The young male guard at the desk raised his eyebrows beneath his fringe of unruly brown curls, knowing who Ryanna was but still surprised that she would use such a familiar term for Lieutenant Frederickson. Sure, all the guards called him that but they were his workmates, not just some... wannabe. "I dunno\' if he\'s available," the guard told her, eyeing off the men who entered behind her before looking back at the woman. "He\'s in a meeting with the captain; I\'ll go see."
With that, he was gone, loping up the stairs somewhat nervously. This was only the second day the captain had been back and there was some tension between she and Freddy that people had seen brewing when Lord Liari came in to update his permit the day before. It was better today but... he didn\'t like the idea of interrupting the two of them while they talked in her office. His quiet knock was answered immediately, though, and he opened the door as commanded, to tell them that Ryanna was downstairs with two men seeking permits.
Wilson frowned. "Ryanna?" she queried sharply, her fiancé\'s best interests at heart. "What\'s she doing here now? Who\'s in the shop?"
Guard Kerling gave her a nonplussed look, flushing a little as he realised he couldn\'t answer that question - especially since he\'d directed his alert to the fair-haired man who was sitting on this side of the captain\'s desk, sort of leaning forward as if he\'d been talking about the map of the city that was open on the desk between them, and hadn\'t expected to speak to her at all. Now, the young guard\'s eyes were widened at his ultimate superior.
"Uh... I don\'t know, ma\'am."
Freddy spared Lam a frown that was to be interpreted as a disapproving look aimed only at her - he didn\'t feel it was appropriate for her to worry about her personal life at work (though when had she not?) and since she\'d been back two days and not told him one way or the other how things with Kysis had gone, he was on edge with her, even though he was being absolutely professional and steadfastly recounting everything that had happened since she\'d left - and then he stood and faced the guard. "Alright, I\'ll deal with it. Won\'t be long, Captain," he told her, striding out of the office in a business-like manner, speaking over his shoulder. Guard Kerling trotted after him, both of them expecting Lam to stay where she was.
Of course, she didn\'t.
As Freddy went to stand behind the front counter and Kerling scooped up the papers he\'d been working on upon its expansive surface, she walked quietly down the stairs to observe. She approached the two desks facing each other in the middle of the area behind the counter, folded her arms across her breasts and sat on the edge of one of them, her long legs stretched out on the floorboards before her, the right one hooked nonchalantly over the left.
She was still finding her feet after her trip away so she wore no armour, just her black boots and pants with her dark green coat snugly covering her upper half, willful red hair up in its usual tidy bun. The black ribbon upon her left breast declared her rank and was still visible as she got herself into a comfortable position to watch from (Kerling gave a double take as he turned with his papers and headed for his desk but continued on after a moment\'s hesitation, trying to look busy immediately. The other guard at the desk behind her kept throwing her disconcerted looks, but she didn\'t even acknowledge him, leaving it up to Kerling to silently communicate that he had no clue what was going on with her across teh expanse of their desks) but she didn\'t make a big deal about her being there.
"How can I help you today, Ryanna?" Freddy sighed as he got to the counter and made eye contact with the bane of his existence. His tone was, indeed, weary and possibly even rude. She was a tiny little thing, only reaching as far as his collarbone, but she more than made up for her diminished stature with a brash personality and vocal cords tha would halt a charging herd of horses. He glanced at the men behind her, giving a nod of recognition to Magnus and a greeting smile to Dag but it was all very brisk, his gaze soon back on the young woman directly before him.
Very keen observers would notice the slight tilt to his head, almost as if something invisible was tugging on the lobe of his right ear, drawing his head in the most minor of turns, like he was listening acutely in that direction. In actuality, he was aware that Lam was there, behind him, sensing her presence and disapproving of it. The stiffness of his broad shoulders gave that tidbit away, as did his efficient mannerisms, but it likely translated (if it was broadcast at all) as nervousness that he was being watched. The yellow ribbon on his left lapel seemed far less menacing and important than that of the black one a couple of metres at his back; it was possible he felt intimidated by that... possible, but unlikely if one also saw the flashing glint in his blue-grey eyes.
