next to them. “ Get up here !” he said into the pipes.
When he turned around, he was now smiling ear to ear. “So, Goddard’s finally sent you our way, has he?” Glebeck reproached the boys. “Well we’ll certainly get our money’s worth out of you, that’s for sure. You boys swim by chance?”
“ Swim ?” Aura asked, looking perplexed. “What’s this all about?”
“Ah don’t worry about it,” Glebeck said. “You guys are here to make money, right?”
“Actually…” Ash said.
“We’re here for the money!” Aura blurted out, interrupting his friend. He pulled Ash aside and lowered his voice. “I’m sure they’d just love to dig up some dirt on us, but don’t give them anything they can use against us. Just let me do all the talking, okay? I don’t mind being a dick to them. Just remember, we’re here to complete whatever job they give us flawlessly . Let’s just do it fast, do it right, and get the heck out of here.”
Two more men entered the office. One was a morbidly obese balding man in a shirt two sizes too tight. The other was an impossibly old man whose face was so riddled with wrinkles it looked like it had collapsed in on itself.
“Well look what the demons dragged in,” the fat man said.
“Looks like a bunch of… of… a bunch of baby ragamuffins, it does,” the old man said.
“Bliley, Rumbaugh, this is Ash Kaplan the human and Aura Draxler the death toucher,” Glebeck said.
“ Human !” Bliley bellowed.
“Half-human,” Ash said, correcting him.
“ Breast toucher? ” Rumbaugh asked, for he was hard of hearing too.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Aura said.
“Royal Advisor von Gosick finally sent them over to work for us,” Glebeck said, attempting to steer the conversation. “We have them for the day.”
“This is too good,” Rumbaugh said while leering at Ash with a gleam of hunger in his eyes and a drop of drool hanging off the side of his mouth. “We’re going to give them that job right?”
“What is that job?” Ash asked.
“Certainly you don’t mean…” Bliley said.
“Yes, guys, we talked about this a month ago. Remember? The ink?” Glebeck said.
“ Ink ?” everyone in the room repeated.
“Take a look out the window towards the back of the factory,” Glebeck said, pointing the boys to the window. “What do you see?”
The boys directed their attention out the window that overlooked the factory floor. In the rear of the building were several large vats.
“Do you boys know how many ingredients are in the ink we make?” Glebeck asked. “Of course you don’t; you’re a primitive human and a perverted ruffian. Four. There are four ingredients in our ink.”
‘Primitive’! Ash thought, outraged. I could blow this guy away with the internet in one second! If only I had the internet here, and knew how to explain it…
“Well those four ingredients don’t come cheap, especially at the rate we go through them,” Glebeck said. “So we’re always experimenting with various solvents , pigments, dyes, res ins , and lubricants. That’s all expensive too! We need to find a less expensive way to produce ink, and we think you could be the guys to help us with our next break-through.”
“Hey, isn’t that the infamous death toucher, Dora Braxtin?” Bliley asked.
“Yes, Bliley, pay attention!” Glebeck said, snapping on his fellow noble.
“I don’t know if we can help you there,” Ash said. “We don’t know the first thing about ink.”
“Ash! What did I say?” Aura asked. “We have to show them up by doing whatever they ask! No matter how stupid or hard the job may be!”
“We want you to collect the ink from a species of demons known as Sting Squids.” Glebeck said.
“ Ah ha ,” said Aura. “We quit then.”
“ What !” Ash grabbed Aura by the arm. “You can’t quit that easily! What happened to all your confidence?”
“I’ve just realized how absolutely silly it was that I ever cared what these
When he turned around, he was now smiling ear to ear. “So, Goddard’s finally sent you our way, has he?” Glebeck reproached the boys. “Well we’ll certainly get our money’s worth out of you, that’s for sure. You boys swim by chance?”
“ Swim ?” Aura asked, looking perplexed. “What’s this all about?”
“Ah don’t worry about it,” Glebeck said. “You guys are here to make money, right?”
“Actually…” Ash said.
“We’re here for the money!” Aura blurted out, interrupting his friend. He pulled Ash aside and lowered his voice. “I’m sure they’d just love to dig up some dirt on us, but don’t give them anything they can use against us. Just let me do all the talking, okay? I don’t mind being a dick to them. Just remember, we’re here to complete whatever job they give us flawlessly . Let’s just do it fast, do it right, and get the heck out of here.”
Two more men entered the office. One was a morbidly obese balding man in a shirt two sizes too tight. The other was an impossibly old man whose face was so riddled with wrinkles it looked like it had collapsed in on itself.
“Well look what the demons dragged in,” the fat man said.
“Looks like a bunch of… of… a bunch of baby ragamuffins, it does,” the old man said.
“Bliley, Rumbaugh, this is Ash Kaplan the human and Aura Draxler the death toucher,” Glebeck said.
“ Human !” Bliley bellowed.
“Half-human,” Ash said, correcting him.
“ Breast toucher? ” Rumbaugh asked, for he was hard of hearing too.
“Yes, that’s correct,” Aura said.
“Royal Advisor von Gosick finally sent them over to work for us,” Glebeck said, attempting to steer the conversation. “We have them for the day.”
“This is too good,” Rumbaugh said while leering at Ash with a gleam of hunger in his eyes and a drop of drool hanging off the side of his mouth. “We’re going to give them that job right?”
“What is that job?” Ash asked.
“Certainly you don’t mean…” Bliley said.
“Yes, guys, we talked about this a month ago. Remember? The ink?” Glebeck said.
“ Ink ?” everyone in the room repeated.
“Take a look out the window towards the back of the factory,” Glebeck said, pointing the boys to the window. “What do you see?”
The boys directed their attention out the window that overlooked the factory floor. In the rear of the building were several large vats.
“Do you boys know how many ingredients are in the ink we make?” Glebeck asked. “Of course you don’t; you’re a primitive human and a perverted ruffian. Four. There are four ingredients in our ink.”
‘Primitive’! Ash thought, outraged. I could blow this guy away with the internet in one second! If only I had the internet here, and knew how to explain it…
“Well those four ingredients don’t come cheap, especially at the rate we go through them,” Glebeck said. “So we’re always experimenting with various solvents , pigments, dyes, res ins , and lubricants. That’s all expensive too! We need to find a less expensive way to produce ink, and we think you could be the guys to help us with our next break-through.”
“Hey, isn’t that the infamous death toucher, Dora Braxtin?” Bliley asked.
“Yes, Bliley, pay attention!” Glebeck said, snapping on his fellow noble.
“I don’t know if we can help you there,” Ash said. “We don’t know the first thing about ink.”
“Ash! What did I say?” Aura asked. “We have to show them up by doing whatever they ask! No matter how stupid or hard the job may be!”
“We want you to collect the ink from a species of demons known as Sting Squids.” Glebeck said.
“ Ah ha ,” said Aura. “We quit then.”
“ What !” Ash grabbed Aura by the arm. “You can’t quit that easily! What happened to all your confidence?”
“I’ve just realized how absolutely silly it was that I ever cared what these
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