#* OPHELIA HAN FT. zee.

[ategods]

zee ( @razedeities ) said: " how about we start with 'thank you' ? "

" you want me to thank you for doing the job you were hired to do? "

she speaks the words around a splatter of crimson, carnage at their feet. most of their enemies had fallen at her behest, by her hand. coming out of a blind spot, one had slipped by her radar and ran at her. in the seconds that had passed between being pummeled into the dirt and standing back up, the problem had been dealt with. by him.                               & now he wanted her to grovel at his feet for doing the bare minimum? ophelia both envied and despised him for his insouciance; she imagines how different her life would be if she didn't always insist on working herself RAW to the wills of the authorities that be. a dead stare follows her query, and silence, which is filled only by the unabating beeping of a nearby car alarm.

" thank you. i'm sure vought will be happy to defer the search for your replacement until next month. "

[ategods]

subtleties, locutions; none of it registers. an anomalous exhibit, laminated glass between her and the rest of the world, she speaks with accidental  acerbity. " why would i let you win? "

four years old, all frills, bows and a rehearsed commercial smile, ophelia stands in the center of a garish colosseum. in the crowd, past the jeering faces of the pageant's arbiters, she sees her mother, the very image of pride. a tiara, a sash, a crown, a scepter. a win, and then another — herein lies her value.

herein lies his negligibility. without accolades, you were disposable. to vought, to her mother, to her. moving, she has just enough time to pass the wailing vehicle before he speaks again, at which point she stops to regard him coolly.

                          " clause 17, section 3.2: operatives shall provide reasonable assistance to one another during missions [ ... ] this assistance includes but is not limited to the use of individual skills and powers in concert to optimize mission outcomes, prevent harm to civilians, and ensure the safety of all operatives involved. " recited like holy scripture. " i'll have ashley send it over to you. we have a second location. are you able to walk and talk at the same time? "

morphed tessellations fade against his skin, lines retreating in like the venom’s been sucked out of him. fitting, how it lingers instead on her tongue.

                             “ really, ah. never any winning with you. ” as if the keen grin he takes means much for it. body change aside, it sits: much too sharp. lingering datableed from his persona non grata. even if they may both host different definitions of who they’d rather leave out of this. it’s a good thing he’s not particularly competitive, miss b’. things could be far worse from him, he’d say !

he almost lets it go, too. drops the conversation there. but one has to know better than to poke the bear at some point. that point is simply very, very low, for zee. an integer type thing. simple black & blue for the same qualities as the single deletion done for his latest cold cleanup: infected throws of much-too-light bodies. as easily disregarded as his following snort takes their situation.

“ who’s hiring me to save supes ? is that part of the contract ? ” pulled up behind her like a buzzing fly vying for food. her attention his crystalized syrup. “ i don’t remember that part of the contract. ”