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Tweak says, "theres naught so queer as folk"

Frankie Lademann (notafuckgiven) wrote in light_of_may,
@ 2014-01-31 14:48:00

Entry tags:

2009-10-02, brendan, frankie

some people get weird about their pets
Who: Brendan and Frankie
Where: Frankie & Faith's house
When: Early Afternoon

Frankie had always been a confrontational person. She could start a fight at the drop of a hat without feeling any remorse whatsoever for doing so. It had always been easy to behave in such a manner; when you traveled around a lot you didn’t have to worry about who she pissed off. Being stuck in a small suburban town was proving to be a challenge in more ways than one. After her display in the grocery store the other day, Frankie was almost certain that she would be banned from setting foot in the building. She didn’t like feeling like she had to behave according to anyone’s rules – and she hadn’t even started it in the first place! Faith somehow managed to keep a job within the system without going crazy. Maybe I should take some lessons from her. Even as the thought crossed her mind, Frankie dismissed it. If she hadn’t learned anything from Faith after nearly a decade, then she certainly wasn’t about to start now.

She was making an effort to be more socially agreeable. Or at least she would be in a few minutes. Frankie had called a local landscaping company to do some work to the backyard. She wanted to create a space that could be stimulating in her animal form, as well as safe for Sonic when she let him outside. The company was sending someone over for a consultation and to offer her prices. Her hope was that the task could be completed in a day: just in time to surprise Faith for the next full moon. While she waited, Frankie decided to play with Sonic for a little while. For today, “play” transformed into laying the hedgehog on his back and tickling his underbelly until he wheezed and squeaked. Normally, this would have gone on for a while – she could easily lose hours playing with Sonic – but for now it had only lasted a few minutes. The sound of the doorbell forced Frankie to scoop Sonic up into her hand as she walked over to answer the door. She threw open the door in one quick movement. “You the guy?” She trusted that if he wasn’t the guy, he would say so; if he wasn’t and he lied, she was sure that she could handle herself if need be.

No sooner had the man at the door answered, Frankie turned and walked away, leaving the door open. She didn’t think it needed to be said that he was supposed to shut the door behind him and follow her inside. One step past the kitchen and she stopped in her tracks; wasn’t she supposed to be trying at manners? “Would you like something to drink before we get started?”

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liveandlearn
2014-02-06 04:18 pm UTC (link)

Usually it was his employer's job to do the consultations but he was starting to trust his younger employees with that responsibility, a few of them more so than others. Brendan was one of those lucky few. Consultations and quotes for jobs for the future weren't really what he wanted to be doing but at the same time Brendan just wasn't the type to say no, especially not when someone he respected asked him to do something for them. So here he was, driving through town to the address he had been given, watching for it on the side of the street as he moved the truck along slowly, the company's name professionally printed along the side of the bed in bold letters.

When the door was answered by a somewhat brusque-seeming woman with, of all things, a hedgehog in her arms Brendan couldn't help but blink. Under one arm he had a thin folder and in the pocket of his shirt were a couple of pens and a couple of pencils. The company didn't have a uniform and the shirt wasn't complete with tie or even professional-looking pants but for all that he had identification with him and he looked like he'd put enough effort into his appearance to be believable. Was he the guy? Brendan nodded, and said, "Brendan Scott." He fished out his ID so she could see it, saying as he did so, "You were interested in a consultation on a job?" For confirmation, obviously. He wanted to know that he was in the right place and her question had been a little vague, to say the least.

But then she was walking away, leaving him standing on the doorstep with his mouth dropped halfway open and his ID in his hand. Okay then. Pushing the card back where he'd drawn it from he hesitated for a moment before stepping over the threshold, glancing down to see if there was a mat on which he could brush his shoes. There was. He did. Closing the door behind him he followed her through the house, keeping his eyes forward. If he had learned anything about going through someone else's house it was that they didn't like you being nosy. "No, thank you," he said to the offer of a drink, showing her a smile to go along with the words. For Brendan manners and politeness were as natural to him as breathing. He didn't even have to try.

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notafuckgiven
2014-03-11 03:09 am UTC (link)

Frankie gave a slight shrug of her shoulders and nodded her head, accepting Brendan’s pass on something to drink. He was so… well, weren’t most people supposed to be miserable with their job? Or, most people who were doing menial work like landscaping? Even if this guy loved every second of his job, Frankie couldn’t imagine that making house calls landed at the top of his list of things he wanted to do. But still, here he was, all smiling and full of politeness. She decided to indulge him. Since his ID was still out in his hand, she stepped forward and reached for it. “Yeah, I called for a consultation,” she said as she looked over the small piece of plastic, not really sure what she was supposed to do beyond that. When she handed the ID back over, she offered him a tight smile to go along with it. The expression was about as much “friendly” as she was capable of without really knowing this person. “The job’s out in the back. Like I told the guy on the phone, I’m looking to redo the yard.” With her free hand, Frankie gestured for Brendan to follow her as she led the way through the house to the glass door that led to the backyard.

The day was not as nice as she liked it to be, but she didn’t have much room to complain so long as the temperature remained in the mid-50s. Mid-November would truly be the beginning of Frankie’s “grumpy” season, when it started to get cold enough to keep her indoors. She took a step to the side once she opened the glass door to allow Brendan to pass her. It also allowed for her to set Sonic down in the grass without worrying about the man tripping over him. “You can see it’s pretty basic for right now, but I’d like to add some ...I don’t know shrubs and shit to make it more interesting.” Frankie, the queen of eloquence, was really doing a great job expressing what it was that she wanted. Usually, when it came to matters such as this, Faith was the responsible one who took over to handle business. It wasn’t that Frankie couldn’t, but more that she easily became bored and aggravated with the whole process. She looked over at Brendan to see if he was getting the gist of what she was saying, but apparently he wasn’t catching on as quickly as she would like. “Me and my girlfriend are weres, and I want us to have some place where we can play during the full moon.” There was really no point to beat around the bush, and she couldn’t think of a better way to explain what she wanted than to just lay it out there on the table.

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liveandlearn
2014-03-12 07:25 pm UTC (link)

Landscaping, Brendan had come to realise, was a job that was almost perfectly suited to an earth elemental. There had been a time when he wouldn't have understood his love for it but now that he did he could appreciate it for what it was. He felt calm when he worked, in his element -- no pun intended -- and like he was truly where he belonged. It didn't matter where he was working either, so long as he was surrounded by soil and plants, natural earthen things that he could feel around him. Brendan had come to accept the peace that it brought him, the quiet and comforting sense of satisfaction. It was true that he would much rather be doing the physical work than giving any kind of consultation but it still meant he got to visit people's gardens so it wasn't all bad.

Putting his ID back where it belonged Brendan followed her out into the yard, ignoring the weather and what it might be threatening in order to get a look around. When she revealed what she was and why she wanted to redo her yard Brendan felt his eyes widen a little but not so much as to make him look shocked or frightened. "Oh," he said, emphasising the word to communicate to her that he understood now. "Okay, I get it." Nodding his head he looked around the yard again, moving out until he was more in the middle, getting a better view of the whole thing. "Do you-- um." Clearing his throat Brendan tried again, "Do you mind if I ask what kinds the two of you are?" Because he felt it was necessary he went on to explain, "That'll give me a better idea of what you might need. Or what you might benefit from." He'd almost said enjoy but he couldn't presume to know what someone else might enjoy, could he?

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notafuckgiven
2014-03-18 05:41 am UTC (link)

Frankie had chosen to interpret the word as Brendan being mildly surprised by her announcement. She wasn’t entirely sure why she liked catching people off-guard with the fact that she was a were; it likely had to do with the fact that it made people realize that there was more to her than what appeared on the outside. Then again, she was always happy to prove as much with her fists. Frankie had to give the landscaper credit for being considerate enough to ask what her and Faith’s animal forms were. He had a point: he couldn’t really build the same kind of yard for horse as he would for, say, a baboon. Luckily, she didn’t think they would be needing anything as elaborate as that. “I’m a honey badger, and she is a mongoose.” As she spoke, she took a couple steps forward, stopping just behind him. Her concentration was on the yard around them as well. Usually, when she came out with her hedgehog, Frankie kept all of her attention on the little guy. What if a cat got into their yard and ran off with him? Or, what if a hawk swooped down from the sky and ate him mid-air? She was simply not willing to take that chance. Sometimes, however, Frankie found herself getting distracted -- like now.

“Last full moon we let loose a box full of snakes it the yard. It was fun, but there really wasn’t much place for them to hide. I was really hoping it would have lasted longer than an hour.” She made the statement as casually as if she had been discussing a shopping trip. The thought had never occurred to her that there were those in the world who would be horrified to know that she and Faith had hunted down what were essentially potential pets. It wasn’t barbaric, it was just… well, it was just nature, wasn’t it? No one was going to blame a honey badger for eating a cobra in the wild, were they? “Maybe you could add some stuff like that? Hiding places?” Frankie wondered if adding small tunnels to the yard would be completely out of the question. Meanwhile, Sonic was steadily making his rounds along the yard. There were spots that he liked to investigate, much like a dog who was making sure no one had encroached his territory. He was much more territorial than other hedgehogs, more than likely due to the fact that his parents were two predators. It would take a few more minutes for him to finish his rounds, and once he did, Sonic had every intention of investigating the stranger who was still standing in his yard.

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liveandlearn
2014-03-30 03:32 pm UTC (link)

Brendan wasn't going to lie, at least not to himself, that the idea of the woman before him setting loose a box of snakes in her garden just to hunt down and kill them made him feel-- well, more than a little uncomfortable. Hopefully he couldn't sense his discomfort because the last thing he wanted was to offend a client, especially a new one whose business they might be able to add to their books for years to come. Instead he smiled, shaking his head, taking a few notes as he said, "Not a problem. I'll make sure we incorporate that in the designs we mock up for you." Because they weren't going to do anything without the client's approval, especially not in the early stages. Approval was key, his employer had made sure he understood that quite clearly, and besides, Brendan didn't like to upset anyone if he could help it.

It was as he was finishing making his notes that he realised there was something by his shoe. A living something, at that, and he looked down at the creature. It wasn't every day a hedgehog came up to your shoe and though Brendan had been fairly close to them before they had always curled into defensive balls before this point. He couldn't help but be curious. That was what led him to crouch to be a little closer to the animal, the same one, he realised, the woman had been holding the entire way through the house and into the yard. Just a pet, he wondered, or a familiar? Could weres even have familiars? "What's his name?" he asked, lowering his hand enough so that the hedgehog could sniff him if it wanted to do so.

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