"Don't laugh," Riz scolded, but she was smiling, too -- all in good humor.  She knew it must have been obvious that she had no idea what she was talking about.<br/><br/>"I won't let you go unprepared, I promise.  A dead partner's bad business, and an incompetent partner is even<em>worse</em>!"  She let out a little laugh of her own, and crossed her arms over her stomach as she leaned back in her chair.<br/><br/>"If I just told you," she said, "That would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?"  She sat up quickly, and her shoes clacked against the floor as she took on that more attentive position.  "And it's a good surprise -- the fun kind of surprise, not the stab-you-in-the-dark-with-a-poison-dagger kind of surprise, too.  Promise."