Welcome to Gaia! ::

Narrowing blue eyes at Nadja, Seth huffed as she jerked her arm back. Having no desire to hold it captive, he didn't resist the tug and let it go. His arm joining the other as he folded them across his chest once more, staring down his nose at her.

"Very well." He replied. However, his tone made it clear that this wasn't the end of it. Brows furrowed as he continued to stare down at her for a moment or two longer before turning on his heel and seeing himself towards the exit.

Nadja held his gaze while it was turned on her, clear-eyed, stern-mouthed and silent, one hand dangling at her side while the other rested loosely on her hip. She'd made her point. When the other elite turned away so did she, with a muttered "Hmf."

Allen's irritation made perfect sense.

The redhead watched Seth's departure critically before spotting a telltale flash of bushy white hair. Her attention snapped that way, and she rather rounded on Nyx with a sharp look she probably didn't deserve.

"I did." She was at her most clipped and businesslike. The elite turned on her heel and slid her card through the reader again. Her door unlocked; she pushed it open and indicated the chair beside her desk with a flick of her hand. "Sit."

"Ona budet sluzhit' yemu i nado yesli yego tolstyĭ vzryvaet·sya golova,*" Nadja muttered vehemently and shut the door behind her with a thump. The wooden bird swayed gently in the resulting breeze.

The space was small, and the woman brushed past Nyx to sit in her own chair, legs crossed, and rested an elbow on her desk as she swiveled to face the grunt. "How was the clone when you left?"

*'It will serve him right if his fat head explodes.'

"H'm." It came out like 'hmf.' "Would such methods were acceptable for all cases." The elite drew a breath and huffed, frowning at an unexceptional spot on the wall. Then she seemed to rouse herself, like a cat, and turned back to the matter at hand.

"As said, I've been monitoring your progress. Are you and Jennifer getting along?" Nadja asked, apparently in a much calmer frame of mind. She didn't look happy and lacked the cordial curve to her mouth she usually had, but the smooth finish had laid over her voice again, which no longer snapped and spat indiscriminately.

"Mm." It was a neutral noise of acknowledgment, and typical of Nadja, had myriad possible meanings - if she'd even paid attention to the answer. She fixed a cool, focused gaze on Nyx, half-angled toward her.

"I'll be brief. I've received several reports from your immediate supervisors regarding your conduct and work habits." Her grey eyes flicked to her closed office door, as if they could see past it and into the laboratories. "After that scene in the containment room, I've come to a decision."

"Given our first meeting, I had my doubts, but you've shown sincere effort to improve yourself and avoid your past mistakes. Of late your work has been detailed, thorough and timely, and several lab managers have commented on your efficiency. I've witnessed your organizational ability during this restructuring - and just now, quick thinking and action in a crisis. You are wasted at your current rank."

Nadja glanced back to Nyx to see how all this had sunk in, and was met with a deer-in-the-headlights stare and the hunched, quivering posture of a prey animal. She blinked once, and then her lips parted with a sound of dry but sympathetic amusement.

"You're not getting eaten. You're getting promoted."

The elite raised a brow, drawing herself up a bit. That hadn't been among the responses she'd been expecting. "Well of course not," she said, brow furrowed in bemusement at the sudden plea for mercy. "They just redid the carpet."

"Here. Calm your nerves." Nadja swiveled her chair toward her desk and leaned forward, reaching for the cookies sitting near the edge, but paused. Her gaze danced over the plate in a quick count, and then she laughed. "Of course." It was a private comment to herself, her tone amusement tinged with triumph, before she went ahead and offered one to the new agent anyway.