(2022-08-20) A Matter of Trust

Details

Author:	Alli
Summary:	Prompt response for "AGREE TO DISAGREE" featuring Anarelina and Jocoza discussing trust and wariness.
Rating:	T for Teen

Chain: Prompt Responses

It was a quiet afternoon in Cobalt Company HQ, and part of the usual food table had been cleared off to serve as a workbench. Captain Jo Sparkwire sat in one of the chairs, magnification goggles over her eyes, absorbed by her work. A toolkit of tiny screwdrivers lay on one side of her, and various left over gears and small bits of colored glass on the other. A miniaturized menagerie of butterflies, bees, dragonflies and hummingbirds seemed to be taking shape under her deft gnomish four-fingered hands.

In Jo's intense focus, she did not hear the footsteps on the stairs, or notice the stern-eyed kaldorei woman with long, loose dark blue hair as she approached. The woman stood for a long moment, simply watching her tinker. Then she coughed, gently.

Jo jumped, slicing her finger on a tiny piece of glass. A single drop of blood dripped to the table as she looked up to see the interloper and smiled a welcome.

"Oh goodness, you startled me," she said brightly, reaching in her pocket to get a bit of cloth to wrap around the tiny wound. "I'll need to clean the table, but… oh, I was going to do that anyway. Can't have glass shards on a dinner table! How can I help you? Looking for Cobalt Company?"

The kaldorei woman looked down at her, stern expression hardening further. "Are you not concerned? I caught you unawares. I could have been anyone."

Jo shrugged, looking back down to her tiny glass-and-metal creatures. She mimed a gentle pat over them, and then pushed off the bench, landing gently and looking up at the intruder. "In the middle of Ironforge? Not likely. Anyway, I'm assuming you're here by intention. Have a seat? It'll save my neck a lot of cramping."

"In this instance," the elf said, softening slightly and moving towards the indicated chairs. "No harm is done." Gracefully, she took a seat, crossing one leg over the other. "I am looking for Cobalt Company, or at least one of its Captains. I am Anareline Evensong. Are you the gnomish mage, Jocoza Sparkwire?"

"Yes, that's me," she nods, hopping up into a chair, her legs dangling. "And Evensong… I don't want to make assumptions on a surname, but perhaps you are related to some of my employees."

"Yes," she says, something tightening around her eyes. "Both of my children."
"Oh? And what brings you today? Would you like to apply to join us?" Jo smiled warmly. "We have a number of families working within the Company. Captain Ference's wife and adopted son, for example, and…"

"No," Anareline said, cutting her off. "That is not why I'm here. I have had my fill of militaristic hierarchies, long ago. I simply wanted to know what sort of person held the loyalty of my children."

"We're not much of a militaristic hierarchy," Jo grinned. "We look out for each other. And though I am a captain, I often consult with my lieutenants, and Captain Ference as well."
"Do they and Captain Ference help curb your…" she glanced at the table, with its mechanical contraptions. "…gnomish enthusiasms? And… your arcane studies?"

"Well, I do get carried away a bit, from time to time," Jo giggled. "I suppose our Kirin Tor contacts would let me know if I went too far with magic. Gerhold gets terribly cross about me meddling with bronze dragons."

"As well he should," Ana said sharply. "One does not meddle with dragons, unless they seek you out."

"Oh, well, the ones I've met seemed nice," Jo said with a small shrug.

"Seeming is not being," Ana insisted.

"Right, of course," Jo nodded. "But they seemed like they were, to me. Very approachable."
Ana put a hand to her forehead in frustration. "I think you're not hearing me. Being approachable does not mean trustworthy. It does not mean they have your best interests at heart. A bronze dragon may decide the death of all you hold dear is the price to secure a better future. Would that still seem approachable to you?"

"Well, maybe they have before," Jo tilts her head thoughtfully. "But I do hope they don't do so again. I know ever so many people now, and hold so many of them dear."

"How can you say…" Ana cut off in frustration. "I expected to find you an irresponsible mage, hoarding her own power. I am not certain this is better, to find you making trinkets and trying to befriend dragons."

"I've never sought power, exactly, much less hoarded it. And the trinkets are to show off to an elf I met in the Kirin Tor," Jo smiles, glancing over at the table. "He so admired my butterfly, and invited me for a party in…"

"An elf, in the Kirin Tor," Ana said, sitting up stiffly. "I think you should be more cautious of those you count your allies. They may lead you astray."

Jo looked at her, puzzled. "But without allies, how would anything ever get done? Cobalt has succeeded because we're a group of people who trust each other, and because we build a wider network touching so many different organizations. The Alliance military, SI:7, the Sentinels, the Cenarions, various noble houses, uh… other allies maybe I won't mention…"

"Allies you cannot even mention, and yet you count them trusted," Ana said wryly.

"Well, yes," Jo shrugged. "It's worked so far. We took down the Defias, destroyed the Scholomance, even just recently we've uncovered a dragon in Stormwind. None of that would've been possible if we'd held everyone we worked with at arm's length." She stretched out one tiny arm.

Ana sighed, rising from her chair. "I do hope you do not find cause to regret your openness, Captain Sparkwire. And if the time comes that you do, I hope my son and my daughter are nowhere near."

"Oh, I'll watch out for them," Jo said, looking up at Anareline. "I'll make sure they're safe. You can trust me."