Chapter Text
The standard communicator ringtone startles her awake again. The anonymous caller seems to be very determined to reach her, and she doesn’t know how much longer she can take the constant noise, so she fumbles around, stabbing the accept button.
“‘lo?” she grumbles at her phone, rolling over in her bright green-and-orange-coloured bed.
“Hello, Kenadian,” a barely audible voice whispers back. She frowns, wondering if maybe the anonymous caller is in a loud place but their communicators aren’t picking up on the deafening background noise. She shrugs. She didn’t like calling people over her comms anyways. Might as well have some fun.
“WHAT WAS THAT?? I COULDN’T HEAR YOU,” the cat hybrid yells at the caller, and she can hear a faint snarl on the other side. Maybe they weren’t in a loud place after all.
“What was that for?!” they exclaim and she can hear their voice rising in pitch with indignation and surprise. Ken smiles to herself, amused.
“What do you want? I’m sleeping.” She feigns a loud yawn and rustles the bed sheets loud enough for the caller to hear.
“I need your help.” Ken sits up at that and her ears prick. People didn’t tend to ask her help, and it definitely beat lying around all day and doom scrolling all night. The only downside was that her offers always came in the middle of her sleep.
She feigns another yawn. “And why should I help you?” The other person huffs, considering the question. The silence seems to drag on for hours and Ken is half-inclined to just go back to sleep, but she is wide awake now and won’t be able to sleep until her curiosity and boredom are satisfied.
“Because I’ll mur- I’ll pay you?” Ken can tell that they are hesitant, probably used to having their way and threatening violence if they were disagreed with. She furrows her eyebrows, thinking. They are or were someone powerful, and, based on their voice and manner, probably a guy, but she doesn’t want to assume anything.
She rubs the corner of her comms absentmindedly. Money isn’t a big necessity for the cat hybrid or her friends, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared, and they could always use some more resources. “How much?”
They counter immediately, as if they were prepared for such a question, which, to be honest, isn’t all that surprising. “Depends on whether you’re willing to do it.” The sentence is posed as a question, leaving Ken no choice but to answer.
She sighs, expecting something like this. She’d have to negotiate a price. Questions burst out of her, mainly to satisfy her curiosity but Ken has a faint hope that they might overwhelm the caller. “You gotta answer my questions first! Who are you? Why do you need me and not someone else like Wato? I mean, I’m honoured but I don’t really need it. What do you need to be built? How big is it? How many people do you need the prison or escape room to hold?” She has no doubt it’s one of the two. Why else would they call her of all people? “Do you have exact measurements? I still don’t know who you are! Am I going to be safe while building it? Will you provide the resources? Do I have to build it or will other people be building it for me? Do you-”
The mysterious caller cuts her off with a wry chuckle. “Ken, Ken, Ken. One at a time, please.” She can hear the smile in their voice
“Well at least tell me who you are before I agree to anything!” she protests.
“Very well then.”
She sucks in a breath, not expecting them to agree. Her curiosity is almost unbearable, so palpable she can taste it, and she is on the verge of shouting something dumb at them.
“You can call me Clown.”