Only a Matter of Time
Thayne didn’t speak as much as his more forthcoming table-mate, but he was an attentive listener. Also, a keen observer. You had to be when your profession would have you staked out on a rooftop, waiting for the slightest movement.
Thayne’s eyes keenly noticed the bartender fidgeting in his seat. Not exactly a nervous tic, but perhaps more that he out of his element? No, his forthright demeanor suggested this was just another appearance for him. Maybe he was just twitchy? It was kind of cute, actually, though Thayne would never say so.
‘First impressions,’ after all, meant not flirting at the bounty hunter convention.
He smiled genuinely, perhaps for the first time that evening, as he answered the question.
“I’m not a fan of… parties,” he said with a half-hearted wave to the crowd.
“Regrettably, I spend so much time analyzing people as targets that it’s difficult to just… y’know, have dinner? All work and no play, I suppose.”
It sounded pathetic when said aloud, but it was the truth. For once.
Thayne wondered if surgeons felt the same way, reaching a point in their profession when people were indistinguishable from their collective organs, bones, and muscles. The entire train of thought equally disturbed and intrigued him.
“Forgive me,” he said after a moment of silence, realizing perhaps his perspective wasn’t appropriate for the dinner table. He took his goblet and downed a generous sip of wine, cleansing his palette of the topic.
His steely eyes caught the Denon-themed sculpture on the table, eliciting a nod from the assassin.
“Is Denon your favorite flavor, or did you just like the ice?” he asked before supplying an answer of his own.
“I prefer Hosnian Prime, but Denon… there’s just something about it that keeps me close.”
It was a target-rich environment. That’s what he liked. Thousands of Corpos and twice as many hits out on them made Denon an assassin’s playground.
That, and a particularly fiery mechanic he met on his last trip. She was worth going back for, too.
Tags:
Samuel Exel
;
Yula Perl
(mentioned); OPEN