Hydrus TelenineProfile by Silverfish
Art by GlaceLeau
His name is Jonah May and he works up there for the money. And maybe just a bit because the same people who demonized the poor, deformed wretches full blood will often produce, wouldn't recognize a half-breed, if one stripped naked and did a little dance for them.
See, the thing is, for one such as he, the poorer areas can be kind of tricky. People know the signs but mostly aren't going to do anything about it, even though they wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire. But be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they won't waste time looking at you funny.
So he knows he is technically better off where the one percent lives, slaving away for the Rosenbachs, but christ, does it make his skin crawl, the flash and glitter, and the entire Big Brother routine. The streets look like you could eat straight off them, and for all he knows nobody will look at him twice in the morning rush, it does little for his paranoia.
He feels rather like there is a giant sign flashing above his head, and it's just a matter of time before someone takes their eyes off their phone long enough to notice.
The day he meets Ash Rosenbach the sky is overcast, he remembers, because the kid was so pissed off he rather thought that the sun would take one look at that expression and hide again. Which is a weird sort of thought to have, but you try spending the day trailing behind someone who really doesn't want you around and not end up with some hella funny conclusions.
He wasn't supposed to be on that detail; he doesn't usually leave the control room much, but that day one guy was on a leave and another called in sick, so they told him he will be taking the princess for a walk and that was that. And it's not like there is much more to it than common sense, so he just put on a glare to match and off they were to some meeting or other.
Maybe he wouldn't quite pay to see that, but close, because frankly, he suspects they made a ridiculous sight.
But this is not where it begins.
The next time round Ash mutters something angrily about not needing a guard dog, and what he gets from him is a snort and that it pays better than mixing martini.
("Wait, you know how to make drinks?" "Yes." And there must be enough amusement in his voice to stave off any further questions, so he never explains that bit about living over a bar.)
They start talking a bit after that, at first a word here and there, a bit of news shared until the word gets around that he is the person to go to for all things Ash-related and maybe he really should have taken the hint then. But it isn't until Ash gets into a habit of adressing his rants specifically to him, as opposed to room in general, and one day Jonah slips enough to wonder out loud whether he ever shuts up,
(he expects to have his head bitten off, but what he gets is a grin,)
that he realizes how well and truly screwed he is.
Now, he might not be Rosenbach junior kind of smart, because anyone with a working pair of eyes can see Ash Rosenbach is quite shamelessly brilliant. But it's not like he doesn't have hours and hours of staring at the security screens, with nothing better to do than mull things over, and here is a thing that makes no sense.
The Rosenbach senior strikes him as a very shrewd woman, so he can't help but wonder what is she even thinking, forcing her nephew into a role he is so ill-suited for. Ash might be many things, with his brains, big mouth and even wider smiles, but a businessman he isn't and he really doesn't think there is any helping it at this point. He is too transparent for the job, too impatient, too honest and the truth is, he shouldn't last a week.
The thing is, he does. And Jonah really doesn't think he is imagining the tension, like something is about to give.
He doesn't know, not exactly, that there are going to be sides to be picked, but it looks like his choice was made and it's not going to be the smart one.
