And What a Fine Table It Is!

[Glenn]

It was increasingly rare for Glenn Burnie to make housecalls, but here he was, in the humble, though surprisingly spacious, house of the Brothers Jacob, stalwart Constables both. The house was beyond their means, but then that was well and good. Neither was married or had children to feed and their father had left them a good deal of money (and in fact the house). Old Clyde Jacobs had been a shady but successful man about town. Upon his deathbed he had bequeathed his ill gotten gains to his wastrel sons only on the condition that they make up for his life as a ne'er-do-well by becoming Constables. They, of course, leapt at the offer, and have had particularly unimpressive careers of public service ever since, highlighted very recently by Burnie catching them in a rather nasty gambling scandal. This forced them quite soundly under his thumb and led to this particular visit.

Movers had been through earlier in the day setting up one room out the house's six and it was in that room that Burnie and the brothers now sat. In the center sat a fine wooden table, lacquered and stained, shining and sturdy. It had four artfully crafted legs, each with a different mythical (or at least mythical in most other places) beast at the bottom. One was a dragon, one a centaur, one a griffin, and one a hippopotamus. The chairs were just as sturdy though more functional than anything else. In the middle of the table was a potted plant, catnip, the only real decoration to the room past the furniture itself. Burnie sat in one chair. Across from him, seated as well, was Jacobs Elder with his squat, fireplug form and brown handlebar mustache. Leaning against the far wall was Jacobs Younger with his red hair and redder, well-groomed, beard. There were only two chairs and he was at the bottom of this totem pole when it came to power and seniority.

There was also a long, sturdy bed that straddled the entirety of one wall. Between those two objects there wasn't much room for anything else: just a dresser, already full of some well-made but quite inexpensive clothing, and one of the less vile chamberpots in Myrken (in that it was relatively new). That left a comfortable amount of walking space between one object and the next, though things would have been tight were there another chair.

Jacobs Younger scratched at his beard. "You've been over this twice, and I still don't get it. Why us. Big brother over there is a lout and I'm a knave. This crazy Catch bloke would be better off with a nice caring happy family, one that wanted a pet. Anyone but us. Anywhere but here."

Burnie smiled his endlessly pleasant smile, the very definition of patience. "Again, and I do hope this is the last time, the two of you possess a few highly worthwhile traits, making you perfectly suitable for this particular duty. For starters, I know I can count on you not to betray me in this task. It'll be your careers (and of course your inheritance) if you do. The government could always use that money were you to lose it. There's always so much to rebuild." Myrken's Judiciary Investigator had begun to speak business and once that happened, there was generally no stopping him. "Two, as a lout and a knave, there is little worry that you'll will get overly attached. Catch, despite our hopes that he grow into the very finest member of our populace, is a threat to everyone, most especially himself, and he needs to be treated with a firm hand, but never a cruel one, understand?"

"We understand well enough." The elder Jacobs answered with a grumble and a twist of his mustache, superseding whatever inflammatory comment his younger brother might have had upon his lips. "Go on," because everyone knew Burnie wanted to.

"Excellent." There was barely a moment's hesitation before he continued. "Three, while Catch will be allowed to come and go, he is a power and thus a potential target. Just as the people of Myrken will be safer with him under watch, he will be safer under your roof than he would be with more sympathetic ...roommates."

Burnie rose, looking from one brother to the other. "Frequent reports then. I'll be speaking to him as well, so if you mistreat him, I'll well know it. He's terrible at holding his tongue, even at promise of reward or threat of punishment. You may defend yourself, but again, trust me, I will know the difference." The once-mapmaker was walking towards the door now, not looking at either man. "And heed my words: you should have a healthy amount of fear for him as well as me. He is a kind and gentle soul most of the time and you should find your days with him living here odd but pleasant, but if you do him ill, he very likely has the power to destroy you where you stand."

An uncomfortable silence swept over the modest room. When Burnie spoke again, it was with a pleasant but dismissive tone. "Do well with this and you'll be rewarded. Records struck clean. Your late father's funds granted to you without any of those pesky conditions. Fail and .. well, don't. Just don't." One last look back to them and to the room as he reached the door. "Well then, he'll be around later. Best of luck. Mind how you go and all that." With a nod, Burnie was out the door.

[catch]

It was his own room. Bigger than his old ones at the tavern, and it smelled less like cat-waste as well, though Catch found nothing wrong with the stench, as if he could not smell it. The maids would have a fine time airing out that room, making it livable and bland. When he had been told, and led, he had gathered only a few precious possessions, and whispered to the little Courts of his new lodgings. It was his room, but like the one Dulcie had given him, it came with conditions. It came with trades.

There was not much for a sane mind to see, once Catch had set his things on the gorgeous table - stuffed horse, a scattering of pretty stones, dried flowers and the single, twisted mannequin he had been allowed - and took the time to breathe. His rough pads ran across the glossy surface, the flawless workmanship. He sunk to his haunches to peer at the animals, to touch, them, too, even leaning into the dragon, his lips gently brushing the carved figure, tongue tasting the wood's song. He had chairs, too, and a bed big enough for his broad, muscular frame. And this, a plant with a heady smell. If any of the men dared to look in after this discovery, they would see Catch creeping along the floor, laughing and making small song to himself, with two of the leaves thrust up each nostril to get the most of their smell.

Yes. Catch had his room. And it came with conditions.

[Dulcie]

It was from the shadows that the beast emerged near the home of the constable brothers, it's nose pressed to the ground as it sniffed desperately at the scent that it had been following for the better part of the day. It came into full view then, padding out from behind the brush to stand directly in the path towards the house, the amber eyes of the very large wolf looking towards the door and the sounds of the people within. Caution warned the beast that there was something not quite right about this place and this situation and she'd edge a little closer, sniffing at the ground again as she picked up the scent of a number of others, one whose smell was strong and distinct. She growled softly her amber eyes locking on the frame of the door for a moment before she trotted off and moved away from the main path to the house, instead beginning to circle the building.

The ground beneath her heavy paws squealched as she moved, the beast pausing every so often to sniff at the ground, learning what she could of the building and it's occupants while leaving in her wake the pressed footprints of the very abnormally large wolf that she was. Eventually it would seem that she had found what she was looking for, pausing near one portion of the house where she thought she could hear the sounds of something familiar through the places in the walls and the windows where bits of air and sound could travel through.

The deep brown wolf stood nearly as tall as a small bear, watching the shadows and the movements within the house before tilting it's head up to the sky a little, howling upwards and towards the house with a deep resonating call. It had found what it had been searching for and it was none too pleased to have found it here, so far from home.