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Region: Lerodas

The Jaguar and the Tiger - Part II

600 Word Post

The gate became ever nearer, and Teuili struggled to pull his punchcard from a paper envelope to have it ready. Itzcali furrowed his brow at the show his counterpart was putting on, before gesturing for the other man to pass over some of the items for him to carry. No sooner than he did so, documents spilled out over the floor from the correct paper envelope. Teuili threw down the other items in his hand, and he and Itzcali struggled to retrieve them before they blew away. One piece of paper here, a card there, and finally, between them, all of the documents were back in-hand. As he looked back to the line, Teuili scowled.

“Great. Lost our place.”

Itzcali put down his briefcase to help pick up the items that Teuili had put down; “Ah, what’s a few extra seconds off work before the day starts?”

Teuili’s scowl turned slowly into a smile, and the smile into a laugh. He punched Itzcali’s shoulder playfully, and collected all of his things back under his arm, this time with his punchcard in hand. Itzcali procured his own punchcard altogether much more easily. They rejoined the line much further back, resuming the conversation.

“I’m just saying, Amoxtli could have given you a paper bag, or a larger envelope… Something that could have helped you carry everything into work without scrabbling around trying to lose it.”

“Eh, I’ll make sure to bring that up at the next family meeting,” Teuili scoffed; “It’s not like she doesn’t think of these things, it’s just that she says she’ll do them…”

“... And then at the last minute, just won’t remember them,” Itzcali finished.

“Well who made you the expert on women?” Teuili joked, “Last I saw, you were still a drunk who lived alone in his apartment.”

Itzcali groaned, “Not a drunk, Teuili. I drink a moderate amount, then go home,” the man shrugged off his companion’s jab, before continuing; “In any case, it’s not about knowing women. That’s just basic human behaviour.”

“Well pardon me for saying so, but I think you think you know more than you do know,” Teuili retorted. Itzcali could only roll his eyes. Perhaps he was right that there was a little overconfidence in reading people that Itzcali displayed, but his intuitions proved right much of the time. Finally, as the last person in front of Itzcali punched their card and entered, Itzcali brought his card up to do the same.

“Excuse me, sir,” the guard commander sat to the side of the gate spoke directly to Itzcali, looking directly at him and beckoning with gloved hand; “I’m going to need to see your ID today.”

Itzcali gestured toward the gate, “But I’m due inside for work today.”

“Random inspection. Please comply, sir.”

Itzcali turned back to Teuili, and made a gesture toward the gate that meant ‘wait for me inside’. Teuili exhaled deeply, before moving to punch his own punchcard in.

“Quickly as you can, sir,” the commander gestured once again for Itzcali to approach.

“Yes, yes… Here you go;” Itzcali procured a state identification card - green backed with a red ornate circle in the centre, and all information arrayed around the outside. The guard commander gave a cursory look over the information, looking down the magnifying lenses of his glasses at the small card below, before placing it onto the table and folding his hands.

“Thought that was you. APPN will see you in that office over the way,” the commander gestured over to a shack across the road, nearby to the front gate, with two guards on the outside; “Has someone been naughty?”

Itzcali picked up the identification card from the table, and looked back to Teuili, nodding back to him to go in further rather than continue waiting by the gate. The guard commander waved Itzcali along, and the man complied, making his way to the guarded door. The guards having seen the commander gesture to him opened the door in front of Itzcali, and he sheepishly walked into the room.

Desula, Shuoria, Inomora, and Ludernia

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