Summary/Disclaimer: Time for another chapter of The Lioness and the Wolf. Enjoy the 2000-Word chapter. I don't own AGK, Takahiro, Square Enix and a few others do.
(Empire)
It was almost impossible to not notice Leone considering how much she mutated. Her feet and hands looked less bestial but not entirely human. Her hair was begging to grow more, Jace also noticed her eyes were becoming more rounded, and he noticed more fur on her.
'She's switching back and forth between her regular and mutated forms….' Jace thought with a frown.
"So, I've not met the general before," Jace stated, curious as to what to expect. "There have been plenty of rebel cells besides Night Raid, meaning I'm not exactly sure what to expect," Jace added, putting his hands in his coat's pockets.
Leone adjusted the cloak over her body and clothes. She hadn't seen her former boss in weeks. The last Jace told her? Najenda was busy trying to hold the empire together without corruption. Jace knew Mine, Akame, and Tatsumi were the only remaining members of Night Raid left.
"So WHY didn't you reach out to her for help again?" Leone asked, tying the ends of the robe around her hips.
"I wanted to retire from the military after the war and enjoy the peace," Jace said, looking up at the sky with a sigh. "I didn't think it would be this bad when I thought about it, constantly fighting and all that," Jace added, humming as he dusted off his officer's coat.
"Any plans if this ever ends?" Leone asked only for Jace to hum and shrug. "I told the boss I wanted to make a traveling circus originally if we ever survived," Leone added which was greeted by a hum.
"Retire, find someone to settle down with, maybe just relax?" Jace said, ignoring the grin he got from Leone.
He blushed despite himself. Lupusnal was tugging at him like a chain around his throat… And yet? Not all of what he felt towards Leone came from the Tengu itself.
"Don't… Think like that." Jace said, turning as Leone leaned on his shoulder. "Anyway, we're going to have to wait. I heard the general doesn't come back from her mission until night." Jace stated as he shook his head.
He knew for a fact that Leone was digesting what was happening. She looked nervous, even off-put and uncomfortable.
"Not ready to see an old comrade?" Leone heard from Jace as he raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey, don't worry. I'll talk if you want me to. I'm not going anywhere, that's what partners are for." Jace stated, making sure to meet her gaze.
Leone said nothing. She was curious as to what Jace meant only for the colonel to hum.
"How are you feeling, all jokes aside?" Jace asked, planting on his hips. "You've been back and forth this entire morning," Jace stated, a frown slowly cutting across his lips.
Leone hummed and put her hands on her hips, sniffing the air as she did so.
"It's weird," Leone added to which Jace could only raise his eyebrow.
"Weird how?" Jace asked, leaning back as he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Cravings, mood swings… I'm describing being pregnant, crap." Jace said, rubbing at his temples as the lion-themed brawler only giggled.
Jace knew something that Leone liked and could get her mind off it… However? He DREADED the idea of it when he thought about it.
"Hey, Leone?" Jace asked as he scratched nervously, knowing the hell the question would bring with it. "Where's that bar you went to? I have some leftover money…. And jobs if I need more. And I know how much you like to dr-…" Jace started to say before the woman grinned manically.
Before Jace could even respond, she wrapped an arm around his waist and tugged him along. His pleas were ignored and thrown into the wind without a single word from her.
Jace resigned himself to being at her mercy. If anything? Leone NOT being constantly sad and mopey was some comfort to him.
(10 minutes later)
Jace watched as Leone smashed down another drink. The first few were free, probably because Leone had played a direct part in killing the prime minister.
Jace took light sips from his drink. While his Tengu did enhance his body? It lacked the healing factor Lionel did, not without stabbing someone and stealing their life force. As such? Jace was VERY unwilling to stomach more than a single drink. He hummed and swirled the drink around his finger.
"C'mon… Drink." Leone said, wrapping an arm around him.
"Aren't you the one who loves to drink?" Jace asked, baiting her to do something. "Besides, we had 6… Where did five of them go before I even had one?" Jace questioned only for her to draw closer.
He could smell the alcohol on her breath. It was intoxicating, but her fanged smirk spelled all but his doom. She nipped at his ear, tugging playfully on the skin with her teeth. Jace fought the urge to give a vocal response. It would just spur her on.
"You're enjoying this too much, aren't you?" Leone asked as she leaned back, almost crashing to the ground.
"Enjoying what?" Jace questioned innocently, he knew very well that he was playing with fire. "I came here to cheer you up. Are you happy now? You've been either super peppy or just snarky." Jace pointed out, raising the bottle he was busy sipping from.
Jace watched her pour the contents of the bottle down her throat, downing every drop like she was a machine. It wouldn't surprise him that her liver was probably healing as fast as she put drinks into it…. Still? He couldn't fathom how well this would be going.
"You're pretty cute when you're flustered, you know." Leone said, leaning close again. "You like to pretend like your so macho, but I know you. Your shy… You WANT something to happen, don't you?" Jace heard from Leone, she playfully purred and giggled in a manner that scared him.
Jace downed the drink in one good go. He felt his throat burn with a numbing ache as the contents of the cup slowly slid down his throat. He could only hum and look at Leone as she smirked and continued to down drink after drink.
'I swear that this woman isn't human. I do. Nobody is going to drink this much.' Jace thought as he shook his head.
He knew this was a mistake which he honestly found quite amusing which made this slightly less annoying. Still? He could not hope to ponder what Leone would do next. He knew she was a dangerous beast kept inside a small cage and the SMALLEST snap would break the latch and send her tumbling into him.
"So, what was it like being an assassin for one of the biggest groups in the rebellion?" Jace asked, already reaching for another glass. "I can't imagine it's very interesting. You're constantly waiting for orders when it comes down to it." Jace added, cracking his fingers as he sighed and hummed.
Leone turned to look at him, her golden eyes still as sharp as she regularly seemed. It was then Jace started to believe that her healing factor had improved when Lionel had merged with her body.
"You're not drunk, are you?" Jace questioned, eyebrow raised and a hum which was answered with a nod. "Well, that's good, I don't want to point out that the general… I don't know anything about her." Jace stated as he hummed once more and downed another drink in seconds.
He felt his stomach burn, causing him to lean back in his chair as he shook his head. Jace looked at Leone who giggled with glee as she hooked an arm around Jace's hip. She leaned on him, almost cracking the chairs the duo was sitting upon.
"Your pretty cute for someone who's SO uptight." Leone purred out once more.
Jace leaned away only to see her close in again. Her breath tickled into his neck before she slowly climbed to her feet. Jace turned to pay the man only for him to hold up his hand.
"She kicked the crap out of Honest." The man stated, his massive arms crossed and a smirk gracing his lips. "They're on the house. You're the one which saved her life, right?" Jace heard and nodded as he tapped Leone on the shoulder.
"Leo, let's go," Jace stated while he pulled the giggling woman towards the door. "I question what the… OW…" Jace started to say before he grabbed at his temples.
It was then he started to remember why he never once touched a drink since he was a teenager… Still? It cut at his brain like a thousand needles.
Jace decided the next place he went to would be a doctor to make sure his head didn't ache for too long. He envied Leone who seemed as chipper as always.
"So…." Leone said and watched Jace turn back to her with a raised eyebrow once more. "Have fun? You seem kinda easy to get tipsy considering how much you're nursing a headache." Leone added, giving Jace a playful elbow bump.
"It isn't the drink that got to me," Jace stated, rubbing at his temples as he did so. "It's more how unused to it I am. I only drank once back when I was like 15 or such. The war with the empire ate up a lot more of my time. You don't exactly get time to practice bar hopping when your busy planning ambushes and setting up new bases, do you?" Jace asked and got a shrug from Leone.
Jace looked up at the sun, it was light out enough to tell him an hour or 2 had passed. He questioned how the general regularly ran ops with the rebellion being nothing more than a hodgepodge of whoever and whatever soldiers they could whip into shape.
Then again? Considering he heard enough about Najenda to know the woman had led the attack on the capital? She had to be someone special to direct them… Even if their official strategy was to just storm the walls with whatever men they had while Night Raid did the majority of the work.
"You know I'm not a real big military officer besides killing the enemy, right?" Jace said and turned to Leone. "I wasn't someone who reported to the chain of command. My dad's group just harassed and slowly targeted Matia's holdings until he broke down and retreated. I'm not exactly the biggest military guy around." Jace said which got a nod.
"Meaning…?" Leone asked and got a wave of Jace's hand.
"Meaning I might not get along with orders," Jace stated and crossed his arms. "My dad loved freedom, but he ALSO loved the freedom to be able to take different paths to a goal. We didn't do things by the book when it came to Matias. Spies, constant assassinations, making friends in high places?" Jace questioned before clearing his throat.
"We worked to get rid of Matias and make things better," Jace added and waved his hands. "We also didn't do things by how the generals said so. My dad wanted to be a general, thought it would give him the power he needed to make the hard choices." Jace stated to which Leone raised an eyebrow.
It was hard not for him to laugh at least somewhat given the irony of the situation…. Then again? Leone was someone who he found very amusing.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to apologize for this chapter is short at the moment. The next chapter will be sadly shorter and such. The next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show Leone and Jace meeting Najenda and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!
P.S: Next chapter is 1200 words or such.