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The Education of Crisp Chapter 8: Business Matters For FriskeCrisps By Draconicon

In the four weeks since the demons were sealed away, things had gotten massively better for Crisp. The wolf felt in control of himself for the first time in a long time, and genuinely so, rather than simply feeling like he was allowed to be. His magic lessons were proceeding at a quick pace, and the rest of his life felt like it was going, if not as great, then still better than it had been.

Perhaps best of all, there was no more of the master and servant dynamic between him and his teacher. Draconicon had mellowed since the near-possession that they'd both gone through, and no longer put him through as many humiliating experiences, while the wolf had gotten much more...accepting, he supposed, of the remaining ones that happened, finding a way to enjoy them that he hadn't had before.

He laid in bed, looking up at the ceiling as he thought about how much things had changed, and slowly shook his head with a smile.

"Life is good...MMMPH!"

He flailed as a pillow hit him right in the face, and threw it back the way it came. As expected, it came to a stop in mid-air as Draconicon's magic caught it, and floated to the ground. His teacher walked across the room, wearing his usual black robe, and Crisp shook his head.

"Are you ever gonna dress like a normal person?"

"Only if every robe I have gets destroyed. Do you think that this stuff is cheap?"

"Is it?"

"Well, the base cloth, I guess, but everything I do to it is not."

Crisp arched an eyebrow, and the dragon rolled his blank, white eyes.

"You know I don't mean it like that."

"With all the perversions in those journals of yours -"

"Those would be cheap, and you know it."

"Hehehe, sure they would..."

Rolling out of bed, Crisp walked over to his dresser and pulled out a few sets of clothes. Some shorts, a shirt, some fresh underwear...but he paused when he got to his socks. He looked over his shoulder at the dragon, narrowing his eyes.

"Did you transform all my socks into the striped knee-highs again?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you like making me look silly and - Ugh..."

He shook his head, looking back at the drawer. It couldn't be helped, he supposed, though he really looked forward to the day when he could learn the spells to alter clothes. Though he'd learned elemental spells, enhanced fire magic, and a few transformation spells over the last few weeks, he'd yet to learn the bigger transmutation spells. Considering the various alterations his clothes kept going through, it was one of the few things that he really, really wanted to learn.

"Turn around, please?"

"Heh, you know I've seen everything you've got."

"Yeah, but..."

He blushed.

"Please?"

"Heh, fine. This time."

The wolf waited for the dragon to turn around, and even looked over his shoulder to make sure that his teacher was giving him some privacy before whipping off his sweats. He dressed quickly, pulling on a new pair of boxers and his shorts first to minimize the time he spent naked, before pulling his shirt on.

By the time he sat down on the bed, Draconicon was starting to turn around again, and Crisp rolled his eyes.

"I didn't say you could turn around yet."

"That was plenty of time for someone to get their underwear and pants on. Besides, it's not like you get that embarrassed about me seeing you shirtless or anything."

"No, but I don't need to give you any more fetish fuel for other stuff."

Lifting one half-socked foot meaningfully, he got the satisfaction of seeing his teacher blush in return before he yanked the striped sock on the rest of the way. It went all the way up to his knee, looking almost like a pair of stockings rather than socks, and he had to fight a blush of his own as he realized how...silly they made his legs look...and kinda sexy...

Gah! Don't think about it like that!

Shaking his head, he waved his hand, summoning a little bit of magic. A pale wisp of heatless flame burst into being over his fingers and he flicked it towards the closet.

"Hmmm, indulging yourself, are we?"

"Oh, come on. It saves time."

"It's also so much your fetish..."

The wolf shook his head, even as he felt his cheeks burn as a pair of high top sneakers started stepping out of the closet on their own. Like little automatons, they stepped over to him, turned around, and grabbed his raised feet with their laces. They pulled themselves off of the ground, and then started wiggling themselves towards his toes, almost wrapping the openings around his toes like eager mouths.

He squirmed on the edge of his bed as his shoes devoured his feet, working their way past his toes and the balls of his feet towards the arch, and further still. They seemed to stretch around the curve of his foot, making sure that it didn't scrunch up or get wrinkles in the fabric, and he crossed his hands over his crotch to keep his reaction from being quite so -

"Good lord, does anyone get as hard as you do when it comes to shoes?"

"Drac!"

"What, it's the truth. You're like a poster boy for a shoe lover. You get hard just walking by shoe shops, you intentionally make your shoes take control of your feet, you would probably cum if I slid your dick inside a shoe -"

"I swear to god, if you don't stop it -"

"Heh, what are you going to do? Clop around the house in your big, old shoes, chasing after me? Gonna moan with every tap-dancing step you take in those stompers, those clown shoes of yours? Are you gonna -"

Blushing and whimpering, Crisp raised one hand and flung it towards the dirty laundry on the other side of the room. It all started glowing with the same pale, heatless fire as the shoes did, and the socks and underwear in the pile launched themselves at the dragon like a flurry of missiles.

He smirked as the dragon blocked the first couple, but was quickly buried in the rest, knocked towards the wall and smothered beneath a week's worth of dirty socks and underwear. His shoes were still knotting their laces, but he leaped to his feet and darted out the door.

After all, it was only a matter of time before the dragon got his head on straight and canceled the spell, and he needed to get out before his boner got much harder.

The taxi had been waiting outside when he left the house, and he leaped into it just in time. As it sped away, he caught a fleeting glimpse of the black dragon stepping out of the house, and chuckled at the sight before getting comfortable in his seat.

"So, where are you going, sir?"

"Benjamin and Sterns law offices, thanks."

"Right away, sir."

Crisp nodded as he leaned back, putting his hands over his lap as he let his thoughts wander a little bit.

Heh...would have been fun to stick around for some more of that teasing, if I didn't have something important to do.

Draconicon had been in rare form this morning, and it had tempted the wolf more than he wanted to admit. After all, his teacher wasn't always in the mood to do that sort of teasing, and it was always a treat when it happened. His current, throbbing erection was testament to that.

At the same time, things had changed enough between him and Draconicon that he wanted to do something for the big guy. It wasn't often that someone saved his life, after all, and even though he'd repaid the favor, he felt like he needed to do more.

Crisp remembered the digging that he'd done into the dragon's life over the last week or so, and momentarily winced at how much money that had cost. The trust fund had covered it, of course, but the wolf knew better than to try and do that again. Four private detectives and several expensive searches into the magical guilds across the country didn't come cheap, after all, and their results were almost not worth the money.

At the same time, he'd learned more about Draconicon than he had expected, and it filled in a few holes in his understanding of the big dragon.

Like, the fact that he had been a wandering teacher for a good hundred years.

Or the fact that he had been without more than $50 in an account at any given time, for the last forty years.

Or the fact that he had been banned from a number of different professional magic schools for his various tutoring practices, and other issues.

The more he'd learned, the more he'd found that his teacher was a bit of a recluse, a social abnormality. Most of the magical teaching that went on happened either in a public school classroom - something that was paid for by the state, and required a teacher certified, licensed, and in one of the magical unions - or in college, which had similar requirements and cost a great deal more, with the teachers often buying their own supplies for teaching.

Draconicon didn't have any of that. He had been reliant on tutoring individuals for a long time, and Crisp knew that, as soon as their lessons were done, things would start to change. Draconicon couldn't keep practicing that much magic in the house, and would likely need to start looking for a new method of keeping himself afloat. Crisp planned to help with that as long as he could, considering that the dragon had unlocked so much of his magical abilities, but at the same time, he wanted to make sure that his friend was well taken care of in the future.

The taxi arrived at the law offices a few minutes later, and the wolf stepped out of the car. He handed the driver a few twenties, and told him to wait.

As soon as he stepped into the white-walled, red-floored building, the wolf was approached by a tiger in a suit. A suit that he estimated probably cost about a thousand dollars, if it were a cent.

"Ah, Mr. Crisp, it's good to see you again. I trust everything is going well for you?"

"It is, Mr. Sterns. Well, mostly."

"Is there anything we can do for you?"

"There is, actually. There's a matter of my will?"

It was a part of the trust fund, actually, something that had been set up so that he could always have money, but just in case things went haywire, it had a chance to be taken care of instead of going right to the state. He'd had it made up as soon as he was given the money to work with, according to the rules.

The tiger nodded.

"I remember. Is there something that dissatisfies you, sir?"

"Not so much dissatisfies as needs changing. I want to add another beneficiary to it."

"Very well, sir. Let's go back to the office and pull out the paperwork."

It didn't take long to get the dragon's name attached to his will. Draconicon wouldn't know it for a while, but he was now part of the wolf's will, and would inherit some money when the time came for him to pass. Considering dragon life spans, he knew that his teacher would outlive him, and he doubted that there was anyone better deserving of it than his friend.

He signed the paperwork, and passed it back to the lawyer. As usual, Mr. Sterns copied the new will, and slid it into the proper files after scanning in an electronic copy. The tiger nodded.

"And that's that. Your will is changed."

"Thank you for making it so simple, Mr. Sterns. It's good to see that you guys still live up to your reputation."

"We try, sir. How is the rest of your family?"

"Mostly difficult. They've set me up with a good deal of things, but they don't talk to me much. Do they talk to you?"

"Only on a few matters, and even then, only once a year during the financial meetings. I imagine that they are content to stay alone and live out their lives in wealth."

He nodded a few times. That had been the case. They'd started a business, and kept a majority stake in it while passing on the running to other people. The only reason they kept hold of the shares rather than selling it was in case someone decided to run the business into the ground, and that way they could stop it.

He'd been tempted to sell his shares back to the family, but the value kept going up, and he wanted to keep hold of it in case of a rainy day. Better to have a safeguard, after all, just in case.

Even if my family is starting to put a lot of pressure on me to get them back...

It was something that the wolf didn't really understand, to be honest. As soon as they heard that he was working with a magic teacher, his siblings had started trying to get his shares of the company off of him. He'd been tempted at the first offer, considering the millions that it would bring in, but as soon as he got a similar offer from someone else, he realized that he was being played. Someone wanted all of his shares, and they wanted it for a very specific reason.

So he held onto them, for now. Better to keep hold of it and figure out what they wanted rather than give it up and have it bite him in the butt later.

"I'll take my leave for now, Mr. Sterns. Please give my regards to the family next month."

"I will, sir. Be well."

The phone in the tiger's office started ringing, and the wolf chuckled.

"Looks like business never stops."

"Indeed not, sir. I have to take this, so, if you can see yourself out?"

"No problem. See you later."

He walked out, shaking his head a few times as he made his way back to the taxi. It didn't take long to get the driver to turn around, and soon he was headed back home.

The wolf leaned back against the seat as he considered telling his teacher the news about everything. It might make for a nice surprise for Drac, but at the same time, he knew the dragon's heavy pride. It might be a better idea to keep it as a surprise for him, in all honesty; better to keep things from getting out of hand.

As the drive went on, he noticed that the wolf in the front seat was putting his phone down, and was turning down a side road. Blinking, Crisp tapped at the window separating them.

"Excuse me, where are you going?"

"Uh, route-shuffle. Sorry, got some orders from my supervisor. Traffic down the old route, so we gotta take a detour."

"I'm fine with traffic. We can keep -"

"Sorry, orders are orders. Please sit back."

"But -"

"Sit back."

Hesitantly, he did, and the glass window shut, leaving him in silence as the wolf picked up his phone again. Crisp looked out the window, and realized that they'd essentially turned around. The wolf shook his head slowly, and started to reach for the door -

Click!

The locks on the door snapped shut, leaving him sealed inside of the car. His eyes went wide, and he pulled on the door a few times, to no effect.

"What's going on?! Stop the car!"

The wolf didn't respond, and Crisp shook his head. Magic seemed his only recourse, and he squirmed back from the door, all the way to the other side of the taxi.

Okay, just don't make it too big. You don't have Draconicon to put out the fires if you're wrong about how much energy you pump into this.

He held his hands in front of him, pumping as much magical energy into his palms as he could. Light, brilliant orange light, started to glow between his fingers, and the tongues of fire started to crackle and whisper between his hands. A small, penny-sized fireball grew bigger, and bigger, until it was the size of a baseball. He held it there, not daring to make it any bigger with how destructive it could get.

Then...he threw it.

The ball hit the other door and blew it right off of its hinges, sending it flying onto the road. The sudden roar of wind coming by the opening fanned the flames hotter, and the driver immediately hit the brakes.

Crisp did the only thing he could think of, and dived through the fire, hitting the pavement on the other side. The wolf rolled, rolled, rolled, until he hit the sidewalk. He groaned, shaking his head as he struggled to get to his feet -

"Get him!"

Rough hands, gloved, grabbed him by the shoulders. They yanked him up, and pulled his head back hard. Crisp opened his mouth, but they shoved a cloth gag inside, keeping him quiet, and with his hands pulled behind his back, he couldn't summon another spell.

Kidnapping. What...why? What do they want?

They were quick, too, pulling him towards an open van. He was shoved into the back, and the doors closed behind him. A hyena stood over him, masked with a bandana and a set of goggles, and hit the wall with his fist a few times.

"Drive!"

The van shot off, and Crisp rolled back and forth across the floor from the momentum of their sudden departure. He grunted as he slammed off of the wall a few times, shaking his head from the impact, and he growled under his breath. The bindings on his wrists were...not loose, but they did keep his hands together; he might be able to work a little fire back there and burn them off.

Before he could, the hyena leaned over him and grabbed him by the chin.

"You try any of that funny stuff, and I'll put a bullet through your arms. I've seen mages try and cast through pain. You think you can handle it?"

He slowly shook his head, and the hyena nodded.

"No spellcasting, no bullets in your body. You understand me?"

Crisp nodded, and groaned as the hyena let him go, his head banging against the metal underside of the van. Even so, he tried to think of some spell that he could cast quickly, without having to use much in the way of flashy magic. There weren't many spells that he knew that fit that description, unfortunately; he needed to talk to do something quickly, and he needed to point at things for a number of other spells.

The wolf slumped a bit, shaking his head as his mind raced. A kidnapping. Who would do something like this? Were members of his family wanting his shares in the business that bad? Or was it someone that wanted revenge on his family for something they'd done? Or was it something magical that Draconicon hadn't told him yet?

Too many questions, and not nearly enough answers. He grumbled, thumping his legs in frustration as the van went on.

Somewhere along the trip, he ended up being dosed with some sort of sleeping gas, so he didn't know where he was taken. When he woke up, Crisp found himself tied to a chair, his head loopy and fuzzy, and surrounded by figures silhouetted by bright lights behind them. He groaned, the wolf shaking his head as he tried to clear it.

"Nng...Where am I?"

"It doesn't matter where you are. It more matters...what you are."

He shook his head. It wasn't even a voice that he recognized; digitized to hell and back, it was worse than a drive-through order box. At least those still had some tons that let you tell if it was a guy or a girl.

"What do you mean? I'm just a guy."

"You are Mr. Crisp, a member of the family that controls one of the biggest clothing corporations on the planet. Your family heads a number of all-natural campaigns, as well, leading the way towards bringing the nation to a better place, before the resurgence of magic."

"I...Ugh...my head..."

One of the other silhouettes gestured, and a third stepped forward, placing something against the side of his neck. Crisp grunted as he felt a little puncture, but his headache started fading almost immediately.

"Thank you..."

"Don't talk unless you're answering questions."

"What about if I want to ask them?"

They all remained silent, and he slowly shook his head.

Still, new information. He heard that his family was getting into different businesses besides the clothing one, and there had been some rumbles from school that he was a hypocrite for studying magic. With all the silence from his family, though, he hadn't been aware of quite how far they'd gone.

Going back to before the resurgence of magic? He supposed that it made some sense, for them; magical production lines were currently highly regulated, because of the destabilizing effect they'd had on the economy in some countries, but he'd heard those were slowly getting relaxed. His family could see that as a threat...

And that meant that they could see him as a threat, as well. A company that produced all-natural products, with someone studying magic in the founding family? It wouldn't go well with their branding at all...

He looked up again, squinting his eyes to try and see the figures better, but the lights were too well-placed. He gave up as the speaker started talking again.

"We know that you've been studying magic for several months now, under the tutelage of an illegal teacher."

"He's not illegal."

"He's not restrained in a union, thus, illegal."

"Ugh...private tutelage is fine. It's in the laws."

"It won't be for long. But that's beside the point."

The silhouetted figure stepped closer, and Crisp groaned as the figure grabbed at his neck, pinning him back against the chair.

"The family doesn't want you around anymore. Several offers were made on your shares, and you rejected them. If they can't have it back through paying you off, then they will simply take it in a different way."

"You...you think that...killing me would revert the shares to them? I didn't set my will up that way."

"This is your last chance to give them back of your own free will. If you don't, then we'll proceed to torture. And we doubt that you will be able to withstand that, not with what we have planned."

He grunted softly, trying to get a little more air through the grip on his neck. It wasn't quite choking, but it was getting there. His nose flared, and he caught...a familiar scent. The wolf blinked, and sniffed again.

The figure quickly pulled its hand back, but the damage was done. Coughing, Crisp slowly brought his head back up.

"So...Looks like my...big brother's trying to do something for the family, huh?"

"You always were a bit too quick for my tastes, Crisp."

"Well, you were always a bully."

"Hmmph."

The figure stepped slightly to the side, finally turning visible. The older wolf - not much older, perhaps four years - squatted down beside Crisp. He wore a leather jacket, and had two guns on his hips, each one looking like it was loaded, and had very, very big bullets. The wolf grabbed him by the shoulder, and cold, cold eyes met his.

"I want you to know something, little brother. You being family won't make me go any lighter on you. You know I never have, and I never will."

"You certainly went light on your offer, compared to our sister."

His brother's fist hit him in the side of the head, and his world went dark.

He woke up, and this time, he was laying on his back, staring up towards the ceiling. His arms and legs were tied in a spread-eagle position, and as he usually did when he found himself in these situations, Crisp started testing the ropes.

No give. None at all. Even with his best squirming, he could only tense his muscles up. Someone had measured and tightened the ropes perfectly.

A couple of clicks, and suddenly the room flooded with light. Crisp groaned again, his head pounding as he went from utter darkness to brilliant light.

What...

His cheeks burned as he realized that he was almost naked, stripped out of his clothes and brought down to nothing more than his underwear. Worse, he was strapped down to what felt like an operating room table, cold against his back and very, very uncomfortable. He wriggled his hips, but as he realized that made him look like he was humping and grinding, he stopped immediately.

His brother stepped back into the light, carrying with him a number of needles. He set them down, shaking his head.

"This could all have been avoided if you had listened to your teachers when you were younger, little brother. They told you that you didn't have magic, but you insisted on trying to learn. When mother and father learned that you were doing that, paying for lessons by mail, we had it shut down. When you started looking for a teacher, we paid the schools to block you. When you were old enough, they paid for your house in the most unmagical district in the entire city.

"And somehow, you still found a way to get a teacher. One with a reputation for perversion. With your proclivities against the natural way of things, I shouldn't be surprised."

Crisp glared as his brother sighed, sounding so sanctimonious the whole way through. He opened his mouth, but his brother just kept talking.

"This could all have been avoided if you had simply accepted the fact that magic wasn't for you. That it wasn't for anyone in our family. Then neither of us would be here right now."

"Do you know what I think?"

"I imagine that you think you were justified."

"Hell yes, I do!"

He spat at the other wolf, his anger growing in leaps and bounds as he pushed himself up against the restraints, as much as he could. He glared as that glob of spit slowly slid down his brother's muzzle.

"The whole family tried to keep me away from something that makes me who I am. You all tried to make me think that it was a dream, that it was hopeless. Everything you did was to hide this part of me. And for what? For what?!"

"Business, little brother. It's all for the business."

"You know what? FUCK the business! This is wrong!"

"It will be set right soon enough. With you declared missing, the family can get our lawyers to enact your will in an expedited fashion. At that point, your shares and a great deal of your money will be delivered to your teacher. At which point, we can pursue it from him."

"Good luck getting it out of him in court. With that money, he can afford the best lawyers, just like you."

"We were thinking of a more...direct approach."

Despite knowing where he'd been betrayed - Mr. Sterns must have called them, or been called by them as he was leaving the office - Crisp smiled. He smiled so wide that it hurt, and it kept getting bigger even as his brother tapped a needle, testing it for bubbles.

Finally, the question was asked.

"What are you so happy about?"

"Please, please tell me that you're sending your best teams after my teacher."

"We would do nothing less."

"Good."

"Hmmph. I should have expected you would have no loyalty. Your type never do."

"Oh, you don't understand. I'm not worried for my teacher...I'm just glad that he's going to rip your best goons to shreds."

Draconicon shook his head as he looked at the clock. Crisp should have been back five hours ago, and that was accounting for his student going for a meal, and then spending time at a party or something along those lines. It was past midnight, and the dragon was starting to worry.

He started to reach for the phone, considering calling the police, when there was a knock at the door. Not Crisp, he knew - the wolf never knocked at his own home - but loud enough to get his attention. The dragon pulled his robe tighter around himself and walked downstairs.

A look through the peephole revealed a hyena, as well as eight other men in suits.

Well...I haven't messed with the door to door evangelists for a while...it might be a way to pass the time.

He opened the door.

"How can I help you, gentlemen?"

Click, click, click, click, click.

At least five guns were suddenly pointed at him, from pistols to a small Uzi. The hyena smirked at him.

"Back in the house, mage. We're going to have a little chat, and if you know what's good for you, you're gonna keep all that magic stuff all nice and quiet. Do you get me?"

Draconicon raised an eyebrow, but slowly walked backwards. He waited for all nine individuals to step in - two of them holding guns on him at all times - before they guided him towards the living room. One shoved him down onto the couch, while the others gathered around him, holding their weapons on him.

The dragon looked back to the hyena, and shook his head.

"If you are trying to rob me, then you have the wrong dragon. I am staying here as a guest."

"As an uninvited guest, pretty soon."

"...You took Crisp, then."

"Quick, aren't you?"

"Where is he?"

"Heh, you know, I can't recall. Doesn't matter, anyway. He's gonna be worked over by the family for a while. And you?"

The hyena leaned in, pressing his gun into the dragon's chin. Draconicon merely kept staring.

"You? You're gonna pass all the stuff you 'inherit' from him, after he's declared dead, off to the family. And if you don't, I'm gonna blow your head off so that the family can handle it their way. So, what's it gonna be, dragon? The easy way...or the dead way?"

"I suppose you have already made that choice for me."

"What do you - AGH!"

"I'll take the easy way...but let's give you and yours a choice."

Draconicon slowly stood up as the men around him writhed on the floor, their arms bent backwards, their guns pointed towards their own heads. Every suited man was surrounded by a shimmering black fire as the master mage stood up, looking from one to another.

"The easy way...or the dead way? All you have to do...is tell me where Crisp is."

The End