Cain pressed enter on his keyboard then leaned back, stretching after a long nights work. He had been up all night finalizing all his preparations for his extended absence. He leaned forward once more and spoke in to the intercom on his desk, [color=green]"Sarah, can you come in here and confirm everything is in order."[/color] A moment later his personal assistant Sarah entered his office. Sarah was a fine looking woman, about as tall as Cain but a bit on the chubbier side. Nothing wrong with that, back in Cain's day some meat on your bones was a good thing, it was a sign you were well off. She had her black hair in a neat bun and she was looking more brown than usual, perhaps she had gotten some sun recently. "Right, Mr. Adamson," she stood holding a clipboard with some papers in it, "all of your normal duties have been allocated to those most suited to the job. They almost couldn't believe you were offering a pay raise for the added work." Cain simply shrugged, [color=green]"it's only natural people are compensated for their efforts. It's something a lot of people don't seem to realize these days."[/color] Cain often felt the world had gotten worse as time had gone on, but that wasn't a fair assessment. Plenty of things were better as well, he was just a bit of a grump at times. "Yes, well," Sarah continued, adjusting her glasses slightly, "those who need to know have been informed this is an extended leave of absence for personal reasons. You really don't know when you'll be back?" Cain shook his head and she went on. "Very well, however long it takes we'll still be here when you return." [color=green]"Thank you Sarah, I don't know where I'd be without you,"[/color] Cain got up from his desk and gave Sarah a hug. "Oh I'm sure you'd still be here, just looking dishevelled with nothing organized," she hugged him back as they both laughed. Sarah had been Cain's assistant for nearly 10 years now. Professional boundaries were different when you were working with someone for that long. Cain let go of her and looked at his watch, [color=green]"oh damn it, I spent too long working. Hopefully I'm not late. I will have my phone on me though I may not answer, leave a message if there's an emergency."[/color] "I know, now get going," Sarah started pushing him towards the door, "there's a thermos of Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee on my desk. Made the way you like it, a going away gift." [color=green]"You're the best."[/color] Cain jogged out the door and grabbed the thermos as he headed to the elevator. Once inside he took off the lid and smelled the coffee. Perfection. He took a swig as the elevator reached ground floor and started walking towards the meeting place. It wasn't worth grabbing a cab, besides, the walk would help wake Cain up. Eventually he made it to the building, and made his way to the room where they were all to meet. He entered the room and was surprised to see a familiar face in Aodh. He nodded at her and grabbed a muffin off the pastry table before heading over to speak with his....associate? Friend? He supposed they were friendly enough. [color=green]"Hey, Aodh, how have you been? I haven't seen you in, what? A few centuries?"[/color] It had certainly been a while, and Cain wasn't exactly good at keeping track of time. Being several millennia old will do that to you.