Two Aliens Walk Into a Bar

It had been quite some time since Mercury had been to the Neutral Grounds. In fact, she had only been here one time before, which was when she got her starter iLac that she used as a basis for building her own phone here in Earthland. The Xocili had spent a bit of time wandering around while she had been in the area, of course, particularly since she hadn’t been on the planet that long the last time. The Neutral Grounds had been interesting, but not nearly as interesting as the rest of the continent and its magic boasting citizens. However, this seemed to be where her current target was frequenting most of his time.

It had not taken her long at all to immerse herself deep into the lacrinet once she’d arrived on the planet, and it had proven a useful and valuable tool in information gathering. When she wasn’t doing guild work, Dagger Corp work, or being beaten to a pulp by Vandrad in training, she spent most of her free time pouring through the endless web of digital data, sifting and organizing it for anything of use or interest. She was a community member of a number of forums, and while a lot of them typically fed her little more than wild and hilariously unvetted theories and bullshit, every once in a while there was a golden nugget of curiosity.

At the moment, the nugget was a Jirian. One of the sites she visited rather often had a thread that had caught her attention right away, showing crude photos of a piece of alien weapon tech that the original poster claimed had belonged to a “bug looking dude” that had visited his store in the hopes of having the weapon repaired or updated. The man had no knowledge on how to fix it, of course, but after unsuccessfully attempting to buy it from the alien he had taken to the internet with offers to pay an impressive amount of money to anyone who could… acquire it. Equal parts intrigued and suspicious, Mercury had wasted no time in tracing the poster’s I.P. address and locating where he was based out of. From there, it was a quick trip through the lacrinet to confirm his identity, where he lived, where he worked, how much money was in his bank accounts, the answers to all his password security questions… honestly, Earthlanders were just awful at protecting themselves from digital threats.

But, it had been enough. The post was up for a day or two at most before Mercury managed to hack into the site and scrub the thread completely, including all traces of it that had been shared around the lacrinet save for one. There would surely be a lot of frustrated nerds and mercenaries that wondered where in the world the images and information had gone, but the Silver Wolf ace had no intention of letting anyone else get in her way. Whoever this person was, she wanted to run into them alive, and the more people that were hounding him the more complicated and annoying it would be to try and catch up with him herself. However, if she left at least one lead open to follow, that would allow her to contain, control, and monitor the situation much more easily. Plus, it meant that someone else would be doing all the tedious dirty work for her. All she had to do was keep an eye on the person that was hunting the alien down, and once he was ready to make his move, she would make hers.

Thankfully, knowing what her target looked like wasn’t difficult. Once she had found out what shop the poster worked in, she was able to remotely hack her way into their security footage and look back through the videos until she found the Jirian plain as day strolling into the store and speaking with the people behind the counter, even letting them inspect his weapon. Mercury rolled her eyes at what she perceived to be a rookie mistake… but then again, not everyone outside of Earthland had the luxury of being able to blend in with the natives like she did. Anywhere he went, he was bound to stand out, so she supposed she couldn’t really fault him for not bothering to hide what he was. There was no sound in the feed, so she didn’t know his name or what kind of conversation took place, but it was enough to know what he looked like and that helped. A few keyword searches later was all it took to find several other mentions of people running into a man fitting his description somewhat frequently in Neutral Grounds, and boom, here she was.

The question that remained, and the one that nagged her the most, was wondering why he was here. While Earthland certainly boasted a fair number of sentient creatures that didn’t look like humans, they were all still natives, not aliens. But the Jirian… he didn’t belong here any more than Mercury did, and there was no reason she could think of that a member of his race would even be interested in this obscure little rock floating around so far from his home world. She needed to know if he was a threat or not, and that meant scoping him out a little closer. It also meant sitting around for long periods of time waiting for the mercenary to hurry up and go after him. Her game plan was all set, and frankly if Serilda or Mythal ever found out about it they both would probably have strongly worded opinions on what she was about to do. Then again, if they ever found out about some of the shit she’d pulled with Monica recently, this would probably look pretty respectable in comparison.

Finally, the day had come, though Mercury had needed to pull a few strings herself to lure the target and the bait into the same area at the same time. She lingered in Neutral Grounds for some time until she finally managed to spot him from afar, taking some of the still frames from her optic lenses and “posting” them in a place where the would be mercenary would seemingly stumble across them and be tipped off that his quarry was back in town. After that, all she had to do was sit back and wait, keeping an eye on the Jirian from an unsuspecting distance with her sensors, and waiting for the bait to show up and start trying to tail him, which would create her opening to step in...

Monitoring the Jirian wasn’t too difficult once she had spotted him. Mercury barely needed to spend half a breath in marking his location on her sensors and causing him to stand out among the rest of the crowds in her radars. From there, she didn’t even really need to follow him, certainly not within eyesight. As long as she kept generally close to the area, she would know where he was and what direction he was heading. It also meant that she was able to keep an eye on the other blips that represented the rest of the people around him until she noticed one of them moving in an odd pattern, casing and tailing him. That had to be her bait. The game was officially afoot. Smirking with pride to herself, she downed the rest of her coffee and put down the copy of the magazine that she’d been pretending to read so she could continue to follow the pair from afar, the final cog in what was quickly becoming a convoy of espionage.

After they turned down an alley where there appeared to be a bar of some sort, the Jirian went inside and the mercenary followed after only a minute or two later. Certain that there was no one else nearby that was close enough to see, she took off her jacket and tossed it into a nearby dumpster, revealing the attire she’d been wearing beneath the oversized garment: a Rune Knight uniform, black and pressed, bearing the insignia of a sergeant in the combat branch. Her x-ray vision kicked on so she could see through the walls of the bar, her extra sensitive hearing honing in on the conversation and listening in on it. The mercenary certainly wasn’t being coy, but then again she hadn’t picked him for his smarts. The real reason she’d selected him was because of his rap sheet. He had a number of warrants out for him, most of them minor but a couple of them were more serious. It would give her the perfect opening to utilize her chosen cover.

She waited until the appropriate moment, after the criminal had started to confront the Jirian openly about wanting his weapon. The alien claimed not to have it, being very collected and calm in the face of hostility, as well as a bit sassy. His pursuer didn’t appreciate the humor, though Mercury certainly did, and she continued to listen from just outside the building until the criminal started boasting threats and gearing things toward a fight. As curious as she was to watch the Jirian in action, it was her cue. Pushing the door open with all the authority of a lawman, Mercury strode into the room that was already rife with tension and stopped just past the door to take a quick scan of the room and its occupants, all of whom had managed to rip their eyes off of the two men to look at her. Her own gaze settled upon the back of the criminal and the Jirian -- making sure to do a double take upon the alien like he would probably expect, staring at him in bewilderment for a moment before seeming to force herself to pry her eyes off of him and onto her quarry.

“Everything alright here, gentlemen?” she asked, her tone rife with that of a cop that definitely knew that there was some kind of situation but wanted to be condescending about it toward the suspect.

The criminal growled again and slowly took his foot off the table and turned lightly toward her, though his hand was still hovering over his firearm and trying to be subtle about it. It was not subtle. “Yes, ma’am. Everythin’s just peachy.” He tried to give her a smile that really did not give the effect he was probably going for.

Mercury just stared at him, her gaze narrowing as she studied him momentarily. Then, a small, knowing smirk tugged on one side of her lip. “Gee, I’m real glad to hear that, Carson. I was just so concerned, you know? With all those warrants you have out for you, it sure does seem like you just don’t have any respect for the law nor the citizens that abide by it. Arson, vandalism, theft -- both petty and grand, murder, tax evasion… Oh, and that parking ticket you still need to pay from like a decade ago. Man, the interest on that must be baffling.”

Carson had frozen the moment Mercury had said his name, his eyes going wide at the realization that this seeming Rune Knight knew who he was. Mercury practically sauntered into the room as she talked, walking closer to the pair with deliberate confidence that matched the smirk on her face until she could lean casually upon the same table where they gathered, right up in the criminal’s personal space. “You should be more careful. A Rune Knight walks into a fine establishment like this, and sees you loomin’ over someone minding their own business, and well… we’re gonna get ideas, you know? Cause golly, it sure does look like you’re trying to add some more paperwork to my day, and I ain’t a fan of paperwork.”

“So the way I see it, bud, you’ve got two options. The first is you surrender peacefully. The second is you decide to pick a fight with someone your own size, and get yourself spanked in front of all these lovely people like the naughty little bad guy you are.” The reality of his situation quickly started to dawn on him with the understanding that he wasn’t going to be able to just walk away from the situation and try again later. He’d already been caught, and that meant that the cop was going to try and arrest him. There would be no talking his way out of this. Slowly, her smirk turned into a smug little grin.

“Guess which one I’m hoping for…”

“Good advice,” Mercury replied after the woman came over, easily setting a cup of tea in front of the Jirian even as she suggested Carson not do anything stupid. Clearly, she was getting as much amusement out of this as Mercury seemed to be, which was no surprise. Chances were if this man had been allowed to confront the alien as he wished, the bar would have been turned upside down in the resulting fight, causing a lot of damage that Mercury was now saving them by intervening. Granted, she would have been the cause of the damage in the first place as she had been the one to put Carson on the Jirian’s tail to begin with, but semantics. “True wisdom at its finest.”

Mercury nodded her approval to the waitress, and then turned her face up to the much taller criminal, smiling politely and with all the surety of a woman that knew she held the winning cards in the proverbial poker game they were partaking in. Carson did not like the woman’s tone and turned to give both her and the alien a dirty look, but the wind in his sails seemed to deflate at the sight of the Jirian sitting there happily enjoying his tea and the show that came along with it. After giving it some thought, he reluctantly pulled his hand away from his gun and put his hands in the air to surrender.

Geeze, call my bluff why don’t you, Mercury thought to herself as she suddenly found herself with a captive prisoner that she had to find a way to deal with. This thought didn’t reflect upon her face, of course. “There’s a smart lad,” she merely said, raising a hand with a single finger out and twirling it in a circle, indicating for him to turn around. She stood back up to her feet as he did so, pulling a set of cuffs that were hanging from her belt. Before she pulled his hands down, she slipped the gun out of its holster and set it on the table beside her where it would be harder for him to reach. Then, with a little cooperation from him, she pulled his arms down one at a time and cuffed him by the wrists behind his back. The cuffs were enchanted to suppress any magical abilities he might have, so once he was in the shackles she wasn’t too worried about him trying to pull any fast ones on her. Not that she had been worried about that in the first place.

She pulled her iLac out of one of the pouches attached to her belt and put it to her ear, calling in for back up with the Knights to come and pick her prisoner up. Luckily, the lacrinet had more than enough information that she could passably use some of the Knight’s jargon, and there were so many Knights that none of them hardly knew everyone, so she wasn’t worried about not being recognized. By the time they figured out she wasn’t actually a cop, the day likely would be long over and she’d be far gone. Adding insult to injury, Mercury frisked him right then and there, easily pulling out a couple of knives he had stashed on his body as well as a few thin slivers of metal that he’d likely planned on using to get out of the cuffs later. Mercury playfully tsk’d her disapproval each time she found something knew, setting it all on the table next to the gun until he was devoid of any assets.

As she sat him down on the floor where he didn’t have anything close enough to do anything with, Mercury turned to the Jirian. “I’ll need to get a statement from you, if you don’t mind,” she asked him professionally. Assuming he was amenable to cooperating with her, she took a seat at the table with him, Catching Judy’s eye as she pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, Mercury politely inquired, “I don’t suppose you’d mind bringing me a cup of coffee, miss? I’d be exceptionally grateful.”

With that in motion, Mercury made herself comfortable with her notepad and turned back to the Jirian with a playful but still professional smile. “I’ll need to start with some of the basics: Name, age or date of birth, and any contact information you may have in case we need to reach out to you again, like a home address or iLac number. If you have any form of identification on you, I’ll need to see it. And I apologize if this is rude, but I need to be thorough; I’ll also need to know what your race or species is. After that, I’ll start with you just telling me in your own words what transpired between you and my unlucky buddy over here.”

Hosrius Camnus.

Mercury wasted no time in cramming the Jirian’s name into her databases and putting it through a diligent and deep search, digging through every bit of data she’d been able to glean in the past outside of more than just Earthland. Even for her computerized brain, it was a search that would take some time to yield any decent results. He was several hundred years old, which wasn’t very long for his species. With a tap on his forearm, he brought up an advanced piece of tech that quickly caught Mercury’s eye and interest, an orange glow appearing around the limb as he brought up his galactic bounty hunting license as means of showing I.D. Mercury made a casual show out of copying the information down even though she didn’t really need to. By the time she finished doing so, Judy returned to the table with a fresh cup of coffee and a small tray of the usual accompaniments.

“Ah, you are a life saver!” she informed the woman with genuine gratitude, briefly laser focused on the mug as the Xocili slid it closer to herself and took a couple small pouches of creamer to pour into the liquid. Listening to Hosrius’s brief tale, she stirred the content with a spoon to mix it up and took a gentle sip before pulling the pad back to appear to take notes again. He went over details that she already knew, the lavender haired mage putting most of her focus on pulling up files related to Hosrius’ exploits in the galaxy. At least, the stuff that was public knowledge. He certainly was a bounty hunter with a rather impressive track record. There wasn’t a whole lot known about him outside of his work that she could get her hands on, but that was to be expected. Mercury had traveled to a fair few galaxies in the universe, but similarly to Earthland not all of them had galactic knowledge she could steal.

They talked for a few minutes, with Mercury asking most of the expected questions that would come from a statement such as this to get all the details about everything. Sometime during that time, a pair of actual Rune Knights appeared in the same uniform she wore, one a private and one a sergeant. Excusing herself, she stood and greeted the officers, explaining the situation briefly. After confirming that she would file her report once she finished collecting statements, the pair hauled Carson up and out of sight, presumably to the nearest holding cell. Then, she returned to Hosrius, appearing to dig for more information about the shop keeper that he’d seen and the apparent hit he’d put out on Hosrius as an attempt to get his weapon. Mercury didn’t particularly care about that, especially because she already had all the information, but it would be a giant red flag for a Rune Knight to hear about something like that and not try to look into, and right now she was looking to play the part and get him comfortable in the presented view of her.

“Well, it certainly seems like you’ve had your hands full, recently,” she admitted once her official line of questioning had run out, folding the notepad back up and tucking it away. “I’ll see what I can do to look into the matter. With any luck, maybe I can at least put a stop to the constant harassment and thugs popping up at random to try and pull fast ones on you.” leaning back and getting more comfortable in her seat with the coffee in her hand, he body posture made it apparent that whatever conversation followed between them was going to be casual and off the record, more the curiosity of a human apparent toward what Hosrius likely assumed was her first encounter with a non-Earthland native. Mercury eyed him briefly, emerald eyes taking him in studiously. “So. Bounty hunting, eh? I have to admit, that sounds pretty exciting. I'd love to hear more about that, if you don't mind feeding my curiosity. I assume you’re here for work and not some kind of obscure vacation out in the space sticks. This a solo gig or you work with a team of some kind?”

The Jirian assured her that he had been in far worse situations, advising that he had been on a number of planets where the habit of the locals had been to shoot at the alien before doing a whole lot to vet the validity of his presence. And in all honesty, Mercury was sure that there were quite a number of Rune Knights like that on Earthland, too. Likewise, she had also been on a few planet that were similarly discriminatory, where the only reason she had flown so well under the radar was because she blended in with the locals -- after all, humanity hardly held the monopoly on their physiology, as the Xocili was clearly an example of. But, he expressed he was grateful for the effort she led him to believe that she would put into taking care of the hunting issue that she had already handled for him. The appreciation was followed by a comment about not wanting to rub authorities the wrong way, or at least not outside of other circumstances.

Whether or not he meant it that way, there was a slight shift in Mercury’s body language as she perked up with interest just a bit in reaction to the subtle, yet not so subtle, flirtation, one of her thin brows raising ever so slightly up onto her forehead. Her lips tugged into the barest of smirks. “Well, you know, not all of us mind being given a hard time. Think of it as… job security.” Her tone was as even and calm as his own had been, but if he was paying close enough attention he wouldn’t miss the mischief in her eyes that would betray her own innuendo.

She expressed her interest in hearing more about him on a personal level, playfully inquiring as to his reason for being here as clearly it wasn’t for any sort of vacation. He chuckled, but gently rebutted the commentary, calling Earthland a place of lovely sights perfect enough to relax in. From here, he informed her that he generally worked on his own, though he was a member of a cabal. According to Hosrius, it didn’t benefit most of them to work with anyone else because splitting the profits meant there was less money to pay toward their debts they owed to their bosses. She did note that there was another bounty hunter running around the planet, which more than piqued her interest. She was going to have to find a way to get information on that person, too. But for now, Mercury was content to hear what he had to say about his own experiences, which was honestly starting to sound less and less like a job and more like a half step above slavery.

He admitted that there was a fair amount of violence between cabal members as they often fought to get as big of a share as possible for the jobs. Mercury was giving him a sober nod of understanding for his explanation when he turned a curious glance to her as though a thought had just dawned upon him. She had been wondering how long it would take him to realize that she hadn’t given him a name, having been through this same song and dance a hundred times over in circumstances that varied in their details but lined up in the overall method of approach. Once more by the look in her eyes it was clear that she did not miss the layers of implication in his tone, her emerald gaze locked on him with a welcome understanding. More than ready to answer such a question, she smiled at him. “Of course, how rude of me. I was so focused before I didn’t even realize.” Leaning forward, Mercury offered him a handshake from over the table. “Moira Decker. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Camnus. Please feel free to call upon me for whatever you may need -- official or otherwise.”

The clasping of her hand on his lasted just a split second longer than was normal before she gently pulled it back, the light smirk on her lips staying in place throughout the brief exchange. Once more lounging back casually in her chair, she pulled her cup of coffee back toward her and regarded him once more with a genuinely interested look. “Your experiences with bounty hunting seem much more… indentured… than I typically assumed such jobs are. Sounds a bit lonely, if I’m being honest. And with that kind of cut throat environment, I think I’d be worried that my boss wouldn’t be honest with me on how much debt I had left. You don’t have to answer this from your own experience if that’s too personal for you to share, but I am curious how exactly one finds themselves indebted to these… cabal bosses? To such a degree…”

Mercury could already tell that she was going to get into a bit of trouble with this guy. He was flirty and playful, which was already bad enough. Add to the mix his career as a mercenary, which certainly meant that he had his own ways of getting information on people, and that made him dangerous. Though perhaps, not to her. It had not taken long for her to pull up all the information she had available on the Jirian from her past dalliances outside of Earthland. There wasn’t much, and next to none of it was anything persona, but between the items she found and the verification of his bounty hunting license, it was more than enough to confirm that he really was who he said he was, which meant that he had not been sent here for her.

Of course, knowing that he wasn’t necessarily a threat to her didn’t stop her from having questions. Mercury was a curious woman by nature, as well as a nosy one. She enjoyed learning things about people, unraveling their mysteries, piecing together all their secrets and histories. It was both a pastime that interested her as well as a means of survival. Knowledge was what allowed her to almost always be one step ahead, and given her experience she had learned a long time ago that there was no such thing as useless information. So, she asked him a bit about how he became a mercenary, or at least how most people found themselves indebted into the business. With a gentle nod, he informed that such was usually the first question he got, though she had phrased it more mindfully than others in the past, outright calling him a slave. In a way she could see how people might think that, but given how intimately familiar she was with the subject, Mercury knew quite well that the term did not apply in this case. After all, Hosrius had an end in sight, a light at the end of the tunnel that was his eventual freedom.

Mercury did not.

The Jirian explained that the answer was a bit complicated as it varied for everyone, but most people found themselves in the business simply because they owed someone a great deal of money. Many others started as actual slaves that were sold into the business, yet generously offered a chance to buy their freedom. Yet even more unlucky individuals knew nothing but the life of a bounty hunter, having inherited the debts from the sins of their parents. Mercury briefly wondered if any such scenarios applied to him, but before she could begin to speculate Horius opened up about his own experience. He explained how he had angered and disrespected some authoritative individuals in his life before, to the point where he had been presented with an ultimatum: Become an indentured bounty hunter, or stand trail for insubordination. He had picked the former, which had turned out to be the safer venture, despite how those who had condemned him believed he would die before ever repaying his debt.

He admitted that it did get lonely at times, as she had said, but that was something he had grown used to. There were plenty of hobbies and interests he had picked up in the name of passing time and keeping himself occupied outside of the job, which apparently included the occasional run in with attractive officers. Mercury gave him a flirty little smirk over her coffee as she drank from the cup, emerald eyes dancing with interest even as he sipped his own tea and carried on. According to him, she would make a good bounty hunter herself, or at least he felt so given the little he had seen of her so far. If only he knew how right his assessment was. “Bounty hunting out in space, eh?” she asked, turning her head up toward the ceiling in consideration. “Can’t say that’s not tempting. I do love a good chase, and there’s nothing more satisfying than putting someone in a set of handcuffs.”

She’d let that imagery sit for a moment before giving a soft, lamenting sigh. “Sadly, it’s not that easy to just pull up your roots and go. I certainly wouldn’t mind swapping a few trade skills with you sometime though, seeing what we could both learn from one another. If that happens to involve a little rope, well…” She shrugged lightly, giving him another little smirk.

A gentle buzz on her iLac drew her attention away, picking up the device to glance at it, though it was really just a show. Mercury could only do so much interrogating right now before it would start to seem suspicious. She needed a natural exit to pull her away, and thus had wirelessly instructed her phone to go off. “Well, handsome, I hate to cut this short, but looks like duty is calling. I gotta get back to my shift. Lots of paperwork to do oh our dear friend Carson.” Placing some jewel on the table to cover her drink and a small tip, she wrote her number down on a corner of her notebook and ripped it off, handing it to him with a coy look. “Just in case you remember anything I should add to my report. Or in case you find yourself looking for company sometime after eight tonight.”

She gave him a small wink before standing to her feet. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Hosrius. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.” And with that, she strolled out the door as coolly and confidently as she had arrived. Her mind was already configuring the outcomes of the interaction, wondering if she had sold enough for him to actually invite her out that night. She would be able to ask him a lot more questions with a lot less suspicion if he was the one to initiate the next meeting, and with any luck she had been captivating enough that he wouldn’t notice -- at least, not right away -- that she hadn’t interviewed any of the other people in the room that had been witnesses to his interaction with Carson. Only time would tell. She would just have to wait, and luckily Mercury was an extremely patient woman.

Her initial interview with Hosrius had not lasted very long, but Mercury was already more than satisfied with what she had turned up. There wasn’t so much as a hint of discrepancy in the files she had been able to pull up on the Jirian, and as such she knew that he was exactly what he said he was, and he was not there for anything to do with her. Of course, she was also interested in learning more about the others. He had mentioned that he wasn’t the only intergalactic bounty hunter on the planet, so of course the naturally curious woman was eager to look into any others as well. However, if they were people that he recognized as being part of the same system he was in then she was sure they were equally as unaware of and disinterested in her presence.

At the end of the day, that meant that she was free to simply interact with Hosrius as she wished. Thankfully, ever since Vandrad had been promoted to an ace of Fairy Tail, she had found herself with a bit more free time as he suddenly had other duties he needed to tend to within the guild from time to time, things she couldn’t assist with. That meant she had an evening off. All she needed to do was pass some time until Hosrius hopefully reached out to confirm a meet up later that night. He didn’t send her an invite immediately, which was no surprise. The smart ones never messaged right away, if only out of fear that they would look desperate or something. It was a couple hours later that she received the message, inviting her to a different place in the neutral grounds that he claimed had excellent coffee. Careful not to play things too recklessly, she waited a good half an hour or so before replying, confirming the location and time and a simple, standard note about looking forward to seeing him again in less formal circumstances.

The Xocili spent the rest of the afternoon at Silver Wolf getting some research work done and shooting the shit with a few of the Scholar members before she decided it was time to get going. It was still a little early for her coffee date, but a lifetime of being honed into a spy had built up habits that she probably would never be able to break even if she wanted to, including never going to a new place with a near stranger without scoping the location out first. Mercury preferred to get a read on a situation well in advance so she knew what she was walking into, so she made her way into the area plenty early. Finding a secluded spot on a rooftop out of the view of the people running about the city, she released a few tiny drones and sent them out to get the lay of the area, particularly the restaurant.

What she found was… curious. The joint was toward the edge of town, and there was very little around it outside of a few other buildings and a small number of locals wandering about their daily lives. She couldn’t help but keep coming back to the thought that if she were going to set up an ambush somewhere, this would be the perfect place. That got her thinking. Had he already figured out she was a fraud? It was entirely possible. He’d certainly had the time, presuming that he probably had fairly decent resources. She had hoped that by merely giving him a couple hours to meet up again, rather than a couple days, that he would be too busy or preoccupied with his other hunt to look into her right away. Mercury had chosen an identity of an actual Rune Knight, one that didn’t have a lot of public face, in an effort to hold a curious researcher at bay a bit longer, but that didn’t mean that it would be very hard to discover the truth, not if he had made a halfway decent search into the other woman’s history with the Rune Knights. This was a trap. This had to be a trap.

And yet, that made the prospect of going in to meet him again all the more exciting. There was a deep, shit eating smirk on her face as she carefully guided the drones to strategic locations and docked them there, controlling them wirelessly through her internal remote systems. As always, her drones were tiny enough that it was highly unlikely anyone would see them unless they specifically had some kind of ability or technology meant to detect such things -- and even then, they would be at a great disadvantage as her tech generally was far more advanced than what they had to work with, making it all the more difficult to trace. Once she essentially had eyes in various spots in a wide swath around the building and its surrounding location, as well as a couple inside the restaurant that she managed to sneak in when another customer opened the door, Mercury continued to sit back and wait for her date to arrive.

When he got there, she observed as he went inside and ordered himself a cup of tea at the bar before sitting back and waiting patiently. She studied him only for a couple minutes, and had to admit that he didn’t appear to be too on edge. Yes he was watching people, but he did not seem to be shifting or glancing about with any sense of nervousness or suspicion. That didn’t mean anything, of course. If he made a living out of bounty hunting, then he was probably more than adept at remaining calm and collected in the face of adversity, something he had already proven earlier that day. Still, she saw no other movement around the building, either from potential accomplices nor from him. Once she had accepted that she would learn nothing more from watching from the shadows, she made her way down to the ground and strolled over to the restaurant.

Mercury had changed out of her stolen police uniform, of course. Much more casual than before, she was sporting a loose pair of camel colored pants that hugged low on her hips with a simple pair of black and white tennis shoes. A forest green button up shirt with long sleeved mostly covered her upper torso, though the shirt was tied up at the midriff and the top few buttons were free, giving a modest view of her cleavage and the gear shaped tattoos that ran up one side of her neck and shoulder. The long sleeves were rolled up comfortably past her elbows, and there was a dark purple beanie on her head that was a deep contrast to the light lavender color of her hair. She had put on just a little bit of makeup to enhance her physical features, enough to be classy and flattering without coming off like she was trying too hard. Pausing just past the doorway, she panned her emerald gaze around only briefly before spotting Hosrius at the bar where the oversized alien stood out like a sore thumb.

Smirking at him playfully, she casually made her way over to him. “You know, we’ve really got to stop meeting like this. People are going to talk.”

He certainly cleaned up well. Considering that the line regarding such things had been long since crossed in their last meeting earlier that day, Mercury didn’t bother hiding the wandering of her eyes as she took in the sight of his somewhat tight fitting sweater. In the process, she did a quick scan of his person, both with infrared and with x-ray scans, which revealed that he wasn’t armed with any surprises that she’d otherwise be unable to see. Interesting. He picked right off of her verbal cue, playfully remarking about how people were probably already talking, though it was entirely probably that was just because of him in general. And he was all too right. The Xocili could already hear a number of people around them whispering. Many of them had already been looking his direction and making general comments when she came in, but they had only increased since she made her way over and made it clear to those observing that she had come with the purpose of being in the strange alien’s company. My, how those whispers would increase if they knew that she wasn’t human, either. As it was the conversations were already running the gambit of suspicion to concern to scandal from the bits and snippets that she was catching with her sensitive hearing.

She took the seat with her thanks as he pulled a stool out for her, then chuckled when he voiced how pleased he was that he had managed to secure some of her time, claiming he’d been worried about having to compete for it and put any such opposition to shame. “Well, your buddy Carson certainly tried. Not directly, mind you. He’s enjoying a nice, all inclusive stay at the local garrison for a couple days before getting shipped off to HQ in Era. However, by the time I was able to start working on my report it was quite the impressive bit of paperwork. He had a number of warrants out. For a while, I thought I was gonna wind up staying at the station overnight myself.”

The barkeep swung by to inquire about an order, and before she could say anything Hosrius spoke up to inform the man that whatever she ordered was to be charged to his tab. “Well, aren’t you sweet?” Mercury smiled at him in appreciation before turning back to the man behind the counter. “I hear you have a rather impressive selection of coffee to feed my addiction. Surprise me with a dark roast of some kind? Regular is fine. No sugar, but I’ll take some creamer, please.”

Once the man was off to get her beverage, the two were alone to talk once more and Hosrius wasted no time in striking up casual conversation again, informing her that he had only been to this place a handful of times but it was enough to commend their service, provided she didn’t mind having a few eyes on her. “Oh, I’m quite sure they’re more focused on you than on me, anyway,” the lavender haired woman replied with a smirk, shifting a bit on the stool so she could lean on the counter with one elbow and face him a bit more fully. “But if you’ve been here a few times and are still willing to come back then that says enough to me about the service. I imagine you get harassed a fair bit wherever you go. Not everyone around here is so close minded and judgemental. It’s not like humans are the only species, or even necessarily the most predominant one, around here… but, people are still people: stupid and fearful and judgemental of the things they don’t recognize or understand.”

She shrugged, seemingly willing to accept the fallacies of her own species, though in truth it was a statement that really was not bound by one’s genetic origins. A person was smart, but people were dumb, panicky, and often times as dangerous as animals. The bartender came back with a steaming mug of joe and a small bowl filled with creamer packs, and Mercury’s eyes lit up in very genuine eagerness as she pulled back from the counter a bit to make room for the cup. Thanking the man, she gave the aroma a deep sniff and a small, “Mmm…” of appreciation hummed its way from her throat to her lips as she reached for a packet or two of the creamer and poured them inside. “Well, it’s not every day I run into someone not native to the planet. Don’t suppose you’d be open to quenching a woman’s curiosity and telling me a bit more about yourself?” Mercury stirred the creamer in gently with a spoon, her eyes darting up to him in interest. “Got any family? Maybe a long lost wife or a jilted ex-lover I need to be wary of?” Her smirk deepened and she gave him a teasing look before lifting the mug to her lips and taking a gentle sip after blowing a bit of the steam away.

Mercury grinned at him as he touched on the paperwork and wondered if magic at least helped her out with that. Like she had done upon first arriving on Earthland, magic was taking a bit for him to fully grasp. “I suppose there are probably some magics out there that can help with stuff like that. No two magics are exactly alike as far as I’ve ever been able to tell, and I’ve seen some weird shit that you would be flabbergasted to learn is a form of magic. But for me, no I still have to type out everything by hand. Thankfully, I’m pretty decent when it comes to technology so typing out reports is one of my strong suits.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. Sure she didn’t do reports for the Rune Knights, but outside of that she had an awful lot that she needed to do for Silver Wolf in that regard and oftentimes she didn’t have the luxury of just formulating the documents in her head. They chatted a bit about the general reactions he typically got from natives when he was on a strange new world, the Jirian agreeing with her assessment about groups of people being more easily spooked and judgemental toward new things. It had perhaps bothered him once upon a time to be greeted with such suspicion and hostility everywhere he went, but after a few hundred years he had learned to simply stop caring about it. People were people, and there was nothing he could do to change that, so it seemed he had simply taken to going about his own way and minding his own business until otherwise forced into a scene.

As Mercury stirred the white liquid into her coffee, the bittersweet aroma tantilizing her nose like crazy, she inquired if she could probe him with a bit more curiosities. Unsurprisingly, he was more than amenable, even stating that it was only gentlemanly to quench her thirst -- yet another not so subtle innuendo between them, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last. She asked him a bit about his family, making a teasing comment about potential lovers to be on the lookout for, and it drew a small laugh from him. He admitted he’d had the odd romantic tangle here and there over the years, but given that he was constantly moving from planet to planet he had never really had anything serious. He’d always had to be pretty up front about not being able to stay in one place for too long, which meant he’d been able to play around from time to time but never really form anything lasting with anyone, at least romantically. His parents had died some time ago, and while he still had living siblings the circumstances of his punishment forbade him from ever speaking to them again, nor anyone else that he knew once upon a time.

The Xocili frowned thoughtfully, thinking that was a bit of an extreme punishment, but did not interrupt as he continued, quietly sipping from her drink. Hosrius admitted to having a friend of sorts, more a rival than anything else, that he was at least friendly with. A Scengar. Mercury of course knew exactly what a Scengar was, as she had run into a few in the past. They were overall an extremely violent bunch that thrived on warfare and confrontation, whether it be against outsiders or one another. They weren’t necessarily unfriendly -- they just got a kick out of beating the living shit out of one another. But of course, she couldn’t give away that she knew what he was discussing, so Mercury allowed her brows to furrow slightly in amusement and curiosity as Hosrius described the other man. “A dinosaur?” she repeated, tilting her head briefly toward the ceiling as though envisioning her best interpretation of what he’d detailed. “I’m not sure if that sounds more terrifying or badass.”

She chuckled to herself, taking another sip of the delicious brew as he turned the question back around on her. At the mention of potential lovers on her end that he might have to consider distracting her form, she snorted lightly into the cup, having to put a little honest effort into keeping herself from choking on the liquid in laughter. “As much as I appreciate your eagerness to play the part of homewrecker, I am quite single,” she told him, smirking up at him playfully before carrying on with a bit of honesty on her part. The real Moira didn’t exactly have a love life to speak of, at least not anything that was available with a bit of researching, so she could really answer that kind of question however she wanted. “Commitment ain’t exactly my thing. I enjoy having the freedom to play around without strings, and honestly my work is, more often than not, too involved to leave much time or energy for anything more than that. Maybe someday.”

Mercury shrugged. “As far as family, my parents are still alive and well, enjoying retirement in Oshibana. Got a couple older brothers that are both married with kiddos of their own. I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like, but we make time for special occasions: birthdays, holidays, the usual.” That part of her answer was, of course, tailored to the truth of the real Moira. The Xocili wasn’t convinced just yet that this wasn’t some kind trap, and until it was established with certainty that he knew she wasn’t who she had told him she was, she was going to continue to play the part -- if only to see if he would continue to press and test her on it.

Taking another drink from the mug with an appreciative hum, Mercury once more shifted a bit in her seat to give him his full and undivided attention, a simple but effective method of body language that she liked to use when she was working to deflect conversation away from herself and onto her present company. Most of the time, the people she cased and spent time with were far too caught up in the attention to notice, but there were a few that were able to read such things and play around them, sometimes even masterfully. Gren was one such recent example, and Mercury had a suspicion that Hosrius was about to be another. Still, that didn’t make her interest any less authentic as she gently spoke up. “So, am I allowed to ask about the conviction? Is that too much of the wrong kind of hot and heavy for a first date? Sorry, I am just awful at small talk. Tend to go right for the meat and gravy of meeting new people. It just strikes me as a bit intense that they would forbid you from seeing what’s left of your family ever again, particularly given the apparent longevity of your race. You had said something earlier about like… insubordination or something? Complete and utter banishment seems a steep payment for something that sounds so petty on the surface.”

He asked what kind of magic she used, and it was once again a question that she could answer honestly. Or well, as honestly as she ever did.  Mythal and Serilda were typically pretty good at keeping the abilities of their Knights more or less a secret, not the type to show the hands of their army, though there obviously wasn’t much they could do in that regard when it came to more notable members of the militia, up to and including themselves. Still, the real Moira wasn’t much of a public figure, ergo no one really knew a whole lot about what her magic actually was. This left Mercury free to respond in regard to herself, though the knowledge of what magic she did have still wasn’t something she passed around, even if there were a small handful of people that now knew she was capable of manifesting magic rather than just utilizing enchanted items.

“Well, I’d happily show you my magic, except I don’t have any.” Mercury shrugged, the lie rolling as smoothly off her tongue as the simple shrug of her shoulders, words she’d said so many times that she could sell it to near about anyone that didn’t have some kind of ability like she did to actively pick up on when people were lying. “I’ll occasionally use some items that were imbued with magic by someone else, but my strengths lie almost entirely here-” She raised her hands up, giving her fingers a meaningful wiggle before lifting one up further to tap her temple. “-and here. And with my gun, I suppose, but I made that myself so I feel like that counts under the asset of my hands.”

She winked at him with a smirk. “Anyway, to put it simply I’m more of an engineer than a mage. You’re more than welcome to take a look at some of the stuff I’ve made, I suppose, but I don’t have any of that here. Seemed rude to bring my gun to a nice little outing like this.”

Hosrius expanded a bit on his Scengar pal, who liked to carry himself as a brute. To be fair, he probably was. Mercury knew what Scengar looked like, and it was certainly a fitting term, and not just for their looks. He playfully commented on how people were always more likely to run away from his ally than from himself, which Hosrius could only assume meant he was the more handsome between the two of them. Mercury chuckled along with him. “Well, if I happen to run into him I’ll make sure to take a good look so I can confirm that for you.”

He made his toast, earning another small laugh from the woman who gently clanked her coffee mug against his tea cup. “Well, real cake isn’t for everyone. I enjoy it, personally, but it’s definitely heavy on the sugar. If you haven’t gotten the chance to yet, you should give cheesecake a try. It’s completely different, and much better in my opinion.” She took a sip from her coffee to complete his toast and answered his questions with a mixture of truths and fibs before effortlessly diverting the attention away from herself and back onto him. He admitted with a mischievous smirk that most women were usually too afraid to pull that question out until after they’d gotten what they wanted out of him, though that didn’t seem to put him off at all. Hosrius just stated simply that they could find something else to discuss after a sexual liaison, should it come to that between them, leaving Mercury with a small, impish grin on her face.

From there, he wove the tale about how he had been sentenced for essentially refusing to follow bad orders. Or at least, refusing to follow them to a tee. He was discovered almost immediately upon utilizing the loophole he’d made for himself, and even though his actions had led to the exposure of a number of corrupt leaders, the truth had come too little too late to save him from banishment. He still had to serve his sentence, and nothing in the universe was going to change that for him. Mercury gave him a sober nod, genuinely appreciating the story. “Sad to say, it’s rare if not impossible to find someone in a position of authority that isn’t some level of crook. But, it seems like the sentence was worth it to you. That, or you’ve had long enough to make peace with it. For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing. Not everyone is brave enough to stand up to their superiors.”

There was a brief, comfortable silence as the two enjoyed their glasses before Hosrius inquired about her words regarding their little outing being a first date, having hoped he wasn’t being presumptuous about assuming that a pretty woman electing to spend time with him meant she was interested in him more than just platonically. The Jirian admitted it usually took him a few months to get a date at various planets, presumably because it took some women a while to get past the “alien” factor. Mercury laughed lightly. “What can I say? I’m adventurous. Besides, it only took about five minutes of talking to you to confirm that you are vastly more interesting than most of the people I deal with on a daily basis, and I don’t mean racially -- though I suppose I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t part of it.” She shrugged. Of course an alien was going to be interesting, but there was more to it than that. He was charming, flirty, humorous, collected… most everything about him had intrigued her, as was evidenced by the fact that she was even here when all she’d intended on doing before was vetting him to ensure he wasn’t a threat to her before disappearing again.

Flicking her emerald eyes to him once more, she lifted her cup up to her lips, looking at him teasingly over the rim without drinking right away. “Play your cards right, Ace, and maybe we’ll see what other records of yours we can break tonight.” She casually took another drink.

“Asking me to handle your gun already, eh?” Mercury smirked at him, her eyes dancing. “Are you sure that’s wise? For all you know, I’m one of the people trying to steal it. Maybe I’m just here to lure you in with my womanly wiles to get you to drop your guard.” She spun casually in her seat with a devious smirk until she could lean back against the bar comfortably, one elbow propping her up while the other arm raised her cup to her lips for a drink. “Teasing aside, I’d love to take a look at your weapon, though. Not sure if I’ll be able to do anything for it, but won’t really know until I try, I suppose.”

Her patience paid off when it came to getting more information about one of the other potential bounty hunters on the planet. Chatting about the Scengar briefly yielded the name Grubar, which Mercury immediately tossed into her databanks, searching the name along with a few other key words to see what came up. She got results pretty quickly, and humorously enough a lot of it was a number of galactic arrest records, which lined up with her date’s commentary on his history with law enforcers. There were lots of mug shots accompanying them, and he looked pretty damn pleased with himself in most of them. Outside of that, it was most of the same as what she’d found on the Jirian: He was definitely an official bounty hunter, and while his record wasn’t as consistent as Hosrius’, he was still nominally successful, it seemed.

Mercury laughed. “Well, he may want to tread a little more lightly, here. I can’t say that he’ll be discriminated against for being what he is necessarily; there’s a lot of intelligent species native to earth, and not all of them are human. That being said, the Knights are run by two of the most powerful mages alive, and they are not the type of people that think the ground pounding work is beneath them. They’re fair people, don’t get me wrong, but they are not the kind of people whose bad side you wanna be on. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’m fairly sure the director could crack the planet in half with his fist if he tried, and the field marshal… well, we’ll just say I’ve only seen her lose her cool and get angry once… and I would rather not repeat the experience.”

It was professional advice for both of them really, and probably the best they could hope to get in dealing with Earthland. Mercury had complete faith that Mythal and Serilda would ensure that both Hosrius and Grubar would be treated fairly in their custody, as they took their integrity and responsibilities seriously. That being said, she was also quite sure that neither of them would hesitate to deal with a proven threat to their people. And what were a couple aliens in comparison to gods, demons, and nephilim?

Horius opened up a bit more about his culture and the reason why insubordination was taken so seriously. According to him, there had been attempted invasions of his homeworld in the past, and the only reason they had survived and maintained their freedoms was because the entire planet had come together under a united banner of loyalty that became a paramount virtue in their society ever since. After a moment of thought, his words softened a little and he admitted that at first he had been quite angry over the sentence. While his family had understood, the people he’d thought were his friends had not, and they had all turned their backs on him without hesitation. He simply couldn’t wrap his head around the concept of people thinking of him as an enemy of the state only to turn around after his time had been served and supposedly welcome him back with open arms. And Mercury had to admit, the entire concept was a bit ludicrous and unrealistic. But after enough time, he had gotten over it. Hosrius admitted he would probably never return home, but the knowledge that he could some day, should he so choose, was enough for him.

“Sounds like there wouldn’t be much left there for you anyway. Your ‘friends’ sound like grade A assholes… but at least it sounds like your family will be waiting for you once you’re free to talk to them again. That’s more important, if you ask me.”

Once that conversation had moved on to less weighty things, the Jirian informed her that there had only been one other human so far that hadn’t blanched at the first sight of him. Usually it took him a lot longer to establish a respect and rapport with the natives on most planets, and he was finding himself pleasantly surprised that Earthland was breaking the mold in that department, if only with a couple people. By his own admission, it helped that she was beautiful. Mercury grinned. “Certainly not me. I never turn down the chance to talk to a good looking woman. And luckily for you, I know a lot of them that are just as adventurous and open minded as I am. If my best friend were here right now, she’d have already talked us both out of our clothes. And if she was being patient, she’d have waited until after we left the restaurant.”

Monica certainly wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty in public. In fact, she was a pretty bad influence on Mercury in that regard, not that the Xocili made any effort to resist the temptation. Hosrius chuckled at her rather open suggestion that they might very well spend a bit more intimate time with one another later, explaining that he usually waited until the second date before trying to woo a woman out of her pants, but given as she was basically giving him the green light he’d be sure to step up his game. Presuming, of course, that she was up for it. Her smirk turned sly, perhaps even a bit on the dangerous side, as she gave him a look that had just a hint of knowingness to it. “Trust me, handsome. I love few things more than a good challenge.”

Was there an implication to her words, perhaps some kind of subtle acknowledgement of the game of subterfuge they were playing together? It was possible. It was also entirely possible that she was just a woman that was always seeking some kind of next big thrill and enjoyed flirting with danger, which is certainly what Horius was probably used to most people outside of his species treating him as. Her performance earlier with Carson certainly would lend credence to that theory. Still, it would be interesting to see how he reacted to the statement, if only so she could try to confirm some of her own theories about what he may or may not have put together about the woman he’d thought he’d met.

It was convenient, in that regard, that his next question to her was asking why she had chosen to join up with the Rune Knights. Mercury hadn’t necessarily prepared an answer in advance for this question, but at this point she was so good at adlibbing that she didn’t really need to have one. The best lies were the ones that were laced with truth, after all, so all she really needed to do was stick with what would seem more honest for herself rather than crafting some complicated story. “Would you think less of me if I admitted it was just because every other career option sounded like it would get infuriatingly dull after a while?” She gave him a wry smirk, taking a strategic sip of her coffee to buy herself a second or two to formulate the rest of her answer.

“I won’t pretend I’m the most compassionate person in the world. Protecting people that can’t protect themselves is certainly nice, and there’s a certain level of satisfaction that comes from it, of course. But at the end of the day, I like the danger. Most other options seem mundane in comparison. Plus, having access to the Knight’s resources is nothing to scoff at. But at the end of the day, it was the only job that sounded like it would keep my interest.”

Apparently, the fallout of his actions and the subsequent hearing for it had heavily impacted not just himself, but his family as well. His siblings had chosen to stay by his side, and while it was surely admirable, it had caused them to be alienated almost as much as he had, to the point where they had practically been forced into self exile in order to escape the constant persecution. That being said, Hosrius claimed that it had been a good change for his family, and that they had been thriving on their own, away from their toxic homeland. Still, that didn’t mean they could break the rules of his punishment willy nilly. They still had to meet in secret in order to protect themselves until the time came where they no longer had to hide any more. “I can imagine. Must be a real pain in the ass to have to keep a constant eye over you shoulder just to get in some fleeting time with your loved ones.”

Mercury explained a little bit in teasing fashion about her connection to the people of the Lusty Titans and how there were a lot of women she knew that, like her, would not shy away from the Jirian in any sense of the word. In fact, he would probably be pretty popular if he visited the guild, and she insinuated that rather openly, causing him to raise a curious brow in her direction. At the mention of her clearly being the woman to know, Mercury’s lips parted in a teeth baring, shit eating grin. “I have my connections,” she quipped innocently, though there was nothing innocent about the pleased expression on her face. The look only heightened with the continued banter between them.

Finally, he got around to asking her about why she had supposedly joined the Knights. Mercury couldn’t tell much just yet if he was trying to subtly interrogate her to validate the authenticity of her identity -- or lack thereof -- or if he was just genuinely curious to get to know the woman before him that he believed to be a cop. She answered the inquiry with a simple fib that played enough truth to her nature to be believable, the words rolling from her lips as easily as the coffee she drank. Hosrius appreciated the response, letting out a laugh and assuring her that he wouldn’t think less of her for the less than respectable admission.

She gave her explanation and he affirmed it, commenting on our she did seem the type of woman to need constant stimulation -- a comment that earned him another sly grin. He conjectured about how there were plenty of people out there that were set on living safe comfortable, boring lives, and how refreshing it was to have met someone that wasn’t interested in all that. As he put it, she clearly liked to keep testing and challenging herself against her environment, something that working with law enforcement would enable her to do on a near daily basis. He even admitted being able to personally understand the position she was in, as he’d had to impersonate officers of the law a number of times, which he claimed was some of the most fun he’d ever had.

And there it was. Even though Mercury had the training and experience to keep a straight and innocent face, she legitimately could not help the deep, knowing, almost dangerous smirk that impressed itself upon her lips. Furthermore, she made no effort to hide the look from him, instead flicking her gaze sidelong at him with a slightly narrowed focus that would all but confirm the subject they had been dancing around: That she wasn’t a Rune Knight, and Hosrius knew she wasn’t one. So that then begged the question as to whether or not this was a trap of some kind for her, and oh she was all too delighted by the idea that it might be. She tsk’d him lightly with her tongue in playful disapproval. “Impersonating an officer of the law? That’s a serious offense, you know.”

Hosrius ordered them both another round of drinks. Mercury continued to eye him briefly before turning back around to accept the refill of her coffee. She added some creamer to it like before, giving the fresh glass a good stirring as she ran the scenarios in her head, trying to decide what to do next. There was no doubt in her mind that his comment had been purposefully hand crafted for their conversation, to see if she would catch on to what he had sussed out. Now, Mercury was left to wonder what course of action would be more exciting: continuing the charade and seeing how long they could continue to tiptoe and verbally slip around one another, or to simply acknowledge the elephant in the room and tread right into even more open, potentially more dangerous, territory.

“So, I have to ask.” Mercury set her spoon down on her napkin again, shifting once more in her seat to give him her undivided attention. She didn’t appear upset in any fashion. Actually, if anything, she looked a bit more excited, with a bit more anticipation toward what the evening might hold. “What’s the plan, here, ace? You gonna keep tiptoeing around these safe topics all night? Or are you going to ask me the questions you really want to ask..?” With her little smirk on her lips, she kept her eyes on him as she gently blew the steam away from her cup and took a sip.

The tension was crazy, but stars above if Mercury wasn’t thoroughly enjoying herself. This was her favorite kind of game, and while her expressions were somewhat muted there was no mistaking just how much this entire interaction was thrilling her, particularly now that there was a lingering anticipation of danger in the air. She calmly asked him if he planned on continuing his cherry picked line of innocent questioning to cater to the lie she had fabricated, or if he planned on actually getting to the meat of what he actually wanted to know, giving him a look over her coffee as she waited for him to respond. When he did speak up, she was delighted by the ease with which he continued teasing, talking about how he clearly hadn’t thought more about their interaction beyond them simply being two horny strangers looking for some engaging company and a little strange. And to his credit, he followed up the tease by admitting that he still wasn’t opposed to the evening reaching that point, it all just depended on why she was there.

Mercury waited patiently, giving him the time to talk his thoughts out. Hosrius admitted his curiosity over why she had taken an interest in him. He also mused over the seeming coincidence in how smoothly she had gotten herself involved in the confrontation with Carson. He told her how he had decided to do some research into her -- or at least, the woman she had claimed to be -- only to find a series of glowing reviews that didn’t quite add up for the sassy, confident woman he had met. In the end, it was only when he stumbled upon Moira’s photograph after nearly calling his search quits that he was able to confirm that he’d been tricked. It was a revelation that he readily admitted to with an amused chuckle, more entertained than upset. After all, by his own words, he felt like he wouldn’t have gotten along with the real Moira this swimmingly. He did want to continue the evening, but not under false pretenses, and as such he started with asking her to confirm whether her reasons for approaching him had been related to either stealing his gun or killing him.

The entire time, she kept her emerald gaze steadily on him, her expression a constant, sly smirk but her face otherwise not betraying her thoughts. “Might I remind you: You’re the one who picked a perfect ambush spot for a date. If anyone here should be worried about getting attacked it should be me. Though, somehow I get the impression that if I was here to kill you, that wouldn’t make you any less interested.” Her smirk deepened as she took another sip of her coffee. Then, after only another moment or two of unreadable contemplation, she finally spoke up. “I’m not here to kill you, nor to steal your weapon… though I admit to having great interest in the firearm. In fact, it was that posting trying to hire people to steal it from you that first put you on my radar. Don’t worry about that, by the way. After I found the posting and took down all the information, I traced it back to its source and removed every copy of it. I can’t guarantee others won’t run into you and decide to try their luck at random, but as far as the posting is concerned, it was never there to begin with.”

She left the ‘how’ unanswered for that particular bit, not willing to give away all of her secrets. And to be fair, she had a feeling he would only be more aroused by the growing mystery. Yet, she was still at an impasse, because if she wasn’t there to rob or kill him, then why was she there? Mercury had her reasons, of course, but she couldn’t get into them. Not in detail, anyway. He would probably sense a lie at this point. He was far too keen, and there was no way she was going to be able to outright lie to him without him picking up on it or at least suspecting it. But she supposed she could generalize the truth a bit, and while it would be obvious that she wasn’t telling him everything he would hopefully realize at the very least that she was not attempting to mislead him.

Swirling her coffee in her glass a bit, she finally broke eye contact briefly to calmly set the mug down on the counter. “I don’t mean you any harm, and I never did. Truth be told, I was actually making sure you weren’t here for me. You are not the first alien I’ve met, and… well, we’ll just say that I would not be surprised to discover someone just like you coming here to pay me a little visit.”

Leaving it open ended as to the reasons why an intergalactic bounty hunter might be searching for her, she glanced up at him again, her posture a bit more sober yet still not lacking in its cockiness and playfulness. “Mercury, by the way,” the Xocili told him, finally giving him her real name. Resigning herself to the truth, she carried on with a bit more explanation. “My original plan actually wasn’t to see you again, funny enough. I did orchestrate Carson being able to track you down, but that was just to give me the opportunity to ask you some questions without raising suspicion. All I really wanted was just to confirm you weren’t a threat to me, which I figured out pretty quickly after we started talking. But, you are a charming son of a bitch, and I guess I couldn’t help myself. My hope was that by scheduling something tonight you wouldn’t have enough time to look into me, that we’d have some fun and see where the night went, and then by the time you figured it out you’d probably never see me again anyway. Clearly, I underestimated you.”

She didn’t seem disappointed by that, at least, flashing him a teasing glance. “As you deduced, I’m not a Rune Knight. I’m actually second in command of a guild called Silver Wolf. We focus on things like treasure hunting, research and development of magical artifacts, that kind of thing. My main focus is managing what essentially is our engineering department. I also manage the IT department of a local technological manufacturing company. So, while I don’t have access to Rune Knight resources, I do have access to resources that are even more top of the line. So to be honest, if anyone here is going to be able to help you with your weapon, it would probably be me. Lucky you.”

Mercury grinned at him. “Anyway, my interest in you now is just that: interest. We clicked, so I threw caution to the wind and here we are.”