Warden Ibrahim al-Misr's office was just like the man himself: austere, on a good day. It seemed set up to intimidate anyone walking through the doors: the rangy, iron-haired wizard seated at his desk and a sleek black hound seated at each side. It said yes, I am the kind of person who brings a pair of attack dogs to work with me, and if you waste even one second of my time I will not hesitate to make them your problem.
Ibrahim sat occupied with whatever desk work Wardens did, a pen scratching on paper as he wrote (no computers here, the way magic liked to fry technology). The dogs sat still, like statues but alert if you looked — watching, and ready to spring at a threat.
They sprang at Ayesha as soon as she stepped inside, the two of them at once almost bowling her over...
...and she laughed. "My boys!" she exclaimed, grinning as she reached down to scratch behind an ear with her free hand. "Hi, hi, I missed you too, Noob! Ozzy, come 'ere—"
After a few more blissful moments of dog kisses and belly rubs, Ayesha straightened, steeling herself for the less fun part.
"Hi," she said to Ibrahim, even though hi always seemed weirdly informal. He seemed like a greetings, o Warden kind of guy, but Ayesha would have felt silly saying that. He'd left his paperwork aside, looking at her now. As usual, he didn't look happy with her, but she wasn't sure happy was an emotion that had ever once registered on his radar.
"I brought intel," she went on, placing the item she held on the desktop and sliding it toward him: the Velvet Glove's stolen ledger in its red-leather binding. "Not exactly the intel you were expecting, I know, but since that first outing didn't go exactly to plan, I wanted to make sure I had something for you."
@echomancerforhire
