Book 2 Ch 23: Twins

Tai held out a hand to Michael, “I’m Tai by the way.”

Michael took his hand and gave it a firm, well practiced shake. “Michael.”

“American?”

“Yes. I miss cheeseburgers and big sugary drinks.”

Tai chuckled. “Me too.”

“What about you?”

“Japanese. I miss drinking ten cold beers after working a long hard day.”

“Now you skip the work part,” muttered his twin with a raised eyebrow, before returning to the quiet conversation he was having with Lys.

“What about your brother?” asked Michael.

“Finn is Swandian through and through.”

That made sense, the names were about as far apart as possible. Still if it hadn’t been for all the pop-culture references Michael would’ve guessed Finn to be the Taker of the two given his more reserved nature. Then again, Michael was used to being around Ollie, so maybe he should’ve anticipated the opposite.

Tai moved on to Marcus who was next to him and held out a hand.

“I’m Tai,” he said.

Marcus chuckled and shook his hand. “I figured that out. I’m Marcus.”

“You’re the dragoon?”

“Was it the rifle on my back that gave me away?”

“Didn’t even notice it. Your forefingers seemed to have a bit of extra strength to them is all.”

“He’s lying, he saw the damn rifle,” said Finnegan, breaking away from his conversation with Lys again. He seemed very comfortable holding a conversation while firing the occasional stray at his brother.

“He can’t prove that,” said Tai with a wink before moving over to Pyotr.

“I’m Tai,” he said, holding out a hand.

“Pyotr,” he said, giving a firm shake.

“Pee-yo-tor, I really like how that sounds. Really rolls around the mouth nicely when you say it too.”

“I’ve always thought so,” said Pyotr. “I especially like it when I can get a woman with a pretty voice to say it.”

“A man after my own heart.” Tai moved over to Ollie.

“I’m Tai,” he said, holding out a hand.

“Thai? I thought you said you were Japanese?”

Tai shook his bald head. “No, no, no. We’re the ones that get the respectable sex tourism.”

He laughed. “I’m Ollie. You know, your man Devahn gave us all a very similar tit for tat.”

“He would steal my thunder, the bastard.” He clapped his hands and rolled his neck before moving over to Davi.

“I’m Tai,” he said, holding out a hand.

Davi took it and gave it a firm shake.

“Davi, good to meet you, sir.”

“Sir? Oh no, looks like we’ve got another one like you, Finn.”

“Thank the divine,” said his twin, giving a short nod to Davi.

Michael didn’t think that was entirely a fair impression of Davi. He certainly knew how to cut loose, but he buttoned up a bit more whenever he was near perceived authority.

“So!” said Tai, clapping his hands together. “Who’s up for a quick spar? I need to get an idea of what you’re all about… Ollie and Marcus are exempt though. I can’t really compete with bullets and bolts of lightning.”

Michael, Pyotr, and Davi exchanged a glance.

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“I think we’re all up for that, as long as you are.”

Tai nodded. “Excellent.” He looked up at Finn. “I take first, you take second, I take third?” he asked.

Finn sighed and nodded. “May as well get an idea of what we’re paying for.”

They all went outside to the small area where they’d seen some of the other mercs training on their way in. As they walked they drew a number of nods and waves, and when they actually arrived with Finn and Tai, a small crowd started gathering.

“Oi! You testing out the fresh meat!?” hollered Devahn, with a small group of men and women gathered around him.

“I wouldn’t call it a test, maybe an active assessment,” Tai said with a smile as they were all taken to a rack of practice weapons.

“That’s what a test is,” muttered Finn.

Michael took his usual shortsword and shield, Davi his bastard sword, and Pyotr opted for only a single longsword. Since they’d been away from Stent they’d all started to specialize a bit; though Pyotr and Davi still carried their shields more often than not, they had started to favor fighting without them.

Tai had grabbed a single longsword as well, and moved to a corner of the arena.

“How about you first big fella,” he said pointing his sword at Davi.