probitas; Indigo -oneshot- {clue}

Indigo, I believe you had some names for me?

"Oh right, right,"  Indigo muttered, stepping away from the statue. As he had told Adrien earlier, his vote needed to be honest and impartial. He had to vote for the three that he felt wouldn’t work well as the ceo of Nox Industries.

That meant voting for those who hadn’t put in the work that the others had. Indigo plopped down in the chair opposite their host and held up three fingers.“There are those who I feel haven’t grown very much in their time here.”

He flicked one finger down as he spoke.

"Obviously, my opinion hasn’t changed about Blaine, so there’s no need to regurgitate my reasoning. “

Obviously, Malcolm repeated, inclining his head.

“Secondly, there’s Adam.” He went on, putting another finger down. “I don’t think he wants to win this competition as much as he wants to keep Beryl warm at night.” He debated spilling the beans on his roommate’s addiction as well, but decided against it at the last moment.

“Simply put, Adam has very…self-destructive tendencies. People like that tend to burn down everything around them before combusting. I don’t think he has the temperament to run Nox Industries.”

An unreadable look crossed Malcom’s face for the briefest of seconds, and Indigo filed it away for later.

And the third?

“Lastly there’s Coralie.”

Interesting. She supported you in the last challenge. Care to explain your reasoning? 

Indigo nodded. He was grateful for the support, but he had to remain impartial for  this vote. “From what I’ve seen, she hasn’t grown as a person during her time here. She’s still the same haughty socialite that relies on her money and her name to get anywhere."

It was true enough, he thought.

"In comparison, while Amrin may have received the most negative reviews, she has realized that her standoffishness has not won her any friends, and she needs to change if she wants to make it farther in this competition.”

Indigo shrugged, picking up a pen and twirling it between his fingers. “That’s just one example. There are those who have begun to overcome the flaw that would prevent them from winning this, and those who revel in it.”

Adrien’s face flickered briefly in his mind, followed by Poppy and the rest. He leaned forward in his chair.  “To tell you the truth, Mr.Nox, while only one of us can become your heir, considering the trouble you went to in order to bring this talent here, it would be a waste of their combined skills if you didn’t hire them all in positions befitting them.”

Oh?

“Take Fiora for example, she’s a sweetheart. Honestly one of the nicest people here. But what does her mysticism have to do with oil? Is she going to skip a quarterly report because the cards told her not to? Govern your company by the movement of the stars?"

He shook his head and leaned back in his chair.  "I just don’t see her as management material. Human resources on the other hand…”

“Is that what you would do if you ran my company?”

“Well, yes.” He said with a shrug. "Coralie would work well in accounting; Whitney in advertisement. The list goes on. Everyone here has different talents.”

Malcolm shuffled some papers in silence before looking up at Indigo again with a knowing smirk. You said their combined skills. Not our. You don’t categorize yourself with them? Are you that certain you are going to win?

Indigo smiled softly as he got up to go.

“Let’s be honest, I’m not making it easy on any of them.”

You seem to have gained a measure of confidence since coming here. Their host called out after him. Indigo paused by the door and turned back with a thoughtful look.

“I suppose I have. You can thank Amrin for that. And your son.”

There was no answer for that as he left.

He didn’t expect there to be.