Team Building

Keeping her mundane façade was usually an easy enough task for Moira. Today, however, she found her ability to pretend things weren’t out of the ordinary far harder.

‘How have things become so complicated?’ the paladin wondered as she sat in class, the subject matter going in one ear and out the other. Doing her best to focus on something productive instead of pointless philosophical musings, Moira’s thoughts turned to the task ahead of her.

‘Who do I bring?’ she pondered. Her father had left her in charge of this newest part of negotiations, if this could still be considered a part of that process. It fell to her to select her entourage. She immediately took Harlow out of the running. While she had no doubt in his skill as a combatant, she wasn’t sure how the pair of them would skew Newman’s barrier.

‘With our experience, we could end up making it too difficult for them,’ she thought. ‘Maybe a squire would be a better option? There’s no way Newman started off at the level he’s at now. Bringing someone with less experience would be a good way to gauge how well his ability could be employed for training.’

Moira pursed her lips as she filed through the squires currently stationed at the manor. There were a handful nearing the point where they could be considered for a promotion to knight, but she dismissed them. She wanted someone with less experience, not only to air on the side of caution but to better see how effective Newman’s barriers could be.

‘Donnelly perhaps?’ Moira wondered. ‘She’s relatively new but she’s shown promise. She might be at the right point where she will not be overwhelmed by whatever we encounter but still be weak enough that any gains can be easily observed.’

Moira tapped her pen against her notebook. ‘But will one session be enough? There’s no way Newman went from having no power to being comparable to some of our squires in one jump. He’s had over a week to grow. Which still seems like an impressive jump.’

Late bloomers weren’t something she looked heavily into. Even when trying to puzzle out who left the note, she had dismissed the possibility it was someone new to the Abyss trying to reach them. It had seemed logical at the time; how would someone like that know to reach out to them? Even if one had joined up with someone already established in the Abyss, why be the one to reach out to them?

Now, Moira felt like beating herself up for not looking more into it, even if just to cover her bases. Going into things with half-assed assumptions was a recipe for disaster.

‘There’s about an hour between getting back to the manor and leaving to meet them at the rendezvous point,’ she thought, calculating the travel time. ‘I should have enough time to get Donnelly up to speed, shower and do some quick research into late bloomers.’

The school bell rang, and as her classmates began to file out, Moira sent a text to Reginald, telling him to inform Squire Donnelly that she wanted to speak with her when she returned to the manor and to be ready to accompany her on a mission.

---

The roar of Moira’s motorcycle dipped to a low purr as she stopped on the long driveway of the manor’s mundane façade, one of Reginald’s men standing off to the side to park it for her. Normally she would do it herself, but time was a bit short and she wanted to squeeze as much into the limited time she had.

With a polite nod to the man, she hopped off her bike and handed him her helmet before slipping into the barrier that housed the Order’s real base of operations. With purposeful steps, Moira made her way towards one of the sparring grounds, where, if her orders were relayed properly and she had no reservations that they weren’t, Squire Donnelly would be waiting.

Befitting a member of the Order, even a fresh one, Rowan Donnelly sat straight upon a stone bench. Before she noticed Moira’s approach, the squire shifted in place slightly, a hand drifting to her shoulder-length brown hair and brushing some of it behind an ear.

‘I suppose I’d be nervous too if our ranks were reversed,’ Moira thought as she coughed to catch her subordinate’s attention.

Rowan shot off the bench like it had suddenly become red hot and pivoted towards Moira, her face flushed.

“Ah, Lady Warden,” she stuttered out, hastily snapping to attention and saluting. “I apologize for my sloppiness!”

‘Ah, right,’ Moira though. ‘She’s a bit over-eager.’

“At ease,” the paladin said, holding back a slight groan when all the squire did was put her arm down, her stance still ramrod straight. “Now, I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve requested you.”

“It’s not my place to wonder such things, ma’am,” Rowan said.

Moira held back a sigh at the Irishwoman’s over-enthusiastic adherence to protocol. ‘At least she’ll follow my orders to the letter. I just hope that won’t be too much of a problem.’

“Right, I’ll cut to the chase then,” Moira said. “I’m not sure how much you’ve heard, but yesterday we came into contact with an emerging Kingdom, only already connected to a local up-and-coming group. We’ve achieved a tentative working agreement, but one aspect of it requires some testing before we cement our relationship.”

A look of confusion crossed Rowan’s face before she **** her face back into a neutral expression.

Moira raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a question, Squire Donnelly?”

Rowan blinked before her face grew red and her attempt to remain stoic faltered as she stuttered out, “W-well, just, um, wonderin’ what sort o’ testing, is all.”

Moira found herself smiling as the squire’s posture relaxed ever so slightly.

“One of these upstarts has an ability that makes barriers far more effective,” Moira explained. “And allows him to collect resources from things slain within.”

Rowan’s eyes widened slightly, clearly understanding how much that went against the established rule of things.

“Are ye saying that you want me to accompany you on this mission?” Rowan asked, her stoic facade completely crumbling away.

Moira nodded. “One aspect of this mage’s power we want to assess is how effective it can be for training. Someone who still has room to grow makes a far greater gauge for that than someone close to or stronger than that mage, which might make it hard to determine.”

“I’m honored, ma’am,” Rowan breathily said as she deeply bowed to her. “I won’t let ye down.”

Moira found herself smiling at the squire’s enthusiasm. “We depart in an hour. Full kit. Dismissed.”

“Aye.” Rowan snapped up straight and saluted before sharply turning on her heel and power marching away.

Moira watched her for a moment before shaking her head.

‘At the very least, she’ll put all her effort into whatever Newman puts in front of us,’ she thought as she turned towards the manor. A quick look at her phone gave her just over fifty minutes before departure. Just enough time for her to get done what she needed for this fact-finding mission.

---

Due to the upcoming exhibition of his powers, John spent the day trying to relax. Trying, because after over a week of fighting, daring infiltrations and the sudden improvement to his love life, doing nothing left him feeling antsy.

‘Even gaming only takes a bit of the edge off,’ he thought as he executed a game-ending combo on Beth’s character in the fighting game they were playing. ‘Man, my life’s really gotten weird.’

“Ugh, I call hacks,” Beth loudly declared as she forcefully leaned herself into John’s side.

“Skill issue, princess,” John shot back, wrapping an arm around her to hold her in place. His fingers lightly traced her abs through the black tightfitting top she wore.

“‘Skill issue’, huh?” she huffed, snuggling deeper into his embrace. “I’ll show you ‘skill issue’. You, me, the city streets. Last one to reach Cammie’s buys dinner.”

“If you want me to take you out, you just have to ask,” John said, ignoring his reflexive competitive impulse to rise to her challenge. Easy enough to do since it normally didn’t apply to physical competitions.

“Sounds like you’re already taking the ‘L’,” Beth teased.

John shrugged. “Running’s your wheelhouse. I am but a humble beginner compared to your skill.”

“Damn straight.” Beth chuckled. “Still sounds like you’re afraid to give it a try.”

The digs at his courage caused John’s resolve to falter and he grinned down at Beth. “You know what, you’re on. Worse that happens is I get to watch your cute butt for a few miles.”

Beth flushed at his open admiration of her rear end but snuggled closer to him before letting out a huff of annoyance.

“If only we didn’t have to have everything on pause because of the stupid Order,” she complained.

“At least you get to go and smash shit up,” Aeolia groused as she came flying in from the kitchen, sandwich in hand.

Beth stuck her tongue out. “Take it up with lady luck. I won fair and square.”

Aeolia muttered back Beth’s words in a mocking tone as she plopped onto the couch.

“Do you think it’s smart to have it just be the three of you?” Vivian asked as she joined them, a cup of tea steaming in her hands.

“Smart or not, it’s what we agreed to,” John said. “Two from the Order and two of us. We’re just lucky the Order thinks Senka’s just an elemental.”

“I feel their opinion of me wouldn’t change if they were made aware of my origins,” Senka darkly noted from the kitchen.

“I’d say let them continue to have that misconception,” Brenda chimed in. “Gives you an advantage. Never interrupt an enemy when they’re making a mistake.”

“Yes, but the Order isn’t an enemy,” Vivian cautioned. “If they think we’ve been trying to pull the wool over their eyes, things could get messy.”

“I’ll play into their prejudices for now,” Senka reluctantly said as she slid into the room, Brenda and Kiera following her. “We can use our inexperience as a shield if they change their opinion of me.”

“Play the fool, got it,” John remarked before he glanced at the clock. “Got about a half hour before we need to leave for the rendezvous.”

“At least they let us choose a spot closer to us than them,” Beth muttered.

“A way to look magnanimous,” Vivian commented. “They let us feel in control now so later they can leverage it back in their favor.”

“It’s a classic move,” Brenda added before taking a sip of her coffee. “A small concession now for a larger one in their favor later. Seen it a lot of times.”

“Aren’t you an accountant?” Beth asked, pulling away from John slightly so she could peer at Brenda.

“Yes,” Brenda answered, smiling as she took a sip of her drink. “But you hear a lot of things around the water cooler.”

“So don’t ignore gossip, got it,” Beth quipped. “I’ll keep my ears peeled for what Miss Hammer says to whoever she’s bringing along.”

“Just do it casually,” Vivian warned. “Don’t go and poke your head somewhere it shouldn’t be.”

“Yeah, learned that lesson the second time,” Beth said.

“The second?” Vivian began before she snapped her mouth shut. John felt his face heat up as he realized Beth was referring to Saturday when she mistook their lack of communication as them being attacked. And walked in on them moments before their induction of Senka to their relationship moved beyond foreplay.

“I suppose that would leave an impression,” Senka remarked in a smug tone as she walked up to Vivian and returned her phone to her, followed by a swift kiss to her reddened cheek.

Brenda quizzically looked around, her gaze lingering on John and Vivian’s flushed faces before saying, “Ah. You walked in on them, huh?”

“Mom!” John squeaked.

“It was a close call,” Senka murmured, a fond smile on her lips. “Would have ended up more exposing if Vivian didn’t pick up on Beth entering her barrier.”

Beth snorted. “Says the chick who waltzed out of her room with nothing on.”

Senka grinned. “Considering that night you confessed your feelings, does that really matter?”

“Not really, you tease,” Beth shot back, a grin gracing her lips.

“Maybe we should start getting ready to go,” Vivian hastily interjected. “Be best to get there early. Shows we value punctuality.”

Senka hummed, “Yes, that would make a good impression, wouldn’t it? I suppose that’s my cue to fade. Been a pleasure chatting.”

The spirit vanished with a wave, her amused presence now freely radiating through John’s head. John sighed as he pulled himself up off the couch, earning a pout from Beth before he hauled her off as well, pulling her against his chest.

“Alright, alright, I’m up,” she laughed as she leaned into him. John caught a smirk on her lips before she darted up and quickly delivered a quick kiss, their lips barely touching before she hopped back. “Let’s show Miss Hammer what we can do!”

“Please refrain from calling her that,” Vivian sighed. “We don’t need you antagonizing her.”

“I make no promises, but I’ll be nice,” Beth snarked.

“Just try to not cause an inter-guild incident,” Vivian sighed, pinching her nose.

“Yeah,” Aeolia interjected before she smirked. “At least hold off until I’m around to pitch in.”

As Vivian let out a drawn-out sigh while Beth and Aeolia cackled, John caught a smile on his mother’s lips and he felt happy that she was getting along with everyone and didn’t care about their unorthodox relationship. Her finding out hadn’t been under ideal circumstances but things had worked out in the end.

As John made his way towards his mother, her smile turned conspiratorial and she quietly said, “You’re going to have your hands full with those two, sweetie.”

John felt his face warm slightly at her implications, talking about his love life wasn’t something he was used to yet, not least of all with his mother.

Swallowing down a bit of discomfort, he said, “Don’t think I’d have it any other way.”

Brenda pulled John into a sideways hug, twisting him slightly so his chest pressed into the side of her breast.

“I didn’t think you’d turn eighteen and run straight into things like this,” she muttered, a wistful tone in her voice. “To say nothing about all this magic and fighting. But, I can’t say it hasn’t allowed you to become the great man I always thought you could be. I’m so proud of you, sweetie.”

John felt his body warm further, though with love now instead of embarrassment. His arm reached around to Brenda’s far side and returned her embrace.

For a brief stretch of time, there was nothing else but a mother and son, sharing a moment.