Enjoying the cafe, plus some spy recruitment

[Jack of Spades]

The cafe wasn't too crowded, just a small open-air affair. The food was kept under lock and key inside, in the true Spirit spirit. The owners really didn't want to forfeit it to a bunch of street urchins. Still, it was a cheap enough place, and even the poorer people tended to buy their food there rather than steal it.

Jacqueline was sitting cross legged on a chair, sipping a fifth cup of tea. Her skirts were more than enough to make up for the nonstandard sitting position, and it wasn't like she was out looking for men anyways. She was flipping through a thick booklet of notes, mostly copies of letters and notes on the current financial situation. She'd left the children at home, as usual. They didn't need to hang around when she was working.

What she needed, she'd decided, was a good, heavy, mysterious cloak. The sort of thing that attracted spy types. She needed new recruits, the rest of them had run off to follow the Song of Heroes or help relatives move into the boil. Shifters and Humans, so unreliable sometimes. Still, more trustworthy than Daemons, and easier to deal with than Fae.

The best she could do at the moment was nod at everyone who walked by, which had caused a few slight problems already. Fifteen people had assumed she was a worker in the cafe, eight men had assumed she was a prostitute, and one busy mother had guessed 'governess' as her occupation.
Maybe it was the cafe? All the really shady stuff went on in taverns, not cafes. People assumed it should be raining in torrential downpours at midnight in some poorly lit tavern for spy work to go on. Then again, the best spies knew how to blend in. Jack needed spies who could find other spies in cafes like this.
Hey, maybe she'd get lucky soon. Emareth knows she'd been sitting around long enough. Eventually her bladder was going to give out.

[Little Sparrow]

The avian shaman hummed a tune that resembled none in particular. It was one that she had made up on her own as an amateur violinist. She had slipped out of the Song, wanting some alone time. Hey, maybe she'd get lucky again and find another like Jaime, though hopefully with more street smarts. The boy was too reluctant to learn to defend himself with a blade. Could be fatal sometimes.

Oh wait, there was a cafe there. Stopping for a moment, she considered the tables. All were filled, but the stuff looked good. Besides, she wanted some Earl Grey. Cloti much preferred tea to coffee or any other beverage. She relished the subtle flavor, yet powerful aroma that made one think about its flavor. Never overpowering, always mellow, like green tea, or strong like Chai. So many flavors and variations. Right now, she just wanted an Earl Grey.

Ordering the tea (she couldn't resist because of the price), she looked for a vacant spot. Most of the tables were filled with other not too friendly creatures that stared at her hooded cloak as if she were some exotic animal. Ok, so there were avian shamans everywhere and a lot of them had gray eyes and some of them wore cloaks. Big deal.

Finally, she found a place by a woman sitting by herself in a rather peculiar position for one with skirts like her. Not that Cloti was going to blame her; she felt most comfortable in breeches, so why couldn't she feel more comfortable sitting in that posture? "You don't mind my sitting here, do you?" She informed the woman as she sat down anyways, letting the aroma of the tea waft towards her.

[Jack of Spades]

"Oh, hallo. No, I really don't mind. It's fine." Jacqueline spared a moment to glance at the girl who'd joined her. Pretty. What could she possibly want? "I'm not a governess, ma'am. I've got my own to deal with, I do not need to suffer anyone else's children." She tapped her spoon on the edge of her teacup and went back to reviewing her notes. What could she do about this new little annoyance?

"Sorry, I've been mistaken for one already today. You're just drinking tea, right?" Well, she might as well go ahead and do some fishing. "Heard of Jack of Spades? He's a spy. A few prices on his head, a small following..." Such a stupid conversation starter. No matter, the girl would probably see it as small talk. "He's trying to find the Song of Heroes, since the King told him to."

Somewhat true. The King had put a giant bounty on the Song. Jack was definitely working on that. She had other projects too, though. "I think he ought to go after the man who's been blowing up the Human cities, though. That's who we need to keep track of. What do you think?"

She was seriously frustrated on that one. Who blew up a few blocks in the City and expected to get anything but stress out of it? It probably wasn't a Human or a Fae, maybe a Daemon? Not a Shifter, they wouldn't be quite organized enough. "I think he's going to go after the King. Don't you? It could be bad."
Really, it was standard Human gossip. Current events and how the King might be in danger.

[Little Sparrow]

"Oh, hallo. No, I really don't mind. It's fine."

Cloti smiled easily, well, that was great, then, at least she wasn't a bother. It was always more pleasant to be on someone's good side rather than their bad side. She especially did not want the tea on her cloak--she had just washed it recently and saw no reason to wash it for a while. And there was no reason for someone to get all pissed and provide her with more trouble.

"I'm not a governess, ma'am. I've got my own to deal with, I do not need to suffer anyone else's children."

Cloti raised her eyebrow quizzically at that. A governess? What struck her was that a governess wouldn't want to have tea at this kind of place--those creatures were usually stuck high up with a whole hell lot of petticoats under their skirts and waiters and handservants and footservants and all that crap. Looking at this woman, she might have been a bit too plain and easy for that. The avian shaman laughed at her apology. "That's what I came to do, Miss. Though I didn't think that governesses would like this kind of place to have their tea," She tilted her head, as if asking the woman to verify this.

"Heard of Jack of Spades? He's a spy. A few prices on his head, a small following... He's trying to find the Song of Heroes, since the King told him to."

Cloti raised her head to look at the woman, she had heard a few dodgy rumors about this "Jack of Spades" but now that she had accidentally stumbled on a potential land mine, she had better play her cards properly, who knew what the woman's connection to Jack of Spades was? Surely nothing good for the Song, nothing good for her. "Heard of the name, but he's on for the Song too? That's new." She replied, truly curious and surprised.

"I think he ought to go after the man who's been blowing up the Human cities, though. That's who we need to keep track of. What do you think? I think he's going to go after the King. Don't you? It could be bad."

Blowing up human cities... well, she knew who that was. Than the Night Elf. She hadn't visited the City of Thieves for a while now, perhaps it was time to catch up on the rumors, it would certainly prove helpful in cases such as this.
Keeping with her identity, however, the avian shaman did not think that anyone outside the Song would know that it was a maniacal little night elf.
After all, she was just a wanderer.

"The King?" She asked, blinking incredulously. Why if he did that, it would be the best thing that happened to her! But she was a human, a loyal human to the King. "If he is, his Majesty had better top up the security, which reminds me, didn't the Song manage to break in a couple days past?" She asked, half-closing her eyes as she recalled the memory.

[Jack of Spades]

"You'd be surprised what kind of women a desperate mother will hire if she's got social obligations and enough money. I've met governesses who got the job when the mothers ran into them in the middle of whoring." Jacqueline stared at her empty teacup, idly wondering when it had reached such a status, and looked around for somebody who'd fill it. "Actually, I paid a whore to watch mine for an afternoon once. It hardly counts, I suppose. But you know, there's some nice education in those brothels."

The Song broke into the castle? Oh dear. Unless that was one nasty rumor, Jack would need to look into that. "How did they manage that, you think? It sounds tricky. I mean, they get assassins all the time, but those are almost always caught and executed right away."

She got back to Jack, then, feeling like it was safe to resume the conversation without making anyone suspicious. "Well, I suppose he ought to be, right? The Song is wanted by the King, he's doing spy work for the King, it all adds up to me. I mean really, when was the last time you heard that the Song was doing something good?"

Tired of waiting around for her tea, Jacqueline stood up and started waving her cup around in the hopes that somebody would notice. "The problem is, it sounds like he might be in some trouble. What if the King has him killed along with the rest of them? He's no criminal, you know."

[Xaviere Arana]

Lithe little fairy, pretty and petite. The dancers of Litharia; tricksters, pranksters, troublemakers, yet oh-so-endearing. Like fawns, all delicate and innocent, pouting playful creatures of whimsical bent.

Silly myths. Didn't these people know how wrong they were?

Xaviere Arana slipped through the streets of Spirit with an easy familiarity, comfortable and out of place all at once. Many Fae refused to set foot here, uneasy without the protective cloak of their forest, but this Fairy was quite the opposite. The forest treated her with wariness now. Spirit, on the other hand, was always welcoming.

Was she pretty? Oh yes, slight and lithe too. But not a dancer - a seductress, rather, movements sinuous and feline. Was she whimsical? Not so much. Though she possessed the Fairy delicacy a hard glint shone in bright, intelligent eyes of silver-streaked blue, and a cynical worldliness gave her features an unusual edge. Was she innocent? Oh hell no.
She was a murderer, after all.

But not today; not yet, anyway. She didn't kill just for the fun of it - that was no way to make a living. Xaviere was everything a Fae should not be. She drank and gambled and indulged in carnal pleasure. She didn't much like the forest. She openly disrespected the Fae gods. She killed for no good reason. Oh, and she had a tiny weakness for city life, and city life required coin.
Time to find an employer.

Various sources whispered of a particularly talented spy who frequented Spirit and employed other spies to aid his ventures. A few more reliable sources mentioned a few of his frequent hangouts. All sources claimed he was dangerous, though lucrative, to work for.
Sounded just like Xaviere's cup of tea frankly.

And speaking of tea, there was that little cafe her sources had mentioned. Apparantly he sometimes recruited from there, this lucrative spy, though Xaviere found that a little surprising. Hardly the usual spy territory. Nevertheless she wasn't picky. The Fairy took a seat, though to all and sundry she wouldn't look like a Fairy at all. She had her glamour up, see. Though Spirit didn't require blending in, spywork did, so her usual spidersilk outfit (or lack thereof) and rather...unique...wings just wouldn't work, at least until she found the infamous Jack of Spades and managed to snag a private conversation.

Unfortunately the cafe seemed entirely devoid of any potential spys. Even plain old men were in short supply, so that made things difficult. However Xaviere overheard the slightly mad woman next to her mention that very name she so hoped to hear, so she smiled sweetly (having no idea what she might look like to them, though presumably she would not look out of place if her glamour was working - probably humanoid, or like a Shifter) and leant their direction.

"Excuse me for interrupting; my name is Xaviere. I couldn't help overhearing...seems the sprightly Jack is in the market for spies. Do you think it is the Song he's after?"[/font]

[Jack of Spades]

Jacqueline liked the looks of this newcomer a little more than she did the first girl. The first one was alright, but she didn't actually seem to be much of a spy, so there wasn't much point in pursing her. She'd been caught off guard by the second, and couldn't help but notice the very competent looking Human standing there. It really was better if the only new spies she could get were Human if she was going to start going off against the Song, Shifters would be quicker to jump to the other side. Not that anyone was truly safe from getting sucked into the Song's philosophy, but she felt as though Humans were the most likely to avoid it.

"Rather direct, aren't you? You don't think I'd have the resources to tell you, do you? I mean honestly, it's Jack's decision whether he decides fight the Song or not. The King is afraid of the Song, sure, but hasn't he already got people running all over the place to find them? Wouldn't it be better for him to find the guy who's blown up a part of the city?" No nonsense here, Jack needed help and it was about time she tried recruiting some. "If you're interested, I might know a way to get a hold of him."

Of course, it wouldn't be too difficult. Hell, even if this was an assassination attempt on Jack, the woman wouldn't be able to find him. If she tried following after Jacqueline, she'd just end up watching a woman deal with the rather dull daily business of feeding children and cleaning laundry, totally unaware of the fact that Jack knew all he needed to know already.