<span style="font-style: italic">Why he always chooses places like this...</span>she grumbled to herself.<br/><br/>She was very late for their arranged meeting. If he was still there, she would have to hear about how much of an inconvenience he'd endured. She really wasn't in the mood. She entered the tavern quickly and peered around. It was late. Very late. Most of the room's inhabitants were sleeping, or nearly there. She spotted the man she'd come to see quickly. He sat in a chair before the fire, picking at his nails with a dagger, staring at the flames. She hurried to his side, seeing no reason for subterfuge when no one else was conscious.<br/><br/>"Ran into trouble with the guards."<br/><br/>"You're late."<br/><br/>"Should I repeat myself?"<br/><br/>"You have it?"<br/><br/>"You have any doubt?"<br/><br/>She shrugged out of her pack, settled it to the ground, then reached down to pull something out of the cuff of her leggings. It was a tiny bundle wrapped in light leather. She handed it to him, sitting with a huff of breath in the chair beside him.<br/><br/>"You have what I need?"<br/><br/>"Of course." he lowered his hand to his lap and picked up something she'd not noticed was there. He handed the item to her without ever taking his eyes off the fire, "Next time, I will not wait. Do not keep me waiting, Foxtail."<br/><br/>She pulled the rolled parchment open, glanced over the page, "Next time, pick a location that makes sense, and-" she looked up and her words trailed off. He was gone.