Alexei doesn't ask for tea, but Auren serves him a special Gallian blend anyway. This is served with a plate of synthetic milk biscuits that Lili knows that Alexei knows are dry as hell. Alexei accepts them and puts one in his mouth without hesitation, because as he's already established during their first meeting he's either extremely polite, or a psychopath.
Lili doesn't mind which one he is. She knows, however, that Avett—who is currently bouncing his shoulder against the wall as he sulks in his corner—does mind. And she's sure that Avett has already made up his mind regarding which one Alexei is.
The way Alexei puts his teacup back onto the table brings Lili back to his attention quickly. He'd done it with enough force to rattle the plate, but not enough to spill his drink.
“I’m rather impressed with your aptitude for ethereal manipulation, Lili," he says.
A flush spreads across her cheeks. "Th-thank you."
Avett groans loudly, but makes no further comment. Alexei continues his gushing unabated: "Hard to believe you're self taught. Most Humans fail to display an aptitude for ether. You're a breath of fresh air."
Good for a Human, but pathetically useless when it comes to the times that had mattered. She shrugs off his compliment this time. What good is being good if none of it applies well on the field? Or when you've lost nearly all capability for it? she adds as an afterthought.
It's here that Auren chooses to butt in. "She has trained under my tutelage for a period of time."
This elicits a chuckle from Alexei. "Sounded tough. Is Gallian theory easy or difficult to work with?"
Lili shrugs again. All Auren has taught her is how to manifest an adequate shield, one that won't pop moments after impact. Gallian theory doesn't sound so bad when she thinks about it in hindsight, but she feels as if she's only scratched the surface of centuries worth of content.
Her mentor doesn’t give in quite so easily, instead choosing to strike where he wants to hit. "You referred to your existence as a 'Human-Hybrid.'" Auren leans forward, his eyes inquisitive. "What would you be a hybrid of, specifically?"
"Chinese and Russian." Alexei's smile is impeccable. Lili tries to hide her own smile.
Auren’s features remain unchanged. It’s the resident sulker that refreshes his throat. "You know damn well that's not what he meant."
“Ah, you were referring to this?” Alexei lifts his hand into the air, and a thread of blue smoke twists out of the air and into his palm where it eddies around for a bit. Then he flicks his wrist, and the smoke dissipates into a fine, scented mist. Strangely enough, it smells of burnt lavenders and smouldering charcoals—not of the fruity aromas she’d expected from such an elegant display.
Auren’s features narrow as he regards the mist with caution. “I suppose that this is the technique you used on Avett, allegedly.”
“Yes, but I would prefer not to disclose my ‘mixed heritage’ at this time.”
"This isn't important." Ysh'vanna hasn't touched her tea at all. "What's important is that you explain to us exactly why we're not getting our pay, and why it's so important that you have to talk to all of us at once."
Right now, the room is divided between those who enjoy the idea of Avett getting the shit hit out of him, and those who are vehemently against that very same idea. Ysh'vanna is sided with the latter, Lili thinks. This is the kind of response that’s expected after witnessing such nonchalant violence from a man who only knows his way around a smile.
And crap, he's smiling right now. Right at Lili.
Alexei says, “You’re all let off."
It takes a moment for the words to actually do Alexei's bidding. It's like they've hit the surface of the water too hard, and it's taking a comically long while for anything to sink in.
He takes this moment to continue. "You can’t have a Human working onboard like this. IRC licenses don’t count as official personal identification, for one, and that’s not mentioning all of the legal loopholes you’ve jumped through just to have her on board.” His smile turns feral as he regards the blank look on Lili's face. “Cashing in on that 20% Human discount for ship facilities, I’d imagine, hm?”
It's almost comical how quickly Avett jumps at the chance to berate Auren. “You said you got all the legal shit out of the way—”
“We have.” Auren pushes away from his chair, meeting Alexei’s eyes with ease. “We intend to take her back to Therius during our month of sabbatical.”
Below him, Ysh’vanna claws into her stomach, her eyes wide and glazed over.
Alexei doesn’t buy into it and remains seated. “So in other words, you ‘intend’ for her to work without identification nor tax for over two months. An apt idea.”
“Tax fraud? You're accusing us of fax fraud? I implore you to take one good look at that man—” Avett jabs a finger at Auren, who holds his chin just a touch higher upon realising that he’s on the receiving end of his colleague’s insult. “—And tell me that we look like the type of people to commit tax fraud."
“Appearances can be deceiving. I’m sure you’re already quite well acquainted with that fact, Mr—”
“Ironsturm. It’s Ironsturm.”
Alexei’s smile falters. “...Mr Ironsturm.”
The act of kindness bounces right off Avett; he looks like he might start spitting into the man’s face at any moment.
With a low voice, Ysh’vanna starts to speak again. “You said you didn’t have the money. But now you’re saying that you’re an IRC official?”
“I suppose I withheld the specifics of my position back there. Your team simply no longer qualifies for your monetary reward. I lied because I couldn’t have you throwing an even bigger fit than you already were in public.”
Ysh’vanna visibly shrinks as she considers his words. Avett storms up to the man himself. “So you were lying—”
“For convenience.”
“—Liar, filthy, fucking, Human liar—”
Auren takes this opportunity to push him aside.
“Suppose we take Lili off our team,” he suggests. “Will you reconsider your choice of action then?”
Lili's heart skips a beat, but Alexei shakes his head.
“Unlikely. What the IRC demands is final. And as of late, they've been demanding quite a bit from me." He shrugs. "I can only ask for you and your crew to make it easier for me."
What the IRC demands. Lili lets the words sink in for a bit before she really allows herself to comprehend what they mean. She’s fucked up so badly that the IRC wants her—and her team—to suffer for it. She doesn't know how it might impact them, whether or not it'll leave an irrevocable marr on their records. They'll be jobless, sure, but what about the future? And how easy would it be for them to find work again? Avett could work for his dad’s friend again, but what about Auren and Ysh'vanna? Hell, if they gave in and threw them all into detainment or whatever they had on Therius she wouldn't be surprised.
As if this wasn't enough, Alexei turns to Lili and says, "A shame, truly. Had your teammates exercised even an ounce of caution, you would've made a fine frontline caster. Alas, this was not the case, and now you are the cause of your very team's disbandment."
Avett folds his arms tightly across his chest, his mouth opening and closing like he has something he wants to say. From the way he's glaring daggers into the general vicinity, she's willing to bet that he's trying his hardest not to choke both her and Alexei out on the spot. She doesn't blame him—she's the one who had to make a nuisance of herself when she begged the team to let her onboard. She's the one who did this.
And yet she still manages to splutter out, "This isn't fair."
"Not many things are, Lili." Alexei looks to the ground, as if basking in his self-mockery. "Not every ending receives a neat little ribbon. You should understand this better than anyone else."
It takes a moment for Lili to recognise who he's referring to. How had he known? She doesn't quite care. The taste in her mouth curdles into a sour tang, and she clenches her fists in retaliation. The way her nails dig into her hands hurts her in a way that keeps all that rising bile and rage in check. And she needs that control right now.
"Lilith," Avett breathes. He's next to her in seconds, but she puts up a hand, signalling for him to stop. As if she needs support from the one guy who hates her the most on this fucking ship.
"Go," is all Lili has to offer to this absolute creep of a Human.
His features turn deadly, but Lili knows that she could be mistaken; all she can see right now is red. "I can see why she chose to leave you that day, Lili."
She strides up to him until he's less than a metre away and, most importantly, within punching distance. She's not thinking straight, but then again, she doesn't want to; her rage rushes through her veins unbridled, sweeps through her arms like liquid ice against metal, culminating, naturally, into something Avett would pull.
A punch.
Her knuckles stop against that same shield. No matter how hard her ether strains through her body, she can't make it through. She doesn't need to, she thinks; she just needs something to exert her strength upon, something to hit without repercussion.
But then she catches Alexei's hardening expression. He looks as if he could start desecrating Ava's legacy at any moment. That's when she realises that hitting his shield isn't enough—she needs to knock that grin right off his face and into the flooring.
Lili's hand shudders against the invisible force. There's something sinister about wishing ill will onto another person, or another Human for that matter, but she shoulders on anyway. In fact, she welcomes this newfound darkness with open arms. Let them see how angry she is.
Let them know.
The barrier shatters to bits under her knuckles. Her fist sails through the air, whistling like a foam dart as it does, and lands squarely against Alexei's jaw. Lili stumbles, but regains that footing easily. Her adversary, however, trips back onto his ass.
Everything after that plays out in blurry stop motion. Alexei is cradling his face, but he's not making any attempt to retaliate. When familiar arms latch onto her from behind she catches the barest hint of black smoke at the edges of her vision, as if she hasn't just punched a hole through Alexei's defenses, but burned through it. It smells like it too, like she's heating coals in a kiln. What she would do to punch him again.
She manages to regain focus. Avett is holding her by the armpits, and he's screaming all sorts of nasty things into her ear, like "calm down," and "are you fucking stupid?" Despite his tone, Lili does find his presence to be soothing somewhat, and soon her heart rate starts slowing into a steady rhythm again.
Alexei is in another world entirely. He blinks at her. He mutters something under his breath about sending the legal specifics of their dischargement from the forces, but it's clear that he's mentally somewhere else. As if he's stuck in an alcohol-induced dream, he hobbles out of the ship and down the fold-out stairs.
The doors slide shut. And Lili realises, with a pounding in her gut, that she's just punched what could be an IRC official, and made him leave not in shame—
—But in god damn awe.