"I feel like that went well," Gairovald commented.
"If that was 'well,' I'd hate to see what you consider poor," Jericho chuckled bitterly.
"Carbuncle took you seriously," Gairovald replied. "And you've definitely rattled them."
"Yeah, but clearly not enough. One vote alone won't change anything!" Jericho growled in frustration. "Why do they have to be so... so..."
"Moronic? Imbecilic? Raging piles of flaming shit storms and stupidity? Cowardly cads of money grubbing, self righteous complacency?" Gairovald suggested.
"All that and more," Jericho sighed.
"You must really be looking forward to tonight's patrol," Gairovald remarked with a smirk.
"And more of the same," Jericho groaned. "Why do we have to deal with... you know..."
"The entitled rich kid group of useless underachievers who would replace our current heap of administrative rubbish?" Gairovald finished for him. "Likely because you're the only person who could feasibly keep them from killing themselves."
"Me?" Jericho snorted. "We both know-"
"That you are the golden boy and the schools resident hero in the making?" Gairovald cut him off with a warning smile. "Yes we do."
"Turd," Jericho rolled his eyes. "I wish you would take a little more credit."
"And feasibly wind up in that blinding spotlight?" Gairovald snorted. "No thanks. I prefer to be the creepy guy lurking in the dark corner."
"You would," Jericho elbowed him playfully.
Both sighed as they came to a stop in the tower foyer. They were scheduled to depart in 15 minutes to patrol the runes on the boarder nearest the tower. In all reality, they would be lucky to be leaving in any sooner than thirty minutes. The rune students assigned to their protective detail made a habit of seeing who could show up latest. That said, they always showed up, however reluctantly.
Confusing as it was, the goal of the remaining members of the group were to be just late enough that they would get left behind, but early enough that they could say they arrived but everybody had departed without them. Just not showing up wasn't an option, the magical surveliance in the tower made it nearly impossible to get away with anything unless you knew your way around it. Gairovald was one of few with the skills and intelligence to do so, though he was confident there were fewothers.
"I'm so sorry I'm late!"
Gairovald and Jericho turned with some surprise as a new face came running to where they stood. With some interest, Gairovald realized it was the gargoyle, unicorn girl. From the looks of things, she had updated her wardrobe since that morning. Judging by the the quality of the clothes and the echantments he could see weaved into the fabric, Bartholomew must've made them for her.
"Some one is actually here early?" Jericho gasped in genuine surprise. "I never thought I'd see the day!"
"I must be at least five minutes late!" The girl huffed. "I'm so sorry, I really hope I didn't hold everyone up."
"Actually, you're still ten minutes early," Jericho pointed out with a lopsided grin. "And don't sweat it."
"Is it just us?" She glanced around self conciously.
Judging from her body language, Gairovald suspected she wasn't keen on the idea of traveling alone with two male strangers. Not that he could blame her, from the looks of her, she was about four to six years younger than them and about a head and a half shorter. It was hard to say for sure though, each race aged just a little differently, and the more mixed the bloodline the harder it was to guage.
"Nope," Jericho replied. "We're waiting on five others... Wait... aren't you the cupcake girl?"
The reaction was instantaneous. The girl lit up like a festive lantern and promptly covered her face with her hands. On her shoulder, her imp became quite agitated, clearly ready for a confrontation if needed.
Jamal and Anemone might've laughed at his actions if they were present to witness it, but they typically prefered not to accompany them on trips to the rune walls. Most of the sprites in the tower seemed to have a fear of the planes beyond the barrier, so it was odd that Bartholomew would accompany them. Then again, there was much about Bartholomew Bant that was odd, begining with the fact the sprite had a surname.
"You were there for that?" She questioned in a small voice that was mostly muffled.
"You bet," Jericho laughed. "Glad you weren't hurt, but boy did you leave an impression!"
"Is that what people are going to call me now?" She asked miserably. Gairovald watched with some amusement as she quickly grabbed Bartholomew as the imp was preparing to lurch forward to confront Jericho. He wondered how the scene must look to Jericho who couldn't see the sprite struggling in the girl's grip.
"What else should we call you?" Jericho questioned with a playful smirk. Gairovald rolled his eyes. There was no denying his friend was a lady's man. It seemed he didn't know quite when to turn the charm off.
"My name is Delivera Stone," She replied stiffly. Gairovald was amused to watch her become rigid as the flirtation registered.
"Do people often call you Deliverer?" Jericho teased.
"My friends call me Del," she replied. "My work assosiates call me Stone."
"Which am I?" Jericho questioned.
The reproachful look she gave him caused Gairovald to snort with laughter. There was definately no denying the unicorn blood was strong in this one. Most satyrs would flirt right back. Nonetheless, he could tell she was flattered by the attention. It probably wasn't often she recieved this kind of male attention, and without knowing how to react she took the gargoyle route of becoming defensive.
"Ms. Stone," Gairovald couldn't resist speaking up, curiousity getting the best of him. "According to our schedule, you aren't due to start patrols until next week. What brings you here tonight?"
"Well," At once she was uncomfortable. All the bold facade melted under his gaze, much to his fascination. This girl certainly wore her heart on her sleeve. "Long story short, I... um... It's better to be prepared I guess."
Gairovald took that as code for Bartholomew had suggested the idea. He was known to be quite proactive and demanding. It wasn't a bad idea though, having her come a week early. This week's patrol was the lowest risk of any of them, they wouldn't even need to leave the safety of the barrier to inspect the runes. Since they rotated routes, this would be the best prepatory experience the sprite could offer her.
"You're sprite is Bartholomew, right?" Jericho questioned.
"Yes..." Delivera eyed him suspiciously, guard back up. "How do you know that?"
"He made himself visible to everyone after your little fall, cupcake," Jericho replied with a shrug. "Not many sprites can do that, and most of them aren't so dandy."
"That's nice," Del replied. Based on her tone, she wasn't interested in continuing the discussion. Jericho made a few more attempts to make small talk with her, but her responses were brusque and dismissive, so eventually he gave up. It made for quite the awkward atmosphere for the next fourty minutes while they waited for the rest.