The green eyed wizard entered Mycroft's office. The smell of tobacco hit him. His boss was standing, phone in one hand a cigarette in another and pacing up and down the expensive carpet. He stood still, marvelling at the sight of the man in such an obvious state of stress. This did not bode well for the rest of the day. To have Mycroft in such a state before nine o'clock in the morning meant that someone had made a terrible mistake.
''... And after you finish with the buyout I want a full report about the assets... No, not a penny more than the original agreement... Well then you should remind Mister Cruz that he is not in a position to barter,'' Mycroft declared before ending the call. He then raised the cigarette to his mouth. Soon enough smoke filled the room. The green eyed man's belief that the day would be trying was cemented. Mycroft had been trying to quit smoking and he had succeeded for a month. To fall back to old habits meant that someone was probably a dead man walking and that he would be in for a lot of paperwork. He hated idiotic people more than his boss on days like this.
"How is the weather in Peru?" the wizard asked, making his presence known.
"Precarious, my dear Antony," Mycroft replied, using the name the green eyed man had chosen for that day. It was getting a bit tiring, having to keep up with the name changing but so terribly amusing.
"Should I lend a hand?"
Mycroft exhaled another cloud of smoke. "Not needed. I have a team on standby. By morning there will be one less aspiring dictator."
"And two more to go?"
"Rome was not built in a day."
"A jib at my name? You must be feeling better."
Mycroft's lips turned upwards, forming a genuine smile. ''It is surprisingly dull; I tried to make it something more.''
"I felt like being dull today. Second packet, sir?"
''Trying day Antony.''
''It's barely noon.''
Mycroft grimaced. ''People were surprisingly idiotic today, it called for two packets of these," he waved his little cigarette around before bringing it to his lips again. "Is the problem that you don't smoke, something I very much doubt, or that you haven't had one yet? Because I am certain that you will soon be as agitated by stupidity as I am."
Antony grinned. ''The second. It is a public building here, I'm going to try and abide by the law.''
''And here I am, dragging you to commit unlawful acts,'' Mycroft commented, extending his very expensive silver case towards the wizard. ''We have time for one guilty indulgence before we are called to tackle the next crisis.''
"So, you chose smoking? Why not something healthier?"
"Like eating chocolate?" Mycroft asked rather pointedly. He had seen what Antony did when he was stressed. The paper wrappers at the bin had been rather telling and too many for it to be healthy.
The wizard shrugged. "It's good for serotonin levels," he replied, a tad defensively and more than mischievously.
Mycroft arched an eyebrow challengingly. "Really?"
"What's your excuse for smoking?"
"Makes me look sophisticated."
Antony chuckled. "Honestly?"
Mycroft smiled as another cloud of smoke joined the air they were breathing. The wizard took the case and declined the lighter, lighting the stick with his magic. It made Mycroft arch an eyebrow but other than that, the man did not react much.
