*How exactly did we get stuck together,* A very large, and very angry Irallodil-ka said standing above his bond. 

The little yellow lizard held back a snort from his unusually pudgy nose. "Funny, I ask myself the same question every time I wake up and start a new day."

The two were standing in the center of a court yard, with several spectators watching the argument with curiosity.  This happened about once a week, at least that's what Cepebibi had calculated. The two had totally different personalities, and frequently pulled each others emotions around by the horns. Not like that really bothered Cepe he never really bothered to change his points of view. Ira on the other hand was easily swayed when not speaking to his bond. Today was no different and the usual crowd had come to watch the usual argument.

The usual peace maker stepped out from the crowed. Except today, he wasn't in his usual clothing or mood. Cepe would have raised his eyebrows if he had had any. Agreeably Ira would have done the same.

*Is something wrong?* The dragon's tail swished a bit, nearly taking out a spectator in the process.

"Well... uh..." The anthro, a Spanish lynx-wolf hybrid, gave timid look to Cepe. This was rather unusual for the spokesmen of the townspeople. Quef was usually down one of their throats by now, explaining to them that fighting in public is a bad thing to do. Now he seemed to be on the brink of tears, and nervous as all heck.

"Would you like to come to my office for some tea?" Cepe bit back a smirk as the other's green eyes widened.

"Er... well."

*It's the least we can do for you Mister Quef! It would be an honor if you came by, and then you could meet Miss Rhea!*  Irallodil-ka gave a dragony grin, which came off as rather frightening for anyone who didn't know him. 

"All right." The lynx hybrid sighed. There was no getting out of this.

***

Rhea was almost a human, but not quite. She had mint green eyes that matched her stunted dragon wings, and her hair. Her skin however, was a nicely toned brown, that went well with everything she wore. The one thing that would classify her as intimidating to any male, would be her height. She almost stood at seven feet tall, and the only thing taller in the room happened to be Ira.

Needless to say Quef was slightly bashful around the woman.

Cepe couldn't hold back his smirk for much longer, so he patted his new customer on the back . "She's my partner on and off the field. After all, there are places that neither I nor Ira can go."

The dragon hissed in the background.

"Irallodil-ka."

*Thank you.*

With a roll of the eyes Cepebibi continued, "Now. What can I do you for? Do you need something stolen, someone to fall in love with you, name it and we will most likely do it at the right price."

This is the part that Irallodil-ka hated. Loathed really.

"I need you to get me a set of keys that were stolen from me," Quef was ringing his hands to together in anxiety. 

*Keys?*

"You see... the thing is. These keys belong to a safe in the mayor's office. The data within the safe could cause a national crisis." 

"I'm assuming the mayor knows nothing of this?" Cepe mused over a cup of tea Rhea had handed him. "So who was able to snag the key from you, and how do you expect them to get into the safe?"

The man continued to wring together his hands. "I don't know her real name, but she's going to be at the mayor's party tonight. I can give you a description to go off of so you can take the keys back. I'll pay you anything you want."

*You know Cepebibi,* Ira was speaking to him alone, *This could be dangerous, and I doubt I'd fit in the mansion.*

Cepe nodded, "This is quite an unusually mission. I'm not sure we can take it if we don't know the amount of danger involved."

"The woman is a thief, that's all I really know. She was good enough to con me out of the keys, as well as several other things."

*He never did seem very bright.* 

Rhea held back a giggle as Cepe waved off the remark.

"You see, if the mayor finds out that I've lost important information to a crook, he'll fire me and... I don't want to think about what else he could do to me."

The yellow basilisk sighed. "We'll do it if you pay us ten thousand in any currency of our choice." Maybe that would stop their new client from hiring them.

"All right. Ten thousand it is."

Rhea bit her tongue, Cepe choked on some of his tea and and Ira's eyes widened to frightening proportions.

***

*What a lovely evening.* Irallodil-ka was looking up at the sky, not really paying attention to the other dragons that were mingling in the crowd. Apparently this party was for dragons, bonds, and various important people from around the world. Irallodil-ka normally did enjoy social gatherings.  However he knew that Cepe had to complete an important mission, and that sucked the fun out of everything.

"It is isn't it?" A rather nicely decorated female eastern style dragon replied.

*Oh! I'm sorry Miss I didn't think anyone was listening to me.*

She gave him a wink, "Well, I'm quite happy to hear someone's voice that I don't know. I've been to so many of these parties and I haven't seen a single new face, until now."

( Still working on it )