his voice at first sent a chill through her, the warm feeling of accomplishment cracked with a memory of dark hostility and unfathomably profound hatred. she turned, bright amber eyes meeting his icy gaze.[break][break]

”admin cross,” she greeted back carefully, frozen in place with a few notebooks still in hand. ”yes.”[break][break]

she wasn’t sure what else to say, unable to help the silence that grew between them too quickly. was he there to protest? to demand an apology? no, that wouldn’t be harsh enough.[break][break]

stunned, in the end, she only kept staring in disbelief that he was there at all. her alakazam looked between them awkwardly, lowering a hovering box to the floor with its spoon.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]jayden cross [break]

much of the tension she felt collapsed into the more bearable sense of bewilderment she’d become familiar with since the beginning of all jayden’s gifting.[break][break]

”thank you.”[break][break]

the bottle he produced was yet another surprise, although she realized at that rate, it shouldn’t have been. her gaze lingered on yet another offering as it sat at the corner of her desk.[break][break]

”while i appreciate the gesture, i’m not much of a wine drinker, actually. reminds me of my ex.” and while she would have generally drank it anyways on such an occasion, the possibility that it was poison was not lost on her.[break][break]

she reached into her desk, pulling out a bottle of anejo tequila with two glass tumblers and placing one towards him. ”but i’ll join you.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]jayden cross [break]

THEO BECKETT was perhaps more of a drinker than jayden knew him to be, but all the same, he was not the ex she’d been speaking of.[break][break]

“sabine calcifet,” she corrected, sure that he’d know the name, if not for her time in rocket, then for her royalty alone. “i’ve tasted the finest wine – enough to know it’s not for me.”[break][break]

not enough bite to it. perhaps it was the same reason her love with the princess of galar had not been enough.[break][break]

at the mention of her brother, she wanted to yell at jayden to get out. that he didn’t know the first thing about her family, but she knew that he did, because he’d been there when she hadn’t been.[break][break]

her tequila was poured. she expected that he’d prefer the wine he brought, but the glass was there, the bottle set open and close enough for him to choose.[break][break]

“it is nice, thank you.” then, after a very heavy sip, she asked, “why do you care? i strangled you. you should want to kill me. don’t you?”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]jayden cross [break]

’why’ seemed at first like a ridiculous question, but she knew that to many, a pledge to the red R was as good as blood in the veins.[break][break]

loyal as she was, she couldn’t feel the same. she’d felt it once, maybe – a worn away memory in the back of her mind, of another region, with another bunch of thieves entirely. gone was that life. things changed.[break][break]

”i am.” she yielded with a sigh, and the tequila came to her lips again. ”you remind me of choi.”[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]jayden cross [break]

she watched the way he squeezed his glass, noting what appeared to be sudden discomfort. the room got colder and she raised a brow. if their altercation had not been enough to make him uncomfortable, what could Chu-e Choi have done to earn such a response?[break][break]

“he had the idea we should all be family.”[break][break]

though she recalled something manipulative about it too – that rockets would give their all, if they felt like there was such unity amongst them.[break][break]

"it benefits the organization."[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"]jayden cross [break]