Humor Him

Joseph breathed deeply and adjusted his loud purple tie. He looked uncomfortable with Yeong sitting across from him, like one of them did not belong there. Yeong reasoned that it was probably him. On further inspection, the fine suit was just a nice jacket with a tight undershirt and a loose tie. It was still a stark contrast. Yeong was dressed like someone that belonged on the ground level. Thick puffer jacket and long red scarf to survive in a place sun usually never touches, and to hide any weapons he may need to carry for protection. He looked sketchy, without even thinking of his foreign appearance.

“I heard you speaking to Janna. I heard everything.” Joseph explained. He sounded annoyed in the way that he spoke.

“Everything?”

“I have ways of listening in.” Joseph claimed. Yeong did not doubt it. The elf frowned deeply.

“What is this errand? What about ChesAn? Is any of this necessary? You should leave her out of it, whatever it is.”

“She agreed. She seems pretty interested.”

“Oh, I have no doubt.” Joseph stared harshly at Yeong for a few moments amidst a brief pause. He then added.

“She's unstable, obviously. Dissociative, juvenile and possibly...” He did not want to finish his sentence.

“What?”

“I don't want to be too hasty, there. She hasn't tried anything yet to my knowledge but who knows if this isn't just an abstract attempt.”

“Attempt? Yeong questioned, utterly clueless.

Joseph shook his head lightly and rolled his eyes. “Can't even say she's in good hands.” He motioned with one hand.

“Look at you.” Yeong looked down. He was sitting in the back of the limo with his legs spread wide. Ragged pants, old shoes. It was a stark contrast.

He seemed exhausted to finally reiterate his initial question. “At least tell me what you are aiming to do.”

“I'm not sure.”

“How reassuring.” Joseph mocked.

“What do you want from me?”

“Being a Jobber is one thing. Going after a Corporation like ChesAn is like fighting against a whole nation. They have Mech, Tek, Magic, their own hackers and hell, their own army. You name it. Whatever you think you have on them they have more.”

“Sounds like you know a lot.”

“I was burned trying to meddle in their business once before. Barely made it out of that ordeal alive.” The elf stared out the window as the Limo weaved around structures. Yeong leaned forward.

“Before you ask, I do not have anything for you. Last thing I want is to encourage you.” He chewed his bottom lip for a few seconds, then leaned forward to match Yeong.

“Actually... You want to be a Jobber? Fine. Take my sister on a few easy runs. I'll connect you.” Yeong stared blankly at the man.

“That means I meet someone with money and a job, then pay you to do it.” He groaned.

“You need money, right? Resources for your end goal.”

“Why don't I just get the jobs from the source.”

“Because people with money don't want to deal directly with people like you.” He sneered.

“What about you?” Yeong smirked, glancing around the limo.

“Don't you have money?”

Joseph gave Yeong a flat stare. “Do you want me to connect you or not?”

Yeong thought back to his wound. Anything more could run up quite a tab and if he was caught without care it was a distinct possibility that he simply dies in the street. He also considered the living situation he was in. A single barely heated room was not enough to support a dancer on the run and her hacker daughter.

What do you want me to do?” He asked again, this time less facetiously.

“I know Janna. She will get bored of this just like she got bored of being a 'Syndic' and a 'Princess' and any other whims that she obsessed over. The only difference is that this obsession has a chance to end very abruptly in ****.”

“So you send us on fake jobs and pay us for it?”

“Not fake. Very real. But these are low-stakes. Transport, debt collection, asset retrieval.” Joseph explained.

“These are good jobs that anyone in your position would want but can not get without the right connections.”

Yeong nodded and leaned back. “Alright. I think I'm sold.”

“Just one thing.”

“Hm?”

“Do not tell Janna I am your John.” He warned.

“Isn't your name Joseph?” As soon as he said that Yeong felt an invisible hand slap his face.

“No jokes allowed.”

“I wasn't- Okay, never mind. Sure.”

* *

Yeong was let out a few blocks away from the warehouse and was left to walk the rest of the way. He made it back to the warehouse about ten minutes later and arrived to find Janna had already settled in to the small room and was occupying one of the few chairs, much to Kai's annoyance. The Fox girl was occupying her small bed in the corner of the room, surfing the net with her eyes open. As soon as Yeong entered she left what she was doing and stood up and rushed over to stand very obviously beside him before Janna could even react. She did not care too much and was just staring down at her phone intently, typing away.

“Welcome back.” Kai leaned into him. He nodded.

“You're about to get a message.” She warned. Yeong was about to question it, but was interrupted by the ping of a message being received. Before looking at it he looked to her and asked.

“Do you screen my messages?”

“I just feel the notification before your phone does, and yours is important so I pay special attention to where it is and what it's doing” She nervously added.

“I do screen your calls and messages for malware and other bad stuff but I don't look at them, I swear.”

He had no way of telling if she was being honest or not. He just had to trust her. He had not gotten anything particularly sensitive yet and even if he did, so long as it did not relate to the sex he had with Kai's mother he mused that it should probably be fine. Coincidentally, the moment the thought of Kai's mother entered his mind her arms circled under his at the elbow and her heavy breasts pressed into his side.

“Welcome home!” She welcomed cheerily.

“Chill!” Kai warned, pulling him away from her. Her tail stood up defensively. The fur on her ears was standing as well.

Lacie was unaffected but went and sat back down. Janna lifted a singular brow and stared at the Aoian in disbelief.

“Mr. Popular. Didn't know the team was all girls. Am I actually being trafficked right now?”

“Yeah, you're being trafficked.” Kai mocked, causing the idol to shrug and return to looking at her own phone.

“Listen-” Janna began while looking down at the screen.

“Whatever you did to MY phone, you better not be tracking my messages.”

“Why would I care about your phone if you aren't sending or receiving anything from ChesAn? I changed your privacy settings. You're welcome.”

In response to her attitude Yeong leaned in to whisper while offering a nod to the poster of the twins on the wall.

“Thought you were a fan.”

“As if.” She said loudly.

“I'm a fan of Joseph.”

“Yeah.” Janna laughed.

“You look like you'd be a fan of Joseph. Sorry but he's got a type and it's NOT you.”

“You take that back!” Kai demanded.

Yeong sighed deeply, backed off and stepped out onto the walkway to check the message he received.

[First job is set up. You are retrieving a stolen vehicle and returning it to Residential on the Cheshire side of the bridge.]

[Friend's a fan, apparently. Can you send a picture or something?] Yeong requested for Kai's benefit.

He quickly returned. [Not right now.]

[Got it. What's the pay?]

[It's 5k, but the buyer says there is a bonus if you do more than get the vehicle back.]

[Oh?]

[He wants you to kill the ones that took it and send proof. Can you do that? It is worth an additional 1k for each involved.]

Yeong considered the question on a personal level but responded with his own. [Thought you said you wanted to keep your sister out of danger, not put her on a hit job.]

[She is fine if it is something like this. I know what she can do with her magic. Jobbers just tend to get in over their head when they have no reins. That is all I was worried about.]

[Got it.]

[So? Can you do it?]

* * *

Schedule:

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This weeks vote: No problem killing, only if they deserve it or not if he can help it.