Coye 6.11

Chapter 11 - A Hero’s Return

Coye's dedicated day of rest and recovery suited him well. Just as the suspicious healer claimed, he was fully healed upon morning and celebrated that fact for some time after waking up in bed with Suzette, Byng, and Shayla draped across his chest. As far as he was concerned, Coye had a lot of making up to do. He gave love and attention to all three of them, giving each a welcome wake-up surprise with his sudden renewed vigor.

It felt great to be back on top of things, but as great as all the passionate recovery sex was, Coye had more exciting things in store for the rest of the day. Dorothy was waiting for him, and he wanted to see her with all his heart. After the morning's love session was squared off and Suzette prepared breakfast, they dressed casually and headed off into Cransmere.

He couldn't even pass the Peace Gate before his infamy preceded him. The pair of guards greeted him and congratulated him on the match. People looked at him as he passed them by even more than they already did. He got some friendly waves and a couple of whistles that weren't just from thirsty village girls as usual. A few random strangers even patted Coye on the back as they passed by. As they went to Suzette's store to drop her off, none of them could remember a time they'd ever seen this town in such high spirits. Cransmere would've seemed downright inviting if it weren't for the unfortunate gloomy appearance the place was perpetually stuck with.

After parting ways with Suzette and giving her a quick farewell kiss, Coye, Byng, and Shayla retraced their path back up mainstreet and soon reached the Guild.

'You ready for this?' Shayla asked him as they started down the path to the front door.

'As I'll ever be,' Coye exaggerated. Truthfully, he felt pretty good about things even if the novelty of all his new attention threatened to wear thin as a sheet of paper.

Byng was also optimistic, and she nudged his shoulder while walking by his side. "I bet things are gonna be wild in there, short-stuff. Last chance to back out now, so- oh?" Stopping midsentence, she noticed a familiar sight walking out the front door. It was the party of four that Coye had run into on multiple occasions.

Things were different this time. In stark contrast to how they looked at Coye the other day, each examined him in reverence. They looked as if they couldn't believe he was here- like he was a celebrity. Each seemed to have forgotten that this was his place of work, just the same as theirs. The longer they stared, the more awkward it became for the poor boy. He was tempted to say something- anything- just to make things a little more bearable.

"Hey?" Coye raised his hand. "We, ah... we really need to stop meeting like this."

The four adventurers briefly looked at each other. They were clearly shocked that Coye was talking to them, and as much as he hoped his friendly gesture would stop the awkwardness, it only made things much worse. The party leader, Windsor, knelt before Coye and thrust his gauntleted fist into the pavement below.

"Please, forgive me! I've never been so wrong about someone, and I was such a fool for talking down to you behind your back. The potion from the other day was one thing, but that performance of yours yesterday? Breathtaking. More than that- marvelous!" The knight drew his sword and laid it at Coye's feet, but he could not meet Coye's gaze as he continued to speak. "Should you ever require my blade, you need only ask!"

'Fat chance,' Shayla scoffed at the cheap steel. 'That thing looks like he picked it out of a bargain bin.'

"Um, thanks, but-" Coye tried to let Windsor down easy and move past all this, but he was cut off by the other knight in the party, Trendson, who squatted down beside his comrade and took the exact same hose while nudging Windsor to the side.

"Get in line, you fool!" He laughed with indignance. "The fact that you went toe to toe with Auguris and won? Holy shit, dude. I've always wanted to punch that smug motherfucker square in the jaw, but you made it look easy!"

'Easy? I think he's forgetting the twenty-nine minutes of you getting pelted by rocks, but hey, at least the important parts are what stuck.'

Coye sighed at his sarcastic pixie, then looked to Byng for support. He soon found that he wouldn't be getting any from her. Though she said she'd keep people off his back, she was too amused to fulfill her promise. She could only grin at him and watch as these four strangers worshiped her man.

"I'm more impressed about how you stood up to Britni," Erreldi, the elven healer, leaned forward on her magical staff and smiled warmly. "That was super romantic- what you did for Dorothy. I had no idea that you and the boss were a thing. Congrats, I guess?"

"We're not a thing," Coye blushed and shook his head. They would be soon if he had his way, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself. "But I couldn't stand there and let Britni get away with antagonizing Dorothy. Especially not after what happened to her."

The catfolk brawler Rissa thought his claim that he and the boss weren't an item was dubious at best, but she downplayed her suspicions and gave him a fanged smile. "And I thought I had one hell of a punch!" Demonstrating her power, she struck the air with her furry paw. The air burst out around it so strong that it would've blown Coye's hat off if it weren't for Shayla's magic keeping it in place. "We didn't end up getting the best seats, but I still feel like I could hear that asshole's skull crack when you finally nailed 'em at the end, nyahaha!"

Coye didn't know what to say anymore. These people were swarming him, and for as flattering as it was, he was totally unused to such an environment. "Ah, thanks, but I don't know about-"

The commotion outside must've seeped into the building as soon enough, someone poked their head out the door to check on whatever was happening. It was Tansy, the halfling who called out Auguris during the match over his unfair tactics and who instigated the crowd to throw trash at him. The short and seedy thief smirked nefariously when he saw what the big idea was.

"Alright, alright- what's all this, then? Oh, hey. Look at what we got here..." Before Coye could stop him, Tansy momentarily retreated back into the Guild and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting, "All hands on deck, you layabouts! Wonder boy's back! This ain't a drill!"

'Please tell me this isn't happening.' Coye begged.

'You reap what you sow, and you sowed enough badassery for everyone around here to love and respect you. Time to make the most of it.' Shayla might've been teasing him, but genuine pride over his accomplishments was behind the mischievous comment.

"Here they come, short-stuff!" Byng patted him on the shoulder and smiled wholeheartedly, taking her place by his side and defensively wrapping her arm around his hip to cling to him. No one would be getting the wrong idea about them- not if Byng could help it.

What followed was the worst-case scenario Coye dreaded. A big group of roughly thirty adventurers and twenty staff members rushed out of the building, swarming him like bees on a flower. Everyone wanted to say something to him, all of it positive. Their words came out in one big flowing rush. There was praise for his bravery, some rookies admiring his strength, scattered apologies for having been rude to Dorothy in the past, and everything else.

"A certain someone could learn a lot about romance from you," Milse said in a barbed tone.

Orlandis had other things on his mind, and if he heard Milse's comment, he didn't dignify it with a response. "That part where you were dodging all the pillars? Great stuff, you've gotta show me how you did it! My footwork is okay, but you? Damn!"

"Bwarharharhar!" Burkhart slapped his enormous belly, which along with the rest of his body, was riddled with nasty-looking burn marks caused by lightning. "Not a bad show, my good lad! Almost as good of a show as I, the great Burkhart, would've given the crowd! I suppose that's only to be expected, given that I taught you everything I know! Who knows? In a few years, you might be ready to take on yours truly!"

If he thought he could handle this, Coye was dead wrong. Their praises were too high, and the rate at which they were slinging them at him proved dizzying. After the first few minutes, he could barely keep up with what anyone was saying. To her credit, Byng helped a fair amount after her initial denial by interjecting and answering questions for him, much to the crowd's delight. Byng didn't care about popularity whatsoever, but the sudden boost in her social status from being Coye's lover had gotten to her ego a little bit. They liked her and found her and her antics funny, but that wasn't enough to fully take pressure off Coye.

He couldn't take it anymore, so he took a deep breath and expressed himself, raising his voice. "Okay, everyone, stop. I'm, um, I'm flattered that you all want to talk to me, but I don't have time for this right now, and I'm a little overwhelmed. I'm supposed to go talk with Dorothy-" as he expected, there were several wolf-whistles in response to that comment. "But if you all get off my back for now, maybe I'll hang out in the lounge for a while after I'm done with that. I just need space to get used to... all this. Okay?"

Much to his surprise, the crowd followed through with his demands. His new respect wasn't just for show- people actually listened to him. They started backing off respectfully, with a few showing affection as they left. Some patted his shoulder, and others asked for handshakes or fist bumps, but it was tasteful, and no one pushed him further than they already had. It was surreal for Coye to realize they worried about upsetting him, but that was apparently the case.

He was left alone with Byng at the front door but wasn't ready to go inside yet, not after all the excitement. He slinked off to a nearby bench and sat down, letting out a tremendous sigh.

Byng plopped down by his side and teased, "Welcome to the rest of your life, gahaha!"

"It better not be," Coye grimaced at the suggestion.

"C'mon, short-stuff. It wasn't all bad, was it?" Byng tilted her head and smirked. "You can't pull one over on me, y'know. I know you enjoyed the attention- at least a little."

'He totally did,' Shayla confirmed, having sensed as much herself. 'And I, for one, think this is a golden opportunity. Having more friends'll do you some good, maybe even break you out of your shell if given some time.'

"But my shell is comfy, and I recently made enough room in it for a few girls. I don't know if I can fit anyone else in there." Coye joked. He wasn't against having more friends, but it wasn't his primary interest. His heart and mind were focused entirely on Dorothy.

"Eh, we'll see how it goes. As for me, I'm gonna start hauling ass while you chat with Dotty. See what mischief I can get up to on the quest board, gahaha!" Byng was determined not to fall behind- especially now that Coye would start heading off on gold-ranked quests with Auguris in the future. The behind-the-scenes metrics that the Guild used to dole out rank-up opportunities were as obscure to her as ever, but she figured she couldn't be that far behind him.

Feeling brave after his moment in the sun, Coye placed his hand on Byng's thigh and smiled at her. "Sounds good. You in the market for a good luck kiss?"

"Depends," she raised an eyebrow. "How much are they going for these days? Your lips seem in high demand, and I don't know if I can pony up." Byng said, hoping that was the proper expression. Stupid Karnallian idioms.

"This one's on the house," Coye leaned in closer, only to be stopped short by Shayla.

'For someone who doesn't want to be the center of attention, I'd advise not doing this right in front of the damn Guild. You never know who's going to walk out the front door, why-' Shayla then wondered if she had some latent prophetic abilities because the door opened as if on cue, and someone stepped out.

Arguably, the worst someone possible.

It was none other than Britni, dressed up in her adventuring gear and ready to depart on whatever task she signed herself up for. She noticed them right before Coye and Byng's lips met. They froze up, as did she. Britni's face had a wide range of conflicted emotions at that moment, making her hard to read for anyone but a pixie.

Embarrassment... regret... jealousy... Shayla smirked.

'On second thought, go nuts. Give Byng some tongue, big guy. Rub it in a little, why don't you?' She advised, though Coye was far too embarrassed to make the most of her words of so-called wisdom.

Coye wouldn't antagonize Britni during the best times, but her supposedly acting nicer made him want to be respectful. He'd been told about how Britni behaved after the battle, how she even paid for his medical bill, and most importantly, how she bet more gold on him than anyone else. Coye still didn't know what to make of that, especially not with whatever was going on between her and Coco, but at the very least, he was grateful for Britni's apparent change in heart.

He pulled away from Byng, and she did the same before greeting their colleague. "Sup, Brit? Sorry you had to see that, gahaha! Can't help it if someone feels frisky, y'know?"

"Uh, okay? Like, I don't know why you would think I care where the two of you choose to make out, but whatever..." Britni scoffed, shutting her eyes and dismissing them. She could've just as easily gotten on with her day and left right then and there, but she crossed her arms and remained where she was.

Coye took that as a sign that she wanted to talk. Unlike the big crowd from before, Britni was someone he was willing to make an effort to engage with. He greeted her with an awkward smile, saying, "Hey, Britni. Doing alright today?"

It was a stiff attempt, but she didn't care and answered him casually enough.

"Hm. I wouldn't go so far as to say things are alright, but I suppose things could be worse..." Britni grumbled. "I'm taking off to deal with a string of kill quests. Nothing big, I should be back later tonight..."

Though her words sounded vaguely threatening, Coye was pleased. Strange as it was to admit, this somewhat tense exchange was likely the most pleasant back-and-forth he'd had with Britni since... ever? She might've been irritable, but it was a marked improvement from their typical interactions.

Byng threatened to ruin it by teasing Britni, unable to hold herself back. "Sounds like you're gonna be pretty busy, then. What's the big rush? I thought you won big the other day?"

Coye feared for the worst as Britni stared straight at Byng, a tiny amount of static electricity starting to crackle around her body. It wasn't a lot, but enough to show her irritation. She looked away and flipped her hair, the electricity subsiding as she contained herself.

"I don't do what I do for money. I kill because I was born for battle, like any true Midgardian. It's my sacred duty to throw myself into combat at any chance and become stronger so that when I die, the Valkyries find me worthy enough to carry me to Valhalla!"

Byng blinked rapidly. There was a lot to take in there, and she didn't know what to make of it. "Cool? Gotta be honest with you, I still barely understand how Karnalle's afterlife works, and I don't know shit about Midgard's. What happens to you in this Valhalla place, huh?"

"I get to eat and drink from Odin's table and engage in endless battle while waiting for Ragnarok to begin so that I might serve in the All-Father's army during the final battle," Britni declared with surface-level pride.

Byng squinted her eyes, piecing things together. "So, what... you die and just continue doing the same shit you always do, except now there's some war to end all wars tacked on at the end as a treat?"

"...Roughly speaking, yes," Britni spat out.

"Byng," Coye took her hand and frowned. "Maybe don't go around being rude toward other realm's religions?"

"I'm just saying, it sounds a little weird," Byng shrugged her shoulders. "Fighting all day, every day, so that you can fight even harder when you die? Doesn't sound very fun to me."

"It's, like, the duty of every Midgardian," Britni recited the words like she'd memorized them by heart. "Fun isn't the point, but I wouldn't expect you to understand. Besides, I'm sure your culture's afterlife would sound just as stupid to me as mine does to you."

"Actually-" Byng started, but Coye interrupted as the small pit in his stomach expanded the longer this conversation continued.

"Hey, can we maybe stop talking about this?" He asked, trying to keep his anxiety in check without letting on too much about his fears. Shayla knew what he was going through and was subtly rubbing his scalp to soothe him, which he was thankful for. "It's pretty depressing, and I'd rather talk about more important things. Like how thankful I am for what you did for me the other day." He hid his concern behind a cute smile, which caused Britni to drop everything and be overcome with sudden emotions.

Not wanting to stand around awkwardly, she looked away and puffed her painted lips out. "What, the medical shit? It's fine. Really. I never paid you back for that one time you helped me out, so consider us even."

Shayla noted that, narrowing her eyes at the suspicious comment, while Coye only tilted his head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Britni smiled, thankful he had the tact not to bring up that little incident from their past. "It doesn't matter. Moving on, if there's nothing else I can do for you, I've got a long-ass list of monsters that need slaying, so..."

Coye experienced a spark of mischievous intent, prompting him to follow Byng's lead by teasing Britni just a little. "I hope you won't put me on that list if I tell you how flattered I am you believed in me."

Britni paused, and for a moment, everyone expected the worst to happen, but she didn't get upset at his jest. Instead, she actually cracked a smile. It was tense, and Britni was clearly fighting against her nature to do so, but she wasn't unamused by Coye's comment.

"Me? Believing in you? As if." She laughed. "It wasn't anything like that. No, I knew you would win because anyone with the balls to pick a fight with me would never lose to someone on the level of Auguris. That's all."

"Right, right," Byng casually nodded, smiling smugly. It was like this bitch expected her to forget how worried she was about Coye after the battle.

'Some girls just can't be honest with themselves,' Shayla sighed as if she was better than Britni, leaving Coye to restrain his impulse to call out her hypocrisy.

Britni then started walking away from the Guild, hoping that that was that, but Coye wouldn't let her get away so easily. "Hey-" he called out, catching her attention and making her look back over her shoulder. "Before you go, do you remember what I asked you the day you got back from your Cordycepper quest?"

It seemed as if Coye finally pushed his luck too far. Britni turned bright red, his inquiry summoning a moderate amount of lightning that started swirling around her body. The less time she spent thinking about that day and the way Coye acted during it, the better. She whipped around, giving him an angry expression as she snapped at him. "The only thing I remember from then his-"

"It was a yes or no question," Coye interrupted, somehow finding the courage to laugh at Britni's frightening reaction. The way she blushed and got all angry was cute, and he wondered why he never saw it before. "And I was talking about the part where I asked you if you wanted to go out on a quest sometime. I dunno, just figured I'd remind you that's an open offer before you took off."

"Whoa there, short-stuff! You really gonna ask her out when I'm right here?" Byng laughed and nudged him in the elbow. Though mostly joking, she was surprised to see Coye propose such a thing nonchalantly.

Shayla shared that surprise, bopping Coye on the head. 'What the fuck are you thinking, stupid?! Are you trying to get the both of us electrocuted? I get that you may or may not be into that kind of thing, but I'm sure as hell not!'

Coye ignored both of them, instead focusing on Britni, who simply stared at him for what felt like hours. The poor bully was having trouble going anywhere with this. She didn't know how to respond. Anger wasn't it, but neither was satisfaction. After all, she wanted to keep up appearances, but she was decidedly impressed with his courage.

In the end, she turned and started walking away. "Don't you have better things to do than trying to hit on me like I'm a common whore?" Though her words were cold, Britni laughed softly as she spoke. "Go and see your precious little Dorothy. She's the whole reason you're here right now, right? Don't keep her waiting, and... maybe you and I can talk about that offer of yours some other time... but that's a very big maybe, you got that, loser?"

Feeling as if he'd won a significant victory here, Coye smiled and saw her off. "Sounds good. Do your best today, Britni."

"Hmph," Britni flipped her hair again before strutting into the distance. Any warmth she might've had was gone as fast as she was.

"So... are you trying to hook up with Britni, or what? Because that was pretty damn ballsy of you!" Byng got up in his business, half interested in the answer and half concerned for his safety.

'More like it was pretty damn suicidal of him,' Shayla pouted.

"No," Coye laughed. "I mean... I don't know? I was just trying to be nice to her and felt a little playful. Is that so bad? Plus, Britni seemed to react positively. At least, I thought so..."

"Maybe a little..." Byng shrugged her shoulders. She didn't know Britni all that well, much less than Coye did, at any rate. They'd simply been guildmates who occasionally found themselves in the building at the same time, and neither interacted with each other until recently. That said, everyone knew Britni was a gigantic bitch, and Byng had witnessed plenty of her antics from the sidelines. Particularly when scoping out Coye from afar.

"But... what do I know? Maybe if you crack her open, you'd find a halfway decent person underneath all the various layers of bitch, gahaha!"

'That's a little overly optimistic,' Shayla rolled her eyes at the idea. 'If you could sense what I do, you'd know she's still just as big of an unhinged mess as ever, though I will concede she's at least acting a little more self-aware and approachable. What you do with that knowledge is up to you, baby. Just try to play it by ear and don't take any big risks. Got that?'

"We'll see," Coye teased. "I'm feeling pretty unpredictable lately. Who knows what I'll do next?"

'I do. You're gonna get in there and see Dorothy if you know what's good for you, dummy!' Shayla gave him a playful zap, which got him to stand at attention and prompted a smile from Byng as the two of them walked into the Guild.

The familiar sight of the entrance hall was contrasted by an unfamiliar pair of faces waiting at the end of it. Some adventurers were at the counter registering their quests, pausing briefly to look at Coye and wave, but the ones handling these quests weren't Dorothy or Tammy. Instead, it was a pair of maids. Or rather, former maids?

Wiska and Chelanne were no longer wearing the bewitching black and white dress of a housekeeper. They were instead dressed casually, Wiska in a frilly white dress and Chelanne in a tank top and trousers, both with nametags on their breast identical to Tammy's. Tammy was present but didn't seem to be doing any work in the traditional sense. Instead, she oversaw the two as they filled out paperwork and discussed the finer details of the adventurer's plans, pausing them to give instructions or corrections every so often.

She looked up from her subordinate's work and nodded at Coye and Byng from across the hall. Telling them to keep doing what they were doing and that she'd check their work in a moment, Tammy raised the bar at the front counter so she could exit and approach.

"Sup, killer. Killer's green girlfriend. Like my new assistants?" She tilted her head back at the duo, who were struggling to keep up but doing their best.

"Shouldn't they be cleaning up a dirty dorm room somewhere or doing laundry?" Coye asked, remembering that day several weeks ago when these two girls inadvertently set off the chain of events that led to Auguris's freak-out. He wasn't a petty person unless Dorothy was involved, but ignoring his mild distaste for these two was hard. It was similar to how he used to feel about Tammy herself before additional context changed his opinion of her.

"Not anymore. They felt bad over what happened and volunteered to try working the front desk." Tammy shrugged, but she always shrugged when she spoke. She was actually pleased about the development, as evident by her subtle grin. "I'm training them just like I did with Suzette. They might not pick up things as fast as her, but it's a start."

"Really?" Coye smiled. "Nice." Knowing that Wiska and Chelanne were trying to atone for their mistakes satisfied him, and he was also happy for Tammy.

"Good for you, Tam!" Byng extended her fist toward the main receptionist, who responded with a casual fist bump. Tammy wiped it on her skirt afterward, though.

'Huh. Once these two learn the ropes, what exactly is Tammy gonna do all day...?' Shayla wondered before realizing, 'Wait. On second thought, I guess it's not gonna be that much different.'

"They apologized to Dorothy, right?" Coye asked just to make sure. His tone almost made it sound like he would make them if they hadn't already. Luckily, he was cute even when he tried to sound threatening.

"Yup, and the boss handled it like nobody's business. Didn't let them walk all over her in the slightest. You would've been proud of her. Hell, I was proud of her." Tammy smiled, even more so when she saw how happy that news made Coye.

"Where is the boss, by the by?" Byng asked, moving things along.

"Office, last I checked. She slept all day yesterday and-"

"Wait, really? Is she okay?" Coye interrupted.

"She had a minor heart attack caused by a major panic attack four days ago, a severe depressive episode the day after, and then two days ago, her entire world turned upside down in a grand, public spectacle. If sleeping for twenty-four hours straight doesn't sound normal to you after all of that-"

"Oh," Coye blushed and scratched behind his ear. "That makes sense. But... just to be clear, you're saying she's alright?"

Tammy found his concern rather adorable, in a desperate puppy dog way. "More than alright. She woke up feeling good about herself and had a huge breakfast, then insisted on reviewing everything the two trainees filed yesterday."

"And you let her?" Byng put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes.

"Hey, if I didn't think she could handle it, I would've stopped her myself. Promise."

"...Okay, I trust you," Coye sighed. He didn't like the idea of Dorothy pushing herself again but chose to have faith in Tammy's judgment. "Mind if we go and ditch you with your new friends?"

"If you must," Tammy brushed them aside. "They're not as entertaining as you, Killer, but I'll make do."

Leaving Tammy to her trainees, Coye and Byng went into the lounge. Another group of adventurers was posturing about in from the quest board. They, too, saw fit to stop what they were doing and give Coye attention by waving at him and making friendly remarks. He smiled politely and waved but didn't say anything back. Coye tried not to show it, but this was continuing to get old, fast.

"Think you can handle that little sit down with your fans later or are you gonna bolt out of Dotty's window when it's time to make your daring escape?" Byng asked as they stopped a few feet away from Dorothy's office.

"I said I would do it, so I'll do it," Coye shrugged. "I have a feeling I'm gonna be in a better mood by then, anyway."

'Someone's sounding sure of himself,' Shayla teased. 'You don't think there's a chance things might not go how you want them to in there?'

Coye froze up at the possibility for only a moment before shaking it off. 'That's really not helping, Shayla...'

'Sorry, sorry. Sometimes I feel like I'm obsessively compelled to make sure you're constantly second-guessing yourself... if I don't, I worry you'll just rush ahead without thinking about anything.'

"Don't be too hard on him," Byng whispered, unable to join the telepathic conversation. "For what it's worth, short-stuff, I think you've got this." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before snaking around behind him and turning his shoulders so he faced the door to Dorothy's office.

Giving Coye a sharp, public slap on the butt, she ushered him forward and slunk off to the quest board. "Do your best in there!"

He was embarrassed by the sudden spanking, but it helped center him and calm his nerves. Or at least it would've if the adventurers at the quest board didn't laugh and whistle at him. A Dwarven girl carrying a huge warhammer even went so far as to give Byng a high-five. Coye rolled his eyes, blushed, and gazed at the door ahead.

'You don't actually think there's a chance of me messing this up, do you?' Coye asked as he raised his hand to knock on the door.

'Honestly? No, probably not. I'm just overly sarcastic and should be ignored in this specific situation. Go get her, baby.' Shayla grabbed two big stalks of his hair and pulled them as if they were reins, playfully showing her support. It had the intended effect, giving him a surge of confidence and making him smile.

His fist connected with the door, emotions stirring inside him as he knocked. "Dorothy, are you in there? It's me."

Immediately, they heard a gamut of sounds they'd come to associate with the struggling Guild Mistress. There was a ruffling of paper, the clinking of glasses and ink bottles, and a noise like she'd accidentally bumped into her desk out of surprise.

"Coye?!" She called back as if snapped into reality from a dream. "Oh, ah, no. Er. I mean, yes, damn it all... come right in, please! I was hoping you'd stop by, ahaha..."