Fire spat from the woman's mouth, licking the ends of his cheeks with heat and venom. But Felix's expression didn't dare flinch. Instead, he kept his features cold and loose, a sheet of passiveness that acted as a stark contrast to the words he'd just spoken.

Lips pressing into a frown, he leaned forward, resting the weight of his upper body on his knees.

"Things are only going to get worse."

The barrier.
Sea Hoenn.
The meteor.

Typically, these wouldn't be events that'd concern a man like him. Whether he survived to see another day was irrelevant -- that's what made him so good at his job -- but August Gallagher was still here, sleeping his summer away in their Petalburg home, and it was his responsibility to keep him safe. Keep him alive. Before, when he first accepted the promotion, he'd thought it'd become easier. Only now did he realize the consequences of both of their acceptance.

"And your name-- it's going to be attached to everything now. I can--"

'I can only try to protect you. '

He bit back the words. Was now really the time to offer guarantees?

"Is this power really worth your life?"

@tag

Silence befell the admin as he stared back up at her, face unaffected, but stomach torn.

"I'm not going to do that, Elisabeth."

While his voice remained solid, when it got to her name, it wavered ever-so-slightly, weighed down by the realization her response forced him to swallow.

She had already made her decision. And it'd take more than a few words and offers of protection to sway her.

"I..."

What could he even say to that? Words had never been the admin's strong suit -- a fact that always became glaringly obvious whenever pitted against her. But, after being compared to the ghouls of her past, he knew it'd pain him more to walk out without another world than confront his inadequacies head on.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Elisabeth Fiorelli

What will he do?

"Nothing."

The answer was simple; when faced with an immovable force, what else was there to do than move on and cut your losses.

Emotions, however, complicated the matter more than he was used to. Could he really just walk away and say nothing?

"If that's your decision, then that's your decision."

He paused, taking a moment to contemplate his words.
"But I'll still do my best to protect you."

Whether she'll choose to continue down this path, vying for more power within the organization, or come to regret furthering herself from the peaceful life he still believed awaited her outside Hoenn, he'd stay close. As much as he could, at least.

@tag

"No, you don't."

There is no waver in his voice now. Reverted back to it's fortified roots, the man stood strong on this point, unrelenting now more than ever.

"Far from it."

Back when they first met, they questioned the value of one another's life. What it meant to pull the trigger on someone of little worth to the organization. Now, while the situation's changed, the question hasn't.

What was Elisabeth's life worth to rocket now? What was it worth to him?

"But, as Admin," the title rolled off his tongue with a faint tinge of restraint, "it is now within my responsibilities to ensure your safety. Whether you disagree or not."

Because if he was forced to swallow down and accept her decision, then she'd have to do the very same. This was his compromise; this was his decision.

Elisabeth Fiorelli

Felix never once questioned her strength. Out of everyone within the organization, there was no one more fitting for the role, nor more deserving of the praise she'd recently received. He knew that better than anyone else.

What the admin didn't understand was that the value he placed onto her far extended what she provided the organization, or the merit of her work.

As personal strength fades into irrelevancy when the question ascends from 'if one needed the power the organization provided them' to 'if the organization required the power the individual offered them'. Whether Elisabeth recognized it or not, Felix would come to thoroughly believe she fell into the ladder, which made her decision all the more unbearable to swallow.

Alas, she made her stance clear enough.

"Good."

Because I wouldn't let you stop me.

While the words were never truly spoken, his tone mimicked the intensity she shared with him earlier.

Standing up from his seat, the admin offered her one last nod. "That's all I had to discuss, so I'll be leaving."

Heavy footsteps move toward the door, punctuated with a final, "Congrats, by the way."

Elisabeth Fiorelli