Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-25389303-20160708180726/@comment-5999656-20160726012340

(Sounds good. You know, I really appreciate you being someone who's willing to compromise and work out sensitive issues in a civil manner. That makes it a lot easier for me to make concessions as well.)

Zanipher nodded at Diaboli's farewell, but as his back had already turned chances were he hadn't seen it. As for Smiler, though... he was somebody dangerous. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that this whole unintended mess began when she had confronted him back in the forest. And since neither of them had given any indication of backing down, Zanipher had interpreted that as good enough reason to unleash the Dragons' militia onto a group that they probably wouldn't have encountered so dramatically otherwise. Well, enough of that. Diaboli was right - even though or maybe because this was the first time, everyone was pretty disgruntled that she'd dragged them into a huge fight. And although no one had said anything, it was clear she was going to have to change her image if she wanted peace among the Dragons to remain, as it had before.

At least this confrontation hadn't devolved into a firefight. Diplomacy had its values, even amongst thieves and spies. Would it be reckless to take Smiler on if he returned looking for revenge? A one on one battle to settle for good which of them was the better fighter? Unless he was willing to face her on equal ground, which was unlikely given his type, then playing the noblewoman was a bad idea.

"You guys can handle the police, right?" she asked her subordinates. Zanipher felt very tired all of a sudden. That had been a damn stressful standoff, even if she was good at masking her emotions.

"It'll be fine," a man grunted, clearly disappointed that they hadn't fought the Patched when they'd had the upper hand with the magnetic strip floor. One by one they pulled the masks off and stowed them in various drawers, rising to meet the uniformed officers outside the hole where the door had been. Zanipher, meanwhile, turned and climbed the stairs all the way back to her office. She sat down at her desk, and only then did she pull the mask off.

She turned it, holding the object in both hands as the design on it stared up at her through a tinted visor. The image of a red butterfly was carved into its otherwise smooth black surface, and its absence of any depicted emotion seemed to judge her from below. Be the mask, it seemed to say. Be the Dragon.

Hell if she was going to do that. Nobody likes people who act like nothing affects them. Keep it up and one day all of reality is going to come crashing down hard. Zan had thought that pretending to be all-powerful was enough to keep anyone from targeting her.

''What total bullshit. I get that now.''

She could see the birthmark dotting the upper side of her right face reflected in the semitransparent visor. A perpetual imperfection which had marred her face from day one. And there - the red dot in the white of her eye. An iris nevus, they call it. Another imperfection. Making her always look like she'd just been punched or something. It'd caused no shortage of self-consciousness in her younger days. Maybe that was why she'd tried so hard to be untouchable.

''Damn though, twenty-five years old and already taking on the worst humanity has to offer. That does so much for my self-esteem. What am I to rub shoulders with megalomaniacs?''

She wasn't just referring to Smiler. This line of work brought her into contact with some pretty nasty clients, and her fellow Heads weren't exactly humble either. The company had encountered difficulties in the past, and every time she'd wondered if being in the Dragons was the best idea. But being in the network - it was hard to tell whether that lowered or raised her family's chances of being put in danger.

Well, after all this she was going to need a nice long night of sleep. She held the mask a moment longer, then opened a drawer and tossed it in alongside all the others. If there was one lesson to be taken from this, it was definitely to cut down on the ego big time. Forget being a Dragon Head for a second and maybe remember to be a responsible human being.

(Sorry if it turned into a long self-evaluation of Zan, but I definitely think I'll tone her and the Dragons down from here. That's the lesson I've got from our RP. It was good, thanks!)