Hey just to be polite you know/
Well I'll ask about yourself if I choose/
But we both know/
There's a past, bad blood and such/
It makes me wanna spit/

Life felt slow in the past/
And yet little by little bits/
Creep on up, history,/
Took the day at least a part of it/

You're like a/
Jawbreaker/

- Chevelle - "Jawbreaker"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N1B7wKU4a0

---

Iowa City, Iowa / October 24th / 5:45 P.M.


Tiergarten Castle loomed large atop a hill surrounded by conspicuously unincorporated woodland. Blackhurst, as the locals around Iowa City called it, was an island unto itself. This palatial estate was inaccessible save for a single paved road edged on either side by august oaks trees. It was this road that eighteen-year-old Varik Rausch was watching intently this crisp, autumn evening. More specifically, the young man paid mind to a canine emerging up the driveway with a single suitcase in hand. The consistent grind of those suitcase wheels announcing the castle’s new arrival: Mikah Sprinkle, a promising, emergent huntsman much like spotted hyena himself. Smirking with complacent confidence, Varik pocketed both hands inside his slick, leather jacket and stepped outside the portico to greet their guest.

“There you are!” Varik exclaimed, treading downhill. “I wondered if you’d bother to drop by. I bet it took longer to drive up here than it took to actually fly into Des Moines.”

“If it were up to me,” Mikah replied, stepping off the asphalt, “I’d have settled in at the Ziggurat and waited for everyone else to come my direction over the weekend. Olivia, however, insisted I make the drive out to Iowa City and spend the night in Blackhurst. It’s not like I could argue with our direct superior, but the way she phrased it made it seem like I barely knew anyone here. Told me I should use this time away from my post to bond with Rainy, Lance and all the rest.”

The painted dog loosed a small, courteous laugh as he set aside his luggage and patiently awaited for the spotted hyena to approach on foot.

“Now, Mikah, don’t you forget that I’ll be sticking around, too.”

“Truth be told, it’s hard to forget about you for long, Varik. Especially when your presence can be heard just about everywhere.”

Smirking, he closed the gap separating them and said, “I always want everyone around here to feel like they can reach out to me whenever there’s a problem. After all, humility and transparency are marks of a good leader. If Rainy were here, too, I know she’d agreed with me.”

“Oh? Here I thought temperance and competency made for effective leadership.”

“In case you hadn’t realized,” the hyena continued, “that goes for you, too. You may spend most your days stationed in another state, Mikah, but you’re still part of Hadeanstar. If I’m to be a good leader, then I need to make everyone feel like a valued member of the team.”

Mikah’s once, polite smile perceptibly sharpened the longer Varik spoke. While never on the verge of a complete snarl, on the surface his smile seemed to be barely concealing a pressing desire to defend and confront.

With their faces mere inches apart, Mikah asked, “Is that why you’re here now? To remind me of what a good leader you are, Varik? Of what a good, competent leader does when they get what they want?”

“If you think I came all the way here to lord anything over you, my dude, then you’ve got me all wrong.”

The painted dog shot back, “Is that a fact? You know full well why I’m here.”

“I sure do! Believe it or not, though, I’ve got good intentions.”

Grinning, the spotted hyena placed a friendly hand on Mikah’s shoulder.

“What’s done is done. The Cognoscenti made their decision, and whether we like it or not, the two of us will have to live with that. Personally, I feel like any one of us could have made Duumvirate. I mean it! You’d be just as well-suited for leadership here as you would keeping tabs on spooks at the listening station in Denver. Each of us has our strong suits for sure, but we’re all plenty competent in our own way. Think what you want, but that’s how I feel; if you have any doubts, I’ll be more than happy to prove you wrong.”

Although his smile’s caustic edge fell away, the canine’s eyelids remained noticeably narrow and distrusting.

“All right then. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt,” said the painted dog as he picked up his one and only suitcase off the ground. “We may have had our disagreements in the past, Rausch, but what’s at stake is bigger than our past grievances. For now, I’ll play along if it means keeping the peace.”

“That’s all I ask, Mr. Sprinkle. Anyway, if you follow me, I’ll show you to my room and let you get all situated. By the way, I wasn’t lying when I said you’d be bunking with me. With the renovation still underway, my room is the only one big enough to accommodate any guests.”

The canine sighed with exasperation and remarked, “I shudder to think what’ll happen once my luck runs out for good.”

“That said, I should warn you, dude,” the hyena added, ambling up the stone steps into Tiergarten Castle. “I snore in my sleep. Apparently very loudly if rumors are to be believed, but hey, by their very nature, rumors are often exaggerated.”

---

I want to take this time to thank  Crocdragon for all their hard work. He's responsible for everything you see here apart from my words, but if I'm honest, Croc did most the work. They deserve most the credit, and I can't thank them enough for the effort they put into this piece.


art is ©  Crocdragon

Varik Rausch and Mikah Sprinkle are ©  nazcapilot