A Fraudulent Death, Draft 02, CH 05 (Patreon)

Going to be late, Marlot typed, looking to see if by any chance the traffic had moved, traffic’s bad. He sent it and dropped the pad on the dash with a growl. The snow had stopped sometime earlier, but it hadn’t vanished from the ground. And, as if it didn’t snow every year, people had gotten into stupid accidents and were delaying him. He took the pad and looked for an alternate route.

The entire city was grid locked.

He looked at the sidewalk; the people huddled together against the cold and for security. They’d probably get to where ever they were going faster than he would. He considered dumping his car and walking; he was almost to Trembor’s. He could endure the cold for the short walk, but then he’d have to deal with retrieving it from impound, paying the fines. His budget wasn’t ready to deal with that kind of hit yet. It wouldn’t be for a long while after his recent order.

His pad buzzed, and he grabbed it, expecting Trembor. It was Harik.

“Harik,” Marlot greeted him. “How goes?”

“I have your package, what do you want me to do with it,” the mouse said.

“That was quick.”

“Sounded like you were in a hurry to get them.” The shrug was audible.

Marlot looked around. “I can’t pick them up now, can you take them to my house? I’ll give you the lock code so you can leave them inside.”

“You live in a neighborhood with predators.”

Marlot didn’t point out there was no such thing as prey-exclusive neighborhoods anymore. “Then I’ll try to go by tomorrow for them.”

“Maybe I can convince Ukely to deliver them.”

“That works. If he agrees, I’ll send him the code to my lock. Thanks.”

“Remember, I get to see what you do with them. This mystery project has me itching to take the parts out.”

“They’re not going to tell you anything without the program I’m writing, and I told you. I’m just improving my stalker program. The last few weeks of working with it showed me my hardware’s getting old.”

“Right. The stalker program. We’ll stick with that story.”

Marlot sighed and sped up to keep with traffic. “I have to disconnect, traffic’s starting up again. I promise, you’ll be among the first to see it once it’s done.”

He put the pad back down and followed the enforcer’s direction around the accident, then fought the urge to speed up to make up the time.

Nearly an hour later, he parked in front of Trembor’s house. The pathway to the house was cleared, but not the driveway. At the other houses, adults cleared driveways, paths, and sidewalks while cubs of all ages played in the snow piles. His lion would clear his when he needed to take his car out of the garage.

He stepped up the path, tightening his jacket. He’d considered driving home for the warm one, but it would have meant a delay and he had wanted to be with Trembor as soon as possible. The door opened, and along with the warm air, his lion’s scent enveloped Marlot.

“Hi,” Trembor said.

Marlot smiled, breathing in. How long since he’d last seen him? A few hours. “Hi.” Far too long. Longer since he’d been in his presence. “How have you been?” Trembor tilted an ear and Marlot’s own burned. “Stupid question. You haven’t exactly had a few good days recently. I wanted to be here sooner, but there’s accidents all over. It snowed, and it’s made the roads—you can’t imagine. And I babbling, aren’t I? I can’t believe I’m babbling. I’ve never babbled before.” Trembor smiled and Marlot stopped talking. It was such a beautiful smile he couldn’t breathe. The lion made a show of looking around them.

“I might have noticed the snow.”

“I’m being an idiot, aren’t I?” his ears folded back in embarrassment.

“It’s endearing.” The lion pulled him into his arms and inside the house. “I’ve missed you too.”

Marlot buried his muzzle in Trembor’s mane and breathed deeply. The furwash covered most of it, but he found some on his lion’s scent underneath; chemicals would never entirely remove someone’s scent, and Marlot was glad. He held on to him tightly. Tight enough nothing would ever take him away. Not his own stupidity, not some hunter trying to prove a point, not the law. He was going to keep his lion, make him happy.

“Are you hungry?” Trembor whispered, and Marlot shivered at the images the question brought up.

“Are you on the menu?” he whispered back. To taste his lion again. Feel him against him, fur to fur.

Trembor chuckled. “I thought we’d agreed we were taking it slow.”

“Slow can go fuck itself,” Marlot replied breathlessly.

His lion nuzzled the side of his muzzle. “Let’s see how the evening goes, first.”

Before Marlot could protest, Trembor’s lips were on his, the tongue running over his lips, asking to be let in. Marlot parted them and held on to his lion, unsure his legs could support him anymore. The tongue moved in, tasted him, then went away and Marlot didn’t have the breath to whine, demand it return.

He looked into the lion’s eyes and soaked in the smile.

“How about I warm us some meat?” Trembor said, pulling away from Marlot. “I’ll even leave it as plain as possible in your honor.”

“I’ll eat it however you make it,” he replied, searching behind him to close the door, only to realize it was already closed. “Even if it’s just a body on the floor.”

Trembor froze, and Marlot was afraid he’s gone too far. Then the lion chuckled. “Blood and carpets aren’t a good mix. And I think it’s a little soon for what eating like that always leads us to.”

Not early enough for Marlot’s liking, but he stayed silent. Letting the memories of their time rolling on the blood-covered tarp be enough for now. He wouldn’t do what that other lion had done. Say he’d wait while molesting Marlot at the same time. Marlot was going to give his lion time and space. No matter how hard that was going to be, and make him.

“How did the interview go?” Marlot asked, sitting at the table while Trembor took meat out of the cooler. “I saw the city prosecutor was there.”

The lion shook his head. “I’d rather not talk about that.” He cut substantial slabs. “I want this to be about us, not my legal problems.”

“Trem,” Marlot said, “your problems are—” he snapped his muzzle shut. He didn’t have to have talked with a counselor to know that demanding they address what he wanted wasn’t the way to make his lion feel at ease with him. They’d get back to how what affected one of them affected the other once they knew what this relationship would look like. “How’s Herelex?”

“He’s glad to have his father back home.” He placed the slabs in the warmer. “You said something about seeing a counselor, before…” he trailed off.

Before the enforcers dragged you away from me, Marlot thought, wanted to scream. How are we going to talk about us if you aren’t going to address what’s happening to you right now?

“My first appointment is in a few days.”

Trembor took a bottle of blood from the cooler.

“Who drove you home? One of your friends in the enforcers?”

“Cerek.” He took a bottle of alcohol from a cupboard and showed it to Marlot, who shook his head. “My dad and mom, just Arina, along with Bay, Dayra, and Vex were there too.”

“Which one is Vex?” Marlot watched Trembor pour some of the alcohol into his glass. This was new, or at least something he’d never done the previous times Marlot visited. He had cans of premixed stuff, but they were for celebration or really rough days.

“Vexori, one of my brothers by Lyria.” He places both glasses on the table.

“Right,” Marlot said as if that answered things. He didn’t know who that made the brother. Lyria he remembered. Nice female with a quiet strength. She seemed to be the more understanding of Trembor’s mothers, but then, Arina would be protective of her biological son, while Serene was just plain scary.

“Don’t worry, I’ll introduce you to him at the next family dinner.” He took the plates out of the warmer and put them on the table as he sat.

“If I don’t end up on the prep table before you get to it.” He’d wanted to make light of it, but the idea of meeting them after what he and Trembor had gone through scared him. The meeting with Cerek, the one brother Trembor said would be the most understanding, had done nothing to reassure him.

He watched Trembor take a long drink of his glass and the question came out before he could stop himself. “When did you start cutting your blood?”

Trembor shrugged. “It’s cheaper than buying the pre-made cans, and there’re fewer chemicals this way.”

Marlot swallowed the reply the implications he reached brought. Trembor used alcohol to relax after a stressful day, and recently Marlot had caused that stress. He’d caused enough the lion had had to find alternatives to avoid overspending.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to drive you.”

“Bahamel left me a note about how you had a body, how did it go?”

“Could be a robbery that escalated, Jaxca has to wait until the body thaws completely before he can start the examination. He should have something for me tomorrow. The cold did give me something. The ground froze after the body happened, and it preserved the tracks. I don’t know how useful they’ll be, but the security in-charge there confirmed there was no work happening in the time window I’m looking into. Figuring out which of the tracks happened before and after will take some work, but we can look into that together.”

“I can’t,” Trembor replied, studying his glass. “My license is suspended.”

“That’s bullshit,” Marlot said. “Your brother didn’t do anything wrong. It was Nikal, they know that, so what does it matter what you did?”

“I broke the—” Trembor closed his mouth on the angry words. He took deep breaths, then forced a smile. “How’s Hela’han? Is the ‘friend’ still coming over, or did you scare him off permanently?”

“He drops by when I’m not there,” Marlot answered, fighting his own urge to return to the subject he wanted to address. “His interest in her is the same, and she smells interested in him, so I’m not going to get in the way unless he mistreats her.” He realized he’d eaten half the plate. “This is good. Elk?”

“Warthog.”

Marlot tilted an ear. “That’s not your usual prey.”

“Kill of opportunity. He got in the way and let my planned kill escape.”

“Someone has interesting friends,” Marlot commented as he ate another bite. Trembor preferred his prey on the large and more docile side. Warthogs were neither, and they weren’t known for coming to the aid of strangers.

Trembor chuckled. “How’s the office? Did you downsize?”

Marlot let him change the subject again. “No.” He let out a slow breath of his own. “It would have meant admitting you weren’t coming back. I would have had to in a few weeks, even if things kept going the way they had, but the city decided that since Nikal left a dozen bodies and that by catching him, alive, I’d technically been the one to close all twelve cases, I get a cut of all the case closures. It’s going to help keep the office until this is cleared up.”

He watched Trembor reaction. Discreetly scented the air for any changes. His lion was worried, resigned, hopeful, lustful. So many scents that didn’t give any answers. His body language matched what he smelled.

“Taking from the other RIs isn’t going to win you any friends.”

Marlot shrugged. “Unlike you, I’ve never been overly concerned with making those.”

Trembor nodded and focused on eating.

Marlot wanted to ask why he’d handed over the evidence. Why he seemed set on letting this lawsuit go on. Yes, his lion had principles, and he’d had to bend them, but he was a well-respected RI, he had friends on the force who, Marlot was sure, would help him weather this if the lion asked. At least he could have fought to keep his license while this went on so he could earn his living.

He opened his muzzle, then closed it. Marlot could take the blame in Trembor’s places. It would be easy. And unlike the lion, Marlot had options outside of being a Registered Investigator. He could do what Afirna did and run security, since this wouldn’t be him charged with hacking crimes he’d probably have a wider reach too. If not that, he could do programming work. There was good money there.

But it would be him deciding what happened to his lion. Even making the offer, knowing how insulted Trembor would be, felt like it was too much something that other lion might do, hide an order behind an offer.

“Is Gorrek too sensitive of a subject?”

Trembor chuckled and relaxed. “It’s not like he can pounce out of the shadows anymore.” He sipped his drink. “I don’t think I realized that was something I was afraid of until you told me Nikal killed him. I felt a weight lift.”

“I didn’t think you went for the aggressive type.”

Trembor sighed. “I was young. I didn’t see aggression. I saw confidence. I saw determination, knowing what you wanted, and not being afraid to go and get it. And he wanted me. I was young enough to lack the confidence that I’d find someone in time. And here he was. Strong, dark-furred, offering me love and pleasures like I didn’t think I deserved. Like I didn’t know existed. I didn’t see the aggression happen until well into being in his power. He’d taken my youthful lack of confidence and turned it into full-blown anxiety. He wasn’t treating me badly, I was just a screw-up who needed to be punished because I didn’t do what he told me. He had this ability to convince me everything was my fault.”

“And when I locked you out of your pad, I made it your fault.”

You didn’t give me any choice. Those had been Marlot’s words. Of course, he’d had choices. He could have taken a breath and recognized that what he was doing was wrong, that making a deal with another hacker, promising to lose any evidence incriminating them, was not the way to resolve that case.

“It’s okay,” Trembor said. “Marl, I understand why you did it. Why you lost it when I tried to keep you from making them pay.”

“It doesn’t make what I did right.”

The lion watched him, and Marlot didn’t look away, as badly as he wanted to hide his shame, he let his lion looked at him.

“You’re right, it doesn’t. Are you going to do it again?”

“Absolutely not!” How could his lion even think that?

Trembor took Marlot’s hand and squeezed it. “Then we’re good. You don’t have to worry about turning into Gorrek.”

Marlot nodded, not drawing attention to how painful the grip was, to the desperation in his lion’s eyes. Trembor needed them to be good, at least on this level. Which made Marlot wonder what else was scaring his lion. Search as he might, he couldn’t see the answer in his lion’s eyes, or smell it.

“Trem,” he whispered. “Why did you hand over the evidence Nikal gave you?”

Trembor tried to pull his hand away, but Marlot grabbed it, doing everything he could to keep the hold gentle while showing his lion he wasn’t letting go.

“I broke the law.”

“But you did it to protect your brother. That’s—”

“It doesn’t matter!” Trembor looked at their hands as he breathed hard. Marlot saw the effort to calm himself, and how little effect it had. “There is a right way to do things and a wrong way. The why doesn’t come into consideration. It shouldn’t because that’s when you start getting exceptions. I did it to protect my brother. The female next door does it to protect her job so she can keep feeding her cubs. On another block, someone doesn’t pay for a body because to do so would draw attention to their dropping productivity. Another does it because their company is failing, but if their competitor were to die, they could keep going. It doesn’t matter who had the right to survive when you can just kill, lie, cheat without repercussions. The law is what keeps our society going, Marl. We know what it can turn into, we just have to read history books. We can’t let people like—”

“Me.”

“No, I don’t—”

“Trem, if you can’t make exceptions, you can’t make one for me.” It shouldn’t hurt this much. Their views on how flexible the rules should be were something they’d often discussed. They each knew where they stood. Marlot had thought they were okay with that difference in opinion. Marlot didn’t see himself as a criminal, he bent the rules, and yes had broken them when the situation called for it. But to realize Trembor saw him as one…

Trembor tried to grab his hand, but Marlot was too fast.

“Marl.”

“No!” He shut his muzzle. It was the pain that wanted to lash out, not him. “I better go.”

“Please, Marl, I just meant—”

“It’s doesn’t matter what you mean!” He cursed himself. He could feel the desire to point out how well things had been going until Trembor had opened his muzzle and hurt him. To make this the lion’s fault. And the worse part was that he couldn’t see how it couldn’t be his fault.

“I need to go.” He headed for the door, ignoring Trembor calling for him to stay. If Marlot couldn’t see how he could have played a part in the situation, then he couldn’t risk staying. He’d be asking to lose this battle of will with himself and do something that would be too much like what that other lion had done to Trembor.

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