Taking over the Abyss

49- Stonks

You were well aware of the Fatui agents trailing you while walking to the Northland Bank with Pantalone. Looking back, you could see at least one agent following on a rooftop, and another man with a Fatui coat pretending to read a newspaper, his eyes following the two of you closely. You shook your head. Most of the civilians around seemed completely oblivious, so you supposed that they were doing a good enough job. Maybe they were trying to make a point in how easy it was for them to stalk you.

Pantalone held the door open for you like a gentleman would, ushering you inside the Northland Bank's cool interior. The Fatui secretary looked up from her desk work to watch, as Pantalone made his way to the staircase, expecting you to follow behind him. You gave her a little wave, and she hurriedly looked back down at her desk. You shrugged it off, and followed Pantalone through the hall into his office, briefly glancing over in the direction where the 200k mora chest was.

He let out a relaxed sigh the moment he entered his own office, once again holding the door open for you. The office was dark, and although it was covered in expensive furniture and exquisite paintings, felt devoid of comfort. Aside from a dim lantern on the ceiling that hardly helped any, the only light came from the Liyue-style screen window behind Pantalone's desk. You assumed it was intentional, considering it would cause Pantalone's figure to look like an imposing, ominous shadow.

"Come along now," Pantalone laid one of his hands onto the small of your back to gently push you along. "Let's not idle, we have much to discuss."

Although you stepped inside, you sent him a fierce glare and seized his hand by the wrist tightly. Twisting his arm just enough to cause discomfort, you relished the sight of his smile wavering slightly, snapping at him, "Keep your hands to yourself."

You roughly let go of his arm, and took a seat in one of the expensive leather chairs, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other, careful not to jostle Osial's bottle too much. Though it was very comfortable, you could immediately tell that it had been purchased recently. Given the somewhat metallic tang that permeated the air in the room, you could only assume that nothing good had happened to the old chairs.

Pantalone took a seat at his desk, subtly massaging his wrist where you'd grabbed him. Just as you thought, the light from outside obscured his figure and made him hard to read. Despite that, you could clearly see that he his smile was still plastered onto his face, "Now then, before we begin, how about a little drink?"

"I'll pass," you said, stopping him before he could waste his time.

"That so? Well, suit yourself," his voice held a note of curious disappointment. Regardless, he reached down and pulled out a half-full bottle of scotch from a cabinet, along with an expensive looking glass. He made a show of pouring himself a glass, trying to entice you into accepting his offer, "It's some of Snezhnaya's finest. I'd encourage you to try it someday, rather than... well, whatever that was."

You scowled. Was he talking smack about the sake you'd bought for Zhongli? He really came off as a pretentious, stuck-up jerk. You knew from the Pale Flame artifact lore that he'd once been in poverty, so maybe that had something to do with it. Still, that was no real excuse to trash on your gift to Zhongli.

Frustrated with his leisurely attitude, you huffed and snapped at him again, "So, you came here to discuss something with me, right? Are we going to get around to that soon, or did you make me come all this way just to watch you get drunk?"

"My apologies. I make it a personal goal in my life to savor the finest things the world has to offer," Pantalone laughed at your comment, setting his drink to the side and leaning forward in his seat, "So, down to business then. One of my associates overheard something about you having an accessible source of protein. What's more, you seemed interested in making a deal with the Tianquan regarding it."