Business or Pleasure (Riley/Sara)

[Avery Castellano]

There were times when Avery was relaxed, and times when she was all business.  Today was a mixture of the two.  She needed a meeting with two of the Cabal to organize something she'd been planning in her mind.  A back-up plan in case something went wrong.  As usual, she'd dressed to the nines for it.  Hair down and done immaculately, just the right lipstick.  And a magenta velvet suit.  See the thing about velvet was that everything stuck to it.  And while that could be extremely annoying, if you behaved just so it could also do the opposite for you.  If you kept it clean of things wanting to stick to it then it showed your dedication to fashion and professionalism because anyone who noticed it would know you were taking care of it to make sure it still looked okay.  Perfect for someone who wanted everything in her control to be perfect.  Yeah, she was a perfectionist but she knew when to let it out and when to keep it under wraps.  For the Cabal, it was an asset.  She'd left a communication note for Field Agents Riley Jackson and Sara Amador reading as follows:

Please meet me in Meeting Room 1 at one o'clock.  I wish to speak to you about a matter of importance.

Cabal Head Strategist

She didn't bother signing her name.  Her name didn't really matter as she hadn't met either of them before.  She would introduce herself to them when they arrived anyways.  She sat at the head of the table to wait, crossing her legs and being extremely glad she'd gone with the suit that had pants not a skirt.  Avery sorted through the papers in her folder in the meantime.

Riley Jackson

Sara Amador

[Riley Jackson]

Who didn't sign their name and just put "Cabal Head Strategist?" It obviously wasn't Perses, he didn't do notes usually and, well, he signed things with "Perses."

So who was this mysterious Cabal Head Strategist and what was this "matter of importance" that they wanted to speak to Riley about?

Riley looked at her watch. It was 12:58.

Yeah, she had time to get food. No time to pay though, but she didn't have a problem with that.

Nacho Bitch was surprisingly popular for their burgers, given that they were supposedly a taco/nacho place primarily. Riley raced by and just snatched a bag as it was being passed through the drive through, leaving a very confused customer and minimum-wage food service worker.

By 12:59 Riley was in the building and the burger in the bag was in her digestive system and the wrapper was in a trashcan on the way up to the meeting room. She ditched the bag just before she opened the door and raced in with just the fries, papers scattering everywhere in her wind. To anyone without the fast eyes to see more than a blur, she just appeared in the chair on the far side of the table in her uniform, sans helmet, with her feet up on the table, and a box of fries in her hand.

"Hiya. Nice to meet you, I'm Riley. Or "Breakneck" if we're being all official. Want a fry? They're still warm."

She popped a fry in her own mouth and extended the box to who was apparently one of her bosses, completely oblivious to the chaos she had caused to the paperwork Avery had been sorting.

Sara Amador
Avery Castellano

[Sara Amador]

Sara wasn't sure why she'd had to meet with the Cabal's Head Strategist - whoever that was, she also wasn't sure. She got her orders directly from her dad. She'd never had to answer to anyone else in the Cabal unless on missions in which case Ryan was usually the Field Leader - at least back in Sydney. Here there was also Caleb for missions. Part of her felt like she should've been in her costume - was it that sort of meeting? Hell if she knew. She didn't know why she even needed to have this meeting in the first place. She wasn't high ranked in the Cabal but she'd never had to answer to anyone except her dad before. Was this Head Strategist trying to undermine her dad? They better not have been, for their own sake. Sara was about to open the door when a blur rushed right past her which meant that Riley had either been invited to this meeting too or was crashing it - both were possible when it came to Riley. She followed the speedster into the room, eyes first falling onto the paperwork that got scattered about. She started picking up paperwork as she moved more into the room, quietly out of habit, used to picking up after messes Xander and Riley would leave behind whenever they got together. Paperwork scooped up in her arms, she turned to hand them to the Head Strategist, only for her eyes to widen and eyebrows rise when she saw just who the Head Strategist was - and the fact that she very much recognized her. Sara's face felt hot with embarrassment. She set the paperwork down neatly on the table and quietly took her own seat, internally feeling like she should be screaming at this situation. She knew this person - not well but still. They had met outside of the zoo and oh God, what if she'd known who she was all along and simply hadn't said? Why hadn't she said anything about the Cabal when they'd met? There hadn't been anyone else around. Had she not wanted Sara to know? Was this some sort of power play? She shut her eyes then opened them again. No, overthinking this wasn't going to help. "Sara Amador," she introduced herself belatedly and awkwardly, resisting the urge to fiddle with her own hair. "Designation: Tempest." This was going to be unbelievably awkward, wasn't it?

... beware the patient woman, 'cause this much I know: no one calls you honey when you're sitting on a throne ... tempest Avery Castellano outfit 401 words Sorry about the wait!

template by rem of WW

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[Avery Castellano]

When Riley came in and scattered her paperwork, it irritated Avery to no end.  Because, as mentioned previously, she was a FUCKING PERFECTIONIST.  She took some time to close her eyes and heard Riley's words and ignored them for now while she took some deep breaths.  When she opened them, she saw the other woman she'd called picking up the papers.  She was about to say to just leave them for now, when the woman was already done and handing them to her-

Avery's blue eyes widened in shock, which she did her best to cover quickly but she suspected it was too late.  She took the papers from her with a warm smile.  The other woman's nervousness was apparent and Avery hoped it wasn't because of Avery's authority.  For once.  What an anomaly of a thought for her to have.

"Good to see you again.  I suppose I have you at a disadvantage knowing your name now but I promise we'll cover that in a second.  And thank you for picking up the papers."  She then walked past Sara, but as she did she whispered in a voice that was meant to be pretty much audible to just Sara.

"By the way, you can relax darling.  I only bite if a person is into it."  And with that, she passed the other woman, her heels clicking on the floor as she walked to be in front of a Miss Riley Jackson.  She took one of the fries from the container and ate it somehow without managing to smear her lipstick at all.  She'd been doing this a long time.  It wasn't bad, she could tell they were probably from Nacho Bitch.  She suspected they hadn't been paid for, but she honestly couldn't give a fuck about petty fry theft at the moment.  She let her irritation about her papers rise to the top a bit.

"Riley Jackson.  You are lucky your comrade was kind enough to pick up my papers.  If you come in that fast to one of my meetings without warning again, I will make sure I have 300 page documents in all my meetings with you from now on.  And you will be picking up every page.  Am I clear?"  She arched a single one of her eyebrows and then continued into the center chair across from the other two chairs in the room.

"I called you both because as Head Strategist of the Cabal, it's my job to have a strategy for every possible eventuality.  At least that is my personal aim.  I need a general back-up plan and I have one concocted.  I have handouts for you both at the end of the meeting in case either of you forget, because it will be important you actually remember this."  The last sentence was said with an amused smirk on Avery's face.  Sure she was a big cheese, but that didn't mean she didn't have a sense of humour. 

"I've read up about both of your powersets.  For Riley's part I'm hoping you'll be able to swipe an item I need as handily as you probably pocketed those fries."  Avery grinned.  She turned to Sara.

"I'm just doublechecking but theoretically would you be able to create a small freak lightning storm?  You can say no if you like.  Or if it serves your personal style better, hail or a snowstorm would serve just as well or possibly even better.  Nobody wants to go out when there's suddenly ice on the ground after all."  Then she realized something.  She slapped her palm to her forehead.

"I apologize.  I got ahead of myself.  I get too into my work sometimes.  My name is Avery Castellano, codename Wildcard.  The backup plan was part of why I sent you the message, but I also want to get to know key members of the team in case something happens.  And I don't really know too many of you considering I've been stuck in Aegis for quite a while.  Exposed for replacing the pillar."

Sara Amador Riley Jackson

[Riley Jackson]

Riley had to chuckle when Wildcard threatened to bring a 300 page document in next time and make her pick them all up. Riley knew that would take her less than a second to do, even with that many pages. "Don't worry, I'll get you a paperweight at the company Christmas party."

Was Riley still cracking jokes in this serious meeting? Yes. Was she about to stop any time soon?

I mean, not while Avery was flirting with Sara. Riley couldn't hear it but she noticed that Avery had whispered something to her, and given the looks on the faces of both women, Riley was pretty sure it was a flirt.

Riley gestured with the now-empty fry box having finished them quickly. "Fries aren't all I'm good at picking up. Grabbed a burger on the way over too and ate it. Whatcha need me to get? How's it tie into this "general back-up plan?" You got me curious now."

Sara Amador, Avery Castellano