Since the poison was ready, Bruno arranged for it to be delivered to Nathan, alongside a message. He told Viki, who was working as a courier, to tell the thug that he wants to meet with him to discuss their further relationship.
Then he went on with the necessary preparations.
He had to give his workers a free day to create a situation where he could fulfill his plan. The teapot was ready, with two holes in the handle one on top, one in the bottom. Both connected to the two chambers inside. One was empty, the other was filled with poison. He was about to use it to make tea, and then by covering the correct holes with his fingers, he was gonna pour the poison into Nathan's cup.
Then he was to drink from his, to make the thug feel like this is not a trap, but a ceremony of celebrating them stopping their conflict.
But that was just theory, and changing it into practice was not an easy task. It required the ability to act and lie, and also nerves of steel since there were many things that could go wrong. Fortunately for Bruno, he had plenty of experience in all of those fields from his past life.
There was also a problem with the timing, but he suspected that Nathan will prioritize his own plans and use the poison first, then he will come to visit. And that's assuming he will come at all because there was also a chance of him ignoring the invitation to attempt to continue their relationship in an unchanged manner. They had the previous agreement to hold a conversation about the issue, but he still could just ignore it.
Bruno wasn't worried about that, though. If it was to happen, he would just come up with a different idea to get rid of his problem.
He prepared everything for the possible visit. A small table, which was actually a crate that used to contain some of the ingredients he got on the previous day, and two stools his workers used to sit on during their short breaks from time to time. He didn't have his own, since he was not taking any breaks.
With everything ready, he waited and waited some more. Just looking at the space ahead of him, as he was sitting beside the crate.
Hours passed and morning changed into midday, then to afternoon. Nathan finally showed himself up. This actually almost made Bruno smile, but he controlled his facial expression enough to not make that mistake.
- I never thought I would say this, but it's good to see you - said the boy.
The thug snorted.
- I hope your poison works.
- It does. Please sit. Let me prepare something to drink.
- There is no need. I came here to talk.
- I insist - said Bruno. - Gentlemen don't talk with dry mouths.
Nathan ignored that, and just sat down by the crate, then pulled out a piece of chewing tobacco from his pocket, which he placed in his mouth.
The boy went to put the water in a pot over the fire. They had a special place prepared to heat up some of the ingredients, so he used it. The teapot was waiting among the alchemical equipment with dried herbs he brought from the main building. He crushed them and threw them inside a bowl, to make tea there, and then pour it through the cloth inside the teapot.
Since the water needed some time to start boiling, he returned to Nathan and sat on the stool he prepared for himself.
- So... - he started immediately. - As you already know I have some people inside the guild who don't want the two of us to meet at all.
- That's your problem - thug shrugged his shoulders.
- It's yours too if you want me to make things for you - argued Bruno.
- I guess you have some kind of solution then?
- I do. We can communicate through Viki, but as soon as Billy returns, I want the both of us to talk with him, and settle this properly. I have my hands full with working on 'Fix' helping other alchemists, and learning. I can't be doing everything.
Nathan snorted again.
- You can't deal with your job, so you want Billy to save your ass?
- It's easy for you to say that when you do nothing all day and rely on the boys to do everything for you - said Bruno raising his eyebrows.
Such a direct insult made Nathan angry, and his lips contorted in a grimace showing just that.
- You have no idea what I do - he responded.
- Maybe I do, maybe I don't but this discussion is not about you. It's about me. I need you to get off my back, at least for now. I just have too much on my head, and there is more coming. Each day more and more senior alchemists want me to do things for them. Things that I need to learn first. That's why Billy sent me here.
He wanted to say more, but since the water started boiling, he stood up and went to take the pot off the fire. It was quite hot, so he used the sleeve of his shirt to grab it and poured the water into the bowl filled with herbs. He mixed the tea a bit, and then poured it through cloth to the teapot and returned with it to Nathan.
- As I was saying... Billy send me here to learn, so how about we put our relationship on hold until he is back, and then talk it over? He is the boss here.
Thug spat on the ground the piece of chewing tobacco as Bruno was pouring the tea. He first hold the top hole open, while the bottom was close, and then switched his grip, pretending like the whole thing was too heavy for him to hold in one hand, and covered the top hole while leaving the bottom one open.
- Can we drink to that? - he asked grabbing the right cup.
Nathan didn't answer, neither did he grab the cup. This made the boy sigh heavily.
- Look... I helped you this time, but I didn't have to. I work for Billy and that is what I want to focus on.
- You are just a stupid kid who wants to run under his mom's skirt, but Billy is not your mother.
Bruno shrugged his shoulders.
- I'm smart so I chose to work for a top dog. That's it. Should I ask him who the top dog is between you two or can we drink to the agreement, and have it over? All I want is rules to our relationship, nothing more. I'm not here to fight over who is above who. I have alchemy and that's what I want to focus on.
- You are a coward, that's what you are - said Nathan, but he grabbed the cup.
Bruno drank from his, to kill the suspicion the thug could have.
- Maybe I am - he agreed. - But there is nothing wrong with that in alchemy.
Nathan snorted and took a sip from his cup.
- Here. I drank it, are you happy now? - he said and then poured everything else on the ground.
Bruno just shook his head.
- This talk is over - added the thug, dropping the cup, and left.
"It's not perfect, but it has to work", the boy thought to himself, as he followed Nathan with his eyes.
The rest of the day was free, so he quickly got rid of all the evidence, and closed the manufactory, then swung by the marketplace. Since he promised Viki a ring, he needed to get one.
Although wasting money in the current situation wasn't the smartest move, making the girl angry when she was so useful was an even worse mistake. Eventually, he found an iron ring with a small amber formed into a single tear. It had a small crack in the middle, but they still wanted a full silver frigate for it.
Clearly a scam, but since he wasn't in a mood to argue, and generally was quite tired, he just went with it.
With the ring in his pocket, he returned to the guild to rest a bit. The days when he finally could focus on gaining influence, and sow the seeds of his empire, were coming.