He stopped grinnin' like a fool. He sat there and stared at her, long and hard. Thinkin'. Considerin'. Tugging at one earlobe. Call, raise, or fold?
Raise.
"We're dealin'."
He reached for the smallest of his three belt pouches.
Ossy, what in the seven hells are y'doing? That's all your savings.
I have to know.
He wrapped his hand around the throat of the small bag inside.
No, you don't. The lass is a rumormonger. If she finds out who y'are, she'll sell ye t'the Admiralty, sure as the sun shines midday.
Worth the risk.
He came up with the bag...
No, it ain't. How are you going to explain to Her Lady Grace why you didn't make the rendezvous with the Heaven's Gate in three days' time? Why you had to go into hiding, or worse, flee the city? Why you were skint broke and couldn't smuggle y'self off Vylbrand?
How are you going to explain to Andralyn that there was no pardon?
...and dropped it on the table, where it rang out with the ubiquitous clinking rattle of...
"Ten thousand gil in Allagan bronze pieces."
Every eye in the Scuttlebutt was drawn his way. Chairs squeaked and tables groaned. The bar went silent.
He dug under his shirt for the sheath that was secluded there, drew his knife in a reverse grip, and slammed it point-first down into the tabletop. Loudly. The whole thing took no more than a second.
Every eye in the Scuttlebutt suddenly found somewhere else to be lookin'. Mercifully, there was no further noise from the furniture.
He pinned Kink to her seat with his gaze.
"Twenty more when the job's done."
As if I ain't going t'roll you on that score.
"That's thirty thou in total."
More than I made in six years' worth of wetwork. Hopefully more than a fence can make in one.
"I sail for Thanalan in three days' time. My employers are expecting me back in Ul'dah by then. I'm to have the information on my tongue, or else lose my tongue."
He leaned forward and bared his own teeth in a savage facsimile of his erstwhile grin.
"That said, 'summat rough' doesn't even begin to describe it, lass, because the answers that I'm after aren't known t'anyone outside the Maelstrom. And therein lies the catch. Yes, I'm trying t'roll you, but only insofar as the difficulties involved. Most'd fail, but Yayabuko said y'were the best, so here I am."
He pulled his knife out from the wooden table.
"A warning, girl: don't try your hand at rollin' me. I may not have any fences in m'pockets, but I know cleaners aplenty, here in Limsa. Let's not add to their growing list o' deaders. So. Thirty thou. Three days. You report directly to me at my inn-room door, not to Yayabuko. Y'roll me, y'bleed. Those are my terms and conditions, Dax."
Raise.
"We're dealin'."
He reached for the smallest of his three belt pouches.
Ossy, what in the seven hells are y'doing? That's all your savings.
I have to know.
He wrapped his hand around the throat of the small bag inside.
No, you don't. The lass is a rumormonger. If she finds out who y'are, she'll sell ye t'the Admiralty, sure as the sun shines midday.
Worth the risk.
He came up with the bag...
No, it ain't. How are you going to explain to Her Lady Grace why you didn't make the rendezvous with the Heaven's Gate in three days' time? Why you had to go into hiding, or worse, flee the city? Why you were skint broke and couldn't smuggle y'self off Vylbrand?
How are you going to explain to Andralyn that there was no pardon?
...and dropped it on the table, where it rang out with the ubiquitous clinking rattle of...
"Ten thousand gil in Allagan bronze pieces."
Every eye in the Scuttlebutt was drawn his way. Chairs squeaked and tables groaned. The bar went silent.
He dug under his shirt for the sheath that was secluded there, drew his knife in a reverse grip, and slammed it point-first down into the tabletop. Loudly. The whole thing took no more than a second.
Every eye in the Scuttlebutt suddenly found somewhere else to be lookin'. Mercifully, there was no further noise from the furniture.
He pinned Kink to her seat with his gaze.
"Twenty more when the job's done."
As if I ain't going t'roll you on that score.
"That's thirty thou in total."
More than I made in six years' worth of wetwork. Hopefully more than a fence can make in one.
"I sail for Thanalan in three days' time. My employers are expecting me back in Ul'dah by then. I'm to have the information on my tongue, or else lose my tongue."
He leaned forward and bared his own teeth in a savage facsimile of his erstwhile grin.
"That said, 'summat rough' doesn't even begin to describe it, lass, because the answers that I'm after aren't known t'anyone outside the Maelstrom. And therein lies the catch. Yes, I'm trying t'roll you, but only insofar as the difficulties involved. Most'd fail, but Yayabuko said y'were the best, so here I am."
He pulled his knife out from the wooden table.
"A warning, girl: don't try your hand at rollin' me. I may not have any fences in m'pockets, but I know cleaners aplenty, here in Limsa. Let's not add to their growing list o' deaders. So. Thirty thou. Three days. You report directly to me at my inn-room door, not to Yayabuko. Y'roll me, y'bleed. Those are my terms and conditions, Dax."
![[Image: 1qVSsTp.png]](http://i.imgur.com/1qVSsTp.png)
