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"I don't care what you say Nadia. I’m not waking up. Go away."
Collin pulled the blanket back over his head. It was too early to be up. He could never understand the fixation she had on this whole morning concept. He personally found it overrated and absurd that anyone would to take part in it. He shut his eyes, attempting to go back to sleep, but he could feel Nadia looming over the bed. She wasn’t giving up yet.
“Go away or I’ll fire you.”
“Oh please, try threatening something new sometime.” Nadia said as she started to pull the covers off of him. He struggled to hold on. “It’s ten in the morning. I’ve been up for hours, and I need you to wake up to get work done.”
“That’s because you’re a freak. Work can get done in the afternoon too.” He pulled the blanket out of her hands and covered his head yet again. Work that came before noon was never pleasant anyway. He found that fact to be true again and again in the years of his profession.
“So I should just go tell that client downstairs to go somewhere else with their money huh?”
She had said the magic words. Collin’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up in bed. “Client? We have a client?”
Nadia’s face formed a smirk. Her cat like ears wiggled slightly in amusement. “Yeah, it’s a typical search and recover job. I would of sealed the deal myself, but they wanted to talk to the boss.” Her tone was slightly bitter. She tried to hide it, but Collin knew it annoyed her when the clients refused to do business with her because she wasn’t officially the leader. Even though she didn’t have the official certification, she did just as much work as everyone else, if not more.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he got out of bed. It was too early for him to be out of bed, but a client meant money for the bills. He couldn’t tell them to come back later just so he could get a few extra minutes of sleep. Walking over to his dresser, he pulled a pair of dress pants and a white dress shirt off the top. He really should put his clothes in his dresser sometime, try to be organized, he thought to himself like he did every morning. Pulling on the pair of pants over his boxers, he winced slightly and swore as he realized that he had forgotten to tailor these new pants for his tail yet again. He could hear Nadia chuckle softly to herself. “Glad to know you’re enjoying yourself over there Na”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you forget to do this every time you buy clothes. You really need to work on organizing yourself you know.” She remarked as she handed him an older pair of pants. Collin gave her a dirty look as he grabbed them out of her hands. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t remember these little things. Okay, maybe it was, but it was too early to point it out. He quickly got dressed, thinking that the client is probably getting impatient by now. Focus on the money he told himself, you’re good at getting money. He finished buttoning his shirt so only the top two buttons were undone and then faced Nadia. She raised one of her eyebrows, and her green cat eyes glinted with annoyance. “Have you ever even heard of an iron?”
“What? Its fine!” He looked down at the shirt. Okay, maybe it was a little wrinkled. He made a mental note that he should really consider hanging up his clothing from now on. “Well at least its clean, that’s something.”
“Yeah that is something for you,” Nadia said amused. “I’m going to go make sure the client hasn’t left yet. Hurry up and get downstairs when you’re ready. And wear a tie!” She walked out of the room, and Collin could hear her muttering about how she couldn’t understand how he was the boss. He sighed again, he hated wearing ties. The idea of wearing a noose around his neck just gave him the creeps. But he would or otherwise he would have to listen to Nadia give him yet another lecture on running a proper business people can trust. And the last time with all the visual aids just felt condescending.
He looked over at the mirror hung on the wall. His brown hair was a mess from sleeping, sticking out in all sorts of directions. With his hands he attempted to make it look somewhat decent. He also needed to buy a new comb once he had money, since the last one broke when he stepped on it a week ago. Except for his hair, he felt like he looked pretty decent, he didn’t even need to shave. He grabbed the tie that on the top of the pile of ties on his dresser, slipped into his old dress shoes that were already tied, and headed downstairs. “Maybe this morning will be a good one” he told himself.
He finished tying his tie as he walked down the old oak stairs to the office, the wood creaking beneath his feet in an old familiar way. At the bottom of the stairs, he could hear the muffled voices of Nadia and another female voice. That must be the client, he thought to himself. Collin paused, taking a deep breath before opening the door of the office.
The two women in the room turned their heads to note his presence. Nadia gave him a grateful look that he showed up in a short amount of time. Obviously this client had irritated her in some way. The other woman was sitting in a chair in front of their cluttered desk. She was a small adult human, with her light brown hair tied up in the back. She looked surprised, even displeased at his entrance.
He didn’t like the look of that.
“Ms. Porter, this is Collin Firch. He’s the certified seeker of our company.” Nadia said very patiently “He will be the one helping you recover your lost jewelry.” Ms. Porter continued to looked displeased at Collin. He was getting a bad feeling about this one. Ms. Porter stood up and walked over to Collin, as if she was inspecting him.
“You’re a demon. In the photo I saw of you, you looked human.” She said this with a tone as if it was insult. He knew he was right about his bad feeling now.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that I look human a bit before, but don’t worry. Human or demon, I can still recover your jewelry like a true professional.” He said, trying very hard to stay calm. He should be used to having this treatment. It wasn’t the first time this had happened.
“Why do you have a human name then? That is very deceiving. What’s your demon name?” He hated when people did this to him, demanding for his demon name the closest government gave him for their records. That was no name, it was a label meant to keep a demon from getting anywhere in life.
“Saru. But out here where there is no real government, I prefer to use the name my parents gave me.” Collin was starting to lose his patience with this woman. Was she just trying to antagonize him? "I'm sorry, but is me being a demon a problem for you ma'am?"
"My problem is with the Mercenary guild actually accepting one of you, and acting as though you're an equal. Its repulsive." She started to walk away. Collin could see the look of pure fury appear on Nadia's face. Part of him worried about her doing something rash that could get them an angry mob, while another part of him wished she would. When she reached the door, Ms. Porter spun around and scowled at Collin. "Your cat and your claws will not destroy a single thing of mine." And with that, she left office, slamming the door behind her.
The second the door was shut, Nadia started shouting. "What kind of nerve! Can we go and rip her a new one? I mean seriously, it was bad enough she kept calling me your secretary while you were upstairs, but that was horrible!" She threw her arms up in the air. "What do you say?"
"We don't want any trouble Na, you know that. Its her loss," Collin said quietly. He was shaken by the last thing the woman said. Nadia kept on shouting and ranting about what a horrid woman she was. Collin barely heard her, he was busy staring at his hands. His normal, human hands that were now shaking. It had been a long time since they were claws. A long time since they had harmed anyone.
He quickly hid his shaking hands before Nadia could notice. Sighing, he looked at the clock. Still morning, just like he predicted. Nothing good comes before noon.
Word Count: 1513
Total Word Count: 2654/50000
Collin pulled the blanket back over his head. It was too early to be up. He could never understand the fixation she had on this whole morning concept. He personally found it overrated and absurd that anyone would to take part in it. He shut his eyes, attempting to go back to sleep, but he could feel Nadia looming over the bed. She wasn’t giving up yet.
“Go away or I’ll fire you.”
“Oh please, try threatening something new sometime.” Nadia said as she started to pull the covers off of him. He struggled to hold on. “It’s ten in the morning. I’ve been up for hours, and I need you to wake up to get work done.”
“That’s because you’re a freak. Work can get done in the afternoon too.” He pulled the blanket out of her hands and covered his head yet again. Work that came before noon was never pleasant anyway. He found that fact to be true again and again in the years of his profession.
“So I should just go tell that client downstairs to go somewhere else with their money huh?”
She had said the magic words. Collin’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up in bed. “Client? We have a client?”
Nadia’s face formed a smirk. Her cat like ears wiggled slightly in amusement. “Yeah, it’s a typical search and recover job. I would of sealed the deal myself, but they wanted to talk to the boss.” Her tone was slightly bitter. She tried to hide it, but Collin knew it annoyed her when the clients refused to do business with her because she wasn’t officially the leader. Even though she didn’t have the official certification, she did just as much work as everyone else, if not more.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes as he got out of bed. It was too early for him to be out of bed, but a client meant money for the bills. He couldn’t tell them to come back later just so he could get a few extra minutes of sleep. Walking over to his dresser, he pulled a pair of dress pants and a white dress shirt off the top. He really should put his clothes in his dresser sometime, try to be organized, he thought to himself like he did every morning. Pulling on the pair of pants over his boxers, he winced slightly and swore as he realized that he had forgotten to tailor these new pants for his tail yet again. He could hear Nadia chuckle softly to herself. “Glad to know you’re enjoying yourself over there Na”
“Hey, it’s not my fault you forget to do this every time you buy clothes. You really need to work on organizing yourself you know.” She remarked as she handed him an older pair of pants. Collin gave her a dirty look as he grabbed them out of her hands. It wasn’t his fault that he didn’t remember these little things. Okay, maybe it was, but it was too early to point it out. He quickly got dressed, thinking that the client is probably getting impatient by now. Focus on the money he told himself, you’re good at getting money. He finished buttoning his shirt so only the top two buttons were undone and then faced Nadia. She raised one of her eyebrows, and her green cat eyes glinted with annoyance. “Have you ever even heard of an iron?”
“What? Its fine!” He looked down at the shirt. Okay, maybe it was a little wrinkled. He made a mental note that he should really consider hanging up his clothing from now on. “Well at least its clean, that’s something.”
“Yeah that is something for you,” Nadia said amused. “I’m going to go make sure the client hasn’t left yet. Hurry up and get downstairs when you’re ready. And wear a tie!” She walked out of the room, and Collin could hear her muttering about how she couldn’t understand how he was the boss. He sighed again, he hated wearing ties. The idea of wearing a noose around his neck just gave him the creeps. But he would or otherwise he would have to listen to Nadia give him yet another lecture on running a proper business people can trust. And the last time with all the visual aids just felt condescending.
He looked over at the mirror hung on the wall. His brown hair was a mess from sleeping, sticking out in all sorts of directions. With his hands he attempted to make it look somewhat decent. He also needed to buy a new comb once he had money, since the last one broke when he stepped on it a week ago. Except for his hair, he felt like he looked pretty decent, he didn’t even need to shave. He grabbed the tie that on the top of the pile of ties on his dresser, slipped into his old dress shoes that were already tied, and headed downstairs. “Maybe this morning will be a good one” he told himself.
He finished tying his tie as he walked down the old oak stairs to the office, the wood creaking beneath his feet in an old familiar way. At the bottom of the stairs, he could hear the muffled voices of Nadia and another female voice. That must be the client, he thought to himself. Collin paused, taking a deep breath before opening the door of the office.
The two women in the room turned their heads to note his presence. Nadia gave him a grateful look that he showed up in a short amount of time. Obviously this client had irritated her in some way. The other woman was sitting in a chair in front of their cluttered desk. She was a small adult human, with her light brown hair tied up in the back. She looked surprised, even displeased at his entrance.
He didn’t like the look of that.
“Ms. Porter, this is Collin Firch. He’s the certified seeker of our company.” Nadia said very patiently “He will be the one helping you recover your lost jewelry.” Ms. Porter continued to looked displeased at Collin. He was getting a bad feeling about this one. Ms. Porter stood up and walked over to Collin, as if she was inspecting him.
“You’re a demon. In the photo I saw of you, you looked human.” She said this with a tone as if it was insult. He knew he was right about his bad feeling now.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that I look human a bit before, but don’t worry. Human or demon, I can still recover your jewelry like a true professional.” He said, trying very hard to stay calm. He should be used to having this treatment. It wasn’t the first time this had happened.
“Why do you have a human name then? That is very deceiving. What’s your demon name?” He hated when people did this to him, demanding for his demon name the closest government gave him for their records. That was no name, it was a label meant to keep a demon from getting anywhere in life.
“Saru. But out here where there is no real government, I prefer to use the name my parents gave me.” Collin was starting to lose his patience with this woman. Was she just trying to antagonize him? "I'm sorry, but is me being a demon a problem for you ma'am?"
"My problem is with the Mercenary guild actually accepting one of you, and acting as though you're an equal. Its repulsive." She started to walk away. Collin could see the look of pure fury appear on Nadia's face. Part of him worried about her doing something rash that could get them an angry mob, while another part of him wished she would. When she reached the door, Ms. Porter spun around and scowled at Collin. "Your cat and your claws will not destroy a single thing of mine." And with that, she left office, slamming the door behind her.
The second the door was shut, Nadia started shouting. "What kind of nerve! Can we go and rip her a new one? I mean seriously, it was bad enough she kept calling me your secretary while you were upstairs, but that was horrible!" She threw her arms up in the air. "What do you say?"
"We don't want any trouble Na, you know that. Its her loss," Collin said quietly. He was shaken by the last thing the woman said. Nadia kept on shouting and ranting about what a horrid woman she was. Collin barely heard her, he was busy staring at his hands. His normal, human hands that were now shaking. It had been a long time since they were claws. A long time since they had harmed anyone.
He quickly hid his shaking hands before Nadia could notice. Sighing, he looked at the clock. Still morning, just like he predicted. Nothing good comes before noon.
Word Count: 1513
Total Word Count: 2654/50000