09-12-2023, 04:31 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-12-2023, 10:38 PM by xenosthelegend. Edited 1 time in total.)
“Xander, it’s time.”
“I understand, Remi, but hav-”
“It is time.”
“Fine.” Lysander Ashburnum sighed. He knew better than to try and convince his friend to change his mind. That incident with Caspian, where he tried to convince Remi not to quit ostrich racing back in Jo’burg was still...
“I have already spoken with management,” Remi said. “This should not surprise anyone.”
“Wait what?”
“When I signed my extension last summer, I told them I was planning to test free agency.”
“And they were okay with this?”
“Do they have a choice?”
“Well... no..." Xander started. “But..."
“There are no buts here, Xander. This is how the law works, is it not?”
“I thought you’d maybe change your mind after this season, to be honest, Remi.”
“Why would I do that?”
“This is your best season with the Yeti, both in terms of individual performance and team performance. I thought maybe you’d choose to stay now that the team is on the rise. Finally.”
“I considered it,” Remi admitted. “And if we had made the Ultimus Bowl, unlikely as that was, I would certainly have chosen to stay. Honestly, even now, I would not rule out a return. However, is now not the best time to try and get a move to a stronger team? When I am at, or near the theoretical peak of my powers?”
“Point taken.”
“Besides, there are..." Remi paused ominously. “Other reasons to leave Colorado right now.”
Xander did not reply. He knew what that meant. Suddenly the presence of a few people he vaguely recognised as members of the Johannesburg Rainmen in the area in recent weeks made sense.
It was a difficult position to be in. Xander loved Remi. They were close friends, almost brothers. Even after what happened to Caspian. But Remi’s wealth, status, and ... preferences in life, meant that he often found himself in what could generously be termed ‘bad company’. His long-standing friendship with Trevor Solomon – a high-ranking member of a notorious Cape Town gang, as far as Xander understood – was evidence of this. Despite knowing that “Soulman” – Trevor’s hilariously incongruent nickname – sometimes used less-than-savoury methods to “extract information” from rivals, as his people had euphemistically put it. The nickname came from his alleged love of listening to artists such as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and various Motown artists while he uh, ‘went to work’. This was saying nothing of the several other alleged crimes he and his people were linked to.
Of course, such brutality was not alien to Xander. He was a Baron now, after all – something he owed to Remi, in fact; along with large portions of his independently accumulated wealth, that is, whatever he had that he had not inherited from his father – and despite appearances to the contrary, he was well aware of the violence inherent in being part of the nobility. The part he struggled with was that in these modern times, the violence inflicted by the nobility was far less directly physical than it was in the world Remi had introduced him to.
Sure, his father may have encouraged him to evict a young mother and her three children in the middle of winter, knowing they had nowhere else to go and would likely starve and/or freeze, because they had fallen several months behind on rent. That was horrible, but Xander also understood that it was the cost of business. He was Baron – and by extension, landlord – of a relatively small portion of inner-city land in a major English city, it was inevitable he’d deal with some impoverished tenants, and such things happen when dealing with those lacking means. People of Coin, like Xander, Remi, Caspian, and many of their friends, grew up to understand this from a very young age. But, even knowing all of this. When comparing to how Trevor would have handled the same situation – and Xander knew, in intimate detail, since Soulman had told him as much during one of their few actual conversations; Xander made a point of not speaking too much around these people – allowing a family of four to starve or freeze on the streets of an English city around Christmas time was positively tame. It is one thing for a member of the public to stumble across the bodies of a homeless woman and her young children in the park on a cold winter morning. Another entirely for several members of the public to stumble across parts of...
Xander shuddered.
“... and now I have to trust him to find me the best deal.” Remi said. “Do you think he can get me a move to a championship contender?”
Xander didn’t reply, still trying to shake the visual from his mind.
“Xander.” Remi said, firmly.
“Hm?” Xander snapped out of his horrifying reverie. “Oh, probably.”
“I’m not so sure these days. Delacour is a good agent, knows the league and the business very well, but besides me, does he even have any other serious talent on his roster anymore?”
“There’s Jamal Nightingale.”
“I said serious, Xander. Nightingale is a perpetual second string player for a middling SHL team.”
‘A bit harsh,’ thought Xander. Though he knew better than to voice such thoughts.
“Anyway, we shall see.” Remi said. "We will speak with him. Depending on his answer, I may need a new agent."
Remi and Xander were sat in the waiting room of the Denver offices of Wu Tang Sports Management, the sports agency operated by Antoine Delacour. It seemed as though Remi was determined to cut ties with WTSM, really. This meeting was just pretense. Xander knew him well enough to know that when he had made a decision, he didn't much care to justify it, but his pride wouldn't allow him to let anyone else dictate the narrative. This meeting was a courtesy, effectively. Remi's pride as a man wouldn't allow him to just drop Delacour as his agent. He needed some loose justification to ensure that he controlled the narrative. So that when asked, Delacour couldn't simply frame it as 'Remi threw a tantrum and left' or some other such undignified explanation. Remi would explain his reasoning today, and do it in such a way that his agent couldn't possibly take it personally. It was his way.
Strangely, they were joined today by Antoine’s son, Raphael, who had also played for the Colorado Yeti in the past. These days, Raphael focused a lot more on film-making and acting, and was apparently here to speak to his father about ‘licensing issues’ around a potential reboot of a show he’d originally made over a decade earlier. Xander was moderately impressed that the elder Delacour made his son wait like this. No special treatment. Lord Ashburnum had been similar, it forced Xander to learn some valuable lessons for the world of business.
“So you’re jettin’, huh?” Raphael said. “I get it. Sometimes you just need a fresh start somewhere else.”
“That’s not quite the reason, but it would not hurt.” Remi replied.
“Too bad, I could have got you and your ostrich on m-”
“Siphiwe.” Remi interrupted.
“Bless you. You and your os-”
“No, that’s his name. Siphiwe.”
“Oh, right. Anyway, I could have gotten you and S’fee-way,” Xander chuckled inwardly at Raphael’s butchery of the pronunciation of the Zulu name. “A role on the reboot of the Abominables.”
“Could you, now?”
“Yeah, this time around we don’t have an actual ISFL player on the show, since I can’t really play the role of an ISFL wide receiver these days..."
Xander raised an eyebrow. Raphael was clearly still in excellent shape.
“Neither can you, but it’s a reboot, not a remake. We could easily write a new character in that fits you.”
To Xander’s surprise, Remi seemed to be considering it, before shaking his head. “No, I don’t think that would be wise right now.”
“Too bad.” Raphael took it in stride. “Would have been an interesting angle though, ostrich racer. Man. That’s not even a thing people in the States know about, really. Then add on the sumo stuff, and..." He sighed, wistfully.
“You’ve done your homework.”
“My dad is your agent, my man. Of course we’ve spoken about you. How do you think you got that endorsement deal for the beard oil?”
“That was you?”
“Indirectly, yeah. I put in a word with some guys I know, funnelled the work back through Flying Thunder Studios, got a small fee as a result. Did something similar for Lennox Garnett, and the sponsorship for his football camps in Europe. Got him a deal with an energy drink manufacturer seeking a new market. They came to us first, hoping to get Babatunde Warrington on board, for a few of the African markets, but I redirected them. Suggested the European market would be just as easy to crack, but more lucrative; then put them in touch with Lennox and left it to him to convince them it would be a better deal.”
“Impressive.” Remi paused, pensive.
‘Uh oh. I know that face...' Xander thought, silently, hoping the feeling of dread rising from the pit of his stomach wasn’t evident on his face.
“So you’re fairly well-connected among the... glitterati...?” Remi said, half question, half statement. The idea dangled in the air between the two of them for a moment. Xander watched Raphael carefully, this guy was smarter than he was letting on. He’d just ensnared Remi in some sort of trap.
“You could say that.” Raphael said, with a nonchalant shrug.
“Xander, give Mister Delacour my details. I think we may have something to discuss in the near future.”
The secretary’s phone rang. She answered before it could ring a second time.
“Of course,” she said. “I’ll send them through.”
Once she had placed the receiver down, she turned to Remi “Mister Delacour will see you now,” she smiled.
Remi stood, and beckoned for Xander to follow. “You should also come,” he said to Raphael.
“Oh?”
“Yes. While I may not be staying in Denver, we may yet have business. Your connections may prove useful, after all.”
Xander silently pondered what that could mean, and whether Raphael would have any use in finding Leilani, but thought better of speaking. Even if he did, was this even wise? Leaving Antoine Delacour's agency but then actively working with his son? Antoine might take that personally, regardless of what Remi said in this meeting... and he didn't seem the type of man you should cross, for all his pleasant mannerisms.
Again, this was something Xander -- and Remi for that matter -- should be highly familiar with. When you get into it, there is little difference between the world of the nobility, the world of business (the Delacour kind), and the world of business (you know, Soulman's realm). Xander dared not even think that Remi didn't understand this, but lately, his friend's decisions seemed less and less wise.
Leilani had captivated Remi's psyche for years at this point. Since the move to the States, she had been much harder to find, too. While he didn't think Remi would completely abandon the search -- the man practically needed Leilani at this point -- he did seem determined to search elsewhere. But now, after this conversation, Xander wasn't so sure.
He couldn't tell where Remi wanted to go next. He had mentioned championship contenders, but how would that help him find Leilani? If anything, that would make things harder, wouldn't it?
“I understand, Remi, but hav-”
“It is time.”
“Fine.” Lysander Ashburnum sighed. He knew better than to try and convince his friend to change his mind. That incident with Caspian, where he tried to convince Remi not to quit ostrich racing back in Jo’burg was still...
“I have already spoken with management,” Remi said. “This should not surprise anyone.”
“Wait what?”
“When I signed my extension last summer, I told them I was planning to test free agency.”
“And they were okay with this?”
“Do they have a choice?”
“Well... no..." Xander started. “But..."
“There are no buts here, Xander. This is how the law works, is it not?”
“I thought you’d maybe change your mind after this season, to be honest, Remi.”
“Why would I do that?”
“This is your best season with the Yeti, both in terms of individual performance and team performance. I thought maybe you’d choose to stay now that the team is on the rise. Finally.”
“I considered it,” Remi admitted. “And if we had made the Ultimus Bowl, unlikely as that was, I would certainly have chosen to stay. Honestly, even now, I would not rule out a return. However, is now not the best time to try and get a move to a stronger team? When I am at, or near the theoretical peak of my powers?”
“Point taken.”
“Besides, there are..." Remi paused ominously. “Other reasons to leave Colorado right now.”
Xander did not reply. He knew what that meant. Suddenly the presence of a few people he vaguely recognised as members of the Johannesburg Rainmen in the area in recent weeks made sense.
It was a difficult position to be in. Xander loved Remi. They were close friends, almost brothers. Even after what happened to Caspian. But Remi’s wealth, status, and ... preferences in life, meant that he often found himself in what could generously be termed ‘bad company’. His long-standing friendship with Trevor Solomon – a high-ranking member of a notorious Cape Town gang, as far as Xander understood – was evidence of this. Despite knowing that “Soulman” – Trevor’s hilariously incongruent nickname – sometimes used less-than-savoury methods to “extract information” from rivals, as his people had euphemistically put it. The nickname came from his alleged love of listening to artists such as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and various Motown artists while he uh, ‘went to work’. This was saying nothing of the several other alleged crimes he and his people were linked to.
Of course, such brutality was not alien to Xander. He was a Baron now, after all – something he owed to Remi, in fact; along with large portions of his independently accumulated wealth, that is, whatever he had that he had not inherited from his father – and despite appearances to the contrary, he was well aware of the violence inherent in being part of the nobility. The part he struggled with was that in these modern times, the violence inflicted by the nobility was far less directly physical than it was in the world Remi had introduced him to.
Sure, his father may have encouraged him to evict a young mother and her three children in the middle of winter, knowing they had nowhere else to go and would likely starve and/or freeze, because they had fallen several months behind on rent. That was horrible, but Xander also understood that it was the cost of business. He was Baron – and by extension, landlord – of a relatively small portion of inner-city land in a major English city, it was inevitable he’d deal with some impoverished tenants, and such things happen when dealing with those lacking means. People of Coin, like Xander, Remi, Caspian, and many of their friends, grew up to understand this from a very young age. But, even knowing all of this. When comparing to how Trevor would have handled the same situation – and Xander knew, in intimate detail, since Soulman had told him as much during one of their few actual conversations; Xander made a point of not speaking too much around these people – allowing a family of four to starve or freeze on the streets of an English city around Christmas time was positively tame. It is one thing for a member of the public to stumble across the bodies of a homeless woman and her young children in the park on a cold winter morning. Another entirely for several members of the public to stumble across parts of...
Xander shuddered.
“... and now I have to trust him to find me the best deal.” Remi said. “Do you think he can get me a move to a championship contender?”
Xander didn’t reply, still trying to shake the visual from his mind.
“Xander.” Remi said, firmly.
“Hm?” Xander snapped out of his horrifying reverie. “Oh, probably.”
“I’m not so sure these days. Delacour is a good agent, knows the league and the business very well, but besides me, does he even have any other serious talent on his roster anymore?”
“There’s Jamal Nightingale.”
“I said serious, Xander. Nightingale is a perpetual second string player for a middling SHL team.”
‘A bit harsh,’ thought Xander. Though he knew better than to voice such thoughts.
“Anyway, we shall see.” Remi said. "We will speak with him. Depending on his answer, I may need a new agent."
* * * * *
Remi and Xander were sat in the waiting room of the Denver offices of Wu Tang Sports Management, the sports agency operated by Antoine Delacour. It seemed as though Remi was determined to cut ties with WTSM, really. This meeting was just pretense. Xander knew him well enough to know that when he had made a decision, he didn't much care to justify it, but his pride wouldn't allow him to let anyone else dictate the narrative. This meeting was a courtesy, effectively. Remi's pride as a man wouldn't allow him to just drop Delacour as his agent. He needed some loose justification to ensure that he controlled the narrative. So that when asked, Delacour couldn't simply frame it as 'Remi threw a tantrum and left' or some other such undignified explanation. Remi would explain his reasoning today, and do it in such a way that his agent couldn't possibly take it personally. It was his way.
Strangely, they were joined today by Antoine’s son, Raphael, who had also played for the Colorado Yeti in the past. These days, Raphael focused a lot more on film-making and acting, and was apparently here to speak to his father about ‘licensing issues’ around a potential reboot of a show he’d originally made over a decade earlier. Xander was moderately impressed that the elder Delacour made his son wait like this. No special treatment. Lord Ashburnum had been similar, it forced Xander to learn some valuable lessons for the world of business.
“So you’re jettin’, huh?” Raphael said. “I get it. Sometimes you just need a fresh start somewhere else.”
“That’s not quite the reason, but it would not hurt.” Remi replied.
“Too bad, I could have got you and your ostrich on m-”
“Siphiwe.” Remi interrupted.
“Bless you. You and your os-”
“No, that’s his name. Siphiwe.”
“Oh, right. Anyway, I could have gotten you and S’fee-way,” Xander chuckled inwardly at Raphael’s butchery of the pronunciation of the Zulu name. “A role on the reboot of the Abominables.”
“Could you, now?”
“Yeah, this time around we don’t have an actual ISFL player on the show, since I can’t really play the role of an ISFL wide receiver these days..."
Xander raised an eyebrow. Raphael was clearly still in excellent shape.
“Neither can you, but it’s a reboot, not a remake. We could easily write a new character in that fits you.”
To Xander’s surprise, Remi seemed to be considering it, before shaking his head. “No, I don’t think that would be wise right now.”
“Too bad.” Raphael took it in stride. “Would have been an interesting angle though, ostrich racer. Man. That’s not even a thing people in the States know about, really. Then add on the sumo stuff, and..." He sighed, wistfully.
“You’ve done your homework.”
“My dad is your agent, my man. Of course we’ve spoken about you. How do you think you got that endorsement deal for the beard oil?”
“That was you?”
“Indirectly, yeah. I put in a word with some guys I know, funnelled the work back through Flying Thunder Studios, got a small fee as a result. Did something similar for Lennox Garnett, and the sponsorship for his football camps in Europe. Got him a deal with an energy drink manufacturer seeking a new market. They came to us first, hoping to get Babatunde Warrington on board, for a few of the African markets, but I redirected them. Suggested the European market would be just as easy to crack, but more lucrative; then put them in touch with Lennox and left it to him to convince them it would be a better deal.”
“Impressive.” Remi paused, pensive.
‘Uh oh. I know that face...' Xander thought, silently, hoping the feeling of dread rising from the pit of his stomach wasn’t evident on his face.
“So you’re fairly well-connected among the... glitterati...?” Remi said, half question, half statement. The idea dangled in the air between the two of them for a moment. Xander watched Raphael carefully, this guy was smarter than he was letting on. He’d just ensnared Remi in some sort of trap.
“You could say that.” Raphael said, with a nonchalant shrug.
“Xander, give Mister Delacour my details. I think we may have something to discuss in the near future.”
The secretary’s phone rang. She answered before it could ring a second time.
“Of course,” she said. “I’ll send them through.”
Once she had placed the receiver down, she turned to Remi “Mister Delacour will see you now,” she smiled.
Remi stood, and beckoned for Xander to follow. “You should also come,” he said to Raphael.
“Oh?”
“Yes. While I may not be staying in Denver, we may yet have business. Your connections may prove useful, after all.”
Xander silently pondered what that could mean, and whether Raphael would have any use in finding Leilani, but thought better of speaking. Even if he did, was this even wise? Leaving Antoine Delacour's agency but then actively working with his son? Antoine might take that personally, regardless of what Remi said in this meeting... and he didn't seem the type of man you should cross, for all his pleasant mannerisms.
Again, this was something Xander -- and Remi for that matter -- should be highly familiar with. When you get into it, there is little difference between the world of the nobility, the world of business (the Delacour kind), and the world of business (you know, Soulman's realm). Xander dared not even think that Remi didn't understand this, but lately, his friend's decisions seemed less and less wise.
Leilani had captivated Remi's psyche for years at this point. Since the move to the States, she had been much harder to find, too. While he didn't think Remi would completely abandon the search -- the man practically needed Leilani at this point -- he did seem determined to search elsewhere. But now, after this conversation, Xander wasn't so sure.
He couldn't tell where Remi wanted to go next. He had mentioned championship contenders, but how would that help him find Leilani? If anything, that would make things harder, wouldn't it?
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