“You did stop the Inquest though,” FPS offered with regained cheer. “I’d say that’s worth far more.”

“Yeah?” Tell that to his landlord. Or Trip, even. He wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. He’d already got the man to stall his rent so many times.

“Of course!” FPS said. “You know, I’ve been thinking. You have some very impressive talents for a dog walker.”

“Uh, right, thanks.”

“No really! I think it’s a waste, honestly.”

“Yeah? Hey look, I can see the ground.” He actually could, but he also did not want to entertain this conversation any further.

“Oh look at that, so it is.” FPS gave the ground a considered look, then to his dismay proceeded. “Anyway, back to what I was saying.”

Please no.

“Can I tell you a secret?”

Tora paused at that. That wasn’t what he expected.

“Sure.”

The tree leaned in conspiratorially, “I actually work for the Order of Whispers, you know.”

Tora blinked. “No foolin’?”

Every sylvari knew the Order of Whispers. Despite their secretive work, they worked pretty openly in The Grove. If FPS was with them, that explained a lot. A member of that group would absolutely be concerned with an Inquest scheme, and have the information on how to find them. It explained FPS’s motivation and sources far better than his Wyld Hunt did at least.

“Yes!” The elementalist continued. “And truth be told, I was actually looking to recruit when I met you. The Order sent me after this thief for hire who was starting to get some notoriety in Lion’s Arch.”

“O-Oh?” Tora could feel cold sweat forming on the back of his neck.

“They called him the Black Bandit. Quite impressive, no?”

“Oh yeah… sure…” Had he been found out?

“Never found him though.” FPS shrugged, and Tora sighed with relief. “But I think I found someone better. What do you think?”

“Wait, me?”

“Of course!”

“…I’ll have to think about it.”

And he did, for what felt like hours as the ground came closer.

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