“Tall, with skin the color of rich coffee, and dressed all in black, Jim looked like he was carved from a block of solid muscle. Logic said that at some point he must've been a baby and then a child, but looking at him one was almost convinced that some deity touched the ground with its scepter and proclaimed, "There shall be a badass," and Jim sprung into existence, fully formed, complete with clothes, and ready for action.”

“I see. Is Jim with you now?” “Yes, he is. We’re having rough sex. You’re interrupting.“What are you doing here?”“Looking for Jim in your bed.”“He isn’t here.”“I see that.”

“Congratulations, love. You traded up. Does he treat you well?''He's a teddy bear,' I said.Teddy bear looked like he was suffering from murder withdrawal.(Rene and Kate on Jim!)”

“That had to be the craziest thing he'd heard. At some point they must've looked around and said, "Hey, what do we have a shitload of?" "Mud! It's cold and wet. I know, let's burn it!" "Well, it ain't good for nothing else."What the hell? He supposed if fish could have legs, then mud could burn. Spider or nor spider, if their cats started flying, he would be out of here like a rocket.”

“Across from me at the next row of supports Jim raised his hand and touched his fingers to his thumb a few times, imitating an opening and closing beak. Negotiate. He wanted me to engage a lunatic who had already turned four people into smoking meat. Okay. I could do that. “Alright, Jeremy!” I yelled into the night. “Give me the salamander and I won’t cut your head off!”Jim put his hand over his face and did some shaking. I thought he was laughing, but I couldn’t be sure.”

“Look, he isn’t even concerned.”I poured the tea. “He’s concerned, Mother. He just doesn’t panic, because he’s in charge and if he panics, everybody else will panic.”“I can jog around the room pretending to scream if you would like,” Jim offered.”

“Don't worry, he's coming with me to investigate things.""In the city?" Jim asked."Yes.""That's a great idea. You both should go. To the city."Curran and I looked at each other."He's trying to get rid of us," I said."You think he's planning a coup?" Curran wondered."I hope so." I turned to Jim. "Is there any chance you'd overthrow the tyrannical Beast Lord and his psychotic Consort?""Yeah, I want a vacation," Curran said.Jim leaned toward us and said in a lowered voice, "You couldn't pay me enough. This is your mess, you deal with it. I have enough on my plate."He walked away."Too bad," Curran said."I don't know, I think we could convince him to seize the reins of power."Curran shook his head. "Nahh. He's too smart for that.”