Thulite was both a little grateful to the Captain for getting her out of there, but also…how dare she? How dare she just butt into her business and make her seem like she was weak, like she didn’t have a handle on things. God, older women who thought they were the s**t? They made Thulite so angry...and this woman was absolutely no different.

Thankfully, the magic had worn off by now and she no longer felt that moving was going to cause her bones to shatter, and the moment they were…wherever they were, she yanked her arm away from the Captain’s grip.

“Are you serious? I had everything handled, thank you very much. God you’re just nosey aren’t you? Poking into my business and then making it so that a*****e now thinks I’m weak?”

The sudden vitriol from the Lieutenant had Aegirine taking a step backwards, blinking in confusion and opening her mouth to say something, and closing it again, resulting in her looking rather like a fish for a moment. “Wait, what? What are you talking about? He was about to punch your face off, I thought you could use some assistance, and that’s…the whole point of this, to help one another.” At least that was how Aegirine always saw things. Sure, the Negaverse was out to further their own goals, but they were a single unit. They were here to do things in a certain way, to make sure things went the way they were supposed to.

It was only right to step in when a newer recruit was struggling, wasn’t it?

Thulite’s eyes rolled so hard she was surprised they didn’t make a noise. “Oh please. You’re just trying to make yourself look better. To use me as a stepping stone, I bet. That’s how things work, don’t think I don’t know it.” It was the way of the world. Piggybacking off of weaker people to make yourself look better. It was her whole reason for existing. Perfect little Cressida, designed and molded to reflect good on her mother. Ugh. It made her sick, and she hated it. Sure, she knew that Borax was expecting her to make him look good, but…he was doing it passively, and he was proving to be there when she had questions or concerns, and this b***h? This b***h just absolutely swooped in and stole her glory…which was just.

Petty as Hell.

“You could have just backed off, or hit him from behind. You didn’t have to shove me out of the way, or literally kidnap me. He was fighting me. I was holding my own well enough.”

Oh…well, okay…Aegirine hesitated. “I’m. Sorry? I thought you needed help, and I didn’t want you to get your face smashed in, I didn’t realize that I was making things worse, truly. I–”

Why was she apologizing. She had saved this girl, she knew she had saved this girl, the whole thing was about to get quite bloody and…if she hadn’t jumped in…this princess’ face was going to be smashed in, and then what would she do? She was quite posh, Aegirine could tell that just by how she carried herself and the way she spoke…she understood. She had been that way when she was younger. Before…all of this. Before moving to the States.

But. “Look. We rely on one another in all of this. We protect one another. If Order is getting too full of themselves, sometimes it takes more than one of us to beat them down.”

Ugh. She didn’t really believe in anything she was saying but…hopefully this girl would. And hopefully it would resonate, at least a little bit.

Again, Thulite rolled her eyes hard enough that it hurt. “Oh come on. You’re just trying to make yourself seem all noble, and really, you’re not. You’re a power hungry ********, and you’re trying to ride on my coattails, and I don’t appreciate it. So, just leave me alone, and don’t hope into my fights from now on, got it? He wasn’t my first fight, and I know he won’t be my last, and if I get roughed up a bit, I’ll just learn from it, and then beat his face into the ground the next time we meet. It’s not that hard.”

Tossing her long braid behind her, the Lieutenant huffed and glared at the Captain once again. “You’d do better just…worrying about yourself. I don’t need help, and I don’t want help. If I ask for it, that’s a different story but. I wasn’t asking, so butt out.” She wasn’t going to thank the woman, and she thought she had done pretty well at tearing her a new one verbally. “I’m leaving. Don’t follow me or I’ll call the cops and tell them I have a stalker. Same team be damned. Bye, b***h.” A sassy finger wave and Thulite turned on her heel, walking away into the darkness, pleased that she had won at least one fight tonight.

Aegirine watched the girl go with her mouth open in confusion. She was going to say something else, to protest but…it really wasn’t worth it.

Really…this was a good reason for the Negaverse to not recruit kids. Or teenagers. Or just…spoiled brats, really. She rubbed her forehead with a soft groan and shook her head. Okay. She had ruined her shopping trip helping the girl, had wasted way too much of her own energy teleporting the girl to safety, the only good part about this was she was only a few blocks from home, having teleported that way. Maybe…it was time for a nap. A long nap.

The worst part of all of this was the lack of wine, and she lamented the loss, but that wasn’t strong enough for her to actually go to the store as she had been planning, tomorrow. She could get wine tomorrow. Tonight…she could survive without it…and maybe it would be a good night to just order food in. Yeah. Something good. Greasy. Cheesy…

Pizza.

The thought made her smile and she stretched and walked a few minutes before slipping into the shadows and shedding her powered form.

Pizza was going to be great, and Kayden was eager to eat it. Perhaps the night wouldn’t be such a bust after all.