The guy looked like he was about to just keel over as he remained very, very still.
"Then I still expect them due in an hour, if not earlier," said a voice from behind Jake. Said voice was quite familiar by now, the figure even more so as he slammed three complete folders onto Mark's desk on top of the runic item ensemble the Death Assistant had going. "These also need to be fully and correctly annotated."
The Death lead turned around quickly, not wanting to spend any more time than neccessary in a room of filth, and then paused. "If you are convinced that a good Runic weapon changes your condition then you may take mine." It became startlingly obvious as he stared right at Jake, placing two Runic daggers on the table. "Mark will unlock them so they are usable."
Immediately the Death assistant scrambled to find a working Runic seal (or unsealer, in this case); if it meant Jake walked out without taking any of Mark's stuff then he was fine with this. Also Caelius wasn't exactly prone to acts of kindness, well, pretty much-
-"You will have two weeks. That is the maximum time I am giving you to get your ******** act together." The Death lead was still addressing Jake. "At the end of the two weeks you will return my weapons and anything else that does not belong to you. If you cannot prove yourself as a Hunter, if you cannot figure how, then you do not deserve to call yourself one. Remain as you are and die as you are. The price for borrowing is your public execution, which I may reconsider if you get your ******** s**t together."
His hand twitched as he finally let go of the hilt of both daggers, the Runic weapons worn, with an odd twisted handle. Both the daggers had a simple, flat appearance, the usual assembly of Runic patterns down the blade surface. The Death lead gave Jake a mostly unreadable expression as he pulled back and then turned around, slamming the door a little too forcefully behind. Several of Mark's action figures fell out of their shelves from the vehemence, the lava lamp toppling over.
A pause. Awkward silence. "Yeah, I- I definitely did not see that coming. He's probably like you know, pulling your leg, some nice threats to get you going, probably." The Death Assist suddenly leaned a little closer, talking quieter, faster. "Look I don't really know you but I really don't think this is the uh, good for you. Take the weapons but try not to use them. Try to envision your weapon if you do. Focus. Talk to your weapon if it makes you feel better, they can sort of still hear you. It doesn't take much. They just need to hear you and call to you and then you can pull them out, you can resummon them. That's it, no science or magic or whatever. Your weapon is sleeping and you need to wake them up. Make it important."
Mark suddenly leaned back, exhaling deeply. "Your stuff is done, good luck man. I'll be- I'll be here. Probably. You know why- never mind. You're close anyway, the Fear scanner picked it up. The only thing stopping you is yourself."
These were probably the most insightful words Jake would ever hear Mark say, sadly.
[A.V.]
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