Chapter Text
---- [ Nasha Town: 6:30 pm] ----
Today was a day like no other for the people of Nod-Krai. The bustling streets of Nasha town created a familiar background tune for the citizens. For Jahoda, her background tune was the sound of her boots hitting the metal roofs of people's apartments and treasure hoarders hollering at her from below, declaring that she return whatever she stole for a commission.
Earlier that day, Nefer sent Jahoda to snatch an artifact that some lousy treasure hoarders had managed to get their hands on. Typically, it would be an easy robbery to Jahoda's standards, but it turned out to be a several-hour-long chase throughout Nasha town. No matter how many alleyways the one-armed girl slipped through, or how many men were shot by an arrow, more kept pouring in like a mob of pesky insects.
"Jeez, just how long is this going to take? I already took down at least a dozen by this point, and my legs feel like they're about to fall off by now!" Jahoda panicked in her head and took a hard turn to jump onto someone's balcony, which she was thankful for, as the owner wasn't home, and disappeared from the hoarder's line of sight through a small alleyway that was between the apartment complex and hard to access unless you were as short and slender as her.
She lay low and caught her breath as she felt her calves and thighs throb from running for what felt like a marathon. The soles of her boots were practically on the verge of falling off, her hoop braids were covered in dirt and grime, and she had small cuts on her legs and left hand.
"Great, nothing too serious, and I still have that artifact with me."
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Jahoda patted her pockets in her jean shorts to double-check she had the relic.
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"Wait, WHERE IS IT??"
Jahoda whipped her head around the small area in a panic with widened eyes as she scrambled on her already sore feet. Her eyes scanned all over the laneway for the trinket that was probably worth more than her paycheck for the next ten years. If she couldn't find the artifact, she should have returned hours ago with, Nefer would fire her without a second thought, on top of a lecture she could probably guess word for word by now.
"Shitshitshit! Boss Nef is going to really fire me, or maybe she's going to even kill me!" The blonde's anxious train of thought was interrupted by a loud tapping noise from the balcony above that sounded like someone tapping the metal with their nails. Jahoda snapped her head up in a panic and locked eyes with the anonymous person above her.
Sitting on the railing was a dark-skinned girl around her age with short, shaggy black hair with silver ends. The shaggy-haired girl had bright red and blue heterochromic eyes similar to the kuuvahki energy used around town. Like Jahoda, she had a prosthetic limb too, but it replaced her left leg, and she had several metal patches on her skin. Her bright red pyro vision caught Jahoda's eye as she drew her anemo-induced bow when she noticed the artifact in the person's hands.
"I'm assuming this is yours by your reaction?" The sound of a woman's voice filled the tense silence as they held up the artifact in view of Jahoda.
"Dammit! How did she follow me?! She even has the relic too! God, how can they look so cool while being actively threatened?! Looks like I have to scare her away because I can't take another fight."
"Who are you?! Don't even try to do anything funny!" The girl with the prosthetic arm exclaimed at the girl sitting on the railing who seemed way too relaxed for being held at bow-point.
"Whoa, woah, woah, chillax. No need to get all riled and whatnot. You seem pretty protective of this artifact for someone who dropped it while getting chased like a rabbit." The shaggy-haired girl tossed the artifact towards Jahoda with a playful chuckle. Jahoda disarmed her bow and fumbled with the relic before putting it in her pocket, balling her fists with an annoyed expression at her remark.
"Good job, Jahoda. You just got made fun of by a random half-clanker-looking person! How did she even know I was here in the first place? No way; she must have been stalking me, but that doesn't make any sense because she returned the artifact in one piece—"
"You're quite cute and all, but starin' is a bit much, ya'know? Just be grateful I didn't take it for myself." The unknown person stood up on the railing and jumped onto the roof before sneaking a wink at her, disappearing into the bustling town. Jahoda stood there like an idiot, her mouth slightly agape from being called cute while being made fun of by a stranger.
"Hey, wait— Dammit!" The young woman cursed under her breath at the dark-skinned person's sudden departure. She looked over the artifact one last time to check for cracks as she tried to ignore her ever-growing flushed face.
"What an annoying tease! I guess I should be grateful she didn't completely take it; otherwise, Boss Nef would have fried me alive and fed me to Ashru."
After scanning the artifact for any damage or cracks, Jahoda finally took her leave towards the Curatorium of Secrets, where Nefer was probably waiting for her with her last paycheck for taking too long.
---- [ Curatorium of Secrets / Main room: 7:00 pm] ----
"Boss Nef, I'm back!" Jahoda exclaimed to let her boss know she made it back in one piece. She paused at the front desk where Ashru was to give him a few head rubs before heading towards one of the couches in the lobby to wait for Nefer to finish up with whoever she was talking to behind the curtain. After resting her slumped body against the couch for what felt like ages, Nefer emerged from the back with Lauma, the Moonchanter from the Frost Moon scions.
Jahoda could never place her finger on it, but whenever Lauma would visit the Curatorium for 'business purposes', Nefer's overall mood seemed to improve despite how much she tried to hide it. Not that she was complaining, of course; she loved it when Nefer gave her small leeway, but she did wonder what kind of relationship those two had that made her scary-looking boss have a little mercy on her for returning later than the designated time. Nevertheless, she never dared ask Nefer herself, and tried her best to not slack off entirely.
She watched as the two bid farewell, gave Lauma a small nod, and watched her leave the building. Her gaze switched back to her boss, who was staring her down with a raised eyebrow and an unreadable expression that Jahoda knew she would be done for if she said the wrong thing, with her hand extended towards her.
"Jahoda, dear."
"Y-yes, boss?"
"The artifact."
"Right! Of course!" Jahoda reached into her pocket and placed the relic into the Sumerian lady's upturned palm.
Nefer glanced at the artifact, then back at the employee before her, covered in dried blood and grime, with a small, shaky smile like a puppy trying to earn their owner's approval.
"Sigh, I was going to lecture you about being on time, but it looks like you have other matters to take care of. Go clean yourself up. I don't want people thinking I let my employee bleed out and die on my couch."
"Yes, boss!!" Jahoda sprang up from the couch and practically ran to the back of the Curatorium, where Nefer and her sleeping arrangements were, and went into the bathroom attached to her corridors.
---- [ Curatorium of Secrets / Jahoda's room: 11:30 pm] ----
After taking a shower and patching herself up with fresh bandages, it was already close to midnight. Jahoda laid flat on her bed, staring straight up at the ceiling in the dark room, illuminated by moonlight, as her thoughts ran like a freight train over the previous events.
"Just who in the world was that person? They didn't even look like they were from around here except for the metal patches they had on them. They even had a prosthetic like me, too. Maybe Aino made those parts for them, or they might be a dumb bot trying to mess with me. No way! I couldn't even tell what gender they were! They didn't sound like a man, but they looked like one— wait, that's too mean, Jahoda! But their voice— WOAH, KEEP IT TOGETHER. JUST STOP THINKING, JAHODA, AND GO TO BED. OH MY ARCHONS."
During her years of working with gangs and collecting information, Jahoda was quick to mentally note details about other people, even if it was intentional, so the thought of the mysterious woman made Jahoda feel her face grow hot once again despite it being the middle of fall. It didn't help that she already had trouble sleeping, so it meant having to simmer in her weird pool of thoughts surrounding that effortlessly attractive woman(?) that she saw for not even ten minutes.
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"I'm such a loser."