Dinnertime Interrogations

[Zazkiel]

The Northblade's bookshop was nice.


Lillic had never had reason to visit the shop herself, but she could see why it was so highly regarded in the Mage's Quarter. Towering bookshelves, nice natural lighting for an alleyway shop, and the distinctive smell of well-kept parchment.


She almost felt it was a shame that she was here for business and not pleasure.


But she still had a bit of time to look around as she kept an eye on the pair of men at the counter, wondering if Avaric would call out to her immediately. It wasn't like she was hiding her identity, distinctive red hair contrasting loudly with her silver and blue clothes.


Or maybe Belenar would call out to her, that would make her life that much easier.


She was here to talk to him, after all.

 

[Blakie13]

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Avaric recognised the woman first, although he was sure Bel's elven eyes had been drawn to the red of her hair a few times since she had walked in. There wasn't a huge amount of space within the bookshop, he was surprised he hadn't heard her enter. Although, considering <em>who </em>it was, he should have expected it. Leave it to Lillic to walk through a door silently, and somehow <em>not</em> set off the bell that hung over the entrance.


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Patting Bel on the shoulder gently, albeit with some sense of possessiveness, he walked away, towards Lillic. "Ms. Sherwood, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to our <strong><em>humble</em></strong> little shop? Bored while Marci is at training?" Avaric asked, grinning widely, almost teasingly. They got along well enough, all things with Vanalie considered.


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Belenar waved at the woman shyly from where he stood at the purchasing desk.


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[Zazkiel]

Avaric was so charming. It was faintly disconcerting, the way the presence of a man Lillic barely knew could cause her to relax.


"I have some time to myself, actually. Marcalene's planning on hanging out with Ross tonight." Smiling right back, Lillic made a vague gesture with her hand. "Girl time, you know?"


Her girlfriend was probably going to come stumbling home at two in the morning again, completely smashed. Ross was the worst influence, but she also got Marci to truly relax.


That was something Lillic still couldn't manage, not really. She tried not to let it bother her.


"Could I steal Bel for a bit, actually? There's this lovely new café in the Canals, the nice part of course. I want to try it before I use it for business meetings, and I thought he might like a short tour around the city."

 

[Blakie13]

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Avaric tilted his head, his brow quirking in a question. "An unusual request, but I <strong>suppose</strong> I can <em>lend</em> him to you," the man stated, turning to look towards the elf. "What do you say, Ginger Snap?" The man knew Bel had toured the city on many occasions, but clearly the woman had an ulterior motive. And Avaric was a curious man.


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The elf in question looked between the two humans, his delicate brow scrunched in momentary questioning. "If that's alright with you, Av," he said, his soft, lilting voice unsure.


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Lillic had never expressed all that much interest in hanging out with the elf, but he was never opposed to the chance at friendship.


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Avaric nodded, chuckling. "You're free to go. Treat him well, Lils, I need the kid for <em>later</em>," he said in an overly flirtatious tone, winking at the woman as he grinned like he understood some great cosmic joke no one else could hear being spoken.


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[Zazkiel]

Lillic rolled her eyes and held out her hand towards Belenar, wordlessly asking for his elbow.


"You should know me well enough by now Avaric, I don't treat anybody well." And with that, she directed her attention to Bel.


"You liked the Eversong spiced apple tea from the other day, yes? I know this place has a selection of fruit teas, if you're not feeling like coffee. They even have pastries!"


When the elf obligingly held out his elbow, Lillic bustled him out of the shop and down the walkways of the Mage Quarter, keeping her balance in the grass with her heels solely through the benefit of practice.


"I'm sorry I didn't invite Avaric as well, darling, but I always feel a little bit awkward around him if I'm telling the truth. He's a lovely man, but I don't want to put a strain on his close friendship with Vanalie in any way..." And with that, she started up a winding trail of small talk that followed the pair all the way to the Canals shop.

 

[Blakie13]

Belenar spent the walk trying his best to keep up small talk along the way, his small frame shivering slightly in the cool air. Stormwind wasn't cold in comparison to Lorderon, but years in the land of Eternal Spring killed any chance of cold tolerance the elf might have had. Every now and then his tongue would slip over the Common, but he hoped Lillic wouldn't find it too annoying. As long as he didn't slip fully into Thalassian like he had done with Eidric on multiple occasions, it was fine.


They finally stopped at the cafe Lillic had brought up, stepping inside. Such shops were entirely human, although the young elf had seen a few crop up in Silvermoon, and even in Frostwall. He had frequented several during his times in Dalaran, but this one was an entirely different atmosphere.


The elf couldn't help but feel his curiosity slowly grow on the walk, and now that they were at their destination, he was anxious to start conversing in a less shallow manner.


"Do we pick a table or do we order at the... uh. Count-ter?" The elf said, nodding towards where two humans, one in an apron and simple shirt and the other in bundles of winter clothing, chatted at the surface in question. He winced at his failings in Common. One day he'd be fluent. One day.

 

[Zazkiel]

"We order at the counter, and then they bring it out to us. Do you want something or should I order for you?" Halfway through the walk Lillic had begun to simplify her syntax as subtly as she could, to try and make it easier on the young elf.


She was tempted to slip into what Thalassian she knew, but she wasn't steady enough in the language to carry the sort of tone she wanted for the conversation. It would be better to just try and help him along.


"Do they not have many stores like these in Dalaran? I'll admit I don't often have reason to visit the city, but the Commerce Exchange is usually quick to pick up on fads like this."

 

[Blakie13]

Belenar smiled softly. "No, I think I can order for myself," he said. He greatly appreciated Lillic's offer, usually Eidric was quick to speak for him in Stormwind, which was sweet, but having the choice was nice.


"Dalaran has many places like this, but it feels... different here, yeah? It smells like sweets and strong coffee, and it's more... hmm. Cozy? I think Cozy is the word I want. In Dalaran, the cafes still smell of magic, the whole city does. And the decor is... lofty. Ornate? One of those," Bel stated, not sure which was the Common word he meant.


He made his way forward, trailing slightly behind Lillic as she moved forward.

 

[Zazkiel]

After ordering a simple cup of tea and a pastry, Lillic waiting for Bel to order and led him to one of the corner tables, carefully arranging her skirts so that her concealed knife wasn't visible. Her skirts were gorgeous, but they were also woefully impractical for any sort of assignment that had the potential for action.


"I wish I had more reason to visit Dalaran, the stories I hear are always so grand." She adopted a wistful tone, grinning at Belenar reassuringly.


"You're doing wonderful, by the way. I don't think a lot of humans realise how hard it is to learn other languages, since we speak the trade tongue. Your sentence structure's already better than several other sin'dorei I've worked with in professional settings. Did you start learning very young?"

 

[Blakie13]

Belenar sipped at the hot coffee, admiring the taste. Coffee was only recently becoming popular in Silvermoon, but he liked the taste. The pastry was some ginger tasting affair, that he already loved.


He was nodding along as Lillic talked, suddenly freezing, looking up at her after her question. "Ah, no, my brother has tried to teach me, but I didn't start attempting to learn until I met the Northblades. Um, I'm sorry, maybe it's a human thing. But did you say 'sin'dorei'? Do they still call us that here? It's... a rather different... context in Dalaran," the elf questioned softly, hoping not to have committed some fuax pas. Maybe the human simply mispoke and he was being rude by calling her out.


Given his actual identity, however, maybe being cautious was best.

 

[Zazkiel]

"Dear, I think we both know why I called you that." Taking a sip from her tea, she looked around the shop slowly.


"And it's quite rude to attempt to deceive people while you're having a pleasant conversation, you know. Not that I don't understand, given the city we're sitting in."


She didn't want to explicitly say it, she wanted him to admit it to her. But at the same time, if he was recalcitrant...


"Does your family often pair siblings names together? Belenar, it's just Belenara without an -a at the end."

 

[Blakie13]

Belenar's face went white, his eyes flitting about the room for a moment in his anxiousness. He sighed quietly, taking a sip from his coffee, leaning back in his chair.


"No, but Min'da thought it would be cute. A way to make us bond at a young age," he admitted, smiling softly, although his eyes were resigned. "Our elder brothers did not get the same..." he trailed off, in thought.


"You know, they don't teach Common in Silvermoon? Not anymore, at least. Everyone who learns has to teach themselves," his voice sang softly. "I don't know why I tried to cover that, Dalaran is impossible to... navigate? Travel? Hmm. It's hard not to hear common in Dalaran."

 

[Zazkiel]

"That had to be criminally adorable when you were younger, in any case. You certainly look enough like Bela."


And here was where things could get tricky. She needed to know why here was here, but she also genuinely liked the kid. Lillic didn't want to make him think she was a threat to his well-being.


"That explains why the younger elves popping up everywhere have such a poor grasp of trade. Do they teach orcish instead, then?"

 

[Blakie13]

Belenar snorted, his eyes lighting up. "Me and Nara are as close to identical as you can get with fraternal twins," he said softly.


"They stick with orcish for the most part. It's... a not so pretty language. Ugly?" Bel said, his eyes betraying his annoyance at the fact. "My brother tries and encourages any in his employ to learn Common. More functional. After the Dalaran Purge, most of our access to academic settings for Common lessons disappeared," he stated. "Garrosh, Belore spit on him, made orcish a requirement for trade, military, so on."


Bel tilted his head, hoping he wasn't rambling too much. "Never liked it. If I am truthful... Common isn't the prettiest either. But better," he finished, nibbling at his pastry.

 

[Zazkiel]

Lillic nodded slowly, listening to Belenar talk. He obviously cared about his family, which was a good sign.


"Garrosh was a monster, if you'll pardon my insulting your former Warchief. His war crimes have permanently affected diplomatic relations between the factions, and his actions at Theramore will forever be remembered." Shaking her head, she let out a disapproving huff.


"But let's not talk about terrible things like that. So Corec was the reason you learned Common in the first place? And then you met Eidric?"

 

[Blakie13]

Belenar nodded. "Well, he taught me to read it. I was stubborn, I didn't want to learn more than I had to. Corec likes Common. I take it you already know of him, if you're using his name?" Although phrased like a question, his lilting voice implied it was a statement of fact.


"I met Eidric, who spoke no Thalassian. Avaric helped me to learn some Common, and... what is it... Uh," he paused. "Immersion! Immersion has helped for the most part. And Nara. She forces lessons upon me, one of few things she and Corec have joined forces over in the past few years," he stated.

 

[Zazkiel]

"I may have run into him once or twice. He's an infuriatingly charming individual, if I'm being frank." Charming enough to help an agent, planted face-down in the fancy Pandaren mud as she bled out.


The scar stretching across her abdomen could sometimes be seen even through the faint illusory spell she applied to look like a soft noble. She definitely didn't let it bother her.


"And if I'm going to continue being frank, I think you deserve to know exactly who is...aware of your true allegiance. But first I need your promise that this doesn't get to Eidric." Looking the elf, over Lillic pursed her lips together.


"Or Avaric, of course. But I won't pretend to hold any sway over what you tell your siblings."

 

[Blakie13]

The elf nodded. It sounded very much like his brother. As long as he didn't cross too many lines beforehand, Corec could be the most charismatic person Belenar knew. He could talk a goblin out of a few gold, even.


Belenar nodded again, this time in response to Lillic's statement. "I won't tell Eidric or Avaric. Corec will probably already know, if we are to be frank as you say. It is... strange, I think, to say this. But you can trust me, at least in this," the elf practically whispered, his eyes open and honest, despite the false blue.

 

[Zazkiel]

"The SI:7 has a lot of eyes in this city, darling. I don't know exactly why you're here, and I don't know if your connection to the Northblades is as coincidental as my relationship with the Fisks, but I do know that I'm going to be keeping an eye on you and your movement in the city."


Smiling, she finished off her cup of tea.


"Politely, of course. Because we're not friends yet, but we have the potential to be. I've already met the majority of your family, after all."

 

[Blakie13]

"Pfft, don't I know it, Corec gave me stats on their numbers and known leadership," Belenar whispered in Thalassian, grinning.


Speaking out loud, and in Common, "It could be coincidental," he stated, his lips not quite letting the word out easily, "I'll be very honest, my original reason being here was to deliver books. My brother makes trade deals all the time. All that I've been told," Belenar said earnestly. "From there... me and the Northblades bonded."


Belenar smiled, a wide beaming thing, "I like that. Friends are... nice. Although, you've yet to meet Reynon, or what cousins we have left," he said, almost teasingly, finishing his coffee and flashing the woman a cheeky grin. Pretense gone, he relaxed into his more sociable personality, something often gone in Stormwind.

 

[Zazkiel]

Lillic couldn't hear any of his whispering, and her lip-reading only managed to gain her the distinctive shape of Corec's name.


She knew that Belenar was an adult, and that he could do whatever he so desired, but something about the situation made her speak up, voice sotto. "Make sure your brother treats you carefully, Belenar. It's extremely dangerous to do business across faction lines, I could arrest you right now if I felt you were complicit in anything other than an helping an overly-ambitious entrepreneur."


And then she smiled right back, voice raising right back up to it's normal volume. "Ah, but how do you know I haven't met any of your cousins? Or even Reynon? I'd daresay they wouldn't even notice me if I was doing my job correctly."

 

[Blakie13]

The elf chose to feign innocence and obliviousness at the very notion of Corec's activities. His brother let him know the bare minimum, so it wasn't exactly difficult to claim he had nothing to say on his brother's moves in Stormwind.


"Corec is an overprotective man at the best of times, he won't let me do anything that is too risky for his liking," the elf replied to the first comment, before nodding in understanding at Lillic's more easygoing topic.


"That is a fair point. Although... Reynon is not very... happy? Yes, happy... He is not very happy around the living outside a certain few. Unless your people are even more capable than I thought, fooling members of the Ebon Blade," Bel teased.

 

[Zazkiel]

"Ah, but I don't have to fool him if I never catch his eye." Lillic shot back.


It was something of a point of pride for her, Lillic's ability to meld into the shadows. She knew that her particular gifts as an agent bespoke magical heritage, and she also knew that an elf would probably take a rogue's vanishing power for granted.


Sometimes it was hard keeping up with an entire race of magical adepts, but Lillic liked to think she was fairly comparable in skill.

 

[Blakie13]

Belenar chuckled easily. "True. Detecting those hidden in the shadows is not the strongest skill of my brother. I assume that is very... useful? I'm afraid I don't know what methods humans use for hiding," he stated.


The elf paused. "I mean Bastien uses magic, as an elf. But I've heard of alchemy or pure natural skill being used as well..." he trailed off. Bastien, he knew, trained himself to be almost perfectly stealthed without magical help. The man could become a silent shadow when his inherent ability for magic was played upon.


"Is it too much to ask what it is SI:7 does within Stormwind that they need undercover agents? Silvermoon doesn't have an organisation quite like yours..." the small elf teetered off in his comments, not sure if that was dangerous territory. Perhaps he should simply keep things friendly.

 

[Zazkiel]

Because of this, Lillic wanted to say.


Because Horde citizens can waltz in and out of Stormwind, brazen as they please. Because Defias members could live in the Mage Quarter for years with little to no consequences.


"Homeland security is an incredibly comforting thing for people to have, to know that they're safe in their beds at night." She said instead, smiling thinly.