There is a certain tenseness in the streets of Myrken Town, what with the war and the Fiend and the recent coup. There have been better harvests as well. The weather was downright miserable this summer, and the stocks of wine and brandy from Derry are starting to dwindle which is downright disasterous for the good spirits of a large chunk of the population.
It meant that it was almost always good to see a smiling face. And here there were two smiling faces (and the bodies attached) approaching one another.
The first, dressed in the somewhat finer clothes he has been accustomed to as of late, is surveyor, mapmaker, student, and yes, youthful government employee, Glenn Burnie. The other is a boy about half his age, a good deal dirtier, in clothes that were just a step up from being rags. He looked as if he could use a few good meals too.
The boy walked forward confidently and clasped Glenn upon the shoulder. "Glennie! If it ain't my favorite customer. Movin' up in the world and all that too. Good for you. Good for you. What'cha got for me today, Glennie? Another letter to the ever exotic Miss Olwak? Or how about that mercenary lady with the big knoc..."
"No." Glenn's smile faded, but just for a moment. "Not her. Not her again. And you're too young to be talking about things like that. Hell, *I* am almost too young to be.. oh, nevermind." The smile was back, even though he was shaking his head. "Actually, I've got a bit more of a job for you, Thad, one that pays a whole lot better too."
Well, that drew attention. "Oh?" Moreover, it brought a look of wariness to the boy's face. He's heard that sort of tone before. "Dangerous, then, Glennie?"
"Yeah." No reason to lie about that. He'd be putting the brat into some risk. It was the necessary sort, though. "Sort of. I'll need you to find your way into a place and..."
"Whoa. Ho.. Whoa whoa ho ho ho, no." Thad was waving his hands in front of him emphatically at this point. "If you want something stolen, go find those snot nose little bootlickers who think themselves a real order of thieves when they're just... cheeky pus-filled toesucking bastards make me angry." He shook off that anger quickly though and shrugged at glenn. "You know that if it's like that, I can't help you. The messenger's guild frowns on that and so do I. We've got professional respect, scruples even! Plus, Scout would beat the snot out of me, you know that."
Professional respect. Scruples. Messenger's Guild. The ever mysterious and very poorly named Scout. Uh huh. Bunch of well organized orphan brats who were damn good at finding people. And the little thief brats weren't all that different, though there was a bit more of an adult influence there, a bit darker too. No, there was no way to even half trust them. He could half trust Thad by now. Still, no reason not to poke at the boy a bit, especially now that he was tossing a pouch of money up and down in his hand. "On paper, they look a hell of a lot like you guys, you know."
"WHUT!" The scamp was starting to fume. "Take that back, Glennie. Take it back now. We perform a PUBLIC SERVICE! And we do a damn fine job at it too!"
Glenn was tossing the pouch higher and higher now, seeming halfawy amused by the outburst. "Public service. Well, good. I'm glad you're so public spirited because that's exactly what this is all about. You an orphan, Thad?"
"Me, hell no. I'm emancipated." He spoke that last word as if he had heard it dozens of times but wasn't quite sure what it meant, and he knew it too, so he followed up almost immediately. "Means that I do what i want, when I want, and screw the drunk old bastard and the whore that..."
Glenn waved his hand. "Enough already." He took a nice shiny coin out of the pouch and tossed it Thad's way. "This now, half of the rest upon completion, and the other half when we can confirm what you tell us is accurate. And this is public service, Thad, real important. Tell me, do you know where that new Orphanage is?"
And didn't THAT draw a look from the boy. He nodded and walked forward and the two continued to converse quietly for the next several minutes before going their own ways.