Bridging the Divide

Flirting and Torture Devices, not neccesarily combined

Keefe

I'll tell them about my plan tomorrow, I promise.

Good.

Sophie half teased half asked, Are you worried? 

He was, and he decided to focus on that instead of the part of him that wanted to obsess over the fact that Foster sort of, maybe was trying to flirt with him.

Yeah, actually. A friend of mine saw Lady Giesela earlier.

What?! Are both of you okay?

I'm fine, Foster. It's nice to hear you care, but my friend hid pretty well and she just assumed he was me, and had light leaped away.

Good! That was too close.

I agree.

I wish we had been able to catch her during today's raid.

There was a raid today?

Yeah... It was one of the bigger bases too, part of the Alpha Omega project. Probably a good twenty-eight members in Omega alone, so when we raided Alpha... I estimate there are no more than twenty-five, thirty members left.

I didn't know we'd taken out that many of their forces! This calls for a celebration! 

Sophie's mental laugh was reassuring after the encounter earlier, and Keefe smiled broadly.

We still have a long way to go. Until they're all captured, it would be easy for them to recruit new members.

Foster. If you don't celebrate the successes as they come, you'll have a harder time working through to the next one!

How are you so perky?

Hmmm... Maybe I just like talking to you, Foster. 

That sparked a bunch of mental stammering from Foster, and Keefe gently cut her off, his heart fluttering as much as he imagined, even hoped Sophie's was. 

How's Daddy dearest doing? Causing problems for everyone in the vainest of ways?

Actually, I did see him today, and he was acting even more smug and smirky than usual. Gahhh, now I'm wishing I had really blasted him a few times with my melder!

While I would love to see that, it's probably all for the best that you didn't. You don't need another Tribunal.

True. Hey, I don't know if I told you, but some poor kid tried to top the Great Gulon incident by letting a bunch of wild Bugbears into Foxfire a few weeks ago, and they got everywhere. 

People are STILL finding them in the WEIRDEST places.

What did the Forklenator do to him?

Actually, he only got a few detentions. Bugbears aren't that dangerous, so he got off pretty scot-free.

Huh. Who knew people would try to top that?

Nobody is as good at pranking as you are.

True. You sound really tired, you know that? How many nights in the past week have you gotten more than an hour of sleep at a time?

I don't want to answer that question...

Go to sleep, Foster. 

Okay. Goodnight, Keefe. 

Keefe stared up at the ceiling, his mind swirling with random thoughts he couldn't place. He spent the next hour or so sifting through them, sorting his mind and trying his best to make sense of the mess that was him and his life.

Sophie

Her plan was going to work, she knew it was. So, she was definitely hesitant to explain the parts she would need help with to her friends, in case they shot her down.

"We arrange an attack. Feed them some information based on a transport of most of their agents to a more secure location under heavy guard, then wait for them to come after the advance guards and try to set up a trap. 

They show up, thinking they have an upper hand, but we will set several traps around the area and have extra backup hiding around the area. They're desperate, and hopefully they'll bring all of the remaining members. 

We can use the paralysis bombs to knock them out, or if push comes to shove use our battle training. That way, we can pick the best advantage for ourselves."

After finishing the outline of the plan (not including the super risky parts she knew her family and friends would tie her up to keep her from executing), she stepped back, desperately trying not to pull out any eyelashes.

Stina was the first person to speak, and Sophie was pleasantly surprised when she said emphatically, "YES. This plan is perfect!"

Dex agreed, and Biana replied thoughtfully, "It's dangerous, but the kind of danger that we're going to need if we want to wipe the Neverseen out for good. I'm in!" It took considerably more time to convince the adults of the brilliance of their plan, but eventually even Sandor reluctantly agreed that planwise, it was the best path forward.

When her friends leaped away, Sophie went to go complete her chores, idly noting that Ro was watching her, a smirk on the ogre's face.

Eventually, the secrecy got to Sophie, and she asked Ro, "Is there some sort of joke I'm missing here?"

"Nah. Just thinking. Was that plan why you asked for the extra painful paralysis stuff?"

Glad for the ready made excuse, Sophie nodded. "I'm hoping to coat a few daggers if it gets to sparring during the battle, but I might switch some of it out for the less painful stuff in the mist bombs," she replied as she turned on the hose to rinse the suds off of the baby alicorns, who were turning bathtime into playtime like always.

"Ohhhh, that's GENIUS." Ro breathed. "I might do the same thing with my swords!"

Despite what Ro had said about thinking, Sophie was still suspicious when the ogre went back to smirking at her as she toweled off the baby alicorns, who had now decided that maybe the towels would taste good. Turning her attention back to Wyn and Luna, she focused on her work. 

Baby alicorn fluff UwU you're welcome.