Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

prompt:

Your character is in a heated argument with someone who disagrees with them about ___. What arguments do they make? What does this person say? What does it make them feel? Why?

Grelle was called into a waiting room to see some representatives of the council and she was less than excited. It was the third time this week and she was annoyed about it. All she did was sign up as a "Field Reaper" and tick the little box that says "Female". It's REALLY not that big of an issue. It wasn't against any rules for female reapers to become field reapers, it was just widely frowned upon. According to the council, female reapers were just dainty little flowers that are supposed to just look pretty, they weren't supposed to go out and do things that may end up getting them killed! Usually female field reapers bypass it completely by appearing more masculine and being considered "one of the guys" but why should Grelle have to do the same?

Besides, those girls were always the most annoying. Well, Grelle found them irritating. Just fitting in because some man told them to! Additionally, reaping is TOTALLY a woman's job! Men are so reckless and barely know what they're doing! And why waste multiple years of your un-life doing exams, studying, and more if you're just going to sit on the sidelines? Grelle DEFINITELY DID NOT want to do that. She lied to herself about being a boy for too long! She wasn't going to do it again just to make the council so much more smug about how wonky they make their paperwork for her. Asking for things that they don't even ask others and their excuse is "Well, you're the first one who's been loud about it". She believed it was understandable why she was so irritated.

Grelle tapped her fingers on her knee and just stared at the clock waiting to go in. One of the representatives waved to her to come on in. She walked in and sat on the chair that was singled out. She crossed her legs and cupped her hands on her lap. She glared at the two old men. She barely remembered their names because they all looked and sounded the exact same to her. For simplicity's sake, she remembered them just as "Arthur" and "Theodore".

There was an annoying silence as they just stared at each other.

"Did you call me in just to stare at me? Take a photograph, it'll last much longer. I can assure you of that."

Grelle spoke up in a snarky tone, hoping that would bother them so she could just be let off with a warning like always. She had some insurance of knowing that they were severely understaffed because of their little thing about female reapers. She knew that she was their only hope of bouncing some of the numbers back. But it was still exhausting to argue about something she couldn't even change or want to lie about. She bounced her leg a little bit, she was thinking about what they could possibly say. The first man hesitated before addressing her.

“... Sutcliff… If you want to be recognized as a… female reaper, you must change your occupation to Communications. While it is not in the rule-book, we don’t believe that female reapers should work on the field. Do you understand?

Arthur cleared his throat and spoke while all the reaper could hear was nails on a chalkboard, how annoying. It was insane to her that he would be diluted enough to believe anything of what he was saying. She just rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Is that what this is about? This is SUCH a pathetic and a waste of my time. You've seen how I've done with my preliminary! This is quite a non-issue, if you ask me."

Grelle spoke in such a condescending tone and just waved them off. They did the same to her! She wanted to say more but she just bit her tongue- Not literally, that would hurt and like Hell she’d let those bastards see her bleed. She wanted this to be quick so she could get back to doing what she needed to do. Theodore shook his head and looked at her with a much more apologetic look, it definitely caught her off guard.

“If I may speak, I would like to explain my perspective. In order to keep our paperwork in order, you need to mark the correct box instead of the one you decided on a whim. Supplementary to this, you must cut and dye your hair to fit with the rest of your section. Your hair is off-length for what is acceptable for young men such as yourself. What if it were to be seen? Or, worse, if you were to be grabbed? I say this, not to instill any kind of fear but, to warn you of these failures to comply.”

He droned on and on and, surprisingly, Grelle stayed silent after his words. With an eyebrow raise, he was sure he had gotten her. She took a second to let that sink in before she just felt herself filled with anger. That wasn't right! They've read her files! They know that is damn well NOT the reason she ticked that box. The form was several pages! It couldn’t have been on a whim! She slammed both her hands on the table to get their attention because she was NOT going to repeat herself.

"I am not doing any of that! I am SURE of who I am since you two were still in training. I've told you a MILLION times by now. Must I tell you once again before you get it through your thick skulls? There's been a mistake done by the Higher Ups but that doesn't make me any less of a woman. If you have a problem with me being female, you can gladly take it up with them! And you and I both know that I am not going to "cut my hair", female reapers are allowed longer hair which is SPECIFICALLY stated in article twelve if you want to quote that dumb rule-book!"

Oh dear. Grelle raised her voice to the point where the two men flinched whenever she emphasized her words. She knew she was getting herself into hot water but they started it! She's yelled at representatives before! She does NOT feel bad! Anyone who can spew what the council says is just as asinine as them! She sat back down and huffed.

"So are we done? I've given you my stance and I want you to say it word for WORD back to them and if your brains are truly as far gone as I think they are. Because I am oh-so kind, here's a shorter way of putting it; "Grelle is a lady. Get over it." Just like that! Is that too hard for you?"

Grelle spoke in a much calmer and relaxed tone. Her shoulders were still tense and her eyebrow twitched a little bit so it was quite apparent she was still upset. She tried her best to calm down and leaned a little more on the back of the chair, drumming her fingers to fill the silence she created. She remained in eye contact with them and just awaited their move.

“Calm down, si-Sutcliff. We do not need to get too argumentative, we are all adults in this room and I expect us all to act like it. I understand my partner can come off strong, however, it is no excuse to shout at him.”

The tense air in the room refused to settle with a couple of seconds passing by of them just staring at each other in complete silence. It was a matter of time before someone’s blood vessel burst.

“I can offer you a small… proposition. If you are completely and entirely serious, you must pass more requirements than needed to truly prove you mean what you are saying…” He shifted through what appeared to be her papers. “... I see here that you wanted to become a field reaper that handles massive tragedies… Normally you would go through several courses on how to handle those but I will require you to go through how to properly disguise yourself, concealment of committing felonious acts, as well as many others involved with being multiple types of reaping. If you are so determined, I will note this and the council will allow you to be… a field reaper. Of course, you will be heavily supervised and, if you are to disappoint us as a field reaper… Well, you will be well acquainted with council hearings. Failure to commit to this process will leave us no choice but to put you into communications. Do you agree with these terms?”

Arthur offered a small little deal, Grelle listened carefully and her demeanor changed. It is what she wants but it’s… a lot, admittedly. She glanced to the side as she thought about this offer. She could spend an eternity being disrespected by male field reapers while working a plain job or she could reap important souls, people who go down in history or witness tragedies as they happen. Hell, with all these requisites under her belt, she could definitely reach Legendary Status! What a DREAM! She could be the first woman to be recognized as a Legendary reaper! How exciting! Rumors have it that Legendary Reaper souls are allowed to exist in a paradise after they retire. She knew her answer. If that's what it took to achieve this, she didn't have too much of a quarrel with it...

But... you knew she had to try a little bit.

"I'll take it. You can just say you don't think I'd be able to do it and say what's really on your mind. You've casted your doubt on me plenty of occasions for absolutely no reason at all. So what exactly changed your mind? Finally realize how wrong you were? Hm?"

Grelle was being a little too arrogant and she knew that but she had won! She wasn't worried of what some old man would say. She waited for them to speak and that they did. The two grumbled to themselves about how women "like her" aren't worth the trouble of arguing. They didn't want to be in the same room as her any longer because of what type of woman she was.

And that definitely stung. Oh boy, did it sting. She kept her eyes narrowed and tried not to show any kind of weakness or hurt to that little comment of theirs. She knew she was better than them. She knew what she could do. She KNEW she would become the first reaper who fought tooth and nail to reach Legendary status! She knew how she'd be in the council one day and how she'd make men like these beg her for forgiveness and tell her that they didn't actually mean it while she just sent them to communications so she didn't have to be with men so pathetic. That thought made things a little easier to think in general after hearing them say something so vile. Her smirk came back as she came up with her next rebuttal.

"That's what I thought... Was that offer so difficult to give me? I would be afraid too if I were you. You know I’ll do all of your dumb little requisites and before you know it, you’ll be answering to ME!” Grelle felt herself getting more excited. “Honestly, if you started off with that and led it to your deal, maybe I'd actually be able to remember your names when I inevitably become a Legendary Reaper but I won't because who would want to remember someone who can barely think for themselves? I’ll just remember you as the ones who wrongfully doubted me! Or maybe I’ll just forget you all together. I think that’d be better for the both of us!"

The men just looked at each other and grumbled something to each other while she just smiled at them. She knew she hit a nerve with how silent they were being. She just chuckled. Grelle began to leave and the men were doing the same as they kept talking amongst each other. She turned around before she opened the door.

"Still giving me the silent treatment? So stubborn and quite unbecoming of you…” Grelle paused before she gasped ”One last thing before I forget. You should really ought to learn some manners! I can't bear to be in a room much longer with men who haven't learned how to speak to women. But~ I suppose I shouldn't be too harsh… You’re quite past your prime, aren’t you? Ah~ I've ought to run. I have several classes to study for. Ta~ta!"

The two men were definitely about to break their silent treatment as she spoke but Grelle was already out of the door and on her way to start signing up for some classes. She won that argument in her eyes! They settled on a deal and it was quite simple. Yet... Those words still stung… That can’t be how the Dispatch sees her… She’s amazing! She was told she was an impressive rookie. Were they just telling her that because they’re so desperate for new recruits? They wouldn’t lie to her, right? She shook her head, she couldn't let them get to her. But they did have a point. What if she was making the wrong call? Obviously not… Right?

One argument had ended while another started.