(no subject)

[iniquiticity]

so this isn't technically a prompt, nor is it NSFW and it is most definitely not Friday so feel free to disregard completely. HOWEVER please talk about ironflint verse fixer Martha and religious zealot Ben bc I didn't know I needed this in my life so badly

Washington ordered the octopus, and he ate in silence. Martha studied him. She didn’t know anyone who was as capable of using silence as weapon like he did. He could draw secrets out of anyone, with a sharp look and a gaping hole in the conversation.

“I had Ben take care of your situation,” she said, and turned to her ahi. She had received a call about the work Ben had done for her, for Washington. A stray journalist, snooping around in places she didn’t belong. She needed to be shown the light. To be pointed, she had told her boy, in the direction of God, and away from challenging His hardworking. A firm hand, of course, was necessary. He had nodded. He knew the benefit of a firm hand. He had bent to let her kiss his forehead. Her dark crusader, she’d thought, as silly as it sounded. She liked his work and his pretty eyes and his unfailing compass which directed him to Cull the weak.

The sentence seemed to hook Washington’s interest. His eyes flicked up from his dinner.

“He’s quite a find,” he said, after a considering moment. He took a drink of wine. “Very devoted.”

“He has merely needed guidance,” she said. Washington made a noise - not quite a chuckle, but close.

“Alex doesn’t like him,” Washington said. Martha’s lip curled. The advantages to Washington’s damaged-but-effective assistant existed, but Martha found him one of the most distasteful people that she knew, and that was an effort, given her rolodex. “He isn’t interested in people who can’t be lured by money or sex. Your Tallmadge is a paragon of virtue.”

“Such things distract a man from his duty to the Lord, my dear,” Martha replied, gently. “They distract the mind from God, and the soul from worship, and the body from hard work, His currency.”

“You’ve gotten good at that,” Washington observed. Martha shrugged at him.

“You of all people should know that much of a successful enterprise is knowing just the right way to motivate your employees,” He nodded, but she continued. “Ben admires Alex for overcoming,” They shared a look, like a laugh. What Alex Hamilton had done with his problems - well - overcome was not quite the word. “But he’s undedicated and slovenly. Self-possessed and hedonistic. And he doesn’t go to church.”

“No,” Washington agreed, “He doesn’t go to church.”

“About Tallmadge,” she said, and she folded her fingers around her glass and took a sip, “He prefers manual labor. God does not benefit the manager for the laborer’s work, after all. But it’s a waste of such a servant to the Lord’s will.”

“It’s difficult to move a man who loves his job,” he said. “But perhaps you could change the job he has into something less desirable. Or will he always see your word as His?”

He ordered cognac for dessert. She ordered port. They drank.

“He doesn’t hesitate when I request. I suppose I could request other things, to see how to change him, but…”

“You would never do such a thing, as the Lord’s most humble servant, and His voice to His most devoted.”

She nodded. He sat back in the chair and thought. It was a problem. His phone rang, and he picked it up.

“Washington.” A beat, and he sighed, and hung up the phone.

“Alex?”

A nod. He set down his card, for the check. “Business, as always. You know how much I value our time together, Martha. I hope we can do this again. If I have any ideas about your work transfer, I’ll let you know.”

“You’re some of the most lovely company I know, George,” she said. He offered her his arm, and she took it. “I’ll always see if I can accommodate you.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.” He kissed her hand when she got into the back seat of the waiting Cadillac.