Work Text:
Queen Wasp looked at the stack of papers on her desk; she had a headache just from the thought of having to go through all of that. But, alas, with Bloodworm Hive burning down and the Leafwings being back into existence, there was a lot of red tape to sift through.
It wasn't fair, why did she have to do all of it, couldn't she get some other dragon to do it? She ruminated on the thought for a few seconds before quickly realizing that there is no way that she would ever trust another dragon with this; they were all way too incompetent, those lesser dragons.
So, she was stuck here for the time being. She picked up the first paper and started reading. Something, something, federal spending, something, something. Her eyes glazed over only a few sentences in. She would REALLY rather be doing literally anything else right now; not only was it incredibly boring, but she also should be keeping an eye on her subjects. What if something happened while she was stuck doing paperwork and she couldn’t react immediately? That could be the difference between defeat and victory; her entire empire crumbling down because she had to read through 5 layers of bureaucracy.
Wasp took a deep breath, holding for several seconds, before releasing. She would be fine, everything would be fine, she just needed to get through this so that she could get back to protecting her throne; maybe afterwards she could get a prisoner to dismember as a reward. Reinvigorated, she read the first paragraph…. And reread it again when she didn’t process it the first time…. And rereread it because it didn’t stick that time either.
She heard a low growl building up in her throat, she was getting frustrated, which would lead to her having a headache, which would make it even harder to get through this, which would lead to being even more upset, and suddenly everything would keep making her more upset even if it was a stupid little thing like the clock ticking that really should not bother her at all but it would and then she would finally blow up and have to take a break anyway becua-
Wasp stopped herself, she could not let that happen, and just thinking about it was making her head hurt. She drew in another deep breath and still felt bad, perhaps worse, taking deep breaths never really made her feel better, but that’s what you’re supposed to do whenever you’re stressed, so ma-
FOCUS, WASP! She needed to get this done and couldn’t waste time just sitting there not doing anything. What she needed to be doing was finishing this paperwork and she couldn’t do that if she kept being distracted by her own thoughts. She just needed to FOCUS and to just read the damned paper.
“This act prohibits federal agencies from obligating or expending federal funds in advance or in excess of an appropriation, and from accepting voluntary services.
The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal employees from
-making or ᔑ⚍ℸ ̣ ⍑𝙹∷¦⨅¦リ˧ ᔑリ ᒷ̇/!¡ᒷリ⟍̅¦ℸ ̣ ⚍∷ᒷ ⎓∷𝙹ᒲ 𝙹∷ ᓵ∷ᒷᔑℸ ̣ ¦リ˧ 𝙹∷ ᔑ⚍ℸ ̣ ⍑𝙹∷¦⨅¦リ˧ ᔑリ 𝙹ʖꖎ¦˧ᔑℸ ̣ ¦𝙹リ ⚍リ⟍̅ᒷ∷ ᔑリǁ ᔑ!¡!¡∷𝙹!¡∷¦ᔑℸ ̣ ¦𝙹リ 𝙹∷ ⎓⚍リ⟍̅ ¦リ ᒷ̇/ᓵᒷᓭᓭ 𝙹⎓ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᔑᒲ𝙹⚍リℸ ̣ ᔑ⍊ᔑ¦ꖎᔑʖꖎᒷ ¦リ ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ᔑ!¡!¡∷𝙹!¡∷¦ᔑℸ ̣ ¦𝙹リ 𝙹∷ ⎓⚍リ⟍̅ ⚍リꖎᒷᓭᓭ ᔑ⚍ℸ ̣ ⍑𝙹∷¦⨅ᒷ⟍̅ ʖǁ ꖎᔑ∴. 31 ⚍.ᓭ.ᓵ. 1341ᔑ1ᔑ.
Wasp’s mind trailed off part way through the paragraph, not comprehending the words that she was reading; it took her several more seconds of not-reading for her to realize that the words were not making it past her eyes. She gripped the paper tightly, tearing it slightly with her claws, which only served to make her more angry at herself.
Clearsight damn it, she wasn’t going to get anything done at this rate, she wishes she had a Leafwing, or any dragon she disliked, she could eviscerate as a small break from the paperwork- wait, was she thinking? She hasn’t even done anything yet, she doesn’t deserve a break! She just had to stop being useless and just do the paperwork! It should be easy! Just some reading, she’s been doing that since she was a hatchling! So, WHY was it so hard and WHY does she feel like slamming her head into a wall?!
Wasp put down the paper and scratched at the table to stop herself from tearing the paper to shreds; she left nasty gashes in such a nice table, but she couldn’t stop herself, her claws were curled and twitching into an attack position and she just- it was just- Clearsight, she couldn’t even articulate her thoughts properly.
She heard one of her guards speak, “Are you alrig-”
“I AM FINE.” She snapped, “WHO ARE YOU TO ACCUSE ME?”
The guard shrunk down and avoided her gaze, looking terrified, as they should be, she should have their head for daring to insinuate that she wasn’t ok. Ugh, now she definitely had a headache, and, of course, it was one of the bad ones where it felt like her blood vessels were going to pop with each heartbeat, which was way too fast for her liking, it made her chest hurt. She was just sitting down, why did she feel like she was having a heart attack? She heard her breathing become heavy and full of anger and pain-
STOP, she had to stop being a dramatic bitch and just do what she needed to do. She was going to be NORMAL as there was NOTHING to be getting this upset over. She forced herself into a calm state, ignoring the way her skull rang and her ribcage threatened to pop. Now, that was CALM she could jus- was the crackling of the flameslik lanterns always so loud? She couldn’t think over the sound, the way it popped make her nerves pop and Clearsigh Damn it SHE WAS GOING TO KILL THE FAMILY OF THE LANTERN MAKER- No, no, no, she WASN’T going to do that, that’s insane, she should NOT be getting so worked up over a lantern like some bratty dragonet. Her head STILL hurt, Clearsight FUCKING damn it. FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT BRAIN THAT COULDN’T EVEN DO SOME CLEARSIGHT DAMN PAPER WORK. FUCK, HER HEAD HURT AND SHE COULDN’T CONTROL THE WAY HER CLAWS TWITCHED IN ANGER AND HER GUARDS WERE WATCHING HER MAKE AN EMBARRASSMENT OF HERSELF AND SHE COULDN’T EVEN READ THE CLEARSIGHT DAMN PAPER AND THIS WAS ALL OVER NOTHING AN-
Fuck it, she gives up, she was just going to get some other dragon to do it, since APPARENTLY, she COULDN’T. CLEARSIGHT FUCKING DAMN IT, SHE WAS GOING TO KILL SOMETHING.