Rainblade-Ryalors Private Zann's Alley/Backyard Boys Will Be Boys

[Lorcan Rainclaw]

It didn’t escape Lorcan’s notice – more due to curiosity than suspicion – that Falun had failed to disclose anything about the work this Family was part of. The todd had never been one to put much stock in the mysteries of the universe nor the beauty of coincidence, but for all the fact he had been arrested on his first full day in the city it seemed he had rather landed on his paws with finding this fox. As was often the case with him his grudge hadn’t held; the temper he’d felt at being drawn into the chaos was swiftly headed to a burgeoning intrigue.

Stretching out his still-aching back, Lorcan pulled a face as he nodded. “Well they didn’t make the best first impression,” he grumbled, “hittin’ first askin’ questions later. Suppose that’s what a little power does to a beast. Politics aren’t my area either, if you couldn’t guess. I got t’ ask, though: how’ll it manage not to be political once you’ve got control of an area? Doesn’t that just make you the new beast with a badge, minus the badge?”

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

Falun gave a small shrug at the question, not seeming to take offense at all. "Simple - I don't play politics none. It's a business transaction, that's all. I keep crime managed in my area, make sure it's focused elsewhere an' the businesses that pay in get protection. Ain' no reason t' be involvin' the Fogeys. My sister's even workin' on a tax management program, 'elp small businesses in our areas keep more in 'eir pockets an' send less t' the crown. Sure, MinoComm migh' not be 'appy, but if 'ey come knockin', it only takes a few auditors turnin' up in th' 'Arbor fer 'em t' get th' message to leave the workin' folk alone."

 

[Lorcan Rainclaw]

It was clear by Lorcan’s expression that he wasn’t much taken by the answer, or at least that he could not see how business and politics could remain separate. It niggled in his brain that the word protection was used, a slow inkling of what was being implied beginning to grow, though he was not quite there yet.

A certain pensiveness then settled on his muzzle at the mention of MinoComm and bodies. Where War had been the province of his mother, Commerce had been the Ministry of his father. He wondered what the reaction would be if Falun knew. It unsettled him: he liked this todd, but the picture being painted was very rapidly beginning to feel like a warning. Not that he’d ever listened much, but…

“Right, right, I see,” he said in the lively neutral tones of one who absolutely does not see. “…You’ll have t’ forgive me, this is all a bit new,” Lorcan chuckled. “I mean, I visited cities a pawful’ve times growing up, but I’m from an island village. The politics an’ legal parts – and the size of it all-…there’s layers on layers here. Suppose I’m a little out of my depth.”

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

Falun waved his paw dismissively, laying back down on his bunk. "It's fine," he commented. "Takes some gettin' used to, I'm sure. It's all a little complicated. All y' need t' know is them jackboots out there are jus' a gang of a differen' stripe, one that don' play near as nice as I do. Y' stick around 'ere long enough, ye'll see it. Watch 'em when 'ey think no one's lookin', an' ye'll see they're even dirtier 'n I am."

 

[Alwyn Ryalor]

As the two todds in the cells talked, a bit of a commotion could be heard in the Trenches station, growing louder as it came closer to the detention area. A large, fire-orange fox with green eyes, his leather jacket and pants, quite a bit drunk, was plaintively pleading with a much smaller, visibly angry silver fox Sergeant, along with the two rat constables who restrained him. The conversation was quite heated.

“Listen-listen! She did not tell me she was your wife-”

“You could have seen the ring on her paw!”

“She took it off! I swear! She came on to me!”

“You just sleep with any vixen who gives you attention then? What kind of moral reprobate are you?”

“Well...I mean...no, she sort of had…”

“Sort of had what?”

“I mean, she wanted coin, saying she did not have enough to feed her kits, and was willing to give out certain rewards for a donati-”

“Are you implying that I am poor too, you bastard?!”

“No! No, not at all good sir, I am saying she sort of gave off the impression that she was a lady of the n-”

A loud THWACK could be hard down the hallway, the sound of a paw striking a beast's face.

“First you sleep with my wife, then you call me poor, then you have the audacity to say she seems like she is a cocette?”

Finally, now, the group came into vision as they approached the cell where Lorcan and Falun were.

“Well, technically, she does not seem like one, she actually is given that-”

-THWACK-

“You are going to rot in a cell until I can find something to charge you with! Adultery! Interfering with the duties of a Fogey!”

“That is not-”

“Neither was what you did to my wife!”

Managing to turn himself around in a display of strength, the large todd suddenly burst forth, giving the smaller todd a hug. For a moment, the Fogey Sergeant and the two constables were speechless.

“I’m sorry, brother, genuinely. If you could see it in your heart to forgive me, maybe I can help testify at the divorce, you should be able to-”

-THWACK- -THWACK-THWACK-

The blows of the truncheons rained down upon the todd until he released the superior Fogey, who snarled at him as he shoved him up against the bars of the cell, then put the manacles on the large todd himself, then motioned for Falun and Lorcan to get away from the door. Then, nodding at his two rat underlings, he directed them to throw the big fox face-first into the dirty cell. He flew forward, narrowly avoiding having his head strike the wall by landing in the small pile of dirty straw given for the detainees to sleep in.

“What I do with MY WIFE is MY BUSINESS! IN ALL MATTERS!” The irate Sergeant reiterated, before storming off with his two constables.

 

[Lorcan Rainclaw]

It was better, he supposed, that someone shady was so understanding – even if he did realise all too late how vulnerable it had made him to blurt how little he understood. Squaring his shoulders as though he could correct such vulnerability with physical presence, Lorcan’s gaze flicked briefly to the bars as though he really was about to witness something.

The inference was hanging on the air; one the was hardly about to ignore as he lowered his brows, glancing sidelong at the older fox. “So with yourself…Just how dirty are you talking?”

His curiosity, it seemed would have to wait: a flurry of activity burst onto the scene filled with colourful curses and cheeky rebuttals. Arms folded, Lorcan stayed where he was, bemusement written on his face as he listened to the bizarre argument spilling into the corridors. When the strange todd was roughly manhandled into the cell he stared for all of two seconds before looking back to Falun. “One of yours?”

 

[Falun Furotazzi]

Falun sat up, listening in interest at the travails of the newcomer to their cell. He chuckled at Lorcan's question. "Nah, none a' mine woul' be stupid enough t' touch a Fogey's wife. Knew a guy wot made that mistake once, turned out 'twas a honey trap. Last I 'eard, he was down t' three years left on 'is sentence an' he was back on solid foods." He jerked his chin at the newcomer, inquiring, "You run up tha' much of a tab at the 'ouses that yer goin' fer streetwalkers now?"