FSE

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A/N: Lady Black and Jacquelynn Turnbull are the characters of IllaRouge. Luther Kierkegaard is the character of Drakken. Thank you to both Illa and Drakken for their help writing this. Cover art is by Pac.

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It took probably 10 seconds for Lauren to realize where she was after she woke up. Then it came back - her hotel room, her bed, in some off-the-strip hotel in Vegas that the league had gotten the draftees a discount at. It took about as long after that for her to sit up with a groan, look around at the clothes on the ground, and recognize that she probably hadn't spent the last night alone.

Her suspicions were confirmed a moment later when she heard the humming. She blinked, and glanced up. Somewhere, in the kitchen and livingroom section of the suite she had rented for the weekend, somebody was moving around. Lauren could just pick out the sound of sizzling, and the smell of cooking eggs.

The skink blinked once. Oh. A one night stand deciding to stay and make breakfast? That was... new, to say the least. She dragged herself out of the bed, and pulled on a pair of pants that she was pretty sure... yes, they were hers. Then she kneaded her forehead, and started for the door. She still wasn't looking when she stepped in and muttered, "Uh, good morning."

"Morning!" The voice drew Lauren's eyes up, and she stared. Standing in front of the stove in Lauren's shirt, which draped low over her body, stood a corgi that seemed just a little bit too familiar to the skink. Lady Black, littlest undrafted canine, was facing Lauren, a smile on her face and a spatula in her hand.

What followed was a very long silence, during which Lauren stared at the corgi through the hand kneading at her forehead. The skink didn't move, aside from the occasional blink.

What finally clicked into place for her was that Lady was wearing her shirt - the Mayor's jersey she'd received at the draft the night before. Which meant that Lauren wasn't wearing it. Which suddenly made it click to Lauren that she wasn't wearing a shirt.

The fact that it was Lady she was speaking to, and not some random escort or woman she'd met while out the night before, made the detail suddenly matter.

"Frick!" she yelped, and then scrambled back into the other room, searching the clothes on the floor for something to wear.

From the kitchen, the corgi yipped at the sudden noise. A few moments later, Lauren heard her pad into the room. "Wait! I'm sorry! It was just the first thing I picked up. Here!"

Lauren turned, and found the corgi holding the jersey out to her. She snatched it back, and slid it on. As she pulled it on, she forced herself to take a deep breath. She could handle this situation. It was fine.

Her head pulled through the top of the jersey, and she turned to the corgi to speak. Of course, this was the moment Lauren realized that if she was now wearing the jersey, it meant that Lady was no longer wearing it. Lauren blinked once more, and her mouth worked for a moment without saying anything. Then, she managed to gasp out, "Bathroom."

She turned, and headed for the bathroom before the corgi could respond.

Mercifully, Lady didn't say anything to this. Lauren leaned her back against the closed door, and soon she heard the corgi padding her way back into the kitchen.

Lauren forced herself to take a few deep breaths. Then, she turned and faced the mirror. She was still bleary-eyed, but after the past five minutes, she was decidedly awake. She spent a bit of time washing her face, trying to clear her head.

It was a few moments later that her pocket beeped. She blinked, and then fished her phone out of the pocket of her pants. It was blinking, and she dragged her thumb over the screen to two surprises.

One, her battery was at about thirty percent. Not a great start to the day.

Two, she apparently had an appointment with her agent in about an hour.

Lauren did the mental math. Yes, that would give her enough time to stay for breakfast. Fuck.

She cleared her throat, then stepped out of the bathroom. She went over to her suitcase, and spent a few minutes getting properly dressed. Once she felt she couldn't pass any more time without it being obvious that she was stalling, she turned towards the kitchen. She set her gaze, and then stepped through the door. "Uh, good morning. Lady."

The corgi glanced over her shoulder at the skink. "Morning!" It was like nothing had happened. She was in the middle of sliding a spinach omelette with feta cheese onto a plate. With a big grin, she slid the plate across the counter toward Lauren, right next to where a glass of orange juice was already poured.

Lauren cleared her throat, and Lady paused. Then, the corgi snapped her fingers. "Whoops! Forgot a shirt again!" She hopped past Lauren, into the other room, and started looking for her shirt.

Lauren took her seat at the table, and rested her head in her hand. It was an awful attempt to hide how she pointedly wasn't looking at Lady. As she looked down at the omelette, though, she blinked. She didn't have spinach in that fridge last night. She definitely didn't have feta cheese.

She sighed, and then poked at the omelette with her fork. Okay. Get over the shock. She had to figure out what was going on. While Lady rooted through the other room, she called over, trying to sound casual, "So, uh... last night, huh?"

Lady came back in with a shirt, but still no bottoms. She nodded as she poured more eggs into the newly greased pan. She had onions and bacon cut up once the eggs were set. "Yep! You were drafted third. That's amazing!" She bobbed her head as the eggs cooked.

Lauren let out a long breath, and finally broke the omelette with her fork. She took a mouthful, thinking to use it as an excuse to gather her thoughts. A moment later, though, she blinked, and glanced down at her plate. Oh. Fuck, it was good.

She gulped it down, and then forced herself to speak. "Yeah, that was, uh, pretty wild. Thanks. I meant more, uh, after that. Y'know, when the ceremony was done and stuff." What did she want. People didn't just sleep together and then stay to make breakfast. What did the corgi want.

Lady smiled over her shoulder at the skink, still cooking the omelette as she spoke. "Yeah. You were awful nice to get me some drinks after. You didn't tell me you could sing!" The eggs sizzled when she flipped them over. "I've never been to Vegas, so seeing all the lights was great. And the falafel. And the drinks! You were really nice to me!"

"That's because I can't sing," the skink muttered. She had another few bites of the omelette, and tried to think about her next tactic. She hated that she couldn't remember... any of that evening. There was some vague, hazy memory of running into Lady on her way out of the draft ceremony, but that was it. She hadn't intended to go out. Hell, she'd planned on just going right back to her hotel after the event - she didn't want to draw attention to herself.

At last, she sighed, and then inclined her head. "Yeah, uh, that was all great. But I mean, like... after all that." She tried to say it meaningfully.

Lady tilted her head. "You mean this morning?"

Lauren bit back a groan, and kneaded at her forehead. "No. Before this morning. Last night, when... y'know?"

"Oooooooooooooooooooh." She kept the same smile, one of pure joy, as she dumped the omelette onto her own plate. "We had sex!"

Lauren twitched once. Then she let out a very long breath. "We, uh... we sure did." She let that hang in the air, waiting for... she didn't know. Whatever came after that.

Lady nodded. She poured herself some juice and brought over her plate to the table. She hopped up on the chair and started eating. The corgi seemed entirely unbothered by the whole situation.

The skink stared straight ahead, still trying to decide what she actually needed to ask. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, and then finally she glanced down at her phone. She probably had a good half hour until she had to go downstairs and catch her ride over to her agent's office.

"Uh... I should get going." She cleared her throat, and then finished up the last few bites of her omelette. She stood, and carried her plate over to her suite's small sink. She washed the plate quickly, efficiently, never looking back at the bottomless corgi. "Er... thanks for breakfast?"

Lady nodded. "I hope you have a good day!" She seemed unperturbed by Lauren leaving. She took a sip of her juice. "You asked for my number last night. You know, if you want to talk later."

Lauren let her breath out long and slow, and put her plate into the drying rack. "Yeah. Uh..." She looked for something else to say, but instead just muttered, "Yeah. Talk to you later."

She tried not to feel like she was running as she made her way towards the door. When she glanced back to close the door behind her, Lady was waving at her.

Lauren walked from her room over towards the elevator, and was close to stumbling. It wasn't until the doors slid closed behind her that she let herself slump back against the wall. Her own low groan echoed back at her throughout the small space, and she reached up to rub at her forehead.

"Fuck," she muttered. Then again, "Fuck."

Her headache was still there in full force. She had to go meet with Susie to discuss her contract, and then she was supposed to go do some photos or something for the Mayors, and without a fucking doubt she would wind up being there with... fuck. Who else had the Mayors drafted the night before.

She pulled out her phone, trying to ignore the 28% in the corner of the screen, and looked up the draft results from the night before. She scrolled down until she found... Jacquelynn Turnbull.

Lauren stared down at the phone, thinking of the hyena's saccharine voice. Jackie had always been around at the combine, always talking, always trying to be the centre of attention. Which... fair enough. Most of them had been there to try to get everybody's attention. It was sort of the point. But there was something about the way Jackie had done it. The odd, almost aggressive sweetness, combined with... Lauren didn't know. Something off.

That something off had turned into a giant screaming alarm bell the night before when the hyena had shown up to the draft in a dress that was... what? Made with some sort of print of pictures of Jake Turner. Everything about it had thrown Lauren off, even as many of the other draftees had laughed it off.

As if Lauren didn't have enough to think about already. She'd left Thunder Bay Predator College with the hope of finding a team with a bit less overt predatory aggression. Obviously anywhere she went was going to have a lot of competitive attitude, but the Mayors? The fucking Mayors? And in Alabama of all fucking places.

Fuck. She was going to need some coffee.

She plodded through the lobby, towards the Starbucks that was connected along the front. There was already a small line of people waiting for their drinks or to place their orders. Lauren checked the time on her phone. She still had a few minutes until she had to meet the car that Susie had called for her. A few minutes where she could just be alone and not worry about all of the added complication and stress of her new life.

Something came down on her shoulder. She let out a sharp yelp, and spun around. She came face to face with a tall jackalope, who was leaning back slightly out of the way of her whipping tail. The jackalope had calm, almost lazy eyes, and he was wearing a light athletic hoodie with the branding of the Queens Pride on it. On top of that, he was the only person in the shop that was taller than Lauren.

She kept staring up at him in surprise for a few moments, and then cleared her throat and gave herself a shake.

"Luther."

He raised an eyebrow, and then lifted up his phone. He typed into it, and then the phone read off, "Lauren. Good to see you're as relaxed as usual."

Lauren set her gaze. "It was an exciting night. I see you're not looking too worse for wear after it."

His fingers tapped across the phone's screen. "No, no. I went out to celebrate briefly, but I decided to go home early with my partners."

"Partners?" Lauren raised an eyeridge at him. "Wait... are you still with that random girl you saw on the street in Bangor?"

"Of course I am." The jackalope's expression delivered all of the reproach that the synthesized voice couldn't deliver. Lauren was about to respond, but the voice of the barista drew her attention back to the counter.

She sighed, and then ordered something iced with flavour. She knew that as soon as she stepped out into the Las Vegas sun, it was going to be sweltering. Besides, she had to get the drink down fast. She needed that caffeine to hit before she went to meet with Susie.

The skink stepped over to the pickup counter to wait, while Luther placed his own order. As he stepped over, she shook her head at him. "I thought she was as weirded out by the whole situation as, like, any sane person would be. How the hell did you convince her to come to Las Vegas with you?"

He rolled his eyes at her, and began typing. She grabbed a straw for her drink, and began tearing the paper from it while the phone's voice spoke. "Unlike some people who are clearly long dead inside, many of us actually believe in love at first sight. You see, when two people have that connection--"

Lauren lifted the straw to her lips, the paper wrapper only half torn off. She angled, and then blew, and the paper sleeve launched up and tangled itself up in Luther's antlers. The jackalope blinked, and looked up from his phone, his fingers stopping their typing. He raised an eyebrow at her, and Lauren didn't need the phone's voice to know that he was asking, "Are you serious?"

She shrugged, and stuck her tongue out at him.

Her drink appeared, and she grabbed it while Luther struggled to detangle the paper sleeve from his antlers. She watched him for a few moments, measuring him up. At last, she cleared her throat, and glanced away.

"On that... no, not that subject. Tangential. But, uh... I think I did something dumb last night. Like, 'you' type of dumb."

He pulled one hand away from his antlers, and began typing again. "I will ignore that insult, this time. What did you do."

She swallowed. This was probably dumb. Apparently that was her driving decision-making factor at the moment, though. "So yeah. I think I might have, y'know. Did it with Lady last night."

"Did what."

Lauren stared at Luther, trying to figure out if he was just giving her a hard time. His face was straight. She groaned internally. "I mean. We can't really say for sure what happened last night. Like, all I know is that when I woke up, she was in my room. So there's a lot of wiggle room there. Right?"

"You slept together in a sexual way?"

Lauren lunged forward and grabbed his phone, and almost yelped out, "Not so loud!"

He just gave her a blank look. She blinked, and realized just how loud that had been when she noticed a few people staring at her. In the silence that followed, one of the baristas walked over. "Uh... drink for Luther?"

Luther inclined his head down at his phone. Lauren let go of it, and forced herself to take a couple breaths while Luther took his drink. The two of them made their way over to a table, and took a seat. Lauren wasn't meeting his gaze.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Lauren saw Luther turning down the volume on his phone. Then he began typing again.

"Are your feelings mutual."

Lauren snorted at that, and finally took a sip of her coffee. "Hell if I know. I don't know - we just slept together, alright? I don't even remember most of last night after the draft. Now I'm stuck here worrying about what she wants from all this, and if she's looking for, y'know, something more, or if she's in it for some other ulterior motive, or... fuck."

Lauren was surprised when Luther reached over and rested a hand on her wrist. He gave a small squeeze, and then went back to typing. "Well what are your feelings towards her."

The skink took another long sip. "The same as my feelings on most things. I don't want another complication in my life. I just want this to fucking... I don't know. Go away before the shoe inevitably drops."

"You don't really trust people, do you."

"Maybe once people start giving me a reason to trust them, I'll work on that. In the interim, though? No."

She heard his fingers start tapping against the screen again, but then her own phone vibrated. She fished it out of her pocket and glanced at the text she'd received.

"Alright, I have to go. My ride's here."

Luther nodded. As she stood up, he turned his volume back up higher, and that voice spoke again. "If you need to talk more, you have my number."

"Yeah," she nodded. She lifted a hand to him, then turned and walked away. She made her way out the front of the hotel's lobby, noticing a couple other draftees from the night before towering above the rest of the crowd. She slipped out the front door, and into a wall of intense, crippling heat. Condensation broke out across her coffee cup, and she ducked her head and walked towards the car that Susie had called for her.

She had a few minutes in the back seat of the car to think and sip at her coffee. Of course, she'd already had plenty of time to think during the draft the night before - she'd been picked third, so she'd had a few hours to sit with her thoughts and consider her situation.

Luther's words had gotten to her. She hadn't always been like this. Two years of being in the snake's den that was Thunder Bay Pred had forced her to adapt, though. The months after she'd spoken out against the school's culture and questionable reputation had been even worse - some of the friends she'd still had left from high school had turned on her. The school's athletic reputation, and the pride that it brought Thunder Bay, were enough to turn a lot of popular opinion against her in her hometown. Besides, nobody liked hearing their city criticized on national radio.

So yes. She was low on trust at the moment. She still hoped that actually joining and beginning to play in the FBA would give her a chance to shed a lot of that baggage, but after the draft results the night before...

The car pulled up in front of a skyscraper. Lauren hopped out, and stepped up towards the doors to the large building. She passed through and into the merciful air conditioning inside. Her eyes scanned the lobby, and she let out a small breath as she spied Susie.

The bulldog was standing by the elevators, her arms crossed. She was dressed in a pantsuit that was tight around her forearms - but then again, Lauren had yet to see her agent in anything that wasn't tight on her forearms. Susie's expression was sharp as she looked around the lobby, and it didn't soften as she noticed Lauren. The bulldog inclined her head, and gestured her over.

"Sleep well?" Her voice was as sharp as her eyes.

"You could say that."

"Good. I want you at a hundred while we go over this contract. You're going to know your shit if we ever need to negotiate anything."

The elevator opened and they stepped inside. "I thought you were going to do most of the talking."

"All of the talking, if I can help it. But I want you paying attention and understanding what we're talking about, and I want them to know that you're paying attention. Less chance of anybody trying to screw us over like that."

Lauren snorted. She liked Susie. She'd liked Susie the moment she'd seen her at the agents' scrum at the draft combine. After Lauren's performances during the skills competitions and practice games that week, agents had started approaching her en masse. All of her interactions with them had felt a bit like a conversation with a telemarketer. Lots of big promises and compliments, but always with an odd feeling that they were trying to sell her something.

Susie had been different. Every time she'd had to talk to another agent, she'd looked like she was ready to punch somebody by the end of it. When Lauren had finally approached her to speak, the conversation had felt more like a negotiation than a sales pitch. The bulldog had ended their first conversation together with, "Huh, you're going to be some fun trouble, aren't you, kid?"

Now they were riding up the elevator, and Susie was outlining everything that they had to go over in her contract. At last, she paused, and glanced over at the skink.

"How're you feeling, kid?"

"Honestly?" Lauren shrugged. "The more time passes, the more I feel like throwing up."

"Nerves?"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "I spent the past two years having preds snarling and showing off their claws off at me. I still get nervous, but it doesn't mean much anymore."

"Fair point. So what is it? I might not be the love and hugs type of agent, but I still need to know if something's getting under your skin."

Lauren hesitated. Then, she inclined her head. "I'm running away from pred supremacist bullshit in Thunder Bay, right onto the fucking Mayors in Huntsville, Alabama."

Susie stiffened beside her. "Okay, I'll grant you that Alabama's unlucky. You're going to have the power of the Mayors behind you, though, and they're not interested in anybody messing with their players. And what's the problem with the Mayors?"

Lauren snorted at that. "Please. Look at their lineup."

"You're going to need to elaborate."

Lauren shot the bulldog a look. "Okay, I already have bad feelings about preds, right? I'm going to be competing for the starting 2-guard position with a fucking lion. And his girlfriend? She's a fucking sabretooth tiger who put one of their other starters, a fucking ex child soldier fox, in the hospital."

"That's..." Susie trailed off, and the elevator doors opened. They stepped out into a posh, well-designed office space - Susie's agency. The bulldog led her wordlessly through, towards a door that said 'S. Thorne, Partner' on the door. She held the door for Lauren, and then carefully closed it behind them. "Take a seat, Fash."

Once they were both settled down, Susie fell silent again, thinking. Lauren took the opportunity to look around the office. It was as well decorated as all the rest of the agency had been - mostly tasteful furnishings that erred on the side of modern industrial chic. Everything was glass and stainless steel, with exposed redbrick on one of the walls. Obviously, it was all a show - this was a skyscraper in Las Vegas. This wasn't some reclaimed original design. This was a carefully developed and manicured appearance.

Along the walls were a few photos of Susie's other clients. Lauren let her gaze wander over these, before they came to settle on the pictures of Susie herself. They were a far cut from the bulldog in the pantsuit sitting across from her. These photos showed a younger woman, in shorts, tight tanks, and boxing gloves. Most of the photos were of her soaked with sweat, and occasionally bleeding from her nose or from sloppily stitched cuts on her forehead. There were a couple shots of her looking a bit more put-together, including one of her raising a championship belt above her head. Most of the pictures, though, were the bulldog at the end of particularly long or difficult bouts.

"Look." Lauren drew her attention back to Susie. "I hear your concerns. I do. But as an agent, you tend to hear things. Not things you can always confirm, but you learn to trust hunches. From everything I've heard, things aren't actually that bad with the Mayors."

"Right." Lauren kept quiet. Susie raised an eyebrow, and the skink sighed and went on. "I mean, you're good at your job, and I get that. It's my neck on the line in all of this, though. I don't want to wander into a fucking warzone."

Susie eyed her for a very long moment, considering that. Then, she steepled her fingers. "Alright, let me put it like this. Lauren, you're my meal ticket." Lauren blinked at that. "I know you're going to be a lot of work over the next couple years, but if I get you through that..." She shrugged. "It'll be worth my time. Financially. So I'm telling you - I have a concrete, selfish motivation to not fuck you over or let you get fucked over, right?" At length, Lauren nodded, stiffly. The bulldog kept watching her for a moment, and then shrugged. "On top of that, I kinda like you, Fash. You're a pain in the ass for the right reasons. Kids your age tend to want to be pains in the ass for the stupidest shit. But you? You made your call, you took a swing, and I respect that."

There was a moment of silence. Then, Lauren cleared her throat and nodded. "So is it always going to be boxing metaphors?"

"Would it help if I threw in basketball terms once in a while?" Lauren held in a snort at that, and Susie continued. "Alright, let's go over your contract, and then we have to get you to that photoshoot."

They spent the next two hours talking. It was mostly Susie speaking, with Lauren occasionally butting in to ask questions. Susie's direct nature helped settle Lauren's nerves some, even when the skink's thoughts occasionally wandered back to that morning. She understood, explicitly, where she stood with the bulldog. It was transactional and easy.

By the time they were done, Lauren was almost feeling relaxed. Susie looked up at the skink as she closed up her folder, and inclined her head.

"So. The legalese as clear as mud?"

"Yeah, seems to be."

"Good. I'll make sure you've got a digital copy of all this, in case you need it, and you can always reach out with more questions. So do you need me to come to this photo shoot, or are you going to be good?"

"I'll be good."

"That's what I like to hear." She stood up, and Lauren got up too. The two of them made their way out of Susie's office, and back down the elevator. They spoke the whole time, though the conversation was more casual than before. When they reached the front doors to the building, Susie finally drew Lauren up short. The bulldog looked her in the eye, and then spoke. "If at any point you run into trouble, I want you to tell me, alright? Remember, I have financial incentive to make sure you're taken care of. I'm in your corner."

"Right." Lauren nodded. Then she gave a small shrug. "I appreciate it. I really do. You're right, though. I think I've got this."

"Good."

Susie nodded, then held the door open as Lauren stepped back out into Las Vegas's intense heat. The skink shielded her eyes, and scanned the street until she picked out the car that Susie had called for her. She hopped into the back, and then they were off.

With a few minutes to herself, she pulled out her phone, and glanced at it. 16%. Fuck.

Alright. Susie seemed to know her shit. If she said that things with the Mayors weren't as bad as they seemed, well... she would have to believe that.

That said, that still left one pretty massive potential problem that she still wanted to check up on, while she had a few minutes of quiet and privacy. She swapped over to her phone's browser, and started looking up information about Jacquelynn Turnbull.

At first it was mostly pretty pedestrian stuff. Stats from her college team, little bios written up about her by various sports reporters, analyses from the draft the night before. There was even a fansite she stumbled across that seemed to be a bunch of Jackie's fans who were pretending that she and Jake Turner were dating. Well, that explained the dress, at least.

It was when Lauren did a quick search for Jackie's family that her eyes narrowed. Theodore Turnbull, Jackie's grandfather. There were a number of business articles about him, and the role he had played in building the broadcasting empire that his children now reined over. On the second page, though, she found more concerning results. Stories, mostly independent reporting, from some of the rallies that had been taking place in the southern States over the past few years. Then tying back his appearance, or the coverage that his companies provided of these events, back to past comments, past appearances at older rallies...

Lauren was staring at her phone's screen, unmoving, when the car finally pulled up to the studio where the pictures were happening. The number in the top right of her phone was flashing red, now. 8%. It took her probably a solid minute before she got up and out of the car.

She made her way up the steps in the building, her legs feeling wooden. By the time the skink reached the studio, Jackie Turnbull was already there. The towering hyena was standing casually, chatting with her normal bubbly attitude with a representative from the photo studio.

Lauren just stared at Jackie for a long few moments, her breath catching in her throat. She'd dealt with other preds that were almost as big as Jackie before. Plenty of times. She knew how to handle this. She knew.

Jackie's eyes flicked over to her, and then lit up with recognition. It took Lauren a moment to realize that she was just standing there staring, and then she dropped her eyes. The skink walked forward, shoving her hands into the pockets of her pants. She kept her eyes pointedly away from Jackie as she spoke. "Hey, sorry if I'm a bit late. I had an appointment with my agent."

"No problem at all!" The representative, a short frog, was clutching a tablet. He flicked through a few screens, checking times. "You've got plenty of time. A few teams have scheduled these photoshoots today, but we space them out enough for there to be wiggle room. So if you two just head over to the women's dressing room, you should find a few jerseys that we've left out for you. Just get changed, and come on out. Our makeup team and the photographer will handle the rest."

"This is so exciting!" Jackie's saccharine voice almost made Lauren flinch. "Don't you think so, Lauren?"

The skink cleared her throat. She knew she couldn't look at Jackie without betraying anything. "Yeah, it'll be great."

If the frog noticed the hesitation, he didn't say anything. Instead, he ushered them over to the dressing room, pointed out where the jerseys were hanging, and then left them in there.

The dressing room looked more like a locker room than anything else - there were a couple rows of broad lockers, no doubt designed to handle large photoshoots.

Lauren hesitated just long enough to see where Jackie was headed, and then made her way over to a section of the room that was sufficiently far from the hyena that she could ignore her. She started getting changed in silence, trying to hurry through without looking like she was hurrying.

There was a soft, but echoing click. Lauren's tail gave a hard lash as she recognized the sound of a deadbolt sliding into place. She forced herself to not think too hard about the fact that there hadn't been anybody else in the dressing room but the two of them. She kept her eyes stubbornly forward, even as she heard Jackie's footsteps coming closer.

The hyena leaned her head around the corner of the lockers, and then called over, "Hey, Laaaaaaaaauren."

Lauren's movements were stiff as she continued changing out her shirt for the jersey. "Hey, Jackie." Her voice was flat and noncommittal.

"Heeeeeeeey." It was like Jackie had a 'charm' setting, and she was cranking it all the way up. She hopped down the row until she was near her new teammate. "I'm glad that we're going to be teammates, aren't you?!"

Lauren's movements only grew more mechanical as the hyena approached. The skink was used to being around preds who were significantly taller than her. It didn't make it any easier when they got into her space. "Yeah, uh, great, Jackie. We should probably finish getting changed." Her voice remained almost flat. Almost.

Everything remained silent, but for the soft sounds as Lauren kept getting changed. Jackie didn't move - she just stood there, watching, not saying anything as Lauren continued. Her smile was that practiced cheeriness, but Lauren could just catch her eyes narrowing.

The skink kept trying to act like nothing was happening, or like it wasn't bothering her. She could feel her tail twitching, though, betraying her nerves. Finally, as she finished pulling that jersey over her head and down over herself, she rounded on the hyena and looked up at her face. "Alright, you need to back off."

Sound confident. Certain. Don't make it a request.

"What's the matter?" Jackie leaned in close so that there was little distance between their faces. "You like staring at people. I figured you'd like the same."

Lauren didn't pull away, even as she felt the hyena's warm breath on her face. Most of her effort was being spent on not trying to shove Jackie away from her. The hyena had a foot and probably a hundred pounds on her - all it would do was piss her off. Instead, she tried to swallow as quietly as possible. "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Drop the stupid act, bitch." The sweetness was gone in an instant. "You're staring at me. Every time I catch a glance, you've got your eyes on me. Now, what the fuck is it you want to say to me?" She smiled wide, her teeth glistening with saliva. "Come on. Got all the time in the world now."

The words came out before Lauren could stop herself. "If I scream, there'll be somebody here in a heartbeat." She knew how stupid that was, but she kept going. "Besides, I did my fucking research. I know all about old man Turnbull and his 'views.'"

Jackie howled with laughter, not a second between Lauren's threat and full blown hyena cackling. "Oh man, you're going to be fun." Then she drew her fist back, and before Lauren could react, brought it back forward. Lauren's legs felt weak as the fist swung right past her face. She felt the impact vibrate through the bank of lockers, and against her shoulder. Jackie went on. "What? You think you've got a leg up on me because you spent five minutes on the internet, hmm?"

She couldn't back down. She couldn't. "Yeah, y'know what Jackie? I did. I saw what ol' Teddy Turnbull said at rallies, who he fucking spent time with. Bet that wouldn't look great if it came to light." She was treading on dangerous territory. She didn't care. She couldn't stop as her voice rose. "And you know what? I've dealt with your type for the past two years. You don't fucking scare me anymore." She wanted to run. She wanted to fucking run.

"And you know who you don't see at those rallies?" Jackie's face perked up to that sweet smile she always gave people in public. "His. God. Damn. Granddaughter." The smile disappeared. "Not once. No photos. No documents. No donations. Not a single trace of evidence. All that would come out," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket, the screen displaying a timer counting up, "is that mean ol' Lauren tried to shame poor ol' Jackie out of her big chance at achieving her dream." She lowered her eyelids. "What. A fucking. Tragedy." She held the phone right up to Lauren's face, her finger hitting the button to stop recording it. "Now, tell me, what is my type?"

Lauren managed to keep her face straight for the entire exchange. Inside, she still felt like she was going to collapse at any second. Even when that camera was being shoved in her face, she kept her eyes trained on Jackie. As the video finally stopped recording, and Jackie waited for her response, Lauren was quiet. Her brain was trying to come up with something. Anything, really. At long last, though, all that came out was her voice, thin through a clenched jaw. "We have to do this stupid photoshoot. Let's just get it over with."

Jackie straightened herself up. She stepped back to allow Lauren to pass. She slipped the phone into her pocket. "By the way." She waited for the skink to stop. "If you're going to stalk someone, take it from a master, mask your IP address." She put her finger on her chin. "483 Rockwood." Lauren finally froze at that. That was her address. That was where her dad was still living. Jackie kept speaking, clearly enjoying the skink's reaction. "What a juicy little bit of information that those pred supremacists would love to find out." She waggled her fingers. "See you out there. Best. Friend."

Lauren walked by, and kept walking. She didn't stop until she was at the door. She undid the deadbolt, and then stepped out.

A few makeup artists and the photographer were there, conferring with the frog from earlier. As soon as Lauren stepped out, they swarmed over to her, and Lauren had to swallow back the bile in her throat and let them start fussing over her. At one point, as they tested base coats that would keep her scales from making too much glare, one of the makeup artists shook his head.

"Oh but my dear, you look so flushed!"

"She's probably just not used to the Vegas heat!" Jackie's bubbly, charming voice spoke, and Lauren tried not to flinch. The hyena must have stepped out of the dressing room at some point.

The next half hour was absolute hell. The photographer asked the two of them to get into various poses, and assume various expressions while she took shot after shot of them. It might not have been as bad, if the photographer hadn't been so focused on getting the two of them looking aggressive. Lauren got far more close up views of Jackie's significant muscles flexing than she wanted.

When it was finally over, Lauren dreaded stepping into that dressing room with the hyena. Jackie just spent the few minutes humming casually to herself. Lauren got changed as quickly as she could, and then almost ran down the steps to the front of the studio.

When the car pulled up, she had to resist the urge to dive into the back. Once she was there, she pulled out her phone, hoping to call... she didn't know? Susie? Luther? Her dad? Her uncle? They all flashed through her head as she got her phone up, and unlocked it... just in time for it to shut itself down as its battery ran out.

Lauren stared at the blank screen. She took a few very deep breaths, and resisted the urge to throw the phone out the car's window. She forced herself to put it down on the seat beside her, and then lowered her head into her hands.

She couldn't tell them. Of course she couldn't. Susie could huff and puff all she wanted, but Jackie had her on a video that she could cut and edit to make look even more damning. What the hell was Luther supposed to do? Or her dad, or her uncle? All Jackie had done was drop her dad's home address. In private, too. There wasn't much that Lauren could do with that.

It was late afternoon by the time that Lauren got back to her hotel. She stumped through the lobby, and leaned against the wall of the elevator as it brought her up. When she swiped her way through into her hotel room, the blinds were pulled and it was dark. Quiet. Clean. There wasn't a sign that Lady had ever been there.

Lauren didn't bother to turn the lights on. She kicked off her shoes, and then stumbled into the bedroom. She had just enough awareness to remember to plug her phone in, before she collapsed face first onto her bed.

It wasn't going to end. It wasn't ever going to fucking end. She wasn't going to get away from all of this bullshit.

She was half-awake when her phone filled up its charge enough to switch back on. It gave a small beep, and Lauren turned her head to glance at it. A small blue light was blinking on it - the indication that there was a text message waiting.

---

The next day, Lauren got to the restaurant half an hour early. It was already starting to fill up for the lunch rush. She wasn't normally the overly early type, but... somehow she knew that Lady would probably show up early or something. Do whatever it is that helped put her in control of the situation, helped her put Lauren off-balance and...

The skink stopped, and forced herself to take a deep breath. Okay. Okay. She had to at least try to act like things were normal. She couldn't fly right into crazy conspiracy theories right off the bat.

"Hi!" came a call from behind her. If she weren't in a crowded restaurant, Lauren might have shrieked. Lauren turned, and the corgi, hands in the pockets of her jeans, beamed at her. "You had the same idea I did, I guess." Lady's weird Pennsylvanian twang clashed with her overly chipper personality. "I was hoping you might like a restaurant like this."

Lauren opened her mouth to speak, but she froze up. Part of it was the immediate memory of the last time she'd seen the other player, in her hotel room the morning before without any pants on. A much bigger part of it, though, was her just not knowing what to say. So she stared for a few moments longer, just long enough for it to get awkward, before she cleared her throat. "Uh. Hey. Yeah, let's, uh. You wanna eat?"

"Yup!" If she had a tail, it would probably be wiggling. She walked in past the skink, and Lauren followed her. She kept her head low, and her hands in her pockets.

The smell of spice washed over them as they moved out of the lobby and into the restaurant proper. Inside, a chickadee took them to their seats near the buffet of Indian food. Lady settled into her seat and looked expectantly at Lauren.

The skink took a seat, and finally looked up, meaning to jump right into what she wanted to say. As her eyes settled on the corgi's face, though, she blinked.

"Uh." She swallowed. "Let's, uh... let's get food." She was already back on her feet, her long tail coiling around her leg as she walked pointedly towards the buffet, not looking at Lady.

Lady didn't follow immediately. Lauren heard her speaking to their server, probably placing some sort of additional order. The skink appreciated the space.

Lauren took her time grabbing her food. By the time she got back to their table, her plate was piled high like only a pro athlete could manage - there were a number of curries and dals, spread across a mountain of rice. She also had a plate laden down with pakoras balanced on her forearm. She was surprised to find a mango lassi waiting in front of her spot. No doubt Lady's doing. She eyed it suspiciously, and gave it a sip.

It was delicious. Of course it was. She sighed.

By the time Lady came back to the table, Lauren was just staring at the drink, having not touched any of her food.

The corgi still managed a cheery demeanour. She picked up her fork and started digging in, effectively breaking the ice. She ate for a moment without yet approaching talking, though Lauren didn't notice how the corgi's eyes kept flicking up to look at her. Finally, the corgi cleared her throat. "Are you okay?"

Lauren didn't react at first. When she finally moved, it was to let out a very long breath. "Look, I'm sorry if this is aggressive or mean or... whatever. I need to know what last night was."

"What it was?" There was a long silence. "Well, I don't know. What's it to you?"

"I mean, like..." She made a vague, frustrated gesture. "I don't just do this, okay? Not with people I really know. But like, you're always acting nice to me, and you seem to just know things, and then last night happened, and I-" Lauren cut herself off, and forced herself to take a deep breath while she rubbed at her temple. "I need to know what you want out of this."

"Not you stressing out about it, for one." When Lauren finally looked up, Lady had a much more serious expression than the skink had ever seen on her. It wasn't antagonistic, but there was less of perky corgi that she normally saw. Lady took another bite of food, clearly mulling over her next words. "I reckon you don't know me all that well, and I'm nice to everybody, because most everyone deserves it. What do you think I 'know'?"

"My favourite things? Like, foods and stuff. And like..." Lauren groaned as she listened to herself rambling. The skink took a moment to keep return to staring at her untouched food. "I guess my life is just way more complicated right now than it needs to be. So like... if there is something more you're looking for here, whatever that is, I want to just know it up front."

Lady ate a few more forkfuls of food before she responded. "I don't want anything from you. If I'm making you happy, that's enough."

Lauren looked back up from her plate, and eyed the corgi. "So like... this. All of this stuff. You aren't looking for an angle. You're not looking for a relationship. It's just..." She trailed off, then nodded meaningfully down at the table. "Just lunch?"

"Just lunch. Just sex. What's weird about that?" Lady ate a little more, seeming to grow more comfortable with the situation. "You've never just had lunch?"

Lauren let out a very long sigh. She picked up her fork, and finally began eating. Her responses were slow. "I didn't stay in touch with many friends after high school. I spent the past two years trying to figure out how and when my teammates were going to try to sabotage me next. And the past couple months have been rough. So no. 'Just lunch' with somebody hasn't been a thing for quite a while." She swallowed a big forkful, and then added. "Sorry. Not your problem - I'm just venting."

"Then vent." Lady smiled. "If it helps." She patted Lauren's hand. "People have tried to sabotage you?"

Lauren tensed at that. She shoved another forkful into her mouth, and forced herself to chew it slowly and swallow before responding. "All the time. That's just... I mean, that was how TBPC worked - if you weren't the best, you were nothing. Great way to encourage teamwork. And like, I was hoping the FBA would be different, but..." She trailed off, then covered her hesitation with a sip of lassi. She couldn't go down that road. "So you really don't mind me just... dumping this on you?"

Lady shook her head. "I offered."

Lauren gave a stiff nod. She hesitated a long time before her next question. "Right. So in that case... friends? Because I could use a few right now."

"That's the best I can look for." She held out her hand for a shake.

Lauren took her hand, and shook it. Afterwards, she went back to her food, letting them just eat in silence for a while. At last she looked up, and cocked an eyebrow. "So uh... what's next for you?"

Lady paused. She still managed a smile, though she gave a sigh of uncertainty. "I'm not sure. Maybe it was damned foolish of me, but I had my future pegged here."

Lauren watched Lady as she spoke. The skink swallowed down her mouthful, and then tried to force certainty into her voice. "I mean, I don't think it was foolish. Like, worst case scenario, there's the D-League, but uh..." She squirmed a bit in her seat, and then muttered, "Like, you made me nervous at the combine. I think you made a bunch of people nervous with how good you were. People just weren't expecting it because of, well..." She nodded meaningfully.

Lady chuckled. "I didn't do that great, be honest. It was just day one. I'm fast, and I can get the ball where it needs to go. Maybe that's not quite enough to overcome my...impairment."

"Lady. Take a look around this draft class. Most of them are obsessed with making themselves the next big thing. They all want to go out and put up points and see their faces during the instant replays." She shrugged. "What we're lacking are people who know how to put a ball where it belongs. You know. People who can help a team win."

Lady kept her smile. "Well, maybe next time, huh?"

They were both quiet after that. They both knew the backwards nature of that statement. Almost no one returned after they hadn't been drafted.

Afterwards, things drifted into more casual topics of conversation. Things that Lauren felt safer with. It was all comments on the food, or conversations about the other draftees. Lauren hoped that Lady didn't notice when she fell a bit quiet at the topic of Jackie.

It was about an hour later that the two of them made their way back out into the heat of Las Vegas. They parted to go their respective ways - Lady was leaving later that night, but Lauren had to head out that afternoon to head to Huntsville. Her dad was handling having her things shipped there, so all she had to do was land and start looking for a place to stay.

It was a long flight. Lauren was thankful when she found that Jackie hadn't wound up on the same flight as her. That might have been enough to put her over the edge. But still, she was forced to spend that entire afternoon, and into the evening, considering everything that was coming. Susie's reassurances kept ringing in her ears, but she might still be wrong. And Jackie was for sure going to be an ongoing problem now.

She was exhausted as she stepped off of the plane, and made her way out of the secure area. A representative from the Mayors was waiting with a sign with her name on it, and she followed him to a car that would take her to her hotel for the next few days.

It was as she was getting into the car that her phone beeped, and then beeped again, and again and again. Lauren blinked, and fished the phone out. There were a number of texts waiting from Lady. She scrolled back through them, past about a page of star and heart emojis. Finally, her eyes came to rest on the first text.

OMG OMG OMG Lauren LAUREN I got an offer I GOT AN OFFER I'M IN THE LEAGUE

Lauren stared at the text for a long few moments, holding her breath. Then, she cleared her throat once, and held in a small sniffle. She started writing up her reply as the car pulled away.

Okay. Things were going to continue being complicated, and sometimes they were going to keep sucking. Sometimes, though, it seemed like they might just be good, too.