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The bustling markets of the Silver City were a beautiful thing to watch if you knew what to look for. To most the series of stalls with their brightly coloured high canopied tops were a chaotic disorder of men shouting and people haggling but to the trained eye there was so much more. Two such eyes currently resided in The Jack's head and watched with the activity below with the intensity of an eagle. He watched the young children scurry from tent to tent as they took his orders from trader to trader, orders regarding price changes and collection of money due to him. When he'd first come here from the Forest there had been no order, just traders competing against each other, usually making hardly any profit from their goods as they lowered their prices too much competing. But now prices were steady and everyone was getting the better for it, especially that well built man watching it all from the shadows of a high level window.

Turning from the view, he moved almost silently across the room to find a glass of water on his desk ready for him and took a long swallow. He knew that the people below had little or no idea who he was, he was just some spook or phantom of the night that their orders came from. He laughed his softly sinister laugh and moved further into his study to the door of his room where he slept, it was still bright daylight outside and he prefered the night for hunting so he slowly removed his clothes and curled up on his bed making sure his tail and wings were comfortable and swiftly fell asleep.

Standing near his window The Jack stretched and poured himself a glass of water from the jug on his desk before returning to his post. He had been back in the Silver City for a day and was wondering what had become of the assasin he'd hired while he was there, he'd recieved no word from her and the card he'd given her should have taken her to this address but she hadn't shown so far and he was starting to question if she'd make it. As normal the room was lit by only a few candles with flickering shadows all around that moved over the sturdy desk and sofa at the other end of the room. It wasn't huge but the height of the ceiling gave the impression of vastness and also made him feel more relaxed and less caged up in an office. He debated on going out to hunt in the Forest but decided against it in case she should turn up and he was absent. Returning to his desk he began to study the reports from the market while he'd been away, writing recomendations to several people on a seperate sheet of paper before abandoning his task to watch over the silent sleeping city again.

It took a special kind of logic to work out where to find The Jack's home but he couldn't deny it was certainly accurate as he looked down from his window at the other Gaian Dragon. He'd senced her as soon as she'd come out of the forest and into what he thought of as "His Town" but to be sure he'd had one of his little informers run into her in the market, reporting that she did indeed have a pair of black wings similar to his on her back. He could only think of one person that could have found him in such a short space of time when he hadn't sent out an invitation, and that was someone he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Atarie....What bring you here I wonder. Well theres only one way to solve this particular puzzle." With a small laugh he turned and sent one of his runners to open the concealled door in the alleyway and retrieve his guest.

The door swept open and The Jack stood to one side with a gesture for her to enter his study. The only real seating apart from his desk was the couch by the fire place and he'd made sure that a nice blaze was going before answering the door, he knew she wouldn't enter without being asked and it made such a plesent change to deal with another who had correct manners about these things. He'd heard her land softly on the landing outside and envied her the power of flight, his wings served another purpose but the freedom it gave her must be wonderful. He waited for her to enter and closed the door behind her, moving over to his desk to offer her a drink before they could talk as manners dictated.

The Jack noticed her appraisal of his body and returned the favour with a look of his own, his normal smiling mask hiding his thoughts from her eyes. He was wearing a dark short-sleeved shirt and trousers and had left his armour off for the meeting, his tail curled behind him and his wings furled tightly behind him at ease. The fire cast flickering shadows across her face but it was still as lovely as he remembered it even after all this time and effort he'd spent trying to forget about her. He almost subconciously touched the scar that ran from his elbow to his shoulder but squashed the temptation to touch the reminder of their last encounter together which had ended in a draw. He noticed her hair seemed a little longer than it had been but still framed her face like a picture with the body of an angel undernieth and the wings of a demon. He looked into her eyes and knew she was one of the few people he'd ever met that he couldn't read, her face was as much a mask as his. He poured a glass of water from the jug on his desk and leaned against it, clicking his claws against the glass.
"Atarie, what brings you to my door on a night like this?" He enquired in his soft voice, knowing that if she was her to kill him she would at least tell him first.

"I'm always happy to see you my lady." He replied with care, letting the truth of his words shine through his mask for a moment before resuming his grin. "How goes everything with you? I confess to being concerned about you over the time since we last met but as always you seem to have landed on your feet again."
With a soft laugh he moved closer so the fire cast flickering shadows over his torse and his hands could be seen in an equal gesture of being unarmed that was equally as empty as hers had been. If they desired to fight a weapon was hardly needed. He almost hated how his heart skipped slightly when she smiled but didn't let himself fall into the trap of letting it show, all she would see was the smiling mask of The Jack and never the man beneith it even though she'd come closer than anyone to knowing the truth about him.

A knock at the study door annoyed The Jack but he motioned to Atarie to wait and swiftly crossed over to the doorway, opening it to see one of his servants standing politely on the landing.
"Pardon the interuption sir, but theres a lady knocking on the door downstairs and you said you wished to be notified if anyone matching her description turned up." The servant said with a small bow to The Jack, who considered what to do for a moment before nodding and giving a small grin.
"Ask her to please wait in one of the comfortable rooms downstairs, serve her something to eat and drink if she requires anything and tell her I'll be there shortly. She may also have a small child with her so see that something suitable is ready for her as well. That will be all."
Swiftly the servant bowed and swept downstairs to see to his tasks while The Jack returned to Atarie and smiled at her, noting that her figure was as full and toned as ever in the firelight.
"Now, what can I a humble Jack do for the Queen of Shadow?" He asked with a small bow and a soft laugh.

"One day you'll have to tell me how you manage to find me all the time when I go to such lengths to hide my presence from people. But yes, this one was expected but have no fear as I would never dream of asking you to leave early simply to take care of business." He replied with a flash of a true smile as he moved closer to the fire and leaned against one of the arms of the couch near where Atarie was sitting and noticed her eyes run over him again as his profile was more exposed to the light of the fire now. He took a sip from his glass and politey waited for her to speak, a gentleman should always allow a woman the privalige of being late and going first.