| An Honest Chat | ||
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Summary: Business continues as usual, even after the alleyway attack that left Louis injured, and a special business meeting is slated to take place today.  |
The desktop intercom's interjection, despite being the bright voice of the front receptionist at the ground floor, does little to illuminate the dreary darkness of the CEO's office. Much as it was left by the late Oguma, there are few decorations that add emotion to the cold and well-calculated layout of its original design. A grandfather clock ticks quietly off to the side and the curtains behind the main desk chair are partially drawn. Some light from the overcast afternoon manages to slip in, but even the extra light does little to shake the heaviness of the room. "Send him up, please." The desk chair is too large for Louis. He feels so small in it, especially in knowing the stag that once filled it. Louis runs his fingers along the padded armrest to feel the grooves where a previous weight helped shape some contours. Yet another company representative aims to meet with the still fairly new CEO of the Horns Conglomerate to broker a deal and try to take advantage of things. Business is so cutthroat in the office. It was so much like the Black Market, but at least there animals didn't try to hide their intentions. It was distasteful and hazardous. Mouth dry, Louis stands and wanders over to the wet bar to pour some water. The small stand is stocked with a few different liquors, but the young deer didn't care for any of them. They were there as a formality. Drinking in the office, for business, is something that seems to paradoxical, yet there it was. It even has a minifridge, but Louis only uses it for juices and water. Sipping the cool liquid, feeling it coat the inside of his throat as he swallows, his footsteps take him back over to the desk. This is an important meeting. There won't be any negotiations over business what with it being purely a formality, but the right impression needs to be made nonetheless. Gizou Medtech is a fast growing company. Stocks will likely skyrocket. Making an investment would no doubt be wise. What would Oguma do? Louis' gaze lowers to the picture on the desk of the grand stag. It was one of the only pictures he had of Oguma where he was actually smiling. Just a little. Such a keen mind behind those spectacles worn; the young stag's stare lingers only to be interrupted by a deep breath and a sigh. Louis places the glass down on the desk's edge, cradled by a coaster to protect the desk's finish, and his drifting eyes pass over the few sentimental things he keeps there: a wedding photo of himself and his wife, Azuki; a photo of himself and Legosi that the wolf insisted on having taken during a dinner a few months back; and there's a clear cork-sealed bottle with a clipping of golden hair inside. A bittersweet smile creeps onto Louis' face. What would Ibuki do? Checking the clock across the room, Louis takes his seat and reaches up with his left arm to rub at his right shoulder. Underneath the jacket and shirt, clean padding protects stitches from the assault the other night. It itches terribly, but all he can really do is give it a gentle rub now and then. Best to soothe it a little now before company arrives. The room feels so large. The furniture, too. Will it ever feel any smaller? Will he ever feel any bigger? The door opens and Donyoku steps inside. Donyoku is a lion. Louis doesn't even realize he has straightened up in sitting posture and taken on a visual demeanor very similar to his father's. The eye contact across the room is immediate. Donyoku bows his head first and Louis doesn't, not until a beat later. A hand is lifted to gesture to the chairs in front of his desk. "Donyoku?" "Mister Louis." "Please make yourself comfortable." "I shall! Thank you." Walking over toward the desk, the nearly eight and a half foot tall lion towers over the seated five-foot-three deer. Donyoku places his briefcase into one chair, but he does not claim the other. Instead, the lion, one that appeared to be in his early fifties, walks over to the wet bar to pour himself a drink. This slightly throws Louis off who watches with slightly narrowed eyes. This expression is discarded for something more cordial, however, and adds in an invitational and only partially ironic, "Help yourself." "You are most gracious, Mister Louis." Donyoku makes his way back to the desk and pauses next to the seat to peer down at the small deer. "CEO." He takes a sip of whiskey. "Horns Conglomerate." He takes another sip. "You know, I never thought I'd see the inside of this place." Until Louis took over, Horns Conglomerate only ever did business with Herbivores. For the sake of a statement of coexistence, however, Louis began changing that policy to help grow the company. Until now, it would be completely unheard of to see a feline-based Tech Company rep visiting in such a manner. It's a big deal and the lion isn't afraid to voice it. "Times are changing," remarks Louis on the matter and the suit-wearing lion gestures with the liquor glass right at the stag. "That they are! That they are." When Donyoku sits on that statement, he reaches out and places the glass on the desk. Louis doesn't miss the fact that the lion doesn't even bother to use a coaster. Still, he lets it go for the sake of business even if it does bother him. The sound of latches being undone signals the opening of that briefcase and a stack of papers are removed. "Now, I know it was said that you'd rather route most business through your legal department first, but I wanted to take the initiative to present to you, personally, a business partnership that you'll find most pleasing." When the stack of papers are offered out over the desk, Louis does not reach out to take it. "Mister Donyoku," he says, formally, "It's against company policy. You'll have to submit your proposed contracts through the same channels as everybody else." The lion smiles brightly. "Oh, well, of course, but you said it yourself: Times are changing. Simply having a look over it doesn't mean you have to agree to it. Come on, Louis. I know I'm being forward, but having a chance to be here, like this, to speak with you is such an honor that I feel it would be a waste to not present something like this, of this magnitude, to you." There's a hopeful look in Donyoku's eyes and for a moment it all seems very innocuous, but Louis has seen that look before. Donyoku is completely unaware of Louis' history with the Shishigumi. Nearly everybody is, which is why it caused such a stir when he set Horns Conglomerate's legal department after freeing the felons to net them special sentencing as employees of one of the nation's most powerful businesses. During his time with the Shishigumi, Louis has encountered every size and shape of animal walking every possible path in life. He knows what the desperate and hopeful look like. He knows what the broken and hopeless look like. He also knows what it looks like to face down somebody hiding something. It was more than a poker face. Most business meetings are nothing but staring at poker faces while playing at ultimate manners and formalities. This wasn't that. "You're right, of course," admits the stag as he reaches out to take the stack of papers from the hand of the lion. When he grips and tugs, however, there is the slightest bit of hold kept on the lion's behalf before the lion lets go. It's enough to fully catch Louis' direct eye contact one more only to be met with a charming smile. Teeth. It's a smile, but he's showing teeth. Most Herbivores would get an instinctual aversion to this display and show a bit of weakness. Louis isn't most Herbivores. Louis smiles back as he pulls the papers over and begins to power-read over the details. "I was expecting a more casual discussion on your company, your current goals, and fiscal expectations of growth over the next eight quarters." "You know what Gizou Medical Technologies is already about," answers the lion in a matter-of-fact tone. He's right about that, too. While the company has been around for two years already, it has recently hit a popularity boom. While the average citizen won't know the name, medical practitioners in clinics and hospitals are familiar with the company's newest designs and advances in medical technology. Investing money in the company is a surefire guarantee to getting amazing returns. A decade, well, that might be a mountain of money in difference. "Then what can you tell me about your proposal?" asks the young buck while passing fingertips over the printed words, casually leafing through the multi-page document. Everything looks very standard, although the name Mezio seems to pop up very often and he doesn't recall hearing that name elsewhere. "Nothing much greater than your typical mutual investment. We think we'd be a great asset regarding the future of Horns Conglomerate. We have the booming business in R&D to draw in many investors and ultimately we'd like to cement a partnership with your company, Louis. Being aligned with the likes of Horns Conglomerate alone would draw in even greater investments and that's without asking a single yen from you. All the same, we were hoping for a mutual investment of ten percent." Louis looks up from the papers to glare at Donyoku unflinchingly. "I'm not selling your company ten percent of Horns Conglomerate's stock." Before the lion has a chance to rebuttal, the deer asks, "What can you tell me about Mezio?" The lion's eyes light up in sheer contradiction to the frustration that very briefly ignited within them. "Ah, yes, you saw that. That's why the investment exchange is pretty high. Mezio is a secret project of Gizou, been hush-hush this past year, but there's going to be an unveiling at the Totemo-hai Science Expo." "Totemo-hai. That's the event held at Dodome, isn't it?" Louis stares at the papers in hand once more as he recalls Legosi mentioning that his friend Jack is going to Dodome University. That was the day when Legosi insisted on that silly picture, but he had such a big smile on his face and how could Louis live with being such a terrible friend if he didn't relent. Legosi's grandfather, Gosha, was supposed to meet with them that night, but something came up. That silly wolf did his best to not look worried, but he always was terrible at hiding his feelings. What's Legosi doing today? It's not long until Rexmas and- Why is he daydreaming about that wolf in the middle of a business meeting?! "-be fairly prestigious, so we expect the news to hit hard and fast and stocks to skyrocket in worth. Actually, that's why I wanted to present this opportunity to you here and now, cut Horns Conglomerate in on the sudden boom before it happens," explains Donyoku while reaching to finish off the rest of his whiskey. "It's simply good business practice." Actually, it's anything but. If Donyoku is under a non-disclosure agreement regarding this Mezio project and Horns Conglomerate was to buy in with Gizou for the sake of increased stock values, well, that wouldn't affect Gizou much at all, but it might legally wound the business so badly in public image that they'd lose investors themselves. Depending on the judicial fallout, the recovery period, legal fees, and bad PR might be almost unrecoverable unless they banked hard on mutual investors with a lot of money, much like what Donyoku is saying Gizou wants to do. This is dangerous. "I think it's a bold idea, certainly, but it could be well worth the investment if we play a straight hand," Louis begins to say, but is cut off by a very rude lion. "That's what I like to hear. Let's do this, Louis. Let's set up ourselves and our children to be fully made." There's that smile again. Louis' mouth opens ever so slightly at this. "Not a bad idea. I'll pass this over to my legal team and we can be in contact with you about it in around a month." Donyoku suddenly stands up in alarm. "No no no, you don't understand. If we want to move on this, we have to move on it now. The Totemo-hai Science Expo is in two weeks. It'll take almost that entire time to get this set in stone, but you'd have to sign today." "Well, I'm afraid that it's impossible, then. You should have come to me sooner." "Louis- You know this will work. You can feel it. Can you live with the regret of missing out on this?" "Yes." Donyoku huffs at this and stalks back over to the wet bar to pour himself another drink, although this one looks to be a double. "Haven't you had enough?" The lion merely waves his other hand with a bit of a laugh. The deer is growing increasingly thin of patience. "How about you drink with me, Louis?" asks the feline while holding up another glass. "I don't drink while discussing business. I only drink to celebrate a closed deal." "Ah, well, you're young. Probably can't handle too much, can you? I find that liquor brings out the honesty in everybody. I've been in the business of making money through contracts of opportunity for thirty years now. I wasn't always with Gizou, of course. My resume shows that wherever I get hired in, business blossoms and the yen starts falling from the trees like sakura." Donyoku pushes himself back over the desk with a broader grin and reclaims his seat. One hand holds up his glass and the other hand reaches out to clunk a snifter against the wood of the desk and begins to push it over in front of the deer. Louis' eyes are drawn down to the glass. "I'm sure if we just loosen up a bit and have a solid honest chat together you'll come to see things my way and then it will be a closed deal. I know what I'm doing." Louis' eyes narrow and his hand reaches out toward the glass, but his fingers come to rest atop the hand over the glass pushing it his way. A sudden pressure traps that hand in place to press those digits against the thin lip of the glass in a way that has to be uncomfortable. Slowly rising from his seat, that hand-on-glass is pushed back the way it came equally as slowly. "Mister... Don-yo-ku..." Despite the words being spoken softly, the buck suddenly has the lion's full attention. The other hand drops the stack of papers onto the desktop. "Yes. Let's have an honest chat, shall we?" "O-okay?" stammers the lion with shaken confidence and feeling frustrated internally over it. "You see, I'm really quite relieved to hear you tell me you want to talk honestly, because for a moment there I was beginning to think you were trying to tell me what I was supposed to think." Louis hand pulls away from the lion's and he straightens to his full height. As he speaks, he grows ever closer to fully rounding his large desk, one step at a time, in absolutely no rush to get to where he plans on going. "Well, then you-" "No, really, it's my turn to talk now that you have enough of my booze to keep your mouth occupied for a few minutes. You think I don't know what's going on here, but you forget just which company's head office it is you've just walked into, and do you really for a moment truly think that my father would leave his legacy in the hands of some inept fawn struggling to drink anything that doesn't come from a bottle or a teat?" For every step that the deer grows closer to the seated lion, the more openly bold, demanding, and nigh-hostile becomes that spoken voice. "I see right through you and the goal you have in mind, Donyoku. I can see, smell, and taste what you're thinking so drink your liquor and stop trying to interrupt me and I'll tell you exactly what it is you're thinking." Seated, Donyoku is still very tall compared to Louis. Even so, Louis walks right up and stares the lion in the eyes. "You're thinking about how much you'd like to eat me, how the smell of deer in this room makes you salivate uncontrollably, why you feverishly insist on drinking my supply in order to cover that reaction steeped in your desire. Don't think I didn't notice." A hand reaches out to grip the lion's lapel as he gets his face ever closer and his voice drops in volume to a harsh whisper. "And you can smell my injury, you know that I'm hurt, but you just can't figure out how. And just what do you think will happen to your precious tech company that hired you in to make a difference when you try to take a bite, hm? And don't tell me that this isn't what this is about." "It's a scam, a ploy, a plot to injure my company, a company built on the legacy of Herbivores, so that critical investors like your Carnivore-run tech firm can step in and lap up the leftovers in some bid to show Carnivore superiority, and here I am opening my doors to you and you spit in my face." The lion is greatly distressed at this, but his large jaws are bared and it's clear that, at least now, he truly is fighting his inner beast over the desire to attack and kill and eat. The deer uses this to wrest the power of the meeting back under his control. They can smell each other's breath, even as Louis pulls on the lion's jacket to bring him fully down to his eye level. "So go ahead, you filthy lying cat. Try to eat me so I can ruin the rug under your feet -- a rug worth more than you could afford with a year's wage -- by spraying your head matter all over it with a single bullet. Your company will be crippled, compromised by the infraction, and they'll have no choice but to be completely bought out. Funny how Horns Conglomerate will be in the perfect position to take advantage of that, so, please, by all means, make a mental bet on if you can get the killing blow first before I can. This is my turf, Donyoku. My territory. You walked in here knowing the risk, so you'd better think very carefully about what the next thing out of your mouth is going to be." Louis doesn't blink. Seconds pass. At length, the lion responds. With laughter. It's not hysterical laughter born of stress. It's not crazy or maniacal. It's a product of genuine amusement. The lion pulls his face away enough to grab his drink and drain it, then puts the glass back down...on a coaster. "You- You're amazing." Louis doesn't pull away, but he does lean back enough to rest his butt against the edge of the desk. The laughter continues for a while and the deer seems somehow patient enough to allow it to fully continue until its end. It finally dwindles and Donyoku is left regarding the buck in a very different light. "You really know how to talk business like a Carnivore, but as an Herbivore. I'm honestly impressed." The stag's head moves from tipping one way to slightly tipping the other. His antlers happen to catch the light coming from the window behind him at this angle that really brings out the majestic shine on them. Louis quietly sighs. "Look, Mister Louis, you don't have to forgive me for my approach, but it had to be done. I never thought I'd see the day an Herbivore could use my instincts against me." Donyoku sits up, now that his jacket is released, and goes about straightening his clothing. "The truth is that we have a contract lined up with your company already, though not by the name Gizou. It's under Himitsu. A subsidiary of Gizou, Mezio is just the flagship project name. We're good to go, and it'll all clear in time for the Expo, but-" The red deer wrinkles his muzzle in a wry smile. "But you wanted to know who you were getting in bed with personally instead of just relying on a name being passed from one pair of hands to another." The lion merely points and snaps. "You can't blame an older animal like me in wanting to use protection." "Crude, but applicable." Louis is still not nearly as amused at this turn of events as the feline appears to be. The sad part is that he understands exactly the line of thought and justification that the Gizou Rep is using. The deer watches the lion rise, reach over to collect the papers on the desk, then put them away in his briefcase before closing it. "Leaving already?" "Oh, yes. We covered in ten minutes what I thought would take two hours," laughs the lion with a professional smile. No teeth. "I need to make a few calls to fully confirm the deal, but after that we should have lunch together. And a drink -- you said closed deals. Mm? Mmm?" Louis crosses his arms. "Get out of my office." Although a stern statement of direction, this seems to be just as amusing to the lion who pleasantly laughs while casually heading to the door. "Stay safe and healthy and keep working hard." It isn't until the door closes that the deer's narrowed gaze changes to an eye-roll. He pushes from the edge of the desk and moves his hands to his face to rub. "I did this to myself. I have nobody to blame but me. Ugh, Carnivores, why do I have to understand them so well and like it?" Turning to the side, the buck walks back around his desk and collapses into his over-sized chair for a moment before reaching over to buzz the attention of his chief secretary. "Yes, Mister Louis?" "Can you message Agata or Free to meet with me in an hour? I'll be leaving the office at that time. Also, I need somebody to come collect the used glasses from my minibar. Uh, also also, please mark the Saturday two weeks from now as being a day I'm unavailable. I'll be attending the Totemo-hai Science Expo out of town then, for business, and I won't want to be disturbed." "Certainly, Mister Louis. Anything else?" "No, thank you. I appreciate you." "That's very kind of you, Mister Louis. Thank you. I'll get right on those things for you. Have a great evening!" Slumped in his chair, Louis stares down the untouched glass of liquor. It really doesn't agree with him, but maybe just one drink. Just one. Was every business meeting with Carnivores going to be like this? It's awful and disgusting and thrilling and somehow completely understandable all at the same time. "Why do I have to love Carnivores so much?" | |