Visual art by Gowen

On the warm summer eves of Melodia, Gabby enjoys watching the sunset from her building’s rooftop garden. She doesn’t get to do it too often, given her busy schedule, but sometimes things just happen to align.

Several low level employees were enjoying the view as well, chatting away while on their break as Gabby awaited her rendezvous. After several minutes standing there as still as the dead, she peeked down at her wrist, turning it slowly over. “You’re late.” She stated boldly, returning to her original pose.

“I’m never late. You’re just so early all the time that five minutes early is late in your head.” A small, semi-simulated voice called back at her from within the tree at the center of the garden. The voice’s owner, Whisper, did not reveal herself, remaining hidden in the branches and playing with one of Gabby’s ambush bugs, likely the one that alerted her to Whisper’s presence.

Gabby stood there for several moments in silence before breaking it with a sigh. “The sun sets on our city, my dear friend. The winds are shifting and this time, our sails are fighting to keep us moving.” She reached up and brushed back a stray cluster of hair before continuing, “and soon the diurnal will find shadows looming over them at the peak of day while the night burns brighter than the moon.” Her words hung in the air unanswered while a soft breeze brushed over the rooftop.

“Okay, so I’m killing him, then?” Whisper asked rhetorically. “I know you’ll probably never stop asking me for favors like that, because it’s you, but for the hundredth time, you can just be like… ‘Hey, Whisper, go kill so-and-so.’ and nobody would really care. Especially me.” Gabby just smirked and chuckled at her friend and associate before heading back inside, the sun falling beyond the horizon.

So I didn't see that the artist gave her an extra finger until recently. Oh well :B