“You have no proof.” The Stealth Assassin played with his dagger, letting it swirl over his palm. He leaned against the wall, not even looking up.
Narrowing his eyes, the Bounty Hunter hissed. “I don’t need proof, I know it was you.” He fucking hated it when Riki played dumb. As if it wasn’t obvious that he had sneaked in, killed the wanted creature and then collected the bounty. Even though Gondar had marked the target as his to take. Had been following it for days, waiting for the right moment to strike as to make it less suspicious. Subtly preparing a situation where he could strike. Everyone could storm in and kill, but it had been supposed to be without attracting attention.
Not that it hadn’t been now, the fucking Assassin had done a perfect job, almost as good as Gondar would have. Fuck, maybe even better. But he had known that the Hunter had been on to it, that he had been waiting, that he had wanted to collect the bounty for the kill.
“So…what you gonna do with you knowledge?” The smirk on Riki’s face was aggravating, which the little satyr probably knew quite well.
“You don’t even need the money!” It sounded whiney somehow and Gondar straightened, trying to cover his tone with a confident posture. Not that it helped, the Stealth Assassin was too good in picking up everything around him.
“No, I don’t. But I like to annoy you.” Leaning forward, he stopped playing with his weapon, his attention now focussed on Gondar, and grinned even wider. “I’m bored and you are good entertainment.” Now he even winked. It was all a game for him, but for Gondar it was his job. He needed the money from bounties, tracking and assassinating was the only thing he was good at. It was his income.
“Well, you seem to be serious about the bounty.” With a faked sigh, Riki leaned back again while taking something out of a purse that was lying next to him. He flipped a coin with a casual move of his wrist. “Take this, as compensation for your troubles.”
Out of reflex, the Bounty Hunter caught the coin. Even in flight it shimmered golden, more than the bounty for the target had been. It should make him be relieved, that he got payed for all the effort he had put into this. Instead, he was steaming with anger. This fucking assassin played with him. He killed his target, collected the bounty and then he had the guts to sit here, waiting for Gondar, knowing he’d come and complain. And to top it all off, he tossed him a coin? Because he was good entertainment?
In need of money, the Hunter had to take it or find another job soon. He could shove his pride aside and eat something nice the next few days or give the money back and try to find food in the woods, collect it or hunt it and cook it on his own. Which all took time that could be better invested in searching for a new job, searching for a new target and a bounty to collect.
“It is only fair,” Riki murmured. “You did most of the assassination anyway. I would’ve never been able to kill the target this easily if you hadn’t prepared it like that.”
With a growl, Gondar closed his hand over the coin. In the same moment that he turned around to leave, he got invisible with a soft whoosh. There was no sound at all as his feet hit the ground fast to get away from the Stealth Assassin and to run the anger out of his system. The job was done, the bounty was collected. And Gondar had enough money so he didn’t have to worry about food and a soft bed for a few months. Only the way he had gotten the money was degrading. The cocky satyr Ricki and his fucking attitude.