Mako blue eyes gazed blankly through the double-paned window, focused solely on the break between a set of fluffy and ominously dark clouds. The weather was overcast with winds going at forty-seven miles-per-hour, cloud breaks here and there, and a chance for rain. The air was oddly humid (eighty-two percent), more so than the typical humidity (forty-one percent), making the temperatures skyrocket from average sixty-three to a hundred degrees.
The sun's rays shone through the breaks in the clouds, gracing the rebuilding city of Edge and all its remaining sufferers of Geostigma and normal people with heated light. All caught in the rays were forced inside to even hotter rooms and restaurants, seeing as how it was simply just too hot and heavy outside, seeing as how it was just too crowded and uncomfortable and smelly inside. Yowls of complaints would certainly fill the streets by early to mid-afternoon, disapproval and irritation filling the townspeople's voices. Screams might follow as some die of heat stroke due to lack of proper air conditioning, some might faint, and many will just be burdened with cleaning of the messes.
But that isn't quite what Vassal is observing.
She could see the dim street she spotted that silver-haired man at a day earlier, but there was no one standing before that empty shop window. She didn't know why he was there - whether or not his presence was of ill-nature or if he was just there. She didn't know if he'd seen her. All she knew was that he left before she decided on what she was going to do (observe).
That irritated her. She wanted to know more about him, know and understand what he was standing there (alone) for, prick at his brain for information, dig deeper, so that she could benefit the ShinRa Electric Power Company and protect it, as she was so hired to do. She wanted to prove to Rufus Shinra that she was as good a Turk as Tseng, Elena, Rude, and Reno. She wanted to prove that she was more than just the new girl. Not only that, but it was her duty to scope out strange and dark characters.
But the man got away. He slipped through her nimble fingers as she made her final decision and now, he was nowhere to be found. She couldn't pump him for information. She couldn't know anything. She failed in carrying out her sworn duties.
And the worst part was Rufus wasn't sending her out on any missions. Ever.
Vassal let out a light sigh of mild irritation, rolling her shoulders and crossing her arms over her chest, as if to express the very self-annoyance she was feeling. She scowled minutely and pressed her forehead against the cool window, glaring at the swarms of people dashing to get inside places that might be air conditioned.
"Angelface, you're gonna have to stop brooding, y'know," Reno muttered, crossing his arms behind his head as he leaned back in his rolling, black leather chair. "I mean, Edge may be a big…er, town, but you'll most likely see that guy again. After all, you did say he looked to be a troublemaker. There's a high chance that maybe Shinra'll give us a field mission if he does start trouble."
The word mission rang in her ears with Rufus' distaste of her, rattling around in her brain and repeating itself over and over. She pried herself away from the cold of the window and turned on her pointed toes, slamming her back right against the glass. Tightening her crossed arms, she shot her intense glare to the redhead, her eyes a pair of daggers cutting away at the man's face.
"Are you an idiot, Reno?" she snapped viciously.
"No! I'm just trying to-" She cut him off.
"I don't get to go on field missions. Shinra forbade me to do so! You get to go on missions while I sit here and fill out meaningless paperwork and organize files and…go through fucking accounts! You get to play with weapons and kill bad people and experience high levels of excitement while I sit here and do next to absolutely fucking nothing!"
Vassal was seething by this point, her chest heaving as she breathed after having screeched out all her frustration. She huffed and puffed, glaring at the speechless (for once) redhead, her body tense. She wanted to go out and prove herself, to travel, to do the dirty work, to kill bad people with her partners, play with weapons, fly helicopters, experience dangers of all shapes and sizes, and prove herself.
"I don't get to see what you see, to do what you do, Reno. It makes me uncomfortable. It makes me feel like I'm just the helpless new girl," she mumbled, her expression softening. Once she caught her breath, she made a slow beeline for her desk, plopping unceremoniously into the rolling, black leather chair. Her eyes downcast, she avoided Reno's face, she stared only at her white keyboard.
"Listen, Vash, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings…" he said softly, pushing himself up to his feet and shuffling over to her desk. "I was just sayin'."
"I know, Reno," she grumbled.
"Hey, maybe the boss-man'll lighten up and throw you a mission?"
"Not likely. C'mon, Reno. You've been here longer than I have. Cut the crap."
"Yeah, yeah. In all reality, he won't throw you a bone because he's a sadistic fuck. He knows it bothers you and he likes to see people scramble in all their irritation and depression and shit." Reno shook his red head and shrugged, leaning against Vassal's desk. "He takes joy in seeing others suffer, yo."
Vassal nodded in agreement, closing her eyes and sitting up in her chair. Planting both elbows on her desk, she leaned in a bit closer. If the man continued to talk as loudly and as unprofessionally as this, they'd both get stuck with a night shift and extra work to do. "Hey, keep it down, will you?"
He grinned.
"Eh, sure." His head bobbed and he shrugged again, looking down at his coworker. She returned his glance, only to notice that his Cheshire grin hadn't left his lips.
"We'll get in trouble, you idiot."
"As long as Angelface gets a job, what fucks do I give?"
She blinked, furrowed her brows, and recoiled, retreating to the back of her black chair. He wasn't going to stop being an idiot until she got a decent field mission? As nice and sweet as it may have sounded, he was basically risking his own job. That's something Reno wouldn't do for just anybody. And what was up with his language today? Vassal stared at him, utterly confused.
Before the man could say anything more, a door clicked open and a sly Rufus slid out of his office and worked his way towards them with his signature swagger, a manila file in tow. His blond hair swayed as he did, complimenting his ratty face. He wasn't the most attractive man in the world, and now that Vassal knew he was as sadistic as he was, she couldn't help but picture him with a whip in his hands rather than a file, a spiked collar around his neck rather than his bandages, and a latex body suit rather than his white suit. She twitched.
The idea was simply too twisted to delve into.
When [s]latex-clad[/s] Rufus reached her desk, he shooed Reno aside and slammed the [s]whip[/s] manila file down. A wicked grin spread across that twisted rat face of his.
"Faunus. Seven murders. Cosmo Canyon. Everything you need to know is in that file. Take Reno." The man kept it short and simple, leaving out all real hints of danger, and he returned to his office without another word.
"See? What'd I tell you, Angelface?" Reno smiled, the action presenting crow's feet to the corners of his eyes.
Vassal barely had any time to think about it, much less what had just been said. She let out a solid huff and thumbed the corner of the file, gently opening it and revealing its contents. Her heart was beating at a hard and steady pace, her lungs executing subtle breaths, and her lips quivering with the rest of her trembling body.
She had a mission.
She had a mission to capture that silver-haired man.
A quick intake of breath, her nerves settled down, and she thrust herself up to her feet in outrage. "Rufus Shinra, you fucking liar!"