#echomancerforhire

Ibrahim sat occupied with whatever desk work Wardens did, a pen scratching on paper as he wrote (no computers here, the way magic liked to fry technology). The dogs sat still, like statues but alert if you looked — watching, and ready to spring at a threat.

They sprang at Ayesha as soon as she stepped inside, the two of them at once almost bowling her over...

...and she laughed. "My boys!" she exclaimed, grinning as she reached down to scratch behind an ear with her free hand. "Hi, hi, I missed you too, Noob! Ozzy, come 'ere—"

After a few more blissful moments of dog kisses and belly rubs, Ayesha straightened, steeling herself for the less fun part.

"Hi," she said to Ibrahim, even though hi always seemed weirdly informal. He seemed like a greetings, o Warden kind of guy, but Ayesha would have felt silly saying that. He'd left his paperwork aside, looking at her now. As usual, he didn't look happy with her, but she wasn't sure happy was an emotion that had ever once registered on his radar.

"I brought intel," she went on, placing the item she held on the desktop and sliding it toward him: the Velvet Glove's stolen ledger in its red-leather binding. "Not exactly the intel you were expecting, I know, but since that first outing didn't go exactly to plan, I wanted to make sure I had something for you."

"Water and a muffin?" Buffy echoes, her voice doing that little pitch-climb it always does when carbs are on the table. She wipes her sweaty palms on her jeans and offer a bright, slightly exhausted grin. "Okay, first of all, you just said the two magic words that unlock my soul. Second of all... what kind of muffin? Because if we're talking blueberry, I might actually propose to you right here."

She’d felt it, too. Before August even said anything, it was the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. “Yeah.” Liza murmured, a small frown tugging at her lips as she linked arms with him and turned the next corner, but the feeling didn’t quite go away. “I hate that feeling… and I bet I know exactly who they work for.” A quiet sigh escaped and she tried to remember to take measured breaths to avoid panicking. 

starter for @echomancerforhire for liking this starter call

_ .✰ ˏˋ Andromeda ˎˊ˗ Lithe digits carefully shift the tea cup towards the other. Her little shop was a quaint little thing, filled with crystals, herbs, and more curious artifacts that those without power could not handle without potentially losing more than one's soul. She often had to warn people to mind their fingers with some of her more rare products but she knew that with him, she did not need to worry that he would meet some unfortunate end.

After all, he'd been here before.

"What you wanted hasn't come in yet, to no surprise." She muses lightly, bringing her own cup to her lips so that the tepid liquid could smooth down her throat. "One of the couriers met a rather...curious end on the way here. I suspect it'll be perhaps another week or two. I'm assuming you don't need it right away?"

———

"I'll figure it out," Tabitha said, her words followed by a breathy laugh. "I mean, I don't have a lot of choice so, yeah. I'll figure it out."