[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/231110/8d749d906d93af45726a04f7ecf5f219.png[/img][/center][hr]Jannick probably wouldn’t have stopped Holly if she chose to go fight monsters, but he was glad nonetheless that the task she chose was one of the less dangerous of the three. Not as safe as Doumerc would have been (he presumed), but he could hardly expect Holly (or himself) to sit through academic lecturing without falling asleep. 

The trip to Croia was tense, Jannick never quite able to relax as he watched out for threats, but thankfully, his concerns were unfounded. He made some small talk with Sara and Dominika, but kept it mostly short and shallow - fast train, nice weather, pretty landscape, that sort of thing. He had absolutely nothing to offer on the topic of pacifying angry spirits, so he’d leave it to the more theologically minded of the group. 

Croia was shrouded in fog, which the mayor explained as a bad omen brought on by angry spirits, but it wasn’t the supernatural element that put Jannick on edge. The fog was thick as mud, and grew entirely opaque at the edge of what was supposed to be the forest. Anyone could be hiding out there, and Jannick was on high alert, scanning the fog as the mayor blabbed on. 

But when a familiar voice rang out through the mist, Jannick’s tension melted into exasperation. He suppressed a sigh, his posture changing considerably as he moved to rub his temple. When he got that letter from Delilah, he did not expect it to lead [i]here.[/i]

[color=9A906B]“Hold on, I’ll take care of this,”[/color] he droned tiredly, turning to Holly. [color=9A906B]“Stay put for a second, I’ll be right back.”[/color]

He shrugged off the mayor’s concerns as he approached the source of the argument, fighting the urge to groan when he saw that the voice did, in fact, belong to who he thought it did. 

[color=9A906B]“Hey Renata, remember me?”[/color] He introduced himself, painting on a practiced diplomatic smile. He sounded like he was speaking to a child, or perhaps a confused elderly person. He put his hands on his hips. [color=9A906B]“What are you doing all the way over here, huh? Remember how we talked about not yelling at people?”[/color]
[hr][right][@OwO] [@Abstract Proxy] [@Stern Algorithm] [@Hero][/right]