Previously. . .
Eligh rapidly tapped away at the oversized mechanical keyboard that he had ordered with his own cash. Given the size of his hands, using a regular keyboard was doable but quite troublesome and time-consuming.
Though the mayor had promised to reimburse the bear, Eligh said that it was no problem and that it was a purchase he had been happy to make if it meant tossing out the old, yellowed Gateway PC keyboard that it (and its relatives) had taken up seemingly lifelong positions here at Brickhedge Town Hall.
The new keyboard was much larger than a standard device, with more elevated and spaced-out keys. They were specifically designed for the larger beast species of the world. As big as the grizzly was, he still didn't entirely fall under the targeted audience for such things, but he found they worked amazingly well for his needs just the same.
The old fax and copy machine that still barely clung to life in the corner of his life was a totally different story, however.
Like the majority of the electronics around the government building, the fax machine was old enough to drink alcohol by this point. The plastic on it, too, like the old keyboards, had yellowed over the years, and it took forever not just to scan and send faxes but also to receive them.
"Oh no. No, sir, I'm willing to debate on some of the devices here, but that little piece right there, I say, was a gift from a dearly departed friend of mine. It goes nowhere." was the mayor's response when Eligh brought up the need for a new machine. It was the first time Filbert had straight-up stonewalled the bear's attempts at changing something.
Admitting defeat, Eligh's next course of action had been to pose the possibility of simply getting it repaired. The clydsdale had been reserved at first but eventually relented, citing that only a trained professional be allowed to touch it, even going as far as offering to post the Help Wanted ad himself.
They received a single application not a day later.
***
Up until now, the mole's life in Brickhedge had settled mostly into an approximation of what he had back home. He shut himself away in the basement room at the boarding house he'd been staying at and refused meals from the housekeeper, opting for Door Dash deliveries from fast-food joints(to which each delivery being instructed to be left near one of the basement windows). Aside from the job at the coffee shop, which paid for his room and board, the star-nosed mole had made himself as comfortable as could be in this new life.
He even made a connection in Advrik the Gray Wolf. An actual friend with whom he actually had some modicum of concern. And it was because of that concern and wanting to do right by his one and only companion that he took up the job posting for an IT guy at town hall.
Because he knew Eligh would be there, and Eligh had some sort of connection to that purple fox Advrik had been quietly obsessing about.
Well, that and the promise of getting to work with potentially ancient electronics.
"HELP WANTED: Technician needed to work on older electronics within Town Hall. Must have a clean background and at least three written references from three different beasts at the time of application."
Advrik and Toh themselves had been easy enough to get, but he scrambled to find a third and failed. Still he showed up, claws crossed that it'd be enough.
Finally, when the interview came up, it had mercifully been one of his days off from the coffee shop, and so he got there bright and early. The feathered receptionist took his info and asked him to sit aside, abating his concerns by informing him that he'd been the one and only applicant.
Maybe two references were all he needed after all...
Not ten minutes later, the door to the mayor's office swung open, and the horse and the familiar grizzly bear appeared from within. A flash of recognition danced across the bear's face instantly as he said, "Well, I'll be! How are you, Desmond?"
The mole forced an awkward smile and replied, "I'm good." Of course, he did not ask of the bear's own wellbeing.
"Is he the only applicant, Mrs. Kinkaid?" asked the mayor, garnering a nod and a proffered sheet of paper from the cockatoo. "Hmm, only two references?" Said the horse as he adjusted his glasses.
Desmond could feel the tentacles beginning to drop across his nose, but then Eligh spoke up. "I'll act as his third, if that's okay with you, Filb?"
"Hardly necessary, Eligh. Conflict of interest and all that, but given your greeting upon first seeing him, I'd fathom a guess you know this little fellow?"
Eligh nodded and said, "Yes, sir. He works down at Toh's Coffee Beans."
"Well then, I admire a beast willing to put the effort into working two jobs. Go ahead and write him in, Mrs. Kinkaid." The mayor said, returning the mole's application to the desk. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I've got a golf game to attend. Eligh, if you'd be so kind as to show Mr. Mogu around?"
***
Eligh reclined in his plush-cushioned office chair, two treestump-sized legs resting atop his mahogany desk. The lunch hour had come, and he had a chance to relax for a bit and shoot the breeze with his new employee.
"This motherfucker is from 1994!" the mole said, louder than was necessary, catching the bear by surprise as he bit into his Italian sub and making him choke.
He turned to the bear, who had been chugging water from his gallon-sized water bottle, and said, "Is all of the stuff here this old?!"
The bear nodded, "Unfortunately. That fax machine, in particular, is extra special to the mayor, so please be careful with it."
Desmond returned to his work, pulling the front off the Brother-branded fax machine. There were a few moments of silence as he tinkered while the bear ate his lunch. An energy filled the air, the two of them wanting to speak but neither one willing to take the initiative; Eligh with his withdrawn, quiet demeanor and Desmond with his antisocial "fuck 'em all" sensibilities.
"Brigid isn't my girlfriend." Eligh finally said, getting up with a grunt and walking over to the mole as he toiled away with the device in a knowing sort of way.
Rather than perking his ears, the tentacles on the mole's nose went erect instead. How the bear knew to take this as "I'm listening" was a mystery, but he continued anyway,
"The fox you always see me with at the cafe; She's just a very, very good friend of mine. I'm actually--"
"Gay, I know. Good for you, could you hand me that plastic baggie? Yeah, that one, thanks." the mole was uncomfortable with beasts talking to him, especially while working, as it distracted him. He'd been biting his tongue with this one, as the subject was the other reason he even put the application in, to begin with.
There were a few more seconds of awkward silence before Eligh reapproached the subject.
"Are you friends with one Advrik Drahcir, by chance?"
This time, both ears and all eight tentacles perked up.
***
Desmond acted cold and distant most of the time. He'd liked his solitude and being left alone, something that working at a coffee shop was at odds with eight hours a day. Even so, however, the public exposure had been good for him as the tough exterior he built around himself throughout his teen years had begun to crack and allow the light of others to seep in.
Whether he liked it or not.
One such infiltrator was Advrik Drahcir, the Gray Wolf, who had been the very first beast he ever befriended on his own. Having overheard the sullen candid mumbling to himself one fateful day at the cafe, the friendship that Desmond had sparked that day had blossomed into something that, though the mole would never mention to anybeast, he was thankful to have.
And it was that friendship and the stuff that had happened since then that led him to work here at the town hall today.
While the outside was a scorching 98 degrees Fahrenheit, the inside of Eligh's office was a cool 72 degrees, with a powerful fan circulating the chilled air, making the space feel all the cooler.
The mole and the bear both sat at the desk, Eligh eating the remnants of his Garden Salsa sun chips and Desmond eating from a small plastic baggie full of cinnamon sugar dusted deep fried grubs.
"...He'd seen the way the fox had acted when you took the stage that night and then bolted. Said you'd probably rip his arms out of their sockets if he saw you talking to his girl." Desmond chuckled, sending a spattering of chewed dough and grub meat across the desk. He'd surprised himself at how easy it was talking to Eligh.
"Oh boy. And did the speech I gave at the Pride festival not assuage him of any doubts?" asked the bear, dropping the crumpled sandwich wrapper into the bin beside the desk.
Desmond shook his head. "It did, but by that point, I think he'd had the chance to think things through. He always told me that he wasn't really interested in dating, let alone finding a mate." He popped a few more grubs into his mouth and continued to talk anyway, "But just about everything the beast has done since then has had some sort of undertone to it."
"Like?"
Desmond told the grizzly about the lavender-scented, colored, and flavored products the wolf had been buying as of late. The occasional references and allusions to foxes that he'd make, and the few times he did namedrop Brigid since the whole episode began. He never admitted it to Desmond, but the wolf had the fox heavily weighing on his subconscious.
The bear was silent for several seconds, his blue eyes staring off into the abyss as the meaty electrical box did its thing within that thick skull of his. Desmond looked at the bear, admiring the full beard he'd grown. Facial hair wasn't something moles of any species were capable of growing, and at that, he felt a bit envious of the giant.
"Sounds like we have quite a predicament on our claws here, Desmond." Eligh said, "With your wolf quietly pining for my fox and my fox being a tangled up mess on account of your wolf, Our only course of action here as their closest friends is to bring them together and see what happens." the bear said with a sigh.
***
Callista was furious and full of big cat rage that, had she the opportunity to take it out on some unlucky beast, she would likely be labeled as some Primal that had been unearthed and subsequently revived.
Her office had been the host to the one and only Ms. Oniker, who today had been sporting a plethora of "Grump 2024" clothing and spouting the Republican presidential candidate's hateful rhetoric. His latest tirade after a failed assassination attempt at a dinner party by a disgruntled member of his own party, calling for (but later citing it as a joke) that all women be relegated to the kitchen once more and not be taught combative or magical arts.
Discussing politics was one thing, but the sheer idiocy that the current political landscape was breeding on both sides was too much to handle at times. So she'd made it a point to keep discussions at the office and just about anywhere she went, unless with close friends, at a bare minimum.
Mrs. Oniker had pissed off the entire waiting room and nursing staff that morning with her loud and rabid display of self-deprecating misogynistic patriotism.
The lunch hour had rolled around and the lion was in need of a meal and a drink. Alcohol was out of the question, with the workday only being halfway done, but there were other alternatives. Before the fax machine started revving up as it received a call, she had been considering hitting up the local sandwich shop and grabbing a tuna salad sandwich and maybe a big bag of corn chips to accompany it.
She'd been getting ready to head out for lunch when the machine spat out its wordy sheet of paper, with "Immediate Correspondence Needed" printed in big, bold letters at the top, catching her eye.
"What the fuck..." she muttered to herself as she read the first paragraph. The wording was so professional sounding, yet at the same time written in a way that sounded so demanding that it almost came off as comical. Only villains in movies and cartoons spoke to others like this.
"Our attempts to communicate with your local government have been met with numerous failed attempts over this past seven-day period and are wholly unacceptable. We here at the Ghaleon Corp. require immediate contact with your elected official and demand that you heed our requests and inquire with your local office no sooner than 3pm today, August--"
"Who in the fuck do these people think they are?!" She roared, turning the heads of all her nursing staff as they munched away at their noontime snacks.
The green-haired Raccoon, Leif, the office's only male nurse, approached the seething lion. "You all right, Cal? What's that about--" She thrust the paper into the raccoon's chest and began rubbing the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger.
"This has got to be a joke," he said, but his disbelief washed away as he read the contact details at the bottom of the paper.
From the office of Fenrir Ghaleon, CEO and Founder of the Ghaleon Corporation.
"Why are they contacting you? These are straight-up demands here; they shouldn't be getting you involved just because the mayor can't get his shit together." Leif had an agitated tone that sounded unholy when combined with his soothing, boy-like voice.
"I've no fuckin' clue, but I'm about to go over there and get this straightened out," She'd said something else, mostly mumbling, as she stormed out of the office.
***
"So, you're saying just get them together ourselves?" Eligh said, his voice wavering slightly, almost as if in hesitance to speak the words.
"To end this whole stupid 'missed chance' arc, abso-fucking-lutely. Worst comes to worst, the spark they felt was just a spark that first time, and they go their separate ways."
Eligh pondered the possibilities, the sort of future this might create. Brigid had no job, nor did he really push her to find one. He was fine taking care of his friend, but he knew she didn't have much going on outside of her magic training and hikes into the mountains, and she really did seem genuinely infatuated with this wolf...
Finally, he sighed and said, "Fine, but let's try and figure out something that brings them together in a way that feels natural and in a comfortable setting, okay?"
The mole had no sooner nodded in agreement that the intercom system buzzed to life, the voice of the middle-aged cockatoo sitting at the receptionist desk coming through a static-filled hiss, "Mr. Brannigon, there is a Doctor Reigns here to see the mayor, but since he's out today, would it be okay if I sent her through to you?"
The mole scratched his chin, pondering and trying to figure out why that name sounded so familiar.
Eligh buzzed back, "Yeah, send her in. We're done here." There was no time for a reply when the door clicked and flung open, the seafoam blue lioness stepping in with a furious aura about her, yellow eyes almost luminous with anger.
The mountain lion looked from the massive grizzly that was still in the process of standing up to the short, fat mole and his now downtrodden tentacles sitting behind the massive desk. The sight of him quelled her tempest just a bit. She smiled just a bit as she caught the mole sinking beneath the desk.
"Doctor Reigns, it's a pleasure to see you again--" He said, extending his arm for a handshake.
"Fix your goddamn equipment!" She roared, the fury returning. The bear, who stood eight inches taller than the lion, almost shrunk back in fear.
"I'm sorry?"
She thrust the fax she'd received earlier to Eligh, placing it in his hand. "I'm getting literal demands from CEOs that have nothing to do with me, basically commanding me to come up here and make you get YOUR shit together. Do you have any idea of the morning I had, only to have it topped off with THAT?"
The expression on Eligh's face dampened as he read the paper, his blue eyes darkening with each passing paragraph.
Just then, his fax machine chimed to life and spat out the first new fax it had received in weeks.
"From the offices of Ghaleon Corp. A formal request to hold a rally in Brickhedge, New Hampshire, to announce Fenrir Ghaleon's bid for presidency under the Independent Party group."
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