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Post by Henley on Jan 3, 2022 16:11:38 GMT -8
The Nymph drifted over to a side area for sitting, languidly lazing his way into a chair as he sipped a merry, merry bevvy. The cleaner's explanation made sense, in a super straightforward way. Yule had connotations about light and the things in the darkness, and so the fact that the Winter Courtiers went off to slay shadows while the rest of them burned the hearth fires bright tracked. He gestured to the chair opposite him.
"Fair enough. I'll keep my questions to myself and do my job. I'll have you know that I'm a fucking expert at making merry. I may have taken a shot or two of Squire Callahan's Good Shit last time and puked on the Samhain floor."
He shuddered at the memory of the child Knight.
"I really appreciate you helping Gavin and I out with that clean-up a little bit back. I'm going to ask you a personal question, feel free to not answer it if you want - how does one pick up a skill set like yours? It's remarkable."
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Post by Victor on Jan 3, 2022 18:30:22 GMT -8
Victor acted fast as he found his conversation moving away from the table, re-filling his mug of wine and snatching up wedges of cheese toast to throw into his stew. The delay forced him to skip a few steps after Henley to avoid looking like he had abandoned the Nymph for the banquet.
"Ain't a real party 'till someone's liquid dinner ends up on the floor anyways! The golden rule is to try and aim for the linoleum."
He wagged a finger, balancing good humor and serious plea. He had been wrangled into cleaning parties before, and he knew the pain of scrubbing pre-digested whiskey from carpet and tile grout. The thought provoked him to look about their current celebration and take stock of all the potential spills and property destruction. If anything happened here, it would likely involve broken glass or ceramic, and he wasn't seeing any safe sharps disposal. The chimera shook his head and busied himself with setting all his edible bounty on the nearest flat surface before setting himself down in the chair offered. The gratitude towards his work prompted a grin an a dismissive wave
"Ah, and I appreciate the work! And no worries, my break into the business ain't a secret. Back before the whimsy, I used to work in car smuggling. And no, I ain't proud of it, but it sure got me a unique set of skills. Most of my work was logistics- fixing jobs, disappearing paper trails, getting the right people to look the other way... And that's still part of my job, though I like to think I use those skills for good these days."
He paused to take a swig of the wine
"'Course you're probably really asking about the more physical cleanup work I do. Sometimes when we got cars, they were clean as a whistle, still smelling of plastic and rubber. Most times we didn't. So before we could sell them, we needed to clean them up. Crumbs in the back seat and cans on the floor would be scrub work, but you couldn't trust just any guy with a mop when it came to the nastier stuff. Since I was the guy who sourced our equipment and knew all of the laws, I ended up being the one that knew the cleaning kit inside-out. So the mantle fell on me to use it if I wanted it done right. Blood and other human fluids were pretty common, but whole people bits only happened... three times. I think."
Victor frowned and looked up to his forehead, teasing out his pre-arcadian memories
"Still, three times is plenty enough if you're already on the wrong side of the law and don't want to be implicated in a murder case. Between research and kit I managed a good enough job that I got a reputation of being the guy to call. The rest is history."
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Post by Henley on Jan 4, 2022 23:17:51 GMT -8
"That's kind of you to say," the Nymph said with a chuckle about the 'liquid dinner' thing. Most people judged the guy who drank too much and vomited on the floor. To be fair, it wasn't out of a lack of ability to hold his liquor; the trip the Squire had handed him a first class ticket to was absolutely horrifying. He slammed a bit of his beverage to try to shake the image of the Child Knight out of his brain. Right now was about focusing on the positives.
Autumn was over. That meant the Herald's declaration had come to nothing. He was still alive, and the Enemy hadn't caught him. Tony Cartwright and the Bargain had worked out just fine.
All's well that ends well.
As he listened to the unnerving Fairest tell the story of the tumble through the underworld that led to him being the physical cleanup guy in his Court, the Nymph rested his chin on his spindly-fingered fist, his elbow on the armrest supporting his head.
"And here I expected it to be a story of the Fae requiring some horrible shit from you. Turns out people... are people, and they do plenty of messy stuff all on their own."
He chuckled sadly, shaking his head as he glanced down at the floor. He didn't want to judge, and he appreciated what the spook in front of him did. It was the nasty shit that someone had to do so people like him could rest easy in their beds.
"I say this with all the respect in the world, so don't misunderstand me, for I appreciate what you did... but like personal injury lawyers and tax auditors, I hope we never have to meet in the context of you having to carry out your grim profession again. Social calls, however... are always welcome."
The smile he gave was sad. For the kid, really. He reached into his pocket and produced a little jewelry box, sliding it across to him. Within was his gold coin, as promised.
"Thank you for helping with this particular mess. I hope you don't mind payment in commodities. Gold dipped recently, but I think it's going up."
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Post by Victor on Jan 7, 2022 16:09:48 GMT -8
Victor grinned, wide and toothy. The wine and frank conversation were making him perhaps too comfortable, and he was forgetting to temper his expressions to avoid coming across as a slasher villain. It was a hazard of his condition, and one of the things that made him miss the days when he didn't look like Frankenstein's wall-hanger trophy, in the rare times that he put his mind to it.
"I like to think of my last job as having toughened me up to deal with them and their whimsy. Least, that's what I tell myself to sleep good at night. And don't worry, I understand you alright. I wouldn't want to have to hire me either. Even the less bloody work I do means that someone fucked up, and some poor sap is feeling the heat. If I see you at work again, hopefully it's about documents and you aren't the client. If not, I would be honored to see how a self-styled expert merry maker handles social calls."
He reached for his mug, presenting it forward before upending it on his lips. The cleaner wasn't quite sure what to expect out of any social engagement where he would be considered appropriate company, but the prospect was novel enough to be enticing. Once the jewelry box came out, the mug was lowered to the tune of raised brows and pleased humming. He took the thing up in his free hand, flicking it open with a thumb to admire the contents within.
"Mm! So Gavin wasn't kidding when he talked 'bout gold coin."
He chuckled, snapping the lid shut and slipping it into an interior pocket of his hunting flannels
"Hardest part about getting the cash out of it will be convincing myself to trade it in, I guarantee you- Its not every day that I get paid in gold standard, you know. But! Enough about me- if I'm going to be spilling my life's story, least you could do is to tell me what you do for a living. Who knows, might be able to pay you forward if I ever get into a bind, depending on what you do."
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Post by Henley on Jan 15, 2022 11:02:26 GMT -8
The Nymph simply smiled at the idea of the self-styled expert merry maker and the freaky Chimera cleaner doing some solid drinking. He clinked the glass and sipped from his own. The Fairest's entertainment about the gold coin was met with a nod.
"What you choose to do with it is up to you, but those are worth a fair bit and keep on getting more expensive as time goes on. Maybe between a safety deposit box and some time, you'll build up a nice little nest egg for retirement if you take your payments in gold. Even we Lost deserve Freedom Fifty-Five, am I right?"
He gestured at the box with his glass when the Chimera asked about what he did for a living.
"In life, I'm in the markets. Stocks. Bonds. Mutual funds." He made a face, like it was all a snore, before re-animating. "Among our kind, I specialize in goblin markets and hobgoblin negotiations. Gavin and I are in a Motley together - Outback, it's called. He's a professional Hedge guide. Did you know he got the Trod with Sunset Canyon open again? Huge."
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Post by Victor on Jan 20, 2022 1:34:44 GMT -8
Victor snorted
"Retirement?! Ain't no rest for the wicked, Henley, and I ain't no saint myself! Though I suppose there ain't no harm in trying, so long as I don't hang my hopes up on it."
It was part poetry, part truth- where one ended and the other began as far as Victor honestly believed was hard to tell. He reached to his stew bowl and fished out one of the slices of cheese toast with his fingers. The fact it was now soggy from the broth didn't appear to be a detriment, and the thing was entirely devoured in nearly a single mouthful. That not a drop of broth ended up on his lap or beard was almost impressive.
"Mm, Goblins! I've only gone once, but I had my fare share of luck-"
He brought up a hand and gestured to goblin's eye in his socket, nearly tapping it before remembering that it wasn't quite as insensitive to touch as the glass eye that still occupied the other side of his face.
"The old eye wasn't doing me any favors anyways. Hell, I think this thing even makes me look nicer!"
If he was being honest, he was either completely delusional, or that other glass eye must have been a real horror show.
"Gavin went for it too, as far as I see. He get your help with that? I figured I'd quit while I was ahead, but I won't kid myself that that's a luxury of not being in a desperate situation. When that desperate situation comes- which it will- I'll be happy to have a guy I can trust to go to. You and Gavin both. You work well together, and you do good work, from what I've seen."
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Post by Henley on Jan 24, 2022 22:27:53 GMT -8
Henley just smiled at the point about the ghoulish Chimera being no saint. Far from it. He was dipping his fingers in fucking stew. The fact that he wasn't dripping was just some Fairest nonsense. Even the ugly ones somehow managed to be perfect. He leaned in a little as Victor indicated his eye and revealed the truth of it.
"Well, how about that," the broker replied with a grin. "One time, and you got the Autumn Special, hey? Very nice. Dollmaker's work, or another?"
When Victor asked about his help with Gavin's eye, he nodded humbly.
"You're too kind, my friend. If you do have a need, don't hesitate to come. You've made a big difference already, and I'm happy to lend a hand if you call."
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Post by Victor on Jan 27, 2022 18:29:20 GMT -8
"Guess it is a bit typical, ain't it? Can't blame a man for taking up a good deal!"
Victor grinned, near sheepish, and shoveled in another spoon of roux. He shook his head emphatically before his mouth was free again to speak
"Nah. Least, I don't think so. Honest truth is that of all of the things that stick out in my mind from that outing, the bugger's name ain't one of 'em..."
The chimera afforded the thought a small frown, before dismissing it with a shrug. If the detail ever became imperative, he was sure the right memory would surface. Henley's last expression of gratitude was met with a smile and a nod- it wasn't at all difficult to tell he wasn't used to his deeds being lauded as such. There was short pause before he spoke up again.
"Now I do gotta ask, if you don't mind, which one of you came up with that motley name? I'm guessing on Gavin's part its a play on where he's from, but how do you rope into it?"
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Post by Henley on Jan 30, 2022 22:11:57 GMT -8
Henley snorted and chuckled. "I'm afraid not. It was me playing off where Gavin's from, and what we do for a living as Hedge specialists. A bit stereotypical, I'll admit, but you've got to admit it works."
The Ogre stood up and offered the Chimera a hand to shake.
"I reckon we're wrapping up here soon, so I'd like to hit the head and grab Gavin before we go. It was a pleasure, Victor. See you next time."
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