Work Text:
Fog sat heavily over the darkened streets of Neverwinter, turning the humans bustling around him into nothing more than heavy blotches on a muted canvass of greys and blacks. The air was crisp, and it bit at the exposed skin of Kravitz’ face. He turned the collar of his coat up to fight the chill.
His hard-soled shoes clicked on the wet pavement as he approached the unassuming door, a narrow building sandwiched between a hat emporium and a cigar shop, and pulled the black leather glove off his hand to rap his bare knuckles against the unmarked wood.
The door opened barely an inch, revealing a sliver of golden light from within.
“Can I help you?” came an accented, feminine voice.
“I’m searching for someone. I’m told this is the place to go for help with a problem like that.”
The door opened all the way, and Kravitz was greeted by the sight of a young elf woman, her dark hair pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck. She was wearing a smart suit, and her lipstick was a bright red.
“Come on in, Mister…?”
“Kravitz,” he replied, following her into a grimy stairwell and watching as she closed and locked the door behind them. He took off his other glove and tucked both of them safely in his coat pocket. As she pushed past him towards the stairs, he took his hat from his head and held it against his chest.
“Charmed to meet you, Mister Kravitz. I’m Ren. I’ll lead you to a place you can wait, and I’ll let the Detective know you’re here.”
He followed her up the creaking stairs, eyes lingering on the peeling paint and the sloping steps. There were water stains on the ceiling, and the entire place had the heavy, lingering scent of mildew. If Kravitz hadn’t heard first-hand praise of this detective agency, he would have felt nervous. Even so, unease sat in his stomach like curdled milk.
The landing on the top of the stairs led into a small sitting room, and it was nicer than the stairwell had been. Velvet-upholstered chairs, side tables of dark wood, a wine-red rug, and a gaudy lamp all worked to give the room the class the entrance had been lacking. It was class that had been thinly painted on, like makeup caked over scar tissue, but Kravitz felt it was the thought that counted.
“You can wait here, Mister Kravitz,” Ren said, and the click-click of her kitten heels disappeared around the bend of the hallway.
He was not alone in the sitting room. Across from the chair he folded himself into was an elf man with golden hair, wearing a shimmering purple top and a pair of sharply-cut pants, and Kravitz was taken by the way the rest of the room seemed to dim around him, as vibrant as he looked sitting there. Long fingers tapped an impatient beat on his knee, carefully crossed over his other leg.
“Are you going to stare all night, or is there something you’d like to say to me?” the man said in a lilting voice, startling Kravitz from his daze.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stare.” Kravitz hated the way his words tumbled awkwardly from his mouth, especially in the face of such easy beauty.
“I’d be offended if it wasn’t flattering.” A grin slashed dangerously across his mouth. “What brings you to this drab place, thug?”
“What brings anyone to this place? I’m missing someone.”
The man hummed. “I can’t imagine coming here for anything less. Have you ever seen such awful interior decorating? Dreadful.”
Kravitz let out a small laugh, surprised by this man’s sharp personality. “The stairwell almost turned me right around,” Kravitz admitted. “But the work this man does speaks for itself.”
“Can find any person in Faerûn, or so it goes,” the man replied. “I’m Taako,” he said, holding out a hand.
Kravitz leaned into the space between them and took it, a shock of warmth against his palm. “Kravitz.”
“You have cold hands, Kravitz,” Taako said, taking his hand back.
“The curse of poor circulation.”
They fell silent for a moment, and Kravitz could hear yelling through the wall that they shared with the building next door. This was not a charming part of Neverwinter, to be sure.
“If this man is so good, why doesn’t he move someplace nicer?” Kravitz asked, dragging fingertips across the cheap velvet tacked over the armrest of his chair.
“He likes his anonymity,” Taako replied. “It was hard enough to find the place.”
“I wonder what he’s hiding.”
“We’re all hiding something, aren’t we?” Taako shrugged. “Though this man must be hiding a lot. I’ve never seen a picture of him, have you?”
Kravitz shook his head.
“Well, as long as he’s as good as his reputation.” Taako tucked a loose strand of gold hair behind a pointed ear. “Who are you looking for?”
Kravitz sighed. “Technically, she works for me, but it’s a complicated situation.”
Taako tilted his head. “Are you close?”
“Close enough.”
Taako looked away and his crossed leg bobbed in time to music only he could hear. “I’m here for my sister.”
“I’m sorry. That’s awful.”
“It’s been a rough few weeks. But if anyone can find her... I wrote him a letter a few days ago, and he told me he already had a few leads he wanted to follow.”
“That sounds promising.” Kravitz looked down at the hat in his lap and traced the stitching with his eyes, nerves churning in his stomach. “I can only hope he knows how to track someone down without knowing what they look like.”
Taako leaned forward in his seat, intrigued. “What do you mean?”
“My work situation is… interesting, to say the least. I’ve never actually seen her.”
“Well that certainly makes things more challenging,” Taako replied, and when Kravitz looked up at him, he had two perfect eyebrows raised in disbelief. “You must be an agent of some sort. An assassin?”
Kravitz shook his head. “I really shouldn’t talk about it with a stranger.”
Taako didn’t seem offended. “Well, best of luck. I hope you find your colleague.”
Kravitz gave him a smile he knew didn’t reach his eyes. “Thank you.” He glanced at the hallway where Ren had disappeared. “I didn’t anticipate waiting this long.”
“If I were him, I’d keep people waiting on purpose. Build up the suspense.”
“Maybe that’s exactly what he’s doing.”
Taako shifted in his seat, uncrossing and re-crossing his legs. His purple shirt shimmered in the dim lighting, and Kravitz’ gaze was drawn to the long line of his throat. This man truly was stunning. “Ugh. He could really invest in more comfortable chairs.”
The click-click of Ren’s heels sounded down the hallway, and she emerged around the bend and smiled at the two of them.
“You can both come on back.”
Kravitz and Taako shared a look, equally baffled.
“Both of us?” Kravitz asked.
“Yes, sir,” she replied.
They both stood and followed her with creaking footsteps down the dimly-lit hallway that ended in a door with one fogged glass panel with the Detective’s name worked out in gold serif font.
Ren opened the door. “Mr. Kravitz and Mr. Taako, sir.”
She stood back and allowed the two of them to enter the dark office. It was lit by nothing but one desk lamp, which was illuminating a file folder, open, documents scattered across the wide desk. The desk chair was turned around so they couldn’t see the figure sitting in it.
Ren closed the door behind them, sealing them in this dark office.
The desk chair spun.
“Hello, sirs! I’m Detective Angus McDonald.”
Kravitz felt he was surely hallucinating. Or that someone was pulling a complicated prank on him.
“What the hell?” Taako hissed. “Why’s there a kid in here?”
“I may be a kid, but I’m the best Detective in Neverwinter,” Angus replied, his small voice serious. “How else would I have figured out that you two are looking for the same person?”
A thick silence fell as they both chewed on that. How small the world was.
“Don’t worry, sirs, I’m going to find Lup. This will be fun!”
Kravitz glanced sidelong at Taako, who was staring at Angus with a slack jaw. Angus was now rifling through the papers on his desk, and Kravitz thought, what the hell? His life was already strange. This was just another layer to an already gaudy cake. If some boy wonder was the only one capable of finding Lup, then so be it.
Kravitz was already looking forward to more time spent with Taako.