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Rated: 18+ · Interactive · Adult · #1979869
Men, Monsters, and Machines.
This choice: Human Male  •  Go Back...
Chapter #2

A Matter of Business

    by: philosophicalmind Author IconMail Icon
Walking between the parked cars moved a human dressed entirely in black except for the twinkling pieces of metal riveted into the leather of his outfit. His face was clean shaven and the black, shaggy hair atop his head swept back to accommodate his use of a helmet. The aroma surrounding him was strong with cologne, cigarettes, and alcohol despite being just shy of the human drinking age. As he passed by a group of bikers much like him, only they consisted primarily of hyena-like gnolls, he was eyed hungrily by a few before their sensitive noses crinkled at the artificial and offensive musk and turned their attention back to the sole human member in their group, a younger boy already tethered to the pack leader's bike with a leash and donned in their PVC bondage gear complete with a ball gag, shutting up his feeble pleas. The bland expression on his tan face coupled with his rather troublesome wear and distasteful smell the only thing keeping him from being another potential member of this gang.

Continuing on his way, he stopped before the concession stand and ordered a large popcorn. The crocotta rang it up, not even taking his eyes off his human coworker who was nervously fumbling around trying to refill the popcorn machine.

"Well hello there, Brett," came a sultry voice from behind him. The human turned to see another human, a female, lean up against the counter beside him. First thing that was apparent was her stature. Brett was not short at six feet, one-hundred-eighty pounds, but she was tall, towering half a head above him and if the powerful legs that filled out her tight pants were any indication to her upper body wrapped in that red and white, armored jacket, she had the power of a steam driven hammer.

"Hey there, Nicole," replied Brett.

"The drop's on your cruiser; do you have the envelope?"

Brett paused a moment to pull a yellow envelope from his jacket. "Right here," he said, handing it to her when he noticed the human server staring at the exchange stupidly with a bag of popcorn held in his hands. Nicole held the envelope, but he held on too for a moment. "What are you looking at?," he snapped, causing the server to jump. Brett snatched the popcorn bag with his free hand. "Get lost."

"You know, you shouldn't draw this much attention to yourself. It doesn't help that you dress like this," Nicole said acerbically, tugging at the hem of his collar for emphasis. Clad entirely in leather outerwear, Brett was only a few garments short of looking like a BDSM enthusiast, but despite the attention that they attracted, the studs adorning his leather actually carried a practical value. He just shrugged, not bothering to explain the nuance.

"Let's not get excited," he said, leaning back onto the counter flicking a single kernel into his mouth, grimacing as the oil left a slick coating on the inside of his mouth. "I doubt that I look any more appetizing than the guy those hyenas have tied up. You on the other hand..." Brett gave her a playful smirk.

"That's not the point," she growled, dropping her voice to a whisper, "I'll be in the clear after this, but what about you? Magic users are scanning the streets tighter and tighter. They know the tough-guy act when they see it. What if you are caught with that package?"

"That's what these are for," Brett tapped one of the many steel studs on his jacket. Nicole blinked for second, making Brett chuckle at her confusion. "And by the way, wasn't a weapon supposed to come with that box?

"Yes, but that weapon is the one I'm carrying right now," She crossed her arms, "and I don't feel like going anywhere unarmed."

Brett gave her a glare. "And you think I don't?"

Nicole smiled wryly and patted her left side, where she kept her weapon. "You get to carry this boy until you make the drop. Once the drop is made, there should be compensation for your weapon." Her eyes suddenly shifted to the side and the smile was lost. "Heads up," she nudged her elbow into Brett's side, "we've got a Black and White prowling around. We better finish this and split soon."

Surely enough, Brett followed her gaze and saw a police bike riding past the ticket booth. Both riders remained relaxed, Brett still reluctantly chowing on the popcorn, nonchalantly. The officer got quite close, dismounting just a few yards from them. A pair of raised ports for ears could be seen atop the helmet as well as a muzzle protruding from its open face, and a bushy, black tail with white stripes swaying behind the figure stood out against dark of night and the officer's black uniform.

Once Brett got a good look he "Now that really is a Black and White. Do you think she plays both the good cop and bad cop?" He could see that it was indeed a woman.

Nicole jabbed him hard in the ribs, but he barely flinched. His remark was not picked up by skunk's sensitive ears, luckily for Brett, because her belt was fully equipped to dish out maximum pain. She removed her helmet, freeing her ears to perk atop her head and her tied back hair to fall free. Her stone cold eyes in the darkness regarded the two bikers for a second before dismissing them, striding forward with confidence. Despite the quiet air of authority she gave off, Brett couldn't help but catch a glimpse of the toned posterior of an athlete as she passed by, tail swishing to and fro making the view all the more hypnotic. He wondered what else could that bullet proof vest be hiding.

Nicole cleared her throat, bringing his eyes back up. "How about we get back to business and exchange our pieces."

"Right," Brett agreed.

"Follow me," Nicole led the way. Her sportsbike was near the center of the lot which required some weaving away from cars with monsters laying on the hoods. Once there, she pulled Brett down to sit with her and lean back on her parked bike. Side by side, they continued to feign watching the unfolding scene where the hero finally kisses his love interest for the first time. "Where's your piece?"

"Left side."

"Put your arm around me and open your jacket." Brett knew what this was about, so he complied, putting his right arm about her shoulders and opening his jacket to the first belt. "Just let me handle this." She pulled a revolver out of her jacket, hiding it from prying between her thighs. She ejected the barrel to show it wasn't loaded before flipping it back and in a quick motion slipped it into Brett's jacket. Nicole leaned her head on Brett's shoulder as she skillfully pulled his gun from its holster while replacing it with her own, the entire act looking like a couple getting intimate. She inspected Brett's 10mm Auto, racking the slide to see that it too was unloaded before slipping in into her jacket and zipping back up, Brett doing the same.

"Remember our first exchange?" Nicole asked.

"When you pulled your gun on me and I drew my knife?" Brett chuckled, eating another handful of popcorn, choking it down for no reason. "Yeah, you could have blown my brains out."

"But we've always been on two sides of mutual interests."

"You sound worried," said Brett, "but you're getting out, so no problem. What's your point?"

Brett looked at Nicole as she sat staring at the movie in silence before she said, "It's nothing I'm sure, just thinking."

"In our line of work, they say that's something you can't afford to do," Brett replied. He pulled two loaded mags to his pistol from his belt. "Take these, I'm getting out of here." Nicole offered him an ammo cylinder before taking them. Brett took it without a word, got up and left. The movie was atrocious and he had places to be. Once again he passed the gnolls, all of them enjoying the movie while their prisoner struggled futilely with his restraints off to the side.

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1. Follow Brett

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