Raiyev Part 6
#6 of Raiyev
Toni caught Raiyev's eyes and gently nodded her head, her face looking genuinely concerned about something. With a final glance around the large hallway, Raiyev slowly approached the ferret.
"You wanted to see me about something?" he asked her, the curiosity in his voice more than apparent.
"Yes," she replied in a whisper, casting her eyes about nervously.
"Why did I have to come alone? What is this all about?"
"I have to tell you...you are involved in something--something much larger than you or me. I fear you might be in danger."
Raiyev gave an odd sort of laugh. "What the hell are you talking about?" he said skeptically. Surely this was some type of elaborate practical joke, he thought.
"This is no joke!" Toni exclaimed angrily, reading him. "Look--they changed it all. They lied to us. That's why today has been so busy. That's why--"
"Changed what? Who is 'they'?"
"Look, I know that I'm being watched. I don't have much time."
"Yeah, sure." Raiyev was still unbelieving of this odd ferret.
"Do you know what happened to the guy I replaced? Do you know what happened to Edward?" Toni had played a wild card, and Raiyev was taken aback. Raiyev had met Edward Haskins before; he had been Dr. Paxton's former personal assistant and secretary. Raiyev hadn't even given thought as to why Haskins was no longer at EarthTech. Subconsciously, he had just assumed that Haskins had quit or was fired, but now that Toni had brought it up, he wasn't so sure anymore.
"Raiyev, listen--this is most urgent. You have to stop everything. Just go off somewhere. Leave EarthTech--just for a while, at least."
"This is insane. I can't leave my job! I can't leave Brad, either! Will you just tell me why? What the hell is going on?"
"It's why the planet is shrinking. It's--"
"MS. HAWTHORNE!" called a shrill voice from further down the hall. Dr. Paxton had just rounded the corner and was trotting down towards the two of them. The tail of her white lab coat was fluttering behind her. The course, frizzy fur on her head looked unkempt, and her glasses were in complete disarray, nearly falling off her face. She was an aging and ever-so-slightly eccentric German poodle, but Raiyev knew that she still usually took better care of herself than this.
"Ms. Hawthorne, I've been looking all over for you! I need you--immediately!" Her high-pitched voice pierced what had been the near-silence of the corridor. When she finally reached the ferret, she grabbed Toni's arm and started to pull her away. Raiyev didn't know what to make of this and just stayed rooted to the spot. "You can finish this conversation later, Raiyev," she called back as she promptly made her way with Toni towards the exit from which she came.
"Raiyev!" Toni called, her face turned to him. She wasn't showing any signs of struggling to get away, but Raiyev saw a look on her face that looked as if she though she was being led to her death. "Raiyev! Just do as I told you!"
And with that, Toni and Paxton rounded the corner and were out of sight. Raiyev finally found his legs again and started down the corridor towards the exit he saw the two of them take. But he didn't see anyone as he peered around the corner--they had moved quickly and were gone. He just stood there a minute, contemplating whether or not he should try to follow them. After all, it's not like he didn't know where the Astronomy department was. But he had a strange gut feeling that he shouldn't follow. He chucked it up to being reason, the logic that he could always talk with Toni the next day. Besides, it probably wouldn't be best to further disturb an upset department head. One thing he knew for sure from his brief conversation with Toni was that he wasn't leaving his job based on the ravings of someone he had only just met.
Somewhat drudgingly, the raccoon made his way to the front security desk. "Not even an ear bent towards that yelling?" he asked Bilicek, who had her face buried behind a copy of Reader's Digest.
"Don't ask, don't tell," she replied apathetically, still staring at the magazine. She looked up over the top of her magazine as Raiyev gently slid his security badge across the laminated countertop. "Checking out?"
"If it's not too much trouble," he replied. She gave an obvious sigh and took the badge. Raiyev signed out and left. She must be one of the worst security guards this place has ever seen, he thought as he passed through the doors at the Eastern entrance. Brad was waiting for him, the car in neutral just in front of the steps leading to the front entrance. The parking lot looked much emptier than it had earlier that morning when Raiyev and Brad arrived, but the couple dozen cars still there told Raiyev that some scientists might be up for an even longer shift.
"So what was that about?" Brad asked his fiancée as he opened the car door.
Raiyev sat down and felt something squish and crunch under him. He got back up and picked up a squashed and damp Styrofoam box. "My lunch, I presume?" he sighed, holding it up.
"Sorry," Brad replied as Raiyev sat back down, tossed the squashed leftovers in the back seat, and buckled up. "So...?" Obviously, Brad was eager to learn who had seen Raiyev and why.
"It was Toni Hawthorne--that ferret I bumped into this morning."
"Really?" Brad said, sounding intrigued. He shifted gears and started towards the exit. "What did she want?"
"I never got to really know. We were interrupted when her boss, Dr. Paxton, came by and said she needed her." Brad looked at Raiyev, his face twisted quizzically. "Yeah, odd. I know. What's odder is what she was starting on about."
"What do you mean?" Brad asked eagerly. Something in Brad's voice sounded almost expectant, which made Raiyev hesitate a moment before going into a full account of his contact with Toni.
"I'll just ask her to finish tomorrow," he said when he finished telling his story. "I mean, she acts as if she knows why the earth is shrinking, and that it's got something to do with me."
Brad paused a moment, apparently deep in thought. Finally, he said, "Hmm...well, I don't know how much time you'll have if you plan to ask her tomorrow. That emergency UN meeting is tomorrow, you know. Anything they decide to do could dramatically change everything we're trying to do. I suppose everyone will be busy watching the news tomorrow."
"Perhaps..." Raiyev hadn't really thought much about the complications tomorrow's UN meeting could bring. He decided it was best to just let tomorrow play itself out and to not worry about it just now.
The two raccoons talked for the rest of the car ride home about their day and what they had found out, if anything. The talk really helped Raiyev keep his mind from wandering too much with crazy ideas about what Toni's warning could have meant. When they finally got home and got some dinner in them, they started to watch the news to see if anything new had developed.
Brad was stretched out on the couch in front of the TV, and Raiyev was lying on top of him. Brad's arms were wrapped around Raiyev's waist, their hands clasped together. There was nothing new on the news, much to their dismay--just more about how the earth was shrinking. But lying there with Brad, watching all the information run by on screen made Raiyev realize something.
"I want to get married soon," Raiyev said to his lover. "If we never find out anything...if we can't find a way to counteract all this...I want to know that you and I were as close as we could be for as long as we could be."
Brad seemed to have trouble finding words. After a moment, he just nuzzled against Raiyev's cheek and said, "Okay."
"I love you," Raiyev said, turning around to face his lover.
"I love you, too," Brad replied, his eyes shining as he stared deeply at the smaller raccoon. He pressed his lips against his fiancée's, softly at first, but harder as he felt Raiyev press back into him. Raiyev reached for the remote and turned off the television.
Brad carefully held Raiyev as he got up from the couch. He carried the smaller raccoon to their bedroom, set him down on the bed, and laid down with him. The two nuzzled for about half an hour before finally making love to one another.
Tears poured gently down Raiyev's cheeks as his lover gently but passionately kissed and made love to him--he couldn't remember a time when he felt happier and more in love with his fiancée. He wanted simply to lie there, forever in the protection of the beefy raccoon's arms. He almost feared that he needed to stay with Brad like this forever, or else something ill would befall him. It was passion at its peak. Raiyev curled his tail around Brad and held him as tight as he could for as long as he could. The night was long and beautiful, but the two raccoons eventually fell asleep in each other's arms, neither with a thought about what the next day would bring them.