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Twenty-seven blocks. They continued their insulting for twenty-seven blocks, and the only reason they stopped was Jace had told them to shut up. Of course, he may have also threatened to cut out their vocal cords if they didn't stop, but that is beyond the point. He had thought that they would work it out and eventually stop, or at least run out of insults. But this was Has-Haven, where insulting a person is considered a sport.

As it turned out, Jace was actually in town during the grand finally of The Insult World Championships, where the mother of one of the Dukes of Has-Haven was facing off with Timmy, a seven year old with a vocabulary that'd make a sailor take notes.

But that was going on clear across the city in a place that Jace would probably never get a chance to visit. Right now he was standing outside the Has-Haven University of Magic, staring at the very ornate looking gate. If one were to tilt their heads in certain ways they could see all manner of things, from beasts to legends to simple objects. Like a spool of thread. That was what had his attention while his other two companions glared at each other. "But why are women not allowed in?"

"I don't know," Jersa snapped, her hands on her hips. "Why not ask your assassin."

"Oh please, no one knows but the wizards," Stella retorted, with her arms folded under her bust.

"Both of you, knock it off. Starting to get real sick of this." A thought popped into his head and he attempted to pull the thread from the spool. To his surprise it actually began to unravel. "Well, I suppose I shall speak with the two of you later." He turned to them. "If either of you end up dead, I will blame whoever is left alive."

They both glanced at each other and turned away, walking separate ways down the street. He sighed softly as he looked down at his hand, the string had an odd shimmery look to it. "Can I help you?"

He looked up and through the bars at a very portly looking owl in a very large, and very pointy, hat. "Yes, you can start by opening the gate."

The owl cleared his throat. "D-do you have an appointment?"

"I was not aware that I needed one," he said as he leaned slightly more to one side.

"Well, I suppose technically you don't need one, but usually people get one..." The owl looked mildly confused.

"And how does one go about getting one?" Jace pulled once again on the little thread, trying to seem disinterested.

"I...uhm...don't actually know."

"Then I probably do have an appointment, that neither of us are aware of." The owl gave him quite a perplexed look. "Otherwise why would I be here?"

The owl hesitated and then nodded slowly, trying to seem like he got what he had meant. "Of course."

Wizards were easily manipulated. They had very large egos and would do anything to appear that not only were they well aware of what was being talked about, but they know far more on the subject than anyone else. It was apparently something to do with being around magic so much; it skews a persons view of reality. "Then could you please open the gate?"

"But you're already inside," the owl said with a rather smug look on his face.

There was the sudden realization that he was standing beside the owl and looking at the street that he had been traveling down. "Of course." He said nothing more as he turned around and walked towards the University.

"Mind the door," the owl called out.

When dealing with magic it was best to just accept things that happened. Otherwise it would drive a person mad, or worse. But that didn't mean Jace had to like it. Of course, he didn't like anything he was seeing. Not the odd shrubberies that were watching him go by, or the gardener who appeared to be battling with some sort of monstrous topiary. He had read about magic universities before and everything he had read about them told him that he should avoid them at all cost. Not only were they unsafe, but it was difficult to leave as the same thing as one would go in as.

He paused at the door a moment, looking at the ornate knocker. "I would like to go in."

His guess was correct as the knocker spoke, "Go in where?"

Jace's eyes narrowed on the knocker. He was not about to play games with a decoration. "You have five seconds to open the door."

"Or what?"

"Four seconds."

There was a moment where the knocker looked nervous. "Uh..."

"Three." The door swung inward quickly and Jace took a deep breath. As he crossed into the building he grabbed his tail and pulled it forward just before the door slammed shut. It was good that he was aware of such cliches. "I would think a door would have a little more respect," he said with a frown.

"That's quite a silly thing to think." Jace looked down at the oddly small looking lizard. He would have assumed he was a child, if not for the heavy wrinkles and rather large beard.

"So are lizards with beards." Jace looked around at the circular room that had far too many hallways to be physically possible. "So what's the trick to getting around?"

"Around?" The lizard tilted its head to the side slightly.

"Ah..." I forget...I'm dealing with wizards. "If I take that hallway, I'll get to where I want to go." Jace pointed at a hallway and watched the lizard.

The lizard laughed. "If you wanted to be dead, maybe. No, what you'relooking to go to is down that hallway."

Wizards hated to be told they were wrong, but more than that they loved to correct people who they believe wrong. "Ah yes, my mistake," Jace said as he quickly made his way down the hall. He wasn't going to bother wondering how the lizard knew where he wanted to go, but then again, Jace didn't know where he was going, either.

After a few minutes of walking down hallways and up and down stairs, he'd read enough to know that by going down stairs you could go up and vice versa, he passed by a door that caused him to stop and walk back. It had a small plaque on the side that said 'Headmaster' in large golden letters. He stared at it a moment and then knocked loudly on the door. From the other side came a quite gruff, "Whoozit?"

"I am Mr. Ozymandias, and I am here to procure a wizard." There was a bit of silence, followed by quite a lot of noise. Instinctively Jace took a step back and to the side to get away from the door.

After a moment or two the door opened and Jace was looking at a rather old looking crow. "Whatcha need a wizard fer?"

"I haven't the foggiest. I was merely told that I would need one for this...negotiation job or whatever that is going to be occurring." Jace was trying to be at an angle that it was easy to see him but it would also be easy to make an escape if needed.

"Ah yes, this war business. You'll have to speak with the Headmaster about that," the crow said, looking slightly nervous

There was a pause as Jace leaned slightly to once again look at the door. "I see. And why exactly are you in the Headmasters room, if you are not the Headmaster?"

There was another pause. "This...isn't the Headmasters room?" The crow hazarded.

"Do I look like an idiot?"

The crow looked him up and down and seemed to actually be considering his options, and Jace was quite certain he could hear voices behind the crow. "No?"

"Good answer, but a tad slow." The crow looked even more nervous than before. "Now I know it is a rather stupid idea to insult or threaten a wizard, especially when there are probably several around...so I will make you an offer. You will meet me at the Hogs Head tomorrow at three, or I might just go out of my way to make your life difficult."

"T-tomorrow?"

"Yes. Tomorrow. Tuesday. At three. I will even pay for drinks." That seemed to immediately perk the crow up.

"A-alright."

"And tell your associates that there will be no need to scatter once I have left as I will not be telling anyone what I saw." With that he turned and took several steps, before turning around.

There were a few seconds of silence and then suddenly a swarm of robed old men started pushing and clambering out of the door, only to freeze in place when they saw Jace. The crow that he had spoken with was at the front. "Uhh..."

"I almost forgot. Would one of you be kind enough to show me the way out?"

~

A hot bath is one of those luxuries that is easily missed. Something that a person takes for granted until they have a rough day, or several rough days and suddenly find themselves unable to take one. For Jace it had been a rough couple of weeks. He'd not had a proper bath since leaving Auser, and the dunk in the river didn't count. Honestly he hadn't expected a bath at all, but all he did was mention it casually after returning to the Thieves Guild and by the time he got to his room there was a hot bath ready and waiting for him, as well as dinner.

Now he was sitting in the still fairly hot water, gazing at the ceiling as he chewed thoughtfully on a bit of bread. "Well, aren't you comfy lookin'."

"Jersa!" He flailed a moment as he sat up slightly to better cover himself. "The hell are you doing in here?"

"Just come to chat," she said with a slight smirk. "Lookit you getting' all flustered."

"You would be too if I walked in on you when you were bathing," he said and flung the piece of bread at her in frustration.

She laughed slightly, catching the bit of bread. "Yeah, but for other reasons."

"No, for the exact same bloody reasons." He was annoyed at how far away the towel was, but he had managed to cover himself with the washcloth. "You'd throw a fit about it."

She shrugged slightly. "Not really," she said with a smirk and took a bite out of the bread. "Honestly I'd be more interested on what was so important that you'd barge in on a woman bathing."

He sighed heavily, glaring at her. At least around her he didn't have to put up his act. "Well? What's so important that you needed to break into my room?"

Again she shrugged. "I just wanted to chat, and I was sure that you'd be alright with it since you don't gotta be Mr. Ozymandias. It's exhausting being something you aren't."

He frowned a bit more at her, annoyed that what she said was exactly what he had been thinking. "It is quite taxing," he conceded.

She hopped up onto the desk, her legs swinging slightly. "I know, cus it's the same way for me. I gotta act like what I'm not. It's nice to be around people who know otherwise," she paused, "Except Skagger. He's a slimy little prick."

"I agree with you on that. But...why do you do it?" He adjusted into a more comfortable position, facing mostly away from her.

"Parents always wanted a boy. And, well, easier to build a good reputation as a guy in this city, especially as a thief. Girls tend to fit certain...niches and I sure as hell wasn't gonna be bait, or some floozy that hangs around the bars lookin' for vulnerable men." She leaned back a bit on the desk, kicking her legs. "It sucks, but the Mistress said it'd be easy. Especially with..." She glared downward and made an odd grabby hand gesture towards her chest. "Well it don't take much effort to get the right figure, that's for sure."

He looked at her a moment and then shrugged. "Could be worse."

She scrunched her face up slightly, which was exaggerated by her nose crooked nose. "Yeah. I could be like your floozy assassin. I'd have never gotten to where I am with a figure like that."

"I was actually-" he paused and then shook his head. "Never mind."

Her brow furrowed. "What?"

"I was just thinking you could look like Skagger," he said with a vague gesture.

"Ugh I don't even want to think that. Slimy little rat makes my fur stand on end."

"Do you know why he keeps following me around all the time? It's really annoying, looking over my shoulder and seeing him and the hulking friend of his."

"Oh Burce ain't bad. Honestly the only thing intimidating about Burce is how he looks. Not cut out to be a thief at all, if you ask me."

"Really?" He tilted his head to the side slightly and reached over to his plate, noticing some of the food was gone and Jersa was enjoying a newly acquired steak.

"Oh yeah, sweet as a kitten. Hella strong, too. He worked on his parents farm when he was younger, with his brothers, guy could pull a full cart faster than an ox."

"How'd he get mixed up in all this, then?" It was nice of her to leave him the fruit.

"Opportunity. Skagger saw him, told him that he could make tons of money for his family. Which is true, and he sends pretty much every dollar back to his folks. Of course, Skagger always skimps out with most of the money they make."

It was nice to have a normal conversation for once. Or at least, the most normal conversation he'd had in a very long time. He just wished he wasn't in such an awkward and vulnerable position. "Still doesn't explain why they've been following me around."

"Dunno."

"I couldn't find any reason either."

"Stella? Dammit, is everyone going to barge into my room?" He frowned as the bat clambered her way in through the window with ease. "One night of time alone, and I can't even get that in this bloody stupid city." He ran his hand through his hair, which was drying now.

Stella seemed to ignore him. "And what, pray tell, are you doing here?" She was glaring at Jersa.

"Could ask the same of you, ya little-"

"Enough!" He slammed his hand on the side of the tub. "If I hear you arguing one more damn time, I'll replace both of you." He pointed a finger accusingly at Jersa. "Consequences be damned." He rubbed his face and sighed. "For fucks sake. You're both professionals and you're going to work together. Bloody well act like it."

Both of them looked rather sheepish for a moment. "Sorry," Jersa said as she folded her arms, she didn't sound very convincing.

"Yeah, sorry," Stella echoed.

"Now, what do you want?" he said as he looked at Stella.

"I was trying to follow up on some things but figured it would be easier to just come and ask you." Her arms were folded under her bust. "Lots of rumors going around, but no one can confirm anything."

He was frowning at her. "And?"

"Apparently, Jason Foxern has been confirmed as alive, whereabouts unknown." Out of the corner of his eye he caught Jersa's glance.

"This isn't news. That's well known." He was trying to watch Jersa out of the corner of his eye while still focusing on Stella.

"Yeah, well it got me thinking and I went off to public records." She looked out the window. "Found some interesting things. Most importantly, you're not a red panda-" she stopped, staring at him.

It was good that Jersa was on his side, because faster than Jace could react, she had a dagger against Stella's throat. He had admit he was impressed by her sheet speed. "And what's your point?" she snapped.

"I just thought it was interesting that you'd go to such lengths to hide your identity." She didn't appear nervous, but then again Jace wasn't entirely convinced Jersa could take her..

But she put up her hands in a mock surrender."I'm sure the nature of my identity is going to be common knowledge soon enough," he said as he glanced between the two of them.

"I'm not going to do anything with it. Doing this job would raise my reputation far more than turning you in, or selling the information would." She looked very proud of herself. "In fact, if it comes out and things get dicey, that would work out better for me."

Jace sighed and leaned back in the tub as Jersa walked away from her with her hands clasped behind her head. The dagger was simply gone. "Still, I don't think it's going to be very long before more people figure it out. The Patrician knows, I'm fairly sure Dr. Minsra and the Mistress know, and Skagger probably has some idea...ugh..." He rubbed his face.

"Ug that would explain why that bastard is following you around and keeping tabs on you..." Jersa said, scrunching her nose again.

Even Stella looked displeased. "He is a rather disgusting thing, even as far as thieves go." She hesitated. "Present company excluded."

Jersa still glared at her, but Jace was just glad that she was making some sort of attempt to be civil. "Is that all?" They both looked at him. "I am done with my bath, and I plan to get out." He eyed the two of them.

Stella's face flushed immediately. "R-right! I-I'll see you tomorrow!" And she quickly made her escape out the window, practically diving into the night air.

He expected Jersa to make a similar exit, but instead, she sat on the desk, smirking at him. "Oh my. Don't mind me. I still want to chat, and after all...you've seen me naked...only fair I see you." Despite the calmness of her words, her face was quite flush with color.

"Fine." He stood up, and took some satisfaction at the speed in which she turned away. He grabbed the towel and began drying himself off, trying to pretend she wasn't in the room.

"Yanno..." He looked over at her as she spoke. "You're kind of an oddball, Jace..." She was fiddling with something in her hands. "I've heard a lot about Lord Foxern as far as rumors go."

It was his watch. "Put that back," he said, wrapping the towel around his waist as he moved towards her.

"Yeah?" she looked at him, smirking slightly. Her face was bright red and he could see her eyes racing up and down his body.

"Please," he said, holding out his hand.

She turned it over in her hands, more focused on him than it. "Yeah?" she said again. "How bad you want it back?"

"Please, Jersa, give it back. It's...very important to me." He was standing in front of her, considering taking it back by force.

"Yeah?" she said again, her smirk even larger. "You want it back so bad...how's about a kiss?" She held the watch up, smirking as it dangled in front of him.

She expected him to make a grab at it so that she could playfully pull it out of his reach. What she had not been expecting was to be shoved against the wall. She gasped, but it was cut short as his mouth locked with hers. Her eyes went wide as she grasped at the fur on his chest. As the intense feeling flooded into her she almost shoved him away...almost. With one of his hands on her shoulder, the other holding the watch she had released, she closed her eyes.