silph_co | (no subject)

Who: Beau and any Rocket
Where: A common area in the Goldenrod base
When: Around January 25-26ish
Summary: Studying + Rowlet sneak attack practice = ???

Beau hasn't been the most sociable Grunt in on the base in the week or so since her arrival, but with her week of training now come to a close, she's opted to camp out in one of the common areas, stretched out on a couch with one knee drawn up to her chest, scribbling notes into the margins of a book in cramped, spiky shorthand.

Not particularly approachable, maybe, but not actively causing trouble.

No, that's been left to the Rowlet lurking up near the ceiling, talons clinging to the doorframe, carefully out of both his partner's line of sight and that of anyone who doesn't have an ingrained habit of checking overhead whenever they enter the room.

Thaddeus is bored. Thaddeus wants a mission. And since his partner hasn't obliged him in the approximately 12 hours that she's had clearance to leave the base, Thaddeus has decided to make his own fun.

Which, in this case, means lurking. And then, when some poor, unsuspecting soul enters the common area, waiting until they've reached what he deems a suitable position, then launching himself at great speed to attach to the top of their head.

Enjoy that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's fine," Steven says, quickly. "It's not like I haven't run into stir-crazy pokemon before. I just came to tell you that Kiri's coming back from Azalea Town today? Hopefully. See, there's, uh, this group of Spinda--they're a kind of Pokemon? dizzy little things with spots--who're trying to adopt her into their pack, but they can only chase after her so fast, so since the cooking contest out in Olivine we've been trying to use that against them, by taking her places by flying or by warp pad. So, uh, as long as they haven't made it Azalea again yet--or if they have, if Scorpia can keep them distracted long enough for Kiri to warp--she'll be back. She might even be in Goldenrod now, actually."

He sighs and runs his fingers back through his hair. "We're really hoping the damn Spinda calm down about her soon. This is getting ridiculous."

"Is that normal?" Beau asks. She snaps her book shut and swivels to plant her feet on the floor instead of sprawling out along the couch, trying not particularly successfully to look like she isn't itching to sprint out of the base to...

Probably not punch dizzy panda rabbits, but maybe to punch dizzy panda rabbits.

"Pokemon just...getting obsessed with someone, I mean."

"... no," Steven says, "but admittedly, a lot of odd things have happened this month, ever since there was a swarm of Snorunts on the fifth. Nothing's happened to me, but there's a tiny little Ursaring that keeps following around my boyfriend's old traveling companion and, uh, Jane Crocker made a post on the otherworlder pokegear channel about these Zigzagoons that assemble on her porch every night. People are talking about a 'Snortunt Curse.'"

"Curse sounds like a load of crap," is Beau's immediate, reflexive response. It's the sort of thing people say because looking too closely at what's actually going on is uncomfortable, or too much work.

"But is there any reason you can't just...catch them? Turn them in, make them someone else's problem?"

Thaddeus rowls disapprovingly. Your quota's supposed to be stolen, Beauregard!

"I did," Steven says with a deep sigh, sinking into a nearby chair. "But I missed one and it went back for reinforcements. Well over a dozen. More than I had balls on-hand. We've tried spraying her with repel and they just tough it out. Once they even broke into Fight Club. It's ridiculous."

"So they're smart and obsessed," Beau says with a grimace. "Awesome combination. Is she okay? Have they tried to hurt her? Or just decided she's...I don't know, the new god of their weird furry cult?"

(She may not know the connotations the phrase 'weird furry cult' might have in Steven's world, but would probably stand by it.)

"... very much the second, for what it's worth," Steven says, shaking his head. "But yeah. She's okay. She managed to give them the slip long enough to get on a U-bird for the Contest in Olivine and since then we've been playing keepaway with Kiri. A couple days ago, we thought we saw some Spinda out in the crowd, so I flew her down to Azalea Town. I was thinking she should probably stay there a couple more days before sneaking back to Goldenrod... but she heard you were here, so."

He shrugs.

"She cares about you and the rest of the Mighty Nein a lot, you know."

"We rescued her and took her on an adventure and taught her some shit, and she's too young to get just how messed up it was." She gestures briefly, hands flaring outward in front of her: very messed up.

"But we care about her too, you know. That's why we left her with the Schusters. She deserved a chance to grow up."

"Yeah," Steven says. "I'm not going to argue that you didn't do the best thing you could for her." He's quiet for a moment. "Do you have any plans on what you want to do now that training is over? Because if you need a job, I could always use someone else helping out at Fight Club. Especially if you've got any bartending or bouncer experience... but if you don't, we can teach you."

"I know my way around a bar," Beau says, though she grimaces slightly at the thought of the last opportunity she'd had to flex those skills. "But my most recent references are chaos cultists, so you know, not wholly reliable. And on another plane."

"None of my employees came with references," Steven says with a shrug, "and they seem to be working out pretty fine. Besides, you do have a reference: Kiri."

"Just so we're clear," Beau says, holding up one hand in a forestalling gesture. "I never gave Kiri any alcohol."

There's a moment's pause.

"I know you said Kiri hasn't been conscripted as a Rocket. The admins aren't going to revise that decision if she has ties to a bunch of us, right?"

"She's a little girl," Steven says, in a reasonable tone. "I didn't expect you to have, unless your local water quality was bad enough that watered down wine is served to children as a custom. When I was her relative age, I'd only had single sips as part of religious rituals. I meant she is a character reference—she really does think the world of you and the rest of the Mighty Nein."

And then he shakes his head. "But no. No, they won't. They've never really tried to conscript any of our associates. At most they've asked see if we can recruit one in particular, but he tagged along on his housemate's heist and was an active participant—and as far as I can tell, there hasn't been any repercussions for not being able to convince him to join up. Kiri's safe from Rocket."