<div class="floatleft">(http://i1240.photobucket.com/albums/gg481/indytims/azmantazzi1_zpsde91a8b0.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Anders<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Riften, Dockside<br/><strong>Time:</strong>2:45 am<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>La'Ora<br/><br/>Time crawled by slowly, and as it did, Anders was growing more and more anxious. He did his best to keep doubts out of his mind, doing his best to ignore all the what-ifs. 'What if' this woman knew nothing about his father? 'What if' this woman did not have the skill or ability or power to acquire the needed information? He'd be back at step one, and he'd been on that step for so long now. He mentally offered a quick prayer to the Thief, hoping that his 'contact', this 'La'Ora' would be able to help him.<br/><br/>Everyone had spoke of her, even as far north as Windhelm, as if she were some sort of ghost. Ghosts didn't scare Anders, in fact, nothing did, not when he was driven largely by anger and the thirst for revenge. He wasn't sure what to expect when he met her, but he was not going to be caught flat-footed or by surprise, that was for sure. Hence, he had arrived early, much ahead of time in order to find a good place to wait in darkness.<br/><br/>Time continued to creep on past, and he glanced up at the night sky, trying to tell how late it was by the stars. Another patrol wandered past - a man who seemed so bored that a hoard of daedra could have been crashing down on Riften and he probably wouldn't have noticed. The guard's path had become predictable, which made Anders smirk. Some defense this place had.<br/><br/>After a time, he slowly started to get nervous. What if it had all been for show, like a snipe hunt? What if it was merely meant to throw him off her trail? What if this La'Ora was not even IN Riften? Anger threatened to bellow up from within him, starting in the pit of his stomach and threatening to rise, but he held his temper in check. It would do no good to rage on the dock.<br/><br/>Something was suddenly... different. The slight change in the air, like a different scent being introduced to it. His nostrils flared slightly, the faint brush of something - leather, perhaps? - against wood. And then the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.<br/><br/>He spun in a blur, both weapons drawn in an instant, his stance going low and making himself as small a target to his assailant as possible. His blades each rested down the length of his forearms, the tips jutting just past his elbows. Bigger than daggers, smaller than long blades or a broad sword, his short swords were perfect for speed, precision and damage. Right now, his arms were raised in a defensive posture, awaiting the first incoming attack. But, none came.<br/><br/>Instead, his eyes settled on a figure cloaked in black leathers, and the outline of the figure was -obviously- feminine. That distraction lasted only a millisecond as his eyes looked down her body and back upward, but he knew that the distraction had been long enough that if she had wanted him dead - he would be. Perhaps that was her intent, dressing as she did, and currently she leaned nonchalantly against a wooden post.<br/><br/>She casually asked if he was expecting someone, and though her voice was sultry smooth, almost inviting, he felt that he could almost hear a mocking smile beneath her tone. She had him dead to rights, obviously, and -could- have killed him, which told him several things. First, she was -good-. Second, she was the person he sought, and third, she was curious enough not to kill him, and at least curious enough to ask him what the hell he wanted.<br/><br/>"La'Ora, I presume?" he said, his visage stern, one eyebrow raised as he posed the rhetorical question. Slowly, he began to sheathe his weapons. It was pointless to keep them out at this point. If she had wanted him dead, he'd have been dead already. It had to be her. It -could- have been another underling, but after what he had done to the other 'messenger', he doubted she'd send another plebe to do her bidding.<br/><br/>"We have just over three minutes before the guard returns," Anders muttered softly. "If he sees or hears us, he'll sound the alarm, which will be four to six more guards running, less than a minute behind, so I'll make his short and sweet," he said.<br/><br/>"You reportedly sell<em>information</em>. I am looking for someone. A man. A human to be precise, approximately my height with deep blue eyes, black hair, pale skin, an Imperial Officer. He has a very unique and noticeable tattoo on his left arm and shoulder, a swirling pattern from neck to elbow. He has been in Skyrim for over two decades, having served across the province. I've already searched Windhelm, and no one there knew of him, and the people there sent me here - to you. Those details should be enough for you to either possibly have the info already, or be able to find it. I will offer you ten septims in advance, and ten more septims upon the delivery of -reliable- information as to his whereabouts," he said, his voice steady and emotionless as he described his needs quickly. "I will remain in town if you must seek out this information."<br/><br/>"I was told you were the person to speak to," he said, his eyes glancing down her body once more - and finding her form even -more- distracting then before. "And I am hoping that the rumors about you are true - if you truly -are- the 'Ghost of Riften' that I have been told so much about," he said, his eyes moving quickly back up to meet hers.<br/><br/>"So... will you aid me? Or am I wasting my time here?" he asked. Anders wasn't sure what the protocol was in Skyrim for meetings like this, but in Morrowind, they were usually brutal, cutthroat and physical. He was ready for all three, should it be required. But he hoped that she was as much a 'businesswoman' as he had heard. If money was her motivating factor, he had offered her a hefty sum for merely a few words of information.<br/><br/>His own blue eyes held steady, flashing brightly even in the dim lighting of the area, refusing to show a single hint of fear or intimidation regardless who stood before him. His features were obviously not human, but not dunmer - but definitely something in between. He waited patiently, even though as he had mentioned, time was ticking down and at least one of the guards would be by in a few minute's time...<br/><br/>