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 Posted: Thu May 06, 2021 9:46 am
It was as he expected: no one he even recognized the name of, let alone knew to literally any degree beyond that. Rakovanite canted his head very slightly, studying the girl as she focused on making creases in a sticky note. He didn't think he'd ever heard Sylvite speak like that. Even when they had met the White Moon Squire, Sylvite hadn't sounded like she was talking to someone she didn't like.
He did wonder what the circumstances were that could make this girl have such a... chilly tone, and it felt for a moment as though she wasn't inclined to say.
Then she did. Quite a bit, actually, and Rakovanite's eyes narrowed. He'd heard that it was not entirely uncommon for agents to sustain injuries during training, and Rakovanite wasn't opposed to a certain brutality from commanding forces. Better he learn how to fight with a broken arm so that when a knight did it to him, he wasn't helpless or unwilling to continue because of it. He could endure a little pain, and he hoped anyone else that wanted to fight could too.
But there was a line between ensuring that your underlings were prepared to do whatever it took, and unnecessary cruelty. He had opposed that once, with the boy who'd introduced him to the Negaverse, but it had not come up again, since. It was strange to think that Sylvite might have experienced something similar. Even his own captain had not sounded surprised to hear that higher-ups could be acting viscously toward their own.
It felt like that was all the old blood, and times were changing.
He thought he should... do something to comfort her. She seemed the type that wouldn't mind, and he did understand some of the more basic gestures. He could just pat her shoulder and tell her he believed in her. But Rakovanite didn't think she'd be very convinced by anything that came from him. It would just be wasted energy. His arms hung limply at his sides. But it probably wasn't acceptable to do nothing. "I think it unlikely you would ever go so far," he told her. "No matter how the Chaos influences you."
"You have your own strengths, in areas others do not. You are one of the smartest and most dedicated I have had any experience with. I have no doubt you will perform better than those before you. But you may have said it best... If you need help, I will do my best to support you, if you think I could be of any use."
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Posted: Sun May 09, 2021 8:41 am
Rakovanite didn't say anything for a little bit, and Sylvite just focused in on her sticky note, trying to do the tiny final folds without quite so much aggression. In the end, she had a small version of one of those origami frogs that jumped when you pressed on their backs, and she nudged it towards a corner of her desk with a couple of others. Although at the other Captain's reassurances, she looked up with a smile on her face that was different from the constant grin she wore. It was almost soft. With Rakovanite so serious and kinda stiff when it came to pleasantries, she didn't think he was the kind of person who would say something to her just to make her feel better. Which meant there was someone in the Negaverse who actually thought she was smart, and capable, and stuff. "Thanks, Van," she said, tapping her fingers lightly on the table now that her hands were free again. "I might take you up on that." She sucked her cheeks in, thinking about how he was always serious, and professional, and solid, none of which were things that came naturally to Sylvite, really. "I bet we could actually balance each other out pretty well," she said.
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Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 7:36 am
Even Rakovanite hadn't realized quite how stiffly he'd been standing until Sylvite sent him a very slightly different smile than her usual one. It was indecipherable to him, but it felt softer than the almost wary look from before. The set of his shoulders eased slightly, and he let out a quiet sigh. She wasn't offended by him, for whatever that look was, earlier.
And he did mean it. There were few people he trusted in general, fewer among the Negaverse's ranks (ever traitorous as some spoke), but he believed her sincerity. He believed that she believed she was in the right place, doing the right thing. Most he had met had not been so convincing. Even if he did not agree with all of her methods, neither did he see them as blatantly unrealistic. She was one of very few he felt comfortable turning to.
Though he wished his options for recruits were better. As much as he didn't want anyone to meet his brother, as it gave them the opportunity to prefer Cervantite over him, Rakovanite realized that this wasn't feasible.
He would meet other people and learn from them, and it would be ideal if they were agents Rakovanite already trusted. It was just unfortunate that he typically liked people he trusted and it would be a bitter sting for them to enjoy Cervantite's company in any regard, even just as a pupil. But it was necessary. It was necessary because he knew he could not always be relied on to act reasonably where Ellian was concerned.
He gave a crisp nod. "We probably would," he agreed. Where Rakovanite was stiff and unrelenting and spiteful, Sylvite had her own perspectives that would probably speak better to most than anything Rakovanite could say. She knew her branch far better than he likely ever would, and she outright got along with people better. For recruits who needed to find their place and learn to place their trust in the Negaverse, Sylvite would fare better than him, Rakovanite was sure. She would fare better with Cervantite. "I can send the available information I have on him to your tablet, later," he told her. “His planet and sphere, the Guardian's name who gave it, and such."
Nothing personal, of course. Nothing as it pertained to Rakovanite, but anything he considered 'necessary.'
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 4:13 pm
Sylvite breathed a little easier, too, glad that whatever little moment of tension was over quickly. She didn't want Rakovanite to think that she was, like, mad, or even that worried about him. Power could get to people's heads, and frustration could, too, and that was something that they had to keep a careful eye on before stuff got weird. So, she was trying to be careful. That was all. She brightened all the way back up to her usual bubbly self when he said he'd send her the information. "Yeah, sounds great! You know I'm all about having those notes," she said, wiggling her fingers at the hill of paperwork that was building up in the corner of her desk where she'd shoved everything. Although she was probably more invested in this senshi than she would have been about somebody random. Him being a senshi helped. They tended to be interesting no matter what, but then this one was also connected to Van, and then young, like she'd been, on top of all that. Yeah, she was gonna be keeping an eye on that tablet. "Although speaking of sending things in," she said, and fished out the folder she'd had in front of her before he'd come in. "I probably shouldn't procrastinate on my work too much. Turns out Order was still doing stuff while I was writing all those recommendations, so I'm kinda backlogged." Not that she had too many reports of her own to submit, given the circumstances, but she at least wanted to stay on top of other people's.
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Posted: Thu May 13, 2021 4:46 pm
Rakovanite just wished he could be so enthused about giving the notes Sylvite was so excited to receive. If it was just any random encounter, he would at least have almost no feelings about it at all- writing a report was just a task that needed to be completed to bring closure to an assignment. But with this one, a report on his brother, he was actively fighting repulsion. If it was anyone else, he wouldn't have said anything on the matter at all.
Though, if it was anyone else, he probably wouldn't have stopped in for an office visit, either.
"'Doing stuff?'" he questioned back at her as she pulled a file from among the pile of papers that had gathered on her desk. Rakovanite assumed he should probably be interested in what that meant or if there was anything to be done about it, but it still seemed oddly like he just wasn't experienced enough to even be allowed to ask for any kind of more specific information.
His head dipped slightly, grassy bangs falling forward into his face as his expression became almost contemplative. Sylvite would have the most information on who was doing what, where, probably. But even if he also had that information (because he couldn't help but want it), what would he do with it?
Nothing?
"Is there anything I should..." But the question trailed away before becoming anything substantial. It seemed like it would be most socially correct to offer to help her with her... disorganized paper pile, but he certainly didn't want to, and she looked excited enough to handle it on her own. Though she did seem excited about the prospect of most things, usually. Instead, he cleared his throat, and gave a tiny dip of his head. "Should I leave you too it? I had no intention of disturbing you or keeping you from your work. My apologies, if I was only a distraction."
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 3:06 pm
Sylvite's smile slipped sideways, into something amused. "I think only a distraction is the last thing anyone would call you," she said, looking Rakovanite over again. He was kinda understated in the way he carried himself, even in his classy Captain's uniform. She might have never even thought to talk to him if she hadn't been assigned to train him that one time, but she was glad that things had worked out the way they did. He was concise and smart about things, and totally worth talking to. Now she summoned her tablet, though, and fished a strawberry printed pen out of a holder. "Yeah. Stuff. Uh." She went quiet, clicking the pen a couple times, but eventually shrugged and said, "So I'm super ADHD if you hadn't picked up on that, and the formatting on the tablet database isn't really, uh, easy to process?" It was very black and white, with lots of walls of text in crisp, boring fonts. She could read it if she had too, but her head started to swim sometimes if she spent too long looking for specific information. "So I'm making bullet points of the reports that come in for my records, and I'm color coding them and stuff. I've got a backlog from when I was working on the ambush stuff." That could also get kind of tedious, but it was going okay for her so far. She could always raid Axinite's supply of energy drinks if she needed a focus boost. "You can stay if you really watch me use a highlighter, but I know you've got your own reports to submit and everything." She wasn't the type to run someone off, but she wasn't sure how interested Rakovanite was in office supplies.
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Posted: Fri May 14, 2021 4:05 pm
Rakovanite eyed her, expression blank and body still. He was not quite sure if her words were meant as a compliment or an insult, but it seemed most reasonable to assume that it probably wasn't intended to be either. He wasn't distracting her. That was the point. His fingers still itched to smooth at the end of his purple coat as she looked him over, but he resisted. It wasn't like he had a say in the outfit of choice. "Thank you," he said briskly instead.
He folded his arms behind him.
"I may not have guessed," he admitted, brows furrowing slightly as Sylvite's tablet appeared before her. She did have a lot of energy, but it seemed like people her age usually did. He didn't think she distracted easily. It seemed like she got all her work done, mostly. Ignoring the current stack. His head canted very slightly. Maybe it was just one of those things people said in a figurative sense. He'd heard that one tossed around relatively often. Ellian was bad about it, though Rakovanite knew he'd never been medically diagnosed with anything.
There were a lot of nuances he found difficult to interpret, particularly where speech was concerned. He stared at the strawberry pen in her hand, then the tablet she had summoned, then his gaze slid very minutely to the stack of folders and papers atop her desk. Maybe she meant literally, though.
Maybe actually literally, not figuratively-literally.
But regardless of whether she did or not, it didn't seem necessary for him to stick around. Sylvite probably had a system at this point. She wouldn't need him lingering, and he did have his own tasks to attend to. "I believe I would only get in the way," Rakovanite decided at length. Or rather, he'd just be a body staring at her while she tried to work.
"If you ever need assistance, with anything, please call on me, but for now, I will leave you." He turned and moved to leave, but gave a quick pause before glancing over his shoulder and adding quietly, "Thank you." For her report, which he believed had a hand in his promotion. For thinking him capable. For those nice words shared.
He gave a barely perceptible dip of his head and stepped briskly out her door before striding away.
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