and i sit at a table set for two Who: Drake Liu & Elvira Treveil What: Lunch and some schmoozing. Where: Noodle House When: Capricorn 18 (Jan 9) backdated Rating: PG! Status: Complete!
Elvira spent extra care to her appearance that day. Her hair was tied back with a ribbon, one stray curl purposely left loose. Her nails were manicured (done to make up for the encounter with mechanical bugs). But most striking was her eyes, glittering with anticipation for this lunch with Drake Liu. She arrived a few minutes before her guest, ensuring their reservation, but not so early that she would be waiting an inordinate amount of time.
Their table was in a private corner of the Noodle House, away from the high-traffic area of frantic servers and hungry customers waiting for a seat. With a polite wave and smile, the holy knight greeted her councilman as the hostess began to usher him to the table.
He smiled and took his seat, thanking the hostess as she walked away. There was already a glass of water waiting for him, and he took a sip. “Hey,” he said after a moment - he’d had to rush to get there on time; a sheaf of paperwork that was urgent had appeared on his desk an hour before their lunch date. “Sorry for being late.”
Technically, he’d been on time, but he always made a habit of arriving at least five minutes early. Elvira didn’t know this - he actually couldn’t think of a single time they’d interacted outside of the guild (which, really, should have shot warning bells off through his head, but he was very good at believing the best in people, even without cause) - but that wasn’t really an excuse. “Hopefully, you didn’t wait too long?”
“Not at all, sir,” she answered, mirroring him with a sip of her own glass. Crossing her ankles underneath the table, she opened up the menu and examined it with split focus. Well-trained not to be distracted, she paid the monk proper attention despite looking over food choices “Busy day? This city sure keeps the council preoccupied,” she said brightly.
He wanted to laugh - that was an understatement. “Can’t say I’m ever bored,” he replied, opening his own menu and looking over the selection. Immediately, he decided on a traditional bowl - no need to get anything extra or fancy in it. He could keep the meat to the side and let Elvira take it if she wanted it. “Fortunately, it’s mostly making sure that things are running smoothly.”
The menu closed and he took another sip of his water. “How about you? You haven’t been around lately.” As far as he was aware, she wasn’t formally affiliated with any groups, but then, there were factions that had more members than he could keep track of. It was possible she recently joined up with one and he just hadn’t noticed. It wasn’t like he had the roster of every faction in the city.
“Oh, my time is spent at the church.” The knight’s affiliation was faith-based. Even outside of her fighters’ duty such as Necrohol patrols “Never a boring day there, either.”
The server arrived with a bounce in his step and a pen behind his ear. He took their orders, making note of the meals onto a notepad,(Elvira ordered the weekly special) before hurrying off again. When he left, the holy knight turned back to the monk. “I quite enjoy Faram’s work, but i do wish our paths crossed more often. As I’ve said before, if there is anything I can do to help…” She trailed off, letting the space with what imagination could muster up for work she could busy herself with.
Drake nodded. Once the waiter had walked away, he smiled. (And this, Elvira followed, attempting synchronization.) “I bet the Church keeps everyone busy.” He knew that Rictor, at least, rarely seemed to have any spare time. But then, Ric was a Blade, and that was a whole different set of nope nope nope. “But if it’s fulfilling, then it’s all worth it.”
He thought about his work as a Councilor - sure, there was a lot of tedium and monotony, but for the most part, he enjoyed it. He was doing something to help other people; it was a lot more fulfilling than he had originally thought it would be. When he’d gotten himself into it, it had been because no one had been stepping up - the previous Council had been useless, and Bram had been on leave. There was only so much that the Riskbreaker could do.
There hadn’t been much thought given to what he’d be doing when he’d volunteered, and the first month had been far from a picnic. But he was starting to get the hang of it now. Having people who wanted to help was definitely something that they hadn’t had when they’d started.
“I’ll let you know if there’s anything we need help with,” he told her. “Saying this is probably going to jinx it, but things have been settling down lately, and unless you want to come and file…” He grinned. “Pretty much what we’ve got.” Although…. “Now that I’m thinking about, what are your thoughts on the current alert system?”
“The alert system?” she echoed. “You and the council keep the guild well-updated currently. Excellent use of the innovation at that. It has kept us safe despite all the troubles recently, hasn’t it?”
But not as advanced as the technology used by (and what a coincidence that he would talk factions before leading her train of thought to) her other alliance. Communicators were easily flooded with posts of a city’s worth of quotidian, interspersed with the occasional updated: an urgent announcement may be pushed aside or missed by one who has placed their device aside. Still, it was an improvement from decades ago when no such thing existed.
Now her coworkers—her other coworkers—were bound together, bone-deep and ever-present. Connected at the joint, they were her phantom limbs. With that she switched gears:
“What is that business with all the nonsense the past year? Something with our defenses or patrols? If it has changed our reputation, you have me to volunteer PR, of course.” She said all this animatedly, a hand brushing aside her hair, eyes bright and attentive.
He nodded, taking the feedback at face value. His biggest problem with it was that it was reactive rather than proactive. And there was always the possibility that people would miss the alert - after all, how many people were going to check their devices during a disaster? But Elvira had a point: the alerts were working as intended. He just had to remember that rarely was anything perfect. “Thanks,” he replied.
The waiter returned with their food before he could respond to her last question. He thanked the server and, once he’d left, returned his attention to Elvira. “We’re still looking into them,” he said. That was public knowledge, as disheartening as it was. Some of the things they’d been able to solve - the desecration of the Necrohol and the missing people had been cultists, which the EKP and Blades had taken care of - but there wasn’t any explanation about the increased attacks from monsters.
All in all, a frustrating exercise in futility, but that wasn’t something they could tell the public.
“Our defenses are no weaker than they were a year ago. Patrols have been as planned, but the attack earlier in the year really diminished the force. If you know anyone looking to join up with the EKP, send them to Councilor Thornton. Otherwise?” He shrugged. “Unless you’ve heard something or know something we don’t, I’m not sure if there’s much that can be helped with.”
“So sorry to say I haven’t.” This was true enough, but her ears were always up for listening even if she was not open to sharing. She paused to smile and take a sip of her soup. “Delicious, isn’t this?”
With a sigh, she continued. “You are doing wonderfully, I have to say again. Through all the troubles, we persevere. I hope to play my part, too: I’ll be sure to send anyone I can think of the EKP’s way and ponder on that alarm system some more.”
“Thanks,” he said, genuinely grateful. With everything that had been going on, it seemed like the Council had been neglecting getting outside opinions. At least, he had. He couldn’t really say what Bram and Aspel were doing or not doing. Something to bring up at the next meeting. Part of what he and Aspel had originally discussed had been strengthening the guild’s image - what better way than to solicit suggestions and implement them?
There had been that mage who’d put together an evacuation plan months ago. Drake now realized he hadn’t seen it since the town meeting. Another thing to look into.
“Anytime, Councillor.” Elvira’s expression softened and she raised her glass for another sip of water.
From there, their conversation drifted back to the food and back to their guildwork like the regular ebb and flow of the tide.