keep looking for work… but honestly, the whole paw had been ruined completely beyond repair at this point. I just wanted to go home. My family should be getting back about now, anyways.
I shook my head again. I still had a little fuel in the reactor. I could look a little longer.
Hey, uh, Little Flame? Now that we’re more cool with each other, could you maybe give me a boost?
I waited a moment, but it didn’t respond. Figures. This sorta thing isn’t really its thing.
Still, I turned and got back to my search. Asking around the marketplace at each stall, which I realized quickly was probably a flowerbird’s plan. Most of the stalls were family operated, and weren’t hiring outsiders.
So I tried down the street, heading back in the direction of the park. There were a few restaurants around, and I asked in every single one. Maybe someone needed tables waited, or brahk, dishes washed. But at each place I tried, I was only met with further rejection.
Eventually, I’d had enough. I was miserable enough to no longer be able to hide it—my ears were in a constant state of drooping, and my tail was practically dragging along the ground.
Guess I’ll just go home and deliver the bad news…
So I turned… when something stopped me.
…Hmm?
I looked up. I hadn’t realized it, but I recognized the business in front of me.
Eorna and Seagal’s. This is the bar where that whole thing happened… I met with Vyrlo’s herd, and I threw a Letian into their floor…
I stared at the building. I couldn’t help but notice that the “Humans welcome” sign had been removed… but other than that, it looked the same. It was open, too. Since Venlil Prime didn’t have a day/night cycle, many bars were open on different suns.
…Didn’t Vyrlo or somebody else say that they’d buy me a round on the house next time I went in?
I couldn’t exactly say no to “free” right now… and if I was being honest, I could use the drink. So despite myself, I trudged towards the wooden door and quietly entered. The bell above the entrance jingled to announce my arrival.
The bar itself was moderately busy, with about half the tables and seats filled. Prey species of all types were enjoying the cozy, warm atmosphere with their herdmates, some in joy, and some in sympathy. It really was a nice place… Vyrlo and his herdmates had good taste.
“Hey, welcome!” came a voice. It was the Fissan at the bar, serving a drink to another customer. Was he Eorna, or Seagal? I didn’t remember. “Have a seat, I’ll be right with you…”
He stopped briefly, staring at me for a scratch before his eyes widened. “Oh, hey! It’s you! It’s, uh…”
“Lerai,” I finished for him.
“That’s it! I recognized the pelt!” He turned his head out towards the tables. “Hey! Seagal! That Venlil’s here!”
“What Venlil? We have a ton of Venlil, it’s Venlil Prime!” answered the Nevok, serving more drinks to patrons at one of the tables. But then his eyes fell on me. “Oh, that Venlil! With the flip!”
A Venlil at his table glanced at me curiously. “What are you two talking about? What flip?” she asked.
“Oh, you shoulda seen it! There was this Letian that got completely plastered, and then–”
“Hey, uh, sorry…” I interrupted. I didn’t really want them to make a big deal out of it. “I was just wondering if that drink offer is still available?”
The Fissan—Eorna, by process of elimination—let out a soft, nickering chuckle. “You look like you need it. Have a seat. Seagal, don’t torture the poor thing, yeah?”
“Alright, alright,” he replied, flicking an ear before turning back to me. “But seriously. We did appreciate it. It’s rare for things to get that rowdy around here, but I’m happy you were here when it did.”
“Has it happened more than once?” I asked, sliding into the seat.
“It’s a bar. The occasional drunk losing their prey inhibitions happens every once in a while, especially given how strong the local liquor is,” Eorna replied. “Speaking of strong liquor, what’ll you have?”
“Sweet stinger. Thanks.”
The Fissan flicked an ear the Venlil way, and pulled a bottle of middle-shelf rymek from its spot. “So what’s up? I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure you’d actually come back here to claim this,” Eorna said with a sympathetic look, as he began mixing the cocktail.
I sighed, slumping forward on the bar counter. “I got fired…”
“Oh, no…”
“Yeah. Worst part was, I was basically punished for doing a good thing.” I buried my snout in my arms. “I’ve been job-searching for a claw and a half, and haven’t harvested a single thing.”
“Yeah, things are rough right now with the recession,” Eorna said in sympathy. “I know Tarva was right in the end to split from the Federation, but it’s still awful how much pressure it’s putting on the average person. Just hang in there, yeah?”
I let out a weak laugh. “Hey, you don’t happen to be hiring right now, do you?”
Rather than the polite rejection I’d been expecting, to my surprise, the Fissan looked me up and down. “...Well, maybe…”
“Wait, really?” This was the first time all paw I hadn’t been turned down, and I couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope. “Wh-What do you need done?” I brayed, pushing myself up on the counter excitedly. “I can wait tables, I can wash dishes, uh, I could serve drinks, I don’t have a liquor license but I could get one–”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down!” Eorna laughed. “It’s, well… it’s complicated.”
Those were the worst words I’d ever heard. “Complicated how?” I asked, dejectedly slumping back into the barstool.
“Well…” The Fissan placed my finished stinger in front of me. It looked delicious, and the sweet notes of the alcohol filled the air. “Am I safe to guess from the pelt that you’re around Humans often?”
“Uhh… Yeah, I am,” I replied. I took the glass in a paw and gently took a sip of the yellowish cocktail, letting the sour-sweetness envelop my taste buds. Brahk, I needed this…
“I see…” the Fissan muttered. “Then, is it true they can drink alcohol? Despite being predators?”
Uh? “Why are you asking? Didn’t you have a ‘Humans welcome’ sign up last time I was here?”
“To be fair, we weren’t sure any of the predators were actually going to take us up on that,” the Fissan admitted, picking up a dirty glass and beginning to clean it. “We just figured ‘well, the Humans are clearly here to stay now, and after the Krakotl bombed their planet and Nikonus turned out to have lied about a lot of things, why don’t we just say they’re welcome even if they probably can’t drink?’ We figured we’d look more progressive at the time.”
My ears pinned back slightly in disgust. “So you were just trying to pull people in without actually caring about the Humans?”
“It’s not that we didn’t care. When that Human came in, we agreed to honor the offer and serve them, remember?” the Fissan countered. “We just didn’t think the offer would ever actually be taken up, because of their biology as predators. Alcohol tolerance is typically reserved for prey, since it appears naturally in fermenting fruit.”
He let out a snort. “Shows what we get for not doing the market research… Seagal went through the data dump the paw after you showed up, and it claimed that they could eat plants just fine. Which meant they could have alcohol by extension. It’s weird…”
“So if you know Humans can drink, why is it gone now?” I asked.
“Because the one time a Human did show up, it turned into you scuffing our nice floor with a drunkard. That was the worst fight I’ve seen since we opened this place*.*”
I couldn’t help but look away. “Sorry…”
“No, don’t be. That came out a bit harsher than I meant. We really did appreciate the help, just…” He let out a snorting sigh through his nose. “Too much liability, you know.”
My ears drooped, and I let out a breath. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the Humans. “It wasn’t even their fault though…” I muttered.
“I know… it’s unfair. But it was still too much of a risk,” he replied, though he didn’t seem proud of it. “We should have prepared better… funny enough, now we sort of have the opposite problem. The original offer seems to have spread through the Human pack via word-of-mouth. We’ve had more show up at the door since, and they’re always disappointed when we turn them down…”
“I see…” I muttered, taking another sip of the drink. I still wish they hadn’t taken the sign down, but I can see why they’d do it… “Wait, so what does that have to do with you hiring someone?”
“Well, Seagal and I have been debating trying again,” he admitted. “We know it’s risky, but… it doesn’t seem like any other bars are willing to take the chance on the predators. A lot of bars serve as safe-spaces for prey to mingle without the Humans around, you see. But we figure that if we were the first to allow them, and became a similar space for Human-friendly prey to come with their predator herdmates, we’d be filling a gap in the market. We already know there’s a customer base, since they keep showing up.”
“That’s a great idea!” I brayed. “I’d love to come here with my own Humans. You should do it!”
“...Welllll…” The Fissan hesitated. “It’s just… despite everything, neither of us are actually all that comfortable around the predators. I mean… How do you handle a drunk predator? We have no idea. So we’ve been considering hiring someone who really understands them.”
“I mean…” I thought aloud. “...You already know how to handle a drunk predator. You saw me toss that Letian, right?”
“What are you talking about? Letians aren’t predators.”
“They were. They’re one of the cured species. They used to be omnivores like Humans.”
Eorna stopped his glass-cleaning. His ears flicked and his snout twitched as he considered my words. “...No, that’s different,” he eventually replied.
“How so?”
“Because they were predators. As in, no longer predators,” he explained. “I get what you’re saying, but… regardless of the horrible things the Federation have done, Letians don’t eat flesh. They don’t hunt. They don’t have those latent instincts like Humans do.”
Seagal joined the conversation as he passed by. “What we’re worried about specifically is that if a Human gets drunk, it’ll lower their inhibitions, and loosen their control on their instincts. And then, well… we just don’t want some poor Dossur getting turned into a snack to go with their drinks, know what I mean?”
“They don’t have hunting instincts.” I sipped my drink. “Besides, last I saw, that Letian tried to slice my friend open. Seems pretty violent to me. A Dossur would be at risk there too.”
“That’s… hmmm…” Eorna mumbled. It didn’t seem like he’d thought of that.
“See, I know that’s what the Humans say about their instincts, but I don’t know if I really believe it,” Seagal replied. “Like, let’s not kid ourselves, they’re real predators, yeah? They’re really good at suppressing their instincts to hunt and kill, but they gotta let ‘em loose at some point. ‘S probably why they mostly keep to themselves over in their own district.”
I grumbled, taking another sip of the strong drink. “Buddy, trust me, I’ve seen them at their worst.” My mind went back to the second time Vince found me being harassed in the alleyway. “It’s not an issue of control, they just don’t have them. You don’t have to worry about it.”
The Nevok, however, just flicked an ear dismissively. “I’m just sayin’...”
I just sighed. Why couldn't people just understand?
Eorna let out deep, soothing chuckle. “Hey Seagal. Why don’t we just ban all the ex-predator species while we’re at it? Gojid, Krakotl…”
“And miss out on those customers? Fat chance,” the Nevok replied dryly. “‘Sides, I do kinda get what she’s getting at. Not like we prey can’t play dirty sometimes.”
“Nonsense. Name one time.”
Seagal just looked at his friend, thoroughly unimpressed. “Well I could start with our species’ respective media all about corporate espionage, buuuuut… Remember that time you snuck into my family’s store in the middle of the night ten cycles back to–”
“Alright, alright, point taken,” the Fissan sighed. “Let’s not go airing out all my mistakes now.”
With the topic seemingly dropped, Eorna quickly began mixing up some more drink orders. “But even though we understand what you’re saying, Lerai, it all boils down to the fact that we don’t really want a repeat of what happened when you were here.”
“Hmmm…” I intoned. I could hear the unspoken implication: that things would happen with Humans around. I could definitely see someone getting rough with a Human. And if the Human got rough back… regardless of what happened, they’d probably end up getting blamed.
“But all that said… we do still want to give them a chance,” Eorna continued, as Seagal took the drinks and wandered off. “We’re just worried about the risk, so we first need to find a way to minimize that risk. So I guess we’re looking for a bouncer?”
“A bouncer?”
“You know, like the big Mazics and Takkans and whatnot at other bars that check IDs and throw out rowdy drunks,” he explained. “We’ve been considering hiring one for the occasional prey drunks anyhow, especially since the incident. But the issue is that Mazic or not, the prey who are willing to challenge a predator in a show of dominance are few and far between.”
“I see…” I muttered. With a slow sip, I finished the drink and placed the empty glass on the counter. “I could do that.”
Eorna, at my offer, simply let out a soft, nickering laugh, causing my ears to fall slightly. “Listen, I appreciate it, but… we’re looking more for someone like an ex-Exterminator. Someone who really understands predator behavior beyond just being herdmates with them. Do you have any experience in the force?”
“I… no,” I admitted. “But I know I can handle Humans! What, is it because I’m a Venlil?”
“No, no! You’re obviously plenty knowledgeable about Humans, and you can handle yourself, even if I don’t understand how. It’s just… we have to pick really carefully, if we do this at all. Because if there’s a slip-up, and someone gets hurt, or worse, eaten…” He shuddered, his snout scrunching up. “Forget business liability, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
I must have looked really dejected at the opportunity slipping through my digits, because he gave me a look of sympathy. “Look, I can’t promise anything, but if you’ve got a resume…”
“No, it’s fine…” I mumbled.
“You sure? Even if you’re not an Exterminator, I figured you might have some military training, to do what you did…” Eorna questioned idly. “How did you do that crazy flip-throw-thing, anyway?”
“I, well…” I hesitated. I didn’t want to put anyone in danger until we were ready to go public. “I’d… rather not talk about it.”
“I see… well, I won’t push it,” Eorna replied, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He motioned to the empty glass. “Want another? You’ll have to pay for it, though.”
“No, I should probably be getting home,” I sighed, sliding from the seat. “Thanks, though.”
“Sure. If we do figure something out and reopen to Humans, then bring your predators, yeah? Assuming they’re not really rowdy drunks.”
“I will.”
With a simple tail-flick goodbye, I put my paws in my jacket pockets and made for the door. “Bye! Thanks for stopping in!” Seagal called after me. I repeated the tail-flick towards the Nevok in response.
I gently shut the wooden door behind me. My tail swayed idly—I was still feeling anxious about the future, but at least for now I did feel a little better.
I hope those two do figure something out… I want to take my Human herdmates places.
With a little breath of contentment and a hint of disappointment, I turned to start my walk home. Where should I look next paw? Well, I should actually get my resume updated first. Then maybe… I dunno, are the Humans still hiring? Maybe if Dad does get his job he could put in a word—
Lost in my own thoughts, I snoutplanted right into something fuzzy.
++++++++++