Private Finished An old acquaintance

Adryan's reaction to apparently Nux's outburst made him let out a short amused huff, and his shoulders shook a little bit in a silent laugh. And soon after said outburst Nux emerged, talking with Adryan's voice but there was a visible shift in tone. Mukuchi gave Nux a smile with his eyes, the corners of his eyes crinkling as if he was smiling under the mask.

"Likewise, Nux. I do hope you have given Adryan as hard of a time as ever since we last met."
Mukuchi signed and gave another huff of laughter, his expression more relaxed and pleasant now that he was talking with the demon.
"I hope you are doing well, I appreciate it when those who remember me value their well-being"

As usual when Nux was talking Mukuchi firmly ignored all body movements that were made, since he knew those were performed by Adryan. So Mukuchi didn't even acknowledge the middle and focused on Nux's words.
"I most certainly will have no problem not minding him. I'm glad to hear you are doing well"
Mukuchi signed back and meant his words. He and Adryan might no have had the most pleasant relationship but Adryan and Nux both remembered Mukuchi and he appreciated that.

Mukuchi didn't know how much of Nux's friendly attitude towards him was just to annoy Adryan, but Mukuchi didn't really care if it was all pretend. It was nice to talk to Nux nevertheless and Mukuchi wanted to annoy Adryan as well.
"Thank you, I'm happy to have settled here. I trust you two are still doing the same things as always?"
Mukuchi didn't even need to mention what those things were. After all, the two (or three) had met when Mukuchi had hired Adryan to do those very things.

Mukuchi also kept walking along with Adryan so he could stay in Nux's sight, and he also still wanted to keep an eye on Adryan's wandering hands. If he let his guard down for a moment Adryan could walk off with an expensive piece of antique.
"Such way of life seems to suit you two"
Mukuchi commented with a subtle smile, he wasn't exactly for or against Adryan's illegal practices, as long as he himself didn't get dragged into them. Which had happened in the past, multiple times. Mukuchi was still bitter for the incident in Morocco...

Mukuchi couldn't help but let out a huff of laughter at Adryan's gesture, when Nux asked for Mukuchi's help. In all honesty, he wouldn't mind helping Nux, but...
"It depends on where you attained said tome. I do not want to mix myself in with illegal activity, not when I have something to protect"
Mukuchi signed, and he wasn't talking just about the shop. He was far from clean or innocent, but Mukuchi had never been proud of it when he had to rely on illegal means. He wanted to protect the way of life he had now, where he could stand in the sun.

Adryan was a fool if he imagined Mukuchi would be selling a trick box in his store whose contents were still inside. Mukuchi never sold anything in his store that he hadn't figured out as thoroughly as possible.
"The original contents of that box are in my personal collection, in case you were curious"
Mukuchi signed, not revealing what could've been inside. The box itself was multi-purpose, but the three small carved stone plates Mukuchi had found inside had been much too ancient and valuable to sell in an antique shop.
But, as always, Mukuchi was impressed how quickly Adryan had been able to figure out the opening mechanism. He didn't show it on his face though.

Mukuchi had to admit he was intrigued when Nux and Adryan changed and Adryan explained where the tome had been found. In a collapsed cave...Mukuchi wanted to know more. But he wasn't about to do this without compensation or conditions.

"You must already know I am interested, but let me ask you. What are you going to do with the tome once I restore it? If you are going to sell it thoughtlessly to the highest bidder I can direct you to another restorer, but I will not restore a priceless piece of history for it to only end up to someone who will not appreciate it"
Mukuchi signed, and leveled Adryan with a serious look that was a sign that he meant business. There were other restorers on the island, of course, and Mukuchi had already made some connections to them. But Mukuchi was the best option for Adryan, if not because of their acquaintanceship but because Adryan knew Mukuchi was like a vault when it came to keeping secrets and the mute man was a master of being discreet.

Damn this man...Mukuchi really hadn't missed Adryan one bit, or the fact that despite being quite intelligent the man acted like a fool. Mukuchi found it to be quite the waste of potential, just for the sake of business opportunities or whatever reason Adryan used to justify his demeanour. Nevertheless, Mukuchi had already given up on trying to make Adryan drop the tomfoolery, he had tried countless times before for naught.

The condition Adryan gave Mukuchi was acceptable, most probably in part formulated by Nux. Mukuchi felt more comfortable now, they were doing business, and when doing business even Adryan dropped his irritating old antics to focus on the relevant.
"I can accept these conditions"
Mukuchi signed, and offered his hand for Adryan to shake. Mukuchi did not notice, but in the pocket of his jeans a text from Briar arrived. Mukuchi was too busy in sealing this deal with Adryan.