Something about today really irritated Meixong.

Nothing unusual happened, not really. Reports littered their desk; some papers sat in piles; a pen floated in the air as it wrote furiously; a crumpled note had been tossed a few feet away about the Council of Thirds complaining about their ink usage again. All in a day's work of one of the three generals leading the entire army. Well, Besides the Council who still had the final say on what all of them do—which irritated Meixong to the ends of the earth—but that wasn't new information. The Council knew it, General Dagmire and General Byteron knew it, and probably the private who just barked out a laugh about a hundred feet away knew it.

Meixong stood calmly and gathered a pile of reports, blank papers, and a pen. Rin, their assistant, did the same from another desk not far from Meixong's, glancing around the open courtyard dubbed Meixong's "office." The fortress they had been given as a headquarters didn't exactly have a big enough indoor space—the largest was selected as their hospital—but since it was carved into the mountain, the courtyard was shielded from the elements regardless.

"To the store room?" Rin asked conversationally as he packed an extra inkwell.

"I'm going to murder someone."

"That will be more paperwork."

"Thank you. Murderous intent has been quelled." Meixong strode around their desk, their expression still perfectly impassive as usual, but Rin could almost see the veins in their neck. "Do you think the cook has forgiven me by now?"

Rin kept an even distance away from Meixong as he followed them through the courtyard and down the stairs to the lower level. "Marginally."

"Think you can smuggle in another block of salt?"

"...Is that supposed to be a question?"

"So that's why you didn't question me." Meixong twirled their finger in the air, continuing to address Rin without looking at him. "You're learning. Ask me anytime for an actual title or rank. I can hand that out, you know, as the future inheritor of the House of Meixong. And a General."

Rin smiled to himself, exaggerating his tone for his next words. "Oh, I could never ask for such a thing, for I am but a lowly disciple."

Meixong only snorted at that, having since driven the joke into the ground ten times over. The irony amused them. Valrin Honoria—eldest son of the House of Honoria, a family at the head of the mage world—as a simple assistant to Meixong Yenhei—sole inheritor of a smaller fortune, not even a high mage family—who managed to weasel their way to the top on intelligence alone. Neither of them minded it much, Rin having long since renounced the name Honoria and Meixong being...well, Meixong.

Rin never understood how someone could think of General Meixong as a cold, ruthless genius. That seemed to be the Council's impression of them, at least, but it wasn't as if the Council did anything to deserve to see the more human side of Meixong. The impassive expression the general naturally wore, the near-monotone drawl, the sharp wit and even sharper words when aggravated...and it certainly didn't help that Meixong's specialty illusionary magic had been dubbed Fear by many. Their job as an interrogator wasn't so far in the past yet, and Meixong made sure people remembered it. Suppose Meixong did create an image only a fool would oppose, but that wasn't what Rin saw.

Rin only knew of the endless depth of compassion he knew resided within Meixong, a compassion he saw when they pulled him from his darkest moment.

That didn't mean he could predict their next move, however. They had just stepped into an open part of the path, a clear blue sky above them as the spring breeze blew past when Meixong gradually slowed to a stop. They paused, simply staring ahead before casting their gaze to the sky almost as if they were watching the clouds float by. The action wasn't particularly uncharacteristic of the general, but Rin couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy from Meixong.

"Ah, that's why today has been a pain," Meixong said idly. Rin almost asked what they meant by that, but Meixong continued speaking before he could. "This is about the time he came back."

Rin's mouth clicked shut after that, turning himself to lean against the stone walls of the mountain. He, too, found himself looking into the sky. Both of them have lost someone important to them in the war. It didn't hurt to reminisce.