So it is done

The day before...

As Cinder walked down the ramp, she noted the oncoming procession with a glance. It seems that Atlas is going to give the Glenn procession an honor guard – at least she hopes that's what the soldiers are. For their sake, at least.

Atlas's relationship with Glenn... had never could have been called good – there was no reason for it to be otherwise. The first blow came when Atlas's most powerful businessman accused the head of Glenn of theft, a big no-no diplomatically. Then Glenn made an alliance with the White Fang, the Schnee's arch-nemesis, with an assassination attempt to cap things off. But then, if it were only that, the relationship between Atlas and Glenn would only be strained, after all no matter how connected the Schnee might be, they themselves are not Atlas.

The finishing blow finally came when General Ironwood tried to arrest Jonathan in Vacuo. Sure, Jonathan was secretly providing diplomatic and material aid to the protesters in Atlas and was seen in the company of Raven, a wanted criminal. Atlas had all the reason they needed to arrest Jonathan, too bad the public didn't see it that way, contributing even more to Atlas' diplomatic isolation.

And yet, even under such circumstances – no, perhaps, precisely because of such conditions, Atlas could not afford to simply brush aside Jonathan's presence in Atlas. Having the King of Glenn, at a summit that Atlas himself had organized, with perhaps some pressure from Vale, where Jonathan could tilt the balance easily – making him a crucial piece.

Atlas has to show their best for Jonathan if they wished to even have a chance for the summit to go their way. A very tall ask for anyone to sway Jonathan's opinion – especially against someone that rightfully should be enemies.

Greeting Jonathan's procession, General Ironwood tried to put together a neutral expression on his face. But a face, gaunt, an overgrown stubble, with bags under his eyes that no makeup could conceal, does not help matters. The General himself was clearly filled with anxiety at this moment, one wrinkle of his face away from giving the order to 'send these people away' held back solely on his own willpower and the consequence of such an order. Willpower which, judging by his appearance, he now barely had enough of.

The surrounding soldiers, the supposed guard of honor and welcoming procession for Jonathan and his entourage, clearly sensed the strained atmosphere, but they held themselves much better than their commander. Their impervious masks of cold professionalism, maintained only by having their eyes focused ahead so as not to see Jonathan or Ironwood.

Moments later, as Jonathan himself walked down the gangway, the ranks of soldiers raised their weapons in a welcoming salute. After the staccato of gunfire ended, a nearby band played the Atlas anthem, as if what was happening was something good – as if James and all Atlas were happy to welcome Jonathan and his procession.

But seeing James Ironwood's face took on an even more steely glow, as if he had manually turned off all his facial expressions before extending his hand to Jonathan, the band had their work cut out for them. "Greetings on behalf of Atlas to our land and hope that our cooperation will be fruitful."

All the while, Ironwood spoke monotonously, not much different from the robots for which Atlas' army was famous for. He didn't even cast a glance at Jonathan's procession, looking only into his eyes. Maybe in the hope that he wouldn't see anything that would break his already strained composure and create another diplomatic incident?

"Thank you for the warm welcome, General," Jonathan's lie on the other hand came out much easier. "I hope this will be just one of our many future fruitful encounters."

After another moment, the two men parted their handshake a little faster and sharper than allies were supposed to, before James, disregarding everything else, turned and moved away.