Chapter Text
Silas gripped the steering wheel and briefly allowed himself the fantasy of starting his car, avoiding the axle ruining pot holes and pulling out of the parking lot of the Remedial Assignment center. He sighed heavily, his shoulders sagging as he sank into the driver’s seat. He held onto that fantasy as long as he could, which was about 45 seconds before the reality of his situation came crashing back. The content of the State’s official letters had gotten more and more threatening until finally their patience had seemingly been exhausted and the final notice had arrived. Silas had used every lever at his disposal to postpone it, but he had finally run out of rope and had been forced back into the system.
Re-assignment. The thought made his heart ache. It made him feel dirty. But he had no choice, which was the second worst part of this situation. If he wanted to hold onto even a sliver of the life he had built, he had to do this. Without an assignment, without being claimed, he’d lose everything. So he had arrived, dressed in a rather somber ensemble, black slacks and shoes, and a grey button up shirt. The State extended its authority into one’s wardrobe as well when it came to attendance at compulsory events. Just one more insult to add to the list, one more intrusion into his life. He didn’t even have the freedom to dress himself today. Or last week. Or the week before last.
The middle aged man’s eyes flicked between the grey, dilapidated, prison-like building and the clock on his car’s dashboard. A handful of men had been trickling into the building over the last 15 minutes, most arriving by bus into the guarded and fenced human parking lot. Silas was among the minority who drove themselves.
He watched the men rather than join them in their punctuality. They shuffled up to the entrance in a cowed line. He hated the way they looked. They were dressed in what was probably their best clothes and compelled to be here. He hated that he would be joining them.
Another minute ticked by, 11:55 a.m., surely he could make it from his car to the front door by noon he told himself. So long as he was inside the doors by noon, he couldn’t be considered late. Then he could waste several more minutes slow-walking the entry paperwork and identity confirmation. He allowed himself a grim smile equal parts bitterness and enthusiasm for gumming up the works. Silas reasoned that if he played his cards right he might be able to waste a whole thirty minutes of the appointment. If he had to be here then Silas was resolved to continue to use what little agency he had to protest this unavoidable exercise.
His eyes found the rearview mirror and he paused, looking at the top half of his face in the reflection. Brown eyes stared back at him. For a brief, terrible moment Silas remembered or rather imagined what they had looked like before. Years ago when he was in a different parking lot in a different life. The roads had been paved then, the weather more temperate, and he had been happier. The gold flecks amidst the almond brown of his iris, a gift from his serpentine mother, had been brighter back then. The beginnings of crows feet hadn’t yet begun to etch themselves into the corners of his eyes. He looked at himself and deflated a little. A light had been robbed from him. He looked it. He felt it.
Dragging his eyes from the mirror they widened as he looked at the clock. 11:58. “Oh shit!” The thoughts of malicious compliance and self doubts evaporated as the consequences for being late sprang to the forefront of his mind. Kicking open his car door, Silas sprinted across the parking lot, avoiding the potholes and puddles from the late-winter rains.
The doors to the reassignment center burst open as Silas careened through, earning him glares and growls from the anthro staff in the human reception area. The first thing that he noticed was the smell. A mix of anthro musk and the sterilized chemical that attempted to hide it. No matter where you were, all State buildings smelled like this, like an attempt to cover up what it was. He offered his audience a sheepish smile that didn’t reach his eyes and quickly moved to the reception desk. After noticing that there weren’t any men in the waiting area Silas figured that they must have all already gone through to what he disparagingly thought of as the ‘placement pen.’ He approached the receptionist slowly, feigning being dizzy and out of breath which earned him an irritated eye roll from the badger anthro behind the desk. She fixed him with a gimlet stare and asked for his name before Silas had even gotten up to the desk itself.
Having already planned for this he was resolved to spell out his first and last name in reply, ostensibly to ensure they spelled everything correctly but it would eat precious seconds that could feasibly turn into whole minutes of prattle. Before he could reply the intake door opened and a Tigress emerged, eyes locking onto Silas. Silas’ mouth closed, his lips pursed together in a look of distaste as his case officer, Siobhan Saxon, waved her hand dismissively in the direction of the badger. Of course she would be here today. Silas reminded himself to keep calm. If Silas harbored any illusions that the State’s personal attention had drifted away from him, Siobhan’s presence dispelled them. It was clear that they were quite willing to see this humiliation through to the end, whatever it was. She flashed him a toothy, predator grin as her pale yellow eyes dilated into black like a cat who found a mouse. She wore an ID badge on the lapel of her jacket that identified her as a manager with the Re-assignment Bureau which made her the highest ranked State employee in the building and assumedly in a hundred mile radius. She was in her 40s but the number did nothing to her features which remained imperial.
Siobhan looked like something out of a State recruitment pamphlet. She was possessed of that infuriating confidence and self assuredness that being both a predator in her prime, and a careerist for the State entitled her to. Her tailored suit fit like a second skin, its cut and fabric working to accentuate her form and flatter the natural coloration of her fur. She looked completely out of place in the run down reassignment center and reflected the distance between her and her peers, and those who worked in out of the way backwaters like this.
“Thank you, Darien, I’ll process Mr. Gorsepaw,” Siobhan began and then stopped herself with an apologetic giggle that was anything but, “Oh my! I’m sorry, that’s not right. It’s Mr. Coralscale again, isn’t it?” It was a question designed to goad a response and her tail flicked excitedly as she anticipated a reaction.
Silas bristled, eyes instantly narrowing in surprise and anger. The man’s fists had already clenched before he took a deep breath and reminded himself to calm down. She was baiting him. She. No, they. Wanted him to step out of line. So he held firm and suffered in silence. What was he going to do to that anthro? She stood a head taller than him, outweighed him, had claws and fangs, and a license to deliver swift and brutal vengeance upon him if he acted out. “Siobhan. Didn’t expect to see you here.” He growled.
“Of course I’m here! We were worried so worried after your last visit. We heard that there wasn’t much of a spark? That’s a shame.” Her words carried zero sympathy and were delivered as if from a dry-read of a script. The only message she was there to communicate was that the State had not forgotten about him. “I’ve come all the way here to support you, Silas because I think I’ve found the perfect assignment for you! Can you believe it? They know how seriously I’ve been taking your case and no one knows you better than me. I’ve practically fallen asleep reading and rereading your files.” At this her smile became downright chilling as she came to a stop before him.
The unease Silas had been feeling since she had stepped out of the intake door continued to grow. For his part he tried to keep his face and tone neutral.
“Can’t wait to meet them.”
“You’re going to love them. I just know it.” She clapped her paws together.
There was an ominous implication in her words but Silas had little time to contemplate them before Siobhan fell in beside him and wrapped an arm firmly around his shoulder. She began marching forward, propelling Silas towards the intake door.
“Uh, don’t I need to sign in?” He asked, trying to contrive any reason to escape her grasp.
In response Siobhan squeezed him meaningfully and chuckled deep in her chest, “Don’t worry your pretty human head about that. I’ve already completed all the paperwork for you!” At those words Silas frowned up at her, frustrated. She met his eyes and tilted her muzzle to face him, an amused expression on her face. “I’m two steps ahead of you human. Now, stop dawdling.”
Silas wrinkled his nose as the scent of laundered fabric, starch and her musk enveloped him. He felt nauseous, physically repulsed by her proximity but her grip on him was steely and unforgiving. The rational part of his brain reminded him that thrashing and writhing would only excite her and make things worse. He couldn’t give her what she wanted. As they passed numbered doorways on the way to the meeting hall where potential remedial assignments could interact in a contained environment, the tigress’ paw had traveled from its resting place on his shoulder to his chest. Her claws just barely emerged from her pads but it was enough to remind Silas of her lethality as she began to knead his pectoral indulgently. He bit the inside of his lip and tried to ignore it. There were so many things to be enraged about that this casual abuse of power by an agent of the State wasn’t worth the bandwidth.
“I can feel your heart beat, human.” *Her voice was a low growl in his ear. It made his blood run cold and it evidently made his heart beat faster to her immense amusement. Silas could feel her chuckles vibrate from her chest as she held him in this forced march. She slowed their pace as they neared the door to the meeting hall. “This is your last chance, you know. When you fuck this up, you’ll lose everything. Your social status, your land. You’ll be a fucking nobody again.”
Silas remained mute in the face of her threats. He was in an impossible situation. He didn’t want to be re-assigned. But if he wasn’t, he’d lose his legal protections. Between his vocation, his age and his resistance to re-assignment he’d be branded an aberrant, an outcast. Officially he’d be consigned to a work camp, though unofficially vocal dissenters such as Silas were more than likely to be disappeared.
“No mate. No claim. No collar. No one to come looking for you when you become a clerical error and vanish from the system.” Siobhan held up four digits in front of his face for emphasis. “Skin houses are obviously illegal, but in my line of work you do hear rumors. I’d imagine you’d be quite popular. Hypothetically there are quite a few anthros I know who would pay top dollar to ruin the man who thought they’d be mayor of shitsville.”
This finally got a reaction from Silas. “Oh, fuck off Bagpuss!” He struggled fiercely in her grip, wriggling and writhing until he had slipped under her arm. He spun to face her, but she was already there, her giant paw wrapping around his throat and driving him against the wall with a thud. Silas, his eyes wide, glanced desperately up and down the empty corridor. Both his hands came up to try to pull her pads off his throat. “Let me go!”
Like an Anaconda, Siobhan slowly tightened the pressure on his wind pipe with every word he choked out. She watched his face hungrily, savoring each and every one of his expressions as they vacillated between fury and fear.
“Oh yes!” There he is. “There’s that ego. I’ve never met a human so wholly deluded. It’s almost fascinating if we didn’t know why you’re like this.” Siobhan’s voice was a predatory growl. Her eyes were alight with a sadistic glint as she continued, ignoring his gasps for air. She wasn’t going to make him pass out, but the stupid human didn’t know that, “It really is better that she’s gone. She failed you so thoroughly. Left you practically feral and totally maladjusted.”
Silas’ eyes flared in response and his struggles grew increasingly desperate as he was slowly deprived of oxygen. It was getting harder and harder to breathe but Siobhan's insults were heard over the roar of blood rushing in his ears and it gave him a cold clarity. He aimed a punch to the inside of Siobhan’s elbow, the blow making it buckle and in her surprise she almost let go of his throat.
“Ho-ly shit…” *She said slowly, emphasizing each syllable. Before he could swing again or wriggle away her free paw curled into a ham-sized fist and slammed into his gut.
What little remained of Silas’ breath left in a whoosh, followed by a choking wet cough as he fought the urge to vomit. Fuck, he couldn’t breathe. It hurt so bad. His eyes were tearing up and Siobhan was quickly becoming a blob of various colors.
“Assaulting an agent of the State. Unbelievable.” Siobhan’s words barely registered. He could barely stand. It was only her grip on his throat keeping him upright. When she released it, Silas slumped unwillingly into the Tigress’ chest. Her arms wrapped around him as she cooed mockingly. “Aww, did the smooth skin tire himself out?” One paw rested against his back while the other gently stroked his head in an unsettling parody of affection. “Do you want to know something?” She whispered into his ear as he coughed and shivered and tried to recover. “My boring ass husband doesn’t even fight anymore. You wouldn’t even know he was human. His mother must’ve been a starfish huh?” Siobhan’s breath was hot against his face but Silas was barely aware, still overwhelmed by the pain and shock as Siobhan’s paw pressed his head against her chest. Every painful breath was tinged with her scent. “You’ve still got some fight in you.” She continued, stroking him with sickening care and sniffing at his cheek and temple with enthusiasm. Siobhan’s striped tail flicked excitedly. She tensed and Silas braced himself but he was met with only a sigh. “But… can’t damage the merchandise.” She said pushing away from him and smacking his cheek lightly with her paw as he was left stunned, bruised and gasping for breath. “Come on, human. Let’s see who I… I mean, the State picked out for you.”