The Chained Watcher

Backstory: An Unwanted Gift

~~~

"You have our utmost gratitude, High Enchanter Xelqua."

Rolling his eyes beneath his mask, Xelqua dismisses his client's gratitude with an impartial expression. "Your request was not complicated, if lengthy. Now, the payment."

"Of course, of course." They snap their fingers, and a few of their subordinates hurry to bring in the material he desired enough to enchant so many alchemical bits and bobs. Who knew that alchemy research required so many similar but distinct tools?

In come the subordinate Watchers, heads bowed respectfully, his prize in hand. Dreamglass.

Dreamglass is, as the name suggests, a glass-like material with a heavy dream affinity. The problem is, it's extremely hard to give something a dream affinity. It's the type of thing that needs the planet's magic to be specialized towards resource-fueled magic to be created. That or a natural gathering place of the related concept. An elemental's home, perhaps.

There are oh so many things he wants to make with this, he'll certainly run out if he tries to run even a third of the experiments he wants. Still, he has an image to maintain. Examining a chunk of Dreamglass with an impassive face, he states, unimpressed, "Adequate."

All he intended was to come across as cool and unflappable, but they seem to have misinterpreted him somehow, as they click their tongue at another subordinate, sending them off to fetch something else. Well he won't complain if they offer more materials. Especially if they give him extra Dreamglass.

"I'm afraid that simply won't do," they lament humbly. "Such excellent work in exchange for a reward that's merely adequate? Why, I could never commission you again if I did not set this right."

His gaze slides over to them, its touch making them tense up slightly. He doesn't say anything though. Any further payment is entirely their choice to give.

His mood sours the moment he sees the 'extra payment' though. The Tier 4 subordinate respectfully carries in a cage, two shallowly breathing forms slumped within.

"Though it saddens me to part with them, the quality of your work deserves nothing less." They take the cage from their subordinate, pressing it into his hands with a pleased smile. "Please, take them. May they be as useful to you as they have been to me."

He keeps his gaze on the cage, hiding his disgust from them. "...I suppose I might as well." Even though he hasn't the foggiest idea what to do with these two.

As he strides out of the facility with carefully maintained neutrality, Xelqua can't help but grumble inwardly about this turn of events. Of all the things to give him, why Listeners? What is he supposed to do with Listeners?!

And just look at them! Their eyes are glazed and unfocused, there are strangely colored blotches all across their skin, and they're so out of it they're drooling! What is he supposed to do with this?!

Whatever. Whatever! He'll just wait for them to recover and dump them on an inhabited planet. They can find their way back to wherever they originally came from on their own.

A teleportation spell sends him up to his personal transport, cage in hand. It's a little small for two, but he has no interest in interacting with them further, not when they're like... this. He only glances once at the mystery food bricks that came with them before setting the cage in an empty room and ignoring it.

Now, let's go to the control room.

Sitting down in the captain's chair, the only chair in the room, Xelqua calls out to his ship, "Set course for home. Course type: meandering."