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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 6, 2011 23:04:04 GMT -5
Despite thirteen hundred years of experience and a great deal of cultivated patience, Maxim Horvath did not care to be kept waiting.
He sat in the study that two days before had been host to an entire class of new apprentice sorcerers, dressed in a crisply tailored black suit and white shirt, both hands resting on the jeweled knob of his cane.
"She's late," he commented to his apprentice.
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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 6, 2011 23:51:42 GMT -5
Anna Stutler shrugged, absently fingering through a new page of sheet music. "So much for this chick being a professional." If her boss was the image of neatness, Anna was barely contained chaos. Her chucks swung from her perch on the desk.
To say that they young woman was not thrilled with the arrangement would be an understatement. But Horvath was the boss, and he was letting her sit in on the meeting. So she would keep her displeasure to a minimum.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 7, 2011 0:04:04 GMT -5
He easily read his protege's displeasure with the situation and filed it away for future reference. She was getting better at hiding her displeasure though, which was good. Anna needed to learn to keep her emotions hidden from people who might use them against her.
"All I ask is that you are polite during the interview," he told her. "I will be interested in hearing your opinions of Miss Go afterward, before I make a final decision. Never let a potential hireling believe they are so important that they automatically command an immediate offer of a position. Always make them wait, Anna. It reminds them who is in charge."
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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 7, 2011 0:23:20 GMT -5
"So what does it mean that she's keeping us waiting?" Anna asked innocently. She tapped her left hand fingers on her leg, running the fingerings for her cello music. It was either that, or blow up glass baubles. She was getting bored with waiting.
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 7, 2011 0:28:23 GMT -5
The old sorcerer gave a tiny shrug. "Either she was genuinely delayed- and we live in New York City, my dear, one of the largest metropoli in the country and we both know what traffic can be like- or she is attempting to put us on the defensive somehow. She may be hoping to exploit our annoyance and wrest control of the situation away from us. It's not an uncommon trick from people who are at the top of their field, or near it. It goes with the ego."
Horvath tapped his fingers on the end of his cane. If that was what Miss Go was attempting, it would not be successful with him. He had learned long ago to not let others steal control from him.
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Post by Shego on Feb 7, 2011 20:02:02 GMT -5
“I didn’t keep you waiting did I?” asked Shego dismissively as she slipped in through the window, lithely leaping from the window frame to the chair that waited for her in a single bound, “see I was on my way here when this little number caught my eye,” She gestured to the designer jacket which had been fastened over her usual catsuit, “and I just couldn’t resist stopping to take it. What can I say? I’ve always had an eye for a bargain.” She giggled darkly, idly removing the garment’s security tag with one clawed hand as she did so and letting it drop to the floor.
It had only taken her a moment to get the measure of Hovarth and his apprentice. He seemed to be the type of pretentious, wannabe overlord who thought far too much of himself (the cane was a dead giveaway) that she encountered on an almost daily basis in her line of work, whilst the girl seemed to be the standard run-of-the-mill bubble-headed accomplice. If it wasn’t for the rumours of his wealth and power Shego would have left at once; however her sources had been adamant that Maxim might just pull the whole domination thing off.
“So,” began Shego, suddenly businesslike, “how can I help you?”
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 7, 2011 22:25:50 GMT -5
Horvath appraised the woman who had just swung in through the window. That was a nice little trick, as his apartment occupied the penthouse level of a twenty-five story building. Not many people could manage to get in through a window that high up.
As he might expect from a mercenary with her obvious talents, she appeared to have an arrogant, self-centered streak. Fine. Arrogance he could tolerate so long as she recalled who was in charge.
"You came to us seeking a position," the old sorcerer pointed out with a faint smile. "As it happens, your particular talents in the field of specialized thefts are ones I have use for."
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Post by Shego on Feb 7, 2011 23:41:39 GMT -5
“Well duh,” replied Shego dryly, rolling her eyes at the overly formal manner in which the sorcerer addressed her, “you wouldn’t have responded to my offer if you didn’t.” As she spoke, she reached into a concealed pouch in her outfit and drew out a small file, which she began to apply to the metallic claws on her gloves.
“I saw your little advert offering magical training,” she continued, apparently paying more attention to filing each claw down to a perfect point than to the people in the room, “cute idea, Dumbledore.” She could just imagine the type of person who would respond to that advert: naive teenagers who still believed in unicorns and thought ‘expelliarmus’ was a real spell.
“However, that means you've got no shortage of magical assistance,” concluded Shego, “so I’m guessing that whatever job it is you need me for is something that magic alone can't do.” She finally tucked the file away again, looking up at Hovarth with a sly grin. “Am I right?”
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 8, 2011 0:03:10 GMT -5
Not quite true, but close enough. In this instance, hiring a professional thief would be simpler than trying to steal the items he needed with magic. At least she had enough brains to be competent, unlike his little collection of students.
Like them, however, Miss Go would only know part of what was actually going on.
"That is correct," he replied. "And it never hurts to have options available in the event of unforeseen circumstances. If a threat from you staves off some difficulty, I save power and you earn a paycheck."
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Post by Shego on Feb 8, 2011 0:34:10 GMT -5
The man’s logic made sense, Shego gave him that, however she’d worked with enough villains over the years to know when she wasn’t being told everything that was going on. Of course, this was common practice in the criminal world, especially in the case of a mercenary like her, so she didn’t press the matter.
“Guess we should start with the basics,” she suggested, looking over at Hovarth and his apprentice almost as if she was the one interviewing them and not vice-versa. In a way this observation was true, after all Shego didn’t offer her services to every villain who came along, only those she judged to be the best of the crop (this year’s selection of new super-villains had been especially pathetic, hence why she’d been forced to seek out employment rather than accepting the offers that came in).
“I’ve got your modus operandi noted, so the next thing is: what’s your overall motive? Please tell me it’s more original than Drakken’s gig; I mean who even wants to rule the world these days?”
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 8, 2011 0:48:41 GMT -5
Horvath raised one dark eyebrow.
"My dear Miss Go," he said mildly, "Everyone knows that the real position of power is the one behind the throne. And do recall that what my eventual goal is has little to do with the work you would be performing. The job is simple. You steal what I require and occasionally perform other tasks as I need you to and you get paid."
The sorcerer made a mental note to upgrade the wards on his home and possessions. Possibly Anna's as well. He'd rather not let Miss Go snoop around wherever she felt like. She was a thief, such behavior was almost to be expected.
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Post by Anna Stutler on Feb 8, 2011 1:39:15 GMT -5
Anna had kept her mouth shut, content to observe, mostly because it wasn't her place to interfere. She had moved to a chair next to the bookcase--mostly to give her boss and Shego a little space, but also so that she could flank her master if some attack occurred. Not that Horvath needed her help, but still.
Not sitting in the chair itself, Anna rested her feet on the seat, sitting on the back of the chair. She pulled out her laptop and began clicking through various files. Some of the scrolls and such that Horvath had earmarked for theft, in case the thief was curious. Then she began to retrace her steps into the files of lady green herself. Just to make sure that they hadn't missed anything. She also wanted to know if the robbery of the jacket had perked anyone's ear. Shego wouldn't do them any good if she was all flash.
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Post by Shego on Feb 8, 2011 22:37:03 GMT -5
Shego’s customary smirk slipped slightly as Hovarth answered her, for it was becoming increasingly apparent that he was no amateur (well, he was more knowledgeable than Drakken at the very least, not that this was a difficult level to reach). She had it back in place a moment later however, as he attempted to placate her with a feeble reason for not explaining things.
“Yeah, it’s not nearly so simple,” retorted Shego, running one claw along the arm of her chair as she spoke and gouging a slight scratch into the surface, “see, people confuse being ‘evil’ with being ‘insane’”. She air-quoted these two words to emphasise her point, eyes momentarily flicking to the girl as she did so, who was now paying more attention to her computer screen than to the interview.
“Thing is,” continued Shego, turning her attention back onto Hovarth, “there are certain things even I won’t help you do. So if you’re going to run with this ‘mysterious leader’ thing, which is so old by the way, then I’m out.”
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Post by Maxim Horvath on Feb 8, 2011 22:52:50 GMT -5
Horvath shrugged, feigning nonchalance. After all, she was the one who had come to him. Had he been the one to approach Miss Go first, he might be willing to indulge her a little. But that was not the case. She was the one who wanted work, and Horvath knew that he could always scare up another professional thief if Miss Go decided that his terms were unacceptable. He wasn't desperate.
"I have no interest in ruling the world, if that's what concerns you," he said dismissively. "Given your caliber, I am willing to pay you fifty percent more than your going rate for similar services." He could certainly afford the rate. His finances were doing well- which was only to be expected, since some of his accounts dated back to when banks were invented and had had plenty of time to accumulate interest.
"Those are the terms, Miss Go. You may take them or leave them if you wish. Should you chose to refuse my offer, I will simply find another thief for my purposes."
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Post by Shego on Feb 9, 2011 18:50:13 GMT -5
Shego was momentarily taken aback by Hovarth’s offer, for it was certainly far more generous than she was used to in the criminal underworld. Of course, that didn’t automatically mean that she was going to accept the offer, after all his continuing reticence to reveal what he was planning was getting on her nerves. Shego’s limits weren’t that extreme (no wetworks, no mind control, no apocalypse, to cover the basics), however his refusal to divulge his intentions gave her the distinct impression that he knew she wouldn’t approve of it.
“It’s just Shego,” she corrected in an irritated tone, “and I have to say, you’re kind of a joke.” She smirked, resting her head on one hand as the claws on the other dug into the arm-rest of her chair. Her eyes flicked over to the window for a fraction of a second, ensuring that her exit route was still easily accessible before she continued speaking.
“I came to you because I’d heard you were this big bad guy, but really,” she giggled, “how can I take someone seriously when the gimmick they’ve chosen is to be some kind of magician pimp?” She was bluffing of course, covering her annoyance with bravado, however this was an area in which she’d had a lot of practice. Springing to her feet, she leapt across to the window, perching on the ledge again for a moment to offer one last thought.
“But hey, you’ve got potential. Call me some time when you want to talk for real.” Pausing only to check that the security tag from the jacket had indeed scurried out of sight during the meeting as she had intended it to, she stepped off the ledge. After dropping about a foot she hit the rocket board she’d arrived on, and took off without a look back.
((Rocket board sounds so childish, I know, but I can't think of another way to describe what she uses in the show.))
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