Ah, there it is. The reason he's here, the reason this meeting is suffused with a sense of cautious. He's only more intrigued, of course.
"I'm interested enough to ask you to continue." He nods at Kaz. "Please, go on. And if I don't like what I hear, we can go our separate ways and this conversation never happened."
The look he gives might well be a smile but it's unfamiliar to Kaz and his muscles.
"There was a man named Latimer here, before my time here," he says, head canting as he considered the exhibit before them without really seeing anything. "Marlo would like that no one find Latimer but Inej had the desire to see what we could find and she narrowed it down to a handful of places to look."
Which was the easy part of this.
"Marlo though likely isn't going to like us looking into things. Why we need a spider involved on this job. Though we have to assume they could well learn what we're doing, and that could mean issues between us and the government. It's something we're used to, honestly."
And something he misses, but he isn't sure most would understand that.
Altaïr has heard nothing of this Latimer beyond the name he was just given, but knowing that others would hide knowledge of him immediately makes him want to seek it out. He guesses that Kaz may have anticipated this, along with the other skills he can bring to bear.
"I've had experience with that," he says after a moment. "Both the seeking out hidden figures and earning the enmity of those with power."
If he doesn't seem particularly bothered by that, it's because he's not. Lawmakers, royals, leaders of all kinds are no better than the people they have power over. That was true in the Holy Land and it's true here.
It's the answer that Kaz had been hoping for. Altair struck him much more like them than the sort that would have wanted to keep their relationship with the powers that be that have brought them there.
"Why am I not surprised?" Which is the truth. "I won't say I normally wouldn't let many go in with little warning or care about what happens but I would rather you have the truth before we go into things. At least as much as we know. I can count you in then?"
"You can." He nods firmly. For good or for ill, he wants to see where this goes. And if it is for ill, then — well, as he said, it wouldn't be the first time.
"I imagine we'll want to make plans in a more private setting than this."
Kaz chuckles at that though it's a soft, bitter sound.
"Oh most certainly, though I always did like the idea of talking under their nose. Part of me isn't certain we can hide much of anything from them, but I haven't found proof of that yet. Not entirely."
He turns to face Altair a bit more fully, offering his gloved hand. "We'll be in touch soon then."
He gives a firm shake, look Kaz directly in the eye.
"So we will." He believes it; there's no reason to wait around on such an information-gathering expedition, whatever the shape it takes. "I'll look forward to it."
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no subject
"I'm interested enough to ask you to continue." He nods at Kaz. "Please, go on. And if I don't like what I hear, we can go our separate ways and this conversation never happened."
no subject
"There was a man named Latimer here, before my time here," he says, head canting as he considered the exhibit before them without really seeing anything. "Marlo would like that no one find Latimer but Inej had the desire to see what we could find and she narrowed it down to a handful of places to look."
Which was the easy part of this.
"Marlo though likely isn't going to like us looking into things. Why we need a spider involved on this job. Though we have to assume they could well learn what we're doing, and that could mean issues between us and the government. It's something we're used to, honestly."
And something he misses, but he isn't sure most would understand that.
no subject
"I've had experience with that," he says after a moment. "Both the seeking out hidden figures and earning the enmity of those with power."
If he doesn't seem particularly bothered by that, it's because he's not. Lawmakers, royals, leaders of all kinds are no better than the people they have power over. That was true in the Holy Land and it's true here.
no subject
"Why am I not surprised?" Which is the truth. "I won't say I normally wouldn't let many go in with little warning or care about what happens but I would rather you have the truth before we go into things. At least as much as we know. I can count you in then?"
no subject
"I imagine we'll want to make plans in a more private setting than this."
no subject
"Oh most certainly, though I always did like the idea of talking under their nose. Part of me isn't certain we can hide much of anything from them, but I haven't found proof of that yet. Not entirely."
He turns to face Altair a bit more fully, offering his gloved hand. "We'll be in touch soon then."
no subject
"So we will." He believes it; there's no reason to wait around on such an information-gathering expedition, whatever the shape it takes. "I'll look forward to it."