Cora glances over to her friend, studying her for a moment before glancing back to the street they came down. “You don’t have to do this. I can take the lead or we can go back and get Val’drin to do it.”
Willow shifts awkwardly in her “cover” an awkward leather outfit that isn’t really Willow at all, but sells the part well enough – or would, if she were actually comfortable in it. She keeps awkwardly fidgeting with the fit, and glancing down to make sure she’s still wearing it properly. Cora goes naturally with leather for intimidation but Willow has always been more flowy with bright colors so this is definitely a change up for her.
“You don’t know anything about the kind of magic we’re dealing with,” Willow points out, which is the main reason why she had taken point on this mission in the first place. “They ask you anything, we’re dead in the water. And they already made Val’drin with the earlier buy.”
“Or they are.” Because Cora will tear apart anyone who tries to hurt Willow and that’s a promise. “You could walk me through the basics.”
She takes a deep breath before shaking her head. “No. I got this.” She squares her shoulders and gives herself a bit of a nod as though to convince herself as well as Cora that she could do this. Then there’s a beat and she glances back to Cora with a slight frown. “I think. How do you do the whole … intimidate-y thing? Is it a feeling? I mean, do you practice in the mirror?”
“It’s more … confidence,” Cora says slowly, never really having taken the time to think about the exact process she uses to intimidate people. “I know that I can hurt them, easily, and they’re usually pissing me off, so it’s easy to get angry enough.” There’s a beat. “And the claws and fangs definitely don’t hurt.”
“Yeah … I don’t have any of those.”
“No,” Cora says with a smirk. “But you are a pretty awesome magic user and probably know a spell or two that could really make them hurt. Even if you can’t cast it yourself, you’ve heard of them, right?”
Willow pauses for a moment, tipping her head to the side before a small smile crosses her face. “Yeah. I’ve found a few that are pretty … gruesome.”
“Good,” Cora grins. “So if you feel them starting to freak you out, picture their head exploding or something.”
Willow grins back at her before nodding. “Okay. I can do this.” They start to step forward again, before she stops and turns back to look at her. “If I get into trouble, you’ll be in listening distance, right?”
Cora nods before giving her hand a squeeze. “I’ve got your back.”
That seems to have the biggest effect on Willow’s confidence before she nods and continues on her way to the warehouse, with a little straighter spine and a little more pep in her step. All the bravado in the world, however, isn’t going to change the fact that they’re two teenaged girls and all the much older men were not impressed by their presence.
The lack of suitable respect right off the back seems to deflate Willow a bit, but after some quick back and forth Willow heads with them to the other room to “inspect the merchandise” and make sure they had what the knights were looking for. Cora is forced to hang back with the other muscle, but thanks to her werewolf hearing, she can hear the conversation in the other room with perfect clarity.
At first it starts off normal, him testing her knowledge to prove that she was in fact who they were looking for, but then the questions start to get strange and Willow’s voice starts to get a little uneasy, almost as though she’s sensing the trap before it actually snapped into place. Cora starts to shift her position, moving closer to the door on instinct and the other men don’t seem to notice at first, just figuring she wanted to keep moving.
“Do you know the ideal about this room?” the bad guy’s voice floats into the room, sounding way too confident for Cora’s liking. “No one will be able to hear you scream.”
There’s a small bit of panicked silence on Willow’s part, but eventually her voice comes back, shaky but still having that bit of confidence in it because this is one thing she was certain of. “Actually, someone will.”
Then, predictably, she screams.
Cora wishes she could have seen the look on his face when that scream is answered by a werewolf’s snarl, but for now, she’ll settle for the stunned surprise of his guards when she suddenly sports claws and fangs.
* * * * *
Taking out the remainder of the crew turns out to be relatively easy, and before they make off with the artifact they came for in the first place, they discover a stash of magical items that according to Willow really shouldn’t be left around for anyone else to find. So instead of hiking back to Val’drin, they call both him and Chief O’Keefe to take the baddies off to jail and sit and wait outside the warehouse where (hopefully) Val’drin will reach them first.
As he pulls the car up to the alley, he rolls down the window and peers at the two teenage girls sitting by the front door. “Did you get the artifact?”
Willow nods brightly, before holding up the gold piece wrapped in a handkerchief in her hand. “Present and accounted for.”
“Wonderful. Now is there any reason we couldn’t have met at the rendezvous as we had previously arranged?”
“We could have,” Cora replies, looking tired, but that’s probably from getting shot at a handful of times. “But the bad guys also had this big pile of magic crap we thought would be better off in Knight custody.”
The drow raises an eyebrow at both of them, before smirking dryly. “Well, I do love a good pile of magic crap. Well done.”
“Thanks!” Willow says brightly, letting the dryness of Val’drin’s tone pass in favor of the compliment, and she gets to her feet as he turns off the car to follow her back into the warehouse. Once they reach the back office, Willow lets Val’drin slip ahead of them, and she reaches out for Cora’s hand, giving it a soft squeeze. “And thanks for having my back.”
Cora gives her a small smile before squeezing her hand in return. “Always.”
There’s a brief beat, and then Val’drin pipes up with: “If you two are done having your sisterly bonding moment, might we move all of this to the car before the police show up?”
Cora and Willow’s expressions both flatten simultaneously, and Cora rolls her eyes. “Sir, yes sir.”
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roadrunnermuses2015-12-06 05:04 pm
i strut my stuff with lots of confidence ~ cora & willow ~ 1,159 words
“I’m not sure if this is a good idea.”
Cora glances over to her friend, studying her for a moment before glancing back to the street they came down. “You don’t have to do this. I can take the lead or we can go back and get Val’drin to do it.”
Willow shifts awkwardly in her “cover” an awkward leather outfit that isn’t really Willow at all, but sells the part well enough – or would, if she were actually comfortable in it. She keeps awkwardly fidgeting with the fit, and glancing down to make sure she’s still wearing it properly. Cora goes naturally with leather for intimidation but Willow has always been more flowy with bright colors so this is definitely a change up for her.
“You don’t know anything about the kind of magic we’re dealing with,” Willow points out, which is the main reason why she had taken point on this mission in the first place. “They ask you anything, we’re dead in the water. And they already made Val’drin with the earlier buy.”
“Or they are.” Because Cora will tear apart anyone who tries to hurt Willow and that’s a promise. “You could walk me through the basics.”
She takes a deep breath before shaking her head. “No. I got this.” She squares her shoulders and gives herself a bit of a nod as though to convince herself as well as Cora that she could do this. Then there’s a beat and she glances back to Cora with a slight frown. “I think. How do you do the whole … intimidate-y thing? Is it a feeling? I mean, do you practice in the mirror?”
“It’s more … confidence,” Cora says slowly, never really having taken the time to think about the exact process she uses to intimidate people. “I know that I can hurt them, easily, and they’re usually pissing me off, so it’s easy to get angry enough.” There’s a beat. “And the claws and fangs definitely don’t hurt.”
“Yeah … I don’t have any of those.”
“No,” Cora says with a smirk. “But you are a pretty awesome magic user and probably know a spell or two that could really make them hurt. Even if you can’t cast it yourself, you’ve heard of them, right?”
Willow pauses for a moment, tipping her head to the side before a small smile crosses her face. “Yeah. I’ve found a few that are pretty … gruesome.”
“Good,” Cora grins. “So if you feel them starting to freak you out, picture their head exploding or something.”
Willow grins back at her before nodding. “Okay. I can do this.” They start to step forward again, before she stops and turns back to look at her. “If I get into trouble, you’ll be in listening distance, right?”
Cora nods before giving her hand a squeeze. “I’ve got your back.”
That seems to have the biggest effect on Willow’s confidence before she nods and continues on her way to the warehouse, with a little straighter spine and a little more pep in her step. All the bravado in the world, however, isn’t going to change the fact that they’re two teenaged girls and all the much older men were not impressed by their presence.
The lack of suitable respect right off the back seems to deflate Willow a bit, but after some quick back and forth Willow heads with them to the other room to “inspect the merchandise” and make sure they had what the knights were looking for. Cora is forced to hang back with the other muscle, but thanks to her werewolf hearing, she can hear the conversation in the other room with perfect clarity.
At first it starts off normal, him testing her knowledge to prove that she was in fact who they were looking for, but then the questions start to get strange and Willow’s voice starts to get a little uneasy, almost as though she’s sensing the trap before it actually snapped into place. Cora starts to shift her position, moving closer to the door on instinct and the other men don’t seem to notice at first, just figuring she wanted to keep moving.
“Do you know the ideal about this room?” the bad guy’s voice floats into the room, sounding way too confident for Cora’s liking. “No one will be able to hear you scream.”
There’s a small bit of panicked silence on Willow’s part, but eventually her voice comes back, shaky but still having that bit of confidence in it because this is one thing she was certain of. “Actually, someone will.”
Then, predictably, she screams.
Cora wishes she could have seen the look on his face when that scream is answered by a werewolf’s snarl, but for now, she’ll settle for the stunned surprise of his guards when she suddenly sports claws and fangs.
Taking out the remainder of the crew turns out to be relatively easy, and before they make off with the artifact they came for in the first place, they discover a stash of magical items that according to Willow really shouldn’t be left around for anyone else to find. So instead of hiking back to Val’drin, they call both him and Chief O’Keefe to take the baddies off to jail and sit and wait outside the warehouse where (hopefully) Val’drin will reach them first.
As he pulls the car up to the alley, he rolls down the window and peers at the two teenage girls sitting by the front door. “Did you get the artifact?”
Willow nods brightly, before holding up the gold piece wrapped in a handkerchief in her hand. “Present and accounted for.”
“Wonderful. Now is there any reason we couldn’t have met at the rendezvous as we had previously arranged?”
“We could have,” Cora replies, looking tired, but that’s probably from getting shot at a handful of times. “But the bad guys also had this big pile of magic crap we thought would be better off in Knight custody.”
The drow raises an eyebrow at both of them, before smirking dryly. “Well, I do love a good pile of magic crap. Well done.”
“Thanks!” Willow says brightly, letting the dryness of Val’drin’s tone pass in favor of the compliment, and she gets to her feet as he turns off the car to follow her back into the warehouse. Once they reach the back office, Willow lets Val’drin slip ahead of them, and she reaches out for Cora’s hand, giving it a soft squeeze. “And thanks for having my back.”
Cora gives her a small smile before squeezing her hand in return. “Always.”
There’s a brief beat, and then Val’drin pipes up with: “If you two are done having your sisterly bonding moment, might we move all of this to the car before the police show up?”
Cora and Willow’s expressions both flatten simultaneously, and Cora rolls her eyes. “Sir, yes sir.”