#fik

The small data slate the canid held in his hand that he held in the air for all to see was projecting a small picture a few inches above it. It showed a human in full detail, slowly rotating. The entire bar had gone quiet the moment the Galactic Community officer and his retinue had appeared in the doorway. All eyes on them until they had declared their business.

The canid was a zealot, which meant his team would be to. Zealots and norms don't mix. One finds the other either too much, or not enough. The ursidain all but blocked the door meaning even if a fight broke out, there would be no reinforcements from beyond the single room unless the GC team wanted them.

As it turned out, the GC team's business was bounty hunting.

"We have a substantial reward for the whereabouts, or credible information that leads to the whereabouts of the human known as 'Bruno' or any human that has interacted with him."

The hyenid on the opposite side of the bar merely took another long draught of their golden amber as the creature spoke, blinking slowly and unimpressed. It wasn't their problem, and they had no love for the GC nor the canid currently appealing to the patrons' wallets.

"He is wanted for questioning for the destruction of an entire species' development, along with assisting an armed assault and capture of a GC S-a-R vessel. The people on board were not soldiers, they were doctors. Rescue workers." The canid continued, slowly stalking deeper into the dive, seemingly not satisfied that the occupants had seen the hologram, nor heard the story.

In truth, the hyenid hadn't. They'd heard of the infamous 'Bruno', of course, but the version of the story they'd heard was not from a GC mouthpiece and was substantially different. The fiks didn't tell the story often, to the point where most almost outright claimed that 'Bruno', their prophet, didn't even exist.

"He's also wanted for a slew of other crimes including sexual interactions with a non-sentient creature. Conspiracy to distribute peanut bu-"

"Saah! Lies!" Cried a fik from a dark corner, the large creature jumping up onto its table and resting a clawed foot against the back rest of the neighbouring booth. In its hands were a chipped, but still dangerous looking sword and a curved axe, a wicked spike cut into the blade at the bottom. The sword would engage a target before the axe would be swung in a long arc until the spike was behind the target. The fik would then yank their arm back, puncturing any standard issue armour with the sharpened point.

The hyenid grinned as a point in their side twinged in memory. Fiks. Cheeky fuckers the lot of them. They took another slurp of their drink.

"Do you have something to say? Fik?" Demanded the officer, whilst the fik's tail was grabbed and pulled by its brethren who were sat at the same table.

"Saaah... Bruno has not... had interactions with animals!"

"His own admission on his rescue confirmed that he bedded several fiks before they were uplifted." The officer's snout curled back as he narrowed his eyes. "Your kind still aren't part of the GC. You're basically animals still..." Baited the officer.

"No one 'er's seen ya' stupid 'ooman. Fuck off." Called the hyenid over the rim of her drink before the fik could say or do something they'd regret. The canid's head turned their way and he lost interest in the fik now that they were less likely to give him reason to take action.

"The experiment speaks."

"Say's the paw licker."

The officer snarled again and marched up to the corner of the bar, just on the other side of the hyenid. He was mere inches away from where they sat on a stool. Wisely, he kept the bar between himself and them. For all he knew, they had a holdout weapon. Something short and stubby. Something loud. Something that could break a wrist if fired one hand, but preferable to nothing in a fight.

The canid dropped his voice into a low, gravelly rumble.

"No surprise your kind are now slumming it with these things, you fucking experiment." The canid sneered. The hyenid merely sighed into the now mostly empty stein. They hated dregs and wanted another, but the barman had disappeared and would likely remain gone until the threat of a fight was over.

"Tha's fuckin' rich." They belched loudly, directly into the face of the officer before tightening their lips and ensuring every speck of dead space was breathed out into the officer face. "Comin' from ya'. GC ain't welcom' 'er. The only thin' ya' gonna' get 'er is mocked."

The canid held her gaze, his eyes burning with barely contained rage. But he was GC. He had rules. His precious devotion to them had him follow those rules until otherwise. As a sanctioned bounty hunter, he had more freedom than most; but not enough to warranty attacking a bar full of people who hadn't actually touched him.

Crescent Station would throw the GC off of it if they got wind of a GC officer abusing his rights.

It was why the place was so popular with the folk who lived on the very edges of the GC's over extended reach.

The canid licked his chops and huffed before turning away and stalking back out, but not before he threw one last jab over his shoulder.

"Put clothes on you animal."

The hyenid glanced down at their naked torso and pulled a face, more confused than anything else. If they were a uniformed GC agent, fine, clothes come with the job, but they weren't?

Once the officer had disappeared, the hyenid waited before leaning back, away from the bar and addressed the space between their knees.

"Ya' okay?" They asked.

"Yeah thanks! That was intense!"  Said the human that was the spitting image of the wanted hologram. Except he'd gained a tattoo on his neck and a ring pericing on his eyebrow.

"Nah, tha' wan' intense. Tha' were a prick." The hyenid sniffed as the fik clan broke from.the corner and went to see where the officer had gone.

"Do you want your top back?" Asked Bruno.

"Nah, he'll smell ya' before ya' get back to ya' ship. Keep it on n' keep ya' 'ead down." The hyenid explained, shuffling backward so the tiny human could get out.

"Was that the only reason he didn't find me?"

"Yeah, look, ya' mates are callin' ya'. See ya' later."

The human gave a soft smile and a short wave before running the length of the bar and being swept into the long coat of one of the fiks, disappearing from view.

The hyenids had found staunch allies with the fiks, and with the GC breathing down both of their collective necks, anything a hyenid could do to piss them off was a pleasure to do.

[r/WolvensStories]