Elsewhere in Deling City
The night proved to be a restless one for Asa, visions of fire and devastation corrupting her dreams as she often found herself jostled awake to the disquieting darkness of her hotel room. No matter how hard she tried, the day's events refused to be dislodged from her mind and eventually, she was forced to concede defeat in the fight for a good night's sleep as she rose from the bed and turned her head towards the window. The sky was a vivid orange, the streetlights dimming in the rising light of the new dawn as the bus carriages shuttled their way through the bare streets.
A new dawn, a new day.
Ace took in a deep, steady breath, steeling herself for what was ahead as she ran a hand through her messy hair. She would have a meeting later with her superior to discuss yesterday's mission in more depth. They would expect a full, detailed report on why there had been so many SeeD operatives at the tower when their true intentions were supposed to be kept covert. It was a serious matter, and Ace had no doubt that her current position would be put into question. Still, Ace was no push over, and despite her present faults, she still proved to be one of the best upcoming soldiers in the army. She was an asset, and they would be foolish to dismiss her on a whim when the circumstances themselves had been so wildly out of hand.
Not to mention when others were seemingly neglectful in their duties... Ace thought darkly to herself as she recalled the drunken ramblings of a couple of soldiers she had overheard last night. The stories they told were wild and outlandish, and she could only hope that they were created entirely under the influence of alcohol, or the Galbadian Army was in worse shape than she thought.
Feeling slightly mollified by her thoughts, the young lieutenant walked over to the ensuite bathroom to freshen herself up, a dull ache throbbing in the back of her head as well as her bruised hand. A mixture of alcohol and poor sleep, probably, she pondered to herself with a slight wince, twisting the taps in the shower until the water warmed to her liking. She was still covered in blood and dirt from the battle yesterday, she noted grimly, mostly due to the fact that she just couldn't bring herself to care about looking presentable after everything that had happened. But that was yesterday, and this was today.
It was time to wash herself clean and start over again.
As Ace made her way downstairs for a strong cup of coffee, a pungent smell of alcohol, sweat and disinfectant greeted her as a cluster of soldiers crowded around a cramped booth, the table before them littered with empty bottles and cigarette butts from the night before. The sound of broken glass being swept away could be heard from the corner of the room as the hotel maids struggled to clean up the mess that the rambunctious soldiers had created in their wake. Ace almost felt kind of sorry for them, but the army's boorish behaviour was merely an accepted norm these days. It would be more concerning if they didn't cause such a scene.
"Man, that was a good night," Ace's attention was piqued as she overheard one of the soldiers announce themselves loudly, a foolish grin plastered on his face as he slapped the back of one his dozing comrades. "Haven't had a piss up like that in ages. Still, gotta hand it to the G-Army for the fireworks, ehh? We totally annihilated those Dollet dickheads."
A prickle of anger surged through Ace as she listened to the impudent male laugh aloud, her expression becoming stony and hard as she strode towards the table without faltering. Her approach drew the attention of the other loitering soldiers, their faces quickly changing from passive to fearful at the fiery glare reflected in her eyes."You." The word rolled from Ace's tongue with utter disdain, her target stopping in the midst of his crude insults as he met Ace's look with a sense of trepidation. "I'm glad to see you think your job is so funny, soldier. Hey, if we all had your work ethic, we would have seized control of the West ages ago." The soldier's expression was nothing short of perplexed as Ace continued her angry and sarcastic tirade, incensed by the male's despicable behaviour and her own frayed emotions. "Don't speak ill of the dead again in my presence, got it?" She finished warningly, her voice as cold as ice as she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, her coffee long forgotten.
She could hear their hushed words follow her as she ascended the stairs to the higher floor, her blood boiling in her veins as she took deep, uneven breaths to calm herself down. She wasn't quite sure why the soldier's words had pushed her buttons so easily, and she was normally a lot calmer in those kinds of situations. Again, she assumed it was largely in part due to her lack of sleep, which she could only hope would not serve against her later when she needed to pay a visit to the Presidential Residence, where the meeting with her superior was to take place.
In the meantime however, finding a way of calming her nerves seemed to be the best course of action, and with that objective in mind, she settled on going to see Rose. At the very least, Rose had never failed to cheer her up.
