Leucite waited outside of the meeting room for Stibnite to arrive from her place on the stage. He knew she had understood his glance, if nothing else, she was aware of what had happened, and he doubted very much that she would want to remain. All the same, the dismissal, and all it entailed, ate at him. Had he not served with distinction and dignity? Granted, he was somewhat new to his rank, and looking back on the situation in the lovely 20/20 gaze that was hindsight, he saw some things he could have done differently, a way to handle the situation better. Things that could have been said in private to Hessonite, instead of a wall of dissent, cumulating in a what probably amounted to insubordination if not outright mutiny in the eyes of the General-Queen. So to that end, he knew the onus of this removal was in some part on his shoulders, regardless of what others might of done. He had still spoken his mind and he knew he would continue to do so. One thing was abundantly clear, Hessonite and he were not a good fit. They definitely had different leadership styles and they would have classed at some point. Better now, he supposed, than in the heat of combat - or worse - when he had an ongoing project established.
Still, the way that she had stripped him of his position in the chain-of-command of Special Operations galled him. While he had thankfully not been directly verbally chastised beyond a warning that when his own officers spoke out against him it was on his own head for speaking out against her, it had still been painfully public. He had had the wherewithal to not make a scene of it. He knew this was final. He also knew that there was no way he could return to serve under Hessonite. With all due respect to her rank, Leucite’s view of her was now very much colored by this meeting, and he knew that there was no way he would be able to trust her, or entrust any of the officers he had trained to her command. Which, in its own way was painful. Leucite had chosen to remain in Special Operations because he had no qualms with what Special Operations might ask of him when it came to the enemy. But in his time in the the negaverse, he had perhaps seen that the hardline approach to internal policing was not the way he would go about things. There had been his error. He had grown soft in that one little aspect, and it had caused him to lose his position in the Negaverse. He was still a General, he supposed - but a General of what? What branch would be willing to take someone who had been publicly dismissed from their branch for what Hessonite considered insubordination. General Operations was really his only probably option. He didn’t have the temperament for Infiltration - not to mention probably a reputation for brutalizing senshi and knights as much as talking to them - and he sure as hell wasn’t the type to just sit around all day and gather intel, so Information was right out.
A part of him was fuming now, at the utter unfairness of it all. He could rationalize Hessonite’s reasons all day, and turn the blame on himself, on her, on the other generals. But regardless of what he thought, the fact remained that he was no longer a General in Special Operations. He no longer served a Metallia’s fist against her foes, as her eyes against dissent and desertion. He could feel the… not panic… but… listlessness of no longer having a purpose. He no longer had a calling. Or rather, he no longer had a calling beyond serving the Negaverse as the best general he could be. But in even that, he felt, had been besmirched by the sudden and unflattering dismissal. He could feel the anger, the vengeful wrath that he had managed to keep a tight control on after his pilgrimage into the rift and the subsequent unburdening of his soul begin to boil up, threatening to overtake him and overflow into the world around him. His face, which initially had been a cold mask of uncaring apathy, began to slip into an unrestrained enraged glower and sneer of contempt. Already he could feel the rage eating at him, his desire to purge himself of it growing thick in the back of his throat. He wanted to throw himself into his work. Go forth into the night and purge the world of those who would do it harm. His jaw set, tense and scowling, as his eyes locked onto an empty space on the far wall, not looking at it, but through it, his mind wandering as his thoughts turned only to wrath.
By the time Stibnite made it out of the meeting, she would find Leucite still in place beside the door, leaning on the wall, completely consumed by his wrath as he glared at the far wall. If looks could kill, one would most certainly not want to be in the general’s gaze at that moment.
--
Stibnite had made her choice.
As she slipped out of the meeting room, one of the to walk and not teleport, she gazed at Leucite for a long while, watching every muscle in his body tense tighter by the moment. The woman would not dare to guess what he was thinking nor would she try to put words in his mouth. However, she above all would dare to walk into that gaze that would have killed so many.
Crossing the room, she stood between him and the wall he was trying to kill. Arms crossing under her chest, the woman jerked her head back to drop her hood. A move she quickly regretted as her temple pulsed. The pain made her close her eyes a moment and she realized two words.
“Advil. Now.”
---
Had it been any other person in the world that had come into his view right then. Had some poor hapless Lieutenant or Captain bothered him during this small moment of complete and total burning rage. Leucite would have likely made their lives a complete and total miserable wreck. As it was, when Stibnite entered his view, flipped back her hood and then visibly winced and managed only two words, Leucite rose from leaning against the wall, and then walked over to her, and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder.
“Advil.” He said, his voice softer than his face had been a moment ago, but still holding the undertone of rage left to fester. He teleported the two of them back into their home, and since it no longer used so much of his power, Leucite simply moved to the kitchen, returning to Stibnite with a glass of water and and about 3 extra-strength advil.
“Here,” He said, his voice was still just holding itself together. But her needs, both as his lieutenant and as his lover, superseded his in the moment. Leucite took care of his subordinates. Leucite took care of his friends. But most of all, he took care of the people he loved, and Stibnite… Or rather, Imara, was located fairly high on that last list. He knew she would bemoan him being a romantic, but all the same, when it came to this situation, her needs were far more important.
“Are you okay?” The question had double meaning. Aside from the headache, was anything else wrong? Also, was she upset at what had transpired during the meeting and when she had come to.
---
The teleportation did a number on her head. She did not have the energy store he did and with her head spinning from the hit, the sudden change of location made her even more dizzy. However she remained standing, hand only going out for balance until he returned with water and three Advil.
Taking the pills, she threw them back and down half the glass of water. It was another moment before she gazed over at him and nodded. “I’m fine. Well, will be. However…” She walked back over to him and reached out the hand without the water to touch the side of his face. It was a soft touch that quickly turned hard as she reached over and grabbed his ear, yanking it hard. “Power down. Now.” She hissed as a warning. His rage as a human was less deadly than his rage as an agent. Powered up, he could take off without warning and she would just have to wait and see what happened on the news.
As a human, he could take him. Or at least get him a punching bag.
Eyes locked onto his, she was giving him a warning. They were no longer in the presence of others. She would not act like a grunt. “And come away from the weapons. You are in no mood to handle anything deadly.”
Turning, she walked down the hall towards their bedroom. Her tone made it clear this was not for pleasure. This was to get him some place where he had to talk.
---
Leucite would fully admit that the soft touch was a bit of a surprise coming from Imara, normally such things were the realm of pillow talk, however, when she took a hold of his ear he hissed with pain, and Hessonite’s words came ringing back into his mind. This however, was an entirely different situation that the one she conceived, and thus, with no argument or punishment to Stibnite, he powered down. She was right. He was in no mental state to handle going out as Leucite right then. He would have watched as Rome burned so to speak. All the same, as she pulled away to go to the bedroom, he knew what she was aiming for.
“God, I love this woman,” He said softly under his breath, before following her into the master bedroom. He also had the wherewithal to close the door behind him and lock it, mainly because he didn’t want Silas to come home (or he could even be home he didn’t even think to check) and hear what was about to go down.
“How much of what happened are you aware of?” Mathias asked, his voice a bit firmer now, less shaken, as he finally accepted that he was mad as hell, but that Stibnite/Imara needed a full briefing of what had happened since she hit the floor.
---
As Stibnite walked the hallway, she had powered down so that when he joined her in the bedroom, the woman sitting on the foot of the bed was his lover, not his adjunct. Legs crossed and arms under her chest, her eyes locked on his face as if waiting for him to blow.
“I came too when the woman in green went off the handle. I heard the dismissal but from the point Huntite took my...put me on my a**, to some woman deciding she was more important than anyone else, I have no idea. But from what I saw, you four said something General Queen Hessonite had to react to. From that reaction, it was pretty bad. Or she’s crazy. Either way, you were dismissed and thus, here we are now.”
Pulling her legs up onto the bed, she sat Indian Style. “So, go.”
---
There was something about Imara, Mathias still wasn’t quite sure what exactly, that put him at the kind of ease he had not really felt in a long time. The overly romantic side of him was fairly certain it was that rustic allure that had attracted him to her in the first place. Imara was as unlike any other woman he’d met or dated. She knew when to push back against him, when he was being overly cloying, or worse, when he was on the verge of doing something stupid. But another part of him, that darker part which lauded a good kill, that didn’t care if he had to break the bones of his prisoner to get the information he needed. That part that had made him especially suited for the branch of the Negaverse he was no longer apart of. That part, was pretty sure the only reason she made him feel so at ease was because he knew that if he lost his way, if he broke and became a monster, that she would do the merciful thing and end his life. There was something oddly soothing about that.
Mathias probably needed to talk to a shrink, but who had the damn time?
“After you dropped and Hessonite began to return the starseeds to their proper owners, she asked General Cinnabar to hand out cameras. The cameras where to take photos of our lieutenants friends, families, and loved ones, and use them as blackmail to ensure that they would never defect.” He said after taking a deep breath. “Cinnabar initially balked, stating that this should be something Infos should be doing. To some degree I agree with her on that, but I also mentioned that I have made it my personal due diligence to get to know my Lieutenants and that I trusted that none of them would defect. That perhaps things should slow down for a moment and allow people to get used to the new leadership. That it might hurt morale to suddenly be labeled as untrustable.”
“At that point, Xenotime. The General with the corrupt that doesn’t keep his mouth shut. Joined in with us, backing up both of our points… You came too when Schorl decided to speak, and you know what happened after that.” He said, motioning with his hands in front of him as he spoke. “I’m not going to lie, I’m ******** livid right now. But, if this is how Hessonite is going to be, then better now than later when I’m trying to establish something to ensure that the Negaverse only grows stronger.”
His hands balled up into fists and he let out a derisive snort.
“The worst thing? The absolute part that galls me? Is that I devoted so much time and energy to Special Operations and now suddenly, all that work is for absolute s**t….” He said, his voice starting to slowly grow in volume. “No, I take that back. The thing that really gets my god damn goat is the fact that you had to go and be paraded up on stage… violated… and then still be treated as a ******** second class citizen by the branch that I know you would have excelled at most.” His statement ended with his voice a loud, pained hiss, full of rage and venom.
“If you want to join Special Operations when you become a captain, I won’t stop you Imara, but I can no longer recommend it with it’s current leadership.” He finally said, looking at her on the bed. “I can’t with good conscience suggest that you throw yourself into that ******** meat grinder.”
---
For the entire time, Imara sat there motionless, listening and waiting until he paused long enough to know that he was finished for the moment at least before she took a deep breath. On the exhale, she rose and moved to once more stand in front of him. “You know, you are kind of arousing when you act so masculine.” She admitted her eyes flicking to his groin before going back to his face.
“But that is not here or now.” Turning around, she began to walk the edge of the room taking in what she had heard. “So she made it clear that they would be used as blackmail? Well, props to her for being upfront in her warnings and methods. At least everyone there knew what they may be walking into then. Just like how she made sure those of us without rank to show our time know now that our lives may be taken from us at an order a superior gave.”
Returning to the bed, she sat back down.
“So, are you more upset over being disrespected, dismissed, or the fact you watched my life taken from me? Because at the moment, your thoughts and words aren’t matching. When I first saw you, it was easy to see your anger came from the dismissal. Now, I think you are trying too hard. Stop covering up the truth and tell me the root of the cause. No fluff.”
---
What really was the root cause for all of his anger. It really did not take him long to answer.
“Being dismissed,” He said, with a low hiss of anger. “Of having all of that hard work wasted, of you having to undergo all that… not in vain… since you are right now people know what they are getting into… but because I had such high hopes that you would excel there and now that’s completely out the window.”
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and sighed a bit. He had to admit that she had broken his concentration a moment with her earlier comment. It would be very easy to funnel this anger into something far more… productive… but he was pretty sure Silas would hate them for the next month if he acted on that particular instinct.
“We both know at the end of the day either one of us could die. I was prepared for that. Preferably not the at the hands of a fellow officer or a superior, but all the same…” He continued. “While I was not a fan of her choice of demonstration, I understood what she was trying to do, and I could have respected it.”
“It was when she immediately cast doubt on the strength of any Lieutenant's loyalty that I felt the need to say something to the contrary.” He said with a sigh. “I fear that she is going to drive more people away than she will retain. Not to mention the risk she runs to tanking morale. This isn’t a situations where more beatings will improve morale.” He said with a low grunt.
“Regardless, now it is out of my hands. I suppose I should focus my efforts on General Operations. Unless there is another branch you feel you’d be better suited?”
---
“Mathias, you know better than anyone that I would be worthless in the other branches.” Imara added, leaning back on her wrists. “That isn’t even a choice. Information would bore me and I’m not all about this PC crap to infiltrate. So try again…”
Falling silent, Imara finally shook her head. “Frankly I think you are being blinded by pride. Face it, you have been in Special Ops how long now? Through how many leaders and how many changeovers? If I got one thing about of that damn meeting it was that nothing has been stable in leadership for a long damn time. So frankly I’m not at all surprised by the dismissal. After all, you were telling her how to run her branch.” She eyed Mathias with a say she was wrong look. “And you admit it. You didn’t want to work with her. Well now you don’t. So now, instead of pouting, you should step back and figure out what you are going to do instead. General Ops is your only existing choice. And it’s as much as a cluster ******** as anything else because no one knows what is going on.”
Leaning her head to the side, Imara continued. “And let’s just get it out there. You haven’t been a General long enough to carry the power some of the others have, love. You need to earn it and that starts…” Standing up, she walked over to him, reached out her hand and grabbed his belt. Yanking him towards her, she smirked. “With you deciding what is more important.”
---
Mathias hated to admit it, but Imara had a point. He was a freshly minted general, he didn’t have the resources, or the political capital the other generals had. Not only that, but he had thought he’d known how to run Special Operations better than the person Metallia had appointed. So Imara’s assessment of affairs, as cutting as they were to his own pride, were accurate. When it came down to it, he really didn’t have a choice. She was right about her own personal assessment. She was not suited for any branch that wasn’t directly involved with hunting prey, with bringing death. In that, Special Operations had been a strong contender for her skills. The door to that being her permanent placement was not closed. Well, not fully closed. For him it was. Hessonite had, in his opinion, slammed the door in his face. But, when someone closes a door, God opens a window. So it was finding that window.
As Imara pulled him toward her by his belt, he couldn’t help but let out a long breath of relief. His own hands ended up moving to the small of her back.
“Well right now, I think what’s most important is right in front of me, if you will forgive me a moment of sentiment.” He said with a smirk, and a slight bow of his head. “But overall, I think it’s preparing our Lieutenants and ensuring we have good training in place for them when they come in, and screening them better for each branch… I have a plan… And I want you to work it with me.”
---
“Not like you have a much of a choice. You drug me into this Mathias White.” Imara smirked again, leaning against him, her hand quickly making her desire know in a drop. “I just have to make sure you don’t ******** it up after all.”
She was either ignoring the sentiment of deciding to brush it off completely, those red eyes gazed up at him. “So General, what is your Master Plan?”
---
“I don’t recall hearing any complaints as I did,” Mathias replied with a slightly wider grin. As her hand dropped, he thought back to how they had come home, and his actions leading up to this. Yes, the bedroom door was locked. Silas would probably have to endure a night of take-out, oh well. At her second comment he laughed a bit.
“Well I’m glad you have my back in all this,” He looked down at her, the anger of course, was still there, it would soothe with time and with action, but for now it was a small ember that kept worrying him. All the same, when she asked about his plan he shook his head.
“I have a girlfriend to take care of, business later.” With that, he lowered his lips to hers, kissing her hard and needily. If she was going to start this, he was going to finish it.
---
“Oh no.” Imara pulled back from the kiss. “Business first. Pleasure later. Because I know you. And I know that if you take your pleasure now that you won’t be business for at least a day or two. So….out with it.”
She was sitting on the bed. “But I never said I couldn’t enjoy some pleasure as I work even after it.” That was true. How much paper work did she go back to every night? Running a gym was a pain in the a**. Getting him noticed in the MMA world might have matched that.
So, as he claimed he had a plan, she was going to make him tell her. He was just going to be in a better mood doing so.
---
Mathias was not going to deny that when she pulled back from the kiss and immediately asked him about his plan that he let out a small grunt of annoyance, he was not in the mood to talk business, but he knew she was right. Once he got this out of his system he’d lull into a contentment and he’d forget about telling her for a day or two. Better he supposed to get it all out now, instead of later.
“I want to focus on training. I think it would do us well to have a yearly, Negaverse-wide Wargame. Just something to boost morale, help hone skills, see what people are good at doing. Give the Lieutenants an idea what they’re best suited at so they can find a branch that suits them effectively.” He said with a bit of a shiver.
“I also want to see about pipelining some fresh Lieutenants with combat skills or aggressive tendencies for something of a bit more solid training in that regard, maybe have them help other, less aggressive Lieutenants learn to fight better. Maybe run a few missions where we ambush some high value targets… I’m still really into the planning stages, but I have a feeling now is the time to start getting it rolling.”
Which meant when this was all said and done he’d probably end up actually sitting down and trying to plan out all the logistics of it to possibly try and show the Queen… If he could even get a meeting.
---
“So what you are saying is…” She began “You want to take over training and helping some new recruits?”
Now her mind was clearly working as she slipped over the bed and began to walk. It took a long moment but she finally nodded. “It’s smart. Very smart. I mean it will take work and most likely some convincing but in all, it is a good call. The General Ops area has no one to lead but other Generals and well….” She just had to look at him for her thoughts on them. “I don’t know how many are willing to do it. So many are so focused on their own flock…”
---
Mathias let out a small hiss at her actions, and as she slipped away and began to walk, he chuckled and didn’t move to cut her off as much as keep a bead on her as she moved. The last thing he wanted was for her to go scooting out of the room to try and prompt him to get the planning done right that minute. He would probably lose his mind at that point.
All the same, he forced himself to focus on her words, and not her movements or the curve of her body as he spoke. “Given… Hessonite’s view on Lieutenants, I have a feeling that they will be needed more so than she thinks. But you’re right, General Ops is in need of strong leadership, and a training corps would… help alleviate that somewhat.”
---
There was a smile on her face as she turned to look back at him. Arms crossing under her chest, Imara leaned to the side, just out of his reach. “Well then, my General, I shall leave you to some planning while I go take a well needed shower. I don’t trust what was on that floor and frankly, I need to wash off…”
She eyed him up and down, knowing very well what she was doing, and why. “Consider this your punishment Mathias.” With a wink, Imara chuckled and headed for their bedroom door.
---
Mathias gave a low grunt at that, cursing under his breath for a moment before finally moving to actually cut her off at the door. Filling the doorway, he looked down at her for a moment with a small smile. “I think we can meet in the middle on this whole punishment thing.” He said, and then reaching out, took a step forward and picked her up to toss her onto his shoulder and hold her around the waist.
Instead of letting her slip out of the bedroom to probably steal the guest bath to take her shower and thus prevent him from doing what was required, he decided she would instead just have to deal with the master bath instead. So he tromped to it, not letting her down until they were both in the warmly tiled room.
---
One moment her hand was on the door handle and the next, she was thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Mathias! Put me down!” Imara hissed, using her fist to punch him in the back. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt him but enough to be annoying as she also tried to kick him.
But he would not give. Not until they were both in the master bathroom and she reached over to punch him again. “Put me down! I am not your grunt here.”
---
Mathias grabbed her arm, and pulled her into him, leaning in he kissed her, hard and hot. He did not break the kiss for a good moment and when he did he was smirking down at her. “I never said you were.” His hand still rested on her arm, his other keeping her pressed to the firm muscle of his stomach and chest as he smirked at her.
“But I recall someone saying they liked it when I acted all male and masculine, so I figured since I still have a little steam to blow off, and you seemed intent on ramping me up, that I’d do the male thing and offer to meet you halfway.”
A hand came down to lift her chin slightly. “Now do you want this or not?"
---
When he finally allowed her to breathe, Imara had to wonder if this was his frustration or his p***s talking. It took her two seconds to get her answer.
“Mathias,” Imara stated bluntly with her brow raised. “When do I not?”
Her answer was simple as she grabbed his waistband again and quickly undid it. “But sometimes, to get you to do something, we need to ramp you up. Otherwise you think on it for way too long…”
She left him no room to fight her as she slipped her hand now around his groin to resume a slow stroke. “So, if you can promise me that you won’t let this slip away …” Licking her lips, Imara leaned forward and kissed his hungrily. "Then do your best."
Torvil
