Chill Out

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I'm not a patient person.

I can be patient, and I can summon patience when needed, but overall, I am not a patient person.

This surprises exactly zero people who have ever met me in seriousness, but it holds double for things that aren't worth my time. Like this.

"Em, fix your face," Matt whispered. I huffed, crossing my arms. Fix my face, I'll fix your fuckin' face. Still, I did fix my face. I leaned forward from our waiting room chairs to look down at the ground, tiles polished to a shine. I watched the grumpiness leave my face, the tension release in my neck, until I was left with a smooth mask of neutrality. There. I was an assassin; fixing my face would be easy compared to what we had to do today.

I sighed, sitting back in the chair again. I slouched down in the chair, crossing my legs at the ankles and crossing my arms as well. Matt cut me a glance, which I promptly ignored. Geechis had a particularly annoying client to deal with today. A Beast Tamer, or in other words a magically-coercive zookeeper, had requested a few things from Harmony, and Matt was here to deliver them and I was here to make sure nothing went too terribly awry. Beast Tamers are like bards; you never know when they'll stab you in the back, only that they will. So I was essentially here for protection, and most likely intimidation, a tangible reminder of what Harmony could do if pissed off.

I cast an eye to the box on Matt's lap. It had what I could only assume to be breathing holes punched out in the lid, and the box itself was sturdy but not metal, so it was likely not toxic to the touch and it wasn't corrosive. I spared a chuckle for the thought that it might be one of the Triad's half siblings - that is, one of Geechis's genetic experiments - but banished the thought before long. This Beast Tamer's name I wasn't familiar with, so they couldn't have been with Harmony in collaboration long enough to know about some of Geechis's more...illegal experiments. It was incredibly unlikely that, unless this Tamer was particularly interested in Geechis's vision of Dalal, Geechis would be willing to part with something that could incriminate him. Technically, not even I could be tied back to him unless someone were to dig awfully deep or tail me awfully close...though my magic made that nearly impossible.

I closed my eyes and huffed again. "The least this hmangtu could do is be hospitable, since we're bringing them something they obviously wanted bad enough to contact Geechis directly," I mumbled. Matt chuckled.

"I know. To have not been hunted down and sold because of his magic already, this guy has to either be really rich or really powerful..." Matt trailed off for a moment, then chuckled, "Or both, knowing how Gee likes to make friends. Kind of makes me wish we had back-up." I cracked one eye open to see Matt shaking his head.

"Don't worry, Matty boy, I can take him," I snarked, leaning a bit towards him. My partner nodded.

"Yeah, I know, Em. You'd better, because that's why you're here," Matt replied. He wiggled the box. "Protect the merchandise." I shrugged, closing my eye back.

"I don't give a fuck about the merchandise."

He laughed, "Yeah, I know that, too. You're just happy to be out of the castle and not killing anyone."

It's you I'm here for.

"Yeah. Out of the castle," I mumbled.

And I didn't have time to linger on the thought because someone was approaching. I tapped my toe twice on the ground, quickly fixing my bandana to cover my face below my nose. I could practically feel Matt turn on the charm as he took the cue. I opened my eyes with a yawn.

"Hello. You two are the Harmonians?" I stretched to one side, then the other, as I took in information. This wasn't the Tamer. This was, at most, his secretary if he'd been sent to get us...and by Ta, that was a slutty outfit. Gods, I loved it here in north Dalal. This guy's hair was done up in daresay the fanciest locs I'd ever seen, little emeraldine and gold trinkets dangling from the man's hair and ears alike. The hair, extensions in twists down to his mid-back, covered up more skin than his outfit, also a green-gold combination, where the skirt barely made it a quarter of the way down his thighs and a shirt was absent altogether, the only semblance of covering being a sheer, gold-mesh crop top.

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