The Briefing

Victor clutched Umbra tightly by the arm as he stared dully at the two men sitting before him.

Both of the men were several shades of intimidating and sketchy, with their beady eyes and expansive tattoos stretching across their necks. The fact that they were around three times his size made the boy's stomach churn, but he made sure not to show it.

Matthew had always drilled in him not to judge people by their appearances, but instead their personalities and morals. These teachings made Victor feel guilty for being so uneasy around their clients, but he couldn't shake the sense that something was off about the two.

"So you're the mercenaries this guy was talkin' 'bout?" the taller of the two asked, regarding them with a questioning look.

Umbra, who seemed to have naturally taken the role as leader, stood up from the table he was sitting at, offering a light bow. "Yes, sir, we are the mercenaries my friend has spoken of." Umbra murmured coolly, nodding at Matthew.

"Your team name is Silver Moon? Like this cafe or whatever's name?" the fatter man pitched in, gesturing at the suave interior of the restaurant they were sitting in.

Umbra smiled calmly, his urbane mannerisms practically seeping through his skin. He laid his hand across Matthew's shoulder, squeezing it a little harder than it appeared to the naked eye. "Yes, yes, my good sir. We are Team Silver Moon. You see, I just love the name of my friend's fine establishment, so I just had to name my mercenary team after it." Umbra lied smoothly, the words rolling off his tongue like silk.

"Even the kid?"

Victor's heart beat furiously in his chest as the man directly signaled him out using his pointer finger. He flicked his blue eyes to Matthew, who was sitting beside him sipping on a cup of coffee. Matthew quickly recognized his son's frantic, silent flag for help, so he gleefully filled in.

"Oh, yeah, totally! The guild has an age limit of ten, and he turned ten a couple months ago! It's so cute, y'know, we're like a big mercenary family!" Matthew said cheerfully, gesturing his arms at the fae, demon, spirit, and child assembled by him.

"I am pleased that you have chosen us to assist you." Umbra said, his arms behind his back. "May I ask what our job is going to be?"

"Ah, yes." The tall man said calmly, gently meeting the tips of his fingers together. "We are bounty hunters, you see, and we must keep our haul in our own private jail before we send them off to the state pen. Now, when we're at home it's not a problem, but I'm going off on a special hunt today, so I need someone else to watch our holdin' cells with Finch here." he said causally, pointing at the squat man beside him.

"Yeah, dude, I gotcha. But what does 'watching' consist of? What do we have to do?" Aunora asked, squinting at the two men.

"You don't have to do much," the man's partner informed them. "All that's pretty much required is that you gotta walk around holding a weapon. But when we bring in the big haul, you gotta help us subdue it. Can you do that? I'm assuming you guys can fight, since 'yah are mercenaries."

Umbra, Aunora, and Matthew hastily nodded, while Victor and Esper seemed uncomfortable.

"Well, that doesn't sound that hard!" Matthew giggled, propping his arms on the back of Victor's chair.

Looking up, Victor noticed a distinct difference between his two fathers as they stood before their clients. Matthew hadn't been still since the beginning of the meeting, at first bouncing his leg and now pacing across the floor and leanining on furniture. Umbra, however, stood almost dealthy still, arms cross behind his back and glowering at the two men. His tone and speech patterns were polite, but his body language spoke of suspicion and hope of intimation.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you guys, then." Finch said, holding out his hand to shake. "Hawkins would like to start hunting right now, so I need you to come with me. I'll show you were you'll be guarding, alright?"

A hard lump formed in Victor's throat as he watched Matthew, Umbra, Aunora, and Esper shake Finch's pudgy hands. Hoping to cool his nerves, he averted his eyes, only to catch Hawkins smirking.

Author's Note- ;D What's going on? You'll have to wait to find ou! In other news, I've plotted out the chapter with a nifty flowchart. Hopefully the chapters should be pumped out fast, since I have everything planned out.