Traveling across international borders had become quite a pain since the war had broken out. Knowing many others had done the same, it looked as though others had begun to lock down their processes of allowing others in for whatever reason in hopes of minimizing if not fully deterring the idea of starting trouble with them. But it’s not simply one or two. In his travels, the blue haired soldier had seen it in countless other countries. Procedures were procedures and he wouldn’t be one to go against them even if it seemed to be a little more… invasive. A few even seeming to be a little more bewildered by his appearance compared to his documentation. But that was part of the fun he got from this. Not that it was that the only reason he dressed and looked the way he did, however it didn’t hurt to see the look on some peoples face when they finally discovered it.

In comparison to some, the check through the Fiore borders weren’t nearly as bad as some others. With the tiniest of issues coming into the country this time, they seemed to be a little skeptical over the cargo load that had come with him on his entry. A large, strange breast had been caged up, appearing to be heavily injured and chained down inside. Currently it was asleep, but it was assured of its destination and with all the paperwork filled out, he was allowed to pass with the couple of other fellow soldiers that he’d been traveling with.

After a half a days travel from where they’d entered to their destination, they happened upon the guild hall for the Sabertooth guild. Few people seemed to be curious as to what was happening as a large sheet covered cage had been wheeled through the streets, but it made no real issue to get to where it had to be. ”You guys follow them around to drop it off. I’m gonna go get the paperwork dealt with.” Separating himself from a few he arrived with, Alexander opened the doors to the hall and quickly shut them behind him. ”Hmm.. I was supposed to hand this off to some ace person… I wish they would learn to specify.” He started to look around while he muttered his annoyances to himself, rubbing the back of his head in wonder of if he had to look around for someone or if someone would meet him.

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Wearing her white Steel Matron t-shirt and black skirt with white tennis shoes, Victoria had just entered Red Dragon Inn to order a Screwdriver or two and waste some time before looking for another job. It had been a few weeks since she had any alcohol, but strangely that had not bothered her at all. Her liver would thank her if she gave up drinking altogether, but today was not that day. At least she had cut back on it considerably, something which was certain to please her mentor Florence Manderley almost as much as swearing off alcohol.

Still, Victoria could not give up drinking altogether. The habit had long since taken hold of her and its grip was not going to be broken so easily. Besides, she had just learned some new drink recipes and she was looking forward to making them for the patrons of Red Dragon Inn.

Back at her home in Capital Crocus the brunette had begun reading the drink recipe books her late father Phillip had left behind. Her uncle Lawrence had served as her guinea pig as she practiced making the Silver Bullet, Long Island Iced Tea, Dirty Ashtray, Blue Hawaii, and a few other new drinks she had never heard of. After several nights of hard work she had managed to perfect them and was looking forward to making them for the inn's customers, but if the inn did not need her to lend a hand today, she had no problem waiting until another time to sling drinks.

Victoria had just taken eight steps towards the bar when some blue-haired chick opened the doors, walked in, and shut them. The newcomer then began looking around the inn like she was looking for someone. Victoria was not sure whether she should talk to them or not, but after thinking it over her curiosity won out. She turned around, casually walked over to the person, and engaged them in conversation.

"Hey there. You look like you're new here. Are you looking for someone in particular?" Victoria asked the blue-haired chick who was rubbing the back of their head.

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[Victoria's Word Count: 354]

As his eyes peered about the bar, his attention seemed focused on trying to pick someone out of the crowd. Be it someone he knew or just someone that seemed important or significant enough to begin bouncing his questions off of, it seemed interrupted by a little bit of loud laughing. Just a nearby group enjoying themselves a little too much, however they weren't out of control or worthwhile addressing. If anything, Lexi was just happy they didn't try to hit on him. It wouldn't be the first-- or the tenth time some drunk or even sober guy had tried to flirt. Oh well, they got turned down in one way or another. The greatest had been a couple of the more "hands on" kind of drunks that immediately got angry and in one occasion tried to throw a punch as well as a slew of derogatory remarks. every so often he wondered if that guy ever was able to eat food through more than a straw, but that was neither here nor there now.

Curious eyes turned away from that table as a voice had caught his attention. A nice, adorable one at that brought his attention forward to seeing a rather gorgeous looking brunette. She seemed to be intrigued with why he was here and more so that he was new to the bar scene. Well, maybe this one, but in general? Not at all. "O-Oh! Yeah, uh..." He couldn't help but survey this stranger as his cheeks started to flush a bit. If not for the weight of the clipboard in his hand giving slight weigh from him gawking a little much, it would have dropped instead of him snapping back to reality. Clearing his throat and trying to retain a bit of the professional purpose of his visit. "Sorry about that... Anyway, yeah. I was trying to see if I could get in touch with an.. uh, ace of Sabertooth? My unit just brought over a creature under request from Bellum. I just mainly need a signature." The inflection in his voice about an ace was more of a question. It showed just how unfamiliar with the guild hierarchy was to him.

Unbeknownst to him, Alexander would look down a bit to see someone had approached him and the other woman. As he moved from the top of the head down, he simply stopped seeing the cheery face that brought a big grin to his face. "Hey there, shorty!" He greeted happily, placing a hand on her head and lightly rubbing it. "Honestly, if I had the time, I would have. I gotta find one of these aces for a bit of paperwork and then I got get going back." He informed her. What he hadn't done was ever looked inside a small manilla envelope tucked underneath the paperwork. Inside were a different type of documents that also had noted the need for an ace of the guild to look at. In the corner was a stamp of the Bellum army and second with a special insignia known by few even native to the foreign country.

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The new chick told Victoria that she was trying to get in contact with an Ace of Sabertooth because of some creature that she was trying to deliver after bringing it all the way from Bellum... if she understood what the new chick was saying. Victoria blinked. She was just about to answer when Gaia showed up in an orange dress and some other accessories she had never seen the Ace wear before and greeted the newcomer. Now that the Ace was here Victoria did not have to do much of anything other than stand back and listen.

"Hi Gaia!" Victoria greeted the Sabertooth Ace and returned the wave with a wave of her own. She then went silent and casually listened as Gaia talked to the blue-haired newcomer. She listened and learned something that was so surprising that the brunette's face turned red and she began dying inside.

The "new chick" was actually a guy!

To make things worse, he was Gaia's older brother!

This was awkward.

REALLY awkward.

Victoria immediately began wishing that she could disappear. She wished that Merces Letifer Magic had a cloaking spell so that she could turn invisible and slink out of here without anyone seeing her. If she could turn invisible she would slink back to the guild hall and back to her room, where she could die in peace in the privacy of her room without anyone seeing her like this. However, she did not have that option, so she would just have to endure the weapons-grade discomfort she was feeling.

Victoria could not even bear to look at Gaia's brother because she had mistaken him for a chick. Her mistake had been so embarrassing it was beyond words. Then by sheer force of will Victoria shoved down her embarrassment just enough to look him in the eye and introduce herself.

"Hi there. I'm Victoria Sheridan." Victoria calmly introduced herself to Gaia's brother. While she might have sounded calm, she was dying on the inside. She hoped that her mistake would go unnoticed by the blue-haired mages, but she was not holding her breath. Gaia was quite perceptive and it was likely that she would soon figure out why Victoria's face was so red all of a sudden.

[Post Word Count: 376]
[Victoria's Word Count: 730]