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Sandy Soft
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“Will a year be enough time?” Casey asks. She stretches a bit, feeling her body settle back into its natural state after converting itself to mana. The mouse plops down in one of Cecil’s patio chairs, the cool cast metal feeling soothing on her well-pounded butt.
Cecil shrugs and states, “It will have to be. I’ll use what connections I can to speed up preparations. But I’m of the opinion that keeping the aegis long term just isn’t viable: it’s too high profile and powerful.” He sighs, ruffling his feathers as he continues, “And this way, Clio and Nemo can finally come out of hiding.”
“Would something like that work? An exclusive contract?”
“It came up during my research while planning our heist. It’s a somewhat uncommon practice, but fey law would have to respect it.” Mr. Ochre adjusts his glasses as he recalls, “From what I could tell, it’s mostly used to establish a long term, er-if you’ll forgive the term- ‘cat and mouse’, rivalry.”
“What about dealing with… you know, non-fey thieves? They already hired Nemo once.”
Cecil chuckles and looks sideways at the mouse, “Oh, I don’t expect that to be a problem anytime soon. You have yourself to thank for that.”
Casey stares blankly for a second, trying to catch the bird’s meaning.
“Don’t you remember? You caught Ometra double-crossing Nemo, and they got branded and exiled for their trouble. The barista made a song about it!” He shakes his head and smiles. “More importantly: the thieves guild isn’t going to be taking any contracts on us from fey clients anytime soon. Especially when we have two of their top former members allied with us. “
“Cecil, how do you know so much about the thieves guild?” Casey eyes the smartly dressed bird.
“My dear mouse, its my job to know things.” He says, tucking his thumbs into his vest. “It may seem odd, but I consider myself a craftsman, and my connections are my toolbox.”
“You never cease to amaze, Cecil.”
His bright eyes sparkle back at her from behind his glasses, proudly.
“Well?” Casey asks, turning to address her doppelgänger, “How about it? Does an exclusive contract seal the deal?”
Kasey appears to mull over the question: the fey taking her time to seriously consider accepting a bargain. “Hmm. I need to speak to hive members. But… deal seems good. We had to rush infiltration, before other fey stole Aegis. One year good for us. You teach us, we stay hidden good.”
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