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Brae heaved another chuck of stone into the cart before wiping at the sweat on her brow. The Durotar was never forgiving at the best of times, even here, where the shelter of Orgrimmar's cliffs didn't always promise refuge from either sun or heat. Red dust stuck to her shirt and trousers. Her usually pale skin was nearly as red as the clinging dust. She was grateful that the paperwork to get things started on restoring the old office were at least in order. The rest of it... She grimaced. She'd promised Kez a short trip to the city. She was going to hope new bureaucracy didn't make a liar of her.

She accepted a drink from the orc who was overseeing the rest of the workers and surveyed the rubble. What a mess- and what an apt metaphor. She had badly needed to oversee the work herself, and then join in. it was dirty, thirsty work that left her hands blistered and skin sunburned. It kept her mind occupied. That was the most important thing. She would bury personal loss in professional triumph. Maybe. That was the plan, anyway. She had to squeeze her eyes shut for a moment and the moisture she felt on her cheek surely wasn't sweat. A polite tone pulled her back and she offered the overseer a small smile, although it didn't reach her eyes. "N-no, n-no. I'm q-quite f-fine, th-thank you. I sh-should g-get b-back to it. Derscha w-will b-be we-well pleased wi-with the reports of p-progress and I m-may h-have to l-leave it to all of y-you to g-get the p-paper side of th-things soon." She snorted faintly as she heard a rumble about paperwork and found another chunk of stone that was manageable and set her attention to clearing away the debris.

Orgrimmar... was different.

Sure, Hellscream had turned the place into a veritable fortress. Then the city had been overrun by Horde and Alliance forces, which was rarely good for maintaining status quo, and now there was a new regime in place. To think the city would be the same was simply silly.

Still, as Kezrin spent her second day back in the city, there was definitely a nagging sensation that something else about the city had changed, too, even if she couldn't define it.

The old AAMS offices were as bad as she'd feared. Braedori had wrangled a work crew to start properly clearing the mess, and then the crazy boss lady actually started to pick up and clean debris herself. Kezrin didn't see how Brae expected to make much difference in comparison to the beefy workers, and she sighed and halfheartedly tossed a few pieces of trash into a nearby wheelbarrow. Maybe if they had a excavator truck.

Instead, Kezrin pulled out her notes to start taking inventory of anything they could savage that hadn't been destroyed by the war or exposure to the elements. None of the orc workers had a familiar face. She didn't bother checking today.

Brae managed to wrestle a think folder out of the dust. She glanced at it, blinking. It was amazing anything had survived the pillage, but she supposed even the most enthusiastic raider wouldn't blink twice at the battered old thing. These would warrant a look-through. She glanced up at the sky and judged it to be some time in the early afternoon. Carefully, she picked her footing to make her way to Kezrin. The idea to list what they found was immensely appreciated- it hadn't even occurred to her distracted mind.

"W-wonder wh-what we'll f-find in here?" She held up the folder to teh goblin with a faint smile. Somehow, miraculously, she had managed to smooth her curls back and tie them tightly in a piece of leather, leaving a springy bush of what might have been ponytail on anyone else rising from the back of her head. "C_Care to l-look th-through th-these over l-lunch? Yoresh and I d-don't l-live f-far, and the l-larder's f-full."

"Yeah, could use a break." She wiped at her forehead with a sleeve, glad that Brae hadn't insisted they wear the usual AAMS white. It would probably be the AAMS grime-grey by now if they had. She was starting to reconsider her own wardrobe; full lengths skirts weren't ideal for picking through wreckage. The hem was ruined after half a dozen snags.

"Uh, jus' where are ya livin', anyway?" she asked once her feet were safely back on even streets. They way Braedori had invited her sounded as if they'd found more than just a space in an inn.

<eats popcorn and eagerly watches this unfold>

She offered Kezrin a ghost of a smile. "We l-live in the D-Drag, n-not f-far f-from the g-gate to the V-Valley of Ho-Honor. B-before the Sh-Shattering, Yoresh h-had a sh-shop th-there, an-and we l-lived up-upstairs." She led the way through the crowded thoroughfare, only once needing to pause a moment and leave a startled penguin in the place of an onlooker who'd had opinions about how Brae's outfit looked. "It w-was p-pretty well r-rubble b-by the end of all th-the ea-earthquakes, b-but ap-apparently th-they've re-rebuilt. A f-friend ca-caught it f-for us." She'd continued as though the incident hadn't happened.

The building itself was relatively non-nondescript and Kezrin couldn't see much to tell it apart from its neighbors, except perhaps the embroidered curtains fluttering slightly in the upper windows. It didn't look like the shop had been opened yet, the storefront empty. Brae led her down a small, narrow side path and paused at the door. "J-just a m-moment." She stuck her hand through the door, made a few gestures and then gestured to her companion. "N-needed to t-tell the w-wards you w-were c-coming up. B-better th-than a l-lock and key, in th-these parts." The stone stairway felt blessedly cool, and they emerged into a main living space that was crammed with trunks.

Instead of feeling messy, the items spilling over gave the place a comfortable, cozy feel. This place felt like a home, even though the pair couldn't have taken possession that long ago. A sturdy wooden table with a set of stools sat near a door, and Brae gestured there. "I'll g-get s-some w-water to f-freshen up and th-then we c-can g-go th-through the l-larder." She glanced toward a draw curtain on the left side of the room. "And t-tell Yoresh we h-have c-company. M-make y-yourself c-comfortable."

She disappeared through the curtain, a low exchange in Zandali being murmured, and left Kezrin to peek around. Bolts of cloth and the accouterments of tailoring, enchanting, and alchemy littered the space. There were thick carpets, tapestries to hang....and books. Books were everywhere. Piled in corners, toppling out of crates, threatening to topple the lone, sad bookcase in the place. Every size, description, and topic. There were all kinds of different languages. No wonder Brare had started at the AAMS as a translator. Piled neatly on the table next to a bowl of fruit and a quill and ink pot was the inevitable paperwork.

Kezrin paused in the center of the room, hardly noticing Brae's exit. The place made Kezrin's little apartment look sparse!. She walked over to the bookshelf, tilting her head to read a few of the titles. She picked up a tome in Thalassian, on the basis it would be one she'd be able to read, and flipped to a random page.

Brae's voice drifted back in from the other room. Kezrin slammed the book shut and went to put it back into place, but the books were so crammed together there was no longer any gap indicating the book's home. On top of a random pile it went!

She glanced over her shoulder toward the door, but Brae hadn't yet returned. Not that she'd been gone very long, yet. She climbed onto one of the stools to wait, clasping her notepad tightly to resist any more temptation to pry into a mage's library.

She settled for merely looking around at all the artifacts, wondering which were reflective of Braedori, and what belonged to Yoresh. She assumed the books belonged to Brae, but who knew? It wasn't as if everything trollish automatically meant "Yoresh." She pondered the mystery while waiting.

Kezrin didn't have to wait that much longer. Brae ducked out from behind the curtain, followed by a low, rumbled chuckle and she smiled. "G-get a ch-chance to m-make yourself c-comfortable? I'm t-terrified th-that the n-new bureaucracy is g-going to stymie all h-hopes fo-for a sp-speedy re-reopening." She offered a pragmatic shrug, scooping things off the table as she spoke and conjuring a small bowl of water and some linens to was the dust away with. "S-so th-there's odds we m-might do a f-fair b-bit of b-bbusiness here. W-welcome to g-grab an-anything you'd l-like from the li-livrary there. I d-don't kn-know how we e-ever g-got s-so m-many."

Brae carefully dipped a lien in the water and wrung it out thoroughly before wiping her hands. "Yoresh h-hates the w-water, so I t-try to b-be c-careful ab-about it." Brae sighed as she wiped the dust off the back of her neck. "D-do you h-have an-any lunch p-preferces? F-Fruit, ch-cheese? Bread? And we've g-got e-every k-kind of m-meat b-but fish c-cooling its heels, t-too."

"Uh- wouldn't wanna be a bother. Sandwich, I guess, if ya got the bread."

She absently twitched a foot hanging from the stool. "Ya think it's gonna take much longer ta clear the place out? Seemed like some good progress was made, anyway. If we can get the front rooms clear 'nuff to set up a tent, could prolly set up a temp office like we had in Razor Hill fer a while."

Kezrin set the notepad on the table, glancing over the list she'd compiled so far. It wasn't that long a list. There were actually a few desks that were still in decent shape, still triple-bolted to the floor to prevent them from being "Spriggeled" away, even if all the drawer locks were missing. She didn't want to think about all the missing paperwork.

"Oh! What's in the folder?"

Brae peeked around the entry to the kitchen. "N-no id-idea yet. I f-found int in wh-what I think m-might have been a s-safe, at s-some point." She smiled a bit. "You c-can look wh-while I g-get things set up, if you'd l-like. P-probably old cl-client lists, or the l-like."

She disappeared again, the action followed by the comfortable swish and clack of food preparation.

Fidget.

Fidget. Fidget.

As much as Kezrin hated being a "hostess," she was started to recall just how much she hated being a "guest" as well.

What were the rules for guests? Hands off the goods. Compliment the home profusely. Bring a gift. Two out of three were already failed, wonderful. She started rehearsing phrases for when Brae returned.

"The place looks.... crowded? Err.. cozy? And there's certainly a lot of... stuff. And it's certainly, um, diverse."

07/15/2014 07:54 PMPosted by Kezrin

Fidget.

Fidget. Fidget.

Teehee <3

Brae let out a chuckle as she set the sandwiches down, and a pitcher of freshly iced juice- there were perks to being friends with mages. She looked a little startled by the sound, as though she hadn't thought she was capable of such anymore. ""W-we h-had a h-house, a w-while b-back. Our f-friends w-were k-kind enough to st-store our th-things. We've st-still wo-working th-through." She offered Kez another small smile.

"You're f-free to m-make y-yourself at h-home, es-especially wh-while w-we're wo-working, b-but an-anytime. We d-don't st-stand on an-any p-particular c-ceremony." She took a bite of her sandwich and nudged the folder to Kezrin. "I d-don't th-think I'm f-familiar wi-with s-some of the s-shorthand I g-glandced at. C-Care to t-take a look?" Brae clearly didn't consider a guest in her home anymore than she would have been astonished to find her in the office. She had no idea if her attempt at putting the goblin at ease were working, but she'd keep trying.

Telirra stood overlooking the wreckage that the Orc's were in the process of clearing away. She hadn't been around when the Office was attacked...she mentally kicked herself away from that train of thought. The rogue took mental pictures of all the Orcs in their employ, she would make sure to learn the names attached to the faces. Today she was here to work, to help clean up the mess the Kor’Kron did.

The rogue rolled up her sleeves and started piling rubble into a wheelbarrow. She made idle chit chat with the workers helping clear things up, slowly learning their names, little facts about them, their families. Telirra wanted to know everyone who had anything to do with the AAMS, she needed to know all the employees and their families.

After a few hours of work Telirra got a drink of water, dumping the rest on her head. The long hair her father inflicted her with was infuriating. No matter how many times she cut it, the next day it would grow back, just as long as before. At the moment she had it tied in a messy bun at the back of her head. She made a mental note to visit the barbershop and learn how to style it in a way that would keep it off her neck.

Telirra watched the workers for a little while more before she pulled her mask out of her belt and slipped away into the shadows. Her first visit back to Orgimmar after Garrosh wasn’t going to be spent entirely on manual labor. The rogue needed to visit a few friends to put some extra protection on the office just in case their organization was ever a target for hostility again. The rogue slipped the mask on over her face and made her quiet way to the Slums.

Kezrin flipped open the folder. It was easier to concentrate on work. The papers didn't seem all that unusual, although they were old.

"Eh, looks like someone's record collection," she postulated out loud, flipping through the pages. "Sames names appearing here and there, probably belongs to someone who was actin' as a personal liaison for someone. Would 'splain the odd notes."

She laid out one of the forms on the table, tapping it lightly on a line that said "pickup," followed by a series of numbers. "Not sure what all these numbers and stuff are for, maybe coordinates? Or a time? Can try ta match up some of these record numbers with anything that got taken ta Ratchet 'fore ...the, um... closure."

Telirra frowned behind her mask, the Slums had changed, not drastically, but enough to notice. Things smelled….cleaner, the air had less of a haze. The Goblins didn’t seem to thrilled with the change in environment, the lack of pollution in the air made it easier for Telirra to find the Goblin she was looking for. The rogue made sure her cloak was sucure and she pulled the hood over her face as she walked past the guards, she didn’t want anyone knowing that a one-eyed Sin’ Dorei was visitng the Goblin Slums.
Trizzk wasn’t in his normal hangout, he usually preferred to hang out near the entrance to the Slums but with the new regime, it seems he preferred to keep as far away from the Trolls as possible. She found the wormy little green skin sulking in a dark corner as far from the guards as possible. His ears perked up a bit when he saw her walking his way. The big dung eating grin flashed his two gold teeth as she stopped to hover over him. Hover isn’t really the best word to describe what she did, she wasn’t exactly tall for her race and he wasn’t a small fry. If he wanted he could reach up just enough to punch her in the mouth, but he was smart enough to not try that with her.

“Hey, my little viper has come back to Trizzk, it’s been awhile there toots.” She saw his fingers twitch slight and she did a quick check for weapons. He had a dagger at his belt and probably one in his right boot, he usually did.

“Trizzk.” She kept her voice even and calm, even though every cell in her body wanted to wring the little worms neck. “I have a job for you and your boys, it pays well, low risk, you don’t even have to break the law, mostly.” Trizzk’s eyes lit up like a little kid at Winter Veil when she said ‘pays well’.

“What’s the gig?” He was trying to play it cool but she could hear the poorly concealed fervor in his voice.

“A simple watch and report. You know the old AAMS office in the city?” He nodded his head slowly, squinting one eye trying to figure out what it was exactly that she wanted before she said it.

“I just need you to have two guys keep an eye on the place at all times. Tell me who comes and goes, when, and what they take with them.” Telirra knew she had him hooked when he sucked one of his gold teeth, he had the easiest tell.

“What’s it pay?” Always right to the point, the one thing she admired about him.

“Five gold a day for you to split between your crew however you deem fit.” She knew he wouldn’t’ pass up the chance to short change his men. He would probably tell them the gig paid three gold and give them each one.

“You got it toots,” he held out his hand to shake on it but Telirra just shook her head and pulled out a piece of parchment. Trizzk frowned at the document and peered up at her. “I’m ain’t signing nuthin’ if I can’t read it.” He crossed his arms and eyes the paper.

“It’s in Orc, and it just states that you will not make contact with anyone in the office, will not attempt to steal from the office or anyone coming or going, and you will not, under any circumstances, attempt to kill someone coming or leaving the office.” Trizzk snatched the paper out of her hand and quickly read over it, nodding a little bit here and there and he made his way slowly through it, making sure she didn’t leave any loopholes. The rogue had had enough dealings with Trizzk to know when and where she could leave loopholes for him to find, this was not one of those jobs. He wasn’t her most trusted contact but he was the best she could get on such short notice. As soon as the office was up and running again she was going to be making a trip to Northrend to track down a few old friends.

Trizzk pulled out a pen and quickly signed his name on the dotted line, Telirra took the pen from him and signed her ‘name’ next to hit. She had never given Trizzk her real name and she planned on keeping it that way.

“Good, the job starts tomorrow. Stay out of sight.” The Goblin gave her a mock salute then went back to sulking in his dark corner. Telirra felt the eyes of the Goblins and, much to her displeasure, the Troll guards on her as she left the slums. Telirra was grateful that her mask covered the bottom half of her face and the hood of her cloak took care of the rest. Telirra made a mental note to start using a runner for her dealing with Trizzk from now on.

While Kezrin looked over the folder, Brae abandoned the pretense of eating entirely. She wasn't hungry, she hadn't been hungry since she and Yoresh had given their daughter over to the loa. Instead she grabbed a notebook and a quill, running the feather over her lips thoughtfully.

"S-somewhere he-here I h-have s-some m-maps. M-Maybe i'll l-look fo-for th-them t-tonight and t-try to s-see if those are c-coordinates. We sh-should d-definitely ch-check in Ratchet, and b-back at the m-main of-office, t-too."

She scribbled a quick note, all of it in short-handed Zandali. "I d-don't s-suppose th-there's an-anyone el-else st-still ar-around we c-could ask?"

"Nah, not really. But I'll see what I can find."

Kez tucked all the files back into the folder and hopped down from the stool. "Thanks for the lunch an' all, but guess I better be gettin' back ta work and let the bossgnome know what we've found so far. Say hey to the other guy for me and all that."

She breathed a small sigh of relief once she was back outside and in the relatively open air of the city. Relatively, for it still stank of orcs, and the cavern walls weren't very open. But the comfort of being outside again was short lived before she became aware of just how few goblins were walking around outside of the slums. She privately thanked Brae again that they weren't in uniform; the last time she walked these streets openly wearing white and gold...

Kezrin tugged at her sleeves and hurried her feet toward the towers to the flight master. Perhaps she wasn't in danger of being executed as a traitor, but that still didn't mean folks would be pleased to see her. To Ratchet, then, where no one looked twice at a goblin walking by.

The letters on the page in front of her wavered nauseatingly and she sighed as she-leaned back and rubbed her temples. She had no idea what time it was, or when the last time she'd eaten was. The candle on the table was starting to gutter out in its own wax. Her fingers were stained with ink. It was probably time to get to bed. Deadlines were looming and she wouldn't do anyone any good if she fell over asleep tomorrow in her meetings.

She pushed her seat back and stood. Instead of blowing out the candle, which risked potentially setting the teetering pile of documents on the table aflame, including the odd folder. Instead, she gave a quick snap of her fingers and a small thread of ice climbed up the wax and devoured the flame. Her brain was going to come out of her ears in a goo if she stayed up any longer. The mage dragged herself toward bed, wondering who she could rustle up to accompany her with Kezrin headed to Ratchet for research. Her brain refused the request and she flopped, face-first, into the over-stuffed feather mattress and next to Yoresh's prone form. She was asleep before she even fell all the way over, clothes and all.