Captain Jack looked back and Zahir, idiot fool that he was, swallowed. This pirate had an air about him like a vacuum, not quite gravitas, more like a sinkhole. Zahir liked him enormously, and ae did not like quick. Queen Flora ae could leave or take outside of her importance to aer continued wellbeing, which reflected little about her beyond that she was an unknown. Zahir didn’t know the first thing about Jack, either, but ae knew ae liked him. The Captain had an edge to him that felt familiar. He felt dangerous. Zahir’s kind of person.
Zahir lets all of them say their lines, lets Naseem run through her flirtations, and waits for the moment of quiet in which to step into the conversation. “Perfect. We’re no builders. But perhaps we could be of service to the two of you in other ways. Like my companion said, we’re new here. And friends make a home, no?” Introductions were, he felt, in order. “I am Zahir. My companion here is Naseem. A pleasure. We are— well, at present, between jobs. When in work, we are—”
“Entrepreneurs,” Naseem answered for him, already helping ‘rinse’ the place, poking about here and there, no doubt optimistic about that bottle Flora had hoped remained hidden from looters. Zahir gave the polite, empty smile that best suited their line of work, cold enough to signal that the pair of them were not afraid to get their hands dirty.
“Precisely.”
Zahir lets all of them say their lines, lets Naseem run through her flirtations, and waits for the moment of quiet in which to step into the conversation. “Perfect. We’re no builders. But perhaps we could be of service to the two of you in other ways. Like my companion said, we’re new here. And friends make a home, no?” Introductions were, he felt, in order. “I am Zahir. My companion here is Naseem. A pleasure. We are— well, at present, between jobs. When in work, we are—”
“Entrepreneurs,” Naseem answered for him, already helping ‘rinse’ the place, poking about here and there, no doubt optimistic about that bottle Flora had hoped remained hidden from looters. Zahir gave the polite, empty smile that best suited their line of work, cold enough to signal that the pair of them were not afraid to get their hands dirty.
“Precisely.”
