InsaneJournal

“So you’re the final member of that new team,” murmured the man at the desk as he regarded a sheet of paper. Then he slapped it down on his desk and leaned forward to frown at me seriously. “Mrs. Redhammer?”

Twitching, I growled, “Its Miss. And I prefer Ziggy, thanks.”

“Ziggy?” he queried. Looking down at the folder open on his desk, he shuffled through some papers then hmm’d. “Ah…the name you took amongst the street gang after your father’s death. I would think you’d wish to escape the connection to something like that.”

“I survived because of them. So don’t go insulting them – they’re what little family I had.”

The man nodded, murmuring, “As you wish, Miss Ziggy.”

“Just ‘Ziggy’ is fine,” I said grumpily. By Moradin, I needed a good drink! “So are you going to tell me about who I’m working with or go over every detail of my life?”

“I’d heard dwarves were patient.”

I smiled bitterly at that and absently fingered the trinket hanging from around my neck. Usually I didn’t wear it but today seemed like a day to do so. It was a simple bit of iron crafted into an elegant warhammer the size of my palm with fragments of precious gems set into it; a family heirloom older than time Dad always said.

It would bring me luck, he told me when he gave it to me.

“I’m not a normal dwarf, now am I?” I asked.

He shook his head at that, looking down at the folder again. “Raised amongst other homeless youth…humans mostly, a pair of halflings, an elf, and…”

For a moment he blinked then said, “A…a werewolf?”

“He was a natural born one whose parents were killed,” I hissed. “An old woman raised him up till he was eight, when she was killed and they tried to kill him. He was the sweetest damn person I’ve ever known in my life so don’t you dare say a fucking word against him.”

He stared then slowly nodded, closing the folder.

“Ah…well then. You will be, ah, paired up with two others for this team. The first is simply known as Dog – he has been an officer here in Anvilry for a good number of years. Ah, and a, er…a half orc.”

“So?” I said, arching an eyebrow.

The man coughed at that, saying, “Ahem, yes, well…most would be bothered by that. Then again…”

I smiled coldly.

“I grew up with a werewolf. Who’s the other one?”

“Ah, a Johnson O’Grady – a detective; fully human, Irish, and prone to bouts of drinking but he’s always sober on the job. I suppose that doesn’t bother you?”

I laughed sharply at that, replying, “I may not have grown up fully dwarfish but I am still a dwarf. Ale isn’t just in our blood, it is our blood, as my Dad used to say.”

“Ah. Yes, I suppose so.” He coughed again, saying, “Well, I suppose that’s it. Except for a few minor pieces of paperwork, of course.”

“Well let’s get it over with. I’m eager to get to work with whatever you people are wanting me to do.”

“Its just a small squad put together to respond to anything and everything,” he replied. Shuffling a few papers, he nodded to himself then said, “Well, I think everything is in order here. If you’ll just go out the door and down the hall until you reach the third door on the left, your new partners should be waiting for you.”

I nodded and rose, leaving in just the way he’d said. As I walked down the hall, seeing unfamiliar faces peering out of the rooms I passed at me, I missed Saithville. Missed the familiarity of Gry’s bar. Hell, I missed Eric and the horrible jokes he tended to tell but mostly I missed his company.

At the third door on the left, which was closed, I paused and absently fingered the tiny warhammer. Then I tucked it back down underneath my shirt and shoved the door open, striding in with a frown to fix on my two new partners.

There were only the two of them there in the room, which looked to be a rec room. Both were sprawled on the couch at opposite ends in front of a television set where an action movie was playing in the midst of a long series of explosions. The human, Johnson the man had said, turned his head to glance towards the door and blinked at me.

“Er, ya wan’ somet’in?” he asked, turning the attention of the half-orc, Dog, to me as well.

I smiled tightly and strode forward confidently – the streets had taught me to not let nervousness show. Extending a hand up over the back of the couch, I greeted, “Carina Redhammer, though I’d prefer you call me Ziggy. Seems I’m your new partner.”

“Pleasure ta meet’ya,” intoned the human, shifting so he was leaning over the back of the couch to take my hand in his. His grip was firm and warm as he shook mine and his grin was just as warm. “Johnson O’Grady.”

“So I heard. And you must be Dog.”

The half-orc grunted, smiling at me as I extended my hand towards him. Then he reached over and carefully shook my hand, just three of his fingers engulfing all of mine. After that he laughed and intoned, “No surprise, no fear from such a small one. You’ll make a good partner.”

“Well I hope so,” I said. “I got pulled out of a good job for this.”

“We’ll trea’ ya right, doan worry,” said Johnson, swinging back around to the television. He then grinned over his shoulder again and offered me a half-empty bottle of good dwarven ale. I blinked then took it, taking a nice long drink and enjoying it more than almost any other drink I’d ever had.

Grinning, I looked at the bottle then at him, toasting him lightly with it. “I think I’m going to like working with you,” I noted.

Johnson laughed at that and Dog rumbled out what might’ve been a chuckle. I smiled at the both of them then moved around to settle in a chair with the bottle in hand. The movie didn’t really interest me; I took the opportunity to study the pair of them whilst I nursed the bottle, I wasn’t on duty officially yet so drinking was okay with me. Plus, it took a lot more than one bottle to get me drunk.

I smiled to myself as I regarded the bottle again and sank back into the chair.

Saithville was a long way away…but I was starting to think I could get to like Anvilry.