"Oh, yeah," Kei said. "It'd take a lot more noise than dat to draw any attention ta dis place."

"Good," Aries said, standing and dusting his gloved hands off. "The manifest said you had a fighter, too. Where's that?"

"Oh yeah, he's--" Kei paused abruptly. "Wait. How do you have the manifest?"

Aries stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets and looked at Kei impassively over his surgical mask, but said nothing.

"...It wasn't no accident my buyers got picked up by the Order, was it."

This part Aries did answer, lightly, but with no change of expression. "Oh, that part was an accident. I just picked them up first. Anyway," he added, "I'd sure like to see this fighter you got."

Kei grunted irritably in reply as he wiped his hands on his trousers. He turned and barked into the truck, "I hear one peep outta youse and I'll let Aries' creepy dog eat you!"

"Guard," Aries told the animal, who trotted obediently over to the truck.

"Creepy dog," it murmured, and sat. It was tall enough to rest its chin on the truck bed if it wanted, but it merely held its curved jaws just close enough to the dog-headed child to be audible. "Eat you."

"You know, Kei, I do want us to have a good business relationship," Aries said smoothly, as Kei led him over to a door set into one of the corrugated metal containers sitting on the warehouse floor. "I'm not all manipulation and secret killings. But every relationship needs some boundaries."

Kei didn't answer this, instead giving Aries a dirty look as he unlocked the door. There was a large flashlight hanging on a hook next to the door, and Kei took it.

"So tell me about this fighter," Aries said.

"Aahhh, he's just a prospective fighter," Kei said. He opened the door and clicked the flashlight on. The inside of the container was pitch dark, and the light coming in now fell on the edges of many slabs of meat hanging in rows, all dripping quietly. "I'm still breaking 'im in, see."