A/N: You know, if he wasn't a villain, Mercer is basically an angry, grumpy old man. At least to me anyway, XD. I don't know why, he's not even that old. Oh, also I forgot to mention that Rowan had a scar as well. A claw mark on his left cheek. Oops.

No warnings for this one, just Rowan's recruitment day.

"I'm telling you, Mercer," Brynjolf insisted as he followed Mercer to his desk, "This man is good, things surely must be looking up for the guild, for all of us."

"You said the last one was good and look what happened to her," Mercer snapped irritably.

"That was a shame," Brynjolf uttered and quite frankly burst out, "But Mercer, I've seen this man work and it was…"

Mercer watched him as he struggled for a suitable word, "It was brilliant! Simply brilliant, I have never seen someone with that kind of skill before. You should've been there; you'll know what I'm talking about. I'd tested him myself and what he did was unexpected, it was as if watching an illusionist at work! Not that I've ever seen one but you know what I mean. We need him in our ranks, it's that simple."

Mercer stared at him, slightly unnerved at his enthusiasm. He had never seen Brynjolf this excited before. In fact, Brynjolf hardly appear excited at anything, much less at the prospect of finding someone new in these tough times.

He tore his eyes away from the smiling Nord and peered down at his letters, "You said you saw him doing all these things, what good is a thief if he could be clearly seen during his work?"

"That was the beauty of it!" Brynjolf gushed, "It was like… like art! A performance! Magic, even. He was manipulating them, playing with his victims, moving them with only his words and he took from them right under everyone's noses and they didn't even realize!"

"A thief works under the shadows, Brynjolf," Mercer said sternly as he began sorting through the letters, quickly reading some of them with a hard gaze, "I hardly see him fitting if he only knows to execute our work with such… grandeur."

"He does blend in well," Brynjolf insisted, "I saw him disappear completely into the shadows as if he were a shade. I suspect he'd chosen to act in plain sight."

Mercer gave him a scrutinizing stare, wondering what manner of otherworldly witchcraft had possessed his right hand man to see merit in such a thing.

"You are certain he will do well?" He asked hesitantly.

"Aye," Brynjolf said, "I am confident he will aid to restore our guild."

"Alright," Mercer nodded, "We'll see this new recruit of yours. Make sure he knows how we do things around here."

"Of course."

Mercer studied the man standing in front of him with narrowed eyes while Brynjolf introduced him.

He looked rather slight, a little shorter than the average. That's a suitable size for their line of work. He seemed quite agile from how he'd moved, and sure-footed, another good quality for a thief. His eyes were bright and alert, another good thing. And if what Brynjolf said were true, they'd certainly come upon quite the asset.

All in all, Mercer has no problems regarding this new addition to their guild.

The only problem he has is the fact that the recruit is smiling at him.

He is smiling.

Smiling.

There was no trace of fear or apprehension on his face. In fact, the man looked downright devious as he stared at Mercer with such a look on his face. Even Thyrnn did not dare to look at him with such blatant disrespect.

That is when Mercer knew he would rather stay away from this man as much as possible.

"Mercer?"

The Guildmaster pretended that he wasn't just glaring fixatedly at the man and announced in his usual waspish voice, "Now that introductions are out of the way, I want to make things perfectly clear. You do what we say, when we say it, no questions, no discussions. Break our rules and you'll get nothing in return, you got that?"

"Of course, sir," the man grinned.

His voice caught Mercer off guard and he now know very well that he should never, ever get himself mixed in with the likes of this man. He glanced over at Brynjolf and realized that he had seen no such thing as he cheerfully spoke with the recruit about their various rules and conduct, as well as some of the services that he can hope to find here.

"If that is all," Mercer cleared his throat when Brynjolf finally stops talking, "Brynjolf will show you around and get you set up for your first job."

He was about to leave and go back to whatever he was doing when Brynjolf said, "Mercer, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Oh, yes. Of course." Mercer slowly turned back around and looked at the new recruit in all seriousness (and reluctance), "Welcome to the Thieves Guild."

And then he booked it.