[FIN] Mop Attack

[insidiousEnigma]

They wouldn't let him do anything!

He didn't mind that he couldn't bend to clean, he hated cleaning when it wasn't his mess, but they wouldn't let him experiment either! He had to practically sneak away from his designated resting space to even use the bathroom! He wanted to explore, he wanted to experiment, he wanted to...find something to occupy his mind before he died of boredom. "Virus, take note." Zacharie muttered, catching the attention of the little Porygon on his shoulder. "I'm going to need to check on the dandelion that I have soaking in about an hour...then perhaps mix it with my ointment." Virus let out a chirp to let his trainer know that he would remind the teen of his appointment later on. "...Good. Then perhaps until then we shall search for more specimen before the cleaning crews sweep everything away." He muttered, absently rubbing his injured arm lightly. "Pory-Porygon?" Virus shifted worriedly, its little, black eyes swiveling down to his arm. "I'm fine. Just a bit sore, nothing that I cannot handle."  

[Venti Mico]

Lu had a particularly hard time backing out of things, if he agreed to it, he stuck to it. Not that he really had the option of backing out of Team Rocket now that he'd joined. He'd been told to clean the base, it was... well, filthy. Lu was determined to do a good job to at least impress whoever was directly above him in rank.

He was mopping currently, scrubbing the floor in such a manner that anyone who didn't know him would think he was furious at the floor and trying to either destroy the floor or break his mop. He was a bit overzealous is all.

He was passing a doorway as a fellow trainee came walking through it, which was not a good combination of actions. The mop went crashing into the other trainee and all Lu could do was stop in his tracks and watch with a horror-struck face.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Before he really even had a chance to think 'Oh s**t', Zacharie was falling. How it had happened he honestly had no idea, one minute he was crossing through a doorway and the next he was sprawled flat on his face on a wet, slippery floor. Luckily enough for him, he had reacted quickly enough to shift so he wouldn't land on his injured left side, instead falling heavily on his right arm with grunt. For a few, silent moments he simply lay where he fell...to surprised to do more than blink owlishly at the feet of the person standing just to the side of him. "...Did you...trip me?" He asked slowly, his tone disbelieving. He hadn't been purposefully tripped since high school. He shifted, wincing and grunting, to get his knees beneath him so he could carefully pull himself upward. He...wasn't entirely sure what to do. What if this trainee had tripped him on purpose? He wasn't in any state to really instigate anything. Not that he'd stand a chance even if he was in top form. A sideways glance told the teen that the other was quite tall and solidly built, more than capable of kicking his a**.  

[Venti Mico]

Lu took a few steps back immediately, giving the guy he'd just mop-assaulted some space. Lu noted the guy looked like he was in pain- not that being slammed into with a mop was a pleasant experience- but he seemed sore otherwise.

"I- I... no- I- there was this mop... I was mopping...the...you? You..." Lu spluttered, holding up the mop as evidence to his case. "A-are... are you alright? I can, there's- you're hurt, I can help- I just, um, this mop-" Lu looked at the mop then leaned it against the wall. It slowly started tilting and fell... Lu stared at it then leaned down to grab it, holding it awkwardly.

"I can help, I need this mop to stay with me though," he said, nodding. He was staring at Zacharie with a concerned look on his face. Except, his idea of a concerned look was sort of a glare.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Stop blathering." Zacharie snapped, reaching immediately to check on the contents of his bag. He prayed that none of his jars had broken; he hadn't heard anything shatter so he had high hopes. Now that he was sure that the other trainee wasn't going to beat him to a bloody pulp a glanced up...and up....and up...to meet the others panicked gaze. He was surprised, actually, that he wasn't trying to pick a fight...what with his obvious advantage. "...You can help me up." He said, as if this were some great honor. "Just be careful of my left side." It was said quietly, but the warning was obviously there. Without the use of his left arm it was really very hard to do mundane things such as getting yourself to your feet. Who knew how crucial an arm was to everyday activities? "...Who are you?" The question was a bit belated, normally you asked the identity of a person before you demand assistance, but Zacharie never was particularly good with social norms.  

[Venti Mico]

Lu swallowed nervously when Zacharie snapped, standing up straight and staring at the ground. It was difficult to stare at the ground when you were so tall everyone's face was between the ground and your own face. Lu fiddled with his fingers until Zacharie spoke again.

"Yes, o-of course! I'm, er... new? I'm Lu, I'm new here...new Lu..." Lu leaned downed to help Zacharie up, reaching out to steady him with both hands- and promptly dropping the mop on him.

Lu stared wide eyed, reaching slowly to pick up his mop. "...I'm really sorry..." he whispered.  

[insidiousEnigma]

This guy certainly did apologize a lot, didn't he? "...Shut up." He muttered, leaning heavily against Lu as he staggered to his feet. Panting softly from the exertion, Zacharie continued to rest his weight against the taller male until his side stopped hurting and he caught his breath. "It was obviously an accident...you don't have to apologize." Awkwardly, he took a few steps away so he could get a better look at the other. Holy s**t, could this guy get any taller? He craned his head back to scowl up at the dark haired male. "...You are very tall." He said, not sure if he was annoyed or in awe of the sheer enormity of this guy. Oh wait, he was forgetting something important. "I'm Zacharie...by the way." He supposed that it would be a good idea to give his name when they were introducing themselves. Yes, a very good idea indeed. He was the master of social interaction.

"Pory...Porygon." Jumping slightly, Zacharie's attention turned to the little Porygon now down by his feet. "Virus!" He exclaimed in horror, squatting down shakily to retrieve his pokemon. "Are you alright? Did you fall too hard?" It didn't seem like the Porygon was hurt, but who knew with electronics.  

[Venti Mico]

Lu hovered his arms around Zacharie until he looked like he had his balance. He sighed in relief when the guy seemed alright. "Accident, yeah... I'm sorry, I won't apologi... sorry- I mean, no- I... yes?" Lu sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I am told that a lot- ah- him, your Pokemon! Is he alright?"

Lu squatted down next to Zacharie and looked at the Porygon. "We should take you both to the infirmary- is there an infirmary? I am afraid I don't know the building so well just yet... I can carry you, do you need carrying?" he asked, concerned.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie held his breath, counted to five, and then slowly released it as he raised his eyes to fix Lu with a disbelieving look. "...What did I say about blathering? I am certain that I said to stop no less than two minutes ago." He snapped as he scooped the baby pokemon into his hand and brought him close to his face. "...Are you alright, Virus?" He asked seriously, staring intently at his pokemon. For a moment, the Porygon was silent...but then it released a cheerful chirp and vibrated gently. Zacharie smiled, his expression softening as he fondly regarded his pokemon. "We are fine, I practically am the infirmary anyway." He muttered the last bit to himself as he rolled his one, visible eye. Heaven forbid he wind up laying back down with nothing to do. Lu may be a bit strange, but at least he was interesting. "...How long ago did you join?" He asked curiously as he settled Virus back onto his shoulder. With his good hand free, he braced himself against Lu and levered himself back up. "I do not remember seeing you before the League raided the base."  

[Venti Mico]

Lu shut up and didn't say anything else. God- he was screwing this up already, he really was! He wanted people to like him here and have it be different than back home. He told himself to calm down- he was anxious, he always acted stupid when he got anxious.

"You...are the infirmary? Does this mean you work there?" he asked quietly. "I joined just recently, um... I joined about a week ago... I wasn't part of a raid- I ran away from- er... I joined a week ago." After Zacharie stood up, Lu stood up as well. He messed with his fingers nervously, trying to keep his blabbering to a minimum.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Quietly, he regarded the other trainee. It was obvious that he was going to say he ran away from home, he himself had plenty of knowledge on that front, but he wondered why someone so...skittish, would join Team Rocket. Is this how Jerome saw him that first, fateful night in the alleyway. He felt a pang of sympathy at that moment, an odd feeling for him. "...You ran away...to join Team Rocket?" He asked skeptically, taking in the way Lu anxiously twisted his fingers and sighing. "Well whatever, you don't have to tell you your life story." He said dismissively. A quick glance down at his Rocketdex showed him the time and in turn made his decision. "I am going to eat...you're welcome to join me." He offered before promptly turning on his heel and shuffling down the hallway. He didn't know if Lu would follow him or not, but he had a feeling that he would.  

[Venti Mico]

That wasn't quite right- it was more along the lines of Lu jumped at the first opportunity that had arisen and hadn't given it enough thought. He chose to withhold that information, Zacharie didn't seem like he was prying.

Lu jumped at the chance to go eat with Zacharie- this was it, he was making a friend! Maybe! Lu grabbed his mop and followed after the shorter boy, watching his heels and being careful not to step on him. He had a bit of a habit of doing that.

"Zacha- Mister Zacharie, sir- Zacharie? Is it okay if I ask your rank here?" Lu asked, sounding genuinely curious.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Zacharie, just call me Zacharie." The teen instructed, rolling his visible eye. He was about to make a sarcastic comment about them wearing the same outfit but then he remembered...he wasn't wearing his full uniform. He'd had to ditch the top since he couldn't move his arm so that left him in the low slung red pants, black wife beater, and boots...he could see where Lu might be confused. "I'm a trainee, like you. I've been here for..." He thought back and grimaced, it seemed like he'd been here for ages. Not that that was bad or anything, it certainly beat being out on the street. "About a month and a half." He said thoughtfully, Virus chirped on his shoulder. "Ah, we can eat in here." He stopped in front of a room empty save for a table and some chairs. "I found this room the other day, I've been using it to do my experiments."  

[Venti Mico]

"R-right, Zacharie. A month and a half? You must know how everything works..." Lu said, looking down at the floor. He wondered what kind of experiments Zacharie meant; once in a science class, Lu saw someone make a miniature volcano out of baking soda and vinegar. That was an experiment, right? "Experiments? Does that mean you're a scientist?" He'd never met a real scientist before. "Can you make the...the tiny volcanoes?"

Lu felt like all he was doing was asking questions, but as long as Zacharie wanted to put up with him he didn't mind. Zacharie seemed nice, to invite Lu along with him; he was feeling less nervous now that the purple haired boy didn't seem upset about his mop assault, too.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"...Of course I do." The teen said offhandedly, a bold faced lie. He really had no idea how anything really worked and it had become even more confusing now that the desert HQ had been destroyed. He just did as others told him to do and tried to keep himself out of trouble. It helped that Jerome was practically his mentor and didn't really care too much if he shirked his duties every once and a while. He supposed that was a perk of your best friend being an Agent. "I suppose you could say that I'm a scientist; though I'm more interested in medical science than anything else." He said thoughtfully as he settled Virus down onto the table. "Herbal medicine to be precise." Gingerly, he lowered himself into on of the chairs around the table and let out a sigh. As loathe as he was to admit it, he was still ridiculously sore. Getting knocked to the ground hadn't helped much either. Lu wasn't so bad though, he loved being asked about his interests and what he did. "...Tiny...volcanoes...?" He repeated slowly, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He didn't have the technology needed to shift tectonic plates...nor the particular desire to do so. What in the world...? "...Oh! You mean those silly little science projects you do in elementary school?" He vaguely remembered one of his nannies helping him mold a mound of clay to make the volcano. "No, no. I make herbal medicines and create new, herbal, efficient medicines to replace chemical catastrophes." He explained.