the happening [c]

Mictlan sat at the back of his colorful wagon practicing his magic. At the front were skeletal gaurs. They were great beasts standing over seven feet tall. Their horns were polished to shine and capped in iron. Their bones had been painted by children, but were in perfect condition otherwise. Each had its own style. One had petals of various colors painted onto its vertebrae with each of its ribs painted in green with black thorns. Its skull had yellow petals around the black voids that were its eyes giving the impression of sunflowers. The other just had each rib colored as a rainbow with random splashes of color on the skull and limbs. No part of it was left unpainted except those deep black eye sockets. They were yoked together into a pulling team and connected to the wagon, ready to pull at his command. A simple set of reigns hung over the driver's bench. It was given shade by the cover that enclosed the back, but a wall of fabric with laced up flaps protected the contents from driving rain.

The cover was made of weather proofed fabrics over a frame with a simple set flaps that could be laced together serving as the door. It kept things protected from the weather and offered a basic level of privacy when needed. The outer most covering had been tie-dyed and was a riot of colors and patterns making it easy to spot in a crowd even when markets were packed. The walls were made of slate and had the remnants of some children's chalk drawing still there. He had nothing to advertise at the moment, so he had no reason to wash them off nor anything to add of his own. The floor of the wagon behind him had several pillows and dried foods in containers for the next time he had to go somewhere. Even the evening mists could not hide the bright colors though the condensation on the slate was marring what was left of the chalk drawings.

The flaps were open and light leaked through the space between them illuminating Mictlan and the skeleton he was practicing on. he would firing the glittering projectile at the thing an then heal it back up over and over trying to make them second nature. The easier these spells were for him the easier future spells building on these skills would be. Each repetition allowed him to get a better feel for his own aura and the manipulation of others. The skeleton was a human adult, remarkable only for its perfection. There was no damage to the bones and everything was perfectly symmetrical. Shoulders and hips indicated male, but unless one had a decent knowledge of such things even that would be hard to determine with confidence. it sat there motionless just taking the damage without reaction and similarly accepting the caress of Mictlan's hand along its body without note. It had no instructions beyond staying still, so that was all it did. It could have been sitting in fire or acid and taken them in the same stride as these blows because it knew nothing else to do. No thought of disobedience occupied its mind. Mictlan's orders were like laws of the universe to it. There was no way to not obey.

NOTES ; 

Mictlan stopped his practicing when the kid appeared and addressed him. Apparently tittling him in the process. He got a wicked grin and said, "I like it. It's memorable if nothing else. Do you have tittle you prefer to be addressed with?"


While he generally spoke to people as opposed to about people, names and tittles could be important. If nothing else it showed interest in the other person to ask and it was the topic up for discussion at the moment. There were no illusions about what Mictlan did here. No reason to hide his delight at the tittle. That wicked grin served him as well as his plastered smile in this case. His tone was still that friendly tone he kept for potential employers.


He was at a bit of a disadvantage to the boy. He did not bother to keep abreast of others as well as he should, figuring that much of the time he would rely on getting to know the person first hand rather than worrying about all the rumors. The downside was he tended to have to go into most encounters cold. If you don't keep up with the gossip, you cannot customize your approach to a given person. He might have known the proper tittle if he had. He might have been able to use it to start with rather than having to ask. Instead, tittles were serving as the icebreaker for the conversation. It was differant, but not exactly bad in this case. It allowed them to ease into conversation.


As they spoke, Mictlan leaned against the skeleton he had been practicing on before. He wanted to seem relaxed and at ease given the calming aura the young man was exuding. It seemed wrong to attempt to be business polite with him. It tended to involve a bit of tension and the boy put him more at ease than he would likely have been otherwise. Social interaction was very much about reciprication. The boy put off calm and ease, so Mictlan did the same. When people came at him showing that they expected business like behaviors he adapted. For now he simply relaxed and enjoyed the conversation they were going to have.

NOTES ; 

Mictlan chuckled and said, "Splendid. I'm generally keen on the idea of employment. Want to go into more detail? Wages and duties are the standard lines of inquiry, but one could also ask as to coworkers. Would it be just you or are there other people I need to worry about?"


He hoped that it was his magic, but given his history it could be other things. He was not bad at making clothes and had spent years slaughtering animals. It was unlikely, but for all he knew he was being hired to make demon steaks. Given his tittle it was also quite possible Gilian wanted him to insure someone's suffering. Someone who could keep a person constantly on the edge of death, prolonging their torment had it uses to some people. Perhaps he had someone he wanted to have animated as a skeleton as a final act of triumph over them. Who knew?


Tasks was plural, so that implied that if it was torture, it would be multiple people or in addition to other things. It could be related tasks, but more likely it was separate ones as people tended to group related tasks into a single larger task when pitching them. It was an odd quirk of language with little solid basis, but in the absence of other information it was something to consider. It was enough to make him straiten up again. This had indeed become a job interview and part of him had to treat it that way. Despite him laughing a bit he was taking the offer seriously. He just needed to know what he was getting into. The humor was in the idea of taking a job without any details. It does not matter how good the pay is if you cannot collect and just because there is work it does not mean it's worth the pay offered.


No matter how much he wanted to show off his talents, he had to keep bottom line considerations in mind. His own death gets him nowhere and if the job costs more than it pays it is not worth it. That included non-monetary concerns. There might be no money in something but plenty of other rewards. A job might offer loads of money but cost other resources. That was less likely in his position. He had little prestige or power to lose at this point. Though he treasured what little power he had.

NOTES ; 

That generated a tough spot for Mictlan. He hated to seem dismissive, but he was prone to answer in the same generalities as Gilian. He would offer his skills as long as the pay was reasonable. Without details he could make no promises on a given task. It took a moment of thought, but he eventually decided that they had a deal. Gilian was promising pay as long as he was useful and he was going to be useful as long as the pay was adequate. The fact that his magics, or appreciation for them, would be entertained was a good footing to be on. The fact that his employer did not trust him enough to give him information on it was substantially less reassuring, but so far all they were negotiating was the basic premise of employment.


Eventually, if he wanted anything done, he would have to actually say what it was he wanted done. This was not an upcoming ultimatum, but the nature of activity. You don't hire a domestic and expect them to figure out what house to clean. You don't hire a random person and expect them to know that they are a domestic. Eventually you have to tell them what you want done. You don't have to fill them in on the larger picture, but if you want a given task done they need to know what it is and that you want it done.


That seemed like it was going to be the basis for their employment agreement. When the time came to do a given task he would have to weigh that particular task against the trust that the pay would be worth it. That was a bit shaky as his employer's lack of trust made him wary that he had reason not to be trusted. Those who seek to cheat tend to be more concerned about being cheated. If you know you are not trustworthy your interactions with others are generally not trustworthy. At least one person in every interaction in that case is looking to cheat the other. If you deal honestly at least one person in every interaction is acting in good faith. Either way it taints the way you see things. The honest man assumes others will be more honest while the dishonest man assumes other will be dishonest, all other things being equal.


Building trust would be hard and take time. The key would be the first interaction. If he got stiffed the first time, there would be no point in a second. If the first task was too risky to take on faith he would be forced to gain some assurances before he would go forward. But they had a basic framework that did him no harm, so there was no reason not to agree for the time being. He returned to his polite smile and said, "I suppose I can take a leap of faith. I'll lend you my skills when the time comes."


This was turning out to be an odd meeting for him. He had basically just agreed to be open to future jobs when looked at on a practical level. The lack of details and trust basically just put him on a short list when jobs came as opposed to being a job itself. Cold calls for the short list were a bit odd. Generally people had work and found someone to do the job. It was after that that the person was on the short list for future jobs. Unless he had some reason to suspect people would not work for him it seemed odd that he was having to put out feelers for people before hand. He was really starting to wish he had paid attention to any of the stories surrounding this kid. He was also regretting his curiosity in all of this. The fact that he knew nothing made curious enough to make what little leap he was going to make.

NOTES ; 

Yeah, this smacked of a trap. His "employer's" disbelief at him accepting spoke volumes. The question now was if he thought he could out smart the trap. The answer was quickly becoming "No." Even if he could muster the power to take out one target, gangs were not hard to assemble and could easily take him for all he was worth. The fact that Gilian seemed to be making a point of restricting information, showed no trust, offered no concrete rewards, and was leading him to the outskirts told him that this was not going to end well for him.


He took advantage of the potential benefits of his wagon and hopped on to follow for what little time he would be continuing to follow. He began calling up the energies for the aural charges so that he could get one good blast if things went south and said, "Explanations would be good. I do sort of need to know what I am doing to do it."


He kept the same polite and friendly tone he had always had. He was not going to let his suspicion leak through. Until the last moment he was going to play the faithful employee. He could play off his readying of power as a precaution for whatever the "happening" was. Gilian had mentioned his magic, so it was not unreasonable for him to expect it to be needed for "the happening". Calling it up now was just to be ready for it, whatever it was. It was not an inherently hostile act to anyone who did not have reason to expect hostility. If Gilian had reason to suspect anything, it would only go to further support the idea that he was here for betrayal. Knowing now would be better than waiting for him to get wherever they were going. It might not be much of an advantage, but it would at least spoil some of the advantage that Gilian was planning on.

NOTES ; Casting aural charge twice and praying this is one hell of a misunderstanding.