((OOC: The leading piece into a story arc for Lili and Sitting Ox's storylines.))
As Lili stepped out from the room that held Ul'dah's aetheryte, smoothing back her hair and clothing and triple checking everything, she deemed herself fit enough to meet with her contacts. Not too conservative but not too revealing. Perfect.
Holding her head up and squaring her shoulders, she stepped out of the darkened hall and into the sunshine. A few strides to the right and she was right at the headquarters of the Immortal Flames, where the overnight watch was coming off shift and the morning rotation was starting to clock in. Many were faces she no longer recognized, and some she did from a few years ago who'd nod or smile her way. It had been a while since she did her time with the Grand Company, and for the first time in nearly a decade she was calling in a favor.
A very, very big favor.
Her eyes searched out a very specific figure. Highlander, darker skin, slanted eyes...sure enough, he came striding from one of the back halls and to the front desk and began speaking to the quartermaster. Lili only had to wait a brief moment before he looked up and noticed her, immediately beckoning her to him before slipping into the back again with the quartermaster being the one to let Lili through.
Making a few turns down the hallways, she found herself being led to a small back room. One that had likely been used for interrogations and instead housed boxes of old files and documents that were outdated or not active in use. Also in that room was a Lalafell looking like an old, grizzled teddy bear with the grey in his hair and the rounded quality of his ears. Quietly, she shut the door behind her.
"Gentlemen...it's been so long. So lovely to see you both in good spirits."
"Widow Nightwing," greeted the Lalafell from his spot sitting on one of the boxes. His voice was surprisingly deep given his small size, but the smile was relaxed. The Highlander in the room with them, however, remained at post by the door with his arms crossed and eyes looking straight ahead.
"To what do I owe this pleasure? It's been three years since I saw you last when it didn't concern baked goods."
Lili didn't waste time getting to the point. "I've come about the request I sent in to you and Maladrome. The specifics of such, and my stipulations. They will all be met, Shumomo?" Her brow rose in question, and Shumomo gave a solemn nod and a vague wave of his hand as if to further reassure her. "It's all been finalized. Paperwork signed, and for all intents and purposes it will look like an accident."
"You don't think someone close to the Flame General will raise any problems? Or suspect anything?"
"I wouldn't think so, no. Not with the credentials involved, and with the clean record of the Free Wings that you have established thus far. With your history and the history of some of your members to consider, there's nothing that Maladrome or I could find that could make it look contrary. Besides, Velstraz won't speak."
"At all," rumbled Maladrome from behind Lili. She avoided looking at the man for the time being, brushing some locks of hair behind her ear as a means to distract herself. She needed a trim again, and further assurances that this would all go well.
The blonde moved to one of the boxes across from Shumomo, sitting down and crossing one leg over the other. The Lala watched her movements carefully before looking off to the side when she made it a point to catch his gaze with her own. He suddenly looked uncomfortable. It immediately set her on edge.
"Shumo. Look at me."
He obeyed after some hesitation, as if biting his tongue.
"If there's something you're not telling me, do so. Please."
Maladrome scoffed, and Lili turned her head to look back at him as he pushed away from the wall. "You forced us into this, Altair. It's not like you gave either of us a choice but in which to aide you. And for what? To save the life of someone we owe nothing too and for petty revenge?" His massive shoulders bunched up and tensed, shifting the entire atmosphere of the room from a neutral calm into something less hospitable.
She rose up abruptly, spinning around to face him as Shumomo's protests were lost between the two Hyurs. "Don't give me that. You owe me, Maladrome. This is the very least you could help me with."
"Excuse me?" he snarled.
"You're excused," she replied coldly, her maternal disposition shifting into something that was far more harsh and stern. She even reached up and gave Mal a hard poke in the sternum, not caring that he didn't budge at all from it, continuing with her tone rising with heat more and more with every word.
"Contrary to what you think, you do owe me Maladrome Nightwing. You owe me for treating my children and I like absolute shit when Ghislan disappeared and being almost nonexistent during the course of their lives from that point onward. We were a family, you fuckwit, and you turned your back on us like we had no connection at all."
"I actually took time to look for my brother, unlike some people."
She had to resist the urge to jump onto a box so she was high enough to slap the shit out of him. "Well excuse me for having three children to raise by myself and having to explain by myself why their father was gone! I couldn't just drop everything to look for him. That's what you and Shumomo were supposed to do!"
"Which we did," interjected Shumomo quietly, looking at his lap with his legs swinging back and forth.
"Which you did," Lili assured him before narrowing her eyes up at the tensed jaw of her past brother-in-law. "But you...YOU gave up! You gave up faster then anyone else, and didn't even have the decency to be there for your parents while they mourned the loss of their youngest child. You stopped after two fucking weeks of searching, tossed in the towel, then pretended like your work with the Flames was all that mattered anymore."
Mal's response was just as cold as hers had been, but more harsh. "I'm not going to pretend to play house with children who weren't even sired by my brother, regardless of how he forgave the discrepancy."
The stare held between the two could have made a morbol wither and die. Shumomo cleared his throat, and begrudgingly the two looked back to him. "We have it taken care of, Widow Nightwing. It's the least we could do for an old family friend."
His words placated her, and she inclined her head to him. "Thank you, dear," she replied, her tone starting to warm before she shot a sharp look to Mal before striding to the door and slamming it so hard behind her one of the stacks of boxes by the door tottered and fell over. Maladrome grumbled as he bent down to start picking up the papers, not having to look over to know Shumomo was helping him.
"I'm impressed, you didn't hit her this time," said the Lalafell, tossing papers in the bin.
He was met with silence, and he started to grin.
"Did she actually make you feel guilty, Mal?"
"Thal's balls, just pick up these papers."
As Lili stepped out from the room that held Ul'dah's aetheryte, smoothing back her hair and clothing and triple checking everything, she deemed herself fit enough to meet with her contacts. Not too conservative but not too revealing. Perfect.
Holding her head up and squaring her shoulders, she stepped out of the darkened hall and into the sunshine. A few strides to the right and she was right at the headquarters of the Immortal Flames, where the overnight watch was coming off shift and the morning rotation was starting to clock in. Many were faces she no longer recognized, and some she did from a few years ago who'd nod or smile her way. It had been a while since she did her time with the Grand Company, and for the first time in nearly a decade she was calling in a favor.
A very, very big favor.
Her eyes searched out a very specific figure. Highlander, darker skin, slanted eyes...sure enough, he came striding from one of the back halls and to the front desk and began speaking to the quartermaster. Lili only had to wait a brief moment before he looked up and noticed her, immediately beckoning her to him before slipping into the back again with the quartermaster being the one to let Lili through.
Making a few turns down the hallways, she found herself being led to a small back room. One that had likely been used for interrogations and instead housed boxes of old files and documents that were outdated or not active in use. Also in that room was a Lalafell looking like an old, grizzled teddy bear with the grey in his hair and the rounded quality of his ears. Quietly, she shut the door behind her.
"Gentlemen...it's been so long. So lovely to see you both in good spirits."
"Widow Nightwing," greeted the Lalafell from his spot sitting on one of the boxes. His voice was surprisingly deep given his small size, but the smile was relaxed. The Highlander in the room with them, however, remained at post by the door with his arms crossed and eyes looking straight ahead.
"To what do I owe this pleasure? It's been three years since I saw you last when it didn't concern baked goods."
Lili didn't waste time getting to the point. "I've come about the request I sent in to you and Maladrome. The specifics of such, and my stipulations. They will all be met, Shumomo?" Her brow rose in question, and Shumomo gave a solemn nod and a vague wave of his hand as if to further reassure her. "It's all been finalized. Paperwork signed, and for all intents and purposes it will look like an accident."
"You don't think someone close to the Flame General will raise any problems? Or suspect anything?"
"I wouldn't think so, no. Not with the credentials involved, and with the clean record of the Free Wings that you have established thus far. With your history and the history of some of your members to consider, there's nothing that Maladrome or I could find that could make it look contrary. Besides, Velstraz won't speak."
"At all," rumbled Maladrome from behind Lili. She avoided looking at the man for the time being, brushing some locks of hair behind her ear as a means to distract herself. She needed a trim again, and further assurances that this would all go well.
The blonde moved to one of the boxes across from Shumomo, sitting down and crossing one leg over the other. The Lala watched her movements carefully before looking off to the side when she made it a point to catch his gaze with her own. He suddenly looked uncomfortable. It immediately set her on edge.
"Shumo. Look at me."
He obeyed after some hesitation, as if biting his tongue.
"If there's something you're not telling me, do so. Please."
Maladrome scoffed, and Lili turned her head to look back at him as he pushed away from the wall. "You forced us into this, Altair. It's not like you gave either of us a choice but in which to aide you. And for what? To save the life of someone we owe nothing too and for petty revenge?" His massive shoulders bunched up and tensed, shifting the entire atmosphere of the room from a neutral calm into something less hospitable.
She rose up abruptly, spinning around to face him as Shumomo's protests were lost between the two Hyurs. "Don't give me that. You owe me, Maladrome. This is the very least you could help me with."
"Excuse me?" he snarled.
"You're excused," she replied coldly, her maternal disposition shifting into something that was far more harsh and stern. She even reached up and gave Mal a hard poke in the sternum, not caring that he didn't budge at all from it, continuing with her tone rising with heat more and more with every word.
"Contrary to what you think, you do owe me Maladrome Nightwing. You owe me for treating my children and I like absolute shit when Ghislan disappeared and being almost nonexistent during the course of their lives from that point onward. We were a family, you fuckwit, and you turned your back on us like we had no connection at all."
"I actually took time to look for my brother, unlike some people."
She had to resist the urge to jump onto a box so she was high enough to slap the shit out of him. "Well excuse me for having three children to raise by myself and having to explain by myself why their father was gone! I couldn't just drop everything to look for him. That's what you and Shumomo were supposed to do!"
"Which we did," interjected Shumomo quietly, looking at his lap with his legs swinging back and forth.
"Which you did," Lili assured him before narrowing her eyes up at the tensed jaw of her past brother-in-law. "But you...YOU gave up! You gave up faster then anyone else, and didn't even have the decency to be there for your parents while they mourned the loss of their youngest child. You stopped after two fucking weeks of searching, tossed in the towel, then pretended like your work with the Flames was all that mattered anymore."
Mal's response was just as cold as hers had been, but more harsh. "I'm not going to pretend to play house with children who weren't even sired by my brother, regardless of how he forgave the discrepancy."
The stare held between the two could have made a morbol wither and die. Shumomo cleared his throat, and begrudgingly the two looked back to him. "We have it taken care of, Widow Nightwing. It's the least we could do for an old family friend."
His words placated her, and she inclined her head to him. "Thank you, dear," she replied, her tone starting to warm before she shot a sharp look to Mal before striding to the door and slamming it so hard behind her one of the stacks of boxes by the door tottered and fell over. Maladrome grumbled as he bent down to start picking up the papers, not having to look over to know Shumomo was helping him.
"I'm impressed, you didn't hit her this time," said the Lalafell, tossing papers in the bin.
He was met with silence, and he started to grin.
"Did she actually make you feel guilty, Mal?"
"Thal's balls, just pick up these papers."
