The penthouse of Rei Memorandi was quiet. Toby sat on the couch idly flicking through the television channels. He sighed. A hundred and fifty-seven channels and there was *nothing* on.
He shut off the big-screen tv and crossed his arms. He drummed his fingers on his arm. He slouched deeper into the couch. Then he stood up and paced around. With everyone out of the house there was no one for him to play with and he was bored, bored, bored.
He stopped in his impatient pacing. There was nobody in the house. His eyes brightened. A sly grin planted itself on his face. There was no one in the house. The pooka wiggled his otter whiskers in delight and tiptoed down the hallway towards the most fun room in the house - Jessie's room.
Jessie was funny about who came into her room and when. She often wagged her finger at him and issued a friendly warning to stay out of it - usually after she caught him nosing around without permission. The aura of forbidden fruit made it the most appealing place to sneak into.
The door was open - she never locked it - and he peeked inside. It was the smallest bedroom in the house. The bed was a narrow single. An oversized leather jacket was tossed on it. A braided rug sat on the floor, stray bits of fur still on it. On the carpet was a battered chew toy and a pull rope. He chuckled, remembering the tug-of-war they'd had when she was in canine form.
He fully entered the room and inched the door shut. He snatched up Jessie's brown bomber jacket and inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of fine leather. Without a second thought he slipped it on and admired himself in the full length mirror that hung on the door. Stuck on the mirror was a picture of a hot-looking woman with dark, curly hair. Maybe he'd get to meet her someday.
In the corner was a tall dresser. On top are three pictures: one of the band all together, a stage shot of Jessie playing bass with Gilda on drums, and finally one of Jessie in lupus sitting on Gilda's lap. He had mixed feelings about Gilda - she looked rough. But she wasn't here so he stuck his tongue out at the photo.
Mounted on one wall was an abstract painting full of bright shapes and colors. He oooed and ahhed over it, enjoying a taste of rather radical Glamour.
On another wall hung a picture of Jessie and two younger women surrounded by dogs of various shades and sizes. Toby took a moment to check out the women. One looked too serious and the other too dreamy. They didn't look like much fun.
He looked away from the pictures and checked out the two guitars resting in their stands. He gently stroked the strings on the 12 string guitar. It was neat and made pretty sounds but next to it was Jessie's battered bass guitar. He strapped it on and looked into the mirror. For several minutes he practiced his best rock-n-roll poses with it. Then he put it back - carefully, like nothing had been disturbed - and leaned over the desk with recording equipment. There was a single box, not much bigger than a small suitcase but within its silver case was a 16 track audio recorder; fully digital and complete with hard drives and a CD burner. Bookshelf-sized speakers were mounted on custom stands on either side which he knew she rarely used. She preferred the intimacy and privacy of the headphones which were sitting right in front of him.
They were irresistible.
He tried them on and discovered that they were a good fit. He stroked the electronics gently. He'd once watched Jessie set up a CD and let him hear what she was working on. He knew that the settings on the many small knobs were very critical and he didn't want to change them - but the on-off switch was easy. Off, on. The equipment lights flicked on, off, on.
He gazed at the small pile of papers and CDs on the desk. She'd told him that the CDs had encoded the performances of each member of her band each on their own separate tracks and still had plenty of room to put multiple bass tracks on. He'd once snuck a peek at her practicing, laying down one take after another and muttering and fussing over each take, each track. He picked up a CD and read her careful block letters with information on take, track, and song.
It was dated yesterday.
He squealed with glee. If he was lucky the machine would still have the same settings. He placed the CD in its tray and hit play. Gilda's drum pounded out an intro. Jessie's florid bass line kicked in and the band roared to life. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Toby sat on the bed, his eyes closed, bobbing his head to the music. He was completely blissed out on the rush of high energy rock and red hot Glamour.
There was a click and the concert ended abruptly.
"Huh?"
He opened his eyes and saw Jessie standing in front of him with the headphone plug in her hand. Her eyes turned from human to wolfen and she glared at him like an ancient predator.
He whipped off the headphones and extended them to her. "Err..."
She grabbed him by his shirt. "STAND UP! PHONES ON THE BED!" He obeyed and she backed him out of her room. "YOU STUPID WEASEL! HOW MANY TIMES DID AH TELL YOU NOT TO MESS WITH MY STUFF!"
The tiny woman pushed him backwards into the main room.
Jessie snarled at him. "TAKE OFF THAT JACKET!"
Toby whimpered and complied.
She shook him. "DON'T YE GET IT? AH MAY HAVE TWO LEGS AND TALK ENGLISH BUT UNDERNEATH AH'M A *WOLF*. AH GOTS BOUNDARIES! AH WARNED YOU AND AH WARNED YOU, DON'T MESS WITH MY STUFF! BUT YOU GOTTA PUSH MY BOUNDARIES DON'T YOU?"
She back-handed him with the flat of her hand. "YOU TOUCH MY STUFF AGAIN AH MIGHT HURT YOU - DO YOU UNDERSTAND, YOU IDIOTIC LITTLE RODENT?"
He whimpered again and nodded rapidly.
"GOOD!" She stalked back to her room. He waited for the door to slam but the sound never came. Nervously he looked down the hall. The door was open but Jessie wasn't visible. He shuddered. If she'd stepped into the Umbra she could be anywhere...
He huddled in his room the rest of the night.
He didn't see her the next few days and nobody except Lorraine seemed to know that anything had gone on between them. The sidhe looked at him disapprovingly and shook her head.
One night a soft knock sounded on his open door. Jessie was standing there with a package in her hands. "Ye got a moment?"
After getting his hesitant assent she came into his room. "Listen, Ah'm sorry Ah hit ya. But ya know better now, don't ya?"
He hurriedly nodded.
"Listen, Ah've been thinking... Ah talked to Andrea about this..."
He felt the floor drop out from beneath him. He was being thrown out.
"... and since ye and Ah are going to be probably hangin' out with each other a lot..."
He twitched his nose in confusion. They were both being thrown out?
She passed the package to him. "... this is fer you."
The fragrant aroma of leather wafted from the package. Toby tore open the paper.
"WOW!"
It was a leather jacket. Unlike her classic brown bomber, this was a modern black motorcycle jacket with the prerequisite amount of zippers, snaps, and other hardware attached.
He slipped it on and paraded around the room.
Jessie nodded. "Ah figured to get it a little big 'cause you got another growth spurt comin'."
He was puzzled. "I understand entirely and absolutely."
She shrugged. "Ah wanted to let ye know that everything was all right with us again. Besides, Ah got it at on sale - half off!" She grinned at him. "That's way Andrea's only docking ye ten dollars a week and not twenty until ye pay me off."
She panted and chortled as she left his room.
- END -