Moonlight, Magic and Mystery – 11

“Where are you going?” Brian asked. Justin was heading out the door. 

“I told you before. I’m going over to Ted’s to watch porn.” He held up his messenger bag. “I’m bringing the popcorn.”  He looked at Brian. “You know what’s kind of weird though, Ted hasn’t stopped watching, well except for very brief bathroom breaks, for almost four days. I mean how many blow jobs can you watch?” 

“Apparently a lot of them.” Brian was sitting at the table using his laptop. Ty was perched on his shoulder and Killer was stretched out on the floor, so large and flat he looked like he’d been run over. He turned around. “I don’t think it’s good to encourage him.” 

“I’m not. I was sick of the stuff after the first hour. Do you have any idea how many trolls make porn?” Justin shuddered. “Trust me, a lot more trolls than hot guys. I’ve seen so many weird looking dicks I could write a fucking book. And don’t get me started on assholes.” 

Brian snickered. “So what pray tell are you doing going over there and bringing popcorn?” 

“I’m trying to get him to focus on something else. I mean if he has to eat popcorn, maybe he’ll stop pumping his dick. The place reeks and he never has the drapes open.”

“Buttered popcorn?” Brian asked, getting up to wrap his arms around Justin. 

“Gross, don’t even think it.” Justin laughed. “Seriously, Ted has a problem.” 

“Maybe we all should go over and have an intervention.” Brian suggested. 

“I don’t know.” Justin doubted having Brian and the gang over would do much for Ted other than piss him off. “Give me today to see if I can convince him to stop watching porn.”

“Maybe you should take Ty with you.” Brian’s hand went to his shoulder and he stroked the cat. 

“Why?” Justin asked. He had never had his own Wah cat. He’d never needed one, his powers were strong enough or at least that’s what he’d figured. No one had explained why he didn’t get one. 

“Ty suggested it.” Brian shrugged. “He’s a cat, how do I know why?” 

Justin snickered and looked at Ty. “Why do you want to come with me? I mean, it’s not like I can just walk down the street with you perched on my shoulder like some damn budgie.”

“I’ll come with you, Ty can sit on my shoulder.” Brian made a move.

“No, that’s okay, I’ll take him.” Justin opened his messenger bag for the cat to jump in. “Don’t put any cat hairs on my mints.” 

“Don’t put loose mints in your bag.” Brian laughed. “Watch him Ty.”

“Can I drive your car?” Justin asked. “There’s more cat room than mine.” 

“No.” Brian huffed, kissed him on the nose and moved back to the table. “Don’t be late, we’re going to the munchers for dinner.”

“Yum, dinner after dealing with the jack off king.” Justin snorted. “I have learned some cool techniques though.” 

“Somehow the thought of Theodore’s jack off techniques doesn’t really intrigue me.” Brian laughed. “Go young man, go and complete your mission.” 

“Ha, funny, ha.” Justin laughed and left the loft. He pounded down the stairs, landing with a thump at the bottom. “Oops, sorry about that Ty.” He said to the disgruntled cat.” 

“<i>Watch it kid.”</i> The cat muttered to himself. He didn’t notice that Justin snickered. One of Justin’s inherited abilities allowed him to understand animals. He tried to block it out most of the time. Animals tended to depress him; they didn’t have the greatest of lives. But he’d always listened to Ty and Killer. Not that he’d ever let them know it.

“Okay, I hope you don’t mind cars. I don’t want to take the bus or walk. Ted’s place isn’t far, so it won’t be a long ride.” Justin unlocked his car and placed the messenger bag on the passenger seat. “Make yourself comfortable.” 

Justin ran around to the driver’s side. By the time he was belted in and ready to go. Ty was sitting in the rear window, watching the world. “<i>Damn, I wish I got out more.” </i>  The cat muttered to himself. “<i>This is better than watching that stupid dog day in and day out. </i>  

The blond snickered as he started the car. “Hey Ty, want a quick tour of the river before we head over to Ted’s?” 

Ty, being a cat, refused to answer directly. But he did jump into the front seat to stand up with his front paws on the dash, watching as Justin drove the four blocks to a riverside park. 
He parked under a willow tree that was hanging low over the parking lot. “Cool tree, eh Ty?” Justin commented. The cat jumped onto the passenger seat and put one paw on the window release button, in seconds the window rolled down and Ty jumped up into the tree. “TY YOU DUMB CAT, WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT.” Justin hollered getting out of his car. 

“<i>Fuck off.”</i> Ty hollered back in cat. He’d been watching trees on movies and television for months. This was his first real tree. How could he resist? Ty scampered higher and higher. The air was filled with scents he’d never processed before. There was a heady river smell of rotting vegetation lightly scented with fish, both dead and alive. It was intoxicating. He ran to the top of the tree and back down again over and over until he was dizzy and panting and grinning ear to ear. On his last trip down he jumped into the window of Justin’s car. 

“You are one really, really weird cat.” Justin grumbled as he got back into the car. “Cats can’t just run up and down trees in the park. Something could get them.” 

Ty glared at Justin and put one leg up over his ear and began to wash the base of his tail. The cat answer to someone who pissed them off.

“Now that you’ve got that out of your system, we’re going to Ted’s. He actually could use some kind of distraction. Maybe if you have a session of the cat crazies at his place he’ll stop pulling his dick. It might fall off.” Justin snickered. “Now that would get his attention.” 

The car started its journey again. Ty, satisfied with his adventure, preened on the front seat. Anything else that happened today would be gravy as far as he was concerned. He’d climbed a tree, reached for the sky over and over. Life was good for this Wah cat. 

“Hey Ted.”Justin said when he walked into Ted’s place. The apartment was dark as usual, lit only by the glow from the television set. 

“Hey.” Ted answered, barely looking over at Justin. The kid had been there on and off for a few days, he was used to having him around. 

Justin picked up some of the garbage on the island counter top before putting his messenger bag down. Ty poked his head out and looked around. His whiskers twitched at the funky smell. “<i>This human is a pig.” </i>He merowed.  

Justin smothered a snicker. “Ted, you have to stop watching the porn. It isn’t good for you. Besides, I think it’s time you found yourself a project.” 

“I can’t stop watching. It’s fascinating, almost magical.” Ted leaned forward. “It’s, it’s kind of like potato chips, you can’t eat just one.”

“I don’t’ know whether you’ve noticed or not, but your dick is kind of looking not so good. I mean you have damn near rubbed it raw.” Justin shuddered. “How are you going to explain that to your doctor?” 

“I’ll be okay, it’s nothing a hot bath won’t cure.” Ted turned up the sound and the room was filled with simulated sex sounds. 

“Uh, speaking of basic hygiene. You could maybe use a boost in that department.” Justin looked down at Ted. “I’ll run you a bath.”

Ted waved him away. Justin shook his head and headed toward the bathroom. If he couldn’t get Ted back to relative normalcy, he was going to have to resort to magic. 

Ty strolled over to where the smelly human sat. He jumped up on the arm of the chair, shaking one foot when he stepped in something unpleasant. Watching Ted for a moment, the man’s hand always moving. “<i>You are one sick human.”</i> Ty said clearly, enunciating in case Ted didn’t understand him. “<i>I mean that in a very definite way. You are supposed to be intelligent and yet you sit in the dark and watch humans breeding over and over, while they make sounds that are not real. It makes no sense. A cat, if unable to do something the cat desires, finds another way to find completion even if it is supervising the learning of a stupid overly large dog.” </i>

Part way through Ty’s scolding, Ted had stopped moving. He continued to stare at the television, but he saw nothing as his eyes glazed over with something close to fear. Slowly Ted’s head turned to the arm of his chair to stare directly into the round eyes of an orange tabby cat. He didn’t have a cat. He didn’t have a talking cat. He hated cats, in fact he couldn’t stand them, they were sneaky and sly.  “A cat, there’s a cat.” His voice was squeaky and filled with fear as he tried to make himself smaller. 

Ty stood up and bushed himself out in full bristle, his tail like a bottlebrush. He grinned at Ted showing all of his teeth. <i>“Get your act together you stupid human. I have better things to do than get my fur dusty and sticky in this cave you live in.” </i>

“AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH.” Ted screamed as he leapt up and ran over the top of his chair to the bathroom. 

“What the fuck is wrong?” Justin asked looking around, not sure what to expect. 

Ted ran around to hide behind Justin. “There’s a cat, a cat in my apartment. He talked to me.”

“Riiiight.” Justin said while he was thinking he might strangle Ty. “Cat’s do that a lot, talk I mean. Hey, your bath is ready.” 

“Yeah, yeah, I need a bath. Could you call my cleaning service? The place is a mess.” He started to strip off his robe all the while looking left and right for the talking cat. Maybe he’d been hallucinating. Maybe he was sicker than he’d thought. “I’ve been thinking, maybe I could start up my own porn site. I mean I sure know enough about what would sell. It can’t be that hard to learn how to build a web site.” 

“Good idea Ted. I’ll make that call. Let me know what happens.” Justin was backing out of the bathroom not wanting to see any more of Ted’s naked body than he had to. “I’m heading home. Should I feed your cat?” 

“I don’t have a fucking a cat.” Ted looked around; there had been a tinge of hysteria in his voice. “Make sure the door is closed tight. Maybe it got in somehow through a window or a door or something.”

“You never know.” Justin shrugged. “See you later Ted.” He wiggled his fingers as he left the bathroom. A quick phone call to the cleaning crew and then he scooped up Ty and headed to the car. “I’ll take you to another cool place as a reward for getting Ted off his ass.” Justin said. “But you have to promise to behave and not act like an idiot cat.”

“<i>You mean not act like a dog.” </i>Ty snickered in cat. 

Justin ignored him as he drove outside the city. He figured Ty might like the chance to hunt field mice and the day was a great one to sit out in the sun and sketch. Brian wouldn’t miss him because he’d figure he was still with Ted. So he wouldn’t have to worry about his usual Irish watch dog. He laughed to himself. “Hey, I’ll get us some take out at Mickey D’s, you’ll love their filet of fish or would you prefer chicken?”

An hour later, Justin and Ty lay on a blanket in the sun. They’d established themselves in the middle of a field filled with tall sweet smelling grasses, daisies and some yellow flower that made Justin and Ty sneeze. There was a tree beside their blanket that spread a canopy of green over them, shading them from the sun. 

Ty and Justin’s bellies were too full, but it was a nice too full. They’d eaten more than they should of chicken and burgers, fries and apple pie, each one having a milk shake to top it off. Life was good. 

Ty could hear the rustle of field mice not too far away. He rolled over on his belly, eyes like slits while he contemplated hunting, but his full tummy and the warm sunlight, lulled him to sleep. 

Justin too rolled onto his stomach, his sketch book in front of him as he sketched the long length of lazy cat, asleep with buzz of bees and other insects serenading them both. His eyes began to drift shut, his hand relaxed and the pencil rolled along the sketchbook. Soon the sound of the cat and Justin, both snoring lightly could be heard above the grasses. 

As they slept, curious inhabitants of the field moved closer and closer to look at the interlopers. Only to be surprised when with a pop, another human and a great huge, black fuzzy dog appeared. 

Brian had been waiting for Justin to return from Ted’s and when he didn’t return with Ty, he began to worry. Only after an hour or so of worry, did he realize that all he needed to do was to concentrate and he’d be wherever Justin was. He hoped it was somewhere that no one wouldn’t notice his appearance. Just as he popped to Justin’s location, Killer leaned into him, his head on Brian’s knee. So they both ended up sitting in the grass and staring at Justin and Ty sleeping on a blanket, debris from MacDonald’s tidily placed in a large bag at one end. 

Brian watched for a moment. Justin and the cat were unbelievably relaxed; too relaxed actually, they should have noticed him arriving. Killer whined, knowing something wasn’t right. Ty would normally have been berating him for making a noise or breathing or something. The cat was a thorn in his paw as far as Killer was concerned. He inched forward until his nose was almost touching the cat’s nose. Still there was no sign that the cat was anything other than sleeping, but it was a sound sleep, far too sound for a cat. 

“Justin?” Brian put his hand on the blond’s shoulder shaking him slightly. But there was no sign that he was heard. Not even a flicker of an eyelash. “JUSTIN.” He said louder, shaking him harder. The pencil he’d been using rolled off the sketchbook and onto the blanket, then into the grass. 

Justin was deeply asleep. He dreamed he and Ty were walking side by side down a winding cobblestone road. The landscape was almost surrealistic, looking slightly not quite normal. Perhaps it was the purple sky, or the deep orange yellow of the sun, or maybe it was the fact that they were accompanied on either side by small oddly dressed men.

He registered the fact that Ty was walking on his hind legs and was wearing a vest of some kind. “Why are you dressed?” Justin asked the cat. 

“Why are you dressed?” the cat answered back with a sneer. “Hurry up; we’re going to be late.”

“Late for what?” Justin looked around, there didn’t seem to be any end to the road they were on, though the number of small people had increased. “This is kind of Alice in Wonderland like. Did we eat something or smoke something we shouldn’t have?”

“Cat’s don’t smoke.” 

“Cat’s also don’t walk on their hind legs, wear vests or talk. You seem to be doing all three, so why not smoke?” Justin snickered. “I think we should find Brian.” 

“We’re going to Brian now.” Ty looked at Justin with curiosity. “I thought you knew that. He’s the High Kind of the Fairies.” 

Justin snorted at the title. “Sounds like Brian alright.” He snickered. He looked around. “Everyone is going to see him?” 

“Yes, he is their Royal Highness.” 

“Riiiiiiight.” Justin shook his head. “I wonder if he has a crown and if he’ll let me wear it when we fuck.” 

“You always did before, why wouldn’t you now?” Ty humphed. “You aren’t very respectful of the High King, but then you never were.” 

“I’ve never been here before.” Justin looked at Ty sideways. “I think I’d remember if I had.” 

“You did have Chris Hobbes in your head. He does have tendency to block out reality.” The cat was reasonable in his answer.

“This is hardly reality.” Justin snorted. “There’s got to be a few hundred of these little guys, they don’t even come up to my ankle.”

“Leprechauns, you know they’re leprechauns and there are six hundred and ninety three. There used to be seven hundred, but seven died during the war with the Hobbes.” He shook his head. “It was a very sad day indeed, but the king had to do what he had to do to bring you back to the living.” The cat pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, but it was apparent he really didn’t care. 

“How much further do we walk?” Justin asked. “I’m getting tired.” 

“Oh we’re here, Brian’s here and wouldn’t you know it, he brought that great hulk of a dog. Six dozen leprechauns could live in his fur and he’d never know it. You should consider giving him a hair cut.” The cat shook his head. “Cats know better than to grow their fur to such ridiculous lengths. And did you know he doesn’t do any more grooming than the occasional lick at his front feet, that is when his nose isn’t buried in his crotch. Disgusting dogs.”

“Hey you do that all the time.” Justin snickered. “You can’t talk about ball licking.” 

“At least I don’t suck on the ends of pillows and shoot my seed all over.” 

“Ewwwe, tell me he doesn’t do that.” Justin’s nose turned up.

“Of course he does, I’m always having to magic it away. Why King Brian would be horrified if he knew.” The cat shook his head. 
Brian leaned over and put his lips on Justin’s in a kiss that was meant to bring him back to life. Justin blinked and rolled onto his back. “Like any fairy tale, the Prince wakes the princess with his kiss.” Brian laughed, happy to see Justin awake. He’d been desperately worried for a few minutes. 

“I was having the weirdest dream.” Justin smiled up at Brian. “But I’m glad I’m awake now. How come you’re here?” 

“I could ask you the same thing.” Brian stretched his long legs out so he was lying beside Justin. 

“Mmmmmm.” Justin answered. He reached over and pulled Brian’s face close to his. “Take your clothes off.” 

Brian rolled his eyes, but instantly was hard. The wind was soft and warm and they were hidden from the road by the grasses. He looked around and a slightly disgruntled Ty was glaring at Killer who had just licked him in the face, dog slime stuck to one ear. 

“I can do that.” Brian laughed, burying his nose in Justin’s neck, inhaling the scent of musky warm blond. His clothing disappeared and so did Justin’s, to be folded neatly on a corner of the blanket. Summer wind swept over them, rippling the fine hairs on their skin, making them both shiver though they weren’t cold. 

“Brian…” Justin whispered, his head still full of the dream he’d had, or was it a dream, it had been so real. “Brian.” The name sent an emotional rush of heat through Brian’s body, his cock hardening, his nipples erect. “Brian…” Justin gasped, unable to form a coherent thought when Brian’s lips began to trace their way down the side of his face, over his jaw to the sensitive spot just under his chin. 

Killer watched with interest, not sure if he should join in the game. Ty put one paw on Killer’s long floppy ear to tell him to stay quiet. 

Brian’s lips moved lower, he wanted to taste all of sun kissed Justin, so sweet and salty at the same time. Justin’s hands wandered over Brian’s back and down lower to cup his hard buttocks, the muscle firm from exercise, and strangely beautiful to Justin’s artistic eye. He looked up, his eyes captured by the look of loving vulnerability in the eyes that looked back at him. This wasn’t just a quick fuck, or a casual romp, but something more. Something neither man wanted to really admit out loud. So instead they let themselves speak without words. To feel their emotions through heated skin and sensitive finger tips as slowly and tenderly they made love under the watchful eyes of a cat and a dog(;) not to mention six hundred and ninety three widely grinning leprechauns hidden behind tall grasses and sweet smelling flowers. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“Teddy dear, I know you don’t mean to be such a prick, but I am one of your top performers and as such, I want a few perks of my own.” He touched Ted’s watch. “I want pretty things, a nicer room, softer sheets, high quality lube. It’s important to me that I’m appreciated.” Emmett was walking up and down the room where the video company Ted had put together was located. Emmett had proved to be a big hit. He was even getting fan mail; something that tickled him pink and made Ted just a little bit jealous.

It was an ongoing argument, but one Emmett was determined to win. He hadn’t realized until now just how much money Ted was making and how little he was paying out to make that money. It was time to share the wealth. 

Emmett looked at the shiny gold bracelet on his wrist. He had an admirer who had taste and money. The man wanted to meet him in person. If Teddy didn’t cough up some perks soon he was going to give the guy a call. 

At the loft, Justin was trying to reason with Ty and Killer. Brian was at work and Justin needed two more things for his class. He was attempting to do a portrait of the animals but they were not cooperating. “Ty I’m telling you for the last time, sit still. You tell Killer that if he doesn’t behave I’m freezing him solid and I can do it.” 

“He’s embarrassed.” Ty grumbled. “You shaved his fur off and made him look stupid.” Ty had given up the pretense that Justin didn’t know what he was saying. “I wanted him to look like a classic standard poodle.” 

Justin had to admit the dog did look rather ridiculous, but the painting was a take off on one done that he’d seen years ago in a museum. “Killer you look okay, see here’s a picture of another poodle. See he’s got the same hair cut.” Justin tried to show Killer a picture in a book about dogs. 

But Killer refused to look. He was humiliated and he just knew that his human was going to laugh at him. He wasn’t going to go outside ever again. Or at least until his fur grew back. Ty had assured him his fur would grow, but he didn’t know that for sure. 

“It’ll grow back Killer.” Justin cajoled. “I really need you to sit up properly.” 

An audible pop and Frances was in the studio with Justin and the animals. “Shit Justin, you humiliated him. He’s never going to live this down. What are all his doggy friends going to say.”  Frances snickered. 

“Who invited you?” Justin asked. He looked at the dog. “Killer doesn’t have any doggy friends. He lives in a loft for fuck sake, where’s he going to meet someone.” 

“Maybe that’s the problem. You need to introduce him to a nice girl doggy.” Frances looked around. “How did you get Brian to let you build a studio in his precious loft?”

“I didn’t, this is a compacting spell enlarged. When Brian comes home it goes in my messenger bag. Just a basic spell, nothing fancy.” He shrugged. “Brian doesn’t know.” 

“Yeah, right he doesn’t know.” Frances couldn’t find anywhere to sit so he sat on the floor. Killer immediately came up to him and buried his head in the crook of Frances’ arm. “He’s hiding.” Frances laughed. 

“Dogs are stupid. If they can’t see, they think they can’t be seen.” Ty stretched and jumped up onto a nearby bookcase. The magic of the studio meant nothing to him. “But even I, as a Wah cat, have to admit he looks uglier than usual.” 

“I’m not interested in your comments.” Justin was at the end of his rope. “I can’t believe what a drama dog he is. And Ty isn’t helping matters any. He keeps telling Killer how bad he looks.” 

“I think you should just put his fur back.” Frances offered. “Paint the picture in your own style, furry poodle and everything.” He looked at Killer’s tail, complete with pom pom end that flicked once and then tucked itself under the trembling dog’s belly. 

“I can’t put his fur back. I didn’t magic it off. I actually took him to a dog groomer.” Justin ducked his head to avoid Frances’ look of incredulity. 

“Does Brian know about this?” Frances asked.

“My man knows nothing.” Ty snickered. He rolled on his back and stretched the length of top shelf, knocking something off and onto the floor that bounced and rolled coming to a stop by Justin’s foot. 

Justin bent down and picked it up. “What is this?” he asked.

“It is the amulet of Wah.” Ty said jumping down “It’s been lost for centuries.” 

“Apparently it wasn’t lost, just misplaced and I doubt very much Brian has lived here for centuries.” Justin turned the black jade amulet over in his hands. The carving was amazing. He couldn’t imagine how the artist had managed to carve a single piece of jade into something that was as filled with mystery as what he held in his hand. It was a perfect sphere and inside that sphere was another and another and another. From what Justin could tell, each one had the same engraving on it. He needed a magnifying glass, but the last tiny sphere looked to have a tiny piece of something that pulsed with light.

“Can I see it?” Frances asked. 

Justin thought for a moment. It had obviously been hidden and hidden for a reason. He had no idea why, but he did know that he couldn’t let it touch anyone other than himself, Brian or Gus. Why he knew this he wasn’t sure. “I don’t think so Frances. It’s kind of personal.” His voice was a whisper. “If you are my watcher, you’d know this.” 
Frances was still. Killer backed up until he was a foot away from the man. Ty jumped down and stood beside the dog. Their eyes never left the man sitting on the floor. A rumbled growl began deep in the back of Killer’s throat belaying the foofy nature of his haircut.  Ty stood on the end of his toes, his back arched, his fur fully extended on all parts of his body. Frances looked at the two animals and then at Justin. “I’ve been looking for the amulet for a long time Justin. Give it to me.” His voice held a challenge in it, bravado that he didn’t feel under the circumstances. 

“Why Frances, I thought you were my friend, my cousin, my watcher.” Justin shook his head. “I’ve allowed you access to this loft.”  

Frances tried to move but Killer’s sudden urge to smile with all his teeth showing, combined with his growl, kept the man still. He might have had a stupid haircut, but he was still a formable sized dog and he wasn’t happy. “Nothing personal Justin, but that amulet has a lot of power attached to it. The one who holds it can rule the world if they want to.”

“It’s just an amulet. A nice carving of black jade.” But Justin knew his words were empty. He could feel the power pulsing through his body from the carved black sphere. 

“If that’s all it is, you can give it to me.” Frances held out his hand only to have Ty rake his claws over the palm. Frances looked at the streaks of blood. “Fucking Wah cat.” He mumbled.  He reached out again, only this time with the mumbling of a spell on his breath, but before he could complete the sound, Killer launched himself at Frances, the man’s throat in his mouth cutting off any words. His growls could turn anyone’s blood to ice. The dog weighed almost seventy pounds. He wasn’t a dog to fool around with.

“Hey, the dog is fast.” Ty looked at his large friend with admiration. “Now rip out the prey’s throat.” He commanded. 

‘I don’t think so.” Justin said quickly, glaring at the cat. “No throat ripping in the loft.” 

“Take him up to the roof and then rip out his throat. We can drag him by his throat.” Ty grinned with glee at the thought. “Let him run for a few feet and then jump on him.”

“No playing with the bad guy either.” Justin said. He folded up his studio and tucked it into his bag, leaving them all in the center of the loft. Brian was due home at any moment. He also put a sealing spell on Frances’ mouth. He didn’t need any surprises. 

Taking out his cell phone, Justin dialed. “Hey Mom, what’s new?” he asked when his mother answered the phone. 

“Justin, I was thinking about you.” Jennifer smiled as she talked. “I was wondering when you and Brian could come to dinner.” 

“Yeah, well I’m kind of busy right now.” He looked at the amulet in his hand. “What do you know about a black jade amulet?” 

“Amulet?” Jennifer said, her voice suddenly shaky. 

“Yeah.” Justin sighed. “And no lies, I can tell you know something.” 

“Just that it’s been lost for centuries, or kept well hidden.” She sighed. “It belonged to the first king of Wahjee, that’s when we had kings. You know royalty has been gone from Wahjee society for a long time. The amulet was handed down, father to son, but there were rumors that the black forces of evil seeped into the Royal family. Because the amulet contained considerable power, it was stolen by someone close to the family, perhaps even a family member, who had a pure soul and couldn’t bear to have the heirloom descend into darkness.” She paused. “Why do you ask?” 

“No reason, the subject just came up.” Justin didn’t like to lie to his mother, but something told him to say nothing about the thing in his hand. “Uh, mom, about Frances. Are you sure he’s my cousin?” 

“Of course I’m sure. He’s my sister Leanne’s son.” 

“Well, I think he went kind of strange. He’s here right now, but he’s kind of psycho. I’m going to have to do something drastic.” 

“Justin, you know that the High Council won’t allow you to do anything to him. He’s family after all, and he has been assigned as your watcher from the beginning. It’s against Wahjee code to harm one’s watcher.”

“Apparently it’s okay for the watcher to try and fry my ass though.” Justin’s voice was bitter. “Sorry mom, but I have enough to worry about with the Hobbes group without worrying about my damn family. Frances’ ass is grass as far as I’m concerned.”

“Justin, don’t you dare do anything that will put you in front of the High Council. You know Craig is just waiting for a chance to take you down.” 

“Yeah, well Craig can bite me.” Justin glared at Frances who was trying to wiggle out from under Killer. Killer hadn’t bitten down on the throat he had in his jaw, but he didn’t release it either, saliva dripped to the floor.  Ty kept hitting Frances with his paw, one lethal looking claw extended. He liked the way the man jumped. 

He said his goodbyes to his mother and closed the phone. “I can’t have you cluttering up the place. Killer would like to actually kill you. Ty is all for it and frankly, I’m leaning that way myself. But I suspect I’d lose my white light status if I did.” Paced up and down a few times listening to both Killer and Frances whine.

“Okay, I’ve made my decision. Frances, I need to place you where I can keep an eye on you. But I’m not allowed to remove you from this realm. Soooo, I’ve decided that I need a cousin in a cage.” He conjured up an elaborate looking Victorian birdcage. “It’s not too comfy, but the other alternative is that box over there and I might forget to feed you if I put you in there. This way I can make sure you’re up high enough that Killer can’t get you but accessible enough for Ty to keep you under control.” He zapped Frances into the cage. “Oh, and don’t bother trying anything. The cage has a force field around it. No magic can come out, but trust me, I can put lots in.” 

Killer looked around for the prey that had been in his mouth. He whined and began to look everywhere, under the sofa, the table, and chairs. “Stupid dog.” Ty grumbled. He reached into the cage to bat Frances, but the man ran to the other side. Ty ran around and reached in again. “Hey, this is going to be fun.” 

“Sorry cat,” Justin laughed. “Though I should let you play with him for a few minutes.” Justin stood on one of the kitchen stools and hung the cage from an overhead beam. He’d no sooner finished than Brian walked into the loft. 

“Honey I’m home.” He said, tossing his brief case onto the sofa.

“I can see that.” Justin said kissing Brian thoroughly. 

“What’s wrong with the dog, his fur fell out.” Brian looked carefully at Killer. “For fuck sake Justin, isn’t it bad enough he’s a poodle. I mean we could pretend he was something else, a mutt or something, but not when his hair is cut like some freak clown dog.” 

“It’ll grow back.” Justin began.

“What’s he doing?” Brian asked. “He’s looking for something, maybe he’s looking for the asshole who shaved his fur off.”  

Ty had jumped onto Brian’s shoulder, leaning into his master, rubbing his chin on Brian’s neck.  “Merow” he said and then snickered.

“Did the cat snicker?” Brian pulled him off his shoulder. “Am I in some kind of bizarro world? Maybe I should go out and come back in.” It was then the birdcage caught his eyes. “Fuck no Justin, I don’t want another pet. And I detest caged birds.” He walked over to the cage. “Oh, it’s Frances. Frances?”

“Uh about that.” Justin said. “Let’s fuck.” Usually Brian could be distracted.

“That would be a NO.” Brian looked from the caged Frances to Justin and back again. “I went to work and actually had a decent day. I come home and what do I find?” 

“There’s an explanation.” Justin began, running his hand over Brian’s chest. He’d unbuttoned his shirt. 

“I’m sure there is.” Brian drawled as he removed Justin’s hand. “You can start with mini Frances. And make that damn dog stop snooping around, he’s driving me crazy.”

“He’s kind of looking for Frances. He had been planning on doing him some damage.” 

“NO TY, DON’T.” Justin hollered. Ty had jumped from the kitchen island to the cage and was now clinging to the wildly swinging cage. Frances was screaming for help and hanging on to the opposite side. 

Brian lifted the cat off the cage. “Ty, don’t play with the bird.” He turned to Justin. “You’re right, we need to fuck first and talk later. Because if we talk first, I might want to put you in with Frances. This way I get to have some pleasure out of the evening.” He grabbed Justin and threw him over his shoulder, planning to carry him to the bedroom. 

Ty watched from his perch back on the kitchen counter. He had all night, he’d just watch his prey for awhile. 

Killer continued to look for his prey, finally going to the roof, maybe the prey had slipped out the dog door. 

Brian threw Justin on the bed. Justin grinned, he had time enough to think of something good, Brian was in for the ride of his life.