“Beau! How did I know you’d be the one drawing dicks on my door?”

They’d been sipping at their respective beverages, Titus savoring his well made old fashioned and Beau mindlessly downing slugs from an enormous mug of coffee, and discussing the unique challenges facing Lyco and Nostu communities for close to 20 minutes when that proclamation intruded. It was spoken by a petite Lyco with a short, wide stripe of vibrant blue hair down the middle of their head and tied back into a tiny bob of a tail. Titus guessed by the verbiage that this was Danni, owner of this particular space. That was proven out by the embroidered signature emblazoned diagonally across the back of their silken fuschia robe.

“Because if it’d been Domingo, he’d have drawn it with piercings and used the white chalk,” Beau bandied back, a grin splitting his features. “Good client?”

“Ugh!” The other Lyco groaned dramatically. “No! The bastard didn’t tip for shit and needed a pick me up to even get it up. Wanted it vanilla, too. Boring as hell!”

Titus felt his blush return in full force. He’d managed to get used to the idea that he was just casually hanging out in a room clearly used for prostitution. Yet here was the sex worker it belonged to, openly ranting about her John having performance issues. It made Titus feel like the biggest prude. Especially since Beau seemed to be having no problems with the banter. 

“Shit, Danni. Can’t have a kinkster every time, though. Gotta have a few that just want a basic bump n’ grind.”

“Yeah, I know.” Danni flopped theatrically onto the bed, their dressing robe flapping around their knees and almost showing Titus more than he cared to see. “But a guy can hope, can’t they?” They draped their arm artfully across their eyes as though they’d just posed on a fainting couch.

“Much as I’m sure you’d love to go into a hell of a lot more detail, Danni, you’re making my guest a mite unsettled.” That statement was accompanied by a throaty laugh that Titus was certain was at his own expense. “Danni, this is Titus Westman, out of Arizona. He’s here for a missing Lyco case. Mr. Westman, this is my sibling Danni Shaw.”

“Beau, please,” Titus interrupted before Danni could reply. “If I can’t call you Mr. Black, then you don’t get to call me Mr. Westman. And no Officer Westman, either!” he added, holding up a finger in warning. The slight smile on his face took some of the sting out of the admonition, though. 

And it was enough to get an answering grin out of Beau. “Fair enough,” he allowed. “Titus, then.”

“Officer, hmmm?” Danni was staring at Titus from beneath their sleeve. “You gotta be something special if Beau let you in here. Because my brother doesn’t bring cops into our life any more.”

Titus felt his eyebrows rise at that. He didn’t get a chance to inquire about it, though, because Beau gave a short growl that kept the words locked away. “Danni…” There was a warning in his tone, his feet coming off the desk as he leaned forward in the chair to glower across the room.

“Oh, fuck off, Beau.” Danni sat up to glare at their brother. “It’s been more than ten years. Closer to fifteen, if we’re counting.” That only made the growling get louder. “You seriously need to get laid, little brother.”

“I’m not a nympho like you.” 

Titus was definitely uncomfortable being seated between the two scowling Lycos. He had no idea what was going on, just that it certainly seemed like there was some kind of history behind that contention. But as much as Titus wanted to just shrink to the floor and crawl away from them both, he also knew that any movement right now would draw both their attention. And that was something his reptile brain knew he had to avoid at all cost. One didn’t run from a Lyco; it was a sure fire way to get hurt as their deep seated predatory instincts tended to outweigh their rational thought in the face of a fleeing target.

After what seemed like forever, but was probably only a couple of seconds, Danni sighed and looked away. “I’m not going to fight with you about this, Beau. And I’m pretty sure you don’t want an outsider brought into the middle of your shit. So tell me about this missing Lyco instead; maybe I can help with that.”

Titus jumped at the opening he’d just been given. “Her name’s Corinne Montgomery.” He was proud of himself for how strong his voice sounded at that moment. Not a quaver in sight, despite feeling like his guts were made of water. Titus described the missing girl and gave some of the details of the case, wrapping up with a hopeful, “If you’ve seen her or heard anything about her, it would really make a difference. I just want to help her, whether that’s to take her home or tell her parents what’s happened to her.”

Danni was silent for a bit, and Titus could see they were thinking about what he’d said. “The name doesn’t ring a bell,” they finally replied, words dragging as they continued to rack their brain. “And I don’t think I’ve seen any Lyco kids fitting that description. But I can go ask Domingo to be on the lookout and spread the word. He’s a little bitch, but Domingo cares about us. And if one of ours is missing, he’ll want to know about it. Give me a few minutes; I’ll be back.”

Once Danni had sauntered out the door and closed it behind them, Titus turned back to Beau. “Yet another interesting person you’ve surrounded yourself with,” he joked.

“Can’t be helped this time,” Beau snorted. “Like I said, Danni’s my sibling. Fraternal twin, if we want to get precise about it. Though we look about as alike as those actors from that movie in the late 80s. Danni got their looks from our mom, while me…” Beau trailed off, looking uncomfortable. Titus kept his mouth shut, sensing from Beau’s demeanor shift that this was probably a sore subject. “Well, let’s just call him the sperm donor. He wasn’t in our lives. Hell, I’ve never met him or even heard Ma mention his name. All’s I know is that it wasn’t a Virgin Mary sorta situation.”

This felt to Titus like one of those times where he should share a little about himself. Beau seemed so awkward about opening up. And Titus wanted to encourage it to happen more often. “That must’ve been hard, growing up with a single parent. My family’s from Boston. We’re a tight knit bunch; me and my folks, and my aunt and uncle with their two kids. We always spent holidays together and my mom would make me take my cousins everywhere. Plus, we always had two or three Lyco fosters at any given time. It made for a pretty rough and tumble bunch.”

Titus ended on a chuckle, remembering all the times he and the other kids had literally tumbled across the yard while playing. But instead of joining in the mirth, Beau remained silent. “One a those families, huh?” The words were so soft that Titus wasn’t even sure he’d heard it correctly, and the cheerful mood was smothered beneath the weight of Beau’s intense scrutiny.

“We weren’t doing it for good press or whatever bullshit you might be thinking,” Titus explained, feeling hurt.

“Didn’t say you were.” Again with the emotional whiplash. Beau went straight for the snide sarcasm. “Feeling a mite defensive there, are we?”

Titus almost snapped a knee jerk reply about how not everyone was a bigoted asshole. Fortunately, his brain engaged before his mouth could and he realized that a scathing insult would likely result in Beau shutting him out for good. “Sorry,” he muttered instead. “A lot of people when I was a kid accused us of being suck ups or pitying those less fortunate than us. Like we were only fostering Lyco kids because we wanted to improve our public image. My folks were somewhat in the public eye, that much is true. But we weren’t doing it for any reason other than kids need a safe, stable environment to grow up in so they can thrive. Both my parents worked in education, Mom as an administrator with a degree in Early Childhood Development, and Dad as a professor of sociology.”

“And what inspired the kid of two educators to choose law enforcement as a profession?” Beau had taken to leaning his elbows onto the desk as he listened, hiding his lower face behind his folded hands. But that hazel gaze was again focused with disconcerting intensity upon Titus.

“It was supposed to be my way of making a difference.” Titus gazed down at his hands as he folded them in his lap. “Granted, it seemed like a fantastic idea when I was 22. I had all these grand ambitions of how I’d get into the force and be a good example of how cops ought to interact with Lycos or Nostu. Set an example with my behavior, like my parents had always taught me.” Titus huffed out a disdain filled mockery of a laugh. “Yeah, it didn’t work out anything like I’d imagined.” He glanced up to see Beau with a wistful expression. “What?”

But the Lyco just shook his head. “Nothin’. Just reminded me of someone I used to know.”

Titus was about to ask more, but the door opened to allow Danni inside. “Okay, so.” They swept past Titus to grab the other chair from the cafe set, talking as they went. “Talked to Domingo. He says that he doesn’t know your missing girl, but admitted that with the number of people through here every night she easily could have gotten lost in the mix. But even more interesting.” They paused to set the chair down and swing a leg over to straddle it backward, leaning their forearms against the back and resting their chin on top. Titus very carefully averted his gaze from where Danni’s robe wanted to fall open. “Domingo says he’s noted a couple of the regulars haven’t shown up in a while. His first thought was that they’d started going to another haunt for some reason. But if there’s been a runaway Simp runner through town, he’s not so sure now. More impressive, though, is that he actually volunteered to ask around to a couple of the other haunts to see if they’re missing anyone.”

“Well, that’s surprisingly generous of him,” Beau allowed. “Makes me wonder what he hopes to get out of it.”

Danni snorted inelegantly, sounding a lot like their brother. “Probably hoping to fuck that Lyco over at Drops.”

“Oh God, you’re probably right,” Beau groaned. “He’ll be insufferable if he succeeds.”

“But what that means,” Danni continued, turning back to Titus, “is that he needs a few days to ask around and dig up info for you. That gonna be a problem?”

Titus dragged a hand down his face in resigned frustration. “Yeah, it’ll be fine. I’ll just have to call my supervisor and tell him I need more time on the case. Not that the initial timeline they gave me was anywhere close to reasonable,” he added sourly.

“Bureaucrats.” Both Lycos snorted it at the exact same time, startling Titus into finally believing that they really were twins. Not that he had any reason to disbelieve Beau. They were just…so different from each other. Danni was petite and relatively hairless for a Lyco, with only the faintest hints of monobrow, and their ears swept into long, delicate points that were more elfin than canid. Whereas Beau was so hirsute that Titus imagined heat exhaustion was a very real concern for him in the depths of summer, and his eartips were thick, short swells that barely classified as points. There was probably a full foot of height difference between them, and Danni had light brown eyes instead of Beau’s piercing hazel. About the only thing they had in common was that both were clearly muscular, though Danni was all whipcord and sinew covered in fine blond hair while Beau was absolutely ripped beneath his red pelt.

“Well, I’ve got your number for when Danni finds anything out,” Beau was saying, and Titus pulled his attention back to the conversation. “I don’t honestly think you’re gonna get anything from going to other haunts, so as much as you’re gonna hate to hear it, you should probably just sit tight at your hotel and keep your phone charged. I’ll give you a ring as soon as I hear something.”