Despite what he expected, the room didn't stay quiet for long. However, as expected, it was Nira who broke the split second silence.
"Okay Flynn! I suppose you're likely wondering what the job actually is, so I'll get into that now!"
Energetic as ever…
Nira got up from where she was sitting at the table and made her way to the opposite side of it to Flynn. She placed her palms on the table before leaning forward, likely so she got what she wanted to say easily understood.
"To put it simply, we help the public through commissions, our services are cheaper than official forces for this specific matter which also allows us to receive more jobs."
That sounds kind of… illegal?
"We deal with all kinds of things; from lost pets to hauntings to criminal investigations."
"Hauntings?"
Flynn was sure ghosts aren't actually a real thing. Was it just acting on others' superstitions?
That's a lot of variety… However she may be lying to me to get cheap labour.
Acting as private investigators too… That seems far too prestigious for what looks like a group of ruffians. The only one who looked like a normal person was Elira if you ignored her ears. Slightly suspicious I'll be honest.
Nira seemed slightly surprised by Flynn questioning the hauntings but paid it no mind.
"I'll explain at a later time, back on topic, I should probably lay out the risks of what we do."
Nira stood up straight and held up her hand, only one finger up as she spoke again
"Firstly, we do sometimes enter combat with other people or creatures."
A second finger goes up.
"Secondly, we need to be able to keep our emotions in check. Our customers aren't always great people."
Then a third finger.
"Thirdly, we are no official company or organisation, therefore under the twisted law of the country, we are constantly committing crimes."
Then finally, a fourth finger.
"And finally, we sometimes uncover something we're not supposed to see."
This job seemed pretty normal, combat isn't particularly uncommon so that's not surprising. That last bit though, what the fuck do you mean 'not supposed to see'? Why so cryptic?
Flynn then spoke up in his usual, bored-sounding tone of voice. He asked what he believed the truly important part was.
"And what's the pay and benefits of this job?"
And now that I think about it, everyone else has been completely silent so far…
Nira's eyes sparkled as if she had been waiting for this question.
"Well! First of all there's obviously what we're paid for our commissions, that's the form of income…"
Okay… Straight to the point…
"The benefits, aside from pay, are as follows. You gain allies with experience and strength, every single one of us is able to hold our own in a fight. You also gain access to our armoury, which is self explanatory, we share weapons and armour with each other and have
something for every style of combat. We also all live together, we'll grant ya a place to stay!"
Flynn placed his elbow on the table, holding up his head with his hand whilst his index finger wrapped around his chin. He did this often without realising.
Very inclusive, they all seem like combat-related benefits, perhaps this job is far more related to combat than I had initially suspected… And a place to stay is what I need right now…
"And for the rest… You'll have to find out for yourself."
Nira said that last part in a more stern tone than she usually would, as if she was hiding some secrets.
Okay… Ominous… But if they're beneficial I shouldn't worry too much…. However I should take into account the fact that everyone likes to call themselves strong. Promising a place to stay is big too but by the looks of it she's telling the truth about them living together.. That would also explain why they were eating dinner together.
Flynn then glances at Paul's open chest, the hairs visible.
Physically speaking, they do have strength.
There's too many variables here for this to be an easy decision, ugh.
Flynn held in a frustrated sigh as to not seem rude towards the woman, she had been nice to him so he wanted to repay that.
She then leant over the table, face inches away from his which caused him to jump slightly. This caused him to lift his head off his hand and lean back slightly.
"So what'dya say Flynn?"
"Uh!"
Flynn didn't have much time to react, the noise accidentally slipping out in surprise.
However Flynn was able to quickly compose himself.
"I'm not sure."
Flynn expected the woman to be at least disappointed, but instead she laughed. Standing back up straight.
"Haha! Then see for yourself!"
Perhaps they can live up to it?
Flynn's facial expression represented his thoughts well, his curiosity was obvious by his slightly widened eyes and almost closed mouth.
How is it they plan to show me?
As if she was a telekinetic, Nira answered his question before he could even ask it.
"You'll accompany us for a small commission on the 15th of May, nothing too big, just an exorcism."
Surely an exorcism is a bit pretentious, especially for this. Most people don't even believe spirits exist.
Everyone else's expressions remained unchanging, as if this was normal to them. The one who seemed the most different was Elira, her expression also being slightly confused.
Flynn wasn't against the idea, although he'd need to find a place to stay for the five days between then and now.
"That sounds fine to me."
Nira looked unnervingly happy about that.
"Great! Until then you are free to stay here with the rest of us!"
That's that issue solved for a bit then.
To his surprise though, the rest of the room didn't comment on this arrangement, was this a common thing?
"Anything to sweeten the deal."
Flynn remarked. That had sweetened the deal a little bit at least.
All Nira did was grin at him, like she always did.
She quickly hopped over to the table and held out her hand towards Flynn.
"Alright then! You'll stay with us until the 15th of May when you'll take part in an exhibition slash initiation commission with us, does that sound good?"
She just repeated everything we just discussed…
Flynn didn't say his thoughts out loud, simply sighing before he shook her hand.
"It's settled then! I'll go fix up the spare room we have, just need to put some things away, that's all!"
Flynn watched as she hurried away up the stairs to another room, presumably the one she had mentioned him staying in.
There are risks to staying with people I just met obviously… however I don't really have anywhere else to go, I'll just be cautious.
The room was now awkwardly quiet now that the loud one had exited, however this didn't bother Flynn much.
Using the chance, Flynn would speak to Elira, wanting to know more about her strangely big and pointed ears.
"Elira was it?"
"Just say Lyra."
Lyra spoke somewhat harshly as well as dismissively as if she didn't want to speak to him, albeit he didn't know why. Lyra also didn't look at him, keeping her ears facing forwards, why was that?
"Why are your ears like that?"
She has ears like the elves in children's books… is it a birth defect?
She stayed quiet. Her face went ever so slightly red however Flynn couldn't see that, she was embarrassed.
Eventually, after 2 or 3 seconds, she spoke.
"It's uh… It's hard to believe."
She says that as if she's about to tell me she's an elf, one of the most famous fictional creatures.
"But I'm an elf"
Are you fucking serious.
"Huh?"
Flynn didn't believe what he'd just heard.
An elf, is she serious?
"I did say it's hard to believe"
Lyra speaks with an even more irritated tone, as if this happens a lot when she tells people.
"You're really an elf?"
Flynn didn't know what to say, but perhaps if she wasn't lying he could learn some useful information about them.
"Could you tell me more?"
Lyra seemed surprised at his question. Quickly shooting her head to the side to look at Flynn, causing her violet hair to slap the back of Paul's head. Paul flinched slightly but that was all.
Why is she surprised? Is she not used to people being curious about it?
Beginning to speak, Lyra's tone seemed to have changed, she spoke with a lighter tone.
"Well… there's not many of us left, I'm one of the few that doesnt follow the ser- the tribe. I wanted to be more independent."
She cut herself off.. That was kind of strange.
"Is that… all?"
I had expected more honestly…
"We're effectively humans with different ears."
Flynn was slightly surprised at the simplicity to them.
"That's simpler than I'd expected."
Lyra looked puzzled for a second as if she was trying to understand something.
"You don't think they're weird?"
She asked this question with curiosity in her tone, she wasn't used to this after all.
"I have better things to worry about than the shape of someone's ears."
I wonder if she has been discriminated against before… Her being surprised would imply that.
Flynn didn't notice that the other two had already left the room until just now.
"Where did the other two go?"
Her expression changed to one of slight confusion and shock.
"You didn't see them leave?"
"I was more focused on learning about elves so I guess not"
"They've gone to their rooms already."
As Lyra said that, a familiar, energetic voice could be heard calling Flynn from the stairs.
"Your room is ready!"
Lyra chuckled at her energy.
Flynn's chair scraped as he stood up from the table, his eyes looking down at Lyra before he began to walk.
"Goodnight Lyra."
"Goodnight."
Flynn turned and began walking to the stairs that were to the left of the room, so he'd have to walk past Lyra.
Lyra also stood up and walked to a room at the far end of the building on the first floor.
I'm guessing the men have the second floor and the women have the first.
Flynn ascended the wooden stairs, which creaked every now and then after a step, and walked through the door being held open by Nira. The room itself was very clean, no doubt the work of Nira.
How does she have the energy for this stuff and still never seem tired.
"You did a great job by the looks of it."
Nira grinned triumphantly behind Flynn, holding the door open with her back still.
"I know right!"
Flynn chuckled at her self compliment.
"Anyways, I'll take my leave now, goodnight."
"Sweet dreams Flynn!"
Nira waved as she exited the room, the door no longer being held open therefore it closed behind her.
Flynn slowly wandered over to the bed and sat on the side of it, he didn't know what the time was but looking out the window he'd see both the rain stopped and the moon was high in the sky. The meeting took a few hours at least somehow.
Flynn laid back, bouncing slightly on the impact of hitting the bed, and his mind began to collect what he knew.
Exorcisms… Elves? Do I really live in the world I thought it to be? Isiah seemed oddly quiet and Paul seems to have adopted him which is nice I suppose. The pay is entirely based on the job they take on… however he would get a place to stay. While there's a lot of pros to this job, however the cons are all mysteries. Like what actually happens at said excorcisms? Are ghosts actually a thing like they're making them out to be? Elves seem to be real which is already a shock to me? I guess I'll have to sleep on it.
Flynn rotated and adjusted his position on the bed so his head was on the pillow.
I'll have to be weary for now too.
He closed his eyes and slowly went to sleep, making sure to still be alert in case anything happened.