Their shifting glances told him he had succeeded, and it resulted in a chuckle of slightly greater humor this time. Adjusting the course of his steps he approached them, tossing away the cigarette even though he’d only smoked his way through half of it, then drew a fresh one from the same pack, lighting it in the same drawn-out manner as he stood before them. This drew a puzzled expression from the suit, but she just rolled her eyes, waiting for the encounter to be over. Before she was able to even form words to express her displeasure he looked up, a wry half-smile formed across his mouth as he pulled at the brim of his fedora just enough to crudely imitate a greeting.

The hat chuckled, once again, with a decided lack of humor.

“So, he’s my replacement, huh?”

He ticked his head in the suit’s direction, but put up a hand just in time to keep her from talking—

“Don’t answer that,” he said, and would have continued if something hadn’t caught his eye. The suit was clenching his fists.