Devil in Plain Sight

Sprinkles was being incredibly stupid. This really was what they meant by curiosity killing the cat. Supposedly there was another part to that saying about how satisfaction brought it back, and that was Sprinkles' goal. He had called Tieragoran to ask for a face-to-face meeting for confirmation on what Tieragoran implied with his speeches. It would be a nice, friendly conversation, without the crying and use of gory imagery through words.

Sprinkles had picked out the library to meet up at. It was public, which was necessary with Tieragoran, and had private rooms you could reserve. It was perfect for what Sprinkles wanted to chat about. So he expected Tier to notice one room was reserved for Sprinkles, or at least notice him laying on the table lazily as he scrolled through his phone. Coming early allowed Sprinkles to gather his nerves too.

The door opened and closed, and Sprinkles knew things could only get interesting from here on out. He rolled over onto his stomach and said, "Dad did a great job at training me. I don't know what you're talking about." Then, he rolled over again and landed his feet on the floor, soon after moving to take a seat the table.

Sprinkles had on a cheeky little smile. Nothing to imply he was in control of the situation, just that he was here to have a nice chat. "Can we skip the pointless insults? I called you here because I want to know more about how we were made. You have the behind-the-scenes details, so you were the best and only person to ask. You can even go on your long villain speech, if you want."

Why couldn't he be as polite and formal as he looked and acted the first time they met? Things would go a lot smoother like that.

Ignoring the rude response, Sprinkles shrugged. "I don't know you. All I know is that you need to eat human meat. What do you want? For the record, I don't get paid much, so drop any ideas that involve me giving you a lot of money right now."

"Unfortunate that I'm not your type. Sprinkles looked Tieragoran up and down, but instead of making a noise of disgust, he whistled. "Give me a moment to think on what I could give you."

Sprinkles sat there in silence for about a minute, leaning back into his chair until he balanced on its two back legs. If Tieragoran wasn't going to sit down, then Sprinkles would use the table as a leg rest. Not like he had his shoes on.

"I doubt I have any information to give you. You like slaves, so maybe servitude? I have a lot going on though. Bleh. You made this harder than it needs to be. I could a gift card to a human meat shop. Or pay for your food for a month or two. I have enough money for that, just means I have to cut down on other things and hunt more."

"Sure. Whatever. Deal. What I'm after is what I said earlier. What making NEK0s was like. Uh, I don't know, you mentioned our lifespans, you mentioned defects. Oh, what was life for other NEK0s like? I want to know that too. I'm out of the loop with a lot of stuff regarding what I am, clearly."