Through the Front Door [Lukas/Cyrus]

THE CITY OF LIGHT
The morning was bright, Lukas' step quick through the stadt. His phone lit with the time before being pocketed, a shoulder pushing him into the foyer of Cyrus' office. At the secretary's desk, he'd slap the surface with a momentary pause, staring her in the eye.

"Have a scheduled meeting. I'm going in, now." Pulling back to his height, he moved to the office door with no hesitation.

"Sir! I need to verify tha-"

Much harder to hear with the door closed.

Turning to face the grandmaster's office, Lukas' arms spread wide with a grin. In the open -windowed light, his clothes looked like shit. Scuffed, torn, stained. Clean, but barely held together.

"Long time no see, I know." arms dropped as Lukas crossed the room speaking, eventually finding himself seated while maintaining eye contact with Cyrus.

"You've been pretty easy to deal with in the past, I respect that. A lot of people, get into power - boom!" Hand gestured an explosion by the side of his head. "All of a sudden, impossible to handle."

"So I'll cut the shit. Need you to do two," his fingers shot up in twin digits, "things for me. Considering."

There was always a certain outlook Cyrus had with regard to the people under him, a trust and approval toward them that tended to give some leeway based on their service toward the Vandenreich. Of course, that wasn't something that went away easily, per se, but it was also far from ironclad. The tone of this particular approach certainly left Cyrus with a bit of doubt in the back of his mind. Well, no matter.

"Is that so? Then speak your needs."

Whether or not he followed up on this was another matter entirely, but Cyrus was certainly not opposed to listening to someone who had come for an appointment.

THE CITY OF LIGHT
A smile, spreading from the east to the west - the sun would not set on it, nor would it set on the sun. A showing of teeth, of joy, leftover stains of malice and rage in dire need of an emotional toothpick. Lukas' eyes danced with a certain light, leaning back into his seat with an air of confidence.

"First off," a digit fell on his hand, index skywards, "New position. Wetwork has dried up with the way you're running things, and I've been getting antsy. Africa, too, you know. Shifted some of my perspective."

Embers, singing in a cold night's air.

"And," the assassin continued without pause, "I think I came up with a good one." The smile shifted, his face calmer, stare deeper as it maintained with Cyrus. A raised eyebrow, inviting the man to guess, cutting him off whether he did or not.

"Grand-Master's Bodyguard."

Cyrus' expression didn't shift in the circumstances, his calm demeanor that of someone who had seen far worse than this. It wasn't as if he was unfamiliar with thinly veiled threats, or even explicit ones. He was a man who had dealt with the old King of Vastime, the White Mask Buddha, and the fragment of the divine ever screaming in his mind.

"I am not in need of such a thing, nor, I am afraid, would it solve the matter of your lacking work. I will, however, find a posting more suited to your skillset. I've no intention of wasting your capabilities."

Anyone who could be used for his own protection was better used elsewhere. Anyone who would leverage the position was not someone he was particularly concerned with maintaining use of either way. Cyrus had grown far more jaded in his time in this position, and so he was unwilling to spend much more time than necessary.

"Is there anything else?"

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Lukas' eyes narrowed slightly as Cyrus spoke, his half grin staying frozen, unflinching. "Let's not get off on the wrong foot here, you'd be wasting my talents putting me anywhere else. See, the way I have it, is that you don't need a bodyguard, what? Eight out of ten days? Nine?"

He'd pause for a response, continuing after a time regardless - "So, let's say when I'm not protecting you, I start training members of the Vandenreich. The reputation of being the Grandmaster's Bodyguard outweighing the fear some of them will have dealing with me." A measure of reservation, self acknowledgement in the last word.

"I see to it that, when I require protection, it is already in place. In the event that my safety is still at risk, there is undoubtedly a threat so great that I would demand they do more than simply stay at my side. I am not particularly inclined to devote more of our resources to the task when other matters take priority. If something needs protection, it is certainly other members of the Vandenreich, rather than myself."

Of course, it wasn't needless overconfidence in his own abilities that made Cyrus say as much. As he'd said, it was simply the fact that there were other things that took a greater priority.

"Regardless of that, however, I am not opposed to your training others. It would frankly be quite welcome, given the current circumstances."

THE CITY OF LIGHT
"Then you're going to need a way to convince the ones who need training the most that I'm not there to rip off heads. 'Lukas Atherisch, Convicted for Mass Murder' will scare more than a few of them away."

A second finger lifted upward, a hiss of air shooting from between his teeth. Canines hid quietly behind the lips veneer, smile finally fading. "Second thing, the permission gating on my Letzt has got to go. I can't train my own, means I can't properly train them in it either."

"I would imagine that my approval and endorsement in itself is enough to assuage anyone who is in need of this particular training."

Of course, anyone who was actually in need of this particular training wouldn't have much choice, but even Cyrus was under no illusions that they could simply continue as they had. Desperate times called for desperate measures and all that. Ah, but now this one was a much more desperate measure, wasn't it?

"Very well."

It wasn't so much that Cyrus trusted Lukas; rather, he simply didn't think it was such a concern that he would be damning anyone on their end by allowing it.

THE CITY OF LIGHT
Confident as he was, Lukas was nonetheless surprised at the near immediate acceptance of the idea. He'd assumed there would be more pushback, some point where he'd need to - Going to forget that right now. Have to visit Natasha after this.

Lukas' disposition shifted to something more friendly, not quite a smile, yet far from unpleasant. "It's good to feel heard, grandmaster." His arms shifted backwards as he pushed the chair out from under himself, standing with an arm extended to Cyrus. Eyes locking to match the man's, anticipation tingled in Lukas' fingertips.

"My life in the Vandenreich's hands." Shaking back if Cyrus took his hand, Lukas would make his way out of the room, stopping for a moment at the door. Over his shoulder, the words sounded earnest as they did malicious.

"I'll make sure we're ready." The door slamming shut behind him.