"I cried for days, but I was a little drunk, okay, a lot drunk through it all," Zephyr said. "I'm mostly done with it—the crying, not the drunking. Drunking? Drinking."

"I'll probably never really get over this, but I've pulled myself together enough so that I can run missions," he said while fidgeting, not quite looking Penelope in the eyes. "For the sake of the younger members..."

Graf rolled his eyes as Zephyr lived up to his moniker, but he tried his best to adjust his expression at Penelope's command. After what she had been through by Odysseus' side, when everyone could see what loving him and staying by him had cost her, Graf couldn't help but respect the older woman. Besides, in the years without his own mother...she had done as best as she could in her place.

"We're alive, for a given value of the term," he replied with a nod.

"It's been interesting, having to deal with all these new arrivals over the last few seasons. But at least I've had more time to write," he added with a slight chuckle. Still, he couldn't help but want to cut to the chase with Penelope. He didn't like wasting words on idle topics, but he held his tongue on that matter for now. Penelope was not the sort to dwell on digression for long, he felt. "I might actually publish something before I die."

Pre-Meeting

Kore went extremely pale at Pyrrah's glare before the younger girl stormed off. <"Well I'm glade you plan on taking responsibility, Meli, she looks extremely angry this time."> She commented mentally counting to ten before proceeding to the meeting room.

Meeting

Kore cleaned her glasses before speaking. "Speaking for myself at least, the adjustment after returning home has been...difficult. The standards are looser than I'm used to and I don't quite recall where everything is. But still, it's been nice to spend some more time with Jade lately. Thank you for asking, Auntie." She finished with a small incline of her head

Big house, meeting time

As he entered the Big House, Theris grabbed a small, but thick, branch of wood off of the ground and carried it into the house with him, if only to give him something to do with his hands while the others talked. Much as Theris loved being a member of the Dragonwings, he never truly felt like he belonged, if only because of a lack of kinship with his fellows.

As the others began responding to Penelope's question, Theris pulled a small utility knife off of his belt and got to work whittling away at the wood as he worked towards carving a miniature statue of Aros in a semi-traditional style associated with the region of Kallian he grew up in. As the others said their pice, Theris quickly looked around before responding to Penelope's question "Well, in all honesty it's been rough, but I'm just focused on trying to keep Aros in good spirits. Poor old bastard hasn't been the same since Odysseus passed. Be that as it may, I think just like everyone else here, we're taking it one day at a time." What Theris made sure not to mention was how he was morbidly aware of the fact that he'd probably outlive every single person gathered in the house if he somehow managed to avoid getting killed on the battlefield. But, as he was well aware, this is one of the many curses of long life.

Veylian - (Un)fashionably Late

Right. The morning call. Veylian hurried to put the fancy moisturising suit on. Not that it was always necessary, but it never hurts to be prepared. The myriad of pockets on it are a boon most of the time too.

"Super-sweating powder..."

Nah. Serious business deserves its due diligence. No fooling around until after whatever there would be is over. How long after, though, is another thing. Depends on how heavy things get. Veylian left her tent and headed toward the Big House, wondering again about how stale the name's irony is. Reminding herself to not say anything that could be provocative, Veylian entered the Big House, a bit of tenseness thumping her in the neck, and muttered out a fairly forced "hey everybody how's it going what's all this about".

"It's been an honor to serve with you." The other Penelope replied to the check-in. "It was rough arriving when I did, to be sure, but..." She cleared her throat. She thought about that damn paper back in her tent again. What was she supposed to do? "I've adjusted well. Even if I've caused us some light confusion now and then. The other Drakons didn't expect me to be gone this long at first but we've appreciated the investment and connection with uh," There, she could sneak it in here! "people we'd been meaning to get officially divorced from, but that we clearly should have met sooner."

Amihan Aderyn & Rascal

"...I've held up, considering the circumstances," Aderyn replied plainly, adjusting her mask with one hand while lifting the crooning and squirming Rascal with the other. "This one's been a handful, trying to sneak bites into the other wyverns' meals. But that she's energetic enough to do so shows she's healthy."

"...Could be better," Reverence answered, a sheepish grin on his face. That was putting it lightly. Rev's attempts to make amends with his siblings had stalled, to put it lightly (Pyrrha still gave him the cold shoulder, even after over a year of apologies), and he had at this point given up on being back on amicable terms with everyone. Instead, he had turned his attention to helping out with the company — even without a new contract, dragons still need to be fed and cared for, among other things, and the manual labor helped his restlessness most days.

"I'm guessing you're not asking us here for idle chitchat though, ma'am," he mentioned to Miss Penelope. "Is there a reason we're here today?"

Thalia started forming an objection, but... didn't. She futzed with her hair a bit, resulting in a much neater ponytail. When her step-mother asked how they were all holding up, she looked down, thinking. before looking up again. "Still grieving, still regretting... but ready to move on. Father wouldn't have wanted the company to fall apart after his death." She gave a nod to punctuate her words, trying to look more sure of them than she felt.

The Big House

Regis nods.

"It's been hard, but I've been getting through for the most part. Maybe it's cause I wasn't as close to him as y'all, I'm not really sure."

She does a light shrug.

Meeting

"Personally, I find it a bit relaxing. There is plenty of training to occupy myself with, and I have been more than eager to enjoy the company of my dear siblings. If... They would see fit to forgive me." One might be able to notice a glance in the direction of Phyrra. "On the other hand, I find myself... Bored, admittedly." The fox girl stated, matter of factly.

Meeting

Veylian perked up when she heard the word "bored". That's the green light right there, ladies and germs. Should be one of those Arai twins who chimed in. Still can't tell their voices apart, should start working on that. Scanning the room for the target of the day, Veylian sighted a "hug me" note pasted on Pyrrha's back. How welcoming.

"Don't mind if I do, then," she whispered to herself.

Trying to be as sneaky as she could, Veylian creeped up to Pyrrha, arms outstretched at the target's waist level. When close enough, she would clasp down around her stomach, like a weak Heimlich maneuver - and hold on.

Edited by AtlasStratus on Jan 29th 2019 at 1:06:03 AM

The Big House - Meeting Room

Pyrrha didn't say anything, for one thing, it was a bit...okay, a lot terrifying to just out and out speak about her feelings in an entire room full of people, and for another she and Mom had already had very long private conversations about the subject.

And so, she tried her best to look impassive as everyone said their piece, although she fought down a complicated mix of guilt and stubborness when Meli said something about forgiveness.

Mom's eyebrow raised when Penny spoke, and she gave the halfling her patented "speak to me in private later" look before going back to her impressively intimidating poker face as she continued to listen.

....And then someone grabbed Pyrrha from behind and after a brief moment of panic, she realized who it was that grabbed her.

Not wanting to make a scene in front of Mom, Pyrrha silently glowered and fumed in Veylian's arms, face reddening as she tried to keep completely unaffected even as she more and more resembled the world's grumpiest plush bear.

Don't freak out, don't freak out, don't punch someone in the face...!

Mom, for her part, admirably kept a straight face, only giving Veylian a stern "Let go of my daughter right now." before nodding at Rev's question.

"...Yes, there's a reason. For a while, I let you all have your space, Dragon Queen knows we all need it. But Thalia is right, Odysseus wouldn't want us to just...give up. We need to start taking contracts again, and not just because we're running out of money."

Mom sighed. "I've been sending messages back and forth these last few weeks, and I've managed to get these three jobs."

She gestures to the table.

"Read over them, talk among yourselves and choose which you want to take, and who takes what job. One or all three, doesn't matter, we just have to do somwthing at least. ...I may still be here but...well, look at me. I can still lead and manage this troop, but..."

She looked at Graf. "You need to learn to be independent. And Graf, you heard what your father said, you are the Commander on the field now. Their lives are in your hands."

"Now, go look over the jobs, talk to each other, and make your decision quickly. Someone from the military will show up later today."

Mom said that last bit with a barely disguised snarl.

Dragonwings available jobs

Job One: Goblin extermination for the city of Vyrin. An entire clan of goblins have taken root in the mountain pass between Vyrin and Lyne. Travellers and merchants have been attacked multiple times last month. Take them all out.

Job Two: Delivery of a package to the Capital. A merchant from Vyrin would like to deliver his goods (spices and meats) to his partner in the Capital. An easy job, easily done by one or two riders, but he pays well.

Job Three: Protecting a cleric on her pilgrimage. The cleric is requesting an escort from the Capital to the border with Rona. She's a bit jumpy, and she's made it open that she's made some...Dysine enemies.

Aside from casting a raised eyebrow in the direction of Pyrrha and Veylian, she left that alone to sort itself out. Thalia frowned at the mention of someone from the military coming. What could they possible want? Peering over the papers, Thalia's immediate gut reaction was that she didn't trust the second job. It read simple enough, but if one was hiring Odysseus' Dragonwings, one was generally expecting trouble. As this priest was. It would be satisfying to snub Dysine noses, but, well, depending on precisely whom she'd made enemies with, it could end very badly. Or she's just being paranoid and the entire trip would be smooth flying. Hah. Likely. The first job, well, simple culling. Nothing overly complex there, she hoped.

"The second job seems too good to pass up - and I dislike it. There's got to be something more there than a simple delivery run. Otherwise he wouldn't hire... us."

Well, thank the gods, Ms. Dyne finally got the memo Penelope finally had the guts to sneak in. She'd have to see her in private unfortunately but she'd freeze that bridge when she came to it.

"I want to stake my claim on the third job." Penny stepped in next to Thalia and tapped her fingers on that one. "I'm hoping that we'd be dealing with people there so diplomacy might be a little bit more reasonable, and if not Selaphiel's roars can make sure we don't have to literally kill people."

Kore stepped forward meekly. "Y-you're not wrong Thalia. On the face of it the second job seems too simple. There's what I would characterize as a high probability that the caravan is passing through dangerous territory."

The mage pulled her tail forward and began combing through the firm gently, staring at it in order to avoid having to meet anyone else's eyes.

"However there's also a second possibility. In Genzai there are many traveling merchants. As well as a lot of bandits. Often merchants who are exceedingly rich or are carrying valuable cargo will hire guards who are highly skilled in order to deter a threat from approaching as much as defend the items in question. Guards who can do this are highly paid and some have been known to retire off such jobs. There's a possibility that if we take this job we could make a large sum which could help us recover better from our slump in the wake of Father's... Father's passing." She explained, her cheeks a bright red.

Edited by guyshane on Jan 30th 2019 at 2:53:21 AM

"Kore's right," Zephyr suddenly said. Previously, he had looked woozy and seemed to have fallen asleep, but now he looked as if he had never fallen asleep at all.

"We're, as Penelope the younger said, in somewhat dire financial straits. We need the coin desperately, and if we don't take this job, we'll be looking a gift horse in the mouth. We might need to send a few more people than usual, though, if we suspect chicanery. That is, if we're not splitting up...mfffffffgh..."

Zephyr swayed on his feet for a little and then snapped to attention again.

"Wait, what's this about someone from the military visiting us?"

Their lives are in your hands.

Graf let his breath fall out at Penelope's reminder. He uncrossed his arms as the widow finished with the proceedings and walked up to the table, first to quickly look over the details of each job before turning around to lean against it and face the rest of the Dragonwings as they came forward to look as well.

"Alright, let's make this quick," he huffed. "We need to take every job we can get. So, who's coming with me to Rona?" There was no other option in Graf's mind. He would lead the escort mission in assisting this cleric in her pilgrimage, and appoint leaders among those who would part ways with him and go on the other missions. The matter of the military visit would have to wait until this was sorted out. Besides, he suspected that they might already know who in the military would bother visiting them. "Just Penny?"

Edited by Insano on Jan 30th 2019 at 6:25:09 AM

Thalia set her hands on the table and leaned against it, a thoughtful look on her face. After a moment, she shook her head, exhaling sharply. They did need the money, her personal feelings about the job itself aside. Besides - Kore was right. She'd heard of it happening. Which meant it could easily be the quietest of the postings... but she couldn't shake the feeling that something didn't quite add up. And if the dice were cast and came up as she expected...

"Godsdamnit, you're right. I'll go with these merchants." She pushed off the table, crossing her arms. "Who's with me?"

Regis nodded, raising herself up from her semi-crouched position and moving over to the table, taking a look at the jobs.

"It looks like these jobs connect to each other; We go into Vyrin through the mountain pass and murder the goblins, we enter Vyrin and take the merchant's goods to the Capital, and then from the Capital we take the cleric to Rona. We'd be able to all stick together, and lord knows a team of dragonriders is more intimidating than one or two."

Regis rubs her chin in thought.

Edited by DefRevenge24601 on Jan 31st 2019 at 7:31:36 AM

What?

Graf's eyes widened as Regis found a way to connect the three jobs together. Standing up straight once more, he turned around to check the geographic locations for each job. Sure enough, they could be connected just as the elf had said.

Running his fingers over the text, he looked from the paper to Penelope with an expression that was one part embarrassed, one part exasperated, and one part familiar smirk. "You know, you could just tell us what you wanted us to do."

With a look back to give a grateful nod to Regis, whether or not she noticed and reciprocated, his homeland-distracted mind returned to focus as turned back to Penelope. "Alright, where's the paper? We're gonna have to let the merchant and the cleric know their trips are gonna be combined and delayed."

Meli smiled at the realization of the jobs. She twirled her knife in her hand before responding to Graf. "Well, maybe she didn't tell us because she wanted us to figure it out for ourselves? Just... You know, wanting us siblings to get along and figure out how to manage things ourselves. Whatever you all decide, I'll be fine with. Its time for me to prove my worth now that I'm back."

Regis smirked with feigned victory, nodding back at Graf before straightening up and moving back to the wall to grab her hammer. On her way back to the group, she responded to Meli:

"Probably something like that. We gotta keep our heads on a swivel these days, especially since... Well, ya know. I'm not gonna pour salt on that wound."

When back near the table, she leaned on the hilt of her hammer, holding herself up just as much as the hammer did.

Edited by DefRevenge24601 on Jan 31st 2019 at 11:20:28 AM

Yes, of course, that was the logical solution... if it would work. Thalia had a sneaking suspicion things wouldn't work out quite so nicely. "Not to put too much of a damper on our newfound plan of greatest efficiency, but the merchant's job is almost assuredly time-sensitive, especially with perishable foodstuffs like meat. Further, every minute he wastes is fewer profits. The cleric's might be, as well, depending on precisely why she's taking her pilgrimage. If it's for a religious holiday, she might not have the time to wait."

"Then we simply need to discuss the matters. Plans are based on information, and information isn't gathered by simply sitting around talking among ourselves." Meli said, her tail swishing. "We should contact the merchant and the priest, and fin out what their plans are. We can also gather more context about the merchants intentions and what he expects from hiring the Dragon Wings."