A mischievous snigger echoes from down the hallway. But it doesn't belong to the pair of footsteps that illeana reyes hears, no. FAERGHUS the IMPIDIMP always had a rather dark humour for these sorts of things. When given the chance to perch itself upon ADMIN FOX's shoulder and indulge in the misery of others, the little goblin was happy as can be.

The man behind the fox-mask (Remiel Calcifet ), however, wasn't exactly catering to it either. It had simply come along for the ride after a brief espionage assignment.

"... No."

The man finally answers, his (notably accent-less) voice slightly muffled by his mask, but deep and resonant nonetheless. After another moment spent staring at her, absorbing the scene and allowing himself to process it, he sighs and leans against the wall to his back.

The Impidimp, in the meantime, scrambles down the man's shoulder to draw itself closer to the cell. It grips the bars with its three-fingered hands excitedly, gaping at the prisoner like a toddler gaping at a gorilla. If it had peanuts, it would most certainly throw them.

"illeana reyes ... never thought you'd let yourself get caught... what happened to you?"

EXILE + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]she tries to bark out a laugh at open defiance. it comes out hoarse, grating, wrong.

she doesn't try to laugh again. not here, not like this.

her skin crawls with life over the question. and when she picks her head up, there's bruising coloring her face and neck purple. more attempts of... something. failed.

"what do you think happened?" she scowls and it hurts. somehow, it's not the worst pain she's felt. she tries to move, then, and shackles clink together with newfound life. a sharp hiss of pain escapes when one manacle weighs too heavy on broken bone. not her finest hour... not by a longshot.

and yet, there's a slight spark to her eyes. it's the liveliest she's looked in, well, days. it'll fade as everything does, broken into bits like the bones in her wrist. for now, it clings stubbornly to life.

"i flew too close to the sun." her eyes narrow. "this is the price."

Remiel Calcifet

The masked admin stands as still as a statue against the wall. Sharp remarks, scowls, and hoarse coughing, does nothing to prompt any movement or gesture of concern. It is almost as if he's savoring the moment... or simply committing it to memory. The man behind the mask truly never thought he'd see her like this...

And, surprisingly, it had a much more impactful effect on him than he'd anticipated. Even after all the bullshit.

Faerghus cackles like a monkey, and Admin Fox finally breaks out of his thoughts with a short hum. "Mm... poor little bird..." He remarks, gently pushing away from the wall he's been leaning against. "Aren't you tired of feeling the need to prove yourself? Of allowing others to use you? Maybe then you wouldn't get so burned, hm?"

He was one to talk, of course. Though the mask granted him the anonymity to say such things without restraint. Reaching the crux of the issue wasn't so hard as Admin Fox. Neither was admitting his own sins.

"I've had my share of dutiful little pawns like you, you know..." He whispers, crouching down about a foot away from the bars. "All of them were so terribly obedient. Willing to die if it meant receiving a scrap of admiration and attention... frankly, I'd be exhausted living like that, too, if it were me."

His masked countenance tilts slightly as he regards the cuts and bruises around her face, neck, and wrists. Shadowed hues of cobalt soften in secret.

EXILE + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]something in her simply... snaps. like a rubber band stretched way past the limit, she breaks with a shatter. and it's quick, the following movement. shackles rattle violently as she rises, as she stalks her way to the very edge of her cage.

she's closer, now, and the snickering of his impidimp echoes like a mocking mantra. over and over until even fate is laughing at her.

"aren't you tired of hurting people?" she counters. it comes out hot, burning, angry. he's hit a nerve and she despises it. unraveling comes quickly, easy yet painful. "hiding behind some stupid mask like a filthy rat and mocking me makes you feel powerful, huh?"

a scoff follows. and while she can't see the face behind the mask, she stares with such hatred it's almost surprising she can't.

"you're pathetic."

and what does that make her, then? what's more pathetic than getting used and abused only to end up like this?

she thinks of people close to her, of their faces. do they know? have they figured it out yet? or is she simply just... forgotten like an afterthought?

her shoulders sag a little beneath invisible weight but she plants her feet firm. they hurt, bruised ankles begging to lay back down. and when she strikes the bars of her metal cage near his face with shackled wrists, the broken one flops feebly with pain. she stays quiet, however. somehow... she doesn't know what to say anymore.

and so she stares, anger masking fear and exhaustion.

Remiel Calcifet

Her movement is sudden. The whip of her chains is sharp. Even so, the cloaked stranger remains crouched there, unflinching as he stares. The Impidimp, on the hand, climbs the cell's bars and attempts (in vain) to shake them, cackling wildly all the while. 

Maybe he shouldn't like to see her like this. Outside of this context, he certainly doesn't. But to spark the flame of some fight in her is precisely what he'd intended to do. As painful or uncomfortable as the truth may be, Illeana clearly needed to hear it. 

It is for that reason that the bite in her words doesn't have its intended effect. It wouldn't have anyway. But, at the very least, Admin Fox stifles a laugh and simply smiles behind the cover of his mask.

She doesn't know, yet, who he really is. She doesn't know that he can guess what she's thinking about next with some accuracy. Having achieved what he'd come to do, however, he sighs and watches as she attempts a strike. Then, calmly, he rises from his crouch.

"Don't be foolish," The masked admin says, fixing the cuff of his glove's wrist. "There's still life in you yet. And when that second chance comes... I suggest you make the most of it." He adds, taking one last look at her before turning to leave. A short whistle calls his Impidimp back, prompting it to crawl up his body and back onto his shoulder.

"If you die here, like some chained up dog, you'll be proving me right."

EXILE + illeana reyes

☉

[attr="class","illeana"]

[attr="class","illeana b"]

[attr="class","illeana i"]don't be foolish... little late for that, isn't it?

her chin rises in what little defiance she scrapes up off the floor.

and while she doesn't quite understand what second chance he's referring to, she knows on some level that she'll never be this low again. never again.

it keeps her more alive for a few more hours at the very least... mostly out of spite.

she begins to pace even as he leaves, long after into the night.

don't die here. don't die here. don't you dare fucking die here.

a hint of a spark is all she needs. and it's all she'll get...

a dim little light but it does the job.

she's rescued a week and some days later, more of a husk than he had left her as. and in the aftermath, in the fallout, she thinks back on the meaning of a second chance.

the conversation comes back in small pieces, tiny reminders of being bent but not quite broken. she holds onto it long after the rocket cells taunt her into submission for the last time.

the second chance will not be wasted like the first, that much she is certain of.

Remiel Calcifet

The one known as ADMIN FOX takes his leave, knowing that the man beneath the mask— one Remiel Calcifet — will carry the weight of this forever.

Though illeana reyes isn't aware of it, nor will she be for quite some time, the silent conflict waging within the Galarian admin's mind is sure to make an EXILE of him yet. And she is, perhaps, the first catalyst among few.

FIN

EXILE + illeana reyes

☉