by Liv Rider
He had thought that the most difficult part would be convincing his council that the welcoming event was a good idea. He hadn’t thought about all the decisions involved in actually organizing it. Right now, his council was arguing over which shifter business to approach to do the catering. It was a sensitive subject. Whichever business got the job, other shifters would grumble and mutter that the council was favoring that kind of shifter too much. It didn’t matter that Thomas was planning on making it an annual event and that they could ask different cafés and restaurants and coffee shops each year.
Barry, an owl shifter, was arguing that over the past year, the council hadn’t hired any bird shifters to do prestigious jobs for them. Karen, a crow shifter, was nodding along and pointing at the report she and Barry had created.
Louis was watching the two of them quietly and Thomas could tell the wolf shifter only just managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Alexandra, a bear shifter, had brought brochures she had picked up at restaurants around the city and kept waving them in the air. “I just want to eat something good! Can’t we pick whichever has the best menu?”
“No, we should pick whoever’s cheapest.” That was Scott, the turtle shifter, and he watched over the council’s finances. “It’s all well and good to organize a lunch, but over a hundred people could turn up, and you know how hungry shifters get.”
“Oh please, we’ll be lucky if two dozen shifters turn up,” Louis replied, and he did roll his eyes. “It’s a nice idea, but no one cares about meeting other shifters and the council.”
“Maybe your wolves don’t care, but then, I don’t care about wolves.” Theresa smiled at Louis. She was a shark shifter and always on the blunt side.
Louis growled, but Theresa’s smile just grew wider.
“We are not discussing whether or not the event should take place.” Barry narrowed his eyes at Louis until he huffed and sat back in his seat. “We were discussing the catering.”
That only set off the argument between Alexandra and Karen over which business to choose and Thomas was pretty sure they were both just repeating themselves now. They weren’t getting anywhere and he knew it was up to him to settle this. He picked up one of the brochures Alexandra had brought with her at random to read through as he considered his options.
His dragon was growing restless and impatient as the council argued. Maybe if we threaten to drop them from a great height?
Thomas hid his smile with the brochure. It was definitely a tempting thought. We’ll consider that our plan B.
Whichever business they went with, the other shifters would be angry. If they picked a bear shifter’s restaurant then they could count on at least the new bear shifters turning up, but would the new wolves? The new owls and herons and eagles? Gossip spread quickly through the shifter grapevine and Thomas wouldn’t be surprised if new shifters were told not to come because of the council’s blatant favoritism.
There was no way he could win. He wanted new shifters to feel welcome and he couldn’t rely on a rotation schedule for a first-time event. For a moment he was tempted to suggest they wouldn’t have catering at all, but then the party would definitely be a flop.
If he couldn’t have a shifter take care of the food and drinks, that only left him with one solution.
“We’ll have a human-run business do the food.”
There was a long silence as the council stared at him.
“Listen,” Thomas continued, before they started arguing against the idea. He was sure the council members would agree on doing that, at least. “We all know that going with a shifter restaurant or coffee shop or food truck is just going to lead to trouble. If we get an eagle shifter to do it, the bears won’t show. If we get a dolphin shifter to do it, then the birds won’t show, and so on. It’s ridiculous and petty and childish, but that’s how things seem to go around here. Well, maybe it’s time for us to be a little ridiculous as well.”
“Hiring a human is more than ridiculous,” Barry told him, shaking his head. “We can’t.”
“Think of the risk involved!” Theresa insisted. “These are new shifters!”
“They’re not new to being shifters,” Thomas argued. “They probably moved here from some place where they lived alongside humans. If they didn’t, it’ll be good practice. Any new shifter who comes to Lewiston has got to get used to living around humans.”
“You can’t be serious,” Louis scoffed. “A human? You might as well cancel the whole thing right now. No shifter is going to be there if some human gets to take care of lunch.”
Karen nodded along with him. “Exactly. I get what you’re saying about certain shifters not showing up because they think the council is favoring one type of shifter, but this way, everyone is going to feel insulted.”
“Good.” Thomas was pleased with the looks of surprise all around. “They should be. Let everyone gossip and talk amongst themselves. If anyone complains to you about it, you tell them that it was my decision to ask a human. Tell them it was because I was sick and tired of the petty infighting. Blame it on me.”
Scott was frowning at him. “Do you think that will change anything next time we have to make a decision like this?”
Thomas shook his head. He was optimistic, but not that naive. “No. That will take more time. But I think it might be a step in the right direction.” He was relieved to see Scott’s frown ease, and Karen and Barry were starting to nod.
“You really want to do this?” Alexandra asked.
“Yes.” He glanced at Louis, who scoffed. “Look, if the event is a complete flop, then it’ll be my fault and I won’t argue for it again.” Or at least, he wouldn’t argue for it any time soon. If he waited a couple of years, there’d be some new council members and he could try again. “It was my idea to welcome everyone who has moved here over the past year, so let’s try it my way.”
There was a long silence. The council members exchanged glances, and Thomas noticed every slight shrug of a shoulder, every skeptical frown, and even the slightest raise of an eyebrow. As a dragon, he had excellent eyesight and it helped him read people. He mostly watched Louis. The wolf shifter had reacted the strongest against the idea, so if Louis was on board, Thomas was sure the others would agree too. Louis looked at Alexandra, who shrugged at him slightly in a ‘why the hell not?’ gesture, and he sat back further in his seat, looking more relaxed. A hint of a smile appeared on his face.
“All right,” Louis replied, smiling openly at Thomas. “Let’s do it your way. You pick whatever human-run business you want, but make sure they make good BLT’s.”
Thomas laughed at that. “No problem.” He was sure that his offer to drop the idea if the event was a complete flop had sealed it for Louis. He hadn’t seen the point in welcoming new shifters, since wolf shifters were already good at making sure their own newcomers felt welcome in Lewiston. Thomas was more interested in making sure new shifters felt welcome who didn’t have that kind of tight-knit community to help them get settled in.
He looked around the table. “Then everyone’s agreed?”
“It’ll definitely get people talking about the event,” Karen said. “Whether that’s good or bad, I don’t know.”
Thomas smiled. “Just wait,” he told her. “It’ll be great. Especially the food and drinks.”
When he got home after the meeting, he immediately started searching online for suitable places. There were so many businesses to choose from that he had no idea where to start. He needed a place that did good coffee, but if he wanted people to stay for a few hours, he needed good food as well. Sandwiches, muffins, cupcakes, other kinds of baked goods that would tempt people to stick around.
Thomas sighed as he stared at his computer screen. He couldn’t visit all these places personally to try their food, so how was he supposed to pick one?
Fortunately, Lewiston had three districts, which meant it had three Keepers of the Peace. Thomas could ask his two colleagues for advice. Parker and Mitchell already
knew about Thomas’ plan to organize a welcoming event. Thomas didn’t think they would copy the idea any time soon.
They both thought Thomas was micro-managing things. Parker, who covered the northern and western part of the city, had his council keep tabs on new shifters while Parker kept a close eye on his council, making sure they did what they were supposed to do. Mitchell, who took care of the eastern district, believed that a Keeper of the Peace should only act if they were asked to do so, and let the council run things themselves as much as possible.
Their different styles had led to some arguments over the past few years. Thomas thought it was weird that Parker frequently told his council what to do, because what was the point of having a council if you didn’t let them do anything themselves? Parker argued that Thomas’ way of visiting every shifter cost too much time and wasn’t efficient, because what was the point of visiting a shifter who didn’t have any issues and was just living their life? They did agree that Mitchell’s tendency to wait until he was asked to step in was ridiculous, because it was better to prevent trouble than to wait for it to happen. Mitchell insisted that if he stepped in too early, the council would never learn from their mistakes.
It made for interesting discussion and Thomas wouldn’t have it any other way. As much as he argued with his colleagues, he enjoyed spending time with them, and they didn’t always talk about their work and their districts. They were the only other two dragon shifters in the city and the only two who understood how hard being Keeper of the Peace really was.
In this particular case, Mitchell was his best bet. The other dragon shifter had a sweet tooth and always liked bringing Thomas and Parker to new coffee shops or favorite cafés. If anyone knew which place Thomas should approach first, it’d be Mitchell.
He called his friend immediately. Once he’d explained why he wanted humans specifically, Mitchell started to laugh.
“Oh, that’s clever! I bet they didn’t see that coming.”
Thomas smiled. “Not at all. You think it’ll work?” He hadn’t wanted to let the council know about his own doubts, but they did niggle away at him.
“Hmm, hard to say. You’ll always get the stubborn shifters who tell everyone not to show because there’s humans, but others will turn up because they’re curious. If you can get your council to encourage people to show up, a lot of them will follow their lead.”
“True. Not everyone’s enthusiastic, but I’m used to that. Anyway, can you give me a top three? I don’t want this to go badly because the coffee is terrible.”
“Of places that are good all-round?” Mitchell asked. “Because some places do amazing coffee, but their brownies are on the dry side, and I know a couple of cafés that do amazing muffins, but their coffee is always weak.”
“They need to do good BLT’s too,” Thomas said, remembering Louis’ request. “So yeah, good all-round.”
Mitchell gave him a few names. “Oh, and give Hampton’s Café a try. They’re in your district. Nothing amazing, but I’ve never had anything there I didn’t like.”
Thomas scribbled the name down as he laughed. “I don’t think they should hire you to do their marketing any time soon.”
“It’s true, though,” Mitchell told him. “And it’s what you asked for. Anyway, when’s the event? Am I invited?”
He should’ve seen that coming. “You’re not new to Lewiston or my district.”
“It might be useful for them to know a little something about the other districts. That I’m also Keeper of the Peace, in case they have a dispute with someone from my district, or you’re unavailable to help them.”
While Thomas knew Mitchell was joking and just angling for an invitation, a part of him felt insulted by the implication that he would ever be unavailable to shifters in his district.
His dragon was hissing angrily inside of him. Our friend thinks we have so little honor? We would not let anyone in need down!
“I’m going to ignore you said that about me being unavailable.” He tried not to sound too annoyed, but he knew Mitchell would notice.
“Yes,” Mitchell said, after a short silence. “Yes, I’m going to ignore I said that too. It will be just people from within your district, then?”
“I think that’s for the best, yes, especially since it’s the first year we’re doing it. People will already be shocked at my decision to hire humans. Maybe next year. We’ll see how it goes.”
Mitchell hummed in agreement. “Fair enough. Still, if no one turns up, give me call. I will happily help you eat everything that’s left!”
Thomas laughed. “How noble of you.”
“You know me, always willing to help out a friend.”
The phone call had cheered Thomas up. There was still a lot to arrange for the event and there was a chance that fewer shifters would turn up than he’d hoped, but the food and drinks wouldn’t be the problem.
It was five past one and no one had turned up yet.
Well, that wasn’t true. The entire council was there, although Thomas suspected that Louis was only there to go ‘I told you so’ when none of the new shifters they had invited joined them at the district’s community center.
The building had been a primary school and ten years ago it had been bought by the council. The layout had been perfect for them. There was a large, central room for assemblies and large meetings, and the old classrooms were used by a shifter-only daycare center during the day and several clubs and societies in the afternoon and evening.
Sure, when you wanted to play chess or learn French or paint landscapes it didn’t matter if you were doing it with fellow shifters or humans, but keeping your guard up all the time could be exhausting.
He had asked Scott to talk to the people from Hampton’s Café when they had arrived over an hour ago to set up in the classroom that was used for giving cooking and baking workshops.
Thomas thought of the shifters who often ran those and how insulted they probably were that they hadn’t been approached for the event. Well, he’d deal with the ruffled feathers – literally, in some cases – later.
He was looking at the doorway, hoping he didn’t look as nervous as he felt. His dragon was alert and apprehensive as well, which didn’t help.
The others were talking amongst themselves, speculating about who would turn up. From what he overheard, he knew that they hadn’t spent too much time or effort promoting or convincing people to turn up.
Maybe that was for the best. He knew from his own experience that the more someone tried to convince him to do something, the less he wanted to do it.
Scott returned to the hall, sipping from a cup of coffee. “Quiet here.”
“They’re all set up?” Thomas asked. The smells that wafted in were promising and very tempting, but he would wait to get himself something until the first few shifters had arrived.
“Oh yes. They have enough for at least a hundred humans, so about fifty shifters.”
That was good. Thomas’ plan was to let people arrive between one o’clock and one thirty so they could all get coffee and a muffin or brownie, then he would give a brief welcoming speech, followed by the rest of the council. Afterwards there would be soup and sandwiches waiting, and people could mingle and eat until three o’clock.
He was relieved when a family of four walked in. The two kids looked like they’d rather be anywhere else but here, but their parents ushered them inside.
Alexandra walked up to them, greeting them all with a smile, shaking the hands of the parents and nodding at the two children. They perked up when the bear shifter mentioned there were brownies.
After that, a couple of more families followed, and Thomas watched as the other council members greeted the ones they knew. He smiled, glad that for all their doubts, they were making an effort.
As the central hall filled with people, Louis was the only one who stayed at one of the standing tables without greeting anyone. Thomas joined him, trying not to look too pleased. He was Keeper of the Peace
, after all. He wasn’t here to prove anyone wrong or rub it in Louis’ face that he’d been right.
But he did want to gloat a little bit. “See anyone you know?” he asked, giving Louis a sunny smile.
“No, but then, no wolf shifters have turned up yet.” Louis looked at him. “But they might.”
This was as close as Louis was going to get to ‘this is more of a success than I had expected’. “There’s still plenty of time.” It was about twenty past one now. “Or maybe they’ve all decided to skip our boring speeches.”
Louis laughed at that. “I would if I were them, and I’m giving one of the speeches.”
Thomas smiled, feeling glad there wasn’t any animosity from Louis. “I hope a couple of wolf shifters turn up. And otherwise you can get to know everyone else. After all, that’s also the point of this event. To talk to shifters besides the ones you always talk to.”
“I know, I know. But the wolf shifters keep me busy, you know how it is.”
Thomas knew that wolf shifters were the most common in the district, followed by the bears. “I can imagine. Anyway, time for a coffee. I want to see if there’s any muffins left.”
“I’ll join you.”
Thomas was a little surprised Louis walked with him, since the wolf shifter had been against letting a human take care of the food. “Desperate for coffee?”
“When it comes to speeches, always.”
Thomas smiled as he walked into the classroom. He was about to ask why Louis had decided to be a candidate for the council, let alone accept the position if he hated speeches and official occasions so much, but then his dragon became fully alert.
He must’ve been hungrier than he’d thought, because the sweet smell of the muffins and brownies made his mouth water. Of course his dragon wanted something to eat, he’d been too nervous and busy to eat anything since breakfast.
He followed Louis over to the two tables where the two employees of Hampton’s Café were pouring something to drink for three other shifters. Louis asked for a cup of coffee before moving on to the baked goods and finally Thomas could step up to the table.