The Search and The Note (open)

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

(though it's been talked about, I'm pretty sure other muns will not be killed if they wanted to play in.)

De'Ryanna barely wasted any time getting to work once she arrived back at the Inn. The flier she had been given was put into the waist pocket of her skirt to be dealt with later and she took up position at the front desk. She had been gone a good while and she hardly trusted Epiphany's record keeping to be creditable; and besides, she had access to the information books at the front desk. There were a few things she needed to do - and if she didn't do this one right away then she would change her mind.

"Thank you ever so much, murr, of informing me of your return." That voice could only belong to Tyger who was slowly meandering down the staircase. "You've only been gone near a month, meow. Do you know, mrow, the trouble you're in?" The cat carried on till he was able to leap up on the front desk to see what she was doing and saw a Rhy'din map and directory listing spread out.

"I'm quite sure you're keeping a list." Came De'Ryanna's dry reply to the cat. She didn't even bother looking up at the feline when he came near. Instead she continued with her task of making a list of all the construction companies and current work sites in the area. If she was going to start trying to fix things in her life she wanted to start with what she deemed would be the hardest - Tobias Kennedy. From what she could tell he wasn't there in the Inn and she wasn't going to humor herself by going up and knocking on his door. Instead she was going to the various construction companies in Rhy'din until she found his job and drop off a letter for him.

This didn't classify as 'stalking', no, it was 'investigatory research'.

Tyger scooted a map closer towards him with a paw. The feline actually liked maps and had a pretty good layout of the city in his mind from all the various activities he was sent on for his master. He saw that certain places were marked. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to find Tobias and leave a note with his supervisor."

There was a snicker from the cat. "Putting your nose to the ground." His comment made Ryan stop long enough in her writing to fix him with a very hard and very pointed stare and that only made the cat laugh again. He knew that look but the one given to him by Ryan did not have the same force behind it to cause him worry.

"Less than two days, mew, and already going out." Tyger rose up and set himself right down on her map, causing De'Ryanna to quickly pull back the nearby list. She knew that if the cat had the chance he'd tear the paper and she wasn't going to give him the opportunity. "That man, meow, who came after you that night, murr, is still out there."

"He is not the worst thing out there." The list of the companies were written out from farthest to closest, thinking that Tobias may have thought it best to work as far away from the Inn - yet close enough to keep travel within a days time - that he could. "Come or not, cat. My mind is already settled." She tucked the list into the inside pocket of her skirt. "We leave at first light. "

Crewmen generally kept an early schedule.

Tyger didn't approve and he had made up his mind to give her Hell about her decision for every mile she dragged him around Rhy'din.

And, just as she said, De'Ryanna and Tyger were out of the Inn just as dawn was coming over the horizon, she with a heavy dark green riding cloak over her dress and hood pulled up enough to cover her head and keep the eventual sun out of her face. They had a lot of ground to cover and walking it all was not a logical option and therefore she took a horse from the stable - Tyger riding in front of her on the saddle.

The first place she was off to was called "Brick & Mortar Construction Inc." By the name and the small line about them in the directory they seemed to be more into the architectural side of construction then demolition, but they had to have people that did that too right? So once she got there she would wander the outside waiting until someone addressed her before she sought someone out for assistance.

[Robby]

"Then whattaya just standin there for? Go put it with the goddamn goddamn! You too, both of ya! What'd ya all wake up with a case of stupid this morning?" Thermoses were capped, hard hats put on and the guys went to take care of the morning shipment. "God -damn-." Brick shook his head and turned to the crew chief. "Do I gotta come out here more often, Robby, to put your crew in line or are you gonna grab them by the balls and get this foundation finished before I grow old?"

Fact was Robby'd been looking elsewhere. "There's a woman, Brick."

"Ain't there always." Brick spat on the ground. He was looking over the schematics to size up how far things had come and how far they still had to go. "There're a whole lotta rich guys with a lotta cash and a lotta time on their hands that're waiting for this place to be finished so they have their new place to shack up."

Robby rolled his eyes at Brick's back. "No, Brick. An actual woman. Outside the fence over there staring in. Maybe it's another one of those witches wanting to offer to put this place up with a snap of her fingers."

Brick scoffed. "No way no how. The Backers won't go for it, not since the fiasco over in Rock Port. Building didn't even last a year before it collapsed under it's own abracadabra weight. F-ck that, get her out of here. Don't want anyone seeing a finger snapper around here and start up rumors that we're playing that game now."

"Sure thing, Brick." He said sure but his glower said something else. Robby hated when Brick came to the site and stuck his damn nose up in everything. Made the crew nervous and it made him feel like he was getting ridden from behind. Least when he got to the entrance to the site he didn't take it out on the woman. He tipped his hard hat at her before he took it off. Now that he was closer he rose his brow. She looked like she was still a kid. Sure he knew appearances around here can be deceiving, but...seriously? "Mornin' miss. If you're job scouting, we're a non-magic building corps."

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

She knew that look, the look that people gave her when thinking to dismiss her because of age. One day they wouldn't do that to her but for now she had to suffer it and she did by squaring back her shoulders and lifting her chin a bit when the man in the hard hat. At least he was polite, that was a plus. She had heard other voices but didn't bother to listen in, instead she had trained her focus around to the men as she tried to see if she could spot him.

"Good morning to you sir," She would be polite as well. Besides, she was the one wanting something from him so it would be to her benefit to be cordial. Tyger peeked out from under Ryan's cloak, he was curious and he wanted to make his presence known. "Fortunately for the both of us I'm not looking for a job. I'm looking for a man."

Even as she said that her chin tipped down to get a better look at him, and make no mistake, she was looking him over and sizing him up. He wasn’t bad to look at and with the downward tip of her head he may have been able to see past the shadow over her face better. "His name is Tobias Kennedy. Probably about your height, broad shoulders, toned arms, tight abs and short dirty blonde dreads." He didn't have them last she saw him but he may have grown them out again by now.

Tyger tipped his head towards her as he listened to her description. If they had been alone he would have said something. But for now he was a simple cat.

"Do you know of him?"

[Robby]

While she was talking Robby tried to keep his eyes on her face. Not like he wanted to look at this kid's rack - he was a married man and a father of two with another on the way. He wanted to keep his eyes on what Brick had his goddamn nose in. Longer Robby stayed away, worse the situation'd be when he got back on the job.

"Uh huh." Now Robby thought he got this girl's number. Wasn't the first time that a woman came up to site looking for a man. Usually it had something to do with them not paying child support or being some other kind of dead beat. Sometimes the dead beat was one of his crew and sometimes he wasn't. This time he wasn't. Maybe she'd know that because Robby's attention span ran out. Mind going to other things as he watched the crew do the morning prep.

"Never heard of him. Sorry." The sorry was an afterthought. He turned back to her as he put his hard hat back on. "Check down the road maybe? There's an old church getting a restoration. Hope you find him." If he was one of those deadbeats Robby really did hope she'd find him. Nothing worse than a man who didn't take care of his own.

That said and done he headed back to his crew.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

She knew that look, it was the look everyone gave her when they noticed her age. De'Ryanna hated that look and it was often followed by the person internally dismissing whatever she had to say as foolish words from a child.   She wasn't going to complain about it nor was she going to dwell on it any more than she had to, besides, the man didn't know of the one she spoke of and was already walking away. 

"Thank you." 

Even if he didn't hear her words she said them anyway because thanking people for their time was the right thing to do. Once that was done she pulled the reign on the horse and turned him around. When they were a few beats away Tyger stretched out with his front paws scratching at the saddle horn and his back making an arch. "I was waiting, meow, for you to go into the more, mew, intimate details of his anatomy." The words ended with a lazy yawn. 

"It was a good description." she replied while navigating along the road. As it wasn't as early people were beginning to mill about. Usually she rode with her head up and hood down about her shoulders but the winter air gave her a good excuse to keep her head down. If that other man was about she didn't need to flash her face everywhere. 

Tyger scoffed and even rolled his eyes. "Mrew, have you had any interrogation training." The cat had a good hold on the saddle. No matter how many times he's had to ride with his master on horse he still hasn't developed a liking for it. A tolerance at best. "What if he does not, mew, want to be found. Co-workers won't give him up, mow, because you asked."

The cat had a point that Ryan hadn't thought of so it was advice she couldn't renounce. "I don't know the Weaves for compulsion." Probably for the welfare of many that she didn't. 

"You're a human female, meow, of breeding age," with his tail he swatted away the mild smack Ryan directed to his head. "There are other ways to compel males."

She almost didn't believe what she was hearing and therefore she huffed and threw back her shoulders. What does he know, she thought. Traveling with her mother, probably a lot. As they neared the church she stopped the horse and dismounted - she wasn't so arrogant to ride to the gates of a church (whether under construction or not).  The reigns were looped around a low hanging branch and the horse grazed at the grass. Tyger hoped down and kept at De'Ryanna's side as she walked to the boundry, slightly pulling her hood back from her eyes and then clasped her hands in front of her as she approached. 

There were a few people around and she cleared her throat before speaking up. "Excuse me please."

 

[Thantos]

Thantos lifted the delicate circular copper gadget and peered through the one hole up at the sky. He snapped his fingers and gestured in a concave half-circle. "Here, here! Every six inches. Face East. We have only thirty-seven minutes. Forty, tops. Go!" The group of blue-robed men scattered and staked the rowan branches into the ground every six inches like they were told. He watched to make sure they did it correctly. Then he pocketed the device and veered to the right to check the circle to the north. Standing directly in his path there was a female and she spoke before he could avoid her.

Thantos folded his hands. He was remarkably tall and looked down at her. "Young lady. You are standing on what will shortly be ritual ground. Are you one of the virgins?" Beady eyes looked her over and the lean man frowned. "Blue was our request. A robe or cloak of blue. We are resetting the entire south foundation today, we can't have careless mistakes." He stared down at De'ryanna expectantly. He awaited her solution of how to remedy this critical problem.

Around them the robed crew moved quickly. There was not a single traditional construction tool or piece of gear in sight. But knives, talismans, white-painted ritual symbols, heavily-scented smoke...these were the tools of this particular company. And Thantos hated it when he had to outsource virgins. They rarely ever were as pure as they swore to be.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

This was not the place and she knew as much the moment she spoke up and took more than a cursory look around her. Tobias would not be in this place with men who seemed to use more . . . religious means of construction than force. However, she had spoken and someone had responded so it would be in very poor taste to simply turn and leave. Besides, it wasn't everyday that she had a chance to see something like this and she was curious.

At her side Tyger snicker ever so slightly as he heard the man ask if she was the virgin they were waiting for only to have Ryanna scoot him off a bit with her foot. "Please excuse my interruption." She spoke politely and bowed her head to the man as she fanned out her skirt in the execution of a perfect curtsy. "No. No I'm not here for such a service, i fear your charge may be a bit detained." She was always disgruntled when things prevented her from following the schedule she marked out.

Noting the pattern that the men were in she took a few steps back to get out of their way but projected her voice - only an extra measure - to make sure she was heard. "I would help to amend your situation if I can but I must know if you have a man working in your charge by name of Tobias Kennedy?"

If she continued to have bad luck in finding him at every place she went his name would be spread over the city just as those fliers were.

[Thantos]

When the cat made noise Thantos' gaze dropped and he stared it down. He wasn't pleased to see a feline here not today. He watched it like a man who was waiting for an excuse to remove it from life permanently. Despite his desire he did not act. Slowly he drew his eyes back to De'Ryanna. Any faint glimmer of social graces he'd had were gone. She was not one of the virgins and she was wasting his time asking insulting questions.

That's right. Insulting. "-Kennedy-? You and your questions have no business here. Nor does any Kennedy. We do not employ anyone from -that- planet." Seems Rhy'din was a few years behind when it came to things like discrimination at the work place. Thantos could hardly believe the ignorance of her question. He could not stand Earth humans and would go to his grave never hiring a single one.

"Now leave. Take this feline with you quickly or you will set back the schedule of this crew for more hours than you can afford to pay due compensation for." He heard her remark about helping to amend his situation but he wasn't interested. Any woman asking after a human wasn't pure enough to draw down the energy on any project that was under his leadership. He was walking away from her. Hand going into his pocket to pull out the thin metal device. He had to check on the north sector of the circle.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

"Don't do it." Tyger warned in a low tone.

"But it would be so easy....." De'Ryanna was watching the religious man walk away with glaring, narrow eyes. She had done the proper thing, curtesied, showed him a bit of respect for his station, even apologized for the interruption and he, he.... "The nerve of some people." Giving a harsh huff she turned quickly on her heel - the heavy skirt turning with her - and started away from that particular group.

Oh how she wanted to reach out to the Source and rumble the dirt they were standing on, just enough to ruin their ceremony. She didn't have a lot of patience for people who couldn't extended at least a bit of common courtesy. Especially when it was given. De'Ryanna hadn't realized that she was grumbling some of her thoughts outloud until she caught ear of Tyger sniggering at her heels. "It's not funny."

They reached the horse and Tyger jumped up into the saddle while De'Ryanna unhooked the reigns. "Mrow. Yes. It is."

How tempting it was now to pluck the cat from the horse and have him attempt to keep up on paw, but she wouldn't. Instead she choose to ignore him as she swung up in the saddle and settled down then pulled out her list of places. Next on that list was a construction group simply called 'Bob's'. Technically it was 'Bob's Builder Construction Company' but she supposed they thought the name was to long and therefore shortened it to simply say 'Bob's'. Setting in the direction they headed off.

"This is tiring, mow." Tyger said as he wiped his face with his paw. The morning was getting on and it was nearing Noon. "We should eat. Mrow. You haven't eaten."

"In due time, Tyger. Perhaps after this next stop."

[The Guys]

The whistle was shrill and loud. It was followed up by cackling and some choice words that weren't meant for polite ears. It was noon and the jackhammers were quiet, the engines silenced and the construction site abandoned. The entire crew was on lunch. More than half of Bob's builders were sitting on the steps of the municipal building which was next to the school they were erecting the new library for. It was the best spot to get some eye candy while they ate the lunches their wives packed them. You could always tell the ones who didn't have wives. They were the ones lined up at the food truck down the block.

The whistling was for the latest piece of eye candy. She was the type that didn't mind. The unbelievably busty type where it was obvious she'd had some mage do an enhancement spell for that and the extra junk in her trunk. When one of the guys had yelled out something lewd the chick slowed up and called something lewd right back as she wagged what magic had given her. That's where the cackling came in. After the crew laughed most of them turned back to their lunches. These guys had been in the business long enough to know that when the eye candy yelled back at you it was bad news if you took up the offer. Never know where else nether regions like that chick's had been.

But one of the guys yelled back. "Not with those fake cans honey. One bounce and those balloons'll pop." Another added snidely, "Nothin but hot air!"

The eye candy didn't look so cool with things anymore. She made some bullsh-t threat and she stalked off. The two guys who'd told it to her like it was went back to business. The one handing the other a folded up piece of paper for him to look over. "So you in? S' good odds - half the guys were knocked out with the Wolverines upset last week."

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

The whistles, grunts and the rest of the shenanigans made from the lunch time crew reached De'Ryanna's ears even as she was still a block off from actually reaching the destination. "Bloody ashes." she said with a groan of resignation. "Knew that sooner or later we would come across a group of heathens." That's right, she was judging them already. She knew all to well the calls men gave to women and while others found it funny and flirtatious she found some comments to be degrading.

"Perfect time to strut, meow."

She huffed as she reigned in the horse to the curbside. "I am not going to parade myself in front of ogling men." A flick of her hood to lower it down from her face and push back her hair.

"No," Tyger said with a sneer and a murr. "You only do that when the sun goes down." If the cat was going to say anything else he did not get the chance to do so before Ryanna roughly tossed him from the saddle. Tyger landed a little away from the house but, being a cat, he landed on his feet. Being the animal he was at times he could only snicker at her reaction. What he said he saw as truth - depending on the group she'd have to use other tactics to get results.

That cat. That Light forsaken, Shadow consumed *cat! She didn't need an infuse of emotions right now. Not now nor for the rest of the day, what she needed was a level head, not a spark to her hormones when she had to constantly put herself around males. De'Ryanna didn't bother to see if Tyger was okay - she knew that a simply thing like that wouldn’t harm him - instead she proceeded to walk the rest of the block before she hit the one with the men. Ironically, in her flustered state of anger she did what Tyger had wanted her to do for not only did she remove her hood but she also pulled at the tie of the cloak until it parted. It was now open enough to reveal the low and square shaped bodice that she wore which tied in the front. Whether or not it had sleeves was yet to be determined as her shoulders were still covered with the cloak.

A few hard steps later she felt slightly better - cool wind against skin can do that - and exhaled slowly as she came into closer view of the men. She quickly eyed them over before she stopped at what looked to be the 'middle' and spoke. "Good afternoon Gentlemen." Though she believed she was heathen-istic pigs would have been a better title she kept it to herself.

"Would any of you be able to help me? I'm in need of a certain man."

[The Guys]

The other guy didn't take the piece of paper. He crammed half a donut into his mouth and shook his head. "Iunno. The wife went off the last time. Shattup..." Still the laughing was better than he'd expected. He'd expected to get razzed. "-I'm- flushing money down the toilet, see, even though she's the one who buys all those god damn scented - say what, honey?" He did a double take. There were certain types he and the rest of the guys expected to use a line like the one this girl just did. Like the tramp who'd just gone by, none of them were surprised to hear the crass that came out of her used mouth.

But this one? She barely looked legal. Some of the crew had gotten in trouble for that kind of sh-t before. Sometimes real bad trouble. So he and the guys around him were looking at her kind of wary. There was a lot of trying not to look at certain assets going on. "Not when we're on the clock, sweetheart," came from somewhere in the back of the pack. From a guy who knew he was in a group big enough that it'd be hard to tell where the comment came from. There were a couple of snickers and some looks but no one said anything else.

The one with the piece of paper took the high road. Stuffing the sheet into his hardhat he made a point to keep his eyes on this girl's face. He was an older guy with a thirteen-year-old daughter. It him think about women more lately and the kind of comments that went flying around here. Some days he wanted to retire to sit on his porch with a shot gun ready to fire at any man who looked at his little girl wrong.

"If you're looking for a handyman, missy, it's no good asking us. We're union." Safe assumption to make. People came around sites all the time wanting someone to fix their whatever was broken at an under the table rate.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

To the snickers and other forms of laughter she told herself only to smile, and smile she did. De'Ryanna could be a good sport and she was choosing to be one now. Tyger had told her that she may need to change up her strategy on getting information, last time she tried being polite and that turned out 'wonderfully'. Perhaps this time she should be a bit more laid back. Relax. Not take things too seriously. Even if they were a bunch of heathens they were male and did what those of their sex usually did.

Therefore she gave a smile and tipped her head to the side as she shifted to her right foot and casually brushed back her hair from her shoulders with the back of her right hand. A momentary close of her eyes and gave a small laugh. "As union men you know how to work together. A valuable asset." She couldn't pin-point the sound of the man who made the 'duty' comment, though her eyes were scanning the line of men, giving each of them their a personal smile. "I don't need a handyman or any service that would need to be done after working hours." She shifted again and this time took a few sideways steps to walk her down the line a bit more.

Tyger peeked out from around the corner. He appeared as an ordinary stray cat who roamed the street and was now sitting down for now apparent reason that he could. It didn't matter that he had made her upset, he still had a job to do and he was just in time to see her stand slightly sideways and draw her fingers across the waist of the bodice as she spoke. "What I do need is to know if there's a man here by the name of Tobias Kennedy - broad shoulder, short dreads, medium built." Sparing a moment to watch for any sign of recognition on the mens faces. "I have a letter that needs to be delivered to him. " Perhaps the cloak she wore had pockets, or there were hidden ones in the skirt, for there were no visible signs of a place to store the letter. "If he is here would someone give him the letter for me, please?"

Now she would wait and see the end result, fingers resting aganist her waist and tapping on the side of the bodice.

[The Guys]

For a lot of the guys it was game over. When the crew whistled and cat-called it was for women walking by them. Not for a chick who wanted to stand around and have a conversation like this was tea time. This was their break and most of the guys went back to saying and doing what they felt like saying and doing on their break. Eating mostly.

That left her with the two guys that'd been talking about the company gambling before she'd interrupted. The one who's wife razzed him about his gambling shook his head with a shrug. "Not authorized." He knew it was against company policy to give out personal information like that to any Nancy who walked up, not unless she was law or something. He turned his attention to his second donut.

The other one scoffed. "What're you, HR? He's just a sub." A subcontractor he meant. Before his coworker could tell him not to get involved he was already handing out the info. "D.W. Demolition. He's one of their guys. They finished up here weeks ago."

But now that he was looking her over he was having second thoughts about telling her what he just did. That tattooed scrub had something to do with this young lady? What? His eyes narrowed some. "Why you looking for him?" He obviously couldn't un-tell her the into. But if he didn't like her answer he could call DW's office and have them send a message out to Kennedy to let him know what was blowing his way.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

And there it was, a clue in this search. When the man mentioned that he knew of Tobias there was the slightest raise of De'Ryanna's right eyebrow. There seemed to be a conflict in interest between the two men that had remained. The others, they could go. If they were not going to help then she was no longer in need of their services. These two were another story and it seemed that their help was precarious; she would be sure to try and say the right thing.

De'Ryanna gave them both a polite smile while giving a small shake of her head. "I am not Human Resources," thankfully she knew the acronym even if she was not in the habit of using them herself. "But I spoke true when I said that I have a letter that needs to reach him. It's important." To her it was or else she would not have spent the morning looking for him. If it weren’t worth the effort she would have left it under his door for whenever he came back around.

She took a step to the side in the direction she had arrived. "Thank you gentlemen, very much for your courtesy. Sorry for taking from your lunch." from what she knew workers did not get long for breaks and she had disrupted there’s. From the corner of her eye she saw Tyger sitting at the corner and preening himself. She gave a curtsey to the men before walking away.

Tyger had been paying attention and after Ryan had spotted him he moved back and headed to the horse. By the time she was in sight of the steed he was already in place on the saddle. "I told you it would work. Meow."

"Brag as we travel. Lunch will have to wait." With a lithe jump she was back in the saddle and the horse was started with a flick of her wrist on the reigns.

Tyger turned to look at her, growling slightly. "You said we'd eat."

"You heard the man, don't pretend that you didn't. If he was correct then after this we can go home."

"Murr, don't you mean, mrow after this we'll get food?" If she were any other person then he wouldn't feel the need to stress the point about food. But this was Ryanna, she couldn’t' lie but there were a lot of things that could happen on the way home and none of them could have anything to do with food. She could very well be implying that after they leave the next place and make few more stops they would go home. Loop hole. Not a lie, they would go home after this next stop. Eventually, but he wanted her to say they'd get food.

"As I said Tyger,” a smirk upon her lips as she navigated the horse. D.W. Demolition happened to be on her list and she was heading there. "After this we can go home." Before they arrived this morning she had told him they would eat, and they could always eat at the Inn.

The cat gave a reluctant sigh. He was never going to get food.

[Janet]

The main offices of D.W. Demolition looked like the exact opposite of any of their sites. It wasn't irony. What was the good of an office looking like a demolition ground? Mess where it didn't belong didn't inspire confidence and the company'd probably get a lot less work if the place was a sh-thole.

D.W.'s offices were on the fifth floor of a seven floor office building. Off the elevator and to the left. To the right were the law offices of Donner, Donner and Donner. The entranceway to D.W. was clear glass windows and so were the double doors which had the company's logo stickered on them. Inside the office the walls, furniture and floor tiles were bright white. Only a plant here or a painting there broke up the stark clean color.

With how pristine it looked in there, it was obvious that the guys who did the dirty work didn't come in here much or at all. This place was just for the administrators. There were three of them in the open front area, divided by white cork-board partitions. Four doors could be counted and those lead to private offices. There was also a hallway to the right.

Just inside the double doors there was the front desk. The receptionist had just gotten her lunch delivered. She clacked on the keys of her clean white keyboard and paused every minute or so to pick up one of her fried potatoes, dip it in ketchup and eat it. Before she started clacking again she wiped her fingers on a napkin sitting beside the cardboard lunch container. There was a grilled sandwich of some kind sitting there cut in half, with only two bites taken so far. The office reeked of lunchtime.

The good news was Tobias Kennedy or anyone here at D.W.'s office didn't get a phone call from any of Bob's crew sending a warning about a woman looking for the tattooed scrub.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

There was a bit of difficulty when it came to arriving on the fifth floor of the office building and it all started when they arrived and tethered their horse outside. Tyger saw the modernized building and scoffed at it. he had been ready to get off the horse but at seeing the location he curled back up in the saddle and looked determined to stay there.

"Have you ever been, mrow, in a building like that?"

His question was valid and he didn't have to hear De'Ryanna's answer of 'no' to know that fact. She was looking at the building with a hint of wide-eyed curiosity. She had seen tall buildings before but they were old-style and without all the modern conveniences such as automatic doors or elevators - the closet she got to an elevator was the Lift the Alliance had that helped members carry large items from one floor to the next. And that was by magic. She knew about many modern things, even had contact with some at the Inn, but for many technologies she was still in the dark.

Tyger watched Ryanna stand there next to the horse with part of the reign still in her fingers hold and grinned. She already knew that he was disgruntled because they were here inside of eating somewhere, he also didn't like the idea of her delivering that letter she had written earlier in the day. In his opinion it would be better if she let it go all together. Just as he was about to suggest that they turn around she let go of the reigns and started to the building. Normally places like that didn't allow 'pets' and he thought to use that as an excuse but decided against it only because he thought if he didn't go with her she'd probably get herself in trouble with any security the place had. This cat has been to more places than simply around the block.

They found the location of the office and followed a few people to the elevator where Ryanna politely asked for someone to push the button for the fifth floor. Tyger stuck close to her and ignored any looks that he may have gotten.

When the door to the floor opened Tyger got hit with the smell of french fries and his stomach grumbled, good thing that they were headed in that direction, otherwise he may have had to leave his charge to seek out the food. De'Ryanna pushed and patted her hood down and brushed down her hair to make it presentable before she opened the double doors to put her in the room with the receptionist. She put on a friendly smile and her confident air was in place as well has her business mode. Once again she was disturbing someone from their lunch.

"Excuse me please." De'Ryanna folded her hands in front of her and Tyger walked up to the desk and gave a small "Meow." He didn't like being a 'normal cat' but it was necessary at times and besides, maybe the lady liked cats and would toss him a fry.

She continued. "I have a letter for a Tobias Kennedy, one of the contractors that work for this company. Can you tell me how I can have it delivered?"

[Janet]

Janet might as well had a sign that said "We're not the postal service" tattooed on her forehead. That was the look she gave De'ryanna. She started to say that but something else distracted her. "We're not the - wait, who? Kennedy?" She pursed her lips and turned to her keyboard.

Fingers clacked the keys a mile a minute. Moving her mouse like she was skillfully directing traffic. When she found Tobias' employee file she went quiet. Staring at the screen and rereading what she'd just read. "Oh. Him." Whatever was written there it had made an impact on her decision. "Right." She turned back to De'ryanna, holding her hand out. "Give it to me. I'll have Maggie put it in with his paycheck. He'll get it tomorrow." Because tomorrow was payday.

Staring at De'ryanna and waiting Janet did a double take. She just noticed Tyger. Considering half the people in Rhy'din had a deep connection with some animal or another, she wasn't shocked out of her skin. She did look leery though. "Is that a cat? We don't really allow animal companions in here anymore. Ron swore his wolf was tame, but…" Janet shook her head emphatically back and forth. Sasha the Wolf had caused them to lose one of their biggest clients when she smelled something on said client that she didn't like.

Janet gave a firm beckon with her fingers to get De'ryanna to speed it up and hand the letter over. She had her lunch to finish.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Tyger was tempted to hiss at the woman due to the suggestion that he wasn't tame or in control. He wasn't an ordinary animal of minimal intelligence, and besides that he was a cat. Not some lead-headed wolf or dog. Cats were more refined and with good breeding. Yes. That's it. Tyger would be the well-breed cat that he was and instead of making any retort he only lifted his chin as he sat back on his hind legs and wrapped around his tail.

Untamed indeed.

The change in the way the woman acted when information appeared on the screen sparked the curiosity of De'Ryanna and Tyger both and while they wanted to know what was written they also knew that it was none of their business. Ryanna could only assume it had something to do with his family's name as that wasn't uncommon as many rules and procedures were different for the wealthy, powerful, or famous people. It varied. "Yes. Of course," De'Ryanna said as she reached into the inner of her cloak and pulled out an envelope.

Made of tan parchment paper it had the weight of card stock paper - not the normal everyday type of the modern places. The flap was sealed shut and the tip held down and in place by a light grey wax seal, the imprint on it that of a serpent biting it's tail. His name was written in a calligraphic script across the middle of the front side. Passing it over to the lady De'Ryanna gave a small bow of her head. "Thank you very much. Sorry to have disturbed your meal." That last was almost as an afterthought but it was good to say - always thank those who help for you never know when you may need them again.

That said she turned to head out. Tyger? He got up as well, but he couldn't help but give a sharp flick of his tail as he turned to go out the door. He was thankful that the letter had been delivered and he was sure that now he would get food.

[Janet]

What Janet read on her screen had nothing to do with the Kennedy name. When Tobias applied here they didn't blink or ask when he gave his name. Which is why when they offered it he took the job.

"Is this some kind of proclamation?" Now the receptionist's curiosity was sparked. Tyger was forgotten. Wasn't every day you saw an envelope styled like this anymore. She turned it over in her hands and you could tell she knew that she'd just been handed the center of the office gossip for the afternoon.

It was like Janet didn't want the answer because she gave a wave and her own parting words. "Sure hon. We'll be sure he gets it." The admin office of D.W. Demolition would be true to his word. He would find the letter with his paycheck come morning.

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

De'Ryanna did not know all that went into letters when it came to apologies when you didn't know what to say. When she had sat down to write the letter she stared at it for the longest time. All that came to mind were small sentences, maybe even fragments of longer words, but three phrases stuck out and repeated over and over in her head. To her those were the only words that matter and that is what she wrote in the letter.

--------------Dear Tobias,

----------------------------I miss you.

----------------------------I'm sorry.

----------------------------Forgive me.

----------------------------Please.

--------------Signed,
------------------De'Ryanna Aybara


The words were written on a single card that was the width and height of the envelope. Ryanna was not known for making apologies that were any more than casual - something to be done in order to move on from whatever was being dealth with at the moment. Said in truth but not with importance.

Her letter might not have said a lot but it was obvious by the flow of the script and care taken into penning it that she felt those few words were important. It might not be everyday that a person received a letter written in calligraphy with black ink dried and sealed with sand. (No, the letter was not gritty, it was a technique used dry the ink on parchment and cleaned afterward.)

So there it was. Once it was given she didn't know what would happen to it but she hoped it at least would get it's message across.

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