she told herself she would hire the next person to walk through the door and that was ten odd interviews ago. no one can replace Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki. without her, her life has gotten astronomically more stressful.

stuttering memories no longer plague the forefront of her mind, but a new slew of problems and frustrations have taken root in their stead. she stares at her screen, the whites of her eyes strained and tinged pink from lack of sleep and lack of food and lack of water.

blearily, she looks up when gwen walks in, confused at first to see her, until she glances at her calendar to see several missed alarms and blocked time for her interview. 

did i fall asleep at my desk?

she runs her tongue over her teeth and slightly stands, gesturing to the chair opposite her desk. the tired line that makes up her lips twinges upward when she spies gishath.

"he's looking good, gwen," she says as she takes her seat again. "excuse me if i'm a bit out of sorts. i've...had my hands full."

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

"you're definitely getting stronger." his scales are a deeper blue, shining with health. even if his lips are scarred, teeth gone, that hasn't stopped the two of them at all. pride swells in her for the young woman and she looks back at her gratefully. 

then her smile falls flat, as quickly as it had come, and she leans back in her leather chair with a sigh, draping her fingers over her temples and her brow. 

"i'm fine. really." she's not going to admit that tsubaki packed most of her lunches, for arceus' sake. "you'll have more important things to do than fetch coffee and food for me. let's talk about that." she leans forward, blinking her drowsiness away, forcing herself to sharp on an inhale. "are you up for the stress of a job like this?"

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

the dragon sees clearly through her bullshit, but she tickles him under his jaw to get him to stop harassing her. once pliant, eyes narrowed to slits, she thumbs him away and urges him to curl up on the small down bed wedged in the corner of her office - it's where moxie usually sleeps, but the illumina dratini is currently on the bookshelf above them right now, peering down with dark purple eyes. 

"you've worked alongside gym leaders, too? good." some of the rangers have a narrow scope of experience; knowing she's even on a first name basis with some of the people she'll inevitably need to interact with is helpful.

she really has come a long way. 

a long way from the scared, skittish girl sitting at the desk across from her, wondering after dragons. 

"less fieldwork. you'll have to cut down on some ranger hours to keep up. lots of paperwork, setting meetings, keeping things - namely me - on task. managing deadlines and correspondence. i might have you chat with Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki, see if she can train you a bit in between some of her new gym duties."

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

"working for the league is like working any other job," she says, "despite what some might say." it's easy to slander the people who fail you time and time again; she'd been one of those very same until she looked down the barrel at the alternative. the league makes necessary sacrifices when it must, and holds fast to its tenets when it can't. 

"you'll keep your hours at the draciary, but they'll no longer be volunteer. i'll put you on salary to compensate for your loss of ranger work."

ifs become whens and so she blinks when gwen adds a caveat after mentioning tsubaki and navidson. 

"namely, handle the stress, but i worried about tsubaki too and now i have egg on my face," she says dryly. and then she leans forward, adds, "and i need you to trust me and let me trust you. there's too little of that these days.

"if you can promise me that, then the job's yours, if you want it."

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

gwen has a lot of growing to do. freya knows this, and she knows it won't be the same. without tsubaki, her life is going to be more hectic than ever and with war on the horizon, she can't afford distraction. all she can do, though, is roll with the punches, and she'd rather have someone she can trust by her side than no one at all.

and besides, she knows gwen will step up when she needs to. she wouldn't be a dragon tamer otherwise. 

"it's worth a lot more than you realize," she says. and words are just words, she knows that - fernando reminds her of it often. frowning, she disbands the sour thoughts and opens up her desk drawer. 

after a bit of thumbing around in file folders, she finds what she's looking for. she slides the paper out, fishes a pen from the drawer too, and lays it out for gwen. 

"you drive a hard bargain, ranger," she teases with a small smile, "but i promise - i'll let you know if i need anything."

Gwendolyn Conway

☉