Here are seven clear indications that it's Nume, not Ilraen, before the glasses come into it:

1. The whole story has been from Nume's POV. There's no reason for anyone to assume a switch to Ilraen's POV without notice.

2. The last sentence of the paragraph previous to "He woke slowly" tells of Nume going to sleep, therefore it follows that Nume is the one waking up. Again, if I had meant to switch to Ilraen, I should have given notice.

3. The reader should know from the previous paragraph that Ilraen has returned to his Andalite form, therefore he has no hair on his scalp; only fur.

4. Since Ilraen is in his Andalite form, his speech would be set off with <angle brackets,> not "quotation marks."

5. Ilraen's speech patterns are markedly different from Nume's: he would never say "knock it off."

6. Ilraen has no mouth and therefore no need for a toothbrush.

7. Nume was the one who struck his head against the gates at the Ministry, and anyway, Ilraen has no eyebrows.

Given all that, I feel I've done more than enough to convey the fact that it's Nume we're dealing with, not Ilraen. I'll grant you that it's easier to spot all the clues if you know what an Andalite looks like, but a) that problem is more easily solved by a new reader using Google than by me wasting words describing it over and over in every episode of my spin-off; b) clues 1 and 2 alone should be indication enough; and c) most readers should be able to grasp 4, 5, 7, and possibly even 6 just from this story whether they know anything about Andalites or not.

~Neshomeh

Wow, I don't know how many times I've looked at that line and not noticed the missing word. Sheesh! I've fixed it now.

~Neshomeh

I wish it were easier to find missions without killing in them in departments that aren't supposed to be about Suvians. That's actually one reason I wanted to write for the DIC, because I wasn't too sure about doing the whole assassination thing back when I joined. As it turned out, I got over it by the time I started writing—but I do try to at least come up with creative solutions for the team's baddies, and avoid calling "character replacement" unless there's a name change on top of them being very OOC.

That said, there are some fairly solid storytelling reasons that Sue missions are easier to write, and Suvians do crop up just about everywhere. *shrug*

Like I said to Tomash, I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for more about Nume. I'm kinda feeling sorry I set it up as some sort of deep dark horrible traumatizing secret, cuz I didn't mean to. There's stuff he's not telling anyone, sure, but he's pretty much just bitching and moaning there, and Jenni latches onto it because she's Jenni and she just can't help herself.

Glad you liked that other bit, though. Nice to know someone caught it. ^_^

Thanks for commenting!

~Neshomeh

First, thanks for commenting! Yes, the Saga of Faraen will continue. {= )

I disagree that the semicolon is in error. If I were to write out the dialogue uninterrupted by narration, it would read "Never mind; he pulled it out of his a**, that's where." A comma would clearly be incorrect there, and while I could use a period, I prefer the semicolon to show that the thoughts are connected and, taken together, mean "Disregard the previous question and take this statement in its place."

You're right about Vulnera Sanentur, but since the incantation is from the movieverse and not the books, I decided to err on the side of correct grammar. I'll change it if we ever get Word of God or something confirming the plural form as the one and only form of the countercurse, but for now, y'know, grammar. {= )

~Neshomeh

I'm glad you felt there was enough of the badfic. Phobos suggested that I put a bit more mission in the mission, but I honestly couldn't stand to look at the original fic for too long, and I couldn't find that many good gags to wring from it, in spite of its complete stupidity. It was a bit overwhelming!

I was indeed going for dramatic tension in the climax, so thanks! I'm glad it worked. ^_^

Getting Nume to actually discuss any liaisons he may or may not have had would be approximately as difficult as getting blood from a stone, so no, I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. Even as his author, pretty much all I know is what I've already put in his bio.

I, too, look forward to finding out what happens when Ilraen presents his gift. *eg*

~Neshomeh

Sorry I've been avoiding my inbox. I've kind of been avoiding everything, since I've been focused on RL and finishing this mission.

I think it's canon that a Muggle might be able to get a reaction from a wand, like sparks or something, but no, they certainly can't cast spells. The wands won't work for Nume and Ilraen when they're in HQ, but they do in the mission because they're disguised as wizards.

~Neshomeh

I'm gonna check through the existing FMA stuff to make sure there isn't one by that name owned already, but yeah, it's probably fine. I even feel fairly confident claiming the authority to say so, since I was a beta for the Alchemists' Fanfiction Academy and therefore had a bit of a stake in it. {= )

~Neshomeh

Like I said to Tomash, looking at the thing for any length of time was honestly kind of exhausting. Not only is the formatting awful, the writing itself is poorly structured and the events described are dumb. My eyes and my brain just wanted to slide off each sentence. >.<

Hehe, no need to blame Farilan entirely for what happened to Ilraen. I'd been planning to get him hurt in this mission for a while; him being lovestruck just made it so much easier. I'm glad the drama worked. ^^

I wasn't sure how it would go over, having Nume jog Ollivander's memory about HFA, so I'm glad you like that bit. It's a bit of a callback to the early days of the PPC. He'll obviously have forgotten again once canon snapped back, of course.

And yes, Nume does care. That's about as much as he'll ever admit it, even in his own head, but he does. {= )

So! When d'you wanna write the next interlude? ^^

~Neshomeh