'Wait a minute,' her psychic voice was a whisper of pure, unadulterated genius in my mind. 'A long-term, Guild-sanctioned research project... Mochi, what's the standard stipend for long-term magical observation? We need to draft an invoice.'
Her thought cut through my own spiral of despair like a sharp, glinting coin. It was so unexpected, so completely and utterly FaeLina, that for a moment, my mind just went blank. I was still picturing a future of endless performance reviews and magical audits. She was already drafting a business plan.
'An... invoice?' I finally projected back, the thought feeling alien in my own mind.
'Of course, an invoice!' she declared, her managerial brain rebooting at a hundred miles an hour as she zipped out from behind me, her aura now a brilliant, confident pink. She turned to the rest of the team, who were still slumped in a state of quiet despair.
"Alright, team listen up!" FaeLina's voice cracked like a whip, sharp and commanding.
