#(planning)

[destinationtoast]

I got my second shot two weeks ago... Fully vaccinated now!

On Friday I hug my grandmother!

On Saturday I board a plane and hug my parents!!

On Sunday I hug Ms. Avocado!!!

That's THIS WEEK!!!!

O! M! G! Ho! ly! crap! This is actually happening!!!!!

[velerodra-valesinger]

Incremental Planning

Vel sat beside one of the ponds outside of her home.   Her staff was set at her side as she slowly extended her arms above her head and lowered them.   She could feel a gaze fixed on her.  A gaze she knew.   Shadows rippled around her, and she smiled knowingly.   

“I take it you’ve checked your account.”

Shadows twisted as a hooded woman stepped into view, a few paces from where Vel sat.   “You’ve paid yer outstandin’ debt plus interest.”   Her voice was icy and businesslike.   Her accent was impossible to place.   

“I also extended my sincere apologies for my lapse in payment.”

The hooded woman turned to face Vel, her movement slow and deliberate.   “An’ ya left behind a contact fer me to look over.   How do I know ya ain’t gonna slip off the grid, leavin’ me unpaid again?”   

Vel rubbed at her temples, “Does it look like I had much of a choice in being off the grid?” she asked with the faintest of hisses.  

“Dun mistake me fer someone who gives much a fuck.   But, ya do know what I do give a fuck about dun ya?”   Silent steps moved towards the monk, and the taller woman loomed over her.   Twin fel lanterns gazing down at the blonde.   “I signed it.”   

Her hands were wrapped in tight leather gloves that clung so tightly to her form that if not for embossed pattern and dark dye, one might mistake the leather for being her flesh.   A pouch at her hip was opened and a scroll was removed and handed to the monk.   Weakly, Vel reached for it and set it beside her.   She reached for a stone and placed it on the paperwork, keeping it from being lost in a breeze.  

“I figured if I paid your the standard fee to retain your services for a year in advance, with the opportunity of bonuses, you would sign it.   And speaking of bonuses, did you manage to handle that little side job I left you details on.”

A nod was offered, the rogue’s hand still rested in the pouch.   Another scroll was produced and offered to Vel.   This one was not a contract but some type of blue print, with arcane energies running through the fibers.   

Vel’s dim eyes sparked with a hint of life as she unrolled the scroll and ran a finger over the arcane glyphs.   The two dimensional layout of Ironforge sparkled with arcane energy, lines on the paper projected upwards creating a three dimensional view of the space.   She could see, a series of markers that signifies anti-magic wards, a series for security alarms, lines marking patrol routes.    She gleefully placed the document beside her, lifting her paperweight and replacing it as she stacked the blueprints atop the contract.

“You’re certain these are accurate?”

“Took a mage and a pair of Illidari eyes, a land surveyor an’ a fucking enchanter to get that drawn up, not ta’ mention yers truly havin’ to skulk ‘round an Alliance City.   If it wasn’t accurate, I’d be dead, I expect the bonus in my account by the end of the week.”   Vel was delighted.   “I am glad to have you on my payroll again.   I will transfer the gold to your account in the morning.”   She leaned onto her staff and forced herself onto her feet, all the while the rogue hovered over her, her gaze never blinking or moving from the monkette.   

Vel collected her paperwork and turned to head towards her home, eager to review the blueprints.   And to get a better sense of how to get around the security of Ironforge.   As she limped slowly away the rogue spoke, her voice bitter.  “Ya look like shit.”

Vel turned around to respond but before she did shadows had enveloped the rogue and Vel no longer felt that piercing gaze.  She shook her head and made her way indoors.   She didn’t know her real name, she’d seen her face twice, both times it had looked different.   The woman swapped accents and verbal ticks.   She was a spy.   One that could be retained for the right price.   She was not cheap to keep around.  And failure to pay her on time meant any confidentiality between employer and employee was non-existent.   There was no one Vel had ever met that she knew less than that rogue.  

She could have been anyone.   Her names changed, her eye colors had even changed.   Normally it would be the sort of thing that drove Vel insane.   

Not knowing.  

However, she was useful.   And so Vel never pushed.

After taking a seat at her desk, she felt the strangest of chills run down her spine.   As if an wayward gust had somehow reached all the way from Northrend to Pandaria.   She shook her head.    She was clearly imaging things.

ALT Tumblr for Rubiaura and Saphyraelia Straygem: @straygems