Zev Harcourt wasn't wrong to see the office's interior as much the same as his last visit. The only change was so subtle, it would be beneath the notice of a man like him: a single potted orchid that flourished on her desk, perfectly tended with immaculate health.[break][break]

"That's not in itself anything unusual," Elisabeth commented, barely sparing a glance from the papers in front of her. She was perusing the success of recent Rocket missions, making note of which recruits had garnered notoriety and attempting to recall names and faces. "I expect nothing less from a Beast of your caliber than adept battle analysis."[break][break]

His follow-up comment, however, startled her into dropping a sheaf of paper onto her desk.[break][break]

"Mm. That little matter was most unfortunate," she said, letting herself fully face the blue-eyed and dark-haired man at last. "I trust you are aware of my recent operation with MATIAS SILPH?"[break][break]

He should be. She'd submitted that report to his desk herself.[break][break]

That didn't mean he'd personally deigned it worthy of reading, though.

[attr="class","ooc"] Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

His criticism irked her. He had a bluntness about him that grated on her sensibilities; perhaps it was envy that she, herself, had rarely felt welcome to be as blunt as the men in the organization.[break][break]

When she'd let herself speak unfiltered after her Avatarship with Wo-chien, her reputation had suffered beyond repair in the aftermath. She suspected it'd never fully recover from that period.[break][break]

She did her best to suppress this resentment, attempting a strained smile.[break][break]

"I underestimated his obsessive tendencies. He attempted to have me followed. All he learned was the name 'Bee,' an eye color, and a hair color."[break][break]

She attempted to keep this casual, but the truth was this wasn't casual information at all. This endangered BARNABY FINCH, and that was the one thing she wanted to avoid more than anything else in the world.[break][break]

You did this to him, a tiny voice nagged at her with guilt. You put him in a madman's line of sight, and taunted that madman into a rage.[break][break]

She buried that thought, unwilling to let it drag her into the shame she knew it'd invite. Instead, she focused on keeping her voice calm. Even. Matter-of-fact.[break][break]

"MATIAS SILPH thought Bee a rival for my affections." Her eyes swept up and down Zev Harcourt thoughtfully, then she shrugged. "To some degree, you match his limited description of the admin. Perhaps during this fight, you and I merely appeared closer than we are."[break][break]

Despite herself, her lips somewhat curved with amusement at that absurd notion.

[attr="class","ooc"] Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"I assure you," she said, holding his ice-blue gaze, "MATIAS SILPH is exceptionally delusional."[break][break]

When it came to his beliefs about their relationship, at least. Her true feelings for BARNABY FINCH were something that the Elite Four had peeled back against her will, forcing her to confront emotions she didn't dare fully examine in the light of day.[break][break]

They were emotions she had no intention of handing over to Zev Harcourt, for they made for a weapon that could be utilized against her. A man like that would never--[break][break]

She hesitated then, recalling that peculiar encounter with Kyurem, and the woman whose scolding had brought him to heel more than any superior in Rocket ever could. The exact nature of his relationship to Neffatari Nzingha was unknown to her, as was the name of the woman in question, but the instance struck her as profound.[break][break]

"People like us aren't allowed vulnerability, are we?" she said then, turning to Zev Harcourt meaningfully. "Whatever affection we have is wielded against us, like a knife."[break][break]

She waited to see his answer, if it would confirm her suspicions one way or another.[break][break]

Could this monster among men, in some small way, understand her?

[attr="class","ooc"] Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"And yet the world is full of fools, and Hoenn has more than its fair share of them."[break][break]

She circled the Beast with a cat-like mien, appraising him silently. A dangerous notion had begun to take root in her mind, and she attempted to reason herself out of it.[break][break]

How many deals with the devil had she already made? She knew better.[break][break]

And yet.[break][break]

"It wasn't my intention to put Admin Bee in harm's way, you know," she continued, her expression neutral as she carefully laid out her plans. "The opposite, in fact. Which made that outcome of the operation distressing."[break][break]

The anger flaring on his face -- the indignation and the outrage -- those emotions she focused on, fully aware of the distance between that emotion's source and herself. She had faded into the background of the room, becoming an observer to a fury she'd had no part in stoking to flame.[break][break]

"I have no intention of seeing harm befall you or yours, either," she offered unprompted.[break][break]

She'd already implied as much, given the shaky alliance the two Rockets had built mere months ago: that of a Seviper allowing the Pyroar full reign, neither predator antagonizing the other.

[attr="class","ooc"] Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"I've given him a dangerous enemy in MATIAS SILPH," she said, meeting his stare evenly. "The least I can do is provide him with a formidable ally against that additional harm, no?"[break][break]

Though she spoke as if this was a reasonable request, Zev Harcourt knew as well as she did that Elisabeth neither cared for fairness nor for the well-being of her underlings.[break][break]

The fact that she herself was willing to expose concern for BARNABY FINCH, and that Matias had suspected their relationship was personal in nature, held implications that the underboss would prefer to leave private and unacknowledged.[break][break]

She'd never been able to stop herself from taking risks, however. Not when faced with the temptation of an irresistible reward.[break][break]

"You and I have different skillsets," she continued, casually rifling through a sheaf of papers stacked tidily on her desk. The potted orchid nearby shivered with the motion. "We have different resources, methods, and means of power."[break][break]

Her green eyes lowered to the man's unadorned hand, where a wedding ring ought to lie, then flitted up to meet his once more.[break][break]

"Unfortunately, we cannot always account for the instances that are outside of our own sphere of influence."[break][break]

A beat.[break][break]

"Not alone."

[attr="class","ooc"] Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Her smile glimmered with faint, but entirely sincere appreciation as she dipped her head in assent.[break][break]

"It seems we're aligned, then," she agreed, establishing the verbal pact between them. "I shall endeavor to do what I can in the shadows."[break][break]

How unexpectedly simple this ask had been, she thought, and how effortlessly they'd each agreed to it. Zev Harcourt was not entirely wrong to consider Elisabeth possessive -- she was, but in an altogether different way than the Beast understood that emotion.[break][break]

Without BARNABY FINCH, she would go back to that same miserable loneliness she so loathed and feared facing.[break][break]

As much as Wo-chien would delight in that loss, as much as Tapu Fini might even find it favorable to its plans, this was the one thing Elisabeth coveted of her own volition: being cared for by someone who understood her, who knew her, and who accepted her in spite of everything.[break][break]

After being starved of validation for so long, she craved it like the drowning craved air. She feared what she'd become without him, how much further into the depths she'd sink in her despair.[break][break]

"They're afraid of us," she said then, confident in her assessment. "Beckett, certainly. Maybe even Underboss Quinn, I'm not sure. But we threaten them, in some way. They'd control us if they could."[break][break]

She was franker than she'd ever been with him, but nothing in her was alarmed at being so. It felt natural, given the sanctity of the alliance they'd built between them.[break][break]

"I have no interest in controlling you, or letting them control either of us."

[attr="class","ooc"] Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Her heart leapt despite itself at this validation of greatest fears. So it was true, then. She hadn't been delusional. THEO BECKETT had been attempting to control her, and that likely meant he was trying to control...[break][break]

A hot flash of anger welled up within her at that revelation, this newfound protective instinct towards BARNABY FINCH entirely possessive in nature as her jaw clenched.[break][break]

"What qualifies Beckett to be our handler?" she scoffed with audible disdain. "He knows nothing of us, or what it means to be an Avatar. Arrogance and fear drive him, nothing more."[break][break]

How he'd handled jayden cross said as much to her. For all that the man suggested his mortality made him 'unbiased,' Elisabeth believed him to be anything but. Those without power always resented those with power.[break][break]

So much of her life had been spent powerless, she would know.[break][break]

"His behavior with me is erratic, as if he's attempting to see which buttons of mine he can push to get the result he wants."[break][break]

She rolled her eyes at this, crossing her arms.[break][break]

"He finds new methods of provoking me, and then blatantly feigns interest in my affairs. I imagine your experiences are similar?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Zev Harcourt

[attr="class","pkmn"]