New Jobs and New Lives
#1 of That's Life
Bill: Hey there fellow furs. I'm new here and I hope I get some furries to notice my stories.
*A furry and a scaly come up behind Bill. Bill turns from the computer screen to meet-and-greet his friends*
Female Furry: Hey Bill, what are you up too.
Male Scaly:(mocking) Yeah, what the hell you up to now?
Female Furry: Oh Darkside, don't be that way to our creator.
Darkside: Sorry Shadow.
Shadow: Well, you should be, acting like that in front of our creator.
Bill: Well, if you two must know, I was just about to write a story for some furries.
Darkside: Oh yeah?
Shadow: What about?
*Bill turns back to the screen and types some more for the furry viewers*
Bill: Oh, how rude of me. Fellow furs, these two are my fursonas (pointing to the furry and scaily behind him).
Shadow: Hello, (eagerly waves at the furries reading this script, big grin on her muzzle) I'm Shadow Stillwater, and I'm an albino pantheress.
Darkside:(mockingly waves at the furries reading this script, straight faced muzzle) And I'm "Not Interested."
Shadow: Ha, ha (mocking laugh) very funny. Don't mind him, fellow furs. His name is Darkside Stillwater; my husband.
Darkside: Now that the "formalities" are over with, what were you going to write, besides everthing we say, and think.
*Darkside is annoyed*
Darkside: And stop writing what I think. And why do you speak in third person, it's just as annoying.
Bill: I like speaking in third person and I won't stop writing what you think because I love messing with you.
*Bill changes the subject*
Bill: Well, I was going to write about two guys going to Hollywood, but why don't I tell the story of you two?
Shadow: Good idea.
Darkside: (sarcasticly) Yeah, real original. And stop writing my tone of voice.
Bill: Never will I stop writing your tones of voice. For a script you need tones of voice, for it to work. And besides, I love messing with you.
Darkside: (defeated) Fine, I know you love messing with me.
Shadow: Bill, you do what you want, and me and Darkside will have a little fun in your bedroom. Darkside hasn't been in a good mood all day and I know just how to cure it.
*Darkside and Shadow walk off towards Bill's room.*
Bill:(calling after them) OK, just don't make too much of a mess.
Darkside and Shadow:(sing-song) We won't.
*Bill ends his script here, enters twice and starts to type his warning and later to type his story*
IMPORTANT WARNING:
If you have selected my story, then you have agreed you were 18 or 21, in some states, or older. If you are not 18 or older, pick up a toothpick and stab your eyes out and repeat to yourself, "I am a good christain, I am a good christain, I am a good christain," like the demented little kitten you are. If you are 18 years or older, then enjoy the story just don't splatter your keyboard ;) OK? Darkside and Shadow are copyright by their player Bill. Don't steal them unless you want your nose filled with cookies.
A young, ebony dragon parked his car in a parking lot and got out. He went to one of the back passanger doors and unlocked it. He combed through some of his belongings in the backseat and produced his suitcase filled with his paperwork. He shut the door and locked up the car. He turned around and started his trek up to the front doors of a big building. He stopped at the front entrance and looked up to the spike that needled the clouds on it's way up to the sky, just bearly touching it. He was filled with ambition, because the boss wanted to see him and he was hoping he'd get the job. He removed his gaze from the silver spire and walked through the main doors and up to the main desk to find a very young looking feline behind a computer, typing away. He placed his suitcase down along side himself and scanned the lobby.
The lobby had all kinds of things that made it comfortable and corpurate in unison. The table that sat in front of the couch was of a fine wood. On the table, a banzai curled upward from that nice wooden table. The thing was, the couch seemed comfortable, but you could never be too sure of a corpurate couch, and over the couch, a replica of the painting of the "Dogs Playing Poker" hung. A maple sapling sat on either side of the couch. Finally, to give the room the corpurate look, the walls were all painted white, and the floor had a bright red carpeting spilt across it. All and all, the room felt like a hospital waiting room, only there weren't any coughing or retching to be heard, or any vomit on the floor to be seen.
The young dragon brought his attention back towards the feline behind the desk. She had her reading glasses on and was reading all kinds of info that needed to be sent to the boss of the business.
Her glasses flashed as she turned to face the dragon; she was a very good looking female with deep, blue eyes. She also wore a simple, black suit with no tie. Also, her hair was done up in a low ponytail, and as an added bonus, her hair was a fine black and it was well brushed. And finally, her fur was a nice shade of orange and was well groomed.
"State your business," she said in a monotonous voice under her glistening glasses.
"Uh, a mister Skylyne wanted to see me," thrumed the dragon.
"Ah, then you must be that 'Darkside' kid he's been speaking about," she said monotonously. Her glasses sparkled as she turned to the speaker on her desk. She clicked a little talk button on the machine. "A mister Darkside is here to see you, Mr. Skylyne," she announced into the microphone. She removed her thin finger, which the nails on it were painted a bright red that duplicated the carpeting, from the button to get his response.
"Send him up, Ms. Breaker," said the speaker.
She turned to Darkside, glasses glimmering, and said, "The boss wants to see you. He's on the tenth floor; look for 'Mr. Skylyne' written on the door."
With that been said, the young dragon did a one-eighty and caught sight of the elevator. He picked up his suitcase and walked up to the controle panel with the up and down buttons and pressed the "up" button. He watched the dial above the doors go to the left and hit the first floor mark. The doors slid open and he entered. The elevator muzac was pleasant, but listening to it for a long period of time would drive anyone off the brink of sanity.
Darkside pressed the tenth floor button and slid over to the far right corner as the doors slid shut. He set down his suitcase, put his claws into his pocket, and was thruming peacefully to himself. He shut his eyes as he listened to that irritating muzac. A grin seemed to stretch wide upon his muzzle.
"Are you angry or something?" a male mouse asked. He was in the far left corner of the elevator, and he was shivering something awful; probably from Darkside's thruming.
"No, I'm not angry," said Darkside, "I'm the exact opposite right now. I believe I got the job, I just had to have gotten it." Darkside had a large, toothy grin on his muzzle, which really didn't help the mouse's nerves much. Darkside didn't notice, though, because he was just basking in his pride at the moment.
"Well," the mouse said, snapping Darkside out of his daze, "that sound can be mistaken for an angry growl."
"Oh, all dragons make this sound when they're pleased with something," Darkside answered the mouse's unannounced question.
"You're a dragon!?!" asked the mouse in shock. "You don't look like one," continued the mouse, raising an eybrow, "you look more like a liz-" He was then cut off immediately, because Darkside gave him a cold, dark stare. Darkside's thruming quickly faded to a deep and threatening growl. Steam started to seep from his nostrils as his growl deepened.
"Never... call... a dragon... that... name," Darkside said as he leaned in on the mouse, pausing between words for emphasis, steam still curling from his snout. His eyes seemed to flare with anger as he peirced into the eyes of the paralyzed rodent. The mouse feared the worst as the hot glare continued to leer in his direction. The mouse opened his mouth and moved it, but nothing was to be heard; Darkside was just too angry to hear. Darkside saw the mouth movieng and strained to listen to the frozen mouse.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to... what I mean is that... you don't have wings to show that..." the mouse seemed to stammer in fright. Darkside realized the fright in the mouse's expression and relaxed by falling back to the corner he was in. The steam stopped rolling from his snout as he leaned up against the wall again.
"Sorry I snapped at you, man, I just get mad when people say that word," Darkside said, feeling a little calmer; his eyes relaxing. The mouse relaxed a little, but was still uneasy. He then cleared his throat and started to hum nervously to himself as the elevator dragged itself upward.
The mouse stopped humming. "Apology accepted," said the mouse at last, sighing in relief.
The elevator rang at the fourth floor mark and stopped moving, then moved a little to correct itself, then came to a complete stop, which made the heart float up the body a little. "This is my floor," said the mouse as the doors slid open. The mouse hurridly exited and the doors shut tight, leaving Darkside alone. 'I musta really scared him,' Darkside thought, chuckling to himself. The elevator rumbled back to life and the ride continued upward to the promised land; the annoying muzac still playing away.
Darkside thrumed peacefully as he entered the open doorway that led to Mr. Skylyne's office. He stopped walking and looked around the office. The typical, stereotypical office. The floor was the same as the lobby's carpet, blood red, and the walls and ceiling were painted white. A painting of a tasteful nude mink laying down on her bed hung to the left of the room. Along side the painting sat a tree that would seem better to be placed next to a fireplace. 'Or in it,' thought Darkside, chuckling. He moved his gaze towards the desk. The desk had all the essentials: an "in 'n' out" container, a pen and pencil cup that read "World's Best Son" on the side, that goofy, green mat in the center of the desk that was meant for writing important papers on, and a little lamp on the corner of the desk to complete the look. Darkside brought his attention to the desk chair. A window with it's shades up was behind the chair. The chair, itself, was turned to face away from the door and a voice could be heard from behind said chair.
"Yes, mother, I know in a few days it's your birthday and trust me, I'll get you something real nice... alright... yeah... yeah.... I love you too, mom... goodbye," said a man as he hung up the phone. He swiveled his chair to meet eye-to-eye with a very anxious dragon. A badger he was; he had a cigar in his mouth. He wore a nice, blue suit with a red necktie. He had a smile stretched on his muzzle. "You must be Darkside. I have seen some of your websites and might I say, they are the best I've seen so far," he said, cigar bobbing as he spoke. "And a dragon to boot," he said, looking over Darkside, giving the "whoa" whistle.
"Well, thank you, I... wait, how'd you know I was a dragon?" asked Darkside curiously, setting down his suicase and then sitting across from Mr. Skylyne. Everyone always mistakened Darkside for something else.
"Oh, I know a mythical creature when I see one, and dragons are no myth, no sir," said Mr. Skylyne with a smile still stretched across.
"Well, sir, if you don't mind me saying," started Darkside, "but you're the first one to actually know what I am, and I thank you for not saying the 'L' word." Darkside's muzzle developed a grin that would make even the cheshire cat jealous. He felt more relaxed, because someone had finally recognized what he was.
"Well, I know how a dragon feels when they are called that word, so I was very careful to not make my new employee uncomfortable or angry," said Mr. Skylyne. Unbeknownst to Darkside, the desk clerk phoned ahead to warn Mr. Skylyne that his new employee was going to be a dragon, so he had prepared himself for Darkside's arival just in time. "I have read your job application and resume and I see you have experience with computers. Also, your grades are just fine," said Mr. Skylyne, looking over Darkside's paperwork.
"Oh, I dabble with computers a little," Darkside said, feeling his face get warm, "but I'm not that good." Darkside had a few sites up on the internet, but he never looked at how many hits they actually got.
"I have seen your sites and noticed the hit counters," said Mr. Skylyne, "and the hits are very extensive, at least a million hits, at least."
"That many hits! I never check my hit counters!" said Darkside, surprised. Darkside was good with animations and he knew where to get info on just about everything, but he was very modest of his skills.
"Also, your attention to detail is very close to flawless; only a few flaws I saw with the sites, but that's completely fine," said Mr. Skylyne with a grin. He brought his eyes up to see a very embarrassed dragon sitting in the chair across from him. Darkside was twiddling his thumbs as he sat and stared at them spinning in slow and steady twists. "Are you OK?" he asked. Darkside brought his attention up to Mr. Skylyne, who had a confused look on his face.
"I'm fine," Darkside started, "its just you're the first to ever like my work and I'm pretty surprised by it." He thrumed loudly as Mr. Skylyne sat back in his swivel chair. His embarressment returned as he felt his muzzle get warm again.
"Cigar?" asked Mr. Skylyne as he pulled out his cigar tin from the top drawer of his desk and pulled out one cigar and offered it to Darkside, trying to calm his new employee. Darkside shook his head.
"No," he said, "I don't smoke."
"Well. good for you, then," said Mr. Skylyne, tucking the cigar back in it's tin and putting it away in the top drawer of his desk. "I find it strange, though, that you don't smoke," said Mr. Skylyne curiously.
"Just because I'm a dragon, doesn't mean I smoke. Tried it once and hated it immediately," snapped Darkside, feeling a little hurt. His smile turned upside down.
"Sorry about that," said Mr. Skylyne, a frown replacing his grin, "even I get a little racest every once and a while."
"Yeah, me too," said Darkside, trying to show no hard feelings, his smile slowly curling back up his muzzle. He felt a little sheepish of his words, because he didn't mean to snap at Mr. Skylyne.
"Well, all I can say now is that you are very excited," started Mr. Skylyne, "and you should be, beacuse you got the job."
"Great!" screed Darkside, grin in full view, "when do I start?"
"When you're ready to," said Mr. Skylyne, "but first, you need a better place to live. I'll give you a month to have yourself all set and I'll take the sites you made in the past for a thousand dollars each." Darkside's muzzle curled as his grin got wider and wider. Darkside had a hundred sites up and running, which meant he would get a hundred thousand dollars for all of his previously made sites!
"One question," Darkside said, smile still curved, "how much will I make an hour?"
"For newbies, I usually pay ten bucks an hour, but you have great skill, so you'll get at max, for now, fourty bucks," Mr. Skylyne said, answering Darkside's question. Darkside's smile tear up his muzzle. He was going to make at least three hundred and twenty bucks a day! If he works eight hours, that is.
"How many hours?" Darkside asked.
"As many as you want," said Mr. Skylyne, and Darkside's grin got wider and wider. His smile seemed to stretch from ear-fin to ear-fin.
"Oh, Mr. Skylyne, you will not regret this, not one bit," Darkside said as his smile kept carving up his muzzle. His amber eyes seemed to glow with such anxiety; he wanted to start right away, but first he had to find a place to crash for a while.
"I do hope so," said Mr. Skylyne as he outstretched his paw to shake his new employee into the job. Darkside eagerly took the paw in his claw and shook it. "Now," started Mr. Skylyne after the shaking of hands was exchanged, "all I need is a list of all the sites you had made in the past."
"Just so happens I'm carrying one," said Darkside as he removed a list of his sites from his suitcase, "and they're numbered." Mr. Skylyne grabbed the list and looked it over and nodded.
"Good, I'll take them all," he said, "and here's your money for the sites and they are your sites, but they'll be under my name. You'll still be credited, deal?"
"Deal," said Darkside, taking the money. His smile widened as he shook Mr. Skylyne's paw again. Darkside was ecstatic. "Well, I guess I'll be off to find my new home," said Darkside, his smile still running up and down his muzzle.
"Ok, talk to you in a month, and here's my number," said Mr. Skylyne as he handed over a card with some words scribbled on it, "call me anytime."
"Thanks, I'll do that. See you in a month," said Darkside. He left the room, thruming loudly.
Darkside came up to a very fine looking appartment building entitled "A Paw on Life Appts." He walked through the front doors and up to the registration counter, where a very skinny canine sat, reading the news. The canine brought his head up from the newsprint to meet-and-greet the new tenant.
"Hello, sir, looking to rent?" asked the canine behind his newspaper, his eyes poking from the top edge of the paper as he spoke. The canine was wearing a pair of bifoculs, which hung well from his perked ears, for easy reading and easy sight.
"Yes, that's right, a nice room. A kind of modest room, but big enough for me to move around in," thrumed Darkside. Darkside was a little nervous, but then again he was nervous around most people anyway.
"Well... um," paused the canine, "the only room we got left right now is a honeymoon suite and I doubt you'd want-"
"I'll take it," said Darkside, interrupting the canine. Darkside then realized what he had done, he had rented a honeymoon suite, and he had no honey to share it with. So, he stood there; his eyelid twitching. He had surprised himself with his own self-confidence.
"Fine, fine," said the canine, "now fill out these forms and I'll hand you the keys to your room." Darkside took the forms and crossed the lobby to find an empty seat. He set down his suitcase, sat down on the couch, grabbed a pen from the container on the table in front of him, and started to fill 'em out, thruming silently to himself as he did.
When he had finished the paperwork, he got up and went to the front desk to claim his key to his new life. The canine behind the counter, again, picked his head up from the life of the day and saw the eager dragon, grin bigger than before. Darkside's tail swished with anticipation as he watched the canine do his work.
"Ok, Mr. Stillwater, everything checks out fine," he said as he looked over the written paperwork before him. "Here's your key to your room," said the canine and handed the key over to Darkside's waiting claw. Darkside thrumed deeply as he caressed the new object in his hand. Dragons always had a thing for shiny objects, and they felt it their duty to guard it with their lives, but Darkside's only real object of desire was his necklace that he wore. His mother gave it to him when he was twelve years of age.
"The payment for a month is one hundred, plus water and electricity, which comes out to three hundred and fifty-three dollars," said the canine.
"Just fine," said Darkside, "and by the way, what's your name?"
"Cloud Falconstalker," said Mr. Falconstalker as he continued with his reading. "Oh, and by the way, your room is on the fourth floor; room fifteen. If you get a roommate, please inform me. I don't allow pets, ever. And tell me if you redecorate. Your room already has a bed, a few closets, a couch that folds out into a bed, a dresser in the bedroom, and all the kitchen needs and bathroom facilities are in working order." With that, Cloud continued his reading. Darkside went back to where his suitcase sat, grabbed it and headed for the elevator. He pressed the up button and the elevator ran its course down to where he stood. The doors slid open and Darkside thrumed happily as he entered the elevator that led to his new life.
In the elevator, he hit the button that read "four" and the elevator roared to life. It started to go and the muzac was exactly like it was in Mr. Skylyne's building, perfectly annoying, but pleasant to the ears. Darkside took his awkward steps to the other end of the elevator as it made its ascent.
The elevator stopped at its mark and he exited, with suitcase in hand. He walked a little down the hall to his room. He found the door that led to his room. He put his key in the hole and turned it to open the door. He slid the door open slowly and it returned it's typical speaky hinge response and he gazed in.
To be continued...
Bill: Hope you liked it. More to come if you furs liked it.
*Darkside staggers out of Bills room, naked, and Bill turns to catch sight of him*
Bill: Why aren't you wearing anything?
Darkside:(looking down and grinning) Sorry, it felt too good to put on clothes. Why, you checking me out?
Bill:(grinning) Maybe.
*Darkside grins and shakes his head. He walks off to the bathroom. Bill turns back to his computer*
Bill: Not yet, folks. You'll get to see more of them later. For now, see ya.