Perhaps this hadn't been the absolute smartest thing in the world that Lehanna had ever done in her life, however it was really the only thing that she had considered to be the one way she had left in order to try and feel normal. Sneaking in and out of the snake den that Pergrande was quite an issue for someone who had magic, but considering the issues she had since she'd had the misfortune to know who Kalama was, that was not the case for her anymore. The former God slayer was left with nothing more than the sword on her back hidden away in a rather ragged colored cover, yet durable enough to keep the sharp blade from cutting through it with any ease at all. Apart from that, the curse she had been afflicted with had kept her from being more than recognized from her prior couple instances in which the teen had ever come into this nations radar appearing like.
Weary to accept any help from them was beyond a natural occurrence for the blonde. Ever since the first time she came back here to discover that she was in fact some sort of thorn that needed to be removed for whatever reason that had been, it was nothing short of a miracle hired assassins hadn't come after her and Elara. Given that the couples pictures were thrown up in the magazine, it wouldn't be hard to really track them down and fulfill whatever job they need to do. However, that would require them to fudge around and find out who they mess with. And frankly, she couldn't see anyone being able to stop the duo. Maybe that was some lovestruck fantasy of hers to think, but she saw no fault in thinking it from time to time. Whatever had made her feel a little less than bedridden with depression was an uplifting thing for her for sure.
Unlike her past trips into the country for this kind of move of hers, she had begun to examine all of her surroundings. Between the past with Pergrande, her curse, and her own past and recent experiences, she had been rightfully a bit more paranoid about being followed than she would like to be. Trying to play it as though she wasn't more than a little worried and intrusive to stare at the strangers that passed by her on the street had been a little bit of a harder part. The only benefit to her had been the recent snow within the country made things easier to hide ones features while being able to still examine those around her.
One thing that the Silver Wolf mage had been weary of in her travels through the capital had been her steps. If they caught wind and were following in some capacity, they could surely track her by her footsteps imprinted. As such, she had kept it fairly well traveled streets where nearly no snow remained. Though few and far spread in those forms of roads, it did prove to be a good way to lose packed in snow from the treads of her footwear. And unlike all of the streets from lightly to heavily traveled, alleys were nearly untouched pathways. Most carried the smooth or somewhat uneven level of the wind carrying and displacing some of the snow falling or briefly after touching down before it had packed in. This had been the tricky part now. Up ahead lied her destination, but she had to make sure to leave no signs of the entrances existence.
One thing had stuck out to the teens eye as she surveyed this alley. While glancing around to those following her, she'd taken out her iLac and tried to pretend as though she were busy messaging someone while noticing a small place between the wall of the buildings and the snow bank. It was nearly devoid of the white blanket. With a light smirk, she approached this side and began to slide her feet along as not to leave prints. Roughly half way into the alley, she would pause in front of a blank wall and her right foot would gently kick a brick along the wall. This particular brick had sunk in as though it were pushing a button. This led a nearly 6 foot tall entrance to appear in the wall like a door. Sinking into the building and opening, Lehanna took one last peer around before slipping inside and making sure to slide her foot along and keep the location hidden.
Kicking her feet against the wall several times, the teen would pull her hood down and proceed through a dark staircase. Descending quite a bit before coming to an entryway, the room quickly warmed up and sound erupted through the corridor during the walk down. "Damn it's cold as ever out there..." She said, removing her coat and setting it off to the side. "Well well well, if it isn't the little love bird~ Didn't bring the wife with you this time?" A voice called out in the distance, laughing a bit from their taunt. All the blonde girl did in reply was to sigh and roll her eyes, trying not to blush so obviously. "Yeah? I'm pretty sure you must be a bit jealous someone younger than you has been with more girls than you, Avery."A snap of a retort, peering over at the comedian in the room. Lounged comfortably in a lounge chair, one leg drooped over the right arm of the chair while holding a can of soda in one hand and a magazine in the other. "Aww, come on squirt, didn't like having to pose for those little snippets of you two lovebirds?" The dirty blonde haired enby mocked, smirking before it quickly faded how little it actually bugged her. "Damn, no fun at all today."
The area they were in had been a little more than something that would seem like an underground cave. Several rooms within a sandy brown colored interior of walls, little decor aside from furniture housed the room while arch topped entryway shaped holes separated the rooms. A rather tall blonde would then walk out, dressed rather more casually in a black crop top and jean short shorts. With a martini glass in one hand and a fold of papers in the other, she quickly seated herself on a long, angled sectional sofa. Brushing back her long ponytail behind her, the woman set down her papers and took a sip of her drink before eyeing the teen in the doorway. "Little Hanna~ Did I hear you of all people say it was cold out? The girl who if I remember correctly ate FIRE?" She giggled, sipping more on her drink while shrugging off the memory of her and the others watching her inhaling fire like it was a free buffet at the homeless shelter. "And this is coming from the woman who modeled in a bikini... IN ICEBERG!" Her reply came with an uproarious laughter from the two in the room, watching the elder blonde shaking her head a little in the moment Lehanna walked over to sit down on the couch.
""Just jealous I have assets, dear?~ A comment that normally would have incited an angry response simply had been met with a shrug of the shoulders. Her eyes peered over to the glass in her hand and gestured as such. "Is that drink to kill your liver faster or the taste of your photographer from your mouth?" The kind of cold, deadpan question had been so out of left field, the blonde woman's mouth hung open while in that exact moment, the other within the room spat out their drink, coughing several times from nearly choking on it. The two began to laugh loudly while Lehanna simply donned a bit of a smile. Probably one of the downsides to her curse... or rather one of the double edged swords had been social etiquette being affected a bit more than she thought. Though, in Lehanna's mind there was a deep, slightly raspy sounding voice cackling their life away from the question. "It's still good to see you two again. And the place looks great, Avery. Did you make this with your weapon?" Her attention towards the architecture had begun to kick in once the laughing subsided enough.
"Kind of? Sammy and I kinda tag teamed the doorways. Between us and Ruby's planning and overseeing, we didn't take long to get this place up and running." Satisfied with that answer, the teen suddenly grew a rather puzzled look on her face and looked around for a familiar face, but to no avail. "Speaking of her, where is she?" Fully expecting a surprise prank, she sat up onto her knees and looked back behind the sofa to the space between it and the wall and discovered nothing."I think she's working today. Her family still has some few ties around here and she got a job working in this snazzy restaurant as a chef. Lemme go get some leftovers to try. You've gotta be starving from coming here and if I see this stuff here any longer I'm gonna end up being out of shape for my next shoot in Fiore." Before she could get a word in edge wise towards the comment, Sammy got up from her seat and set her glass down on a coffee table sitting in front of the couch and walked off to the next room.
With the rummaging sounds from it, Avery crushed the empty can of their soda in their hand like it were a piece of loose leaf paper and then tossed it into a nearby recycling bin. "Jokes aside, you know what you're getting involved with, right? You didn't have to come, you know." Their voice seemed more concerned than anything, a bit worried that Lehanna came without thinking anything through. They held up the magazine in hand and stared with a rather serious look on their face while sitting up in their seat to look her in the eyes. "Have you told them about-"
"Enough, Avery." She cut them off, her aura a bit more determined, per say. "It doesn't matter if I'm here or not. That magazine there already puts targets on our backs. I'm here, I am staying, and I won't be leaving until this is done with." She'd put her foot down and it only seemed to make Avery smirk and lean back in his seat. "Fair enough, short stack. Gotta say, being in a relationship has really made you more deadpan than you used to be. Is there anything else we should be concerned for?" They leaned over, taking their eyes off of the younger blonde as the question came around. There was a look of hesitation on her face, one that wasn't caught by them, but by a silent third in the doorway of the kitchen. She said nothing, but came in and set the food on the table in front of them and then replaced that with her glass before she took a seat herself on the couch. "We start this once Ruby is home, so take your time, eat, and we'll go over the plan again then."
1900 words
Weary to accept any help from them was beyond a natural occurrence for the blonde. Ever since the first time she came back here to discover that she was in fact some sort of thorn that needed to be removed for whatever reason that had been, it was nothing short of a miracle hired assassins hadn't come after her and Elara. Given that the couples pictures were thrown up in the magazine, it wouldn't be hard to really track them down and fulfill whatever job they need to do. However, that would require them to fudge around and find out who they mess with. And frankly, she couldn't see anyone being able to stop the duo. Maybe that was some lovestruck fantasy of hers to think, but she saw no fault in thinking it from time to time. Whatever had made her feel a little less than bedridden with depression was an uplifting thing for her for sure.
Unlike her past trips into the country for this kind of move of hers, she had begun to examine all of her surroundings. Between the past with Pergrande, her curse, and her own past and recent experiences, she had been rightfully a bit more paranoid about being followed than she would like to be. Trying to play it as though she wasn't more than a little worried and intrusive to stare at the strangers that passed by her on the street had been a little bit of a harder part. The only benefit to her had been the recent snow within the country made things easier to hide ones features while being able to still examine those around her.
One thing that the Silver Wolf mage had been weary of in her travels through the capital had been her steps. If they caught wind and were following in some capacity, they could surely track her by her footsteps imprinted. As such, she had kept it fairly well traveled streets where nearly no snow remained. Though few and far spread in those forms of roads, it did prove to be a good way to lose packed in snow from the treads of her footwear. And unlike all of the streets from lightly to heavily traveled, alleys were nearly untouched pathways. Most carried the smooth or somewhat uneven level of the wind carrying and displacing some of the snow falling or briefly after touching down before it had packed in. This had been the tricky part now. Up ahead lied her destination, but she had to make sure to leave no signs of the entrances existence.
One thing had stuck out to the teens eye as she surveyed this alley. While glancing around to those following her, she'd taken out her iLac and tried to pretend as though she were busy messaging someone while noticing a small place between the wall of the buildings and the snow bank. It was nearly devoid of the white blanket. With a light smirk, she approached this side and began to slide her feet along as not to leave prints. Roughly half way into the alley, she would pause in front of a blank wall and her right foot would gently kick a brick along the wall. This particular brick had sunk in as though it were pushing a button. This led a nearly 6 foot tall entrance to appear in the wall like a door. Sinking into the building and opening, Lehanna took one last peer around before slipping inside and making sure to slide her foot along and keep the location hidden.
Kicking her feet against the wall several times, the teen would pull her hood down and proceed through a dark staircase. Descending quite a bit before coming to an entryway, the room quickly warmed up and sound erupted through the corridor during the walk down. "Damn it's cold as ever out there..." She said, removing her coat and setting it off to the side. "Well well well, if it isn't the little love bird~ Didn't bring the wife with you this time?" A voice called out in the distance, laughing a bit from their taunt. All the blonde girl did in reply was to sigh and roll her eyes, trying not to blush so obviously. "Yeah? I'm pretty sure you must be a bit jealous someone younger than you has been with more girls than you, Avery."A snap of a retort, peering over at the comedian in the room. Lounged comfortably in a lounge chair, one leg drooped over the right arm of the chair while holding a can of soda in one hand and a magazine in the other. "Aww, come on squirt, didn't like having to pose for those little snippets of you two lovebirds?" The dirty blonde haired enby mocked, smirking before it quickly faded how little it actually bugged her. "Damn, no fun at all today."
The area they were in had been a little more than something that would seem like an underground cave. Several rooms within a sandy brown colored interior of walls, little decor aside from furniture housed the room while arch topped entryway shaped holes separated the rooms. A rather tall blonde would then walk out, dressed rather more casually in a black crop top and jean short shorts. With a martini glass in one hand and a fold of papers in the other, she quickly seated herself on a long, angled sectional sofa. Brushing back her long ponytail behind her, the woman set down her papers and took a sip of her drink before eyeing the teen in the doorway. "Little Hanna~ Did I hear you of all people say it was cold out? The girl who if I remember correctly ate FIRE?" She giggled, sipping more on her drink while shrugging off the memory of her and the others watching her inhaling fire like it was a free buffet at the homeless shelter. "And this is coming from the woman who modeled in a bikini... IN ICEBERG!" Her reply came with an uproarious laughter from the two in the room, watching the elder blonde shaking her head a little in the moment Lehanna walked over to sit down on the couch.
""Just jealous I have assets, dear?~ A comment that normally would have incited an angry response simply had been met with a shrug of the shoulders. Her eyes peered over to the glass in her hand and gestured as such. "Is that drink to kill your liver faster or the taste of your photographer from your mouth?" The kind of cold, deadpan question had been so out of left field, the blonde woman's mouth hung open while in that exact moment, the other within the room spat out their drink, coughing several times from nearly choking on it. The two began to laugh loudly while Lehanna simply donned a bit of a smile. Probably one of the downsides to her curse... or rather one of the double edged swords had been social etiquette being affected a bit more than she thought. Though, in Lehanna's mind there was a deep, slightly raspy sounding voice cackling their life away from the question. "It's still good to see you two again. And the place looks great, Avery. Did you make this with your weapon?" Her attention towards the architecture had begun to kick in once the laughing subsided enough.
"Kind of? Sammy and I kinda tag teamed the doorways. Between us and Ruby's planning and overseeing, we didn't take long to get this place up and running." Satisfied with that answer, the teen suddenly grew a rather puzzled look on her face and looked around for a familiar face, but to no avail. "Speaking of her, where is she?" Fully expecting a surprise prank, she sat up onto her knees and looked back behind the sofa to the space between it and the wall and discovered nothing."I think she's working today. Her family still has some few ties around here and she got a job working in this snazzy restaurant as a chef. Lemme go get some leftovers to try. You've gotta be starving from coming here and if I see this stuff here any longer I'm gonna end up being out of shape for my next shoot in Fiore." Before she could get a word in edge wise towards the comment, Sammy got up from her seat and set her glass down on a coffee table sitting in front of the couch and walked off to the next room.
With the rummaging sounds from it, Avery crushed the empty can of their soda in their hand like it were a piece of loose leaf paper and then tossed it into a nearby recycling bin. "Jokes aside, you know what you're getting involved with, right? You didn't have to come, you know." Their voice seemed more concerned than anything, a bit worried that Lehanna came without thinking anything through. They held up the magazine in hand and stared with a rather serious look on their face while sitting up in their seat to look her in the eyes. "Have you told them about-"
"Enough, Avery." She cut them off, her aura a bit more determined, per say. "It doesn't matter if I'm here or not. That magazine there already puts targets on our backs. I'm here, I am staying, and I won't be leaving until this is done with." She'd put her foot down and it only seemed to make Avery smirk and lean back in his seat. "Fair enough, short stack. Gotta say, being in a relationship has really made you more deadpan than you used to be. Is there anything else we should be concerned for?" They leaned over, taking their eyes off of the younger blonde as the question came around. There was a look of hesitation on her face, one that wasn't caught by them, but by a silent third in the doorway of the kitchen. She said nothing, but came in and set the food on the table in front of them and then replaced that with her glass before she took a seat herself on the couch. "We start this once Ruby is home, so take your time, eat, and we'll go over the plan again then."
1900 words
