Guarded: Neon Sunset Ep. 02

Welcome back, my lovely reader!

How are you liking our wolf and ram, my lovely? Wait- don't answer that yet, I did warn you didn't I? Heh, I personally enjoy a good bitch or bastard sometimes, just saying...

Well, let's see how things progress, shall we? Hopefully, nothing crazy happens like Tracey almost beating up her client! Yeah, nah... that would never happen!

Let's jump right in!

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Episode 2:

Heartbeat

"If you can feel your heartbeat, You're not done yet, you can't be. If it hurts, it's working. There is love enough, For you and me."

Tracey leaned against the wall of the dressing room, one knee bent forward from her boot planted on the surface behind her. "So, a pair of scissors huh, you almost pissed yourself over something like that?"

Leo glared at her while sitting in the makeup chair. "I didn't p-!" His mouth snapped shut as the pink-haired llama doing his second layer, grabbed his chin and forced his mouth shut with a sigh before rolling her eyes. The ram glared daggers at her but she seemed unphased and continued to work.

Tracey snorted at the scene and looked down at Max. "I've seen some shit over the years, rat, but this takes the cake." Tracey shook her head as she looked back at the exit door to the dressing room.

"Ah uh... y-yes. I have a name miss- erm, Tracey." Max squeaked out quietly as he fidgeted on his feet drumming his fingers together.

"I'll worry about caring if this lasts longer than the next ten minutes," Tracey growled and rolled her shoulder, audible pops coming from the joints. The weather had made it start to ache more than usual thanks to the heavy rainfall.

"I didn't piss myself!" Leo finally snapped out as the llama turned away from him.

"Cool, a few more nights like that and you can start wearing the big boy pants to bed," She drawled out as she folded her arms and gave him a level look. Max turned away, fighting back a snort of laughter in response, the llama just outright gave a laugh as she stepped from the room.

"Are you going to spend this whole weekend insulting and threatening me?!" Leo snarled as he spun the chair around to look dead on at the wolf.

Tracey shrugged a shoulder before responding. "Are you going to be a cry baby all weekend?" She clicked her tongue as she stared him down. "I know this is hard to do in that getup but... man up."

Leo twitched at the words and jumped out of the chair stomping over to her. Tracey gave him a bored look as he loomed down over her in his heeled boots and thrust a finger towards her face. "You think I like wearing this ridiculous mess?"

"Yes," She said flatly as she kept her azure eyes level with his bright green ones, the new layer of makeup making them pop more and seem to shine like fire.

Leo looked away from the icy blue pools of her eyes and grunted. "Okay, I do a little... but it doesn't make me any less of a man gods damn it!"

She closed her eyes and nodded to herself, choosing her words carefully. She opened her eyes once more and gave the ram glaring at her another bored look. "I really don't care about your masculinity or whatever. Dance around in negligee for all I care. My job is to keep people away from you."

"Bet you'd like to see me in negligee wouldn't you?" Leo quipped with a grin.

The last comment had caught her off guard, this one she was ready for. "Pretty boys don't do it for me, sheep. Go pick up one of your groupies with that line."

Leo gave her a look of shock and perhaps injury from the stab to his ego. He let out his own snarl and turned his back before stomping away a few paces, his small puff of a tail visible at his backside, also dyed blue. "Wow... fuck you too..."

"Did I hit a nerve? You used to everyone kissing your ass and falling all over you for attention?" She rolled her eyes and kicked off the wall. "I thought it was refreshing to you?"

"Didn't expect you would get so personal with it." He sneered and stomped a foot.

"I'm sure Maximillian takes it in stride when you rage on him like a spoiled brat. Can't handle your own medicine, sheep?" She growled the words, her tail flicking in irritation again.

"Ah! D-don't worry about me, no need to drag me into this!" The rat squeaked and quickly scurried away from the two of them but smiled as she had used his full name.

"I told you to stop calling me a fucking sheep!" Leo stomped back over to her practically shouting the words in her face.

Again they were met with a flat unamused look by the canine before she simply said, "No."

He clenched his teeth in rage and stepped back before pointing to the door. "Fuck you, get out. I don't need a bodyguard!"

Tracey quirked a brow and moved over to snatch her two duffle bags from the corner. "Alright then, good luck with the scissor-wielding maniacs." She moved out the door, shutting it behind her. Once outside the dressing room, she dropped a bag and casually pulled out her cellphone while standing in the backstage area.

"W-wait a sec damn it!" Leo busted out of the door after her. He came face to face with a stopwatch app on her's phone, frozen at eight point seven seconds. "W-what?"

"That's how long your threats last. Eight and a half seconds." Tracey pocketed her phone and gave him another bored look. "You cut the diva act, you don't talk to your manager or stage hands like shit around me, and maybe... maybe I will stop calling you a sheep."

"Why do you give a fuck how I act around them? Are you trying to be some good guy here?" Leo stomped a foot, his cheeks flushed from his frustration and embarrassment as Tracey had literally just called him out on his threat.

"Personally? I could care less if you tie them up like pinatas and beat the shit out of them every night. It just annoys me to watch you spout off like some pampered little sissy that has to have their way constantly." She was now growling as she folded her arms under her chest, again unintentionally pushing her breasts out. "I'm used to working with the elite, not spoiled children. You wanted the best, you got it, but there's more to my fee than money."

"How dare you assume I've had it easy! Do you have any idea how much work and effort I have had to-!"

Tracey pushed her fingertips against his's lips, silencing him, the first time she had touched him this entire encounter. The look in her eyes made Leo's blood run cold with fear, she looked furious, like a feral wolf that could easily end him without a second thought. "Do NOT talk to me about adversity. You will NOT talk to me about sacrifice and loss. Do I make myself clear?" The words came out sharp, heated, and deadly serious.

Leo pulled from her hand, leaving blue smudges on her's fingertips and tried to speak but words wouldn't come forth. He finally settled on a quick nod.

She clenched her locket with her free hand and hissed out a curse under her breath, looking at her fingertips covered in lipstick. "I don't give a flying fuck about you or your staff. The job is all I care about. Do you understand?"

Leo blinked slowly then nodded again. "Yes, I get it." His words came out quietly and he turned to look away from her staring at her fingertips. "I- I'm sorry okay? I'm not used to being called out, not used to being stood up to, ya know?"

She hadn't had an interaction like this before, it was always business first, chatting later. It had always been business ever since Helen. Even when she got friendly it was polite and distant. Never personal and certainly not something like this.

"Look, Leo. This isn't going to work for me. I will talk to my boss and have him send you someone more reasonable." Tracey spoke in a soft but firm tone of voice as she grabbed her bags again and turned to walk out of the venue.

Leo watched her walking away, recalling the fierce look in her eyes made him shiver, it made him kind of glad that scary sensation was walking out the door. Then he recalled the other look he saw, the sadness, the loneliness. He wasn't a good judge of character but even he had seen it and felt the despair in her voice.

Max scurried up to the ram and looked between him and the wolf until she pushed the door open and walked out of the building. "Leo, baby! Are you still going to go on stage without her? You did kind of ask her to leave."

Tracey stood outside of the building, the cold late autumn air gusting in her face, raindrops falling on her ears and hair. She stepped past the new bouncer who gave her a wide berth after hearing what happened to the other guy. Dozens of hopeful fans were clamoring around hoping to sneak past the security somehow to see him.

A few moments later the door slammed open as Leo pushed out into the rain after her. "Tracey, wait a sec!"

The fans screamed and went crazy roaring and calling out their love for the idol, any words he tried to say being swallowed up by the noise they collectively created. She simply turned to him and held her phone up, on the display was the stopwatch app, the number fifty-one point two blinking in his face.

Tracey stood in the dressing room once more, flicking water off her ears. "So you just 'had a feeling' huh?" The older dog snorted out through her nose before rolling her blue eyes. "Do these lines actually work for you?"

Leo groaned in frustration as he leaned against the makeup chair. "Can you stop busting my balls for a sec? I'm serious!"

She closed her eyes, a smile threatening to creep up on her lips, then it was gone as she opened them and gave the young ram a level look. "Alright sheep. Let's go over logistics."

He gritted his teeth showing the obvious displeasure of the continued use of the nickname but swallowed down his words. "Max, get in here!"

The rat opened the door as if he had been waiting with his hand on the doorknob the whole time. "Leo, baby, what's up?"

"Tracey wants to go over details for the show." He spoke out as he looked in the mirror before grimacing at his makeup, the rain had done a number on it and he would have to call his makeup girl back in.

Max began as he started wringing his hands together, "Right. So the venue has its own security as well, like the bouncers at the door, and the-"

"Stop." Tracey barked out, holding a hand in the manager's direction. Max quickly piped down at the orders and stood a little straighter, as if She were a commanding officer. "When I say logistics, I mean to say... I'm going to tell you what I plan to do, you listen, we agree, or I leave."

Max and Leo shared a look as the ram glanced back at the wolf and folded his arms. There was still water hanging off his smooth well-defined chest from the rain. The rain had seemed to just bead off the faux leather of his outfit so he looked more sweaty than wet. "Oooookay, let's hear it then."

Tracey kicked off the wall and started to pace back and forth in the small room as she explained things. "The venue handles their own bullshit. I'm a countermeasure when they inevitably fail. Max, you stand at the side of the stage at the curtains every show, correct?"

Maximilian gives a quick nod. "Yes, of course. I'm not just Blue's manager, I'm one of his biggest fans!"

Tracey took a moment to process the name before putting the pieces back together in her head. "So, whom do you like better? Blue or Leo?" She asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Max looked panicked at the answer and unsure how to respond. "I uh... they're the same, right?"

"They aren't. How many fans do you think Blue would have if they saw how he acted behind the scenes?" Tracey prodded the subject and cut her eyes hard over at the idol who was starting to look irritated at the topic.

"Tracey... uh... what does this have to do with preparing for the show?" Max stuttered the words out quickly while drumming his fingertips together nervously.

She flicked an ear at the question as she thought to herself, 'Crafty damn rat, nice escape route...' "It doesn't, I was just curious." Tracey huffed the words and waved a hand. "Fine, moving on..."

"Actually, now I want to know," Leo chimed in, glaring down at his manager. "Who do you prefer, me or my stage persona?" Max squeaked out hesitating to answer and Leo gave him a harder stare. "Tell me or you're fired!"

"I- I like you both Leo, baby!" Max grinned awkwardly and shifted his gaze away from the glaring ram. "Maybe... well, you're friendlier and nicer to me as Blue these days." Leo snorted out through his nose and stood up straight again, looking thoughtful at the exchange.

"Look at us, just building bridges and learning all about one another." Tracey drawled the words lazily as she looked at Max once again. "I will take up a position next to you on the side of the stage. Depending on the angles I may also occasionally move over to the other side to keep an eye on the audience."

"Well, how are you going to protect me if you're off stage?" Leo chimed in, looking into the mirror and now trying to fix his stars himself with an eyeliner pencil.

"You want me up on stage dancing and singing with you, idiot?" She barked out and saw the ram flinch as he poked his own cheek with the pencil. "Oh for fuck sake will you pay attention?"

Leo looked over at her with a scowl on his face, a large streak of blue eyeliner now dragged across his cheek. "I wasn't thinking, you don't have to call me a fucking idiot!"

"Then think next time!" Tracey growled the words and stomped over to him, snatching the pencil out of his hand. "You're worse than a damn child!" She grabbed his chin and jerked it down to look at her before taking some tissue from the makeup table. "Hold still, sheep."

Leo sucks in a breath through his teeth to bite back the words he was going to say. Tracey simply gave him a knowing look as she cleaned the streaks away and looked at some of the intact stars as a reference point before penciling in some new ones. Her scent was right at his nose, she had an almost feral wild scent to her, like grass and leaves mixed with the unmistakable odor of a predator. Her large white tail started wagging on its own as she focused on the work. He almost wanted to reach out and touch it, but thought better of it, figuring she might break his nose or worse.

"Didn't expect you to do makeup, you don't seem the type to wear it..." Leo spoke the words through clenched teeth, trying not to move his cheeks while she worked. He drew in a breath through his nose to avoid breathing too deeply from his mouth, taking in more of her scent. Tracey again gave him a knowing look while focusing on her work, as if acknowledging he was picking up on her scent, even if it wasn't intentional.

"I don't do makeup for myself, I just learned to do this with one of my first jobs. I used to put on makeup for... for... a friend. Before she would go on... stage..." Tracey trailed off her words and looked away from him before pulling back from him. "T-there, your fucking stars are fixed you baby!" She snarled the words and launched the pencil at the mirror before stomping back over to where she had been pacing. She turned her back to the two of them and took a deep calming breath, trying to repress the feelings that were tearing to the surface.

She closed her eyes which were burning now, sure she enjoyed the scent of the ram and he seemed to be smelling her too. He looked and smelled good, she wouldn't deny that, but it also pulled her kicking and screaming back to a simpler time. It took her back to sitting on the bus, putting on Helen's makeup for her before a rally. Sure the older wolf was more than adept at applying her own makeup, but she seemed to particularly enjoy the younger wolf doing it.

Tracey clenched the locket at her chest and huffed out in a ragged soft voice. "Bathroom..."

"What?" Leo asked with confusion.

"Where's the fucking bathroom, you deaf fucking sheep!" She practically yelled the words out, her voice cracking a little as rage started to fill her up again.

Max quickly moved to open the exit door. "Straight ahead, first door on your right!"

Tracey snarled a curse and stomped out of the room. Max gently pulled the door to and shared a look with Leo. "W-was she crying?" Leo asked Max with some hesitation.

"I- I don't think so, I got a good look at her face on the way out... but..." Max wrung his hands together looking down at his feet. "Maybe on the verge of it."

"Stupid!" Tracey barked out, slamming her fist into the nearby metal first aid box, knocking it off the wall and onto the floor. She glared at herself in the mirror, tears rolling down her cheeks, the memory coming back full force now, tearing itself free for the first time in years. The two of them sitting on the bus together laughing and happy. "Weak... and... s-stupid..." She shuddered as she sobbed the words while bracing on the sink. "Get it together you stupid dog... You... You're working..."

Almost ten minutes passed before she strode back into the dressing room like nothing had happened. Her eyes were red but other than that she seemed perfectly composed. "Sorry about that delay. So as I was saying, I will be watching from the sides. All you've got to do is sing your little songs and do your little dances. Someone gets past the venue goons, I will take care of them."

Max and Leo shared a look before turning their gaze to Tracey. She perked her ears up at the two of them looking her over. "What? Am I not being simple enough?"

"Are you okay?" Leo finally broke the question.

Tracey flinched at the words and showed her sharp teeth as she growled in response. "I'm fucking peachy, sheep. How are you?"

Leo blinked at the angry scowl and rubbed the back of his head. "L-look I was just making sure, okay? Don't be so angry about it."

"Cool, noted. Now mind your own fucking business." She growled the words as she turned her back to reach into her jacket and withdraw her small-caliber handgun and the taser. "Here is what I will be wearing during the performance."

"A fucking gun?! Is that really necessary?" The idol barked out the words, obviously shocked and in protest to the firearm.

"M-mi-... Tracey, I don't think such measures are really c-called for." Max stammered his own protest out timidly, his fingertips drumming together.

"How about you two ask me when someone starts shooting at you first or runs faster than me." Tracey gave the two of them a flat look before she kneeled down and pulled her pants leg up, letting them see the large serrated combat knife in its own leather holster. Then finally stood up and reached into her back pocket pulling out her brass knuckles.

"Well, you're like a walking armory," Leo said dryly.

"I can tell you don't like weapons, but that's part of the line of work. If you were in government I would have a ballistic vest on too." Tracey tucked the knuckles back into her pocket and gave a shrug.

"You're right, I don't." Leo huffed the words, an edge to his voice.

"Maybe you will appreciate them more when they save your life." Tracey gritted her teeth and rubbed her shoulder. "Weapons aren't bad, it's the assholes that use them you need to worry about."

"Well! If weapons weren't around to begin with, we wouldn't have to worry about it!" Leo answered back, obviously eager to continue the debate.

"You're kidding right?" Tracey sighed and rolled her shoulder before giving Leo that same bored look. "I'm not going to sit here and debate with you over pro or anti-gun shit, but you bet your ass so long as the bad guys are packing, I will be too."

Tracey frowned and looked between the two of them, seeing neither was keen on the idea. "Anyway, there is really only one rule you need to remember if shit goes down. You do what I say. No thinking, no questioning me, I'm only useful as a protector if you listen to me. Got it?"