FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hex stabbed a fork into the take out carton, hunting for a piece of meat in the greasy contents and coming back with another chunk of broccoli. Grunting a bit in displeasure, he popped it into his mouth and chewed slowly. Setting the takeout box on the floor he leaned forward a bit, resting his chin in hand, looking at the notebooks spread out in front of him. His right wing twitched, scratching at the back of his neck as he tried to make sense of Nay's system. Even after these years he couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Nay sat across from him on the floor of the office, chopsticks shoved into a carton of her own, pen tucked in her feathers as she flipped through a notebook. She had that look of quiet intensity as she went back and forth from one notebook to the next, looking over the different colors of ink and shorthand to decipher it all. Giving a bit of a yawn and rubbing his eyes Hex stretched, wings spreading as much as they could in the cramped office. Looking at the security monitors he could see that the concert was getting ready to start, people paying their cover as they headed in.

"Nay, give me some good news for a change, please. I could use a pick me up." Hex grabbed the carton back up and went hunting again, moving aside questionable bits of vegetables as he hunted for even more questionable meat.

Taking the pen out, Nay made a few marks with it on a clean page, looking over at a calculator to double check her work, "Well thanks to this little concert we should have enough cash to float till next month, maybe even to the middle of the month."

Taking the fork out, Hex jabbed it toward Nay, "I said good news Nay. That doesn't sound good."

Frowning, Nay took up her takeout box and started to eat, chopsticks clicking, "That is the good news Hex. What do you want me to say? Things haven't been good this month. They haven't been good these past few months. We're losing them almost as fast as we're getting them out there. Old Man's guys flooded the streets with some cheap new meth and its fucking everyone up. If they aren't ODing they are getting jumped by some meth head looking to score. Or getting their shit kicked in. Streets are rougher than usual right now. I'm hoping it burns itself out."

Sighing, Hex set his carton down again. Just fucking vegetables. Well it wasn't called Shitty Wok for nothing. At first he'd thought it was a joke name: Trash Burger, Shitty Wok, Garbage Pit. Name your place something bad cause the food is so good. No, the food was just shit. The joke is it's the only thing you can afford. Rubbing his temples a bit, he pinched at the bridge of his nose, taking a few breaths.

Looking back at Nay, he shook his head to clear his thoughts, "Fine. Bad News it is. Who all did we lose?"

Chewing, Nay looked over at a notebook, "Mary overdosed, dead. Francis stabbed by a junkie, dead. Billie got fucked up by a John, so he is done for a few weeks. Justina got pinched and I guess we can try making bail but that's another expense. Neveah just flat disappeared, no idea what happened. And, uh, there was the one boy, well you know what happened there. So we are down some talent."

Hex had already blocked that name in his head. There was a brief pinch of pain at the sound of it, but he pushed it right back down. Hex could feel the burning deep inside, starting to rise. He knew life wasn't fair, who thought it was, but damn him if it didn't seem like it was working against him sometimes. Setback after setback. Loss after loss. Clenching his fists, he took a breath, held it, and let it out. Standing up he grabbed the bottom of his shirt, pulling it over his head.

Looking at Nay, he gave a bit of a nod, "I need to think."

Setting down her carton, Nay watched as Hex turned toward the wall, his scarred back to her. She leaned over, looking through the things shoved against the wall and found the heavy leather belt, doubling it over as she stood up. Hex had already shoved the well chewed piece of belt leather in his mouth, biting down, waiting for the first strike. Setting her stance Nay raised the belt, bringing it down hard between Hex's wings.

Hex cleared his mind as he waited for the blow to come, the first blow crashing down with a bright, clear pain. As it faded the next one came, Nay spacing them out to let him feel each one. Grunting hard, biting down on the leather bit between his teeth, he felt the pain roll over him in waves. He savored it, enjoyed it, putting everything into each blow. Each strike on his flesh was a worry, a fear, and problem that seemed to fade as the pain faded. Nay kept at it for long minutes till Hex finally raised a hand, sweat rolling down his back and chest.

Turning, he grabbed Nay around the waist and pulled her against him. Kissing her, he pressed his body against her's, holding her tight. The pain was fading, leaving just a dull, hot ache along his back and shoulders. Running a finger along her cheek, he smiled a bit, "You're getting better. I think you almost enjoyed that."

Laying her head on his chest, Nay snorted, giving a smile, "Well, what can I say, the idea of kicking your butt just grows more and more appealing by the day. So, what are we going to do, Hexy?"

Another kiss and letting her go, Hex walked over to the monitors, watching the flow of people. They had the Warehouse to themselves; he'd just wanted a place to run their operations but Nay had seen opportunity. She'd gone through the property records in city hall, found a place that was tied up between owners and no one would miss. She was amazing.

This town was shit. It was an animal that ate people and shit them out when it was done. But while they were still here, those people needed to take their minds off their petty, depressing lives. Can't make rent, can't buy food, but you can scrape together enough for a show. You can always find a few bucks to pay for some flesh. You'll be able to find room in the budget to get high. Vice was what made money, you just had to know where to look.

Nay had been right; they had to expand their operation beyond just the street meat. The concert was a stroke of brilliance. They took most of the cover, the band got to feel special, and they had a captive audience for their booze and flesh and drugs. Shooting fish in a barrel. Things were clicking into place in his mind. Waving Nay over, putting an arm around her shoulders, he pointed to the monitor.

"Look at em. Hundreds of people here to spend a few hours escaping their miserable little existences by fighting, fucking, and boozing. We didn't have to force them to be here. We're going to entertain them, Red. We'll get them so blasted out of their minds they'll line up and hand us their money."

Looking at where Hex pointed, Nay gave a bit of a tsk, her hand idly stroking over Hex's chest, "Entertain them? With what, every trash band this shitty town has? Going to grow real old, real quick. I didn't think you wanted to start a music label, Hex."

A sort of feral grin spread over his face, "We're not going to go more legit, Nay. We're going to go more illegal. Give the people that raw meat they can't get anywhere else. Downtown has boxing? We got bloodsport. They have strip clubs? We got sex shows. They have a bar? We got a friggin opium den. We're going to play to every base desire those bunch of degenerates have and rob them blind while we do it."

Nay frowned a bit, running a finger over the thick scar across Hex's chest, "Old Man's goons won't like that. Might start to step on their toes, cut into their business. Could bring a lot of heat down on us and I don't think we can fight him. Not yet."

Fingers running own her back, he chuckled, "Fuck em. They can deal. The beast is wounded and we are just going to start biting at the flanks. Bleed them slow. Old Man can't control everything now. Now let's talk talent."

Kissing his chest as she walked away, Nay went over to the single file cabinet in the office and opened the top drawer, pulling out a large, rubber banded stack of pictures. Returning to their spots on the floor, Nay pulled the rubber band off and started to spread the pictures out, looking through them.

Street kids. In the city they were everywhere and, if they were lucky, might last a year before they got swallowed up. Without a home some people might think that you couldn't keep track of them. Truth was with no money, no job, no place to be street kids were more predictable in a way. Only so many places for them to go during the day and sleep at night. They clustered up for protection and socialization. Made them easier to pick off.

Nay had some of the guys keep tabs on the larger groups, giving them a camera and telling them to take pictures of anyone they wanted to. Oddly it was an efficient system; the brutes they hired for muscle had the same taste as the ones that paid for flesh. On the back some of the pictures had names, locations, when they were last seen. She let Hex look through the stack; he seemed to have a knack for finding new talent.

Flipping through the stack Hex winnowed it down into a few piles: Yes, No, Maybe. Then he paused, looking at one. Punk boy, dyed hair, fangs. Something jumped out at him. It was the eyes. Flipping the picture over, he looked at the writing. Mason Lee, aka Tusk.

Nay groaned, "Not that little shit."

Hex laughed, surprised, "What, you know him? Go out do dinner? Walks in the park?"

Rolling her eyes, Nay snatched the picture, "I know of him. Little trash goblin. Lives with that burnout by the railyard. Freddy? Something like that. Guys have had to run him off a few times, trying to deal without paying. Just skunk weed, a few pills here and there, but nothing big. Lot of fake shit, ruins the rep around here. Small time hustler, big time hot head. Took a swing at Bruce."

That brought a smile to Hex's face, "Hm a fighter then. Sounds like the boy has a lot of ambition, he's hungry. I think we can use that."

Nay interrupted, pointing at the monitor."Well speak of the fucking devil and the cock sucker will appear."

With a grin, he saw the boy there clear as day. Despite the choppy monitor he could see the anger bubbling in him as he confronted a pair of mice, heading off into the pit. Standing up he grabbed his shirt, tugging it over his head and wincing as it pressed against sore flesh. Grabbing his jacket and a bottle, he grabbed the door, "Well, let's not let opportunity slip through our fingers. I'll be back."

Walking down the metal steps that led from the office to the space below, Hex looked around for his prey. It didn't take him long to find the deer boy, slumped up against the wall, a few fresh bruises starting to form on his face, "You look like you could use a swig."

The boy gave a ghost of a smile, "Just when I thought everyone here was a savage."

Hex grinned slowly. Time to lay on the praise, "I saw you down in the pit. You might be the most savage on here."

Taking a long pull off the bottle, the boy replied, "I dunno...ever have one of those days where you just have to hit someone."

Hex scoffed, lighting a cigarette, "Everyday."

Pulling the block of fake shit out of his pocket, the boy looked up, offering, "Hey man you want to buy some hash? It's really good shit, it's really sticky though, so you, um, have to..."

Hex laughed to himself as the boy trailed off. Normally, he'd skull stomp someone that was both trying to sell on his turf and trying to pass off fake shit. Lose the faith of the crowd and they stop coming. Instead, he grinned, "Heh. Cute hustle, but if you want to make some real money I know a way you can clear 200 bucks tonight."

The boy laughed, rolling his eyes, "How many guys am I going to have to blow to make that?"

Time to push, "About 10."

"Wait, like, seriously?"

Encourage, praise, stroke the ego. Let him feel special, "You're hot. I could easily line up 10 for you, 20 bucks each, you'd be done in under an hour. Or do you have a girlfriend or something?" Piss him off, taunt him. Work the ego.

"Girlfriend? Hell no. 200 bucks? Fuck it, sounds like fun!"

Wing and arm enfolded the boy's shoulder, pulling him along. Don't let him think, shock him, keep him going, "You know what a glory hole is?"

"Uh..." The boy hesitated, "I think I saw that in a porno once."

Pushing open a door, Hex waved the boy over, "Hang on. Let's go in this one. There's a hole on each side."

The boy was starting to lose confidence, "Both sides...? O-oh right. Um, cool."

Now he was coaching. Hex continued, calm, "Put your fingers in the hole when you're ready for the next one, and try not to talk. Most of these guys think they are getting a girl, but we know you're every bit as pretty as one, and probably twice as good." Encourage, praise, stroke the ego. Let him feel special, make him feel that attention.

"Like this...HOLYSHIT!"

"Less talking, more sucking. Go get some!"

The boy was insatiable. He took cock after cock, working each one before going after the other. Hex had to admit he was a bit impressed. Usually they would do three or four before their sense caught up with them. Standing in the doorway, arms crossed, he looked down with a grin. Encourage, praise, stroke the ego. Make him feel special, "I knew you were a natural." Up the ante, push his limits, "Hey, the next guy wants your ass, double the fee, more if he fucks you bareback."

"How do I..."

Don't let him think, "Shh, baby, just nod."

Sure enough, the boy went along with it. Hex was a bit surprised he passed the test. Fuck some random dude in a gloryhole bareback? Boy was hot, but not that bright. When he was done, Hex took the cash out. Encourage, praise, stroke the ego. Make him feel special, "What a hot slut. If you ever want to make some real money come find me again." Raise the stakes, plant the seed, feed the fear, "And stop selling that fake crap, you can spot it a mile away, and someone might hurt that pretty face of yours."

As the boy staggered off, drunk off the experience, a wide grin split Hex's face. This boy was a natural. Taking the steps two at a time he reached the office, throwing the door open and startling Nay. She jumped up, reaching for the gun under the mattress before she saw him. Standing up, she huffed a bit, hands on hips, "The hell, Hex? You scared the crap out of me."

In two strides he was across the room, kissing Nay and dipping her back, wings enfolding her. Surprised, her arms came up to embrace him, hand touching his cheek. Setting her back up, grinning, Hex proclaimed, "Red, you are a genius. That boy is going to get us out of all this. I thought it was ambition, but that kid needs something a lot worse."

Recovering, smoothing a few loose feathers, Nay cocked her head, "What's that?"

Picking up the picture of Tusk, Hex grinned, stroking a finger over it, "Attention. Give him a little bit of it, and he'll do anything. Worse than that new meth."

A disgusted look came over Nay's face, "Ug...you're going to have to fuck him, aren't you? You're getting tested after that, no clue where that little rat has been. I don't want to catch anything from that street kid."

Hex laughed a bit, kissing Nay on the forehead, "Don't you worry, just gotta slam the lil slut's brains out a few times, then dump him wanting more. I'll string the little bitch along. The sacrifices we have to make."

Nay simply rolled her eyes and flipped him off, grabbing the pack of cigarettes, lighting one up.

Tossing the picture on the floor, he shrugged off his jacket, accidentally stepping on Tusk's picture, "And you're right, little shit is selling some fake ass hash. Word of that shit gets out and no one will want to buy here. He's got a friend trying to sell. Send Kyle down to make the buy and then go rough up that burnout. Should scare the kid enough, make him come running for protection."

Nay nodded. Kyle was pretty level headed, for a rhino that is. He had his moments but was one of the reliable crew members, "I'll get him down there now. I doubt he'll have any issues with those two."

The pain had receded a bit, but was still warm and welcome as it burned under his shirt, "Oh Tusk, I think you're going to do very well for us."