"Margrit Knight." Janx rolled her name in his mouth as he always did, as if it were a morsel to be savored. His gaze took her in precisely the same way, inch by inch, judging and admiring what he saw. "I am not a man to be kept waiting, my dear, but I think in your case I will make a rare exception. For me?" He opened his hands to encompass her silk dress and upswept hair, then brought them back in, folding them over his heart. "Such beauty is well worth waiting for. Do let me take your coat, so I can admire you properly." He stepped around the cafeteria table that served as his desk, leaving thin wisps of blue smoke behind, and slipped Margrit's coat from her shoulders. "Exquisite." The word was murmured above her shoulder like the promise of seduction. "The color is lovely. So few women can wear white convincingly."

Margrit groaned and walked away to move paperwork and sit on the table, facing Janx as she loosened the straps of her heels and dropped them on the floor. Hard metal folding chairs were the only seating in the room. She hooked her toes under the nearest and pulled it closer, then planted her bare feet on its cold seat with another quiet groan. For a moment she just sat there, reveling in the chill that soothed the ache in her soles. "What do you want, Janx?"