One summer night, Deidre Weichert was walking up and down the streets of the business district of the city in search of not another frilly, dark-colored dress to add to her frilly, dark-colored dress collection, but for her close friend and personal bag carrier whom she searched for with all the concern of a parent. A parent who goes, Oh, I left the kid in the carriage, an hour after running errands, but a parent nonetheless.copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡb8qomO3JgS
That dolts, she thought. She took her eyes off him for five seconds and he went and disappeared. Couldn't take him anywhere. The next time they went out, she'd have to keep him on a leash.copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡHQgonObzxp
She was hot on his trail, but before she found him, another fellow found her. He was tall, moderately handsome, and had a great smile. Or so he thought. Looks are subjective.copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HTeVbgeZ9
“Hello, miss. How are you this fine evening?”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡttQHWDgXhC
“Can't talk. Busy looking for idiot friend.”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡDB9s5NW1jW
“Do you need help looking for them?”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzuIpsZrWv
“No. I know where he is.”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7VflXJkv5
“Gut feeling?”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡKupzmT9huo
“Tracking magic.”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkLIlRZBvl
“Oh! So you're a magus, too!”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡ28QSih8FKa
“I suppose knowing a little magic does make me one.”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4Luq5tkPE
“That's cool. I'm trying to become the First Hand myself.”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJLpX8XGbB
“That's quite the lofty goal,” she said with the interest of someone watching another someone apply butter to a slice of bread.copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyABpS5kqC
“It is, but I've been practicing magic since I was in high school, and I've been using Dohsoon since I was twelve, so I've got some experience under my belt.” Dohsoon was the oversized sledgehammer on his back. Not that Deirdre cared to look and see that he was referring to a weapon and not, say, an inflatable doll that substituted for the friends he lacked.copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡOMnjH4jkVa
“Uh-huh.” Of all the women on the streets, why'd he have to select her to chat up, she wondered. Screw her friend, she needed an escape route ASAP.copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXufSCXLNv
“Do you have any idea how much the First Hand gets paid? It's not chump change, that's for sure,” he said. “And when I become the next First Hand, I'm going to found my own charity. Not sure what for, though. I'm leaning toward helping orphans find families.”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6D7ZE4sCsA
“How noble of you.” Seriously, where was an obscure alleyway when a young woman needed one?copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqVSDKpWNF
“It's no big deal. I used to befriend the kids at the orphanage down the street from where from I grew up, so I've seen what it's like to have your friends come and go while no one adopts you.”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡGnOY7LpKp3
“Mm.” There! Escape at last! She made a beeline.copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡPGCyLjsdbI
“I think I might adopt one or two, but I'd also really like to, um—How should I word this?—make them? No, when I say it like that, it sounds like I'm manufacturing goods.” He followed Deirdre into the alleyway. “What's a better way to word it?”copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4avDrXI87
Deidre didn't answer him, because Deirdre GTFOed on out of there.copyright protection178ＰＥＮＡＮＡSWpXDa0PFp
He looked around, not sure where she had gone or how she went from being there to not being there. “Where'd she go?”182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFTrsgx1XN
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