NOVPUBAs the highest officer in the base, Cassandra had her own private room and bathroom, her accommodations were not only comfortable enough but they were also pretty luxurious, but that wasn’t enough for what she had in mind. Because of that, she asked one of her officers to decorate the room, set candles and put soft music.
"If this doesn’t make him fall for you, then nothing will." Lieutenant Iris handed Cassandra a bag with beautiful set of while laced lingery as she spoke using telepathy. Her trait was exceptionally useful, but it modified her body in such a way that she became mute.
"You’re dismissed." Cassandra replied keeping a straight face to pretend it was all business. She quickly wrapped up all of her duties and rushed to the shower thinking Uriel might show up any minute.
"Should I play hard to get? No, he’s always surrounded by girls, I’ll need a more direct approach." She talked to herself as she tried on the lingerie set. She was considered beautiful even before becoming a hunter, but after she became a heavenly rank her true charm flourished and there were few who could contest with her in looks.
"But what if he doesn’t want me?" She hesitated for a moment as she watched her reflection on the mirror, but all it took to shake all doubts off her mind was a quick turn.
She was perfect.
There was only one problem, though, Uriel just didn’t show up. She made sure to tell him to come by, but he sure was taking his sweet time. For a minute she pondered about sending some officers to call him, but she knew Uriel wasn’t too keen on being told what to do and decided against it. Besides, it had been a long time since she had a minute to rest and decided to take a short nap.
"Yes, just a quick snooze." Cassandra sighed, but her eyes closed immediately.
By the time Uriel knocked on her door, all of her plans went out the window along with her self confidence. The candles were out, the music had shifted from a soft melody to an old rock & roll playlist and all of her preparations went to waste. But not everything was lost, she was still among the most beautiful heavenly rank hunters and nothing could change that.
Besides, the fact that Uriel used to have a crush on her was no secret.
"Stop it, you crazy woman!" Uriel shouted and Cassandra finally stopped. Not just because of his words, but also because she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her hair was disheveled, the lingerie was out of place and there was even a thread of dry saliva that went down from her mouth.
"Crazy woman..." She echoed in a low voice and then, the highest ranking of the army base sat on the bed crying. Not a soft, elegant cry with slow dramatic tears, she sobbed and snorted without even caring about her appearance.
"Please, don’t cry." Uriel said awkwardly as he was deeply unsettled whenever someone cried in front of him and had no clue on how to soothe them.
"Why don’t you want to sleep with me? Don’t you find me attractive?" She cried some more, without bothering to wipe her face.
"It’s not that, but I’m not interested in dating," Uriel said honestly, but then an idea crossed his mind. "Besides, I came here to talk about your sister."
"What about my sister? If you’re rejecting me because of her, I don’t think you should worry. It’s not like she loves you or anything and I bet she wouldn’t be against sharing you..." A glimmer of hope showed on her eyes.
Cassandra’s proposal seemed like a good deal, great even. But as a man, he knew he needed to shut her down completely. Leaving the door open for someone who he wasn’t interested on was cruel and even if he was tempted to be with her, that would mean the doors to Xibalbá would be forever closed to him since the only reason he was able to get in in the first place was because he was a virgin.
"I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in you. It’s not that you’re not beautiful, any man would be happy to be with someone like you, but that man can’t be me."
Needless to say, Cassandra took it like a slap in the face. She felt embarrassed, humiliated, but above all she felt sad. She didn’t understand the reason why Uriel’s rejection hit her so hard, maybe it was because she thought she was doing him a favor, maybe it was because his rejection was unexpected, but she couldn’t keep herself from crying.
"Why did you come, then?" Cassandra asked after composing herself. In spite of her inadequate attire, her face became serious and her voice became formal like the colonel she was.
"I heard it was possible to volunteer for a short period of time and wanted to see if it was possible for me to enlist as one until the spare parts are done. They said it could be a few days and I don’t want to remain idle." Uriel replied, trying his best not to mind her revealing clothes.
"You really don’t have a heart..." Cassandra muttered.
"What do you mean?"
"I’m already so indebted to you I literally threw myself at you. Then, you not only rejected me, but then offer to help! How am I supposed to say you’re the scumbag that rejected me when you’ve done so much for me? Huh!?" She said with a smile that conveyed her mixed feelings, but then stood up and continued speaking without giving Uriel a chance to reply.
"I hereby pronounce you Lieutenant Sage, on service under the human flag. From today onwards you’ll hold that rank, as a volunteer you may defect at will, but you’ll hold your rank even when out of service unless dishonorably discharged. Any questions?"
"Do I get a badge or something?" He asked, a little taken aback by the strange circumstances of his pronouncing ceremony.
"As you can see, I don’t have one with me at the moment. This will have to do." She said as she gave Uriel a soft peck on the cheek.
