001. she puts the "jet" in jetsetter. // open post

[fastenough]

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Revision: August 30!

[fastenough]

[Which she'll notice immediately, because, you know, ViceNET pretty much never goes down?

Knocking on your door once, and lifting an eyebrow at you from the doorframe.]

Something up?

[larue]

[ ...whoops.

Offering a smile of greeting now. It doesn't really reach is eyes. ]

Hey, Mica. Um-- [ what was he doing again... right, gifts.

He'd caught sight of something that had made him think of Brianna. ]

Just shopping around for gift ideas.

[ A beat, and then a shrug: ] Gabriel's birthday and all.

[fastenough]

[Hmm.

She's leaning against the door frame now, giving him a Look. Her tone, though, is casual. Deceptively casual.]

Didn't peg you for the type to get anxiety attacks over what you need to get for friends.

[larue]

[ There's a moment when he sort of wants to make up some excuse -- but this is Josh, he sucks at lying and it never makes him feel good.

Setting that tablet down now. ]

I don't.

[ He slumps back into his seat. ]

I guess I just have a couple of other things on my mind.

[fastenough]

Like...?

[Saying that as she's straightening up and moving towards your desk. She's also bringing her cigarettes out.

Nicotine may be needed.]

[larue]

[ Nicotine is definitely needed. That's him slipping out the cigarette case ( one of the many that Jessiah Vice handpicked for him months ago ) from his coat pocket. ]

My blademate turned in her resignation. She's requested a transfer to Arcadia.

[ As you know, there are only two girls in the Hounds, and only one of the would have business in Arcadia. ]

[fastenough]

Oh.

[Yeah, the slight downward turn of her voice might tell you that two things:

1.) She knows how tough that can be, or at least understands the implications of it.
2.) You now have her complete attention.]

Permanent, temporary, or You Have No Idea?

[larue]

[ He's taking a drag and then expelling the smoke quietly between his lips, eyes fixed on the way the embers glow amongst the ash on the tip of that stick. ]

I think it's... "permanent with the exception of holidays".

[ There's an apologetic look from his end. ]

I get it. She wants and feels that she has to do this, but...

[ Looking askance now, because while he isn't tearing up over it as much, the dull ache is still there. ]

[fastenough]

But she's going to be gone for a very long time, she's leaving the lot of you behind, and you're all not sure whether she'll really be her if and when she does come around given how things work in Arcadia.

[Does it sound like your boss is speaking from experience?

Yes, because she is.]

[larue]

[ There's a helpless laugh from this one and a couple of nods that follow.

Selene Vega. He kind of... he forgot about that. ]

How'd the Rockin' Rollas deal?

[fastenough]

As well as we could, really. We had a lot to keep ourselves occupied with.

[A light shrug.]

I don't think there was ever any time to consider the rammifcations until Selene got back, and she's the type to keep her cards close to her chest. So.

[larue]

[ He nods slow. ]

I guess it was just that it was so sudden.

[ Even if he'd had the awful knot in his stomach as soon as he'd seen the little ways that Bri was different. ]

[fastenough]

[A thoughtful noise from this one, before she's taking another drag from her cigarette.]

Was it, though?

[Asking that, as she's looking once more in your direction.]

[larue]

[ Hi gaze slides askance. That's a pretty good question. Bri had been out a while before the news came. They're heard very little word as well, from the Changeling, while she was over in Arcadia.

Correction: They'd heard next to none with the exception of maybe... one text. He can't really recall too well anymore. ]

I guess... [ he wets his lips absently. ] Guess I just figured she'd let us know if she needed us.

[fastenough]

[Another thoughtful noise, this time as she's looking back down to her hands. Then she's taking another drag.]

I can't speak for her, and she does seem to be different from Selene, but...

[Maybe that's what is catching her attention. That Brianna Lopez is different from Selene.]

Maybe she had Baby of the Blade angst.

[larue]

[ He winces before he can actually think of stopping it. Then again, why bother hiding it? He respects and admires you, you've been a really awesome boss so far ( even if he really needs to start pulling his weight for the corporation and he will ) and... surprising as it is to him, you're kind of pretty easy to open up to.

( He hopes this is a good thing. ) ]

I'd like to say that she didn't but... [ He can't really speak for Brianna in that respect. They had grown close, but she always struck him as the type to keep her cards close to her chest. ]

If she thinks this is for the best though, I can't fault her. Not really.

[ It just sucks. ]

[fastenough]

There's the rub. If it's Baby of the Blade Angst, then she wasn't exactly thinking clearly.

[Looking over with a quirk of her lip. A sympathy tell.]

Ops like her have a lot more pride than they let on. They don't like screwing up, and they don't like betraying any sort of weakness. So when you put somebody like her in a blade full of goal-oriented overachievers...

[C'mon, LaRue. Put two and two together here.]

[larue]

[ He's putting it together and that is probably why he's sinking a little further into his chair—

—and then promptly scrubbing his palm over his face. ]

[fastenough]

[Watching all of that.

Drag, exhale.]

So. Warmer, colder, really far out there, really close...?

[You gotta give her something to work with, man.]

[larue]

[ That's a sigh. A heavy one. ]

Right in the frying pan, I think.

[ He's going to light up another cigarette now. ]

[fastenough]

[As expected. Not that she had wanted it that way. It kind of sucks, this heavy talk.

But it also needs to get done.]

If you're thinking that there could have been something that you or any of your blade mates could have done, don't.

[She's been exposed to a lot of blades, and done her fair share of mentorship. You might want to take her word for it.]

[larue]

[ He knows better than to challenge you, Mrs. Young. There is a reason, after all, that he was floored nervous, excited when Gabriel told him that he was going to be sent to mentor under you. ]

Working on it, ma'am. [ Forgive him, if the smile he tries to send your way is a little wan. His chest's feeling a little tight again. ]

I guess I'm just scared. [ A beat. ] For her.

[fastenough]

I'm not going to tell you not to be. [It's Arcadia. Everyone loses something by going there and staying too long.] But I will tell you that for the moment? It's out of your hands, and she's in much better company there than what was possible for Changeling Keepers just fifty years ago.

[Brighter sides, and pragmatic ones. Two things Mica Torillo-Young is great at focusing on.]

[larue]

[ There's a quiet, wan smile tugging at the corner of his mouth now. ]

Thanks, Mica.

[ Some people might not say that that's not much by way of reassurance. But it's kind of a lot for him. ]

[fastenough]

No problem. Can't have the handsome, young head of Human Resources looking like his world is ending.

[ ...That's a joke, by the way.

Mostly. ]

[larue]

[ That's prompting a laugh from his end. It's soft, but it's an indicator of how his mood's improved, even a little. ]

Thanks, boss.

[ He's only ever called Gabriel Marlowe that, apparently it now also applies to you. ]