TAGAsena Noir NOTES N/A
Though the grin remains on his face, North narrows his eyes slightly.
“Protocol isn't shit when you're in my position, Asena. The Military has rules and regulations for a reason,” he reminds her, a stern sort of bite to his words as he speaks. It's laughable though, really — for him, of all people, to try lecturing a lower ranking officer about following protocol. Hell, he often flaunted his position of power in order to bypass such things, if only to avoid more work for himself. His loyalty to the Military only extended so far, after all. Still, even if he wasn't necessarily one to follow the rules by the book, there was still something satisfying in ensuring those below him did.
North recoils a bit at her comment about drinking with an off-duty superior, almost as if offended by her words, but the playful smirk never disappears from his face. He doesn't respond — not even to her bait of calling it a trap — but instead he merely nods his head, almost as if giving her permission to have a drink. Truth be told, considering her backup had arrived to deal with the man, she certainly had the right to drink now if she wanted to... Did the Military really care, at the end of the day, about an officer drinking? Not really, as long as they were able to perform their duties as necessary. And Asena certainly had proved herself capable of that already.
Asena finally excuses herself from the bar and wanders over to him, the smell of blood growing stronger, even though she had found something to triage the wound with. North wrinkles his nose slightly but doesn't acknowledge it any further, simply letting out a hum of agreement when she made a comment about the men not going anywhere. He laughs and turns his gaze back to her when Asena makes it very clear she was determined to leave before the medical team arrived.
“You certainly are stubborn, aren't you?” he muses aloud, even though it's more of a rhetorical question than anything. “The clubs aren't going anywhere,” he continues, waving a hand in the air as if to dismiss the notion, “besides, it would be very remiss of me to leave an injured subordinate to get home by themselves. You did get wounded within my vicinity, after all.” He pauses for a moment, as if in thought, before dramatically placing the palm of a hand against his forehead. “The paperwork will be a nightmare,” he groans, albeit with a grin.
Listening to him, the fight in her over the entire issue was dying down, as much as she wanted to stay and argue with him she knew he was right. The different protocols the military had in place made a lot of things easier but in the same breath made some things that much more difficult. She was hardheaded and still set in her ways when it came to many things but her loyalty would never be in question, when it came right down to it she would follow whatever she had to in order to prove herself...just not anything that had to do with medical. Her opinionated ways may land her in hot water eventually but until then she was steadfast in her opinion about these useless protocols and her disdain for them.
She just had to laugh at him shaking her head as she looked over at him. " I hear it's one of my best qualities.", she laughed before shaking her head, he didn't even know the half of it. It was better for him to see her stubborn over not wanting to see medical than see her totally psycho the second they show up and try to come near her. What would he think then? It caught her a little off guard that he was willing to see her home, half expecting him to bolt now that everything had been said and done. It was, after all, what she would have done had she endured all this mess while off duty.
" That's so very nice of you Major, I just don't know why you would want to waste your off time walking me home.", it was certainly something she wasn't very used to and then it hit her the moment he brought up paperwork, a smirk of her own crossing her lips. " So if I happen to keel over dead on the way home and you see me do it does that make more paperwork? You sure you want to risk that?", she asked before taking off walking, glancing back at him before laughing. She was certainly the type to die just to make someone else's life a little harder, it was a personality trait, fortunately for him she kinda liked him. Kinda.
" All that paperwork just sitting around waiting on your desk~ It's what you get for being a paper pusher.", she teased as she walked once again calling him exactly how she saw him. A glorified paper pusher who just so happened to know a few cool moves like snapping someone's wrist super easily....she was still trying to figure that one out. "Maybe it won't be too horrible.", She could be nice when she wanted to be even though it was something as small as a reassurance.
TAGAsena Noir NOTES N/A
Slowly Asena was starting to warm up to him, and was becoming much less of the cold-hearted, will-swear-at-a-superior officer that he had first encountered at the start of the night. Of course, she had been on duty then, whereas now she was nothing more than a wounded deer that wanted to get back home and forget this night ever happened. Probably. Her physical wound seemed to let her open up a bit more, and North found himself with much more of an honest smile on his face now as he gazed at her. It amused him how similar she was to Ananke, in many ways, and yet she almost was more agreeable than the woman he had known and bugged for many months now. Even after just one little shared scuffle.
Huh. Humans certainly were interesting.
His blue eyes remain trained to her face as she seems surprised by his offer to walk her home, but the surprise disappears from her face as a smirk replaces it all too easy instead — a change in emotions that was very familiar to him. Asena suddenly makes a joke about keeling over dead on their way home that would cause him only more paperwork, and he lets out a laugh that vibrates in his chest. The officer takes off out of the club and he's quick to follow behind her, a matching smile on his own face.
“Oh, don't worry about that. I'd simply shove your dead body in a dumpster somewhere and call it a night — pretend it never happened. Can't do paperwork for something that was never reported,” he laughs, tapping his forehead with a finger as if to imply he's already thinking ahead should the worst happen. North drags along slightly as he makes sure that he sees the arrival of more Military officers to properly secure the situation before he catches up to the woman once more, satisfied they would take the assailants into custody. North didn't know what would happen to them for this affront and, personally, didn't care.
His attention returns to Asena as she begins to speak again, and he grins once more as he replies: “Yes, how tragic for me. But at least it gives me time off to hang around in clubs like this, watching while you grunt officers are forced to work late into the night.” There's a teasing edge to the way he speaks, catching up enough so that he can walk directly besides Asena.
Her entire mood improved greatly the moment she was out of that club and far enough away to not be pursued by medics. Asena was as tough as they came personality-wise but it was only because she had to fight her entire life, how do you learn to stop fighting? You don't. She was warming up to North a bit faster than most only because he helped her when she needed it otherwise she would be telling him to piss off like anyone else just a little nicer. If nothing else she could appreciate him and his position, he didn't have to tag along but here he was...even if it was just possibly to toss her body in a dumpster if she died along the way.
She had to laugh right along with him, that was such a military answer, hide the body to avoid paperwork, she loved it. " I feel like you've already put way to much thought into hiding my body." Truthfully she was so desensitized to fun little talks like this that he could have been totally serious and she would have gone right along with him, hell she probably would have climbed into the dumpster for him before dying just to save him a little time. " As long as you don't just leave my corpse out in the streets for the dogs to eat, I swear I will come back and haunt you if you do."
" Pfft how did that work out for you tonight?", she retorted quickly knowing she couldn't pick too much on that front, if it hadn't been for him she was sure she would have been in a lot worse shape. She glanced up at him when he caught up, part of her wanted to thank him for stepping in like he did. She opened her mouth to speak before closing it right back, she just couldn't force the words out. " You should have just left, you weren't even on duty.", she barked instead, it was as close to a thank you as she could currently manage though he probably wouldn't pick up on that too easily. It was her own stubborn way of saying you didn't have to be there but you were, thanks.
TAGAsena Noir NOTES N/A
Put too much thought into hiding her body? It makes North grin, even if there's no verbal response that goes along with his reaction. Well, let's just say he was a little bit of an expert when it came to hiding bodies — it wasn't really anything he had to think about anymore. Not like most people went searching for those that went missing anyway. It was a sort of automatic assumption that the Military must have gotten to them in some way. He instead continues to walk beside Asena in silence, listening to her speak, until she suddenly brings up the question of how well things went for him that night. North lets out a small huff of laughter.
“Well, it certainly wasn't a dull night,” he muses aloud. Even if his plans for the evening had been dashed, it wasn't like the Infected wouldn't survive without a round of a warm body rolling around in his bed. Not that it was too late to do so; the scum of the city slums tended to be out late, far past after the residents of the Inner Citadel had gone to bed. Worse comes to worse, he could go shopping into the poorer districts of Stronghold for a bite to eat.
North's attention returns to Asena as she suddenly comments that he didn't have to step in back at the club. He turns his blue eyes towards her, questioningly, and raises a brow as if in amusement.
“I don't believe anyone in the Military is ever truly off duty,” he muses somewhat somberly in thought, with the realization that the Military was more than just on-off officers. If they were to take control of the world, everyone would have to be in it no matter what. “Besides, I wasn't about to let some hack ruin that beautiful face of yours,” North purrs as his tone dips deliciously downwards into something suggestive, his flirtatious self once more poking through now that the seriousness of the situation was gone. His eyes remain trained to her face as he grins, curious to see what kind of reaction he could get out of her with his comment.
Asena laughed, he was absolutely right, it wasn’t a dull night at all and she loved it. For the first time in months, she had come alive with that nice burst of adrenaline as temporary as it was. Asena thrived on conflict and because she wasn’t able to get it in the raw form of shooting someone or fighting very often she was quick to find it in other ways like putting people in their places and bitching people out for seemingly no reason at all. Sure she got stabbed in the process, but it was one hundred percent worth it at the end of the night. “I don’t think my client found the night nearly as much fun as I did.”
It sure didn’t feel like they were ever off duty, she could have been called back at any second and she would have happily obliged despite her wound. Military life wasn’t for everyone but she believed wholeheartedly in the cause enough to keep pushing forward and submitting to whatever rules they imposed on her and the rest of the world. She was quick to get lost in her thoughts only to be snapped back to reality by his comment, looking at him through squinted eyes as if he was playing some stupid trick that she was all too aware of. “You literally just said you would dump my body in a dumpster and now I have a pretty face? Please.”, she scoffed, his tone wasn’t completly lost on her at all as she quickly turned her face to hide that subtle blush that was creeping up.
They would soon reach her bottom floor apartment and after a bit of fumbling and eventually removing the bloody rag from her side with a wince, she would find her keys, jamming them into the lock, and unlocking it in a set of shaky motions. Pushing the door open she glanced back at him, a sense of relief washing over her now that she was home and in a more familiar space. “I am going to get this taken care of so I stand a chance at work tomorrow.”, she laughed as she stepped in the door. “I owe you one for looking out for me tonight, if you ever need anything just let me know.”
TAGAsena Noir NOTES N/A
He laughs at her dismissive comment about how he'd called her pretty after threatening to throw her in a dumpster. She really was like Ananke, which made the Infected all the more interested in the woman. Silently, like some kind of guardian angel — from hell no doubt — he remains at her side until they reach her apartment. The man remains silent as Asena fumbles with the bloody rag in order to get her keys in her hand. He doesn't realize it until she speaks again — the way his eyes are trained to the bloody rag, the fresh scent of blood threatening to draw him closer and closer until—
He snaps back to reality, a smooth, criminal grin on his face as eyes focus themselves on the woman's face once more.
“Oh, I'll be certain to call on that favour, mark my words,” he promises with a soothing tone and a wink. It's meant to be a joke — but if someone were to pry deeper, they might see a darker meaning to his words. North stays silent like a guard dog far past when she finally closes the door to head inside, his eyes locked on the door handle that has a small smear of blood. Tonight was close, too close, and he has a funny feeling whoever he chooses to spend the rest of the night with will mostly likely wind up breakfast tomorrow.
Letting out a soft chuckle, North turns on his heel and heads back in the direction of the bars.
Posted 07-11-2021, 04:28 PM
A wonderful life
