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As Sylvite made her way through the halls of the Negaverse castle, she realized that the last couple of times she'd talked to the General-King, things had been various kinds of chaotic and dramatic. Today, she wasn't sleepless and dragging in a prisoner or half-electrocuted and carrying some poor lieutenant who'd gotten in over his head. It was just her, rocking a little bit on her heels as she paused next to Axinite's door. All she had today was a little clipboard.

It had only been a few days since they'd gone to get Feldspar, but Sylvite had already bounced back. Okay, she'd mostly bounced back. She still couldn't quite feel her fingertips, but she was still smiling bright as ever when she knocked on Axinite's door frame.

"Axinite? Uh, sir?" She still didn't sound quite comfortable with the formality, but she was trying. She peeked inside the office before waiting for a response. "Hi. Do you have a second?"

"You're looking way better, too," said Sylvite, her smile getting brighter as she made her way into the office. It was good to see that he was okay. That night had ended up way more intense than most of them had been expecting.

"It's about Feldspar, actually," she said. "I stayed with him until he woke up. We got to talk a little bit, and there was some stuff about his story that I could relate to." She plopped down cross-legged in one of the chairs, twisting around so that she could put her elbows on the backrest and watch Axinite as he walked. "Like, we both had something pretty bad happen to us right after we joined up, and neither of us had the person who recruited us stick around to help out."

She glanced at her papers, then back up to the general-king. "I double checked the records. Nobody has claimed him as a subordinate or anything, so, uh," she offered him the clipboard, speaking quickly, "I'd like to take him on, if that's okay."

She knew how Axinite felt about having hard copies of his paperwork, and the form was there, perfectly filled out. The ink was a pretty shade of purple. Just because she was an adult now and looking for more responsibility didn't mean she had to be boring.

"I'd ask a more direct superior, but, y'know," she sucked her cheeks in and glanced to the floor, her bubbliness fading for just a second. "Missing people and everything."

Sylvite couldn't help it. She gave a tiny gasp, then a giant grin. "A promotion? Really?"

It wasn't like it was completely out of the blue. She'd been taking on more projects a little bit at a time for years, and her last few missions had gone really well, but it was one thing to think she might be getting close to a promotion and another thing to hear it from the mouth of a superior.

She leaned forwards as much as she could from her weird angle in the chair, but then she took a quick breath and tried to settle.

"I mean, I'd be honored, sir," she said. She folded her hands in front of her and nodded. "I really do want to be there for Feldspar, and for anyone else who needs it. I want to do my part to support the whole Negaverse. I've been trying to be a good soldier, and I'm not gonna stop now. I've got a few more ideas I've been wanting to work on."

Her smile, while a little more serious, was still there. "And I do think being stronger could really help with all that, so if you think I'm ready, then yeah. I'm interested."

"I mean, I guess it's not completely a surprise," said Sylvite, watching Axinite as he made his way over. "I'd been hoping for a while now, but I didn't want to assume anything."

She was quick to jump to her feet and stand facing him, and after taking a breath, she nodded. "It's okay. I'm ready. Let's just do it before I think too much," she said.

One hand was braced against the desk, her fingernails digging into the wood slightly even through her gloves to brace for what was coming, but she kept the smile on her face. She just had to think about how strong she was going to be, how capable.

Ow.

Yeah, she'd been through this before, but she'd had years to shove down the memory of just how awful it was to have cold, sharp, Chaos shoved into her soul. She let out a pained gasp before she bit down on the insides of her cheeks to keep from making anymore sound. She gripped the desk so hard that she drew up a splinter or two.

At least it didn't take too long. A couple seconds later, it all faded to a dull ache, and when Sylvite looked down, she saw fabric swishing around her ankles. That was new.

She grinned.


"Thank you, Axinite," said the General. "I'm gonna keep trying my best, okay?"

Although now that it seemed like business was taken care of, her shoulders did sag a little bit, and she glanced over towards the desk. "So, uh, did we eat all the cookies the other day, or-?"

Something about Chaos stirred up her appetite.

Sylvite collapsed back into the chair, wrapping her hands around the energy drink for a good few seconds before she cracked it open and took a sip. She tried not to go too crazy with the caffeine, but that was on days when she didn't feel like she'd just been punched in the chest. There were still projects to work on after this, and she was thankful for any boost Axinite could offer her.

She was extra thankful for the cookies, though.

"I mean, I'll take any extra if you're offering," she said with a glance at the tupperware, already grabbing one cookie from the plate and shoving it into her mouth. She chewed for a couple seconds, knowing better than to speak with her mouth full in front of her boss, then added, "I have a policy of never saying no to cookies. It's a thing. I just like the normal kind best, uh, sugar? Chocolate chip?"

Sylvite just had to blink a couple of times at the implication of six whole tupperwares. She was no stranger to stockpiles of sweets or anything, but even by her standards, that was an impressive amount of cookies.

"You're like, literally the best," she mumbled as she pulled the offered tupperware closer. Yeah, she was aware that she should maybe be saying something more articulate than that as a new General, but the upgrade had her feeling sapped past the point of any more speeches. At least the energy drink was helping some. She could almost feel all the sugar and caffeine that was stuffed in that can every time she took a sip.

Which unfortunately meant that Axinite's suggestion of sleep might be out the window. Oh well.

"Just some homework, okay? No fighting, no jumping off buildings for now, I promise," she said, and smiled over at him as he hovered nearby. "DCU would be great, if you're offering to take me back."

"Thanks," said Sylvite.

That covered the cookies, the compliments, and the new power she'd been trusted with. Even after the stress of the upgrade itself, she felt weirdly warm.

She stood, slowly, not wanting to fall down or anything when they teleported, held the tupperware close, and smiled up at Axinite. "I'll do my best," she said, then, with a slight pause, added, "After tonight, obviously."

She was extra excited about the future now.

"Let's go," she said.