"What?"

He cocked a brow at her, though he didn't open his mouth to drop the scathing comment that was on the tip of his tongue. She recovered before he needed to, for one.

"I mean...all right. Fine then."

"Yeah. Fine then," he repeated, gripping her hand as she gave her name and looked up at him. Merlin, the next two years would be long.

"So...when you say partner, do you mean an actual equal partnership, or a mentor-student situation?"

"Well now," he drawled, "I would suppose that would be up to you, wouldn't it? Prove yourself up to my standards," he paused and gave her a stern look, "and don't let your eyes decieve you, Miss Jones - and we'll be on equal footing. Fuck things up? You'll get nothing but disdain from me."