mcmiji:
〘楓〙
A disease to cure, and an image to uphold. She’s beginning to suspect Kalts’it and the others purposely tied her hands in a nice little bow by giving her orders to stand-by. It wasn’t as if Rhodes Island wasn’t known already for hiring mercenaries, battle specialists, and other dangerous “criminals” under the guise of using them for security. The amount of operations she’d led since waking up was proof of it, and every odd job that comes their way which only brings trouble was just an addition to that reputation. When was the last time she cared about such an image?
Had she cared about such things in the past?
No.
The answer comes too quickly for her liking and she can only assume it came from a body underneath her feet. Rotting hands reach up towards her take over her vision for a split second before the iris comes back into her view.
Bodies under her feet.
“I didn’t take you as the poetic type.” She replies, a soft chuckle escaping through her breath. A rose that awaits for action, wilting away with the petals slowly drifting to the ground…petals that continue to build and build until it would only take a step to trigger the avalanche to fall and crush her.
A beautiful death, one worth dying for as scarlet petals choke the life out of her.
Stagnation never suited her. Her own view of dealing with things was strike first and fast, annihilate everything to make sure no seeds could grow from the blood torn battlefield. Waiting around and letting the enemy grow into weeds would only be troublesome to deal with later.
Hands around her neck.
Flame was right, though Amiya’s face flashes in her head quickly. She didn’t want to cause trouble for the young leader, nor wanted her to get in trouble for not reigning her in. They hadn’t given her any information about the mercenary group besides her bounty but it’d be easy for her to find out the name, location, and number with her credentials. With her “docile” nature now…they wouldn’t expect it, would they?
An operation in the vicinity, they were attacked. They disposed of it while completing the other task they were set to do. Even with the order to stay on base, there wasn’t anyone who was actively watching her. By the time they noticed she was gone, it’d be too late to stop her. It’d be easy to strip off her jacket and Rhodes Island affiliation for a few hours. Mercenaries crossed each other all the time.
Blades in her chest.
She hates how easy this plan comes out.
Hazel gaze locks eyes with the other’s crimson ones, a small smile forming onto her lips. Even if she doesn’t know whether or not that gesture was real or fake, it still appears.
“I’m just as responsible as you for this, so I’d prefer you didn’t run off by yourself to solve it.” She finally says, before tilting her head to the side. Flamebringer was powerful, but she still didn’t want the other to run off on his own. Despite searching for battle, she wouldn’t let him run off and die on her watch. She did care about him after all, even if he didn’t always see eye to eye with her.
“Give me time to figure something out. I have an idea, but I’ll need some time, I guess.” She turns and walks back towards the chair she had put her bag down, taking a seat before slipping out her laptop and turning it on. Her fingers still hesitate to click the appropriate keys under them but it still does after a breath to ground herself.
“…I just hope we both know what we’re doing.”
When she turned her back to him, he had almost reached out to grab her, only to see her sit at the table on her laptop. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of how she was taking the whole situation. To him, she appeared like a caged bird with wings clipped by Amiya and Kalsit. He had wondered if the doctor had become like Shinning, the trauma from the wars making them drastically change and abhor murder and death of any kind. Their behavior was very jarring to him, yet he understood he had changed too surviving that war.
His tail swayed as he tended to the other plants in the greenhouse as he heard the sound of her typing keeping things from being totally silent between them. Skillfully hands tended to frail petals and firm roots as he thought on what to say next. If image was only an issue they could easily pretend to be some no names or even an enemy if it work. Morals and ethics were being a barrier again? Tch. They good that would do them if they both ended up dead while trying to play goody goody.
“Is it ruining your new image or shattering Amiya’s and the other operator’s idea of you the problem?” He had to ask as she continued to work, watching to see if she’d look up at him or not.
“I’m a dead man no matter what. So I honestly don't give a damn if it looks like I influenced or forced you into acting more ruthlessly. What can anyone honestly do to me? Hurt me? Exile me? Ethics would stop most and the rest wouldn’t accomplish anything close to getting me to atone for any actions I take.” He feared pain nor death as he lived as if he has nothing to lose. Hell he wouldn’t even mind of Amiya or Kalsit actually killed him of they managed to give him a fight that made him feel alive to begin with.
