"Signal coming in, Bossman." one of my guys tells me as he leans back in his chair. His wet lips smacking about as he chewed on something as he worked.
"The hwardgon?" I ask without so much as glancing up from the gap in my legs. Right leg over the left leg which stayed on the ground.
"Came through cable." he says with a shrug before I get up and just assume it is them. They were the only one who got a cable-based device from us today. They didn't know the coded language and with the Union about, tapless means were needed.
"Alright," I say as I stare at the message, "Send a call out to the bay, I'll sort them all out."
"Fill me up, then." he impolitely asks while he shakes an empty mug in the air. A mug which I take before I stare down at him.
"Did you forget something?" I ask, referring to what our relationship was. He was the guy, I was the bossman.
"Milk and sugar." he adds on, to which I scoff in bemusement.
"Whatever he normally has." I say to an aelenvari serving girl as I leave the communications centre. But, I made a point of staring at her face for a moment just to make sure I gave it to the right one. Wouldn't want to be giving the amped-up-on-drugs ones a task like this. Needed to keep their fetish-driven minds away from my guys.
I mean, threats of eununciation did work. Proof of it did wonders as well. But I'd rather not as it was a grim, goddess-wrath-filled path. Then again, I liked to taunt His Lunar Majesty within his ever-present earshot.
Besides, the God of Law would back me up should divine retribution come. My guys had jobs to do and that included letting the merchandise stay clean. The Madame's girls were expensive, after all, free sessions could not be afforded.
"Oh, yeah, that's right. Didn't speak to her yet about paying Ivahstar and Heiya." I comment before shaking my head. Then, when I came upon a railing, I stared down at my guys as they went all over the place putting their equipment on. They were not soldiers, so I got no acknowledgement. But I really wish I did.
Could correct them on what they were doing wrong... We needed this job to be quick and inconspicuous. And some of them were going in far too heavy-handed. But, I said nothing and just rubbed my bare head with my hatless hand.
"Up to them, I suppose." I say before I start to head down the stairs towards them. Patting the back of one once he was done. Wasn't to reassure him, just wanted him moving. Thankfully, he was the start of what I wanted to see.
Wasn't long now and they were all in the next room over to be debriefed. Which, I needed to make thorough. So I grabbed one of the larger guys who wasn't coming along to rile them in. A glance here and there to direct them as I stood in front of them all by the clean wall.
"Pay attention here because once you leave those doors, there will be no contact between us until you come back."
"Get to it!" one urged impatiently before I tilted my head down.
"Now," I started to say before a loud slap filled the air, "as you are all well aware. We are after aelenvari. But in this case, you will not be swaggering into a flower to nick a few roots or entice a stem. You'll be chasing two lonely petals and their infant companion."
"So, so, so there are thorns and all that?" one asks nervously after having heard the term 'petals.'
"No, just two petals and a little baby boy." I tell them, letting the last part resonate.
"Now that just don't make sense." one rightfully pointed out.
"Doesn't need to make sense, just needs to be in our hands. And you need to grab them." I explain further before stopping just before a toothpick flew at me.
"Anything else?" the soon-to-be-toilet-cleaner asked.
"There's another group staying at the old ruins along the path towards the no-go area."
"Ah, Castle Buugburth." one of the probably smarter ones said.
"If that is the name, yes. The aelenvari are staying there and there are more travellers heading there. Play your cards right, and they might believe you are the travellers."
"So move?" one stupidly asks.
"No, wait for the nearby flowers to stumble upon them." I sarcastically answer before gesturing to the exit. Thankfully, they were all smart enough to pick themselves up and head on out towards it. At which point, my involvement ended. Until they came back.
So, I headed on towards the Madame's office to check if she was in. Talk to her about our hwardgon helpers while telling her about that thing she wanted updates about. All seemed reasonably quiet as well when I got up there. At least until her greatest hypocrisy could be heard.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!" one of her aelenvari screamed before the sound of a firm cane struck against flesh.
"My word..." I mutter before I open the office door of my own accord.
"Oh, Darling, sorry, I was in the middle of something." she said with a smile one moment before she became full of rage the next. And I apathetically watched as she started to lash out at the aelenvari again.
"Get someone up here." I mutter to the bodyguard behind me before I closed the door.
"Know your place, creature. KNOW IT!" she screams viciously before she strikes them one more time.
"Come on, let's get you somewhere safe." I breathe out, somewhat annoyed by the reckless behaviour. And while the aelenvari was happy to take my hand as they wobbled and whimpered. They were just as happy to let go of it as someone came by bearing a beloved symbol.
"Darling, they keep acting up... I try but it just isn't enough anymore." she sighs out stressfully as her jewellery rattles.
"I am sure it is not as bad as you say it is."
"DO NOT DISMISS MY CONCERNS!" she screams alongside a violent slamming of the table. Then, with one quick pocket-hidden gesture, she changed her tone and coughed into her hand.
"My guys are headed out now, just so you know. New girls of a high quality and that golden treasure you want so badly."
"Lovely!" she chirps before she lays back in her chair. Repeating what she normally does in order to get a hollow sensation going.
I then move closer to the glass and observe the daytime preparations. A busy work period was coming up so the Madame wanted it all pristine. At least, as close to as a place like this could get.
"So what are your intentions with the child, anyway, if you don't mind my asking?" I decide to ask after turning around to face her. The nature of this business meant we often ended up with out-of-commission girls who needed time off. But we forcibly cut them away from the seed once it was popped out.
Think we even got a mythical tradition going by letting the flowers stumble upon our dumping grounds... Like, I got it was a boy, but she had never cared for the children before. Even when it meant we could essentially cultivate our own girls. Minimize outside risks and all that.
"Because they would all do anything for them!" she sadistically cackles as she strokes the air as if the baby boy was already here.
"You will hurt the child instead of them when they act up?" I asked with a raised brow.
"Of course not!" she nearly screams, clearly offended.
"My apologies, then."
"It's fine... But, he will help me keep them in place. Because it means I can prove them all wrong... Each one of them... Their petals, their stems and their plentiful roots... What they mocked me over will be mine."
"Ah, a gardener's touch." I say as I noticed her more evocative movements come to the fore.
"A beautiful maiden will be proven right. As she always was." she says, her wounded pride showing clearly before she tried to focus on other matters.
"I suppose the petals will help with that, then?" I ask as she could do a lot if she made them break and submit.
"Exactly! They will play their part. By the cane if need be." she tells me with an ominous sneer as she ends her sentence.
"On another topic, though. I felt it best to hire a third-party to keep an eye on the aelenvari. So I will need your approval for the vault."
"When I get my treasure..." she longingly answers as she taps one piece from her acquired collection of aelenvari treasures.
"Our guys are bringing the petals and boy in, not them, Madame." I point out to her.
"Team effort, Darling." was all she was likely going to have on the topic.
"Of course." I say before I turn to leave.
"Darling..."
"Yes, Madame?" I ask back after stopping at the door.
"Do think it is possible... For me to steal that treasure's heart?" she asks as she starts to wander near some of her fantastical paintings. Pieces she made to cope with the loneliness certain problems of hers created.
"It would take some time." I answer with a shrug as that boy was certainly old enough to recognise its mother for a while. What it meant to love for them was just hugs and kisses before bed.
"So it could happen...?" she asks me with a potent and dangerous mixture of hope and anger. Hope that she could get what she sought, and anger that I was not fully supportive of her.
"Think of it like this, as it will be getting the child here, patience is what you will need." I tell her with a slight nod before I move to leave. The complication in their payment would need a hands-on approach. I guess that also meant I had to provide a down payment of some description.