Chapter 9 - Setting Out
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Notes/Disclaimer: The Discworld and all its characters are the sole property of Terry Pratchett. If I could worship him as a God, I would, but I'm not quite sure how he'd take that. At any rate, no money is being made off of this.
Warning: Little bit of Greebo/Vimes, little bit of Greebo/Vetinari.
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Vimes glared at the strange man who had draped himself over the back of Vetinari's office chair. His clothes looked suspiciously like some of the formal robes that Vimes had seen Vetinari wearing to special political functions, but somehow they looked much better on this man than they ever had on Vetinari.
Vetinari shuffled nonchalantly through the papers on his desk as the man leaning over the back of his chair smiled wickedly at Vimes.
"Sir?" Vimes prompted, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. "You wanted to see me?"
"Ah yes, Commander Vimes," said Vetinari, as though Vimes had only just walked into the room. "I would like you to meet Greebo. He is currently in the city with his aunt, visiting a relative. I believe he has been causing you a bit of trouble as of late."
Vimes frowned inwardly. There was no way that Vetinari was actually going to get this Greebo guy to apologize to him. Vetinari never apologized for anything if it was really important. Especially not when it was Vimes. Vimes waited for him to continue.
"I believe Mister Greebo has some information that might be valuable to you," Vetinari continued. Vimes sighed. There it was. "It seems that the other day, he inadvertently stumbled across the lair of a very strange creature. Perhaps not so much a creature as a dark essence. It occurred to me that this might be what you are looking for, is it not?"
Vimes stared at the strange man. "He knows where that thing lives?" he asked incredulously. The man just grinned at him, revealing his overly-pointed teeth.
"Quite," said Vetinari. "It seems that Mister Greebo and his aunt came here looking for just such a creature."
Vimes hesitated. A familiar feeling of dread that seemed to be very common with this case washed over him. He looked at the man. "Your aunt wouldn't happen to be named Gytha Ogg or Ezmerelda Weatherwax, would she?"
The man's grinned widened. "Nanny Ogg," he said, although it sounded more like a growl than actual words. Vimes wondered how he accomplished that.
Of course, thought Vimes. It figures.
"Those two fine women are down at my station, if you'd like to come with me," Vimes said.
Greebo nodded and strode around to the side of the chair. "Goodbye Greebo," Vetinari said very nonchalantly. "Thank you for all your assistance."
Greebo leaned down swiftly and gently bit the side of Vetinari's neck. It happened a bit too quickly for Vimes to close his eyes, and he groaned inwardly. Another five years off his life. At this rate he wouldn't live for another ten. "Come on," he said peevishly.
He saw Greebo wink at Vetinari as they left, and felt his jaw clench again.
Nanny Ogg practically threw herself over Greebo when they arrived. "Ookums!" she yelled. Vimes suddenly realized why her strange screechy voice was so familiar. 'Ookums,' he thought resignedly. Somehow, that was just typical of this whole debacle.
"Lord Vetinari has said that your nephew might know where this evil thing lives," he told Nanny Ogg.
"My…?" Nanny started, then stopped and nodded. She turned to Greebo. "You've seen something nasty, my dear?"
Greebo nodded and pulled his lip back in a snarl. "Eeeeeeevil," he growled, "Daarrrrrk. I ran. Nice man gave me milk."
Vimes went through his mental script of the conversation and carefully deleted that last line. He really didn't want to think about it too much. "At any rate," he interrupted, "would you be willing to show me this supposed den of evil?"
"Oh, not right now!" Nanny Ogg insisted. "It's too early."
"Too early?" said Vimes. "Too EARLY? Are you kidding me? Why the bloody hell would that thing care what time it is?"
"Well," said Nanny, "you can't very well have a dramatic showdown at… what time is it? 10:30? Bad enough it isn't dark yet. You'll have to at least wait until noon. Noon is a very good time for showdowns."
Vimes pinched the bridge of his nose. "How about we go there now, and then we wait until noon before we actually confront it. That work?"
Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax looked at each other and nodded decisively. "We'll accompany you and watch from the sidelines," Nanny said.
"No, we won't," said Granny. She gave Nanny a Look. "We have something to take care of. We'll meet you there."
Vimes sighed. That meant that he'd be alone with Carrot and Greebo. Great. Just peachy keen wonderful.
"Well," he snapped at Greebo, "come on then."
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