But Alliances Made

The DIU, the abbreviation for the detectives, was located in D3, behind a department store and over a bakery. In total there were 10 people who worked in the office, including those who did field work. He wondered why a government organization only had 10 people, but he could get that information later, maybe, probably. Xinyi stopped by the bakery on the way in, enjoying a rather well made home made donut as he scaled the building so he could make his dramatic entrance through a window or something. One of the windows was open, but he skipped right over that and made his way into the vents on the roof.

On his rather long list of abilities was the ability to turn himself and anything that was touching him to smoke, so his clothes, and his donut, were perfectly dust free when he set himself up in a rather nice spot in the rafters of the open layout office. The place was mostly grey, splashes of yellow, black, and blue here and there making it so the place did seem dead.

He observed as everyone bustled around, occasionally calling out or turning to talk to someone. He got the answer to his question about how they would smell rather quickly, and the answer was just about the same as any other cop. None of them particularly stood out, until Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb walked in. He recognized them from a few of his walks, as well as them being rather frequent clients at his job. He had always been too far to catch their scent, his eyes being better than his nose, but now that he could smell them, he caught a rather familiar note on them. He tucked that away for later as he continued to watch. He wasn't particularly waiting for anything, he was just bored, and they provided him with something new.

Eventually, he did reveal himself, but it was not the dramatic entrance he was hoping for. When he came down from the rafters, it was to save his second donut from hitting the floor. He had leaned back a little too much in his enjoyment of the rare treat, his taste buds having drastically changed after his nap and human food having become somewhat dull, and in doing so he startled himself and fumbled his donut. He hit the ground back first, but he saved the donut, so it didn't even matter!

" Hello there."

He nearly jumped out his fucking skin at the sudden greeting, having briefly forgot what he was doing as he finished his food. They hoped their flinch wasn't as obvious as it felt, but with the looks they were getting, that was not the case.

" Greetings detectives, I heard you had need of my services?"

" You do not get to be suave while on the floor."

And Tweedle Dumb, the shortest detective here, maybe about 157 centimeters, with a shaggy brown bowl cut, green eyes, and a stupidly young face, was partially correct, but Xinyi elected to ignore that as they picked themself up off the floor and threw away their napkin. Tweedle Dumb looked as if they were dressed by their mother, button up shirt, sweater vest, blue jeans, dress shoes. They had a pair of glasses tucked into their vest, and Xinyi wondered why they were not on their face.

" Now, I do believe introductions are in order?"

Xinyi saw as Tweedle Dee winced at his outdated common, but he really couldn't care, and he was not studying modern common for these brats, so they'd have to suck it up and move on in life. Tweedle Dumb was once again the first to speak, brave but idiotic little mouth yapping at a mile a minute.

" It's polite to introduce yourself first, though it is very clear who you are."

" You have already begun to give me a headache, but very well. Most will call me Silent Death, but just for you, I will allow you to call me Silence."

Silence was what they wanted from Tweedle Dumb but he knew that wasn't happening anytime soon. Silence was also what he allowed repeat clients and his favorites to call him. Tweedle Dumb seemed unphased, as did Tweedle Dee, but the rest looked ready to pull weapons on him, that would be amusing.

" Names, Oliwer. Second in command to the head detective here, they them pronouns."

" 'S Hari Fynn, head detective. I'm second in command to our boss, who is currently in his office if you would like to speak to him."

Tweedle Dee, Hari, was about 175 centimeters, and every centimeter of him exuded confidence and self assurance. His hair was blonde and windswept into a messy updo that didn't look half bad on the blonde's mature face. He was dressed similarly to Tweedle Dumb, so that made him think that it was just the office dress code, if so, they needed a new dress code. He looked around the rest of the office, looking for other introductions, but they all just averted their eyes, so he turned back to the Tweedles and nodded, pushing himself off the desk he had been leaning on and following them into the back.

Their boss was a rather old man, he could tell because of his scent, the tired look on his face, and the grey interpreted with the orange of his hair. He also had the familiar note pressed into his scent, though his was more well hidden than the other two, still young, still fresh, wholly inedible though. Mr. Orange was dressed like his employees, though his three piece suit was black and white instead of the grey that his employees sported.

" Oliwer, Hari, who might this be?"

And so introductions were once again made, and Mr. Orange was called Director Wallace, a name much like Tweedle Dee's and Tweedle Dumb's. That is to say, a name he would probably never use. They took up the chair across from Director Orange, the Tweedles stood on either side of him, standing like perfect little soldiers. Director Orange and he stared at each other a little before Director Orange pulled out a folder and threw it on the table between them. Xinyi looked down at it before looking back at the Director. He raised an eyebrow as he looked the man in the eye and began to speak.

" What is this?"

" That, is our most recent mission. We've been looking for that man for the better part of a month now, and we know he's not dead because his crimes haven't stopped. We are asking that you track him down. We want him alive, if you can."

Xinyi looked up at them, eyebrow still raised, as if he was asking if they were actually stupid.

" You called an assassin for a bounty hunter's job?"

Because that made so much sense. They would probably have to pay Xinyi more than they would have paid the hunter, but that really wasn't true was it. Xinyi already knew what they wanted out of this job, and it would seem like less to them. That probably wasn't why they wanted him though. So he asked why, just because.

" You prove to be rather successful in any job you are given, and this could technically be seen as information gathering, especially if you don't bring him back."

Valid, very much so, he smiled as he let the answer sink in. He debated his cost, weighing the ask against what he wanted and finding them to be of equal or greater value.

" Alright, I accept. I'll be taking my payment from you when this is over."

" Actually, would it trouble you terribly to take Hari and Oliwer with you?"

That stopped him in his tracks, turning his brain upside down for a few seconds.

" What?"

" Not back to your base, just to wherever you track him down to. To make an arrest it is mandatory that at least one member be on scene. I'd send Hari by himself, but he would probably end up taking Oliwer along with him anyway," Xinyi stared at the man for a second before he barked out a laugh.

" Sure, you may tag along, I'll come get you when I need you to do leg work. You'll be there to make the arrest, I assure you!"

He swept out of the room and made his way back home, answering his messages and checking his email as he took the familiar path. The walk had several detours as he picked up the ingredients he would need to complete his work. They had run out when they had last done the spell and now they'd have to do it again, plus they meant to pick up more anyway for their next job. This was technically their next job. He had to really debate paying for anything, or stealing it all, but in the end only this little flower shop in D4 had the camellia he needed so he paid for those at least. He remembered what it was like to struggle. They used to make them sell their food for money at the orphanage, mostly for beer money. He wouldn't do that to someone else just trying to survive. Didn't mean he went out of his way to help though, that was too much work.