(2022-07-24) Secret Deals and New Friends

Details

Author:	Alli
Summary:	Cobalt Company Captain Jo Sparkwire meets an unexpected new friend (Gethennis Jadelight), and makes a secret deal.
Rating:	T for Teen

Jocoza Sparkwire wanders through the upper level of Shattrath City, lost in thought. Her trajectory marks her as having come from the Aldor Tier, and she might have been making for the portal area before she'd veered off to the right. She does not yet seem to notice that at the moment she’s walking instead towards a tunnel down to the Lower City.

A slender, violet-cloaked figure falls into step behind her, hood drawn up in such a way that she might recognize the anonymous person from the Symposium, were she to glance behind her. His steps are not particularly stealthy, but nor are they clumsy. And his cloak is… fabulous.

Jo doesn't notice anything at first, until she finally looks up and notices the tunnel in front of her. "Oh, oops," she says, with a short laugh. She takes off her Big, Red Hat and turns around.

"Oh, hi," she says to the follower, taking half a step back. She looks at him more carefully. "Did I see you at Gerhold's?"

"Did you?" says a silky voice in a tone that suggests a single raised eyebrow. " Mmm. Thought that was you. I imagine you saw the cloak, at the very least." He reaches up with one hand and, with a graceful, economical gesture, lets his hood fall back. She sees a blood elf with long, glossy chestnut hair, delicate bone structure, and luminous green eyes. His expression is sharp with curiosity. "Jocoza, was it?"

"Yes, I'm Captain Jocoza Sparkwire, of Cobalt Company." Jo looks up at him, and seems to take stock of her own blue-and-white robe and matching tabard, and the brimmed red hat in her hands. Something in her eyes as she looks down at it says 'this is fashionable enough'. "I'm not sure I caught your name? Are you one of Gerhold's friends?" she continues.

"Define 'friend,'" says the elf, then taps a fingertip thoughtfully against his lower lip. "On second thought, don't; we have more interesting things to discuss. I am Lord Gethennis Jadelight, a mage of the Kirin Tor. So yes, obviously, I know Fauntleroy. We all know each other, we delicate shrinking violets of Dalaran. But let's talk about you. About Cobalt Company."

"Oh, sure," Jo smiles brightly up at the elf. "You have some interest in the Company? We do have connections to the Kirin Tor. You may have met my apprentice Gwen — she was accepted as a novice a little while back."

"To be honest, I have not had the pleasure yet, though when I beheld her at that meeting she positively stole the desiccated spider cocoon that serves as my heart. What a precious little thing. Tell me all about her." As he talks, he begins to stroll in the direction of the Lower City tavern.

"Oh, she's brilliant. When I found her, she'd been working with some fellow in Stormwind that had no patience for figuring that out." Jo frowns in remembered disapproval. She walks quickly, matching speed with Gethennis's slow stroll. "Anyway, it was pretty clear to me, from the beginning, that she had a thing for telemancy. That's what she was recognized for, her contributions to getting inter-world portals working safely."

Gethennis nods, listening intently as they walk. Periodically he glances down at her, a strangely tender little smile playing over his face as he studies her expressions.

"She's got kind of a thing, about killing things with magic," Jo adds, a little apologetically. "I think because she's young. But she's very good at unconsciousness, so mostly it works out in Cobalt."

"Adorable," he says, his tone neither contemptuous nor adoring. He sounds as though he is simply making note of an academic fact.

"Is that what your interest in our Company is for? Checking into our mages?"

"My interest in your Company is… that it is interesting. Did I infer correctly that you have significant authority over their operations?"

"Oh, yes, I'm one of the Captains," Jo looks again down at her hat, and up at the cloudless sky. She shoves it in her bag, freeing up her hands. "It's me and Elohad Ference, who founded it. He's an old friend."

"Yes, probably rather old by now, I'd presume, from what I know of humans. Very interesting. That would explain Fauntleroy's interest, though. Finally it begins to make sense…" He taps his lower lip again thoughtfully as he approaches the tavern. "Might I buy you a drink? What's your pleasure?"

Jo blinks at the tavern, seeming to have just registered where they were going. "I… yes, I would like that. Thank you. Maybe something with rum?"

Gethennis blinks at her in surprise. "A streak of pirate in you, is there? How intriguing. I think you and I are going to be great friends." He waves her into the tavern ahead of them, then approaches the bar. "Rum and cola for the lady, and I'll have my usual." He gestures at the barstool nearest Jo, and the stool obligingly squats to make it easier for her to mount.

Jo glances at the stool and up at Gethennis, but then sits on the stool without further question. "I suppose I got a taste for it when I was living down in Booty Bay." She tilts her head, considering. "I suppose I still do, in a manner of speaking."

Gethennis looks genuinely intrigued. The stool grows back to its former height once Jo is seated, lifting her up to the bar. "And how did you get mixed up with the Company?" he says.

Jo leans one elbow on the bar after the stool has returned to full height, turning to face her elvish companion. "Elo invited me, when he founded it. It was just after… well, let's say I didn't have anything else lined up at the time."

"So you already knew Ference, then? You weren't one of his actresses were you?" He sits up straight, clearly picturing it with some delight.

Jo giggles, and waves one hand to banish the notion. "I don't think I'd be much use at playing anyone other than myself. No, we met during the siege, in the Second War."

"Oh," he says, and doesn't add how dull aloud, but his expression strongly suggests it. "So. Allow me to cut to the chase. I would like to assist your Company however I may. There is one problem, however. Ference is … notoriously inflexible about certain political matters."

The bartender plops down their drinks, sloshing them just a little over the rims of the cups.

Jo straightens up, as the bartender returns with their drinks. She narrows her eyes at Gethennis, just slightly, a Look that is undercut when she takes a sip of her rum and cola and shivers a little. "So you thought I might be a way around? I think that might depend on, well, what these issues are exactly."

Gethennis studies her carefully. "First and foremost, I am a mage of the Kirin Tor. As close as it is possible to be born into the Kirin Tor. But a time came when I had to choose between two political affiliations, and Silvermoon had all the good parties. Hm?" He waits for her response.

Jo taps a foot against the barstool in thought, and buys time by having another drink of rum. "I suppose Silvermoon has been closer to us than it is now. And I did - do - live in a neutral city, myself."

"Ference, on the other hand… if you cut him, he bleeds blue. And that does complicate the matter of my helping you."

"I… see. But you all did fight together, in that battle over in Kalimdor, didn't you? So we are on the same side. Sometimes."

"Horde and Alliance also aided one another against the Silithid threat. But the trouble is, unless the existential threat to all of Azeroth is that tritely obvious, Horde and Alliance would rather try to destroy one another than work together."

Jo considers Gethennis. "But that's not how you operate, I assume. Or you wouldn't have come to find me."

"On paper, I am a subject of the Horde Warchief. But darling, do I look like the sort of man who is subject to anyone, let alone a Warchief?" He takes a drink of his own opalescent cocktail, then tips his head a little in thought. "I suppose it depends on the Warchief…" he muses, but then shakes his head and sets down his drink with a smile. "In all seriousness, while I am not famed for my constancy, in certain matters I am embarrassingly loyal. But temporary political alliances are not one of those."

"Kirin Tor over all, then?" Jo asks, pausing to see if he'll correct her.

"Azeroth over all. He's a complicated boy, but so terribly pretty, I simply can't give him up. The Kirin Tor is a means to the end of protecting him, given my inborn talents."

Jo giggles, and takes another sip of her rum. "I admit I hadn't thought of our world in quite that way, but I can agree with the sentiment. I would not… turn down assistance, or information, simply because it came from channels outside the Alliance, if that's what you're worried about. I would not lie to Elo, but… maybe 'Kirin Tor' is enough for him to know."

Geth leans in and - unless stopped - gently taps a fingertip to the end of Jo's nose. "I knew it. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were a sensible girl. I might have even picked up on that little streak of pirate in you. We'll have to explore that more later, for certain. Because we're going to be excellent friends. Now. Since we've agreed that I'm to help you, I'll need a small favor from you. Possibly your apprentice as well, if she's such a scintillating telemancer."

Jo does not stop him from tapping her on the nose. "I hope so. The excellent friends part, I mean. So… what kind of small favor are you asking for? Do you… want a portal somewhere? Somewhere you can't get to yourself, for some reason?"

Gethennis smiles. "This is what I love about people like you. I'm saved so much time explaining things. Yes. What I need is a personal shortcut between my townhouse in Dalaran and Cobalt Company Headquarters in Ironforge." He takes another drink, as
though he's simply asked her to water his plants while he's away for the weekend.

Jo's eyes widen, and she looks back down at her drink briefly, before looking back up to Gethennis. "A portal into Ironforge. Just for you, though, nobody else."

"That is correct. In fact, I want it specifically tuned so that no one else can use it. To say nothing of the fact that my end of it will be behind the wards I'm in the process of creating on my newly constructed home."

"Persistent?" Jo turns to the mechanics, a much safer part of this topic. "I wouldn't want anyone in HQ to stumble into it and have something dreadful happen."

"It needs to be set up in much the manner of a one-way mirror. No one who does not know the location it leads to should be able to use it. Including you, I'm afraid. The location of Dalaran is a closely guarded secret, for now."

"For now," Jo repeats hopefully. Then she bites her lip. "So you'd like no one to know it's even there?"

"That is correct. I'm being terribly disobedient even by telling you that Dalaran is being moved. But I thought it important, because if you attempted to cast based on what you think is your knowledge of its geographical location… things could go terribly, terribly wrong. So best you at least know what you do not know."

"Yes, I wouldn't want to put a portal on the bottom of a lake, or something like that." She taps her rum glass gently on the bar in thought. "But what if one of our junior people is alone there, and you happen to come through…"

Gethennis raises an eyebrow. "Do you take me for a rank amateur? I thought we were friends." He gives her a fetching little pout.

"Okay, so that's not a problem," Jo raises a placating hand, and grins tentatively at him. "But why, then? Just so we can meet up more secretly?"

"I want to stay caught up on your reports, possibly leave things for you if necessary… the potential uses are nearly infinite. Traveling between the two places in any other manner is simply too much of a risk for me."

"Elohad would need to know it exists. And probably Oranna, our assistant. I don't know if we want her to start thinking the place is haunted."

"Oh but that sounds like such fun. Have it your way, though, impeccably dressed beggars can't be choosers. Tell them whatever you think will placate them; you know them better than I."

Jo giggles. "Okay, I can picture her face, but… I wouldn't put her through that. Obviously, I wouldn't tell everyone, just those who need to know. Leadership, Oranna, probably Gwen if she's to help work out how to set it up."

Gethennis nods. "And what might I do for you in return? I do like to play fair when I can, and I'm sure you have some secret, forbidden desires that are impossible to satisfy through legitimate means. I am an expert in helping with such things. Any substances, people, or objects you might wish to acquire that are normally unavailable to you, I could provide for you as a gesture of gratitude."

Jo shakes her head slightly. "I've run into this before. If you're looking for my impossible desires, I'm afraid they're not secret and not accessible. Not even for you… I mean, not unless you have friends in the bronze dragonflight that'd be willing to let me mess with the timeline," Jo smiles to make it clear she's not serious. Then something occurs to her. "Though… one thing comes to mind. I bet Dalaran has a lot of books on magic, things we might not be able to find in Ironforge…" she looks up at Gethennis curiously.

"Almost certainly. But do be a dear and leave the timeline alone, unless the Bronze Dragonflight specifically tasks you otherwise, hm? Any other branches of magic you're interested in and unable to satisfy your curiosity? I will do what I can for you without endangering my own position."

"Well, there's sympathetic magic. I've done a number of things with models linked to larger entities, and forging connections between objects. If there's anything more advanced on that…"

Gethennis gives a crisp, businesslike nod. "Quite an interesting speciality! Not one of my own, as I am notoriously unsympathetic by nature. But I shall keep an eye out for you. "

“…or pyromancy, I suppose, if there's anything specialized and interesting to learn there," Jo continues.

"Ah, pyromancy, such a volatile and exciting field. And another delightful surprise, coming from someone who is, on the surface, so very cool and composed."

Jo giggles. "The first is something I've always had an interest in, the second I can thank the GDF for." She does not explain the acronym, surely everyone knows the GDF. "Then I think we have a deal. One on condition, though."

"I am all (elegant and gracefully pointed) ears."

"I have to be able to convince the others this is a reasonable idea. If I can't, then it probably isn't. They keep me from getting carried away, sometimes."

Gethennis lets out a huge sigh. "Let us hope, then, that you are as persuasive as you are beautiful. Now. I should go before anyone unfortunate spots us drinking together. I'm terribly memorable. But know this: it will not be long before Dalaran begins to open its doors to select individuals. I shall do my best to help ensure that you and your people get on that list. Once that happens, I shall give you, and only you, the ability to use that shortcut in the other direction. If you ever need a place to hide, or have a bit of quiet study, or perhaps spend a night in the embrace of a stunningly beautiful and subtly fragrant elf, you will know the way."

Jo smiles warmly at Gethennis. "Thank you for that. I'm sure our mages would absolutely delighted. To have access to Dalaran, I mean." She pauses, taking another sip of rum. "And I would never turn down an offer of a portal to an interesting place."

Geth's eyebrow rises slowwwly, and he smiles. He makes a gesture over her drink, refilling it, and then rises to give her an elegant bow. He has clearly practiced the little cloak-sweep that goes with it. "Until next time then, my new little friend."

Jo half-bows back to him from her seat. "Until next time."

Gethennis pulls his hood back up and strolls out into the streets of the Lower City.

~and Fin~