It was hellish heat in Matagan city – summer always was, but the waves and walls of mist steaming off the surrounding sea seemed to be penning in the warmth, suffocating the city under a blanket of humidity. Work from the Stone, of the Silence. But at bay, for now, content to let the metropolis stew itself.
It was the sort of weather where you’d kill for a drink.
“Here.”
“Spit and shit I hope so. One more flight of stairs and I’d be out my legs.”
“It’s here. I said it’d be here and it’d be here.”
“Gracious of you, mighty fine of you, thank you greatly. Not many folk’d be pleasant enough to tell all of a little spring like this – how many you figure there are out here in the boonies?”
“Two. My payment, please.”
“No need to be so reckless hasty, sir. You feel he’s being rude, fellas?”
“A bit of a shithead, yeah.”
“Seems so.”
“I reckon.”
“Pay me or I fire.”
“Salt in a seal’s sex put that thing down! We were just teasing, damnit!”
“Payment. Six.”
“We said five, didn’t we? I distinctly recall hearing ‘five’ bandied about, didn’t I, lads?”
“Six. Five for the spring. One for the threads. In a loose brown bag. Now.”
“Oh of course, of course, of course, of course. Here, happy to oblige. A one two CATCH.”
“Well, he certainly didn’t catch.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
“Yes.”
“Not well, no.”
“Eugh. Bit of a splatter. Still, I fancy I see some sparkles in that spray – not a bad wrapping job on the payment, if I do say so myself, to myself, of myself’s work. We can just pick that up on the way back dowNNNNN”
“About time.”
“Yep.”
“Shit on a shingle – what the hell was that for?! You’ve gone and murked him!”
“Three shares now. That’s a lot more than four. Nothing but math. And he were a jackass”
“S’right.”
“Oh, and that makes me feel better? You know what’s a smaller number than three?”
“Not many. Hey, hold up-”
“Two. You bastards didn’t fill me in on this, I get the feeling I know why. Fuck off.”
“Behind.”
“Shut up you fucking para-mute. Fuck off.”
“Might want to calm down and turn a-”
“Fuck OF”
“He might’ve looked behind him when we were being polite. That board did look funny.”
“Yeah.”
“Five stories?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s the highest you heard someone stroll from without splatting?”
“Six.”
“Lucky Lonni?”
“Lucky Lonni.”
“He ain’t either half of that.”
“Agreed.”
“Well… two shares is a lot better than three anyways. Works out. When we start selling this stuff, we’ll be able to ship out of here in three days with working cash.”
“What? You crazy?”
“What you mean, crazy? I’m not staying here while we wait for that fog to roll in. We’ve got to get out while the getting still gets.”
“Not running. It’s high here. We hole up, we use this, we wait it out.”
“Ain’t no waiting it out. You’re a brain shy of a skull.”
“You’re money-grubbing.”
“No sense living poor.”
“Life’s worth more than cash.”
“Depends on whose. HNNF!”
“ennh.”
“Rrrr! Agh!”
“acch.”
“You stuck me, I’ll give you that. Best anyone’s done in a good few bits.”
“hhhhhhh.”
“You weren’t using that tongue much anyhow. Don’t worry. It’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fffiine.”
“hhhhsss”
“Not… so fine. ne. You didn’t…put anything on, on the sticker, did you?”
“sss”
“That’d be. Helluvaway. End.”
Splash.