sense [c]

Times had changed, or perhaps not so much. Days had passed since that fateful day that Rory had so boldly challenged Adrian for the right to buy her drinks in the middle of the lobby. It was not something that the redhead would easily forget, the memory of it still causing her to roll her eyes as she found herself shuffling through the masses of paperwork on her desk. After the entire ordeal with the commissioner title, the ginger found herself in the same position as that day - going through files, losing time off, and dealing with people she didn't want to - except now she had a fancy desk with a nameplate outside a new office.

With a heavy sigh, Adrian threw the files she had been reading up on across the sleek mahogany desk. Ever since her promotion her focus had shifted from actively working to telling people what to do. None of it was truly her style, however she conceded to her fate as she took the time reading the full evaluations of every significant event and persons that the rangers had on file. If one name stuck out consistently then Rory's would be at the top of that list. At first she thought they would all be negative reports or complaints from civilians considering the last time she saw him in action, it left much to be desired. What she read though was consistently positive. Completed missions came in left and right, which in turn gave her more work, but they were all filled with results.

Shocking.

Which is why the new commissioner had called Rory into her office today. The expectation was that he would come in late, considering her opinion of him personally had yet to change, and he fulfilled that expectation with ease. With that in mind, when the raps at her door came a few minutes later, she anticipated it to be another ranger asking her something. When Rory was the one that appeared at her doorway she rose a curious brow. He actually knocked and greeted her? "Hey," she'd reply casually as if this was some social visit. Adrian makes note of how he was dressed as he closed the door behind him and watched him sit down without her prompting to. Those things the woman hardly cared about as she herself had acted similarly before, not that she'd admit that.

Part of her expected that he'd try his same old shenanigans on her. Asking her out for drinks or something like that. Instead he'd go straight to the point and set the tone for this meeting with a few simple words. "I could ask you the same thing." Leaning back in her leather office chair, she'd make eye contact with the man in front of her. Strangely with the mention of her actual name did the woman appear to keep her tone even and casual. She was getting so used to everyone in headquarters addressing her as commissioner now she was starting to forget her actual name.

Reaching over to a stack of folders, she grabbed a chunk of them and lazily tossed them in front of Rory to bring his attention to them. He could look through them if he wanted, but they would all be papers about him from before she was commissioner till now. If he hadn't moved to look at them then it didn't matter. "What's gotten into you? I'm receiving good reports about you." She paused as she realized how that could be taken incorrectly seeing as how she called him into her office. "This isn't a complaint, just curious."

The ginger would watch as the man began looking through the files. The more he looked through the easier it was for the woman to read his reaction based on his expression. He appeared surprised himself and his retort somewhat amused the easily agitated woman. He did not particularly answer her question instead of repeating it back to her like she was the one that was in the wrong here. As much as he tried to hide it, Adrian noticed a glimmer of a smile as he continued reading and wondered if he was actually feeling proud of himself. The thought that perhaps he was changing passed through her mind as she scoffed at his words. "I'll admit that I am surprised. I expected the opposite after they promoted me," she comment offhandedly. Part of her promotion was due to Rory's recommendation as strange as she thought that was considering his reputation She figured he would try to use that as leverage to goof off on the job instead of actually accomplishing anything.

The answer he gave did not give her much confidence that he truly had changed even with the evidence point to otherwise. She'd roll her eyes, shaking her head disappointingly as he mentioned proving himself. "You're still on that?" After that failed mission she thought that Rory would have dropped the subject. Sure he was accomplishing things but did he really expect her to go out for drinks with him? Or maybe she was reading too much into it and just wanted her acknowledgement. That'd be the day.

"Speaking of, remember that mission we went on together? You know, the one where we ran into Arkwright and you didn't have your badge?" Because she didn't forget it. The day that she had turned in her mission report to Athena, the commissioner at the time, had told her that Rory was on suspension and oh the embarrassment she felt that day. It should have been considered a miracle that Adrian got this position with that on her record. Nevertheless her serious face came back into play as she extended her right hand out, palm facing upwards. "Lemme see your badge."

Part of her expected the man to show remorse after she brought up that mission. Or some annoyance after what had happened. Instead he chuckled which caused her to raise a brow briefly. He certainly was still full of himself, that was for sure. Regardless, Adrian would take mental note of his sudden caution when she asked for his badge. He'd comply to her demands as she expected, though his initial struggle to find it had her somewhat concerned for a moment that what she was about to do was the wrong decision. The badge would surface though and be tossed rather than placed in her hand. Effortlessly snatching the badge out of midair, she would look it over nonchalantly.

What Rory said next had her shift her attention over to him momentarily. He truly was full of surprises today. That he was actually defensive of his badge made her wonder if he was actually eager to continue working. The ginger would place the badge down on her desk as she looked over the ranger across from her. His last quip was aimed at her and the woman could only roll her eyes at the comment. "At least you're trying to do work now," she retorted as she moved her hand off the badge and towards one of the drawers at the desk, keeping the badge out of Rory's reach unless he lurched forward to take it back. Adrian would pull out the drawer slightly and rummage through it as she decided to ask a question. "What do you think about being a ranger? You're doing more work so be honest."

His answer did in fact intrigue the woman. Her eyes would scour his expression for any signs disconnect. He was being blunt however she was fine with that for the most part. There remained some reservation from herself about him continuing this trend, yet he had been doing a good job so far... as worrisome as it might be. Normally this would not be a decision that could be made lightly but in Adrian's mind there were far worse candidates that were already in higher positions than she saw fit anyway. Thus with a shrug, she'd speak. "Good enough."

She'd pull out a different badge from the drawer and toss it forward casually, similarly expecting him to catch it with relative ease. If he didn't then it was not exactly her problem. "Congrats. Welcome to the big leagues where I'll be giving you more challenging work for slightly more pay." Again, honesty. It was not that long ago that she was in the same position as an Elite so she knew how much work she did and how much she was paid. The title was nice supposedly and he did ask for it. Finally she'd lean close the drawer and lean forward, placing her elbows on the desk while holding a single index finger up. "And one drink. That's it."

The fact was that he was right. A deal was a deal. While they did not fully succeed in the mission that day, they were able to pull some information and get a lead. Since then the files stacked on her desk was proof he was improving. He had yet to fully prove himself to her but he did prove himself competent nonetheless. So she was keeping her word as much as it disgusted her to do so. A single drink was not going to kill her and with her tolerance level she did not expect much to come of it. Before that though they had to finish up this little meeting and Adrian saw fit to do it with a warning. She was already pushing things with this decision and she didn't need more trouble with her job as it was. "Don't fuck up. I'm giving you a chance and I will demote you if you start doing stupid shit again."

The display of joy was sweet. When she was promoted to Elite she could not recall if the same feeling infected her. Unable to share in the excitement of Rory's promotion, the ginger would shake her head. The declaration about his lack of interest in the change of pay was the thing that stuck with her. "Aren't you special?" she'd say sarcastically as she was reminded of her own paycheck. It was not as if she was dirt poor but she certainly did not feel as if she got paid enough for her trouble. Heavens forbid she actually get injured. Adrian shouldn't have complained that Rory didn't mind whatever pay he was offered and ended up having to shrug off her annoyance.

But she wouldn't be able to shrug it off fast enough. His chuckle followed by his smart comment would not help his case in the slightest as the woman would cock a brow at his presumptuous attitude. The thought of taking back the promotion crossed her mind. If not for his apology, signalling that he caught on to his own mistake, she actually might have. Instead the woman would lower her face into the palm of her right hand and sigh heavily. Why did she have to make that stupid ultimatum and then become commissioner? That was the recipe for disaster.

His question would bring her back from her disappointment from sheer exasperation, lifting up her head to make eye contact with the ranger in front of her. "Don't get cocky. Remember, you're paying rich boy." The fact he did not respond to her last statement about not fucking up hardly affected her. If he didn't listen and ended up fucking up then it was no skin off her back if she had to demote him. Eager to get him out of her office, she would take a glance around her desk in case there was a mission she could shove off into his face and get him out faster. Once this failed to happen she leaned back into the comfort of her chair, replying to his earlier question with heavy reluctance. "Come by sometime after work. We'll go to whatever bar or something I guess. I don't know. Go pick something."

Dreading the hours that were to come, the ginger shifted her gaze to the clock hanging on the wall. Might as well get this over with the same day. Somehow some realization struck the woman after that, the original context of this request hitting her like a brick. "And this isn't a date."