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| Details |
| Author: | Aly |
| Summary: | Two spies meet to discuss their pageant plans, steal something, and set up a meeting with their organizer. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
No one looks up or takes notice when the drably-dressed human woman, Sophie Hagstrom, walks into the Legerdemain Lounge. There's nothing especially unusual about her, with her brown hair in a modest bun and her warm, Northrend traveling clothes. She comes through the area often enough that she's vaguely familiar in a forgettable way to the local staff. Of course, none of them know that Sophie Hagstrom is not her real name. Sylvie, as she still thinks of herself inside her own head, scans the room quickly and relaxes. No sign of the familiar white-wings-on-blue tabard, nothing to worry about for now. Not that many of them would recognize her anyway, to be fair. It's a low-probability risk. She moves to sit in a poofy chair by one of the smaller tables, taking another careful glance across the room in an attempt to locate her new contact.
A waitress wearing a long, hot pink cocktail dress that looks entirely too fancy-or maybe not, it is Dalaran-with her brown hair pulled up into a loose bun, approaches the table. "What can I get for you today?" she asks in a sunshine-and-rainbows tone, as if to contrast Sophie's drab appearance.
Sophie looks to the waitress with a warm smile, while her gaze subtly catalogues every detail about the woman that she can at first glance. "Oh, could I have a white tea with ginger, please? And a little dollop of honey."
The waitress's amber eyes sharpen with curiosity. "Pardon my asking, but would you like some milk on the side?"
"Yes, if you wouldn't mind," Sophie nods. "On the side, though, not in the tea itself."
The waitress beams. "Coming right up!" she practically prances over to the man behind the counter, places the order, then announces, "I'm going on break now! Be a doll and bring it over to our table when it's ready."
The man sighs, but the behavior does not seem unusual to him, so he doesn't object or complain. With a joyful bounce, the waitress returns to Sophie's table and plops into the chair across from her.
"I've been expecting you," she says, crossing her legs and leaning one elbow on the table. "You can call me Sami."
"Sami," Sophie says, leaning forward for all the world as if she's speaking to a dear friend. There's only a tightness around her mouth that might give the charade away. "You can call me Sophie. I take it we'll be spending some time together."
"We will! Isn't it wonderful?" Sami appears just as friendly, though her enthusiasm seems genuine. "So what made you join the Pageant? Oh, I'll go first. There's a certain man I want to notice me. He used to be in the Kirin Tor. I would just die for him, you know?"
"Oh, goodness, yes, I know what that's like," Sylvie says, with a grin, as she gets a faux-dreamy expression in her eyes. "It was a man for me, as well. I met him in the south of the Eastern Kingdoms and he just swept me off my feet. Feels like I haven't seen him in ages, though."
Sami leans closer, excitedly. "Have you met the Mistress yet? I mostly receive letters from her, though I have seen her once. She is such a doll. You're lucky to be in this Pageant. I've heard the others are brutally competitive."
There's a slight tremor in Sophie's hand that she covers by folding them together on the table. "The others can be… quite cutthroat, yes. I've not met the Mistress, but I am ever so excited to be in a more friendly Pageant. Do you think we will, sometime soon?"
"Actually, I'm going to send you to meet her soon," Sami says. "There's just one teensy little thing you have to do first." As if summoned, a young woman with messy brown hair and a hollow expression steps down the stairs from the inn rooms, taking a seat at the bar and ordering a tea. She is dressed in ordinary clothing, plain, simple, and well worn, her shirt black and long of sleeve. For some reason she is also wearing gloves.
The man behind the counter delivers Sami and Sophie's tea, before getting the new order started.
Sophie takes a sip of her tea, registering the presence of the disheveled woman and turning back to Sami as the waiter moves out of earshot. "Oh? Something for my Pageant resume? What does she have in mind?"
Sami leaves the question to hang for a moment, swirling her own tea gently with a spoon. "Have you heard of Cobalt Company?"
There's no disguising Sophie's reaction - a sudden flash of panic, a tensing of muscles - but then she takes a breath and it passes. She takes another sip of her tea, and says in an admirably even voice, "Who hasn't, these days?"
Sami laughs, covering her mouth politely with her hand, showing off her pink painted nails. "Right? So it turns out the Mistress is very interested in two lovely ladies of Cobalt Company. She wants them to join the Pageant." Leaning closer, she whispers conspiratorially, "One of them is in this room right now!"
Sophie's eyes widen briefly as she scans the room again. She whispers, "You don't say? Are we meant to deliver the invitation?"
"Not yet," Sami says. "But she does have something the Mistress wants…" She trails off as her eyes flit over the woman at the bar. Satisfied, she takes a sip of her own tea. "If we're lucky, getting it will be easy."
Sophie's gaze follows Sami's for a brief moment, before she breaks off and focuses back on the conversation. "On her person? Or elsewhere?"
"Depends on how lucky we are," Sami says with a grin and a wink. "But I'm feeling pretty lucky today, how about you?"
"I'm always lucky," Sophie says, getting some of her cheer back. "Shall we make our acquaintance now, without bringing up the Pageant? Or do you prefer another approach?"
"Let's finish our tea," Sami says. "I have something to show you in my room. They let me stay for free since I work here, isn't that nice?"
"That sounds lovely," Sophie smiles, taking another sip of her tea, as directed. "I do enjoy Dalaran, but I'm always on the road these days. I do a lot of work in trading and delivering of messages."
"Oh, how fun! I've always wanted to travel, but I'm just no good at it. I'm better suited to a job like this one, I suppose. But someday, maybe when the war's over, we should go see Icecrown together!" Sami finishes off her tea, starting on the milk that came with it.
Sophie swallows the last gulp of her tea and smiles, trying to match Sami's enthusiasm. "Yes, that would be a sight to see. Shame we can't travel there now, but, well… war." She sets down her cup. "Shall we?"
Sami rises smoothly from her seat. "Right this way!" she says, making for the stairs, leaving the cups for the other waiter to handle. He gives her a sour look, but still doesn't complain. He's used to it. The woman at the bar hardly spares them a glance. She seems too wrapped up in her own thoughts.
Sophie's gaze flashes over the woman the bar as she passes, but with no indication of particular interest. She follows Sami to the stairs, waiting to see what happens next.
Sami pauses in the hallway and slides a card from a hidden pocket in her dress. "This," she says, her smile turning mischievous, "Is the key to that girl's room. Seems like she's left her stuff inside. Usually she wears a bunch of armor, and carries this hideous bag around, but I didn't see anything like that. We're looking for an insignia… Are you familiar with the Scarlet Crusade and their emblem?"
Sophie takes a breath, her eyes drawn to the key. "I believe I'd recognize it, though I've not spent much time around their sort. Is she with the Scarlet Crusade?"
"Was, but we're not looking for hers," Sami says. "The one we need says Mevlin Evonshire on it. The Mistress thinks she has it." She holds the key out to Sophie. "It's the third door on the right. I'm going to grab something and meet you in there."
Sophie takes the key, something like concern flickering over her face. "Mevlin… the one who makes the toys? He lost his somehow?"
"Uh… Yeah." For once, Sami loses her smile. "I heard he was caught. I met him once, too. He was nice." She forces the smile back. "So! That's what we're getting! I'll be right back."
There's a brief flash of distress on her face that Sophie can't quite hide, but she nods and turns to head to her appointed task.
Sophie - or Sylvie, now that she's unobserved - steps lightly down the hallway past two doors, and then tries the key in the third. It turns easily, and the door cracks open. Sylvie pushes it wider slowly, one hand sliding to a dagger and her waist, just in case there's an unexpected occupant.
The room is silent, still, and dark. There is no sign of the armor or the weapons-they're probably in the closet- but the bag sits in a lopsided heap on a table by the bed. It looks as though someone decided last minute not to take it, and it slouches like a lost puppy.
Sylvie carefully notes exactly how it's lying before she pulls open the neck of the bag and starts looking through the contents, keeping an eye out for the insignia.
There's a spot in the middle that is almost strangely empty, as if something used to be there that now isn't, and tucked to the right are a number of bombs. To the left, however, something sparkles, catching the minimal light in the room.
Sylvie carefully avoids the bombs and reaches for the sparkling item to investigate it further.
It is the chain of two insignias, linked together. The first, in scarlet letters, reads, Ralaea Westwind. Not the one she is looking for. The second, though, belongs to Mevlin, as suspected.
Sylvie twists the chains around, trying to see how to disentangle them.
There is a clasp at the back, and it looks as though one chain has just been looped through the other and clasped. Efficient, but simple.
Sylvie impatiently unclasps it, and extracts Mevlin's insignia and chain with satisfaction. She holds it in one hand while she carefully replaces the bag and its contents exactly as they had been before.
Sami quietly joins her, closing the door with a soft click. "Did you find it?" she asks.
Sylvie - wait, Sophie now - holds up the insignia for Sami to see. "Right where you thought it would be."
Sami laughs and claps her hands together. "Lucky!" She pulls a note out of her pocket. Some sort of rune is inscribed on it. "So this," she says, "Is a thing you'll need to bring to one of the vrykul outposts in the Grizzly Hills. If you show them this, they won't attack you, and you'll be able to meet the Mistress. You're going to give her Mevlin's insignia in person. First, though, that girl downstairs? See where she heads to, when she leaves. You don't have to follow her out of Dalaran, just get an idea where she might be going."
Sophie reaches out to take the note. "A vrykul outpost, okay. But… she'll be happy to see this. I hope." Sophie takes in a breath. "And I'll follow the girl. I know my way around Dalaran, and it won't seem strange for me to be wandering around."
"Exactly! I have to get back to work, but I know you'll do great." Sami beams at her again. "It was a pleasure meeting you, and if you happen to meet Master Kel'Thuzad before I do, mention me?" The heart is almost visible in her speech.
Sophie nods, stepping toward the door. "I'll say only the best things, if you'll do the same for me."
"But of course!" Sami says, before sweeping back downstairs. She puts on her brightest smile as she calls to her disgruntled co-worker, "I'm back~!" And just in time for the mid-day rush. The tables start to fill, but thankfully the woman at the bar-Ralaea Westwind?- is still seated, only just finishing her tea.
Sophie trails along in her wake, allowing Sami's brightness to mask her own return to the cafe area. She returns to her table, casually rummaging through her own bag as she waits to see what Ralaea Westwind might do next.
Ralaea draws her arms closer to herself as people take seats on either side of her, then finally, unable to relax any further, she drops a handful of coins on the table and takes her leave, stepping out into the bright, ever clear air of Dalaran. As she moves, it becomes clear that something is stuffed into her pockets, the way they bulge out unnaturally. Whatever the something is, it barely fits.
Sophie follows behind at a distance, keeping her focus on the scenery around her. She's not following Ralaea, naturally, she's just walking in the same direction by chance. Like so many others.
Yes, so many others, like that man dressed in a dark blue hooded cloak, giving off an aura of death. He's walking at almost the same distance, in the same direction -by chance of course.
Sophie eyes the following man, and allows herself to fall a little bit further behind.
It is also by chance, then, that when Ralaea steps into the building containing the portals and chooses the portal to Shattrath, of all places, this strange hooded man follows her through, with a small, almost tense hesitation.
Sophie watches the portal for a few moments longer, waiting to see if Ralaea will return. When she does not, Sophie turns back to Dalaran. She has a vrykul outpost and a new Mistress to visit.