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No. 4341
"So, vhat is it you need my assistance vhiz exactly?" he asked, staring at the lifeless brick fireplace.
"Um," the Russian started, desperately wracking his brain. "Woman contract me to take someting to compound in desert. Pays well."
The German processed the information silently while sipping his wine. "Vhat is it exactly you're delivering to zhis compound?" he asked impatiently.
"I... do not know," the Russian admitted reluctantly. "Locked inside case. Vhas told not to open."
"Where is zhis case?" the gardener asked.
"Is vhiz engineer in town," the Russian replied. The German sat his his wine glass down and turn his gaze up to his guest.
"You're being paid to deliver somezsing, and yet you leave it in zhe care of a total stranger?" he mocked, blankly staring at the giant man.
"I... he look like nice man," the Russian defended, his voice volume lowering along with his confidence before his host. The giant man's eyes fell to the carpet at his own feet. The German admitted to himself that while the town Engineer was indeed quite trustworthy, it was a remarkably foolish maneuver to abandon such presumably valuable material.
"So..." the German started, his stare returning to the dark fireplace. "You vere contracted to deliver zhis locked case to some sort of facility somevhwere in zhe Mojave Desert, and you're expecting danger zhat vould demand a field doctor. Is zhis correct?" The sitting man tilted his head slightly and glared at his guest through his glasses. The Russian's response was, to no surprise of his host, quite delayed.
"Yes, is correct. I tell hardware man about danger and he say you vere 'go to fellow,'" the Russian said, his voice and gaze still lowered. "So... vill you help me?" he guest pleaded.
"Are you expecting to get shot at?" the gardener asked coldly.
The Russian visually recoiled at the question, drawing his back a bit. "Umm, vwell..." he began.
"Vill zhere be people shooting at us?" the German repeated, louder this time.
"M-maybe, zhere could be some..." the guest admitted. The sitting man sighed and began feverishly rubbing his forehead with his fingers.
"Go by yourself, zhis is out of the zhe question. Please leave," the German demanded, rising to his feet. He hadn't actually planned on seriously considering the Russian's request at all, but the prospect of being asked to accompany a stranger into a firefight was insulting, even barring the utter lunacy of the mission itself.
"But Dokter, job pays vell-"
"I vill not be an accomplice to your silly antics, no matter how much money you claim to zhrow at me," the German said, striding over to the front door. He quickly yanked it open and stepped aside, allowing room for the giant man. "You have only vaisted your time here." He was furiously arching his brows at the humiliated Russian, who struggled to maintain eye contact. The German's guest stood there as if in some confused stupor, fishing his mind for a retort to convince the gardener otherwise. The German merely stood there near the doorway, glaring at him through spotless lenses. Facing defeat, the Russian guest finally stepped outside onto the small porch, ducking as he passed through the doorway. The door was immediately slammed behind him.
---
The Texan engineer sat in his large office behind his desk in a sturdy wooden chair, his wide whiskered chin resting upon his knuckles as he peered through his dark safety goggles at the light blue briefcase on his desk. The structure and nature of the office made it more akin to a garage with an office desk than an actual office. Even so, the engineer enjoyed dubbing it as such regardless. The heated Arizona sun smothered nearly the entire massive room via tall, curtain-free windows. The entirety of the interior was characterized with black oil stains and countless scars among the metal materials and tools blanketing the walls. The door across from the engineer's desk was open as a young women strode through it, tossing the man a brown lightweight paper sack. He twitched, startled, as it landed on top of the mysterious briefcase he was so fixed upon.
"Yer too damned nice, ya know that?" the women said as she sat down on the battered nearby couch. "I told ya you shouldn't have held onto somethin' like that," she continued while digging through a brown sack of her own. She was clad in incredibly greasy overalls and a faded sleeveless shirt, the original black now varying degrees of grey.
"He jus' needed some help is all," the Texan said, while snatching up his own bag and eyeing through it. "God damn, Stewart had bacon? Thank ya darlin'." The engineer retrieved a wheat-breaded sandwich from the bag; thick strips of bacon lay among the mustard and turkey in between.
"Yer so damned picky, you should really at least put lettuce on it," the woman criticized; her sandwich was significantly more colorful by comparison.
"Lettuce jus' gets in the way," the male Texan defended, sinking his teeth into his meal.
The two sat there in silence, chewing several bites each before the accented woman spoke up.
"What do you reckon's in that thing anyway?" she asked before taking another bite.
"I ain't got a clue, 'specially if that Russian feller don't know what's in it," the engineer replied.
"Musftt be awful important," the young woman affirmed, her mouth still full.
"Don't speak with yer mouth so full Eri, you got better manners n' that," the man chastised. The young woman swallowed her mouth full.
"Sorry," she apologized. "But, it's awful fishy ain't it?"
The engineer swallowed a bite. "It sure seems that way," he admitted.
"You shouldn't uh said you'd look after it, 'specially since he was a Red," Eri warned.
"Aw come on now Eri, he's a nice lookin' fella," the Texan said. "Lil' lost maybe, but he didn't mean us no harm or anything. Ya shouldn't judge folk so quickly. It ain't right."
"An' you trust folk too quick!" Eri retorted.
"Ain't nothin' wrong with bein' nice ta people," the engineer stated, before taking an aggressive bite into the second half of his sandwich.
"You too good ta some folk, like that German; you gave him that spare house an' everything!" Eri shouted.
"Hey now," the man started while leaning forward in his seat, his tone increasing in hostility. "That doctor's a good man. He might seem a lil' funny but there ain't no good in doubtin' him jus' cuz of his accent."
Eri sighed. "You just too god damned nice fer yer own good."
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