{SB}Reconnaissance

[Roxana Strix]

[Note: Takes place at the point when the ship has already arrived at Mexico]

Coming on this trip was a mistake. She should have gone home before the trip instead of having it planned that she would leave partway through it. Roxana had already worked through things in advance for how she would leave the trip and catch a plane home for the remainder of her Spring Break. The only reason she had come on this trip in the first place was out of habit of knowing she needed to keep track of her targets. However she had already been approved on her leave of absence so didn't actually even need to go on this trip at all.

Roxana blamed the habit that had been formed over her months at the school, but she had to go home. She missed her home and there was that very important need of rehabilitation that she herself had requested be done. Still, she had a day and a few hours left until she was going to use her trump card that would provide the common students and staff with a believable excuse as to where Roxana had disappeared off to for the remained of the trip. Then she would be on her way home to deal with all aspects of coming home.

For now, she figured she would try that whole 'hang out' thing with Elsa Bellefonte if the other girl was up for it. It didn’t take long to find where Elsa was, the girl kind of stood out...or at least she did to Roxana who had gotten very familiar with spotting Elsa out no matter where she was. "Hello Elsa, how are you doing?" Roxana asked. It was practically her standard greeting for her targets and well peoples she was being friendly with. She did in fact care how Elsa was doing of course. "I was wondering if you would like to travel around this part of Mexico with me. Could be a little dangerous for you to go anywhere by yourself with how much you are worth." Roxana spoke up, adding to reason why Elsa should go with her.

Even if this was a fun trip, that didn't mean there, were not bad people out there that knew Bellefonte was rich and stealing a Bellefonte girl meant money. Even if they were all the way in Mexico, information got around. Roxana understood that better than most people.

((Tag:Elsa Bellefonte))

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa had actually done her level best not to really look like herself. Her curled hair had been pulled back into a tight braid. Her usually paler skin had a decidedly tanned look, courtesy of the sun and her actually enjoying spending time lounging in it for a change. She even dressed in clothing several steps down from her social status: borrowed jean shorts and a black tank top that showed off the previously mentioned sun-kissed arms. Elsa also just happened to understand enough Spanish to not sound like a complete tourist.

Though apparently none of this stopped Roxana Strix from identifying her. "Well, there goes my hope that anyone out to kidnap me would think twice," Elsa drawled. She turned looking up at Roxana through Ray-Bans (her only concession to her wealth; if she was going to wear sunglasses, she was going to wear good ones). "What are you even doing here? Checking up on your targets again?" she smirked as she said it, before turning. "I'm actually attempting to blend in here," Elsa gestured at the locals, "and you, well, you don't do that quite as well as I do," she looked up at Roxana's blonde hair and very Nordic looking frame, again smiling.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana was always going to be able to find Elsa Bellefonte. She had watched the girl for months now, understood her on some level. With how much she had drawn the other girl, she was good at noticing how the girl carried herself when she walked, how she stood, and even sat. All of it she could pick out among a crowd and find the girl she was looking for. Elsa would have to change everything about herself in order to ever be able to fool Roxana at this point. "I would not allow them to." Roxana assured Elsa. No one, no one would hurt Elsa while Roxana was. If they so much as tried anything, they would find themselves in need of a hospital or morgue.

"Yes and no. I was checking up on you but at the moment I am actually free to enjoy myself." Roxana admitted. She figured there was not actual harm in telling Elsa that she was no longer her target for the moment. Someone else was currently looking out for her targets, someone that was not going to be revealing themselves to any of said targets. It was an older operative that knew better than to involve himself in the lives of children. He had said as much to Roxana when she met up with him and handed over a little bit about all f her targets and who the priority ones were.

"Would you like me to change? I can speak Spanish with no problem." Roxana assured Elsa. If what she was wearing now was too much, she could go change into something more local if that was what Elsa wanted. She had contacts here; there were contacts of SIGUARD around the world. She was in a light shirt, one that did show her arms, and a pair of jeans, loose even and made of a material that would keep her from getting hot. Rox personally thought she was dressed in a very much relaxed manner, but people kept proving to her that she didn't really know what relaxed was. "I wanted to know if we could hang out a little." Roxana then went ahead and admitted why she was bothering Elsa in the first place.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa nearly snorted as Roxana insisted that she'd keep people away from kidnapping her. Nearly, because Elsa was fairly certain that Roxana would most certainly do so and likely do a great job of it as well. There was a reason why Elsa had hired the woman to be her bodyguard, even if Elsa hasn't quite seen her in action as much as she would have liked, at least, not directly.

It wasn't surprising to hear that Roxana had been keeping up with her. "That is your job," Elsa pointed out, though with very little venom. She didn't quite have as much venom as she used to have. Probably because her life was a good deal better overall.

Even if she did have to fend off Roxana's comments. The urge to snort or roll her eyes was again rising up within her, and yet again she had to fight to keep her expression neutral.

"Why am I not surprised that you speak Spanish?" Elsa drawled, keeping her tone level. "if you really wanted to just spend some time with me, you could always ask. I'm mostly just out to enjoy some of the local life." She gestured around, making certain not to actually bonk one of said locals with said waving hand.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana actually didn't want Elsa to see what she was capable of; she didn't really want many people to see what she could do. If they did, they would know that she had no hesitation when it came to ending the life of a threat, that she had some serious training, and was in general someone that you did not want to get upset. Not that much could actually get Roxana upset, she was a much laid back person and that was probably for the best. If she had been any different, well she knew that she would not have been sent to the school.

Perhaps she needed to be a bit more of a loose cannon in order for SIGUARD to give her a new mission. The main question was, did she really want to leave or was it because she feared she was not good at the job she had been sent here to do? "Yes." Roxana replied back simple as Elsa pointed out that it was her job. It was her job among other things, but that still didn't help. It still didn't help that she felt like she had become weak or something along those lines. She didn't think about it, not too much anyways. Right now she was thinking about what they could do while in Mexico and if it was even safe for them to travel around.

Well Elsa was safe because Roxana was there, but was it worth the risk just in case someone did want to do the Bellefonte harm? "Possibly because you figured that I am well-versed in a lot of things." Roxana responded back. She probably didn't need to answer, but she did anyways so that she was not being as silent in conversations as she normally was. At least she was trying to not be. Trying. "It's a weird question to ask." Roxana admitted. She never asked it before unless there was an actual reason behind it other than just wanting to be in someone’s company. "May I join you in enjoying the local life?" Roxana then asked after a moment.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa nodded in agreement with Roxana's assessment of Elsa's assessment of her abilities: yes, she did more or less assume that Roxana was a highly capable young woman. So far, her assumptions had been proven more right than wrong. there was a bit of stiffness and professionalism there, not to mention a subservience that was unnerving and a sort of emotional deadness that reminded Elsa of herself at her worst, but Roxana remained consistently impressive throughout.

"Is it?" Elsa asked at the comment regarding the weirdness of the question. She quirked a brow and gestured. "Roxana: would you like to hang out with me in Mexico? Maybe sight see a little, look at the locals?"

Elsa raised her brows again, Roxana had asked, but Elsa still stated her questions, wanting to prove her point. She turned, nodding. "I asked some the locals on the boat: they said there's a little shop down here that actually sells locally made goods. That sounds a good deal more interesting to me than perusing the malls like a shopper. You're more than welcome to join me."

And Elsa waited, looking expectantly at Roxana, waiting for verbal confirmation or movement in the right direction.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana gave a small nod at the question. She remained silent as Elsa then went to prove that it was not something that was hard to say. Yes, it was not hard to let the worlds leave your lips but it was just not something that Roxana was used to asking. Not just to do it because they both had a moment of free time. Normally Roxana hung out for the sake of information gathering or to business; as most things with Elsa tended to involve. Asking to just hang out when none of those were involved, well it was probably to say that it felt more so weird then it was hard to say.

Rox’s mouth opened to say something in retort to Elsa making it seem easy, but she didn’t say anything and closed her mouth. There was no point in saying something when Elsa was partly right on the matter, even if Rox still viewed asking such a thing to the other girl as a challenge. She figured she could blame the still level of confusion she had towards Elsa but preferred to not think about that at the moment. “I would very much like to accompany you then.” Roxana said when Elsa informed her, what she was going to be doing. Rox was not all that interested in buying anything, but perhaps she would see some local art that would just ‘speak’ to her.

She followed Elsa then, when the other girl started to walk of. Keeping the appropriate amount of distance between the two of them, and out of habit still checking around. She did at least make an effort to look like she was not working or anything. It was not like this was an odd thing to do. Many people had seen Elsa and Roxana walking together and nothing bad had ever been said or become of it. Perhaps it was because they just assumed Rox was some kind of high end robot that was programmed for Elsa along with a few select people. “Have you been enjoying the trip so far?” Roxana asked, figuring they could talk while they walked.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

The slightly formal comment had Elsa laughing lightly, though it had no venom or anything to it. She simply nodded and moved along, trusting her friend and companion to fall in. After all, they'd certainly walked about together enough to have a steady rhythm.

Elsa had actually looked at maps and gotten directions, so she walked through the crowd with some confidence, sliding around people as she went. Crowds like this made her thankful that she had enough control over her abilities to not pick up thoughts automatically: that would have led to a near overwhelming onslaught. Elsa could likely handle it, but she'd rather not experience it if she didn't have to.

Unlike most of this outing: "I've been enjoying myself, really," she said, her voice light, adding a slight flick of her wrist. "Felix and I have spent some time together, and I've gotten to socialize with my sister and her husband again, which is always interesting. I've even been roomed with Ellen. And before you ask," she paused to look at Roxana, purposefully lowering her shades to look up at the other girl's eyes, "I've been relaxing. I have some school work to take care of, but that's it."

Since most of her projects were actually waiting in the interim. It wasn't as though she could take the McLisk papers with her on a cruise or anything, and she only briefly looked through the emails that her various contacts still sent. There were things coming down, but at least Elsa only had to prepare so much for them.

[Roxana Strix]

Elsa was still being pleasant, not even the slightest hint of real sarcasm, or the general hidden ‘factor’ behind her words. It was odd, something that Roxana was not used to and she was not sure if she liked it or not. Not that she had a problem with Elsa being nice and this was not the first time, but it was just odd. It was unsettling for Roxana and made her not want to be too close to the girl for fear of…she didn’t even know. She just knew that things felt off about this interaction, or perhaps it was Rox who was feeling off.

“I think that some aspects of what you just said are good.” Roxana said. She figured she didn’t need to be specific with Elsa. It was good that she was taking it easy and that she had connected with her sister, but the Felix matter was still a problem. Rox still wondered to this day what the point of Elsa coming to her to talk about it if she was going to do the complete opposite of Roxana had told her and be a fool. Part of Roxana could not help but to feel slightly…irritated that Elsa was doing something that Rox had advised her not to do, but she knew she could not control Elsa.

The other girl would do as she liked and Roxana was just going to have to deal with the outcome. “You seemed more relaxed, so I would have to trust your word.” Roxana responded back, her tone still the same as always. She didn’t understand why Elsa had to stop and give her the look that she did, perhaps to smother out any doubts that Roxana had on Elsa claiming to be relaxing. Rox moved behind Elsa, keeping her guard up and not too big of a fan of the large crowd at the moment. It was good for hiding and blending in, but it made protecting someone slightly difficult.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

As per normal, Elsa didn't really delve into Roxana's thoughts. If she did, she usually did so with as much notice as possible: It was her way of offering support to the people she actually trusted, and Roxana had certainly earned her trust over and over again.

Though Elsa was seriously considering going back on that decision with Roxana's comments. Some aspects? Yes, she definitely noticed, and her brow quirked at that. Clearly something in what Elsa had said rubbed Roxana the wrong way, though the Bellefonte couldn't quite say what that would possibly be. Perhaps Roxana didn't appreciate Elsa's comment regarding the planned reaction?

They kept going, both with the conversation and with their walking. "Yes, it's amazing what being on a luxury cruise liner and taking a vacation where you literally get away from it all can do for a person," Elsa drawled. She gestured in the direction they needed to go before heading that way. "I can't say the same of you though: You seem as tense as ever. I wouldn't worry that much: this is a safe town on the whole and nobody knows who I am if you don't draw attention to us."

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana was not going to come out and say what aspect had bothered her; that was for Elsa to figure out. The other girl was smart enough to take what she had said and analysis in such a manner at least similar to Rox’s thought process. That or she could simply ask Roxana and she would inform her but if not asked she was not going to say what it was. There was no point in bringing up a topic that upset her unless Elsa really wanted to know. Even still, it didn’t really matter if the topic upset her or not, it was something she just had to deal with.

“Perhaps you needed to get further away from the school.” Roxana said in response to Elsa’s words about how the cruise had helped. There was probably more to it than that, but just taking the time to get away from a place seemed to do wonders for a person. Roxana hoped that it did the same for her, that she would see her family, and that she would be corrected. She didn’t want to fail; she didn’t want to be broken and useless. Unless things tended to die.

They walked and talked with one another, something that was easy enough for the two of them to do since they did it often. Elsa pointing out that Roxana seemed ‘as tense as ever’. Well, that was not a lie. “There had been a lot on my mind that had prevented me from being able to completely relax. It should be of no concern however, it won’t affect my ability to look after you.” Roxana pointed out. Yes, she was stressed and there had been a lot on her mind but she refused to let it get in the way of her main job. While other aspects of her job slightly suffered, she could at the very least keep someone safe.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

"That definitely helps," Elsa agreed, nodding slightly. Roxana had a point after all: distance had a way of putting everything in perspective. The school wasn't falling apart because Elsa had taken a few steps away, wasn't going to end up going down in flames simply because she took a break and went on a cruise. Though Elsa knew that was hardly the extent of it, and that Roxana likely knew that just as well as she did.

They kept walking, easily falling in step with one another. Elsa kept her attention half focused on Roxana and the conversation and half focused on the locals. This was the more tourist friendly section of the town, but that didn't mean she should lower her guard. No reason to make Roxana do any more work than was strictly necessary, after all.

"You know, someone once told me that relaxation is good: helps you put things into perspective and better see the whole picture," Elsa said, unable to keep a bit of bite out of the words. She turned to look at Roxana, her brows raising for a moment. She let it sit and kept walking. "And again: I highly doubt I'm a priority target any more. I'm disgraced, remember?" She gave a slight smile there, trying to show that she mentioned it solely to put Roxana at ease, that it didn't bother her any more.

[Roxana Strix]

Roxana didn't say anything after Elsa's words. There was no need to because the other girl agreed with her and Rox also didn't have much to say. She rarely had much to say because most of it was either facts that she could not or should not share. While the rest were opinions that were again not really important since with certain people it would not matter what you said. Roxana had her attention split in several places as they walked. Tourist, buildings, surroundings, Elsa, thought about Elsa, SIGUARD, home, and family.

All of those thoughts were swirling around her head so it was probably for the best that Elsa was not peeking in or she would be getting a lot of information hitting off one another. None of this showed outwardly, Roxana still kept her usual blank expression as they walked on to their destination. "They sound like a very wise peron." Roxana said, a small smile spreading across her lips, and she even let out a small chuckle. It was one of those really short chuckles, but a chuckle all the same because she knew who Elsa was talking about. It was always entertaining when someone would use another's words back on them.

Rox had done it before to Elsa and now Elsa was doing it in return, but that was not really anything new for their interactions. When Elsa turned to look at her, Roxana slowed down a little bit, keeping some distance between the two of them. Roxana could not hide the confused look that spread across her face for a moment. "Wh-oh…right. You were not fully listening to what I said that time when I was trying to explain to you about..." Roxana said as she dropped off at the end. She spotted something but it didn't seem like anything so she went back to what she was saying, but spoke at a lower tone and moved a little closer towards Elsa.

"Your position was what jumped you onto the priority list, but it’s not what is keeping you on that list. I don't know if I told you, but Ellen is also on that list and she was not in charge of a school and it was not just because of what happened to her." Roxana pointed out. No, there were parameters for both targets and priority targets. Roxana had tried to explain it to Elsa the last time she talked to the girl when she had been drinking but had not apparently got Elsa to understand. Or probably more likely Elsa didn't make an effort to understand back then.

[Elsa Bellefonte]

Elsa just let the comment regarding the wise person sit where it was. They both knew who they were talking about, what they meant. Roxana understood full well what Elsa was getting at, and expanding on it, well, that really wasn't how they communicated with one another. No need to change that now.

Though Elsa couldn't help but wonder what brought on the nearly extreme reaction to her joking statement that followed. She actually stopped moving to turn to Roxana as the other girl drew closer. Elsa's brows raised further still as Roxana continued her explanation. It wasn't Elsa's position that kept her on the list? Was this going to be another of those silly "it's your person that we care about" speeches? Because Elsa was really tired of hearing those, especially since she had pulled herself out of her bottle, and that was no thanks to those speeches, thank you very much.

Ellen is also on the list and... Elsa frowned. Why put her in the same position as Ellen? What was going on here? What was Roxana getting at? "We need to keep moving," Elsa said instead, walking forward.

[Roxana Strix]

At least Roxana knew that Elsa was giving her full attention to her by Elsa turning to face her and stopping. Roxana had mainly closed the distance because she didn’t like discussing SIGUARD in such a public location. Even if the words that left her lips could easily be written off as talking about something else, she didn’t want to take any risk. After all, she was pretty sure that they were being watched. Rox knew this because Elsa was being watched by Rox’s current replacement so now that meant they both were being watched.

Roxana would have gone into detail about it, but not here. Perhaps when they were somewhere where they could sit or sort of not be mixed in with a lot of other people. She noticed that Elsa frowned when Rox pointed out that Ellen was also on the list. She didn’t understand why Elsa would be upset, Ellen was really not a bad person in Rox’s opinion. Both of the girls met what SIGUARD desired and that was why they were priority targets and proof of that was the fact others were now watching the two girls at the very moment.

“Okay.” Roxana replied simply when Elsa said they needed to keep moving. Roxana didn’t see why they need to keep moving but she followed all the same as she fell back into silence. She was not going to go on about a subject if Elsa did not ask or seem to care to know. Rox was still thinking of a lot of things, trying to recall if there was anything important to talk about. She had already shared that she would be leaving the last time she talked to Elsa, but she never really said when. Was that important to know?

“At the end of this trip, I won’t be retuning back to BA…for a little while.” Roxana said, adding the last bit but honestly she didn’t know for how long. She figured she could tell Elsa that much, but in any case she figured Elsa would be fine. There was someone else watching her and well now Elsa had less pressure now that she was no longer a headmistress. Plus there was someone that would keep her company, someone that Rox didn’t want around her but she knew neither would listen to her.