she is in this seat to protect the region from men like him. there are doubts, yes. not that she's doing the right thing. but that she's doing it the right way. as he crosses her threshold without so much as a knock, she thinks briefly of the satisfaction that might come from watching his spine snap in lyune's jaws. 

the dossiers she'd been reading are set aside, but she doesn't stand in greeting. 

"is it?" she questions. 

MATIAS SILPH

☉

"it would be a double standard if i were. after all, you remain unshackled."

fear skitters through her as he approaches. she reminds herself she is at least protected by this room, this place, these societal promises they've bound themselves to. they are in chains, really. 

he congratulates her and she frowns. now she stands, splaying her hands on the desk, looking intensely at him. 

"speak plainly. i don't have the patience for political bullshit. why are you here?"

MATIAS SILPH

☉

all evidence of his instability prior to this moment says otherwise, but she's no proof to back her claim. the distrust is still heavy in her eyes and she lets the silence linger in the air a moment before waving a hand at the chair and nodding. 

she sits. "that remains to be seen. i'm here to protect the interests and safety of the people. i only hope we can be amicable in this endeavor, should we share the same resolve."

how easily she slips back into the candor of freya morningstar, councilwoman.

MATIAS SILPH

☉

she tilts her head. this man does not give off the same unstable aura as he had when she'd met him several times prior. whatever heat in his eyes had been tempered. 

but it's easy to put up a ruse. especially for a silph.

"then make your amends," she says. she leans back in her chair. crosses her legs. places clasped hands on her knee. "request a pardon for king."

MATIAS SILPH

☉

she looks down at the papers on her desk. one of them she plucks from the rest, turning it primly and sliding it over to matias' side of the desk. the headline is one he's surely seen before, the person depicted someone they have both met. 

Remiel Calcifet .

matias' vitriol spatters over her. it's combustible, but she keeps her level head. she will not let flint strike her. not here. not now. 

"it wouldn't be my agenda to push. it would be yours." she looks down at the paper. "calcifet was an admin, as i'm sure you're aware, and yet he was granted clemency." she does not need to point out what makes an individual worthy of the upper echelon within the organization. 

"as i understand it, the rangers have been heading a reformation program for quite some time. it's not uncommon for defects to find a way to atone for their past mistakes."

she smiles. "and allows us to atone for ours."

MATIAS SILPH

☉

more secrets that must lay buried. his disdain is written all over his face. he thinks him scum. and how can she say that he has done good? that he has saved Eva Morales, back in a watercolor dream even eva has forgotten. that he's one of the reasons matias' own brother is still breathing. 

but beyond that, he has made it abundantly clear that door is closed, which she supposes she's thankful for. it was a long shot anyway, and he's not integral to her plan. 

matias silph is unnecessary. 

"you mean i'm not the first?" she laces her fingers together and props her chin in them, bright pale eyes wide as she asks, "so, then, how would you like to make your amends?"

MATIAS SILPH

☉

she blinks. he's more thick in the head than she thought possible. it's a struggle to keep the astounded stupor off her face when he blunders his way through what she thought might be a calculated meeting. but he's as interesting a philosophical sparring partner as a wet blanket and whatever anxieties she'd had about his approach are gone.

also with immense effort does she not point out that he hasn't even apologized yet. 

"actions speak louder than words." her fingers unlace so she can gather up the papers. she tucks them with her thumbs and lays them back in her desk drawer. 

"i'll ask for something far more reasonable, since you've already turned my other offer down." she rolls her tongue over her teeth. "stay out of my way."

MATIAS SILPH

☉