[Finished] Time Enough for Money [Lucca]

[Bee]

Some manner of business was going on and, frankly, Reisz had little to no interest in the particulars. Traders didn't often come to the Veldt, but when they did, it was for just a few things, and the two big ones were wheat and gold. The rest was just fine print.

When Reisz was first told that some businessman would be arriving anon, she had reacted with mild indifference and left the Club workers to their field gossip.

When she was told that it was an important businessman, she had arched a brow at her messenger and said, "Aye, sirrah, you want that I should bring his worship a fruit basket?"

When she was told, by one of the most prominent Diamonds in the region, that she was to be this gentleman's personal guard, she had given her messy hair a quick toss and said, "Ayuh, certainly, there's no better Heart for the job."

Tomorrow, the Diamond told her. Tomorrow the brave businessman would arrive, and tomorrow she would begin her watch. At least it would be a break from her ordinary custom.

[Lucca]

The Durum Veldt. It had been a long time since he'd come here. A very long time. Back then, he had been a mere Seven in rank, a mere animal in form, and a mere nineteen in years. He hadn't really made a name for himself yet, had just barely started making money. (His first job, a desk clerk at a Highlands firm). And when the word had come that a new deposit of gold had been found, and that most of the normal suspects for leaping on such a prospect didn't dare to travel as it was so close to the start of the insect season...he'd set out, like the crazy youth he was, to find hs fortune. And had ended finding a lot more than just gold.

But that was in the past, and not something he wanted to dwell on today. He'd done plenty of business with the Veldt over the years, off and on, but this was his most important deal with them yet. So important he wanted to be there in person to make sure the deal went off flawlessly. And so, here he was, waiting for the personal body guard they were going to assign him. He was precisely five minutes early, he noticed as he checked his pocket watch. He sniffed the air, subtly, to try and catch a hint of that wonderful material he'd spent so much time around he could now -smell- it.

Nothing yet, at least not close enough. With a huff, Graeme McDuck settled his grip on his cane and adjusted his spectacles.

[Bee]

Reisz had been told at what time she was to arrive to pick her charge up and she was nothing if not punctual. (Well, strictly speaking, she was a lot of things aside from punctual, but those were hardly the concern of the present moment.) Right as the hour struck on the small clock outside the general transportation services building, she was walking through the doors.

He was easy as sin to spot amongst the few Diamond Durumians shuffling papers and doing their best to look official, but Reisz suspected he would stand out near anywhere. A tophat and cane! Of all things. This whimsicality put her in rather higher spirits than she'd been in waking up this morn; she would enjoy the novelty until it wore off.

"You must be Mr. McDuck," she said, politely. "I'm Reisz. I'll be attending your person whilst you sojourn here."

[Lucca]

Five minutes was, sadly, not enough time to either sit down or engage any of the milling native in conversation, so Graeme was forced to stand there awkwardly. Or well, he would have been were he not so entirely dignified that he knew how to look like he belonged just about anywhere. So he held his head up and smiled graciously at all comers, only briefly dropping his gaze to the marking on their fronts so as to see if any of them were his escort, though he just had the feeling he'd know the Card when he saw him (or her).

And he was right. Whether it was the walk, the easy grin she sported, or the insects she daringly wore as earings, he knew as soon as she walked in the door that this was the one he'd been waiting for. The Duck waited until he was approached before letting an easy smile grace his bill and inclining his head to her in a show of respect as befit her station. She had impeccable manners. He was impressed and his initial impression of her was good.

"The very same, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Miss Reisz," he responded in kind, slipping into formality comfortably.

[Bee]

"Well met," she said, inclining her head respectfully. Where did one usually begin with guests? Right, quartering. "If you've a place to stay, speak it and I'll gladly lead the way."

She didn't imagine the Diamonds would allow someone to visit without arranging appropriate lodging. Veldt tourism was not by any stretch of the imagination a thriving trade--the Cards who even remembered who they were tended to be a bit wary of visiting, which Reisz suspected might have a bit to do with the bugs--but there were a couple of ever-hopeful establishments.

The Attaway Inn was usually the fancy dwelling of choice for the discerning cavalero, as she'd recalled the higher-ups putting it, though she suspected it won this distinction mostly by default. And she supposed it were possible Master McDuck had arranged to lodge at someone's private residence. No matter.

[Lucca]

The fact that she wasted no time with getting down to business suited Graeme just fine, as it had been a rather long journey to get here, and the Duck had precious little patience when dealing with anyone who loved the sound of their own voice too much. Waste not want not, he thought, applied just as much to speech as it did to money, especially when dealing with important matters of business.

"Very well, then, if you would kindly direct me to..." Here, he had to pause to pull a piece of paper out of his pocket, with he did with a flourish, adjusting his spectacles again to better make out the writing on it. The words were slightly smudged from the journey, but no less readable. Perfect. "The residence of one Marvin Bates. If I'm not mistaken he lives on Goldriver Road." A promising name, he thought. His contact had, of course, offered him lodgings in a fancy hotel of some type -- The Attaway -- but he'd declined that offer for reasons that were his own, and certainly had nothing to do with it being located far too close to where he'd camped out on his first visit out here all those years ago, before the Inn had been built. Ahem. The last thing he wanted was to get lost in memories, not with such an important deal on the line. His emotions would only get in the way right now.

[Bee]

Fancy business indeed. That place was easy enough to find--Bates was a name, and most everyone in a given area knew everyone's whereabouts and business anyhow. She nodded, said, "Step lightly, then," and led the way.

"I don't anticipate a mess of trouble," she informed him. Everyone knew better than to mell in the business of a mercantante, but despite knowing better, there was sometimes the odd geck who tried to kick up a fuss. Never hurt to be on one's guard. Especially when one's dignity was at stake. People from Away rarely heard much about her kind, and she didn't want what they heard to be rotten. "But if it's all the same, I can stay around the property and keep an eye open while you conduct yourself--I'm not terribly obtrusive. Ferry you wherever else you need to go, of course."

They came upon the place. "Right smart digs," she said, approvingly.

[Lucca]

Graeme followed after the Hyena, bill holding just the hint of a smile as they walked along, his cane keeping rhythm with his steps. Despite himself, his eyes took on a slight nostalgic haze as they traveled. This whole place was so different now than when he's been here last...how much something can change in just over twenty years! It amazed and fascinated him, and that was enough to ignore the lingering sadness that nagged at the corners of his heart. The other changes, those were all progress. New houses and inns and businesses being built, new mining strategies, new attempts to protect against the deadly insects...but the fact that he knew she was no longer here...he couldn't reconcile that with anything else.

Despite being somewhat lost in his own thoughts, Reisz's voice was enough to get through to him, and he nodded. Trouble of the Card sort didn't much bother him. He'd handled himself in more scrapes than he'd care to think about over the course of his life, and it was not uncommon in some of the...odder Realms he visited for many to take unkindly to a Highlander on their land. He had to suppress a shudder, remembering one ill-fated trip to the Lowlands. -That- was not somewhere he'd ever set webbed foot again, not for all the treasure in the world!

...well, it would depend on how large of a treasure it was. It would have to be very handsome indeed to let him break that vow.

"But of course, I would be honored," he replied, because he'd expected nothing less from an official body guard. And as they came upon the house, a smile curled Graeme's bill, and he nodded. Yes, it was a lovely place indeed, and it would certainly do. It was hardly what one would have termed large compared to some of the houses in the Highlands or the Capital, but around here it...stood out, to be sure.

Confidently, he approached the door and knocked, then clasped his hands behind his back to wait for his gracious host.

[Bee]

Bates answered the door himself, according to custom. Hired help about one's house was scarce enough, even among Diamonds, and not welcoming a guest into the home on one's own steam was considered fairly wretchedly rude. And Bates clearly meant to impress, anyway. His portance seemed both official and relaxed, and he looked as clean and styled as any fellow Reisz had ever seen. Dapper, even. Though truth told she saw people coated in dirt and sweat most in the general course of things, and dealing with classier folk usually required her to recalibrate her tidiness meter.

"Master McDuck, welcome. Guardswoman, welcome. It is my pleasure to be your host. Please, come in."

He spoke as clean as he looked. Fitting, for his station, but it never failed to sound strange to her. But she wasn't the wench here to be impressed. She let Master McDuck in first.

[Lucca]

"Thank you, Mr. Bates, and well met," Graeme replied in kind, with a slight nod of his head in respect. Gold-orange eyes did a quick look over of the man and the house as he stepped inside, and Bates could be rightfully proud; the Duck was impressed. "I assure you, the pleasure is all mine." And was it his imagination, or was the good Bates in possession of one or more things golden and glittering? It would be rude to sniff around, but he thought he detected the hint of the scent in his nostrils.

Once a good distance inside, he stopped politely and waited until he was invited to sit or otherwise make himself comfortable. As usual, he managed to look perfectly poised while doing so. He was certainly glad he was staying here. Mr. Bates seemed like the dignified sort. Far be it from him to knock anyone's culture, and he well remembered his roots as a child in a poverty-stricken family, but there was just something refreshing about this taste of class in the Veldt.

Or maybe it was that anything else would have opened the flood of memories. Last time he'd been here, he'd been a nobody, and had been forced to camp out and eat well-preserved, flavorless food.