Dean took very little time getting ready to assuage his faux pas. Only stopping long enough to take a look at himself in his bathroom mirror.
His reflection showing an average height young man with skin just short of olive. His attempt to grow a beard a shadow of what he wished it could be, his hair kept short so he rarely had to do anything. His only distinguishing features were his brown eyes with silver flecks in them and the scar running through his right eyebrow.
As he left the bathroom to finish getting dressed, he heard the soft sound of typing. Stopping before he entered his room, he heard Aggie call out to him saying, “Plans changed, we will be stopping in Pioneer Square first.”
“What’s going on in Pioneer Square this early?” Dean asked as he walked to the living room while mostly undressed.
“I don’t know but the main HQ sent an urgent message,” Aggie said still watching a message being typed out unassisted.
“What does it say?” Dean asked Aggie as he watched the message typed in another language.
“It says that the Baron of Washington has officially asked for the help of any local MIB agents in a magic investigation,” Aggie said. “So put on your suit and remember the lessons on etiquette and propriety. And make sure to bring your gun and foci.”
Dean hurried dressed in the government-issued black suit that had been infamously referenced by countless conspiracy theorists in blogs and accountings. He still couldn’t believe that he was a member of a group that has been wrongly accused of covering up alien abductions and silencing any witnesses. Something that even he thought was hokum all his life while telling everyone who would listen that monsters were real.
After straightening his tie, Dean checked to make sure his 9mm was left unloaded before slipping it into its side holster. Knowing that carrying an unloaded gun defeated its reason he never felt comfortable having it. Hoping that if he had to brandish his gun the threat alone would deter any possible assailants.
He then opened an antique silver cigarette case filled with just five handcrafted nails. Each nail forged from pure iron and quenched in oil with a pentagram perfectly engraved into the head of each one. You would think that these would be part of some unholy ritual or made for evil purposes but you would be wrong. They were special ordered from a blacksmith Aggie found on Etsy.
The reason for the pentagram was that the symbol has been widely used as a focus for spells and rituals for centuries. And that it had over time became synonymous with channeling and focusing ethereal forces. Just what Dean needed to channel his willpower through to power spells if he ever got that far. For now, they made it easier for Dean to telekinetically move around and sense.
Closing his eyes he let his senses expand to the limit of his abilities feeling the locations of every nail in a 5-foot radius. Every single one barely a glimmer in his mind's eye but his 5 customs one lit up. His familiarity with them making it easier for him to mentally lift them out of their case. Floating them above his hand he opened his eyes watching them hang in the air as if by hidden strings. Gently he nudged them back into their case. Placing it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket he gently patted it. All the training Aggie had put him through showing dividends in his control.
Giving himself one more look over he felt as ready as he could be. Grabbing the car keys leaving his apartment with Aggie in the lead as they walked to their government-issued car.
As Dean slid behind the steering wheel Aggie coughed. Dean instantly got out letting Aggie get in.
Jumping up onto the dashboard he watched Dean trying to get comfortable behind the wheel.
“Relax unless you need me to drive,” Aggie said in a condescending tone.
Taking it as an offer Dean blithely agreed to it, “If you wouldn’t mind.” Sliding over to the passenger side excited to see how this would work.
Aggie watched Dean slide over. His eyes slitted as if Dean had just won an unspoken argument while staying within decorum. Aggie leaped into the driver seat his form morphing to an elderly man in a crisp black suit exactly like Deans.
After Aggie starting the vehicle, he backed out of their parking spot with the ease of a seasoned pro.
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Dean's mind finally catching up he blurted out, “You can shapeshift?!?”
“Don’t expect to see me like this much. I barely way anymore now than as a cat and just as physically strong,” Aggie told Dean as he merged into traffic. “I have other forms but the cat is my original form after gaining sentience and find most natural.”
“Wait what,” Dean said perplexed. “You don’t need me to do all these things for you when you’re in cat form” getting angry the more he thought about it.
“It’s the essence of the apprenticeship you agreed to,” Aggie told Dean as if it answered all questions.
“What apprenticeship? I pay for our apartment. I cook for you that I might add you bitch about!” Dean getting louder and more heated. “I could have been saving so much money if you didn’t require so much!” Dean yelled. The nails in his pocket vibrating with the energy his anger was putting out.
“Everything you have is being paid with my paycheck, you receive. Why would you be making money from just getting tutelage,” Aggie said flatly.
Like a bucket of ice being poured on his anger. Dean sat their stunned and a little embarrassed thinking back at his excitement of finally making headway in life. Even if it were his money, he wouldn’t have that if Aggie hadn’t found him destitute in an alley.
“Sorry, I always just assumed that since it was in my name that it was mine. But what you said makes sense,” Dean said.
“Think of it as an investment,” Aggie said as he signaled to take the exit leading them to Pioneer Square. “Besides what do I need of a mere pittance like that. I’ve been alive for centuries child, I always invest in my future.”
Aggie just smirked as they drove around Pioneer Square looking for a parking spot. Every possible spot was taken except for a spot opening in front of an empty Starbucks.
“I see a spot in front of that Starbucks over there,” Dean pointed out. “But it might be a little tight.”
“How serendipitous. Right in front of where we were going,” Aggie said. “Not even magic could divine parking in this hellscape.”
Aggie paralleled parked with such ease into a spot that was bumper to bumper. It bordered on the supernatural. A man walking by as they parked stopped long enough for them to get out to give Aggie a golf clap.
“Remember that we are guests here and that even though we are technically in the United States that Washington is a sovereign state in the supernatural world,” Aggie said for the umpteenth time.
“Yes sir,” Dean said still a little subdued after his realizations.
Aggie walked up to the counter as if getting ready to order but instead stopped lowering his head in a bow. Dean watched this and took a second for it to click in that the man standing at the cash register was who they were here to see and quickly lowered his head.
The man behind the counter was a tall young man of what looked like Norwegian descent. His hair a silver color that looked natural even with its almost unnatural color pulled into a ponytail. His eyes an icy blue as clear as a winter's sky. But what made it known that he was the man they were meeting was his smile. But it wasn't his smile but the teeth his lips framed. Each tooth forged from brass and engraved with a rune that emanated history and power.
In his hands, he two cups. A frappuccino with Dean's name and a steamy cup of coffee with Aggie’s name followed with a weird symbol after it.
“Baron,” Aggie said in a tone that sounded almost respectful. “I hope we arrived quickly enough for you.”
Dean stood silently behind Aggie in the position of an apprentice.
“No need to be so uptight Aggadorf. How long have we been friends?” the Baron said. “I even prepared you some Kopa Luwak I had flown in from my personal farm in Bali.”
“Baron you shouldn’t have,” Aggie said as he quickly stepped up to the coffee grabbing it. Picking it up he slowly inhaled its scent lost in the moment.
“And for you young man, I made a regular menu item but if you would like I can make you some Kopa Luwak,” the Baron said to Dean.
“That is fine sir,” Dean said unsure of what had made Aggie so excited about the coffee.
“It would be wasted on him,” Aggie said finally a little aware of his surroundings. “He’s too young for such a refined flavor.”
The Baron took off his work apron and walked around the counter to stand on the same side as them. Immediately a person appeared standing rigidly in the place that the Baron was just at.
“His coffee is made after the beans passed through an animal’s digestive tract. Not for me either but selling it pays for this store,” the Baron said as he gesticulated around him.
“You all are just uncultured heathens, especially you,” Aggie said after savoring his first drink.
“HA, there he is. The man who could out eat Beelzebub,” the Baron laughed uproariously.
“I’m a foodie, not a glutton,” Aggie said as dignified as only a man who was a cat could.
Dean just stood to the side still unsure of how to act after how mortified with his realizations in the car. And now with how Aggie was acting after all those lectures about propriety and etiquette. Especially with a man who could make the United States see him as an equal.
The Baron put out hand grasping Dean’s in a manly handshake. The Baron’s hand heavily calloused and muscular enveloped Dean’s. His grip strength making Dean wince in a little pain but not nearly as much as what he did when he let himself feel the Baron’s aura. His own aura enveloped by the sheer ancientness and power of the Baron’s.
“You can call me Dorios in private. I’m not like those stuffy faes and wizards who always go on about decorum and the whatnot,” the Baron but now Dorios said.
“Yes sir,” Dean said as cold sweat beaded upon his forehead. He couldn’t help but take a nervous sip of his drink before daring to ask, “What are you?”
“Just a normal human who has seen a little more than most,” Dorios said as he led the shook apprentice to a seat. “We have broken bread as my custom dictates now we can talk business.”