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He appeared in a cloud of cologne, some kind of smell she recognized but couldn't quite put her finger on. She could sense he was a goblin before even catching him in the corner of her eye by how he made the hairs on her neck stand on end, like a chill-less shudder.
"It's most unfortunate that, what the Hand of the Titans did."
"Is it? I thought the Cartels thrived on conflict." Raizka gave the goblin a sidelong glance as he slipped into the seat beside her without asking, which was nothing new, uninvited people rarely do. She didn't recognize this one, blonde curls falling to his shoulders, long sharp ears with surprisingly few earrings and a nose that could poke an eye out. He was almost cute, in a house pet kind of way, long blonde eyelashes that made his dark green skin pop. But despite his slightly unusual looks he spoke the same as the rest of them. Perhaps it was company policy. Either way he most definitely presumed to know her.
"We thrive on good business! And whether this rebellion deal is or not is still up in the air, it could go either way at this point."
"Oh-ho?" she replied, disinterest dripping like venom off her tongue. But the man didn't let himself get discouraged. Unfortunately they rarely did.
"Still, makes you really appreciate the value of information. What if we'd had someone on the inside? It'd have made for a different story altogether." He started prodding the bowl of peanuts on the bar between them, reaching in to pick one small nut up between his big thumb and index finger.
"I've nothing to do with the Hand."
"Of course not, I'm just saying. Then again many of your colleagues do, in fact most of the leadership, if not all of it, have a history with them."
"So what, history's history. What's this got to do with me again?"
"Thing is," he droned on, flipping the peanut into his mouth, "without the right intel, how can we know?"
"That just sounds like a poorly veiled threat." She didn't bother to look his way, just listened to him chew on peanuts for a moment.
"It's really not! This isn't about rebels or traitors at all, it's rather an opportunity. It's market research."
Raizka allowed one of her eyebrows a miniscule movement, shooting the goblin a glance. But she wasn't smiling yet. "I've no interest in repeating that history," she said plainly, but could right away read on his face that he wasn't done yet. He had more cards up his sleeve to draw from, and it made her frown twitch.
"I heard some troubling news just recently, about a group of people nearly blowing themselves up at the bottom of the sea, failing to make some kind of magical artifact? Something with naga, and I don't think it was in Nazjatar, either..." the man mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully for added theatrical effect.
Rai's eyes widened comically as she turned to face him. "You don't say! Was it you?"
"Thing is, Raizka, we'll know eventually either way. We always know, only this way we can know that little bit faster, and you stand to gain something from it."
"I don't think so; I'm not tying my hands behind my back and hopping through hoops for you or anyone else again."
"Ah, yes, that. I read your former contract, and I know what you mean! It was very restricting, but we've learned from our mistakes. There would be nothing like that this time around. No contracts, no pressure, just you coming to us when it suits you to share whatever you have. And you'll be fairly compensated for every tasty morsel of information. It's simply market research, so we can better adapt in these troubling times!"
Raizka's face cracked into a grin as she reached up and mussed her hair loose, suddenly a totally different air about her. She shrugged softly. "Looks like even old Cartels can learn new tricks," she teased, turning her body to face him and propping her elbow up on the bar. She was repressing the urge to scratch him behind the ear as he looked back up at her, bright yellow eyes as sly as the next goblin's. He was exceptionally clean. "Here's my counter then, generous stranger. Keep the offer on the table, and we'll see what I do about it."