#murderkings

"Thank you for your kindness in trying to filter the people I might want to work with," she said with acidically perfect politeness, "I think I can figure out who the bigoted fools are for myself." She turned back in the doorway to add, "After all, I have no lack of experience."

Several of the groups whose turn it was to take interns were willing to take her on the basis of her academic records. She made her own choice among them. She was a Matchmaker, after all.

Ne Fa worked with a Matchmaker pair who were working on cross-cultural marriages along the border of Neben-an-Diné. They took a good month to realize that she wasn't a cis woman, and another couple of weeks to stop looking at her oddly. They were too well trained to make any comment beyond "Ah. Have we been using the right pronouns?", but Ne Fa was greatly relieved when they went back to asking her for paperwork without stumbling over her name. 

Mos Nan came to her as her internship was ending. He was a nervous man, nearly five years her senior. He'd partnered with an older woman during the last few years of her career, and was left partnerless by her retirement.

He wanted, he said, to partner with Ne Fa.

"You're good," he said, twisting his fingers anxiously, "Very good. You tend to catch the little personal details that become really important in the long term, which are just what I miss. And I'm good at the big-picture social-political things, which you don't seem to focus on as much."

Ne Fa stared at him for a moment. He seemed absolutely sincere. It was a perfectly reasonable proposal -- she was going to need to find a work-group of some kind, and partnerships were among the most common types. She just hadn't expected to get sought out. 

"You'll need to think about it, of course," Mos Nan stammered. (Ne Fa could see how his diffidence could be used to put nervous clients at ease.) "I'm sure you'll get other offers, for one thing."

Ne Fa nodded as if she believed him and pulled the file toward her.

"You've read my file?" she asked. Mos Nan nodded. "Did you have a particular region in mind?"

"Yes," he said, "I've got an offer from a high family for the next two years-- three marriages. My old partner was some kind of friend of the family and recommended me. It would start in four months, they've got people who get out of school then." Ne Fa nodded again. Matchmaking interviews during school final tests tended to be less accurate because the short-term stress distorted normal behavior.

"I'll draw up a test-contract for just that length of time then, and get back to you in a month so you know whether you need to find someone else. Unless you don't want to work with me -- I'm trans." The word she used was An-Dinean, as the An-Dine had a much more positive attitude toward gender than Ne Fa's Betrian countryfolk.

Mos Nan nodded. "I hope you aren't trying to be discrete about it -- five different people told me."

Ne Fa laughed. It was that or scream. "I'd appreciate it," she said, "if you didn't spread it around." Mos Nan nodded gently.

"Of course not," he said, "Its none of my business anyway."

Ne Fa actually felt like laughing at that.