"A benevolent leader will only be loved by her people if she can back up her sentiments with tangible results. Sometimes doing so requires that she mask her good nature so that her enemies don't discover her true intentions. When employing a cold, calculating persona it is possible to lose sight of the original goal. Promoting her own power does not necessarily mean her people will prosper. Keeping the people close to her heart will ensure she never loses her way.
Leadership..."
Elizabeth's eyes snapped up from the book in her lap when a knock suddenly sounded from her door.
Who is it this time?
Elizabeth opened the door to find a bloodied Asad standing before her. His eyes were a haze. "Oh my God," she gasped. "What happened?"
"Nothing." Asad mumbled as he brushed past the girl and started heading through the living room towards the bathroom.
His head was killing him, his knuckles were bloody, he was pretty sure he had bruised ribs, but all in all he came out of the fight a lot better off than the other guys.
He still had his teeth for a start.
Elizabeth stormed after him. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" she shouted. "What the hell happened? Why are you covered in blood?"
Asad pulled off his bloodied and tattered shirt, tossing it to the ground as he moved through the apartment. "I fell down the stairs?" He responded, a small smile curling his split lip. Oh this conversation was going to be fun.
"Don't bullshit me, Asad," she scolded. "I'm being serious here! We're in a really dangerous spot right now... you can't just show up covered in blood and not expect to explain yourself!"
Asad turned instantly on the spot, Elizabeth bouncing off his chest as she failed to stop in time. "Elizabeth." Asad said simply, looking down at the girl. There was a pleasant enough expression on his face as he leaned over the young woman slightly. "For once in your life." He smiled. "Shut the fuck up." He whispered the words before nodding once and resuming his march to the bathroom.
Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock.
How dare he speak that way to me!
Her head bowed slightly, the young noble grit her teeth and trembled in anger. "She came by earlier," Elizabeth muttered. "Tsubaki. She came asking about what happened."
"Good for her." Asad grumbled as he entered the bathroom, turning on the faucet and letting it run for a few moments before he began splashing water on his face, wincing slightly as it stung his wounds. "Let me guess." He paused for a moment as he looked up at the mirror. "She wanted to check on something." He couldn't blame Tsubaki, it was a pretty outlandish tale.
"What the fuck's wrong with you?!" she shouted at him. Her rage could no longer be contained. "Why are you being so flippant about this? First you go and tell her shit she doesn't need to know, potentially compromising our escape and now you're... doing
this!" She gestured to all of him. "My life's in your hands, remember?! Get it together!"
Deciding not to respond to the girl's anger, Asad casually opened the medicine cabinet and removed a small bottle of antiseptic fluid and some cotton balls. "I found Monroe, by the way." The man stated nonchalantly as he began dabbing at the cuts on his face, exhaling sharply through clenched teeth as a small chuckled escaped his lips.
The girl blinked stupidly and went silent for several moments. "Oh," she eventually said. "D-did she do that to you?"
"What?" Asad glanced over his shoulder at the girl, a confused look on his face? "Oh, no, not at all." He looked back at the mirror. The man mentally kicked himself, he had a perfect excuse and he just threw it away.
'Hey, why not, might as well finish the day as you started it, incriminating yourself because you stupidly think the women in your life would understand.'
"Bar fight." He said simply. "I mean, there's was a fight with Monroe, but thankfully I wasn't on the receiving end of that one."
"You and Pixie got in a fight?!" Elizabeth blurted. "Wh-what happened? Is she okay?"
"Yup, ten dead." He winced as he dabbed at a cut above his eyebrow. "Or was it eleven?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I can't recall. Monroe is fine, she's here because she's basically being strong armed by Lombardi."
Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. "What did she say about us? Does she think it's safe to trust Contessa?"
"I trust Lombardi about as far as I can throw her." Asad scoffed. "But she's our ticket out of here." He raised his head, dabbing at a cut under his chin. "We play along as much as we need to get out of Feroxi, then I say we get the fuck out before she can dig her claws in."
"And go where, exactly?" Elizabeth asked. "If Pixie thinks we can trust her enough to help us out of here I think we're safe to take it a little further. My home is currently under Wilkes-Vines' control. Unless you can think of someone else, we may need to work with her a little longer than that. I
will not leave my family and my people to suffer under their rule."
Asad chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure she'll just
love to help you out with no gain in it for herself." The Major opened the medicine cabinet and placed the antiseptic and remaining cotton balls back in their place. Turning around he looked down at Elizabeth, an exhausted look in his eyes. "I'm just saying, don't be so quick to put your trust in her."
Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't trust her to look out for me if that's what you think," she explained. "I trust her to trust me... that's all I need."
The man looked at her for a few moments, his brow furrowed. He had been with her this far, he at least trusted her judgement enough on something like this. "Very well." He closed his eyes, nodding gently before heading over to the shower and turning it on. "I left a spare change of clothes in the bottom drawer in the closet." He looked over his shoulder at the girl. "We can keep talking if you want, but I need to get the smell of puke, blood, and sweat off me."
"I'll go get it," she said simply before disappearing into the bedroom.
As Elizabeth left the bathroom, Asad kicked off his boots before pulling down his pants and removing his socks, leaving them in a heap in the corner before stepping into the shower. How was he going to explain this one to Tsubaki?
'What's there to explain? You're not even going to see her before all this goes down, not unless you go looking for her. Do you really want that awkward conversation? It's not like you can tell her anything.'
Nursing his bruised chest and shoulders, the Major gently flexed his his fingers, the water stinging the broken skin on his knuckles.
'Better get used to this feeling, things aren't going to get any easier.'
Re-entering the bathroom, Elizabeth placed the clean cloths on the sink and sat against the door. She didn't say anything for a long while. "Are you okay?" she eventually asked. "You know... the fearless soldier act gets pretty old after awhile."
"When have I ever given you the impression that I'm fearless?" Asad asked, placing his hands against the wall as water streamed over his back. "I'm a soldier, Elizabeth, I've been
trained to not let fear grip me like it would someone like you. I can't afford to hesitate, if I do for just one moment, me or someone I'm charged with protecting will die, do you understand that?" His voice was calm. "It's not a matter of being unafraid." The man chuckled nervously. "I'm terrified, but I know that people need me, that
you need." He closed his eyes as a wave of exhaustion washed over him. "I've already let you down once." He mumbled more to himself than to the girl. "It won't happen again."
"That's not true," Elizabeth announced firmly. "You haven't let me down. In fact, the closest you ever get is when you refuse to let me in. Like I've said a thousand times now: we're in this together. I haven't kept anything from you, so I expect you to extend me the same courtesy."
"I haven't kept anything from you." The Major said simply, almost yawning the words. "I'm not as eloquent as you, I've told you the basics, exactly what you need to know so we can understand each other." The man went quiet for a few moments. "I think keeping secrets would be on the bottom of my 'to do' list considering I'm about to throw everything away for you." The was a tinge of hurt in the Major's voice.
"Asad... you don't have to come with me, you know. If Pixie succeeds, Dio will be dead. Once I'm safe you could always return here and be with
her."
"You could at least make an effort to hide the distaste in your voice." Asad smiled sadly as he moved his head from side to side."
Elizabeth laughed. "It's not distaste," she corrected him. "She's beautiful and... she's got a good heart. It wouldn't feel right to ask you to leave her behind unless that's what you really wanted."
Asad thought for a moment, running his hands through his hair as he let water splash over his aching bones. "I want her to come with us. I want her to see how much of a crazy fucking bastard Basilio is, and come with us."
"You and I both know it's too late for that," she said with a hint of regret. "I'm sorry, Asad. Maybe we can come back for her when this is all over."
"I know." The soldier mumbled. He had given up any hope of convincing Tsubaki a long time ago, she was far too entrenched in Dio's personality and the feeling of loyalty.
A wry little smile appeared on her lips. "What's it like?" Elizabeth asked. "Being in love, I mean."
Asad watched water swirl down the drain, his lips curling slightly as he looked at Elizabeth's opaque form through the steamed up glass panel. "It's the best thing in the world."
The young noble blushed slightly. "Is this your first time or...?"
"It doesn't matter any more." Asad clenched his jaw as he turned off the shower. Sliding open the cubicle door slightly, he grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapping it around his waist before stepping out into the bathroom proper. "As of tomorrow, there's only going to be one important woman in my life." A tired smile curled the man's lips.
Elizabeth's face lit up like a Christmas tree as she looked away from Asad's still steaming flesh. "If you're trying to flatter me, it won't work!" she stammered defiantly. Asad had never seen her so embarrassed before.
"What?" Asad looked down at himself before crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at the girl with a raised eyebrow. "Seriously? How old are you?" A wry smile curled his lips.
"Shut uuuuuup," she pouted. She couldn't help but peak at him.
"Take your time." Asad sighed, grinning slightly. "I can turn around for you if you want?"
Elizabeth stumbled getting to her feet. "I-I-I-I can't believe you!" she muttered. "You could have at least warned me before you jumped out in the open with you-your... all of this!" She found it hard to pry her eyes off him as she fumbled around for the doorknob behind her.
"What?!" Asad shrugged his shoulders "You mean this?" He flicked the back of his towel loose, letting it crumple to the floor.
"MAJOR HAREL, WH-WHAT THE F-FUCK?!" she screamed. Her vocabulary had changed quite a bit since Eddie pulled the same stunt on her. Finally finding the doorkob, Elizabeth twisted it and flung the door open violently. "YOU MEN A-ARE ALL PIGS!"
The frazzled noble snatched Asad's clean cloths off the sink, tossed them at his face and proceeded to bolt down the hallway.
"Soooooo..." Asad leaned against the doorframe as he called down the corridor, covering his delicates with his delicates. "You gonna make me a coffee or what?" The man's face had lost a lot of it's tiredness as his grin widened.
"FUCK OFF, PERVERT!" she shouted back, already halfway across the suite.
Needless to say, no coffee was made.
-----------------------------
"They took Irena in. It's not just Sergei and his crews we're dealing with either, my father's involved now."
Florian took Lilith into a small backroom, where he began fumbling around in a small medicine cabinet. Taking off her coat and sweater, Lilith sat a counter top against one of the walls, unbuttoning her shirt, pushing it aside to reveal a long but shallow wound across her side, just under her left breast.
"We need to find Erik, we need to find out if his cover's been compromised." As Florian crouched down beside her and began inspecting her wound gingerly, the girl winced silently as she looked down at the man. If Vasa was truly involved now, this was going to make things a lot harder, for Florian most of all.
"Hey." The girl cooed, gently gripping the man's chin and directing his eyes upwards. "It'll be okay, I promise." She smiled warmly. Honestly, she had no clue, Irena could already be dead for all she knew, but she need to keep morale up if they were ever going to win this war.
