The azure draenei had steeled herself the past week for their rapprochement. With the advent of Argus, the world was suddenly shifting, and not all for the better. New sources of power seemed eager to step forth and corrupt people, and, it seemed, her long-time friend had already succumbed to the whispers of the newest craze.<br/><br/>Nevertheless, Alexandriv had a hull of spices and Pandaren wormsilk to sell, and with the influx of exotic goods from Mac'Aree and the Broken Isles she couldn't afford to be picky about her partners. It was impossible to ignore her worsening relationship with Crescent, though, and she inwardly wondered if her difficulty in becoming accepted as a candidate for lightforging wasn't in part due to her proximity to the void elf. She tried to push those thoughts from her mind as she searched the hodgepodge assembly of the docks of Booty Bay.<br/><br/>When she did finally find the shapely elf lounging like a lizard in the hot sun, she mustered her enthusiasm and put on a genteel smile. Their exchanged pleasantry was short, and Crescent's cargo underwhelming, and as the void elf strutted off without waiting to hear Alex's reply she could feel her tail irritatingly flicking the air behind her. Alex rubbed a hand across her face as if fighting exhaustion, but, like a good businesswoman, she took a deep breath, straightened her silken dress, and followed the woman down to their room.<br/><br/>The elf seemed to have retained her taste for opulence as the rented room that met Alex was easily one of the most luxurious rooms on offer. Silver carafes laden with fragrant sin'dorei wine, appropriate kobold wax remelted into perfumed candles, and it seemed that Crescent had ordered catering as well, as there was hardly any time before goblins in squat little tuxedos ushered in to provide them exotic (and probably endangered) cuts of meat. They even had a beachfront view with a window looking out over the half-destroyed statue of Janeiro... or at least, she thought the statue was of a goblin named Janeiro. She briefly pondered why she had never bothered to ask anybody.<br/><br/>Despite everything flashy and glamorous she had eyes only for Crescent, and while before she may have been admiring, envious, or lustful, now she was mostly just concerned. Not entirely altruistically, she knew, as losing Crescent meant losing a trading contact. She procured a ledger of goods and provided it to the elf, sliding it surreptitiously over the table.<span style="color: #4d4dff">"I'm not going to bore you with the details. We'll do our standard swap per volume."</span>Alex grimaced disapprovingly.<span style="color: #4d4dff">"I know you've been... busy, Crescent, but you need to do better next time."</span>She paused, then added sincerely,<span style="color: #4d4dff">"please. I care about you, and I'm... concerned."</span>The draenei fidgeted in place.<span style="color: #4d4dff">"I feel like you're ... drifting away from me. And not just monetarily, you know. Is this... <i>Void</i> nonsense really worth it to you?"</span>Alex felt awkward probing her friend like this, but she couldn't let Crescent be consumed by the Void without at least trying to stop her. She wondered idly if the void elf was already too far gone and was only due to get worse.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>