Childish Troubles|Talen'sul Merc Guild

[Northen Light36]

It was a quiet morning at the Mercenary Guild and Amaro was using it to catch up on some well overdue paperwork and toying with the idea of seeing if Talon wanted to go out for a drink later in the day. It had been awhile.

He frowned slightly, noticing that Zevran's group had been away for some time now, but not so long that he was truely concerned. It was quite possible that they'd been sidetracked. Despite what Acqua and Zevran might think, Amaro was well aware of Zevran's second job. Few people who weren't thieves referred to his sister as 'Kit'.

Thinking of Acqua made Amaro glance towards his personal copy of the job list. He'd have to see if Acqua wanted to take on a job. It had been long enough that he knew she'd be getting restless again. Maybe he'd try and talk Talon into coming along for old time's sake.

Old time's sake... His good mood faded a little at the thought. It would never be like it used to be. Not without Alethia. Sometimes her death still cut him even more deeply then Vortai's had. Though both were moments he tried not to think about, aside from an idle hope of seeing them come spirit night.

Trying to distract himself, Amaro turned back to his work.

[Kender Bard]

All new recruits were directed to Amaro's office, when he was in, and this was no exception, though the mercenary who led the ten year old boy who looked like (and smelled like) he crawled out of the gutters, was trying very hard not to laugh. "New recruit to see you, Amaro," the merc said before leaving the pair alone, chuckling once he was gone.

The boy squared his shoulders to stand a little taller. "I'm here to join your guild," he announced.

[Northen Light36]

Amaro looked at the boy. Then turned right back to his paperwork. "You wouldn't even make a useful training dummy. Go play somewhere else."

He might have been more tactful if he'd still been in a good mood... but probably not.

[Kender Bard]

"I'm not playing," the boy protested. "And I'm a good fighter. Come on, take me on. I'll earn my keep twice over."

[Northen Light36]

Amaro scowled at the child. "Street fights aren't merc work, boy. And we're not looking to hire a floor scrubber. Get out before I throw you out and maybe I'll consider you at a later point. Such as ten years from now."

[Kender Bard]

The boy shook his head stubbornly. "You haven't even see me fight!" he protested, voice squeaking slightly with indignation. "This isn't fair! I'm not going anywhere until you make me a mercenary."

[Northen Light36]

"Life's not fair," Amaro replied, rising from his desk to walk over and attempt to grab the kid by the neck of his smelly tunic. "Time for you to leave, boy."

So much for a good day. All he needed now was to have Talon stroll in and lecture him on being nice just to top off the mountain of irritation.

[Kender Bard]

The boy ducked out from beneath his hand, quick as a cat. "No!" he shouted, moving backwards towards the door but not leaving. "At least watch me fight!"

[Northen Light36]

Amaro gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Fine," he muttered. "Go out to the training yard and wait."

There was a perfectly good lock on his door he could put to good use once the brat was out of the office.

[Kender Bard]

The boy looked at Amaro a bit warily but then smiled. "Okay," he agreed and scampered out to the training yard, eager to prove his mettle. Some of the mercenaries looked at him a bit strangely but otherwise didn't comment.

[Northen Light36]

Amaro firmly closed the door and locked it before returning to his work. "Gulible kid," he remarked with a laugh. You couldn't have fooled Acqua so easily when she was that age.

He wondered how long it would take the boy to get bored and leave.

[Kender Bard]

The boy was surprisingly patient for a child his age. He lasted a full half an hour before coming back to the door and banging loudly on it, once finding it locked. "You lied!" he shouted at the top of his voice. "You lied! Coward!"

[Northen Light36]

Amaro rolled his eyes and ignored the banging for as long as possible. Then, seriously annoyed, he got up and threw open the door. "Get in here, sit down and shut the hell up," he ordered, pulling the boy into the room and shoving him towards the spare chair.

Ignoring the child for a moment, he paced the room for a long moment. Then he turned a cold stare onto the boy and said, "You've got guts, boy. But you've got one hell of a death wish too. What we do here isn't a game. People die and no one is going to take pity on you cause you're a kid. Why in Taed's name do you think for one fucking second that I'm going to put my men's lives at stake to spare your damn ego?"

[Kender Bard]

If Amaro's anger scared the boy, he didn't show it. He sat up taller in his chair, a transparent attempt to make himself look older and bigger. "People die on the streets too," he declared haughtily. "But not me. I survive because I'm strong and smart. But if I gotta scrap for dinner, I'd rather do it for money than a mouthful of bread. So I'm not scared! And you're not going to put anyone at risk 'cause I can look out for myself. I do it already."

[Northen Light36]

Amaro sank into his chair and shook his head in disgust. "You sound like my little sister when she was only a bit older then you," he remarked, anger turning his voice cold. It was a tone that could make even Acqua flinch. "She was twelve when she got dragged into this line of work. She'd been a street brat too, and she still nearly didn't see thirteen."

He considered the boy for a long moment. "I won't take on an untrained kid. Not again, and street fighting isn't training." Amaro gave the child another long look. "But if it's copper you need, maybe we can come to an arrangement. What's your name?"