Tick Tock 2 (Patreon)

@Spate asked to see more in the Tick Tock storyline. Sure thing, man!

When last we left off, our sourang had nearly talked Rowsdower into working for him—sorry, working for himself. Let's see where this goes now.

Tick Tock 1

———

Rowsdower stared down at the tiny mammal for a long while. The sourang’s plan was madness. Selling timepieces? Who would buy such a thing?

But then again, what better choice did he have? It had taken him four years of searching to find his last job. It could easily take just as long to find the next.

“Let me see this watch of yours,” he told the creature peeking from its hole.

“Do we have a deal?” the sourang asked.

“I don’t know,” said the krakun. “What if you show me this thing and it’s a lump of junk?”

“And what if I give it to you to sell,” the sourang replied, “and you do not give me my ninety percent when you succeed?”

Rowsdower slumped back against the alley wall, and a tiny trickle of rain began to fall. “That’s fair, I suppose,” he sighed. “What’s your name, mammal?”

“I am known as Trrtikkarrrtiktiktikka, the tinkerer.”

Rowsdower repeated the strange combination of chitters and clicks, to which the sourang tilted his head. “A little more emphasis on the seventh sub-syllable, if you would not mind.”

When he repeated the name a second time, the tinkerer nodded. “Yes, but if you prefer to call me the tinkerer, I would not be offended,” said Trrtikkarrrtiktiktikka. “And your name?”

“Rowsdower.”

“Very well, Rowsdower,” said the sourang, “I propose this: I will give you my least fabulous watch. I will trust you not to steal it. I believe that when you show it off, someone rich will certainly wish to buy it. And I trust you will realize that stealing my money or my watch will cost you in the long run, that you will stand to gain more from dealing with me honestly.”

“Yes, okay,” said the krakun. “I promise to return the watch if I don’t think I can sell it, and to bring you your share if I do.”

“Good. Wait right here,” said the tinkerer before disappearing into his hole.

He didn’t return for five whole minutes and Rowsdower was quickly losing his patience, but he kept reminding himself that it could take a long time for the tiny mammal to haul a krakun-sized item any distance.

“Ah, you’re still here, Rowsdower,” said the tinkerer when he returned. He huffed, sounding winded, as he pulled a sparkling lump of metal from the hole. “Here is the first watch I crafted. Remember our bargain!”

“Yes, of course,” scoffed the krakun as he retrieved the item from the dirty alley floor. “You may not believe this, but I’ve been screwed around by more powerful krakun my whole life. I’ve never enjoyed how it felt.”

“I believe you,” said the sourang. “No offense, but your people can be … quite cruel. Now, clip the watch onto your non-dominant wrist so that you can easily see the face.”

“Like this?” said Rowsdower.

“Yes, now pretend you were walking and wanted to know the time,” said the tiny mammal. “Flip your wrist to the side, and you will see that a lovely piece of jewelry becomes useful and functional.”

Rowsdower curled his lip. “It pinches. It’s a little snug and distracting.”

“Ah, yes,” said the tinkerer. “It is hard to guess how large a krakun’s wrist is without one handy to model for me. It seems I came close. Wait here while I fetch a few more links for the band, then I will modify it for you.”

Within a minute, the tinkerer had returned a second time, and with his wondrously dexterous little paws, he inserted additional links into the band until it fit perfectly. “There. What do you think of it now?”

“Hrm, yes,” said the krakun as he paced around the alley, unable to ignore the fancy bracelet on his wrist. “It really is quite stunning. I’ve never owned anything like it. And you say that this is the least spectacular of your creations?”

“Yes, go now, and find someone to buy it off of us,” said the tinkerer. “Oh, and you may find the knobs on the side too delicate to operate—to wind the mechanism and adjust the time—but any rich krakun will have plenty of mammalian slaves. They should be able to tend to it just fine.”

Rowsdower was surprised at how different the watch made him feel. He’d walked barely a kilometer and already he felt better—like he was someone important, someone rich. Other krakun looked at him differently too. Whether they noticed the sparkly jewelry on his left wrist or just the new way he held himself, he wasn’t certain. Being a lowly waiter, he’d been almost invisible before, and now everyone was meeting his eyes as if he were … more.

As he walked, he gabbed with other krakun, others who surely would never have met his eyes before and took some time to show off the unique timepiece. Many expressed an interest, some even made offers on it, but none could bid what Rowsdower imagined to be a fair price. It wasn’t that they disagreed about the item’s worth, but more that truly rich krakun were few and hard for him to find.

Rich krakun didn’t wander the streets on drizzly evenings.

As he walked and talked to other krakun, Rowsdower invented an imaginary persona for himself—a rich young krakun who’d fallen out of favor with his family. Although he lacked the polished scales and talons that this conjured character would certainly have, he found himself immersed in the role, acting if … well, hardly acting at all, just being the Rowsdower he imagined he could be.

And then, in the early hours of the morning, the krakun spotted something unusual outside of an expensive nightclub—a limo with a krakun driver instead of the usual mammalian slave. The car itself was exquisite—a stretched WorldBender with a gleaming ultraviolet paint job.

“Wow,” Rows whispered in awe as he walked by. This was the sort of krakun he was searching for. Whoever owned this car, had to be truly rich!

So, he approached the driver. “Excuse me? Sir?” he asked. “Whose car is this?”

The chauffeur—a muscled male with violet scales that nicely matched the car—glanced up at Rowsdower for only a moment. “Piss off,” he said.

Rows would not be dismissed so quickly. “No, I’m serious,” he said. “This car is beautiful. The owner must be insanely wealthy.”

This time, the driver smiled and looked into Rowsdower’s golden eyes—but only for a moment. “He is.”

“Look,” Rowsdower said, “I realize you don’t know me—there’s no reason you would. But I am … well, I used to be quite wealthy too. I seem to have … fallen on difficult times.”

The violet driver glanced his way once more. “Yeah. Sure.”

“No, I am!” insisted Rows. “My father sits on the boards of a half-dozen major corporations, but I hate him, and he knows it. He’s locked me out of the penthouse again without leaving me a single gold.”

The chauffeur smirked. “Oh? If that were true, then it’d be in all the tabloids. I’d have heard.”

Rowsdower swallowed, and his mind raced … but only for a moment. “Well, it would,” he insisted, “if I was his heir. But as his tenth offspring, I’m more of a novelty than anything else.”

Now, he had the driver’s attention. Few krakun could ever afford to raise more than a couple offspring in their lifetimes. Fewer still wanted to have many more, but the ultra-rich lived by very different rules than the remainder of the population.

“Oh yeah?” he asked. “So, whatcha want from my boss?”

“Well,” Rowsdower said slowly, “I hate to admit it, but I think my dad might be winning this time. I’ve missed about as many meals as I can bear to miss, slept in more alleys than I care to remember, and I’m on the verge of begging for him to take me back, just so I can take a hot shower.”

The driver chortled at that. “Sounds like he’s got you beat.”

“Almost,” Rows said with a grin, “but I did have one precious little trinket on me when he locked me out.”

With a wink, the younger krakun flashed the watch without giving the chauffeur a chance to study it.

“And you think my boss might want to buy it off you?”

Rows shrugged. “I’m hoping,” he said. “If he’d give me half of what it’s worth, then I’d be set to live in some very high-class hotels for a few weeks until the golds are all gone. Added bonus, when Dad finds out how little I sold it for, he’ll be furious!”

The driver grinned and shook his head. “Great fun for you, I’m sure,” he said, “but my job is driving my boss around, not finding deals on jewelry. If he doesn’t love it, he’s liable to be pissed at me for pestering him.”

“Yeah, perhaps,” Rowsdower admitted, “and he might show you some extra appreciation around bonus time if this becomes his favorite thing.”

“If if if,” said the driver. “That all you got for me?”

The younger krakun frowned. “I’ve got nothing else to offer. Like I said, I’m down to my last couple golds.”

The chauffeur’s smile turned predatory. “Oh, I can think of something you have…”

Rowsdower’s eyes opened wider, and he looked the driver over afresh—piercing green eyes, thick shoulders, enough muscles to break the smaller krakun in half. “You want to fuck me?” Rows gasped. “Well, why didn’t you say so! I’d take that deal in a heartsbeat!”

The driver pulled back his lips to expose all of his teeth. “Oh, I bet you would,” he sneered. “Nah. If you want me to take a risk pissing off my boss, then I’m gonna need … more.”

Rowsdower’s jaw hung open. “No…”

“Oh yeah,” the chauffeur said with a cruel grin. “I’ll give ya a chance to talk to my boss, but you gotta earn it. You gotta … be my slave.”

———

Reviewer's link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1njy_I1OznEUIOS6R-lfQHY2-hA_SUsdJEl9Mw4LQbws/edit?usp=sharing

Thoughts?