Qui’in went to a
friend who knew a friend who had pretty good knowledge of people looking to be
hired for the grittier jobs. It was a bit of a struggle to find the right
person. The kind of person drawn to that kind of… career… was often
intimidating, didn’t blend into a crowd like she needed them to.
Leaving the last
hulking, tattooed man, she sighed heavily, a little concerned that she wasn’t
going to be able to find anyone. The sun was high in the bright blue sky, and
she could feel the warm damp of sweat gathering at her armpits. She glanced at
the notebook she held and sighed softly, marching through alleys and across
roads that began to look less and less promising. She had lost some of her
defining grace and poise throughout the day. It wasn’t so much that the day was
hot or that she was tired. She had suffered through both of those without
looking mussed countless times. She could just feel the importance of this quest
breathing down her neck.
Lekan wouldn’t
survive long if he didn’t have someone sweeping up his crumbs behind him. He
was just too careless and too green. If she had a year or even half of one, she
could probably polish him into something vaguely worthy of espionage. Not that
it mattered since she didn’t.
The closer she
got to the next address on her list, the more worried she got. The area was in
the worst part of town she had been so far. People crowded in the few spots of
shade, overheating each other with their body heat as they tried to save
themselves from the sun. Other than a few suspiciously still beggars and the
flies dawdling around their eyelids, no one was out in the open on the streets.
Hardly any movement could be seen from inside buildings. Shadows didn’t even
flicker behind the paper covering most windows.
She almost left
for the next address when she saw the stairs. Perhaps a more accurate term
would be the death trap. They followed the wall of a three floor building up,
zigzagging. The railing would have collapsed under anyone who would have had
the misfortune of falling off. She carefully took the steps, as close to the
wall as she could get. They squealed under her weight, and she had to lift her
skirt to ensure that it didn’t get caught on a jagged piece of broken wood or
an errant nail coming lose. Towards the middle of the staircase, she had to
skip a step because it had a large hole where some poor soul had stepped
through rotting wood.
She knocked on
the door, pulling back a hand covered in gray paint flecks that could have been
a number of other colors originally. Brushing at her knuckles primly, she heard
murmurs behind the door, some rustling, and had straightened her shoulders when
the door opened.
Qui raised an
eyebrow at the startlingly white boy with pink eyes. Clearing her throat, she
glanced into the room as the boy opened the door a little wider. Someone else
was coming towards her, dark hair cut short, eyes large as they took in Qui
quickly. “Which one of you is Dalki?” she asked, hoping it was the girl. An
albino would draw far too much attention to himself.
The girl nodded,
stopping behind the albino. “Why’re you asking?”
Cataloguing the
girl’s traits, sorting them into promising and worrisome, Qui liked what she
saw at first glance. She’d just have to see what this kid’s talent was, and if
she would be good enough to keep Lekan safe. “May I come inside?”
Dalki’s eyes
shuttered. “No.”
Nodding to
herself, having expected no more than that response, Qui shrugged. “Well then.
Never mind about the job offer then.” She saw Dalki and her companion exchange
glances as she turned with a smirking. She started a little when Dalki called
out as if she hadn’t been expecting it and turned around, head tilted in coy inquiry.
“Ya coulda just
said you’re offering a job. I’da let you in.” Dalki stepped away from the door
meekly, jerking the albino to her side despite his glare.
She sailed in
with the haughty dignity necessary to keep her place as the superior in this
relationship. Stopping in the middle of the room, she looked around at the
sparse décor before turning to face her hosts.
Dalki was whispering
to the albino, placing a coin purse in his waiting hand. She glanced up at Qui
when he jerked his head towards her and sighed. “Ah… We were just about to go
get a bite to eat. While we talk Fels is going to go ahead and get that for us.
Would you like anything?”
Qui hadn’t eaten
anything since she’d started this quest for someone to protect Lekan, but she
paused before nodding. In a slum like this, it was hard to say what their “food”
would be made of. Their deflated coin purse also made her hesitant to put an
extra strain on it. “I’m fine,” she purred and waited through another bout of
hissing before Fels dashed out the door.
Dalki closed the
door. “Alright. What kinda job’re we talking about?”
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