Dog Run (band only) duckweed
#1
Another year, another lack of progress.

It made her itchy. A little kicking in the back of her brain, a coyote itching its bat ear in contemplation. Similar to the way Leigh tapped the capped end of a pen against her jaw. Eyes staring hard at an agenda. A personal agenda, filled with goals that had no deadlines but felt like she had missed them all the same.

That alone led to her sitting here, the small space for the band at the edge of Dog Run.

The small band space smelled of fresh coffee she had started, the aroma of coyote mingling with it. One that seemed to grow stronger when the door to the place opened, her coyote yowling in delight at the nearness of another. And she found more pleasure than she'd like to admit at seeing it was Eli. He had proven easy enough to talk to in the past and maybe he'd take some pleasure in this too.

He had seemed real keen on making her cozy at the start of their banding.

"Glad you could carve out some time to see me."
#2
It wasn't so often that any of his bandmates, other than Brooke, really seemed to need him. Heidi had things handled in her own way, dealing with her son and that part of her life, as well as her subtle duties as Second for their small crew. Kai... well, god knew what was ever going on with Kai, she certainly spent more time out on the east side of town than down here in the plains with them. Eli would be absolutely floored if she ever asked him for anything other than an argument or a scuffle. And Brooke was easy because he saw Brooke every single day and knew--if he had to guess--at least three quarters of what went on in her life.

Leigh though.

She had come in at a funny time and nestled herself in neatly. Eli liked her and he appreciated her but he could not have told you why she had asked to meet today. It could have been work related, coyote related...? None of the above, somehow?

"Oh, you know, me and my really big time-carving knife." It seemed like they would be sitting for whatever this entailed, so he moved to join her, feeling at ease in this space that was of his making.
#3
"I think they call that a scalpel, doctor." She offered back warmly, features briefly wrinkled with humor before they smoothed out once more. A touch serious now. Something more...thoughtful settled on her features.

"I was hoping to discuss my place in the band. Mainly what we might be in need of, looking to be put to work here."

She had known groups had their...roles and nifty titles. This would only be her first time seeking out more information on it, though.
#4
Clever, clever. He did like Leigh's way of things.

Which made it easier for him to settle into seriousness with her. His gaze cooled as he considered her, not unhappy but mulling. None of the others came to him like this other than when Heidi had requested Second before they'd even reformed their mark on the land.

"I suppose we might be in need of anything you think you can offer. Well, except medic--but if you're hiding nurse qualifications I'm going to be offended you've hidden it from me this long."

Okay he couldn't ever be completely even keeled.
#5
"I could show you my use of scalpel myself, and I think that will clear up any nurse suspicions." A slight curl of her lips, humor tinted even if her gaze did remain serious.

"What about an...networker? You know, somebody to keep you in touch with everybody else around here. A middle man type."
#6
"Ambassador," he supplied, the word as he knew it. "But networking--that's a nice modern take." He looked at her, pondering. "You know, that really would be helpful. Do you have much experience with it? I mean, not just among the yappy animals of the world, but in general."

Hadn't exactly dug into her history, knowing how either painful or dull these things could be. Typically always at least one party in a conversation regretted idle questions.
#7
Ambassador.

So formal, so official. She only smiled thinly for it some more.

"I'm event coordinator here, used to do some reception work elsewhere. Both positions offer plenty of earfuls from people who think I'm just a brick wall for them to vent into. Lots of water cooler whispers too." Teased nearly! "I imagine I can handle the gossiping of the big wide animal world."
#8
He chuckled, not having expected this from her but finding it struck him as suitable. Maybe more because they really did desperately need some connections than anything, and he was doing a very poor job of it as king. What could he say! He was a busy man with a whole grown up job!

"Tell you what... I can get you a list of everyone we already know, and everyone I know about that we don't know so well. And if you can get me a few names, territories I don't already have all figured out, I think you've got yourself a shiny title."

It wasn't much thought he needed to put into it. It wasn't like they were so great in number he was going to go about hand selecting the ideal candidate out of a pool of coyotes. If Leigh wanted to do work, he'd let her do work.
#9
"Well, here I am with pen and paper." A little swish of the pen she had nearly forgotten about. "Why don't you go ahead and lay it on me if you have the info on hand?"

She imagined he would likely have things stored on his phone, if he had it with him. It was only for memory sake that she wished to write it down, better incorporate it into her brain.
#10
He did, he pulled out his phone and put it down on the table in a way one only did when you were simply using it as a glorified notepad. Opened up his contacts. "Most important, we have... my friend Frank. He's the Jaguar king over in Alameda, you probably won't have to worry about him as he tends to keep me updated, but here's his number if you want it." He swung his phone around for her to look at, rather than rattling off numbers.

"Someone you could reach out to a little more, though, if we want to expand our awareness presence is his boyfriend, Mathis. Cheetah king. Also Alameda. I'm a bit too jealous to be friends with him directly so maybe you can do that for me." The deadpan joke, delivered flawlessly if he did say so himself.
#11
She would write down on one line Frank — Alameda and then also put his number into her phone. Wise enough to split the information, lest somebody get nosy at work when she asked for her agenda. Repeated the same process for Mathis. Although...

"Oh? Are you telling me Dr. Coyote is not in high demand on the dating scene?"

A brow arched as she stared back at him in fellow deadpan.
#12
Oh he'd stepped into this one, hadn't he? She was too good at matching his attitude.

"Dr. Coyote knows his worth and refuses to consider just anyone," he countered, taking back his phone when she was done with it so he could look for the next name and number.
#13
"But you consider Frank? Got it, high value romantic connection."

She then hummed, leaned back with her agenda resting on one arm as she pretended to write that down, away from his prying eyes.

There would be nothing but a squiggly line.
#14
He swatted the air between them, and in spite of his best efforts could not maintain his dry wit as he laughed out right, tempted to steal her pen but restraining himself from it. "Oh please, don't tell him that, he'd start to believe it was true."

But joking about Frank was easier than joking about his fairly dead and buried romantic interests in anything. Married once, and then he'd broken her heart, and he didn't much love the idea of doing that again.

Regardless. "I'm not going to give you personal gossip if you make hard copies of it."
#15
She rolled her eyes, a lazy huff followed.

"I'm embarrassed that you think I'd actually write down such private details. Can't have your love life falling into the wrong hands."

To prove a point, she'd settle the agenda on her lap in a manner that suggested he could view it. Only to find a squiggly line next where she had marked down Frank's name and number. The only details available.
#16
Not surprised, but definitely pleased to see she was not a snitch. A tease was always welcome. "I just had to be sure that your hands were not also the wrong hands," he told her, looking sly about it.

"But good, good... Frank and Mathis so far. Next I'd say Cliff is the obvious one. The bears we share Baron with, have you met any of them yet?" No judgement if she hadn't, it wasn't like he saw much of them himself.
#17
"I haven't, no. Although can't say I ever find much reason to go see a bear..." She trailed off with a bit of a coy smile. Then an expectant look as she settled her gaze on his face.

Expecting more about these...bears.

Why exactly did bears and coyotes share a town? She supposed that was her job to find out now, hm?
#18
"We haven't gone to see them collectively in a while," he admitted. "Probably ought to change that. Early on, back when... hmm... well, there was a band before this one, led by a young woman that you should be perfectly happy to not know. But back then we'd claimed Baron first, and Cliff came along to ask if we wouldn't mind sharing as he already had Pine Peak Sanctuary down south a bit."

Which she might not know much about, Eli didn't advertise it much, finding the open spaces of Baron itself suited the coyotes just fine.

But anyway, continuing. "After the first band fell apart and I picked it back up, I went to him to make sure we were still welcome. Thankfully Cliff is a good fellow, for all I don't know him half as well as I probably should."
#19
Oh dear, it seemed Leigh had missed some sort of...scoop of drama with a late arrival to the area. She would hum appropriate as he discussed the plateaued relationship with the bears. One that it sounded like he wanted to bring to a peak again.

"We'll get that sorted then. Have they seen the new place? Maybe throw a sort of...new band party, if you haven't already. It can be here after hours, even." These things she mused idly as she wrote down an assortment of ideas, flipping between blank space and a calendar to make sure there would be no overlap in parties.
#20
"I think a couple have come out this way before, but never all together. That's a pretty good idea, actually, if you wouldn't mind doing the reaching out?"

If this was going to be her thing he'd let her have it completely. As much as he liked the power that leadership entailed, he didn't need an iron fist on everything. Delegation almost made him feel more influential.
#21
"That's my job now, isn't it?" She answered with a playful look.

"Do we plan on extending the same to Frank and Mathis?"
#22
The look he gave her back was definitely a yes. Her job, so it didn't have to be his. And besides, he clearly believed she would excel at it.

I mean, hell, look at her! Already coming up with things he'd not have paused to consider. Eli was far from displeased with how this unexpected conversation was going.

"I have no problems with that, if that's how you'd like to do it." Okay, maybe he was laying it onto her shoulders a little heavily.
#23
"We can do two separate parties." This she started with as her brain flicked a switch into some organizational work space. "One for Frank and Mathis' crews since they're together anyway? Then another for the bears. Figure the cats will know how to party together already anyway, but I can sniff that out too."

Why wouldn't boyfriended groups be mingling already? Unless there was secrecy involved.

She doubted that.
#24
"Seems likely," he agreed, appreciating that she was wrangling this. Really, it was the kind of thing he should have been doing for a long time now, but he really did not have the time or the mindset for it. It had been too easy for a while now to think of the coyotes mostly as... familial. With Heidi as mom and Brooke as their kid and then Kai just the weird-ass aunt he sometimes playfully showed his teeth to. Yep.

But Leigh was here and things within the band were shifting around anyway. Better that they start to be a better part of the wider community, even if they just stuck to a few friends.

"There are some jaguars downtown as well, but I don't think we'd want to mix the two."
#25
More jaguars!

But don't mix them.

"Oh? Big cat rivalry I should know about?"
#26
"Good lord, I forget you don't know these things. I barely know how to explain." He stopped to ponder, clearly about to launch into a story. "There was a jaguar prowl in Alameda before the one Frank leads now. Lead by a woman named Asha. I had moved into town and wanted to make sure I wasn't stepping on toes, but I suppose my approach didn't set well with her and she ended up charging me a fee to stay." He shrugged, old news.

"Apparently not everyone knew this. Once they found this out--and among other things, I imagine--it all fell apart. Didn't like like her or her partner's leadership, so the prowl collapsed." He didn't have it entirely right, but it wasn't as if he'd been in the thick of it, for all he was accessory to it. Besides, it had been a while ago and he'd let a lot of it go. "Frank took over in Alameda with what was left, obviously he let me stay without another dime until I moved out this way later on."

There was more to say but he paused long enough she could get a word in edgewise.
#27
She had opened a can of worms, it seemed. So she took in a breath and leaned back in her seat, attention fixed upon him as he weaved his tale.

A group before Frank's by a woman named Asha. Asha who seemed to charge a fee for the city! Thus crumbling her own! Leigh fell into some sort of silent disbelief as she looked at him. Brain churning the information, feeling there was so much more that surely nobody but the jaguars would know. Not that she had any right to know, but a story with full details would certainly paint the picture of the den she was walking into here.

"She charged a fee for just you living there?"

Not a whole band or him rooting to start up a group?
#28
"Mmmhmm, just little ol' me. I think it was a pride thing. I didn't roll over the way she liked so she tried to make an example of me." He shrugged about it now, but at the time it had been insulting. Just petty things from a woman who had grown a good bit since then, far as he could tell.

"She regrouped later, downtown in Ridgefield, with some others. I avoided the whole thing until she came knock-knocking later, after we'd settled here. Apologized, brought me a gift basket and everything. I even attended her wedding recently, if you can believe it. But... there are reasons, for sure, that the jaguar groups are two and not one."
#29
A low hum built in her throat as she considered the knowledge. Part of ambassador was dealing with questionable people too, right? Wedding invitations and gift baskets may not have meant the jaguar woman would welcome the rest of the coyotes with open arms.

"I see," She answered finally. Indifferent! "Maybe I'll get to know her first before throwing her whole group a party, yeah? See if she wants to be nice with the rest of us too, Doctor Coyote."

No malicious intent meant! More playful caution.
#30
"Wise enough," he agreed, having no qualms with that. He wasn't inclined to go out of his way to know anyone, truthfully. As evidenced by the fact that Leigh was the one pulling all these thoughts together after he'd already lived in this reality as King for what... two years? More? All the more reason to set her to this task and not worry about her decisions too much. As long as she was informed... which she now was.

"While you're out that way you can also ask after Alice, but you don't have to. She and I are already good friends, I just don't much about the group of raccoons she runs." Didn't especially care, either, but sometimes you had to pretend a little! Alice was interesting to him as an individual.
#31
"I get it." She agreed with a gentle nod. "Not much reason for raccoon coyote cross over." Not logically, not safely. At least in the eyes of Leigh.

"I think all of this is a good starting point, yeah?" She finished up her notes, giving him a quick glance with a grin.
#32
"Definitely."

Thanks for being a pal, Leigh. Eli really did look forward to working with her on all this.
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