Well, well, well, they had gotten somewhere. If he'd meant to call the guards on her, then certainly he'd have taken longer. There'd be no need to treat her to some elaborate game, not if she was believed to be some scrawny little scut. She didn't think Lalataru would behave that way, though gods knew she'd been proven wrong before. Caution was to be her guide, as ever. The tone of his voice seemed calm enough, and she permitted her stiffness to bleed out of her a little. A little, but not too much; no kid born of the streets would ever actively show themselves calm when they were somewhere strange, especially not if they were as dumb as the part she was playing.
"Me mam called me Joz," she said, slow and hesitant as she got to her feet. "Go by Rat most days."
She finally let go of her tail, and chose instead to hold near the hem of her shirt as she minced past Lalataru and into the Arcanist's Guild. Strange as it was, she'd never been inside before. While ambition had seen fit to goad her beyond the more simple messaging jobs that took her from one point to another (and rarely inside anywhere), she'd previously shied away from the guilds on self-preservation alone. People with power tended to use that power, and if you weren't slick enough, you'd get a taste of it. Zhi didn't bungle jobs often, but sometimes learning meant getting your tail singed -- Galine'd been the one to teach her that, and loathe as Zhi was to think kindly on the little terror, she knew her stuff well enough.
Once inside, Zhi took her time to gawk. Time spent on the street had worn the wonder right out of her, but she knew well enough how to play the dazzled poor girl. It was as if she'd plum forgotten Lalataru was there, the way she stared gape-mouthed at all the nice things.
"Me mam called me Joz," she said, slow and hesitant as she got to her feet. "Go by Rat most days."
She finally let go of her tail, and chose instead to hold near the hem of her shirt as she minced past Lalataru and into the Arcanist's Guild. Strange as it was, she'd never been inside before. While ambition had seen fit to goad her beyond the more simple messaging jobs that took her from one point to another (and rarely inside anywhere), she'd previously shied away from the guilds on self-preservation alone. People with power tended to use that power, and if you weren't slick enough, you'd get a taste of it. Zhi didn't bungle jobs often, but sometimes learning meant getting your tail singed -- Galine'd been the one to teach her that, and loathe as Zhi was to think kindly on the little terror, she knew her stuff well enough.
Once inside, Zhi took her time to gawk. Time spent on the street had worn the wonder right out of her, but she knew well enough how to play the dazzled poor girl. It was as if she'd plum forgotten Lalataru was there, the way she stared gape-mouthed at all the nice things.
