totally owned it. Besides you have that other thing to deal with and he's right honey, you have to sleep soon. Let's go home." She sounded like she was begging at the end. It wasn't a pleasant thing to hear.
Between the two of them he kind of liked Deidre better so far. She seemed sane and stable, as well as kind. That counted for a lot in life, at least if you were smart. It took nearly ten more minutes of assurances and then Lisa promised that she'd be in first thing in the morning, so he could sleep in. Her girlfriend rolled her eyes, which he took as a sign not to trust the words.
"No need. I get plenty of sleep. I'll open and you can bring me lunch? I've been starving all day, but I couldn't leave." He didn't want to complain about it, since he didn't have any food at home waiting for him either. Whining about things you couldn't change didn't help anything.
Lisa blinked again.
"Oh, you can just call down to the food court and they'll bring you whatever you want. They're actually a lot better than you'd think. We have an account, so you don't even have to pay for it yourself. Have friends in, whatever you want." She shook her head, trying to get the cobwebs out. "This isn't a real store, it's technically an embassy. All the places here are. Built on a nexus, since that's the tradition, so that no single group can control them all."
That made sense. Smiling he started looking for the number for the free food. When he mentioned it, Lisa laughed and got him a large blue binder from her office.
"This has almost all the numbers of anyone important at all to my job. The food court is on the first page. This is actually Bob's book. You're right about getting with him. I've just been so slammed."
He believed her, but whatever it was she did, it hadn't crossed his path overly yet. If she was going days without sleep to keep up on it, well that meant it must be decently pressing. More so than a fake candle shop, that was clear.
Deidre smiled at him and looked grateful, walking out with a small tinkle as the chimes rang. It only took a few minutes for the food to be called in, and twenty minutes after that a very short man with a friendly smile brought a Styrofoam container filled with egg rolls, fried rice and beef strips.
"I'm Conrad. Call on me and mine at need. You're too skinny. People will think our food is no good here if that keeps on." He smiled at his own words and left, his presence slightly baffling after he was gone. He wasn't a human, Zack didn't think.
He was short, but perfect in form, like a regular sized man standing off at a distance. It was more like he was a good looking normal person than not, light skinned, but with very normal brown hair and eyes. That and a white outfit for cooking, one that was very nearly spotless. It just didn't seem right.
Whoever Conrad and his people were, they made excellent fried rice. Zack had just finished it when there was a knock on the back door. He'd seen it before, the big metal thing, but he couldn't for the life of him imagine who it would be.
Tossing his container and wiping his mouth carefully he ran to open it, just in case it was a delivery, or some Mage that needed something.
It wasn't.
When he opened the door it was a very cute looking dead girl that had a pierced nose on the left side and an even more dead man on her shoulder. That one didn't move at all.
"Um..." The girl stared at him for a very brief time then pushed passed him. "Help?"
Chapter four
The outer door shut on its own, swinging closed instantly, in a way that would make going in and out without a key hard to manage. It didn't move fast, but the dumpster was out that way, meaning that when he wanted to tidy things he had to remember to prop the thing open. It wasn't something he'd thought of overly yet, since all he'd really had to deal with so far was a lot of collapsed boxes, which he had sitting in the far corner of the big back room. It was actually about twice the
Between the two of them he kind of liked Deidre better so far. She seemed sane and stable, as well as kind. That counted for a lot in life, at least if you were smart. It took nearly ten more minutes of assurances and then Lisa promised that she'd be in first thing in the morning, so he could sleep in. Her girlfriend rolled her eyes, which he took as a sign not to trust the words.
"No need. I get plenty of sleep. I'll open and you can bring me lunch? I've been starving all day, but I couldn't leave." He didn't want to complain about it, since he didn't have any food at home waiting for him either. Whining about things you couldn't change didn't help anything.
Lisa blinked again.
"Oh, you can just call down to the food court and they'll bring you whatever you want. They're actually a lot better than you'd think. We have an account, so you don't even have to pay for it yourself. Have friends in, whatever you want." She shook her head, trying to get the cobwebs out. "This isn't a real store, it's technically an embassy. All the places here are. Built on a nexus, since that's the tradition, so that no single group can control them all."
That made sense. Smiling he started looking for the number for the free food. When he mentioned it, Lisa laughed and got him a large blue binder from her office.
"This has almost all the numbers of anyone important at all to my job. The food court is on the first page. This is actually Bob's book. You're right about getting with him. I've just been so slammed."
He believed her, but whatever it was she did, it hadn't crossed his path overly yet. If she was going days without sleep to keep up on it, well that meant it must be decently pressing. More so than a fake candle shop, that was clear.
Deidre smiled at him and looked grateful, walking out with a small tinkle as the chimes rang. It only took a few minutes for the food to be called in, and twenty minutes after that a very short man with a friendly smile brought a Styrofoam container filled with egg rolls, fried rice and beef strips.
"I'm Conrad. Call on me and mine at need. You're too skinny. People will think our food is no good here if that keeps on." He smiled at his own words and left, his presence slightly baffling after he was gone. He wasn't a human, Zack didn't think.
He was short, but perfect in form, like a regular sized man standing off at a distance. It was more like he was a good looking normal person than not, light skinned, but with very normal brown hair and eyes. That and a white outfit for cooking, one that was very nearly spotless. It just didn't seem right.
Whoever Conrad and his people were, they made excellent fried rice. Zack had just finished it when there was a knock on the back door. He'd seen it before, the big metal thing, but he couldn't for the life of him imagine who it would be.
Tossing his container and wiping his mouth carefully he ran to open it, just in case it was a delivery, or some Mage that needed something.
It wasn't.
When he opened the door it was a very cute looking dead girl that had a pierced nose on the left side and an even more dead man on her shoulder. That one didn't move at all.
"Um..." The girl stared at him for a very brief time then pushed passed him. "Help?"
Chapter four
The outer door shut on its own, swinging closed instantly, in a way that would make going in and out without a key hard to manage. It didn't move fast, but the dumpster was out that way, meaning that when he wanted to tidy things he had to remember to prop the thing open. It wasn't something he'd thought of overly yet, since all he'd really had to deal with so far was a lot of collapsed boxes, which he had sitting in the far corner of the big back room. It was actually about twice the
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