Take a Shot

Homebound

Matt tried hard not to stare. He kept his eyes just to the left of the mob boss, watching the fading sun through the wall-wide window. He couldn't look at the imposing man himself, as that was a disrespect in this area, just as refusing the seat with its back to the door would have been. Anything interesting on the bookshelves behind him was impossible to look at because he didn't have eyes on the back of his head. And he most certainly couldn't turn his eyes to the stunning green-haired woman pouring him some sort of drink, because it was entirely possible that if he looked at her, he would throw himself out the aforementioned wall-wide window into the oceans below.

She straightened up from the pouring, cleavage at eye level. He gulped, trying to think about other things and not get turned on or blush. He thought about exactly how mad Geechis would be if he fucked this up. Yes, that was a mood killer for sure. He would probably die. If he fucked this up, Geechis would end him and anyone along with him, for sure. This man was one of Geechis's oldest contacts; he'd heard through the grapevine that Geechis and this man had grown up together, and in fact, Matt hadn't even been given this man's name.

He wondered if Emerald had found it out in her stay here. His eyes trailed to her as she bent over to pour her "boss" more to drink as well. Gods, she was the perfect woman. He shook his head, looking back out the window. He had to focus. Matt had no idea if this drink was alcoholic or not, but either way, he'd been trained not to accept offers of food and drink by the exact woman offering it to him. He wondered if that made this okay to drink? Or maybe this was a test. Yes, that was probably it. She was probably testing him to see if he'd learned anything; she had poisoned him once or twice before to teach him this exact thing, and he had, after all, less than zero idea as to what her mission here was, so it was entirely possible she had slipped something in these drinks.

Em slunk back to behind her "boss"'s chair, closing her eyes and sighing. Matt looked back to the boss, who raised his cup towards Matt with a big grin.

"Cheers, my boy. To your man, Geechis, and the empire we're building."

Matt smiled and lifted the cup, knocking it against the boss's.

"I'll drink to that any time."

The boss took a large swig out of his mug, and Matt took the opportunity to use a trick Em had taught him when unsure if a drink was poisoned or not.

She raised her eyes over the pages of the book she'd taken from him, and looked so annoyed with him that he felt weird for even asking. But he was, at some point, bound to not know if an offering was poisoned or not, and asking now was better than being dead later. Plus, her slipping things into his drinks to teach him this lesson was no longer his idea of a good time. This one had really hurt.

"Your first resort should always be to simply not consume. Typically, one can get away with several fake outs, where you bring the cup near your mouth but don't actually drink, and you could probably get away with more because you're such a chatterbox. People tend to drink when they're not talking, so if you're talking, you can't be drinking. Some people will press you to eat or drink some, and in this case, you can usually make a safe assumption it'll hurt you. If it's food, claim you're fasting; that's common enough worship for many gods. As for drinks, it depends on the cup. Now, if the cup is opaque, it's easy. Keep your lips closed and make sure not to spill on yourself. If the cup is clear, you have two options: refuse hospitality, which can get you killed, or drink the poison, which can get you killed. If you're handed a clear cup, assume death is your dead end, and try to avoid getting there too fast."

His frown deepened, and he tipped his head back to the middle of his pillow. "Why is the life you lead so dangerous? It sucks that I have to know these things."