𝐹𝒾𝓇𝑒 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇

          a sneer curls the red matte that makes up her lips. folk lore. the stuff of nightmares. but smaug’s story is not one that parents tell their little ones. no, her name is poison. to speak her name is to speak blasphemy to god himself. in her fire, one can glimpse into what hell and damnation feels like for the one second they feel before death takes over. if the monstrosities of this world bowed to any, it was to she.           ❛ you fear the things that come to you in your sleep, but true terrors will kill you with your eyes wide open, ❜ smaug tells her coolly, calmly. ❛ i will stare you in the face and watch your skin melt off your bones. i will watch the life leave your eyes and i will relish in the sight, and you tell me-- ❜ the sound of her voice falls an octave, and it seems to fill every single atom of space it can in the seemingly endless treasure chest inside the mountain. ❛ --that you have seen worse? ❜           silver eyes seem to light up, gold and orange and angry. though she is only in the shape of a woman, small and fail and beautiful, one can almost feel the heat of the dragon’s breath on them, the hurricane of her wings and the roar of her voice. ❛ i am not a nightmare come to life. i am death incarnate. and YOU, little one, are trespassing. ❜

          her eyes stay trained on him until the case has been fully opened, and only then does she let a steady gaze fall to the desk below. her expression remains unwavering, not a twitch of a brow or a lip there to betray her thoughts to him. it’s a sight to behold, certainly, one that the mind struggles to comprehend.. but she looks unimpressed.           silver hued eyes come back to him, and her chin tilts up a few degrees. ❛ a demonstration of what? ❜ she inquires half-heartedly, doing very well to mask the feeling of desire that grows in her chest. ❛ i’ve yet to see anything but a party trick. not particularly useful. ❜ a phrase constructed solely to get him to explain, or be turned away.

          there’s no reply to his final thoughts aside from a little hum, one a wife might make to lead her husband to believe she’s listening when she’s not. the sound is short and soft and it’s quite likely he doesn’t even hear her make it, but it translates directly to a very sarcastic, ‘yes, thank you for that opinion. i’ll be sure to keep it in mind next time.’            smaug’s had enough bodyguards in her life, she thinks she’ll survive without this one... or his obnoxious forwardness and persistent belief that he’s worth listening to, she thinks irritably. though, not one to be particularly dramatic, the CEO doesn’t throw a fit or make an angry phone call once he’s gone. her eyes remain on the papers that she has begun to make notes of, and she wonders how much longer under her phone inevitably rings and her contented silence is broken.           but rather than be interrupted by noise, suddenly she is met with the sound of an empty, powerless building. no whirs of air conditioners or elevators, none of the usual company noises. she instantly realizes what has happened, and finds her annoyance thrice what it should have been at such a minor inconvenience. thanks a lot, mr. cage, not you’ve got her on edge about the little shit.           with the power off, smaug won’t be able to just call down to her assistant.. so instead, she takes her cell phone from her pocket and begins furiously typing text messages while rising from her seat and moving across the room, out the office door, and into the hallway. ❛ what the hell is going on? ❜ she snaps at the first, innocent security guard she sees, knowing full well he won’t have any answers for her. this is bloody wonderful, isn’t it?

          sorely unimpressed, the silver eyes of the woman flicker to the bartender who she gestures vaguely to. he’d been listening, and moves to obey her instantly, as if he’d been shocked into action or she was pulling his strings. she doesn’t seem to even notice the other female’s lack of attention, let alone be offended by it, and simply mirrors the appearance of disinterest. a little shrug, slender shoulder lifting and falling effortlessly. ❛ so i’ve been told. ❜

          mind-blowing, perhaps, but not unjustified. smaug’s relationships are all mutually beneficial in nature, because there is no room for anything else. there’s no room, not even in plans as big as hers, for people who can’t be useful. in smaug’s not so humble opinion, the trade-off is often unfair, with smaug benefiting substantially less than whoever it is she is working with, but even the frays of a spiderweb are useful to the spider.            even if the spider is getting a little bit sick and tired of patching up the tattered edges he creates.            ❛ so you keep insisting, ❜ she comments idly, dispassionately, and silver eyes redirect to a small stack of papers. eventually, she pulls one away from the rest and offers it to him. ❛ but regardless, your suspicion is more trouble than it’s worth. i have this for you, i think you’ll find it extremely interesting. ❜

          foolish and arrogant and naive. most mortal creatures are. she sound so sure, so confident, and smaug considers laughing at her, but it’s not particularly funny to the snake.. rather pitiful, actually. ❛ oh, i doubt that, ❜ she says, coolly, voice seeming larger than she herself is. ❛ but please. enlighten me. what have you seen? ❜

           ❛ of course i’m angry. you should have told me. ❜

          a little smile, so small that one might not even notice it, and if they did it might be mistaken for an arrogant smirk. ❛ and have ‘all things’ been considered? ❜ she asks, coolly. ❛ i think, if so, you would see i’m not asking you to trust me. i’m asking you to think objectively. you can learn to trust me in your own time, but facts --- facts simply are. and the fact is, i’m just as useful to you as you are to me. you win, simply by having me on your side. ❜

          if he were to ask her (and if she were entirely honest) she would tell him yes, that is exactly what it had taken. it had taken orchestrating the murder of both of her parents. it had taken destroying companies through bankruptcy and sabotage. it had taken blood, and death, and suffering for her to get where she was, and none of it belonged to her. no wonder there were people out to get her.           ❛ clearly you’re not, ❜ she comments, masking her annoyance with indifference. ❛ your contract, the one that was written specifically for and signed by you, explicitly stated that you and i would be working in very close proximity to one another. if you can’t follow a direction given to you by your employer, then you might as well be a child. or a dog, perhaps. ❜          cruelty is in her nature, poison is made in her teeth and tongue and laced in every word. she doesn’t so much as blink. smaug has had more than one person try to take her life, she’s had more than one cheap hire walk out on her. he is less than ripple in the ocean that makes up her life, and her storm rages on.          ❛ very well. ❜ silver eyes move away, fall to the desk of pristinely kept paperwork. ❛ you can speak to the secretary, and security officers about the termination of your contract and the full return of your compensation. ❜

          she doesn’t so much as extend a hand or even a pleasant smile. no time nor patience for being delightful or charming, not in a place like this. silver-gray clouds that make up her eyes wash lazily over and analyze the inebriated girl, before she pointedly offers up, ❛ smaug. ❜ a pause, only long enough for the heiress to blink. ❛ may i buy you a drink? ❜

          there is disgust on her expression, as plain as a pimple on the end of a nose. money has always solved.. well, just about all her problems. her money and her wit. her ‘wit’ had intensely protested the hiring of lukas cage (he didn’t feel.. right), and his behavioral display proves her very much correct in her assumptions. she had known he was more trouble than he was worth.           ❛ you have been paid more than triple the amount that would regularly be paid to someone with a task like yours. as far as i’m concerned, i’m paying you enough to lick dirt from my shoes should i demand it. as far as i’m concerned, mr. cage, my wish is your command. ❜