claiming that Lisa was her girlfriend. His boss kept looking at him and pushing her away, trying to be subtle about it.
"Sorry I abandoned you, Zack. I'm surprised that you're still here to tell the truth. Most people would have walked out at five when I didn't show and never came back. Thanks." She looked around blearily and smiled. "God. This place looks like a store for once. Did anything... out of the ordinary come up?"
It took a second to get what she meant and he nodded which got her to give him a funny look.
"Yes. While you were gone I staged a coup and named myself assistant-manager. Or at least I'm doing it right now . I mean, how are you supposed to know the difference, right? I also unilaterally decided that we're having Christmas decorations, I need funds for that. Plus I'm giving myself a raise. Twice what I used to make, whatever that was." He was playing, but meant it at the same time. She nodded at each statement.
"Alright. Sounds totally fair. So nothing else?"
He could have probably hedged but she'd find out eventually. It was always better to be honest and get things out of the way. Hopefully Lisa would be as reasonable as Bob from the phone had been.
"Yes, a Mage named Hiram Stone came in to claim asylum, I used the guild rules to settle that problem for him, he'd ripped-off his partner in a criminal endeavor, a shifter named Cyrus? Then I threatened to cut off Hiram's hand and extorted five thousand dollars from him as an arbitrage fee. It's under the till. He complained to the guild, but I actually do have the law on my side. Um, Bob Millhouse called to see about that? He said he'd be in soon. His wife has been really sick. We should make sure they have everything they need. Offer to go clean their house, or shop for them. That has to be really hard."
Lisa started blinking really fast then and stumbled around the counter to look in the till. Zack pantomimed lifting it so she could find the funds. Those got pulled out, which had her making a troubled face.
"You got Hiram Stone to part with money? Bonds too? How ?"
That just got a smile and a shrug. It hadn't been hard enough for him to worry over really.
"I think it was the fact that he thought I might really take all he had on him and still cut off his hand. That's actually about it. Well, I got him and Cyrus to buy some candles. The rest of the time I spent working on the store."
It sounded boring, but that was work in most places. You put in your time and tried to make yourself useful enough they didn't fire you.
Lisa stumbled to the back her girlfriend following, looking concerned. A few minutes later she came back, her eyes looking glassy. There was a frown on Deidre's face though.
His boss handed him an envelope and waved at the door.
"I can take the rest of the night. You go home and use that to get the decorations you want. I can set the sound system in my office to play Seasonal tunes. Is it too early for that?" Freshly drugged or not, she was still unsteady.
Zack shook his head.
"Um, unless you have other work to do here, that I can't, why don't you go home and I'll get more hours in, while you go and get some sleep. You look like crap. Drugging yourself this much isn't good for you." He held up his right hand, just in time for her to scowl at him.
" Excuse me ?"
He nodded.
"Sure, I mean, of course I will. I get why you're doing it, but you have someone to do the dirty work for you now... and mark time. I need the money and you need the sleep, so you see how this works out? You drop dead and I'm probably out of a job. True, I might also be for saying this, but I did mention I can only tell the truth, right?" He thought that he had, but honestly that was escaping him at the moment. If not there could be trouble. People generally didn't like to hear bad things said about themselves like that.
Deidre looked at him as if he were a saint though, beaming.
"See? Zack is good here. Everything seems fine. There was a problem and he
"Sorry I abandoned you, Zack. I'm surprised that you're still here to tell the truth. Most people would have walked out at five when I didn't show and never came back. Thanks." She looked around blearily and smiled. "God. This place looks like a store for once. Did anything... out of the ordinary come up?"
It took a second to get what she meant and he nodded which got her to give him a funny look.
"Yes. While you were gone I staged a coup and named myself assistant-manager. Or at least I'm doing it right now . I mean, how are you supposed to know the difference, right? I also unilaterally decided that we're having Christmas decorations, I need funds for that. Plus I'm giving myself a raise. Twice what I used to make, whatever that was." He was playing, but meant it at the same time. She nodded at each statement.
"Alright. Sounds totally fair. So nothing else?"
He could have probably hedged but she'd find out eventually. It was always better to be honest and get things out of the way. Hopefully Lisa would be as reasonable as Bob from the phone had been.
"Yes, a Mage named Hiram Stone came in to claim asylum, I used the guild rules to settle that problem for him, he'd ripped-off his partner in a criminal endeavor, a shifter named Cyrus? Then I threatened to cut off Hiram's hand and extorted five thousand dollars from him as an arbitrage fee. It's under the till. He complained to the guild, but I actually do have the law on my side. Um, Bob Millhouse called to see about that? He said he'd be in soon. His wife has been really sick. We should make sure they have everything they need. Offer to go clean their house, or shop for them. That has to be really hard."
Lisa started blinking really fast then and stumbled around the counter to look in the till. Zack pantomimed lifting it so she could find the funds. Those got pulled out, which had her making a troubled face.
"You got Hiram Stone to part with money? Bonds too? How ?"
That just got a smile and a shrug. It hadn't been hard enough for him to worry over really.
"I think it was the fact that he thought I might really take all he had on him and still cut off his hand. That's actually about it. Well, I got him and Cyrus to buy some candles. The rest of the time I spent working on the store."
It sounded boring, but that was work in most places. You put in your time and tried to make yourself useful enough they didn't fire you.
Lisa stumbled to the back her girlfriend following, looking concerned. A few minutes later she came back, her eyes looking glassy. There was a frown on Deidre's face though.
His boss handed him an envelope and waved at the door.
"I can take the rest of the night. You go home and use that to get the decorations you want. I can set the sound system in my office to play Seasonal tunes. Is it too early for that?" Freshly drugged or not, she was still unsteady.
Zack shook his head.
"Um, unless you have other work to do here, that I can't, why don't you go home and I'll get more hours in, while you go and get some sleep. You look like crap. Drugging yourself this much isn't good for you." He held up his right hand, just in time for her to scowl at him.
" Excuse me ?"
He nodded.
"Sure, I mean, of course I will. I get why you're doing it, but you have someone to do the dirty work for you now... and mark time. I need the money and you need the sleep, so you see how this works out? You drop dead and I'm probably out of a job. True, I might also be for saying this, but I did mention I can only tell the truth, right?" He thought that he had, but honestly that was escaping him at the moment. If not there could be trouble. People generally didn't like to hear bad things said about themselves like that.
Deidre looked at him as if he were a saint though, beaming.
"See? Zack is good here. Everything seems fine. There was a problem and he
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