I looked at Jareth, struggling to find appropriate words. “That….is not a very good disguise.”
“What? What’s wrong with it?”
I closed my eyes briefly. “You do realize that the purpose of a disguise is to blend in. To be unnoticed. That property is, for instance, what makes a disguise different from, say, a costume one might wear to, say, a masquerade.”
He removed the pearlescent feathered mask with a somewhat sheepish air. “I thought you said this was a formal affair.”
“Business affair. I said it was a business affair.”
He shrugged a shoulder gleaming with diamond-bright threads. “Same thing.”
“Maybe from where you’re from. Here, that means two piece suite, preferably not tailored to you like a glove. No, don’t you make that face at me. I told you part of this job was surveillance and you, as I distinctly recall, said fine.”
“I would never agree to such a travesty.”
“Do I really need to bring out the contract again?” I kept it as a file on my smartphone for just these occasions. It was sadly not surprising how often he tried to wriggle out of some of the more useful clauses.
“You’re a cruel woman.”
“Uh huh. I’m waiting.”
He flicked a hand up and down once, and the gorgeous shimmering body-hugging something he’d come dressed in melted away into an off-the-rack gray suit.
“And the tie. No Zegna. I mean it. Those patterns are eye-catching.”
Another long suffering sigh, another hand flick, and then a very disgruntled goblin king stood next to me in Government Worker chic.
“Much better. And that expression of sour boredom is perfect. Let’s go.”
“I repeat: you are a cruel woman, Sarah Williams.”
“Quit your whining, your majesty. We’ve places to go and bad people to surveil.”
no subject
Drabble:
I looked at Jareth, struggling to find appropriate words. “That….is not a very good disguise.”
“What? What’s wrong with it?”
I closed my eyes briefly. “You do realize that the purpose of a disguise is to blend in. To be unnoticed. That property is, for instance, what makes a disguise different from, say, a costume one might wear to, say, a masquerade.”
He removed the pearlescent feathered mask with a somewhat sheepish air. “I thought you said this was a formal affair.”
“Business affair. I said it was a business affair.”
He shrugged a shoulder gleaming with diamond-bright threads. “Same thing.”
“Maybe from where you’re from. Here, that means two piece suite, preferably not tailored to you like a glove. No, don’t you make that face at me. I told you part of this job was surveillance and you, as I distinctly recall, said fine.”
“I would never agree to such a travesty.”
“Do I really need to bring out the contract again?” I kept it as a file on my smartphone for just these occasions. It was sadly not surprising how often he tried to wriggle out of some of the more useful clauses.
“You’re a cruel woman.”
“Uh huh. I’m waiting.”
He flicked a hand up and down once, and the gorgeous shimmering body-hugging something he’d come dressed in melted away into an off-the-rack gray suit.
“And the tie. No Zegna. I mean it. Those patterns are eye-catching.”
Another long suffering sigh, another hand flick, and then a very disgruntled goblin king stood next to me in Government Worker chic.
“Much better. And that expression of sour boredom is perfect. Let’s go.”
“I repeat: you are a cruel woman, Sarah Williams.”
“Quit your whining, your majesty. We’ve places to go and bad people to surveil.”