It was a question that caught Cinder off guard, as she had thought that she was alone. The Fall Maiden had been caught daydreaming, staring up at the admittedly gorgeous Atlesian skyline. A beautiful façade that hid a sickening rot just underneath the surface. It was the most potent reminder of why she carried on despite all of her many setbacks. This city… these people… were emblematic of why she craved power so dearly.
Cinder turned her head, unsurprised yet thoroughly disappointed once she spotted Adrastia on the roof as well, standing a mere few feet behind her with a lit cigarette in hand. The smell should have given her away. It was a testament to Cinder’s brooding that she hadn’t noticed the other’s presence until her little soldier girl had spoken up.
“You’re supposed to be in Mantle.” Cinder replied dryly, completely ignoring the question. The arrangement had been quite clear. She and Neo would cover Atlas during their search, while Adrastia would cover Mantle down below. That the help had made such a move without her permission infuriated the future Winter Maiden, but she held back her fury for now.
“I should.” Adrastia admitted freely, putting her cigarette to her lips and taking a long inhale. Why she poisoned her body like that, Cinder would never understand. It wasn’t like her own Grimm arm. It wasn’t useful. Cinder watched as the other girl let out an annoyingly lengthy exhale of smoke before Adrastia finished, “But it’s a fairly quiet night and we need to have a little chat.”
Oh joy. The bitching of a subordinate. Cinder thought that she’d be done dealing with such trivialities when Mercury had abandoned her. She much preferred having help that didn’t question her every order. Like Emerald, worthless as that girl was.
“I wasn’t informed that we have the type of relationship that involves divulging personal details.” Cinder sneered in response. “Mind your tongue. A soldier like you should know better than to question your superior.”
Adrastia fell silent at that and Cinder shifted her attention away from her, believing the other girl to be properly chastised. Which was why it was mildly startling when Adrastia took a seat next to her on the edge of the roof. The absolute nerve-!
“You seem to be under the delusion that you are the leader of our group.” Adrastia commented dryly, cutting off Cinder’s train of thought. “That shit might fly with Neo, but that was never what our agreement entailed. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. You helped me take down Mistral, I’m helping you with your quest for revenge. I am not your soldier to command. I’m your business partner. And if you don’t start acting like it, I have literally a million better places to be than freezing my ass off down in Mantle.”
Cinder fumed. She could see the steam rising from her lips, and she wasn’t entirely sure if it was merely the frigid Atlesian air or the flames threatening to spill from her mouth. Her human hand shot out, calloused fingers wrapping around the other girl’s throat. The scent of burning flesh began to tint the air around them and smoke began to rise from beneath Cinder’s clutch.
Such a threatening gesture would’ve been enough to make Roman go weak in the knees and beg for forgiveness. Adrastia merely winced from the pain, but otherwise kept her gaze steady on Cinder. If anything, she looked unimpressed. “Is this supposed to scare me?” She grunted, her voice shakier than it would have otherwise been. “You won’t kill me. You need me. I’m an investment that you’ve already made the down payment on. You wouldn’t be able to stomach not having me keep up my end of the bargain.”
Damn it all. She was right. Adrastia was right and Cinder hated that fact with every fiber of her being. It would be an utter waste to murder the disrespectful cur here and now, not when Cinder had already held up her end of the deal. She was not the type of person to give something for nothing, but that’s what would have happened if she killed Adrastia now. Cinder reluctantly retracted her hand and took a moment to admire her handiwork. The singed flesh around Adrastia’s neck would heal. It might not even leave a scar due to the girl’s aura. But it would no doubt bother her for the rest of the day, and that knowledge satisfied Cinder, if nothing else.
“Fine then, partner.” Cinder hissed, filling the title with as much poison as she could muster. “If you have something to say, then say it.”
Adrastia seemed totally nonplussed about the fact that she had just been burned by the woman next to her. Then again, it was that ability to remain unfazed in the face of such trauma and pain that made Adrastia such a valuable weapon. “If you recall, I already told you what I wanted to know.” The other girl remarked casually. “You already know most things about me. The dear doctor informed you about all the important bits when he loaned me to you back during the Vytal Festival. Yet, I know next to nothing about you. That makes this partnership lopsided, more than it already is. You want me to work with you effectively? I need to know what I’m working with.”
Oh fuck no.
“And what makes you think that I’ll just up and tell you?!” Cinder snarled in response. Unconsciously, her hand reached towards her own neck, massaging the scar that was hidden beneath her collar. “What gives you the right?”
“What gives you the right to know about me?!” Adrastia snapped back. It was the first time that the soldier girl had raised her voice throughout this entire conversation. “All of my trauma, all my abuse… All laid out in front of you like an open book and you read it without so much as asking my permission! I never had a choice, my past was freely given to you so that you could know how to effectively use me like a fucking tool, and you dare ask me what right I have in demanding to level that playing field?”
“You are a tool! I’ve read your file, Ennius, you were born to be a weapon. That’s all you’ll ever be. You think murdering the person who wields you is enough to change that? Someone else will just come along and pick you up, using you like the weapon you are. And right now? That person is me.”
Cinder had been expecting a response towards that particular comment. A slap to the face, maybe? Or perhaps a punch to the gut. Adrastia had quite the volatile temper, after all. It was a trait that they shared, which was to Cinder’s benefit. That familiar temper made the soldier girl all the easier to manipulate. So, it was rather annoying when Adrastia chose this moment to surprise her. For the other girl did none of those things. She didn’t even raise her voice. She merely stared deeply into Cinder’s eyes, violet meeting gold in a manner which slightly unnerved the current Fall Maiden.
“Tell me or I walk.” Adrastia replied coldly. “I don’t care about the debt I owe. Tell me, or I leave you here to flounder in the mess that you’ve made for yourself.”
Shit.
“You wouldn’t dar-”
“I would.”
Adrastia wasn’t bluffing. Cinder could tell. Fuck.
For a long moment, the two of them merely looked at each other, as if they were reflections in a mirror. The cold Atlesian air blew through them just then, freezing Cinder’s very bones despite the inferno in her soul. Or perhaps that was just the icy grip of terror that came from being forced to open up to someone.
Closing her one good eye, Cinder Fall let out a shuddering breath of resignation. “Fine.” She spat out before abruptly standing up. “You want to know so damn badly? I’ll tell you. Better yet, I’ll show you. But not here. No. I don’t do things by half measures. You and I are going to take a trip down memory lane.”
Without so much as checking to see if Adrastia was following her, Cinder strode towards the stairs with one destination in mind. Home.
❛ i'm weird, just deal with it. ❜ If the cold words in the screen of a Scroll could have a tone, these would.
"I have been dealing with it for this entire trip."
The unfortunate part of working with a mute was the cold, hard fact that deciphering what Neopolitan meant by things was often an exercise in futility. Sarcasm and the like didn't translate very well over text. Oh, but Neopolitan was expressive in her own ways, Cinder would grant her that. It had taken time, but Cinder was getting better at reading her partner-of-convenience.
At the moment, Cinder was not impressed.
"Must you feel the need to shapeshift and use your illusions every five seconds? We're nearing Atlas airspace. I require you to be at the top of your game, not fritting away your aura just to entertain yourself."
A full house at a damn near empty table. Dean started the game hoping to see just how in tune Baby was with his game. Hoping, being the operative word. When one of the two other men -- an overweight, under-educated lightweight with a name that was either Hank or a belch depending on how he pronounced it at any given moment -- decided that poker was a man's game. "But the lady can stick around. I could use some luck." Hank's words were almost as gross as his face. Go figure.
The smaller one with only the word "fuck" to his name insisted in his own colorful way that "the lady" should stand by him. That whole good luck bit got to his head. Well, Dean hated to burst their filthy excuses for bubbles, but... Hook. Line. Sinker.
The first half of the game was spent giving false tells and losing hands until Dean hardly had anything left to take back to the motel. "You know, I'm sure this sausage fest is the greatest thing that's happened to you in weeks," he told the men, looking over his hand desperately before his eyes shifted to meet Baby's, a small grin pulling at his lips. "But I'd say the lady would make a better player than me right now. Mind if I borrow Lady Luck?" Before they could answer, he motioned her over and scooted his chair back enough for her to sit on his lap. "Come on, guys. Rev her up."
