Story: Tribulation - Chapter 2 of 5

[plonq]

This is the second chapter of five. Please see the first chapter for notes and content warnings. 

Tribulation

Part 2 - Bad Blood

"I started a joke which started the whole world crying

But I didn't see that the joke was on me oh no."

- Bee Gees (I Started a Joke)

 

Giblet sashayed around the corner with one coffee in his left hand, and another in his right. He had earbuds buried deep in both ear canals and a dance in his step. The little otter held the coffees aloft with his arms in a V while he rocked out in his private musical world. The mustelid loved to dance, and would have been an avid clubber had not all the men in his life been neither clubbers, nor dancers. He soft-shoed his way back toward his cubicle - carefully, lest he spill precious coffee - as would one who had heard the expression "dance like nobody is watching," and embraced it as "dance like you don't care who is watching."

But people were watching.

Rather, people were watching the front elevator because it never occurred to any of them that the otter would decide to take the back stairs. In retrospect, nobody could explain why none of them thought to watch the back door, since most of them were aware that Giblet was known to occasionally come in the rear. This in spite of his vocal insistence that, "God would not have invented powered lifts if he had meant for otters to take the stairs." This was how Giblet made it almost all the way back to his desk before somebody noticed him and moved to intervene.

He slowed his pace to let the last ten seconds of his song play out before he had to remove his ear buds and return to the world of oppressive drudgery (or his job as some were wont to call it). He paused, a few steps from the cubicle, bobbing his head to the last few beats when he felt somebody tugging at his left arm. Giblet was not a fan of surprise grabs. He jerked his arm free and cast a dirty look at the short dhole bitch who had latched onto him. Her maw was working furiously while she said something at him in such a rapid cacophony of words that, between her heavy Hindi accent and the blare of music from his earbuds, may as well have just been barking. The little canid was waving her arms very animatedly while she spoke, and she looked very earnest.

Giblet hit the pause button on his phone with a pinkie and hooked the same digit on the cord of his ear bud to pop it out, letting it dangle over the crook of his finger. "Prisha, slow down," he admonished.

The dhole took a deep breath. "You can't go back to your desk!" she blurted. She looked past the otter and raised her left arm over her head, waving frantically. "Over here! He's over here!"

"Why can't I go back to my desk? Was there a hazardous spill? I haven't let Plonq pack beans for lunch since ... that incident..." his voice trailed off when he saw that his words were going right past the canine's ears without meeting any resistance.

"Sir," The voice of Arjun rang out over the din of the office behind them, and the otter turned to see the red panda closing the distance between them with long, purposeful strides. "Giblet, please, I need you to walk with me." The panda jogged the last few paces between them and rested a hand gently on the mustelid's elbow. "There was some unpleasantness while you were away, and I am afraid we must ask you not to enter your work area until we have completed some investigation and cleanup."

"Unpleasantness," said Giblet with a note of trepidation creeping into his tone. "I don't know if I like the sound of that - especially the cleanup part." He craned his neck to try and see over the cubicle wall, but they were standing too far from the partition for him to see. Arjun gave his arm a light tug towards the front of the office.

"Come with me, sir," he said, addressing the otter as 'sir' in spite of being his superior. The panda used that tone with everyone. Plonq and Giblet had mused on that a few times, but could not come to a consensus on whether it was a cultural thing, or just a personal affectation. Giblet acquiesced and let his boss lead him towards the front, but as they passed the cubicle entrance, Giblet glanced into its interior and stopped dead in his tracks. The abruptness of his actions caught his escort off-guard. Arjun's hand slipped from Giblet's elbow, and Prisha walked at full-speed into his back.

Giblet lurched slightly at that, but he otherwise ignored both of them as his blood turned cold, and he felt the world contract around him as he stared into the cubicle. In the distance, he heard his boss admonish Prisha to return to her desk, but their exchange of words quickly faded to irrelevance as he took in the scene of carnage.

Plonq's workstation was a disaster; his chair was overturned, and the desk support was broken so that the table canted at a 60° angle. His left monitor was lying on the floor with a spider web crack across it, and his keyboard lay beside it. His red Swingline stapler was nowhere to be seen. The wolf's chair was also overturned, and though his work station appeared to have fared better, both of his monitors were tossed askew, his keyboard hung precariously off the end of his desk, and his mug lay shattered on the floor.

Also, there was also blood everywhere.

The otter's jaw gaped and his tail and whiskers drooped as he took in the scene through side eyes. It was the blood that drew his gaze, especially a single bloody hand print on the corner of the wolf's desk. "I..." he stammered. Giblet swallowed hard and tried again. "What happened here?"

"Sir," said the panda, putting his hand on the otter's arm again. "Everyone is ok. Your friend is fine. There was a disagreement that went badly, but everyone is fine. Please," he said, and tugged gently again. "Walk with me. The company police do not want anybody to disturb the scene until they have had a chance to investigate. "

That jolted Giblet back to himself. He let his boss lead him toward the front of the office, but he kept glancing back over his shoulder as they walked.

"The police," he said in disbelief, and then before the panda could answer the otter began to machinegun his words. "What happened? Was there a fight? Are they in trouble? That's a lot of blood - are you sure they're both ok?"

"There was an argument, and then it became physical," said Arjun. He led the concerned otter between desks and down a short corridor toward one of the meeting rooms. "It broke up very quickly, but Plonq was cut during the altercation and Rahul is driving him to the ER as a precaution."

The otter jerked himself free of the other's hand again. "They took him to ER?"

"Sir, I assure you it is just a precaution. He walked out under his own power, and under much protest that he did not feel that a trip to the Emergency Room was warranted."  The panda stepped to the side and pushed open the door to Meeting Room 16. "Please try and make yourself comfortable in here. You know as much as I do at the moment about the incident, but I promise that I will give you updates. I know that you are concerned about your friend." He waved the otter forward with a couple meaningful curls of his palm. "I will let the police know that you are here. I believe one of the corporals wishes to speak with you.

The otter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Well, it's not the worst thing the snow kitty's been caught up in," he muttered. He strode into the room and flomped down into the chair nearest the door, resting both cups of coffee on the table. The otter quickly noticed three things about the meeting room; it was small, stuffy, and already occupied by another otter.

Joshua was sitting halfway along the table with his elbows resting on it while he cradled his temples with two fingers on either side. He didn't glance up or acknowledge the other otter until Giblet spoke.

"Oh, hey there," said Giblet. "It looks like we're going to be cell mates for a bit." The other otter jumped and his distant gaze seemed to come back into focus when he glanced at the speaker.

"Hi," he said. "Sorry if I seem a bit out of it here - this has been a ... interesting morning."

"Interesting, ya," agreed Giblet with a dry, humourless chuckle. "Rethinking your new career choice?" The younger otter just shrugged and looked miserable.

"It looks like I missed some excitement while I was away." Giblet sighed and peeled back the tab on his coffee.  He was about to take a good swig of it, but his eyes fell on the unclaimed cup. He glanced over at the dazed-looking otter and back at the cup again before he slid it toward the younger mustelid.

"I don't know how you take your coffee, and I'm sure we would both prefer something stronger, but if you don't mind something all adulterated with sugar and espresso, this one is hot and fresh."

Joshua hesitated, and then gratefully reached over and took the coffee. "Were you bringing this one back for your boyfriend?" he asked.

If he had been trying to pick the worst time to ask that question, then he chose wisely because the older otter had just been tipping back his cup for an unadvisedly large swallow of the hot liquid. Giblet managed to simultaneously swallow coffee, inhale some of it, and spill a large glug down his furry chin and good coat. The otter sprayed an appreciable amount of coffee through his nose in the ensuing coughing fit, but he waved the younger otter away when the other expressed concern over him. When the fit subsided, Giblet stood and shrugged out of his coat so that he could brush and shake as much coffee as he could off of it.

"My what?!"

"I'm sorry," said Joshua quickly. "It's just that what they were saying, and I - well, the snow leopard..."

"...is my friend, and we live together, but he's not my boyfriend," said Giblet. He sighed as he hung his coat over the neighbouring chair. "It's complicated." He turned and eyed the other otter speculatively. "So you were close enough to hear some of what was going on over there?"

Joshua picked up his coffee with both hands and took a swig from it. "I was right there when it happened," he said. "I went over so that you could introduce me to your cubicle mates, but you had already gone for coffee." He took another sip and continued to cradle the cup. "I think I was the catalyst for their fight, but it sounds like there's been some bad blood between them for a while."

"Really," said Giblet. "I always thought they got on well enough." He tapped his fingertips together while he thought. "What were they fighting about?"

"You," said the young otter.

"What!?" Giblet's voice raised an octave for the second time in as many minutes.

"The wolf started saying all sorts of nasty things about you and your boyf..."  Joshua saw the other otter tense a bit and quickly corrected himself. "Your friend got defensive and started getting all up in his face about it. Apparently the wolf has issues with your, uh, sexual choices, and he decided the world needed to know." He took a long, slow sip of his coffee, but his eyes never left Giblet. It was clear that Joshua was debating on his next words. "So ... apparently you think I'm ... adorable?"

Giblet flinched as if he had been shot. He broke eye contact with the other otter and visibly wilted where he stood. He looked around as if he were seeking something for support before pulling the chair up behind himself and slowly lowering himself into it. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned forward until they were resting on the edge of the table.

"I'm sorry," he said hoarsely. "I won't deny that I said it. That was a really inappropriate thing for me to say, and I definitely didn't mean for it to get back to you, but I didn't mean it like..." he faltered and paused to collect his thoughts.  Giblet continued talking, staring fixedly at the wall across from him while he spoke. "I was totally smitten with your spots," he said. "That's all I meant by it." He clenched and unclenched his fists. "Sometimes my meat hole blurts out things before my brain gets a chance to apply the proper filters. I mean, you're not an unattractive person, but I was talking about the tats."

"That's what your friend said too," said the other otter quickly. "I'm sorry, I don't know what even made me bring it up."

Giblet shook his head sharply. "No," he said. "Don't be sorry - this isn't on you." He flung himself back in his chair and covered his eyes with his palms. "Oh god," he said softly, "I am feeling so embarrassed, and humiliated, and angry, and betrayed right now." He slumped back further into the chair, sliding lower in the seat. "I hate having to walk on eggshells every time I open my mouth around this place because I can't trust somebody not to throw it back in my face or whisper it behind my back." The otter hooked his fingers like he was contemplating gouging out his own eyes, but he just kept his palms pressed against them with his digits clawed. "I hate this place, and the toxic people I have to work with. I hate the incompetent managers who let things fester, hoping they'll go away on their own."

A wan groan escaped the back of Giblet's throat. "I have calculated the exact number of years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds until my earliest possible retirement date." He paused. "Well, the last two are kind of approximate because all the clocks in this place are one step removed from blinking 12:00. Seriously, if you know how to set a clock then I think you've got a job for life."

He drew a slow, deep breath and released it. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this shit show." The older otter opened a crack between his fingers and peered at Joshua between them. "But at least it happened on your first day, eh? Welcome to the fold, kid. I know I complain about this place, but this kind of thing never happens." Giblet shrugged. "Today excepted."

The younger otter gave a nervous laugh. "Everybody keeps telling me 'this kind of stuff never happens here'. They are so insistent that a guy could almost start to believe them." He was sitting, slightly slumped in his chair with his elbow on the table and his chin resting on its upturned palm. "So, if this place is so bad, why don't you quit? You seem to be affable and talented enough to find a better job."

Giblet tipped his chair forward again so that he could reach is coffee. "I'm here for the same reason you came here - decent pay and great benefits." He turned the coffee cup in his hands a few times. "I know I make it sound bad, but I'm packing baggage stuffed with years of bitterness and disappointment. They really have made this a better place to work since I started here - in spite of themselves." He finally took a good swig of coffee and wiped his muzzle with the back of his free hand. "Also, I mentioned that I'm closer to retire than hire now. They have come close to getting rid of me so many times over the years that I'm too stubborn to go now. I'm not leaving without getting my share."

"Folks are serious about this kind of think not happening here though," he continued. "This is only the second physical altercation I've seen in the office in all the years I've been working here. At least the last time it was for something worth fighting for; the coffee fund." The two otters sat in silence for a couple of minutes, sipping their coffees and listening to the tick of the electromechanical clock mounted high on the back wall of the room. While Giblet appeared to be sinking into his inner thoughts, the young otter looked contemplative.

"A couple of people got physical about the coffee fund?"

"He accused me of not paying my share, even though I had a receipt from the lady running the fund," said Giblet primly. "He was all up in my face about it and totally asking for a punch in his smug, wolverine muzzle."

"You punched a wolverine?" Joshua's voice carried a hint of disbelief and respect.

Giblet nodded. "I'm not super proud of it, but I was a real hothead back in the day. I had lots of skeletons in the closet - including me. Anyway, it was a really good punch. He never expected it from a wimpy little otter like me, and it really rang his bell. Mind you, he beat the living shit out of me once he was over the shock; messed me up pretty bad." He coiled and uncoiled his fist. "I learned my lesson after that. Never use a fist when your tongue can hurt more. Anyway, they were going to fire me for it, even though most of the witnesses said that he provoked the punch. Fortunately I was still in the union back then, and they managed to get me back under a second chance ruling when it went to arbitration."

"What about the other guy?"

"They fired him in absentia on his first full day in prison," said Giblet. "Anyway, I guess I should stop avoiding the topic. So... what happened? Why is everything broken and blood everywhere? All I know is they were shouting and then there's broken stuff and blood, but somehow they're both ok."

Joshua looked thoughtful, holding his coffee in one hand while he tapped the side of his muzzle with the index finger of his other hand. "Well," he said, "I don't know what set him off, but the wolf started going on about how you were getting all up in his face with the gay, and the snow leopard got all defensive about you. That's when the wolf started claiming that you and your friend were, um..." He took a quick sip of coffee to reset his train of thought and continued. "Anyway, the wolf accused him of being the defender of faggots and stuff like that, then said something about how maybe the snow leopard would be giving you comfort sex when you got home."

"That's when your friend got all up in the wolf's face. He poked him in the chest and told him he was out of line. I didn't catch what the wolf said because he was kind of growling a lot at that point, but he shoved your friend back really hard. Then it all kind of happened really fast, but almost felt like it was in slow motion if you know what I mean."

Giblet nodded and twirled his hand for the younger otter to continue.

"Anyway, your friend kind of lost his balance and when he stumbled backward he accidentally stepped on his own tail. He yowled really loud, and he jumped and tripped over his chair when that happened, which I guess made him fall back onto his desk. He was out of my sight when that happened, but there was a terrible crunching noise, and his monitor kind of flew up in the air." He paused for breath and another sip. "I guess he must have hit his head on the monitor stand or something because the next thing I know I hear him snarl and come launching out of nowhere at the wolf with blood gushing from the side of his head. I thought for sure he was going to kill the wolf."

Joshua shuddered at the memory. "I mean, everything about him was screaming murder, but all he did was tackle the wolf and then sit on him and start yelling things like, 'Are you nuts? Get a grip!' and the wolf was all like, 'Oh my god, I am so sorry.' and 'Dude, you are bleeding everywhere.'  Anyway, the wolf kept going on at your friend about how he was bleeding, so your friend kind of brushed the side of his face with his right hand and when he saw all the blood on his fingers he said ... uh ..."

"Ack." offered Giblet.

"Yes, that!" agreed the other otter. "So it ended up not being much of a fight after that. They both could stand up, but your friend was all wobbly and the wolf started calling for somebody who knows first aid because your friend was just kind of stumbling around babbling a bit and getting blood everywhere. Anyway, someone showed up with a whole roll of paper towels, and they kind of led them both in different directions before your boss whisked me here."

"I'm not surprised that it wasn't much of a fight," said Giblet with a wry chuckle. "Plonq is not much of a ... fighter. Also, he doesn't deal well with blood."

"Ya," agreed Joshua with a nervous chuckle of his own. "Poor guy. But he was really standing up for you before it all went bad."

"Yay," said Giblet flatly. "Thanks for the quick summary. I guess there will be an interesting topic of discussion when I get home tonight." The two otters lapsed into silence again to spend some time with their respective thoughts and coffees, though Giblet's ruminations kept flowing down troubling paths. He was just beginning to wonder if the two of them had been forgotten in the meeting room when there was a knock at the door. It swung open, admitting a uniformed puma into the meeting room, with Arjun close on his tail.

"I am sorry that we kept you two waiting so long," said the red panda quickly, "but as you might imagine, the actions this morning stirred up quite a bit of attention. We have been dealing with a lot of queries." He nodded toward the puma who had seated himself across from the younger otter, and was setting up his laptop on the table. "I shall leave you in the hands of Corporal Stewart for now. I must run for what I expect is going to be a very uncomfortable meeting with our vice president."

Arjun backed out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Meanwhile, the officer had his computer open and ready to go. He leaned across the table to the young otter and extended a hand. "Hi ... Joshua," he said hesitantly. The otter nodded and took the extended hand. "I'm Corporal Stewart with the company police force," continued the puma, "your first day here, eh? We really know how to welcome people to the fold."

Joshua tittered nervously and nodded.

"I'm just here to ask you guys a few questions," said the puma in a reassuring tone. "I promise I won't keep you long. I think we've already got most of it pieced together, and we're just looking to fill in a few gaps." He motioned toward the older otter with a flick of his head. "If you don't mind, I'd like to start with Giblet since I've only got a couple of questions for him."

"Oh, no, I don't mind," said Joshua. He started to stand, then hesitated and sat again. "Did you need me to step outside for this?"

The puma shook his head. "No, you are welcome to stay. I mean, if you need to step out to drain off some coffee or get some more, you're welcome to come and go as you need. I don't expect this whole process to take more than twenty minutes."

The younger otter glanced in Giblet's way, but the older otter gave him a reassuring nod and a quick downward wave with his left hand to let him know that he was welcome to stay.

The puma hunched over his laptop and began typing frantically. He paused, cast a critical glance in Giblet's direction and then typed some more. The cat put a hand on his wireless mouse and clicked the button a couple of times. He moved the mouse back and forth, then jiggled it furiously and tapped the button a few more times. With a soft growl, he rapped it on the table a couple of times causing its LED to flicker tentatively before it came to life. He typed a bit more and then turned his attention to Giblet.

"You work for IT, right?"

"Yes," said Giblet. "I've been in my current role for the past two years, but before that I was..."

"This isn't a formal question," said the puma, interrupting the otter in mid-stream. "I was just wondering if you could pull some strings to get me a mouse that works."

"Oh. Sorry. I don't work for that part of IT. We have to deal with shitty mice too."

"Pity," said the puma. "OK, let's start. I don't need any of your details - we've got you on file enough times. So, tell me about what went down before you went for coffee. Were your two coworkers arguing before you left?"

"Not as such," replied the otter. "I mean, Larry was in rare form this morning, and I could see that Plonq was getting a bit irritated with him, but it really wasn't anything I'd expect them to come to blows over."

The puma spent a few moments frantically typing in the otter's response. "Could you please expand on what you mean by 'in rare form'?"

"He thinks I'm going to hell for having the gay," said Giblet dryly. "He seems to be under the impression that taking shots at me about my sexual orientation will somehow make me see the error of my way and go straight." He shrugged. "All it does when he takes his shots at me is make me take shots back at him. If he wants to play, I'm game. Otters are all about play."

Out of the corner of his eye, the puma saw the younger otter give a knowing nod.

"When you say he's 'taking shots' at you, do you mean that he is directing homophobic comments towards you?" asked the puma. Giblet nodded, and the constable continued. "Do you feel, or have you ever felt threatened in any way by his comments?"

"Um," the otter clasped his hands together under his chin and rested the latter on two extended index fingers. "That's kind of complicated," he said finally. "I mean, I used to feel a bit overwhelmed when I was surrounded by it, but the office demographic has gotten younger and more accepting over the years. Sure, sometimes Larry can get a bit irritating, but I've never felt threatened by him. I've always seen him as a curmudgeonly kook more than a threat."

"Ok," said Corporal Stewart, typing furiously. "Can you give me an example of one of the exchanges that happened today?"

"Yes," said Giblet. "Right before I went for coffee." He made a vague waving gesture in the direction of the other otter. "When I came back from talking to Joshua, I mentioned how he'd unbuttoned his shirt partway to show me where his - very cool, I might add - tattoos blend into his natural fur colour. Larry latched onto that and made a lewd comment about how little time it took me to start undressing the new guy."

"I see," said the puma. When he had finished typing, he paused with his hands over the keyboard and said, "How did you respond to his comment?"

"I don't remember my exact words, but it was something along the lines of asking why I'd need to undress a new person when I could just sit there and picture Larry naked any time I wanted."

"Wowzers," said the puma under his breath. He read the exchange back a couple of times while tapping his thumb on the blank space next to the keyboard's track pad. "What reaction were you hoping to elicit from him with your response?"

"To shut him up," said Giblet in a very matter-of-fact tone. "He usually clams up when he remembers that I can give it as good as I take. I can make him as uncomfortable as he makes me." He buffed his black mustelid claws on his shirt. "I've got a couple of real zingers that I've been holding in reserve in case he gets way out of line."

"Do you feel that this makes for a healthy work environment?"

"It's ... a work environment," replied Giblet after a moment of thought. "He's usually pretty good about keeping it to himself until something sets him off. He gets insufferable for about a week around the pride parade." The otter became more animated as he spoke, gesticulating wildly with his hands. "Maybe I'm inured to it because of how bad it used to be. At least I don't cry in my car before and after every shift now. Oh!" The otter stabbed the table firmly with his index finger. "I want it made very clear in the official transcript of this conversation that I have never actually pictured Larry naked."

The other otter and the puma both laughed at this. Giblet crossed his arms. "I'm serious."

n  End of part 2

Part 3