Larassa spat to the side and pointed her cigarette at the merc, "Look, I don't know how mighty high and tough you think you are, but you've got no damn right to barge in here and act as if you're better than me. You don't even know the things I can do. I'm great at what I do, hence why they always call me in for these kinds of jobs so maybe you shouldn't be so damn quick to judge, merc. As for why you're here, I guess the job's threat level is bigger than usual so they probably think I need backup or something."
She could tell he seemingly didn't like being called 'merc' so she was definitely going to pronounce that as her partner's nickname. Hearing that she was acting and looking like a child, Larassa's eyes flashed gold and stayed gold as she growled, "I ain't no child, merc."
She then tossed her cigarette aside and grounded it in the dirt before taking a threatening step closer to the merc, glaring down at him since her digitigrade legs naturally made her taller than everyone. The commander, a captain, then walked over and grabbed Larassa's shoulder before yanking her back a few steps from the merc. He glared at her and said, "Lara, calm down. I don't want you beating up your new partner before you two even begin the mission!"
Larassa snarled at the captain as she said, "Then maybe you should tell him to stop acting so high and damn mighty!" The captain glanced at the merc briefly before looking back at Larassa and saying, "Lara. Calm. Down. That's an order."
Larassa snarled again at this and said, "You don't even have the authority to tell me what to do!" She threw her hands into the air, but turned away from the merc and captain as she put her hands on her hips and began pacing to help calm herself down. The captain was lucky that Larassa had some damn respect for him, or he could've been pulled into a fight right then and there.
Tarkov sat patiently and listened to the girl's ranting. Even as the commander interrupted her, the thought occurred to Tarkov that he would like to be anywhere but in this command tent with this bi-polar mutant and this stiff boring captain. He remembered why he hated briefings… and self-entitled people. Humility is truly dead, isn't it? He thought.
Even as he had attempted to decelerate the situation and maybe develop a professional relationship with this girl, she had only blown up more. Why did she make this sharp right when I tried to relate to her? He wondered, before locking up any doubt that she was simply insane.
He noticed her do that 'thing' again…her skin seemed to tingle, and her breathing became quick before slow and controlled. He even thought he saw a twitch of some sort on her back, where those slashes were. Some kind of glands, maybe? Wings? He hated how unpredictable mutants could be.
As the commander began talking about the decision to give her another partner being over his head, which Tarkov knew he was lying about, he began to calculate his next interaction with the mutant. After she hears about this next mission, her temper will be flaring, for sure. He decided it would be best to just remain quiet and let things play out. He pulled out his knife and sharpener again.
Even if it bothered the commander, he had been briefed the entire mission before he had landed in Afghanistan. He had no need to hear the same crap twice. These people can kiss my ass with all their pretentious garbage.