Fox's Fire

Chapter 2: Tobias

Curiosity was an old friend to Tobias. Like many friendships, theirs was one that walked along a fine edge. Throughout the many years, he had discovered many new things with his dear friend: peoples, cultures, lands, food. Especially food. His meander through Italy had consisted mainly of observing and sampling the various cuisines and left behind a nostalgic taste for pasta. Touring the Crystal Palace in London had renewed his interest in humans during a period of years when he had kept himself isolated. Humans were funny little things when they thought they discovered something new and more proficient. He was sure humans would lose their minds if they discovered the creatures they found so fascinating were indeed real. It was one thing to imagine a giant sea creature beneath the dark waters or a wolf man on a night with a full moon; it was completely different to discover Fred who paints beautiful landscapes has a craving for blood and an aversion to sunlight.

Curiosity had not always been friendly though. As a child, Curiosity had prevented him from settling in one place for too long. His curious investigations of the human villages attracted the humans' suspicious anger, leaving him to be perfect prey to the even more unforgiving yōkai. Curiosity had led him through trenches in France and left a bad taste on his mouth for the human's modern take on warfare. Curiosity had introduced him to less friendly acquaintances: Rejection, Disappointment, and Remorse.

Curiosity followed on his heels as Tobias stepped through the door of the office. His nostrils flared at the familiar first bite of cigarette smoke. His nose tingled with a repressed sneeze, and his ears twitched forward to accommodate the dulling of one of his senses. A noisy slurp made him relax. "Isn't it a little late for coffee? You'll be up all night now."

Shaw glared at him from behind the desk in the far corner across the room. The coffee mug slammed onto the desk. Tobias grinned. The other man's scowl did nothing to dampen his mood, nor did the growl in Shaw's voice. "Where the hell have you been?"

Tobias's ears drooped even though they were not visible to Shaw. He widened his eyes to convey the missing effect. "I was only doing what I was told."

"You've been gone for five hours." A cup of pens bounced on the corner of the desk in response to Shaw's pounding fist. "It doesn't take that long to get a paper from the newsstand."

"I got lost."

"You got—"

"On a path called life."

Tobias continued to smile despite the slur of curses that erupted from the other man's mouth. The five tails behind him twitched with amusement as Shaw's face quickly turned into an unflattering shade of red. While Shaw cursed, Tobias strolled across the room to the portable whiteboard. It was wiped clean to a shiny finish—a testimony to Tobias's boredom between their jobs—but a corner had been dedicated to mark the days that the office had been "Dwarf Anger Free." He used the side of his hand to wipe away the "1." "You were doing so well, Shaw-kun. Two more hours and you would have broken your record."

The cup of pens exploded on the wall beside his head. His ears twitched in a delayed response to the rush of wind. "The newsstand is on the damn corner! How did you get 'lost' when it's five feet from the door?"

Tobias sighed and flopped onto the nearby couch. Something in the bag on his shoulder jabbed him between the ribs. He adjusted the canvas bag to sit on his stomach while he laid across the cushions. "Sometimes, fate demands that we take a detour from our chosen path."

"Stop trying to quote some fortune cookie bullshit." Papers rattled from the corner. Tobias peeked over the coffee table to see Shaw flipping through folders. The beet red had softened to a slight sunburn. "Where's the paper I asked for?"