#elsewhere

"Here you go," Siv says handing over an ear ring that looks like a tiny silver acorn

"One for you, one for me," She says to Sylvi "It'll let us 'talk to each other' covertly"

"Oh, that's even better than what I'd thought up!" She takes it and looks it over before fitting it to her ear. She's got the sundress on that she described, but also a very light sweater, sunglasses, and a hat with a bit of a brim. Better to have layers to unveil rather than have everything right out there at the start.

"Nice outfit" Siv ssays "Might get warm down there though"

"Oh, I'm counting on it." She affects a slightly different tone as she says, "Oh, wow, it's hotter today here than I expected...." while letting the sweater slide off her shoulders in a most fetching way.

"Heh, okay , point made. Poor northern girl just overwhelmed by Willows Heat. Nice move, alluring without being obvious . Now, I have details on the lodge of the Argent Star, at least some. Understand, they know of Rivervale so probably best to refer to Goldfinch or some ohter place instead if you must at all. What do you want to know of, the fellow you'll be distracting or the lodge?"

"Well, what's his job there? Is he a thane? And what am I distracting him from exactly? Like, I don't want to go for a stroll right in the direction you're aiming at."

"A name might be helpful, but maybe not. Don't want to accidentally refer to him by name before he's told me."

"Well, he's a thane, but not lead thane. More of a forager than a warrior, but really perceptive hence while I need him lead away from their vault. That's in their basement by the by. Now when I say perceptive, I mean he notices sneaks well... not sure how he is on being fooled"

"Wait...so I've got to get into the Lodge first, not distract somebody guarding outside? Um...do we have a cover story for why I'm there?"

"Ah, now that's where I lucked out. I found out when he takes a break outside"

"Oh! Cool. I mean, I could probably manage either way, just want to know what I'm walking into. Um...any particular arts this guy knows? And favorite weapons, should it come to that?"

"He was spotted with a crossbow, not sure what he has for a melee weapon but I suspect a one hander. Don't fight him unless you have to and if it came to that, try to retreat. I can escape in an animal form if need be"

She nods. "Okay. Then..." She makes sure she has her chimeric Bowie knife with her, but she's not carrying her big spear. "I guess we better get rolling. I feel like overplanning would be a problem."

"Oh, the lodge has two floors and a basement, and was once a bar that Nasa folks hung out at"

"NASA? Like...rockets? Is this guy gonna turn out to be some kind of science whiz?"

"I'm getting more and more curious what you're after."

"Nothing as glamourous as you might think I fear" She says "But if I get approval from someone who I am helping, I'll tell you all about it after" she offers

"Sounds good."

"Is the entry to the basement from inside? Or is there, like, a cellar door leading outside?"

"Far as I know there's only one door , and it's inside. One reason I need a distraction. Look, if I get caught, just get the heck out of there. No need for both of us to"

She frowns thoughtfully. "We'll see what makes sense at the time."

A brow lift of her own "You're reserving the right to be stubborn. I can tell"

"You can't pretend to be surprised by this," she points out.

"I really don't like the one-door thing. Is there a way you could, like, lock yourself in a bathroom, fill the tub, and launch your boat from there to get out?" Grasping at straws.

"Ship" She says automatically then "And no, once it's out of the bottle it's not so small"

"Hmph."

"Speaking of the Narwhal," She pulls it out "Let's travel to Huntsville"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

"Always the right answer" She winks, and soon, they are traveling by plunging magical ship to Willows

When they resurface, they find themselves outside the city, but only just "Best disembark quick like" Siv says "Don't want to get spotted"

Sylvi doesn't have to be told twice. She gets ashore as quickly as she can, though probably not quite as adeptly as Siv.

Siv practially sides off, though it must be said, Sylvi has not lost her cheerleader training at college

"Okay, you've got the adress. So do I. Here's where we part for a bit, but you can talk to me any time through the ear rings. Got money for an Uber? I have a gift card for 30 bucks which isn't much but..."

"I'm good," she says, patting the purse hanging from her shoulder. "I'll let you know when I get there." A wink, and she's off towards the closest intersection, texting for a ride as she goes.

And Siv reclaims her ship, and soon quite literally takes flight

The uber arrives, fortunately for her, it's not TOO cramped, though as a troll Sylvi may wish she had more leg room

Good thing she's pretty flexible. She gives the driver the address and hopes it isn't too far away.

The driver nods. He's not a talker, which is just as well. Soon they're on their way

She opens her GPS on her phone to get a sense of location while they're moving...how far from where they started, what direction, and so on. Of course she could always look that stuff up on her phone later, but if the phone's not working, better to be prepared.

And she hears a voice as she travels "Siv here. You've got fifteen minutes until the target comes out on a ten minute break"

"Mm-hm," she murmurs acknowledgement quietly.

Then she checks the Uber ap to see how much longer to the destination.

Only about five minutes