Vanya had hardly slept for the second night in a row. She was sure that she was only able to function from pure adrenaline. Mogrul was finishing his lunch and taking his last swigs of mead. It was nearly time.

She and Geldis shared one last look as he handed her a new bottle of mead. "Azura guide you." He whispered. She turned and headed across the room. Slitter was eyeing her as she approached and Mogrul did not look up until she set the bottle in front of him. He pinned her with his beady yellow eyes, waiting for an explanation.

"On the house." Vanya motioned toward the drink. "May I sit?"

"Go ahead," he replied. She sat quickly without a word. He continued, "How much do you need?"

"Uh, I don't want to borrow money. I'm actually wanting to talk to you about the debt that Drovas has left unpaid." Vanya replied, struggling to keep her voice steady as the orc scrutinized her.

"Do you have a thousand gold coins in that apron pocket of yours?"

"N-no...but..."

"Then we've nothing to talk about." He sat back in his chair as if to end the conversation.

Vanya was not going to give up so easily. "I assume you've not had any luck getting a hold of him?"

Mogrul looked slightly annoyed and Slitter shifted in his seat, but with a sign from his boss, he relaxed. "The Telvanni are not exactly the welcoming sort. The men I've sent to retrieve my gold have not returned. It's why the debt has fallen to Geldis."

She was greatly encouraged to hear that he'd indeed already invested some money into this. "Geldis certainly wants to make things right, which is why we have spent the last couple of days searching every chest and cupboard," Vanya pulled a bag of gold from her apron "under every mattress," she set it on the table, "and managed five hundred and twelve septims." Even though Geldis could afford a little over seven hundred, they'd decided to start low just in case. This way if Mogrul bargained for more they knew they could make it happen.

As it stood, Mogrul was giving her a rather withering look.

"It's all we have, you know times are hard," she pressed.

"Yes, for you and every other person in this town. Why do you think people borrow money?" He seemed to be losing his patience.

"Geldis didn't borrow money," Vanya corrected, a little more sternly that she would have liked. Slitter again shifted in his seat and was again calmed by a signal from his boss. She could not help her outburst, it was completely unjust for him to expect poor Geldis to cough up money he'd never even benefited from.

Mogrul's expression seemed to be one of contemplation, though she had to be honest it was hard to tell. Orc features were so different from human, and even elven, that she was not good at reading them. When he finally spoke his tone was calmer. "Five hundred and twelve? How do I know you are telling the truth?"

Hope bloomed in her chest. Was this actually working? She steeled her nerves once more, forcing herself to continue, "Well, you could take my word for it or- you could pay your thugs from the five hundred and twelve septims they would extract." She gestured toward the bag on the table. "Because it's really all we have."

At this Mogrul crossed his arms and looked at her through narrowed eyes. It took all her willpower to hold his gaze, but a few moments later he finally broke the tense silence with a deep, rumbling laugh. "She's a bold one, isn't she, Slitter?" Slitter made no reply, only tilted his head slightly as Vanya ventured a glance his way. Meeting his eyes sent a shiver down her spine so she quickly turned back to the still grinning Mogrul. He reached for the bottle and took a long drink. "It seems you've caught me in a good mood today." He said, wiping his chin with the back of his hand then reaching for the bag of gold. "If there is the amount that you claim inside, then we will consider this a done deal."

A glimmer of excitement sparked inside her, but she remained tense as Mogrul stacked gold coins across the table, counting aloud. She and Geldis had both painstakingly counted and confirmed the amount, she knew it was right but until Mogrul finished his count she could not relax.

"Five hundred...five hundred-ten...and two makes five hundred- twelve."

"So, we're good?" Vanya offered her hand to shake. She was eager to have this done, lest he change his mind.

"It would seem so." He gave her a quick, firm shake, then occupied himself with returning the money to the bag. "You can go," He said, without looking up.

She was already out of her seat, quelling the urge to run. She'd done it. She'd actually done it!

"He accepted? " Geldis cried as soon as she entered the kitchen. Vanya nodded, matching his expression of disbelief.

Her eyes grew even wider when he pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, Vanya. Thank you. I am in your debt!" She laughed as he backed away. "Er, poor choice of words, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, no more debts. Please."

Geldis leaned in, speaking under his breath, "In any case, if Drovas sends us anything you will share in the spoils. You are the mastermind after all."

She shook her head. "I would not ask for that." Then it occurred to her that there was a request that she'd been waiting for the right moment to put forth. "But I do have a favor to ask."

"Speak, and it is yours," he replied magnanimously.

"Can you let Bralsa come back?" His good humor seemed to falter a bit so she quickly added, "If it helps, she is the one who encouraged me to talk to Mogrul. And I'm pretty sure she learned her lesson. I can cut her off if she's having too much. I- "

He put his hand up to silence her. "I know she's your friend. And because of that, I will allow it."

She squealed and now it was Geldis' turn to receive a hug. He was still speaking as she squeezed him, "But impress upon her that she is not to beg other patrons to buy her drinks."

She released him. "Of course. Thank you, Geldis."

They heard the voices and footfalls of customers walking in and shared a knowing look. "Time to get back to work," Vanya said as she gave Geldis a friendly nudge on the shoulder before turning to exit the kitchen.

It was a couple weeks later when a courier arrived with Drovas' reply that the pair had all but given up on. Geldis seemed relieved that his relationship with the younger mer had been enough to draw a response, but the tone of the letter was curt and dismissive. Not to mention the cheapskate had only sent two-hundred and fifty septims!

Still, Geldis held to his word and split the sum with Vanya. To him, one hundred and twenty-five septims was not an amount to get particularly excited about, but to Vanya is was a windfall. And now I have enough to repay Teldryn!

Should he ever return.