The Long Game

one of the spiders ask "youre not a eunuch are you?" i smile and says "no hes just a girlie man".

"Better then a butterfly like you," I tell the spider as it squeaks and changes, "And as for you, don't tempt me to use the I'm rubber, your glue method of solving this, if only temporarily." I growl at Ignacy.

I grin, turning away from Ignacy's truculent expression. "The thing is, ignoring them and avoiding them won't work. You will have to fight them, some day, and better to enter the fight prepared than have it come on you when you're unaware and unprotected." I sit back, crossing my arms. "When a holt is threatened, we go out and put it down before it can do us harm. Otherwise we risk too much."

"I concede the point, but we still don't know how big their organization is, or how wide spread. They've had hundreds of years to develop, while I only just now found out who was out to get me." My hands cast out in a broad, encompassing motion to emphasis the problem.

At this point i finally chime into the conversation "Um did you ever actually get a name of the organization? we might be able to "tip off" Julien Advent to do some research into them. and make there life more miserable." I look between my friends "What? secret organisations don't like publicity, so it would hamper them. and starts the 'war' on the mental front where you two are the strongest." I really need a new spear so i can actually be of help "then when we flush them out well then we remove the head of the serpent" I smile "followed by the heart. lungs. and finally guts of the serpent to keep it from ever restoring itself" looking at Ignacy "then we lite it on fire to make sure

I wrinkle my nose. "Graphically explained. A little too graphically. But that..." I tap one finger against the table, thinking, then slowly begin to nod. "Actually,I think that might actually be a lot better than going it alone. A whole lot better. Hang on..." I dig deep into the pockets of my satchel, finally coming up with a bent card. 'Julian Advent," it reads, 'Editor, Night Times.' I drop it on the table. "I met him. On a busking night. He came up to me, gave me this card. His contact info is on it, on the other side." I look up, and grin. "Liam, you're a genuis."

i strap a scabbard across my back and slide the sword into it now with a metal shackle binding it to my arm and say "if i may boldy suggest a plan" i sit down at the table and continue "i say we kick in the door and murder them" a spider sitting on my shoulder looks at me and says "youre not the sharpest tool in the shed are ye?".

Smothering a grin, I shake my head, "That he isn't, but sometimes the dullest instruments do the most damage; I'll be happy to have him in a pinch. And while the organization doesn't have an actual name that Lenhahn or I have ever heard, we can just drop a tip and a few names... I would bet a number of Nightsiders would be upset if they knew that the one that blesses their bards and entertainers is the target of greed and extortion."

I shake my head "The nightside won't give a rats ass about that a fae is being targeted for extortion no matter what her title and duty's" I say "hell they wouldn't care if Juilen Advent were the target it would just be juicy gossip to them." I smile "however if we can find some names in the organization then we might have a starting point." i sigh "or did you forget, in the dark heart of London if you can't see the sucker. your it. Greed and debauchery rule more so then anything else"

Groaning, "I hate this place sometimes," I rest my head on the table next to my mug. Then, muffled through the arm of my coat, "I suppose this means I have to play bait so that we can nab one of the bastards."

"Yes, but it won't be too bad." I say quickly, "We'll have them in a noose snare this time." Three blank looks are the only response I get. I shrug. "None of you boys ever lived near woodland. You set up a noose trap so that when something reaches for the bait it has to reach through a noose, and then..." I mime a violent jerking motion. Then I grin. "I'm going to have an awful lot of fun yanking the noose on this lot."

And so we began. But it turned out to be harder to pull the noose than we thought; the prey just didn't seem to want to take the bait. We began by, in Djhuety's words, 'staking the lamb'; going into London proper and leaving Djhuety at a coffee house, a book store or a restaurant alone, while the rest of us secreted ourselves around the area; Kaija and Ignacy both hated it, because both of them had to hide their weapons. They complained, but I had no interest in wasting our money on bailing one of them out if the police took an interest in their large and obvious armaments.
We tried it for a week, and got nothing even resembling a result. We didn't even see anyone on surveillance. It was a letdown to say the least. And the fact that Ignacy got bored, and got quite talkative and annoyingly friendly with strangers when he got bored, didn't help. He kept getting distracted.
At the end of the week, we switched to doing our stakeout in the Nightside, with the idea that they might be looking for him there.
I lean against the roof-top bird coop behind me, looking down. At least Djhuety is enjoying himself; the lioness-waitress has stopped by his table, and he seems to be trying to chat her up. I smile, shaking my head. The Casanova routine. Well, at least he's amused.
I fill my own time by pulling out my penny whistle and running through a classic Dublin song, the little silvery spider on my shoulder singing along in its high voice. We've been using Tom, Dick and Harry as our way of staying in communication; since they can stay in contact with each other, they're perfect for keeping us connected. One of them stays with Ignacy and I, another with Liam and Kiaja, and Harry stays in Djhuety's pocket. This is a good solution to the problem of staying in touch, since few other things are practical and usable for all of us. Most magics are too obvious, and simple technology was a bad idea; when we started I had shorted out a walkie-talkie as I absentmindedly accepted it when Ignacy handed it to me.
Amused by the spider's singing, I play a slow version of 'Green grow the Rushes' "The sweetest hour I ever spent was spent among the lassies" warbles Tom on my shoulder.

"you know this stakeout stuff is a bunch of bullshit" i sigh "its nothing like in the movies there they got coffe and donuts and cool vans".

I nod in commiseration, twirling my flute between my fingers. "I've had a more interesting time watching paint dry. I think we're going to have to try something else soon." I stare down at Djhuety, wishing I was in his spot, sipping a drink in the light of street lamps. I'm getting truly sick of sitting up here in the dark.

"we should go get donuts and coffe and if we can a minivan" i say as i crack my fingers.

"He's a bit of a duffer, in't e'?" Tom warbles, looking over at Ignacy. I snort, trying not to laugh out loud.

i say "im serious! weve been doing this for like a bazillion years now and what results have we gotten?" i take breath and say "i still think my plan was best".

"I'm starting to agree with you." I say ruefully. Tom turns its little body from one of us to the other. "Well you two are a barrel of laughs."
I cock an annoyed brow at the little thing. "You're not helping, you know."

tom says "give me a body and il get you your sodding donuts governor".

I glance at him, surprised. "What do you mean? You're in a body." The spider rubs two of its legs together, a gesture that looks annoyed.

tom lets out a sigh and says "i wasnt always like this but lets just leave it at that".

I stare at the little spider for a long moment. Then I shrug. "If you want. Every man has his secret. Especially in the Nightside." Then I turn my gaze down to the street. How many words do I know to describe boredom? I start counting in my head. Words in English, Old English, Gaelic, Manx, Welsh, French, Spanish, Navajo, Anashanabe, Latin, Hill Tongue, River Tongue, the Old Tongue, the Plainsong, the Forest Tongue, the Seasong, Hebrew, an African language I picked up ten years ago...maybe fifty words in all. Fifty-five, maybe.

"god damnit i want some god damn donuts!" i say as play with my knife.

I sigh loudly. "Fine, we will go and get something to eat, if only you'll hush!" I stand. "But if we are recognized, we'll ruin all this work. Let me see..." I think for a long moment. Then I put my hands on Ignacy's chest. "Hold still."
Reaching out, I focus on the sense of who he is, the soul of him, and then I lay magic over it, like weaving a blanket to cover a light. Into the blanket I weave the way light should reflect from it, colors, shapes, textures. I stand back. Now Ignacy looks like a tall goth with a bright white mohawk and a tattoo of a raven on his forehead. I nod to myself. Then I cast my own glamoury, turning out as a girl in a very short skirt and thigh-high striped stockings, with cropped, bright blue hair. I smile. "That worked well. It won't last all that long though, maybe two hours." I glance back into the street.
"Right, there's a pastry shop at the end of the block, we can still see Djhuety from there. Let's be off."

i rise an eye at liv's skirt and straighten my coat muttering "i look like a damn pansy gangbanger".