Seraphima stared into the mirror. Mouth agape. Breathless. In one shocking elegant motion, threw the mirror crashing to the floor, jumped out of the barber chair and glared at the goblin. “You”. Pointing a long painted fingernail into Qaxiz’s face. She gave him a long stare for effect. How big of a racket was she going to have to cause to get out of paying? “Listen here gobo, this is THE worst haircut I have ever seen. For it to be on my head. MINE! No. This can’t… It just cant. No, there is no chance in hell I’m paying for this”. Tears. Goblins may be shrewd but hated tears. Through her torrent of fake tears she could still see his outstretched hand. Its not working, she thought bitterly.
“Look, Sera. You been comin’ here a long time. I know what’s going on here. You don’t have money. Right?” She shook her head mutely. “Well, I got a proposition for ya. Why don’t you and me, work together?”
“Ew” she said flatly.
“Now look. What have you got to lose? You got sacked from your last gig. You got bills piling up. You can’t even spare a few copper for a haircut-”
“Stop.” She cut him off. “Please stop. You can allow me a shred of dignity here and just, tell me your offer.”
“Work with me. I will make it worth your while.” Qaxiz weighed an imaginary bag of coins in his hand.
“What, cutting hair? Sweeping floors? Piercing?” Do you know who I am?"
“Is that what you think we do here?”
She waved her arms open mockingly; wide eyes, falsely innocent, inspected the barbershop.
“Sera. I got news for you. This here, this is the heartbeat of Azeroth. This room right here.” He gazed up to the heavens.
She rolled her eyes. “Here we go, Goblin delusions of grandeur incoming.”
“You think I’m kidding? While you Sin’dorei are scrounging around for your next hit, us barbers? We get a lot of people coming and going out of this room baby.” He slapped the back of the barber chair. “We got the hottest commodity in town.” Qaxiz beamed. “In-form-a-tion.”
Sera leaned in. A subtle involuntary reaction. She felt, something. A ripple perhaps. Power. “Hmmm. Tempting.” Feigning indifference but her pulse quickened.
She heard a motorcycle outside. It engine rattled to a stop. “Potential customer?” She jibbed.
“Nah, this guy” he jabbed his thumb toward the doorway. “This is the guy I want you to meet.”
“Is this your boss?” She asked. He shook his head. “Nope, more like, business partner.”
“Why me Qaxiz? Huh?” Sera asked pointedly.
Her answer hung in some distant corridor. Unanswered. Unspoken. He just looked at her. Secrets. The word lingered between them. Each grasping at the edges of meaning. A mental tug of war.
The sound of leather boots on tile broke the silence. They both turned to the door. Sera’s jaw dropped. Flesh and blood, her brother. Qaxiz knew something was up immediately. “Wait. You know this guy?” He stared incredulously. Sera’s face lit up. She walked up to Ba’ddash and punched him square in the arm. “Last thing I heard, you fel-rushed off the edge of Mac’Aree on Argus.” Thought I’d never see you again". Ba’ddash gave his arm an obligatory rub and smiled at his sister. “It’s been awhile” he said. “your hair looks like @!$#.”
“Hate to interrupt this heart warming reunion, but we got pressing business to attend to.” Qaxiz was uncomfortable. He was losing his patience and more worrisome, his influence. “Time’s a wasting here. So, Ba’ddash. You tell your bossman, you got yourself a recruit. Hell, just because I’m feeling generous, I’ll even lend you the keys to my bike Sera. Think of it as an advance. You gotta look the part too.”
Ba’ddash said, “Looks like you two have some kind of deal, am I right? I don’t need to know details. I can vouch for Sera here to the crew. And if you guys have secrets between you, I’m better off not knowing. Sera’s the secret-dealer, I’m in it for the scalps, you know that Qaxiz.” Ba’ddash handed the goblin a bag of human hair. Qaxiz handed him back gold. He peered in the bag, “Less skin next time. It’s the hair I want.” He slipped the bag of scalps into a locker then smiled at Sera’s horrified expression.
“We have an agreement!” Qaxiz announced. “Let Hellscreams Angels know they got some new blood. I’ll be asking for my cut, but the Boss knows all about that. You guys get to work and Sera you check back in, we will be in touch.”
Ba’ddash started towards the door and Qaxiz motioned for Sera to follow her brother… but she stopped. “Just one damned minute though. Who is going to fix my hair?”