[Suzerain of Sheol]

Special first assignment. Very important to the future of the guild. Lucky me....

Tsaerri traversed the halls of their guild base more slowly than she probably should have, given she had a meeting with the president in... a while ago now. She hadn't appreciated being woken up by some pissant messenger boy, and had decided to take her time picking out an outfit for the day. Skaeye could wait; she seemed like the indulgent type anyway. And really, Tsae held all the cards here -- not exactly a parade of heroes beating down their door begging to sign up.

Besides. She paused to yawn, rubbing the sleep from her eyes under her blindfold, careful not to smear the makeup no one could see. Besides, how important can it possibly be? Oh, yeah, Synod of Gods, Logan's got real important work for us. Yep. More like Synod of Babysitters. Some noble probably got their pet Asura stuck in a tree. You keep fighting that crusade, though, Skaeye. Doing us all proud! Please.

She passed through the main meeting hall of the guild, tacitly ignoring the lanky blond idiot she'd seen loitering about the last few days. Wearing a blindfold made it easy to ignore people she didn't like. Which was essentially everyone. Now which room was Skaeye's again..?

Of course. The one that's always open. Sure, Skaeye, let me just curl up and tell you about all the horrible things I did as a kid, and you can forgive me and tell me how I'm a better person now, and how I'm a valuable member of this company, and how I can come to you with anything and--

Skaeye was sitting at her desk, out of her armor for once and wearing a silken robe the color of her namesake. She looked up as Tsae walked in.

"You asked for me?"

The older woman rose, smiling warmly, and gestured for her to take a seat across from her. "Why, yes. We've received our first major assignment and I'm trusting you to lead the team on it."

Tsae leaned her arms against the back of the plush chair and remained standing. "How much?"

"Well, that's the thing, Tsaerri. Our contract will be with the new backer of our guild, an envoy from the Sylvari with a private fortune looking to enlist our services."

"As what? Is he planning to start a war? What use does some rich Syl have with a bunch of mercenaries?"

Skaeye pondered for a moment, then replied, "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. He said that he had quite the list of tasks he'd be needing us for, I would presume bodyguard work. I think he said he travels a lot."

Tsae did her best to stifle a groan. "So this is... long-term, then? You've hired me to chaperon a plant around Gods only know where. You... do know the sort of thing I'm trained for, right?"

"Yes, and that's why I'm trusting this to you, Tsaerri. I need someone I can rely on to make sure this client is satisfied. We need this."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I don't know what you've heard about mesmers, but there is no way I'm 'satisfying' any--"

"What? Oh, that's not what I meant at all. I don't believe Sylvari even--"

"They don't." Tsae began to pace around the office, the animated feathers of her skirt swishing as she did, mulling the prospect over in her head. "So, we follow this Syl around, pretend to be friendly tour guides," Ugh. "and maybe, hopefully, if Lyssa has any mercy on my boredom, get to stab some people in the process. What? There's a lot of racists out there, this guy probably can't go two steps without some blood-dribbling Charr coming at him with a logging axe."

Skaeye let out a measured sigh, and Tsaerri made every effort to avoid smirking. She did actually need this job. "You'll accept, then?"

Tsae shrugged. She was growing bored of this conversation. "Yes. Whatever. As long I get paid. Are we leaving today?"

"The others are getting ready to depart as we speak."

"Great." She spun abruptly and began to walk out. "Can't... wait. Yeah." She waved to the knight over her shoulder without looking as she left the room.

Please don't let blondie be my partner, please don't let blondie be my partner, please don't let....