ROWAN BISHOP
Werewolf
Posts: 73
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 28, 2024 18:44:40 GMT
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Post by ROWAN BISHOP on Jan 31, 2023 20:55:05 GMT
The driver held the front door of the Grey Haven open for her before he retreated to the car. Given that she was carrying the stack of performance reviews for all of the operatives working out of the Mystic Falls office he was probably going out of his way to earn one more gold star before they were passed off to Ingrid. It was amazing what the fear of an ice cold look from your boss could do to you. Rowan turned, offering up a small smile for her as he pulled away. He’d probably be walking on eggshells, like the rest of them, until these were all rubber stamped. Come the weekend they would be and the pressure would be off for another year, for most of them at least.
Rowan turned, the heels of her boots clicking in a sharp staccato as she made her way across the lobby. The owner was at the desk again, expression cool and polite, those pale eyes only crinkling faintly at the corners as he greeted her. ”Good evening,” Rowan murmured as she passed him, her smile broader than his. He was glancing back at his computer already, but as she approached the elevator she could feel his gaze on her again. Ingrid’s training regime for her operatives taught her to pay attention to the alarm bells ringing in the back of her head and friendly as he was, they rang for that guy.
She wanted until she was in the elevator to shrug her shoulders, like she could wipe the feeling away on the starched cotton. He was probably still watching, the dome of the camera in the elevator a warning that there was little that happened in the public areas of this hotel without its owner knowing something about it. The same could be said of their offices, although she wasn’t the one sitting in the big chair watching them. She hadn’t even been the one to put most of the reports together, each individual team leader was responsible for that, her signature on the middle of the three lines at the bottom proof that she read them afterwards though. His had been different.
Watching Luc had been her task and Rowan had taken it seriously. The man was on a tight leash, having to earn each little benefit on the job. Night shifts, shitty duties out in the rain, called forward in training to take the pummelling during demonstrations, each little act meant to remind Luc of just who was in charge and how hard he had to work to earn his way back into Ingrid’s good books. Maybe an possible job for the guy, although he hadn’t been doing too badly so far.
As the elevator glided towards their suite, Rowan flicked through the folders, making sure that Luc’s was on top. Ingrid would probably skim the rest, but Luc’s would probably be pored over, looking for some sign that he wasn’t doing what he’d promised, earning his way back in one rung at a time.
The smile had been off of his face as they’d spoken this afternoon, after the first few minutes anyway. He’d been all charm at first until she’d started to pick at each of the operations he’d worked on one shift at a time. By the end there were lines carved around his mouth. No fear in his eyes, not yet. She imagined it would take the threat of being cut off again to have that flashing in another set of blue eyes.
Her heels rang out again as she entered their suite, the sound muted as she approached Ingrid. At least here they wouldn’t have a dozen sets of ears straining to listen in to the final verdict. ”Hope you’re ready for a couple of hours of tedium,” she said lightly. ”All reports are in. I’ve signed off on them, they’ll just require your signature at the end. I figured we could start with the most interesting.” The smile tugged at one corner of her mouth as she settled in the chair on the opposite side of the desk, flipping Luc’s file around towards her before she set the rest down on the gleaming slab of mahogany.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Aug 13, 2023 7:39:05 GMT
❝ If I Am Anything At All...
I Am A Dragon❞
Safely back in her suite at the Grey Haven hotel, she peered out the window. The training centre here was up and running, only a short drive out of town. Similar to the one in Washington, smaller in size but just as efficient. With this town being the way it was, she was getting quite a lot of business. Small contracts, but business was business. She was grateful for that. There weren’t many businesses like hers, which catered for supernatural security. Obviously, it wasn’t broadly advertised, had to keep that line between the human and supernatural in place as much as they could.
At a makeshift desk in her suite where she ran operations from the comfort of ‘home.’ This wasn’t exactly what anyone could call home, but it certainly had security that a regular home wouldn’t have. So, for now it would do, until she decided where to make her homebase. She heard the door to her suit click open. Turning around away from the window, drink in hand she smiled to her friend and second.
When she opened her mouth saying a few hours of tedium. Ingrid’s face fell, ” I had forgotten…” Ingrid smiled almost to herself. Forgetting that she had arranged to go through these with Rowan this evening. She debated only for the barest of moments to delay it yet again, but it would always be there a dark cloud that wouldn’t shift until she dealt with it. Nodding determinedly, she walked back to a small table with a crystal decanter and glasses, lifting the decanter and a glass for Rowan, she moved it back to the desk and took her seat.
She reached for the decanter once sat comfortably and refilled her own glass and filled Rowans before taking a seat, opening her laptop. Her eyes looked to her a smile in them, knowing exactly what she meant. She leaned back in her seat, and looked in disdain at the files… she had been warned of the tedium, ” Lets begin then.” Ingrid stated taking a small sip of the liquor, bringing up his file on the computer as well. She knew she probably wasn’t going to be surprised by anything in this file. He had been one of the best before his temper tantrum… and still was.
Notes:  |
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ROWAN BISHOP
Werewolf
Posts: 73
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 28, 2024 18:44:40 GMT
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Post by ROWAN BISHOP on Aug 29, 2023 19:19:17 GMT
There were times when a 9 to 5 seemed like it would be a dream job. Getting to clock out at the end of your shift and not having to spend a single second thinking about it until you went back again the next morning. Rowan doubted she’d have recognised what that sort of freedom looked like at this point. Her parents would’ve been horrified. They’d been all about freedom and refusing to be tied down. In the end it was that freedom that had gotten them killed, but this working twenty-four hours a day thing wasn’t an attempt at paying them back for it. In fact, it was quite the opposite, this was about preventing anybody else from being killed if she possible could.
Propping the files against her stomach as the elevator glided up to their floor, Rowan found herself almost missing her days out in the field. It had taken her what felt like years to get to the point where she could entirely hold her own with the other agents. Some were centuries old and had been trained in a dozen different sorts of combat in that time – there were some who even griped about not being able to use swords, as though modern weaponry hadn’t rendered those almost useless against every other sort of weapon. She’d had to start from the bottom, spending as much time hitting the mat as she had standing on her own two feet at first. It was almost embarrassing looking back now.
Luckily the heat of it had faded from her face by the time she reached their floor now. Rowan’s smile grew as she noted the drink in Ingrid’s hand. Perhaps she’d anticipated just whose assessment she was going to spend the most time with. Luc seemed like her one reason to get the bottle out these days. ”Wishful thinking?” she asked, knowing it was likely anything but. Ingrid had never seemed the sort of person to avoid a problem. She charged at it head on, meeting whatever it was with fire when she had to – undoubtedly something she’d have loved to do with Luc, especially after the two of them had ended up stranded in the field.
”I’ll try and make it go as quickly as possible,” she promised, setting the files down on the desk. It didn’t mean that she’d consider herself off the clock afterwards, but Ingrid could be at least. Ingrid obviously anticipated what was coming and made her way to the desk with a second glass and the decanter in hand. ”You’re really not looking forward to this,” she said, amusement wreathing her words. Reaching for her glass, Rowan took a sip, steeling herself for it too. She’d been the one keeping a tight rein on Luc after all.
Setting her glass down, Rowan opened the folder, retrieving the top sheet that had been marked for Ingrid’s signature. She set it between the two of them before she looked down at the file. ”I’m not sure what I was really expecting from him, but he’s actually a decent operative. He managed to take down Kingsley in close quarters combat and he sweet talked the DA’s office into extending their security contract with us. Has he always had a silver tongue or is this just his attempt to get back into your good books?” If it was then she suspected it was going to be far more difficult than Luc had expected it to be. Ingrid had always been a tough boss, but there’d never been a single crack in her when it came to her private life. Luc was going to have to find one, she suspected, if he wanted to try and get his old spot back in the next hundred years or so.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Sept 11, 2023 18:27:37 GMT
❝ If I Am Anything At All...
I Am A Dragon❞
When Rowan had come into her room at first, she had been a bit confused as to why she was here this evening. Then when she spoke it came back to her. That she had forgotten. Though it needed to be done. Her lips twitched a little at her question, ” Perhaps.” Ingrid told her. In truth Rowan was here now so they would do as they had planned. Turning from the window heading to her desk.
Flicking her laptop open and refilling her glass and one for Rowan. This was always done over a glass of alcohol or two… or maybe even three. She flicked her gaze to Rowan after filling her glass, ” Its practically tradition by now…” Ingrid mused telling her as she settled the decanter on the desk for refills should they need it… or want it.
Ingrid slid into her seat opposite Rowan on the other side. Laptop to her right and reaching for a pen. She was waiting to hear what she had to say before signing the sheet of paper which would ultimately decide the fate of the person. Whether he or she moved onto the next stage of training. Luc on the other hand was a little different than all the others. This is all what he had done before. Making him go through it again, inside he was probably insulted by it all, but Ingrid honestly didn’t care. In her eyes she had to prove himself again. These results didn’t shock her in the slightest.
” He has always had that particular talent.” Ingrid answered for her, ” Though you might not be wrong in your assumptions.” Ingrid told her. She knew that Rowan wasn’t worried about her place. She had told her once already that she wouldn’t be replaced. Luc eventually would understand that as well she hoped. With the paperwork she pulled it toward her boxes before her to sign. Sign the one to let them go, move them on to the next stage. Luc however was a unique case, ” So what are you moving him on, or stopping the training?” Ingrid asked her. Her decision she would support in almost all cases. This training was just one of the many hoops Luc was to jump through, and now Ingrid was basically asking if they should stop with the hoops.
Notes: |
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ROWAN BISHOP
Werewolf
Posts: 73
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 28, 2024 18:44:40 GMT
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Post by ROWAN BISHOP on Oct 26, 2023 19:32:47 GMT
Amusement tugged at Rowan’s lips as she teased Ingrid about purposefully forgetting about their scheduled meeting to go through the assessments tonight. Perhaps if Luc’s file hadn’t been among them the thought would not have entered her head, but she had seen first hand how the man affected her boss. It had been strange seeing that more human side of Ingrid at first, now she had though, Rowan found herself looking for more signs of it. Her parents had always sworn that the hardest soul had something softer beneath, no heart being blackened enough that it could not be repaired with the application of the right care. Ingrid would have hated hearing that sort of wisdom, especially now, and so Rowan chose to keep her words light. She was almost certain that the hotel owner wouldn’t have wanted to deal with the consequences of Ingrid’s temper either.
The alcohol wouldn’t have any real effect of either one of them, but it certainly seemed to make these sessions go faster. Rowan smiled as she picked up her glass, taking a quick sip. ”It is. We’ll call it a precautionary anaesthetic for what’s to come.” If Luc had done as Ingrid had warned he might, and pushed the boundaries too far, that may have been needed. He had nudged at them, but so far she hadn’t needed to pull a firearm again to try and keep him in line. The man had a fast mind and even faster hands and feet when it came to training in hand to hand combat. He might have been hundreds of years old, but it seemed as though he had kept up on modern techniques – something that made his retraining a far easier prospect.
Rowan watched Ingrid settle into work mode, her laptop and pen set for the notes she was certain she would make and the signature that would seal the fate of each of those being assessed. She had been a bit of a wild child, a free spirit, when she had been with her parents, but Ingrid had taught her the importance of diligence and hard work, of organisation. Given that Luc had once held the same position, he likely had all the same traits – but the difference was that he had walked away from it all and she had absolutely no intention of ever doing that.
As though she had to prove that, Rowan opened the first of the files. Her gaze had ticked to Ingrid for just a moment before she was looking back at the file. Every report she’d been given on him from the trainers and his fellow operatives had said exactly the same thing – skilled and hard working, glib at times, but certainly someone they would go into a firefight with. ”How long do you think he’ll be able to keep it up if it is?” she asked, raising a brow as she looked up at Ingrid. There’d likely be a clock ticking down if they were both right, just waiting to hit the second when Luc got tired of having to climb so many rungs to get close to his former position.
Unsure of just how long Ingrid would keep him at that bottom rung, Rowan picked up her glass and took another sip. She sighed out a breath as she set it down again, her pale eyes narrowing faintly. ”I’d say keep up part of the training at least. We can tell him it’s remedial since so many things have moved on since he last worked for you. Combat training feels pointless when it’s impossible to even knock him on his ass.” That usually knocked new recruits down a peg or two at least. ”Are you prepared to give him free rein in the field? I’ve been making sure he has senior operatives with him when I send him out, but between you and me, he’s probably good enough to lead on his own.” She hadn’t told Luc that, but the man undoubtedly knew it. Luc certainly suffer from a lack of self-confidence.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Oct 27, 2023 17:38:11 GMT
❝ If I Am Anything At All...
I Am A Dragon❞
Putting it off was no longer going to help she told herself as she started making her way back toward her desk. Getting herself prepared: priority number one to dull the edge of boredom these few hours were surely going to bring. Perks of being immortal is that you could drink and keep drinking with next to no affect. Otherwise, her and Rowan would be drunken messes deciding the fates of their colleagues during these delightful meetings. Definitely not best practise.
When Rowan mentioned that she wasn’t looking forward to this Ingrid merely shrugged pointing out that by now it was practically tradition. Her lips twitched upward at what she said, ” I like the sound of that.” She commented as she took her seat. Opening her laptop, pen in hand and ready to listen. They started with the most entertaining and from a professional standpoint the most difficult.
She didn’t really know what to expect, but nothing of this file surprised her. She also knew that he meant to toe the line, and from the looks of it, he was doing exactly that for the most part. She flicked her eyes over his file taking in the information that it offered, ” To get back into my good graces, as he had been? He will be waiting a long time.” Ingrid answered her without even looking up the file. Unspoken was a time longer than Rowan probably had left. Ingrid didn’t often like reminding her that she was immortal, would never die unless killed by a specific weapon.
Ingrid turned to the page that she would need to sign. Keeping him at the bottom rung was rather cruel. No less than he deserved, and now Ingrid faced with the choice as to be that cruel ice-cold bitch everyone perceived her as, ” Give him free rein. Take him out of combat training and perhaps allow him to lead it. If he can’t get knocked on his ass perhaps, he can teach others a thing or two.” Ingrid agreed and then scrawled her signature across the document, ” Your idea though is still sound though. All operatives should be like this to be honest. Especially some of the older ones.” Ingrid told her, a lot of her people had been with her for centuries and counting, some got complacent. They had mandatory tests that came around every once in a while, but keeping them up on the techniques wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
Notes: < |
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ROWAN BISHOP
Werewolf
Posts: 73
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 28, 2024 18:44:40 GMT
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Post by ROWAN BISHOP on Nov 25, 2023 17:58:01 GMT
Rowan was sure that the first time she’d seen Ingrid even faintly rattled had been when she’d walked into Ingrid’s office and had found Luc there. It was the change in Ingrid’s demeanour that had pushed her to pull her weapon and Luc’s smug attitude that had kept the muzzle pressed against his tousled dark hair. Up until then Ingrid had been entirely unflappable, even in the worst of situations. Since then she’d kept an eye on her boss, waiting for the moment when she saw those cracks open up again, even microscopically.
For now Luc seemed to be treading water in the organisation. He hadn’t mouthed off about not being promoted yet, hadn’t shirked the duties he’d been given either, no matter how bad she’d made sure those first few were. She’d expected him to quit a week in, but Luc was clinging on there – the human tick.
Sipping from her glass with some amusement, Rowan wondered if it would be enough numbing to have Ingrid giving in and just firing Luc since the man wasn’t going to take himself out. ”I’m sure the kitchen could send up another bottle if we end up needing it,” she said dryly. Her smile remained as they started going through the assessments she’d received on Luc’s performance. It wasn’t as though he’d just behaved for her, knowing that anything he said to her would undoubtedly be passed back to the one person he was really trying to suck up to here. Luc had been charming everybody, pitching in even when he didn’t need to. If it was just a game then he was damn good at it.
She huffed out her amusement as she bobbed her head at Ingrid. If any of that had warmed her towards him then it had been in the tiniest increment. Maybe Luc would be able to tell the difference, but honestly, she couldn’t see it yet. ”You seemed to make it pretty clear that he had no chance of that. He does seem like the sort who struggles to take the word no as an answer though,” she observed. He obviously still had some hope though and from the sounds of things Ingrid hadn’t entirely shut the doors to that possibility yet either. She had said waiting a long time, rather than he has zero chance of it. If Luc himself had been here undoubtedly his chest would’ve puffed up with pride, that roguish grin lighting up a face that had been made to charm.
Laying all the possibilities out on the table – along with the reports – put Ingrid in charge of the choice on what happened to Luc. She might have handled a lot of the day to day running of their facility here now, but Ingrid still had the final decision on everything. If she said kick him then she’d be delivering the bad news first thing the next morning. Rowan kept her gaze on her boss as Ingrid seemed to consider it. If Luc had been anybody else returning to the team he’d probably have been half a dozen steps up the ladder already. ”Free rein it is,” Rowan said after a moment, hiding her surprise. She’d suspected that Luc would’ve done just as well teaching, but hearing it from Ingrid was another thing. The signature on the document made it formal now.
The smile on her lips grew as she made her own notes. The more experienced operatives would probably put up a fuss about the idea of remedial training, but some had been with Ingrid a couple of centuries, after all that time you tended to get a little blasé, even if you weren’t being lazy about things. ”Perhaps we can put together some sort of a tournament here. Call it an opportunity for new operatives, but it’ll test the older ones all the same. Might knock them down a peg or two if they get their asses handed to them. Might do the same for Luc too. What do you think?” Whoever won would strut around like they’d just been crowned royalty, but if there was one thing people here thrived on it seemed to be competition.
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INGRID NILSEN
Dragon
Posts: 47
Age:
Two Hundred & Eighty Nine
Occupation:
CEO Valkyrie Vali
Status:
Single
Partner:
Future: Luc Fornier
Played by:
Lissa
Last seen Nov 13, 2024 15:45:02 GMT
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Post by INGRID NILSEN on Jan 13, 2024 19:57:40 GMT
❝ If I Am Anything At All...
I Am A Dragon❞
Strong alcohol in one hand and a pen brandished in the other. She was ready for their little meeting. A monthly thing where they decided the fates of all the operatives in training. As they went on, they can get quite entertaining, other times they could be dull. But it was a serious business what she did and could only take the best. Humans in her employ were few and far between, so she had to be careful. They were trained separately, as pitting them against anything supernatural would be entirely unfair.
When Rowan mentioned about the kitchen sending up another bottle, she eyed the one they already had, ” If we pace ourselves, it should last…” Ingrid offered a hint of a smile on her face to say that was a load of rubbish. Moving onto the work at hand she started with what she considered to be the most interesting. Luc. Ingrid sighed inwardly. Rowan didn’t know the half of her history with that man, and she intended to keep it that way. Ingrid smiled a little, one wouldn’t call it a friendly smile, ” The word no doesn’t appear to be in his vocabulary. However, you will not be replaced. You have my word on that.” Ingrid told her again, for what she hoped would be the final time.
She couldn’t blame her Rowan, was smart and inquisitive. She knew there was history there. Ingrid didn’t entirely know what she suspected, and she wasn’t going to ask her either. She wasn’t going to bring it up, ” Come the day, should it ever come that he does get back into my good graces, he will not have what he had before. “ Ingrid told her. Making that clear to Rowan was one thing, making it clear to Luc was a different story entirely.
Ingrid left with a decision before her. She couldn’t keep punishing him forever and until now he had jumped through every hoop either her or Rowan had put before him. Allowing him a little free rein, he would see it as her softening. It was in a way, but not in the way that he wanted. Their conversation leading onto older opreatives growing complacent and the newer ones trying to get up to their level. This industry was constantly changing, new weaponry people growing more cunning more sophisticated all the time that she and her people had to keep up with the times. Rowans suggestion had her lips quirking, ” I like the sound of that. What exactly do you suggest the winner gets?” She wasn’t beyond funding this with a little monetary value for the winner, if it got her team where they needed to be, without the headache of arguing with the ones that had been with her a long time.
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ROWAN BISHOP
Werewolf
Posts: 73
Played by:
Ange
Last seen Oct 28, 2024 18:44:40 GMT
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Post by ROWAN BISHOP on Jan 25, 2024 20:51:43 GMT
The company never spared any expense when it came to travelling – for Ingrid at least. While their operators were probably still taking up half the rooms at the motel, she’d spent the last couple of years in more luxurious accommodation. It was one of the benefits of being Ingrid’s right hand, but it wasn’t all Egyptian cotton sheets and top shelf liquor. The job required you to be on call practically 24 hours a day and when the shit did hit the fan, you were the one the blame could quite easily fall on. Rowan had known all of that going into the job and she’d desperately wanted it anyway. Ingrid offering it to her in the first place had been a vote of confidence in her skills. She supposed it had been the same for Luc once upon a time, but things had changed.
Rowan snorted faintly at Ingrid’s suggestion. Her brows hitched, her smile a little more obvious than her boss’. She pulled her phone out anyway, sending a quick message through to the hotel’s kitchen staff. One benefit of practically living in the hotel was that the staff had grown used to them being there and were a little more generous with the service – not that it hadn’t been excellent from the start. ”Just in case,” she said lightly, setting her phone back down.
”I’m glad to hear it,” Rowan admitted. She hadn’t expected that she would be, but the seed of doubt had been planted in her stomach by Luc’s return all the same. For now Ingrid was still keen to keep him at a distance, that could all change though. Luc had obviously thawed her heart once upon a time. Tapping her fingers against her glass, she hummed lightly. ”I guess it’s made him a good operative over the years.” She almost left the thought hanging – the ‘but not a decent partner ending up silent. Something Ingrid hadn’t told her about had obviously gone very wrong between them a long time before she was even born.
Nodding slowly as Ingrid explained, Rowan looked down at the reports spread out in front of her. It seemed as though Luc’d had his chance and in screwing it up, he’d guaranteed he would never have another. Maybe he could crawl to Ingrid enough to have a decent career for a while, but it wouldn’t ever be the same. ”Just on the job?” Rowan asked lightly, not sure how far she could put a toe over the line between business and friendship. ”He seems pretty sure that he could get close on the job at least.” And given the reports on his training, he probably could manage the latter. Perhaps at some point he would grow bored and leave again, but until Luc did he was a boon to the organisation.
As a trainer he’d get to pass his knowledge onto newer operatives, and would undoubtedly run his mouth at the same time. It would be perfect for him, and, even better, it would likely keep him out of Ingrid’s hair a little longer. Rowan saw Ingrid’s lips quirk as she suggested some sort of a tournament for their people. She shifted in her seat, smiling back at her, with one dark brow hitched. ”Other than bragging rights? Which I’m sure Luc would take full advantage of, if he wins.” Taking a moment to consider it, she glanced down at the reports again. ”A financial bonus wouldn’t go amiss, but how about a high level client? We put them in charge of a single client, make it a point to both that this is gonna put them miles ahead of the other operatives.” There was nothing like thinking you were top dog in an entire organisation of alpha-types to have you walking tall.
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hope to see you in the discord! 
