[PRP] Mysterious as the Dark Side of the Moon

[BlackPidgeot]

Once again Seth had found himself at this abandoned outpost that served as a pathetic excuse for a temporary base. Things kept breaking and he had to keep coming up with reasons to leave the company that were believable. Though he wondered how long it would be before Mokuba started getting suspicious. Hopefully he wouldn't, it would be better that way.

There was a lot to get done and little time to do it. So much so that he had pulled a trainee that seemed to, in his opinion, have nothing better to do.

Walking through the crowded and tight walkways, the elite looked at a pad that held the schematics on its screen. The problem areas marked in order of urgency. The first item on the list being the environmental unit. It seemed to be malfunctioning, which had been evident when he first arrived as it was much too warm in the place.

Looking at the pad while he walked, he let the trainer carry the tool box.  

[insidiousEnigma]

He supposed that this was his punishment for not actually doing much of anything. Idleness was a sin...or some nonsense like that. He should have stuck as close as he could to Jerome or at least pretended to clean something instead of just wandering the hallways. He most definitely did not want to be lugging around this stupid toolbox but it wasn't as if he had had much of a choice. While he'd only ever briefly met a few during the evacuation of headquarters he knew an elite uniform when he saw one.

And apparently this guy was an elite so....

Zacharie grumbled silently under his breath as he trailed along after the taller male, the toolbox handle clutched tightly in both hands. What, it was heavy alright? He was still sort of on the mend on the left side so doing this sort of stuff could still hurt! "So what, may I ask, exactly am I helping you with?" He asked, bumping carelessly into a passing Grunt without batting an eyelash. Stupid people...always getting in his way.  

[BlackPidgeot]

He was lucky to even have a uniform actually. All of his went poof when the base exploded and he'd gone without for some time. But after some confusion with people that didn't know him, Seth complained enough that they managed to find him one uniform. It didn't quite fit as the sleeves and pants were too short but it was wearable. Keeping a uniform at home or at the office was not an option so had to have it stashed somewhere when he needed it and it sure was a pain.

"Maintenance and repair," he told the trainee in a flat tone. "I'm assuming you have some experience."

It might be considered sexist but that's why he chose Zacharie over a female trainee as men were more likely to be useful in that area, with a few exceptions.

They eventually came to a door marked "Mechanical Room" and using a key he stepped in, only to be nearly knocked over by the sudden wave of heat.

"s**t," he muttered under his breath. Immediately he removed his gloves, peeled off his uniform top, loosened the collar of the white shirt that was left and rolled up his sleeves. His forehead also breaking out in an immediate sweat. Walking over to a control station he tossed the top and gloves onto a chair before getting to work.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"You would be wrong with that assumption." Zacharie told the other, his tone equally flat. "Most of the time I'm told to clean things and stay out of the way." He said in a matter of fact fashion, though he did stagger back as a wall of heat hit him. Christ, he didn't know jack s**t about anything to do with machines but he was pretty sure that they shouldn't be that hot. "...So where do you want me to set the toolbox and I'll leave you to it." He said, reaching up with his right hand to wipe the gathering sweat from off his forehead. He wasn't allowed to touch mechanical things, (Faleen had given him Virus so he wouldn't have to touch anything)  

[BlackPidgeot]

There was a slight eye twitch at the confession. Great. He seemed to have a knack for picking the useless ones.

"You're not going anywhere," Seth said as he punched a couple buttons. There was the shifting of metal as all the vents in the building opened to allow the chill winter air inside to alleviate the heat while he tried to fix the problem.

"Today you will learn to do something useful. Everyone in this team needs to pull their weight."  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie knew how to do loads of useful things. He could set broken bones, tell you what your ailment was, give you medication of his own making to cure said ailment. Save lives. He had no interest in learning how to fiddle with machines to make them less hot. He had figured that's what the technology department was for; wasn't this Faleen's job? "...Fine." He muttered, setting down the toolbox and crossing his arms over his chest to await his next order. He wasn't going to touch anything unless told to. While he didn't particularly care for the machines he didn't want to mess around and break one of them. That would just cause more trouble than it was really worth. "What am I doing then?"  

[BlackPidgeot]

He could sense the displeasure from the trainee. Not an uncommon feeling people experienced around him. But frankly Seth could have cared less.

Zacharie was ignored while Seth went about trying to figure out where the problem was. The environmental controls were not responding and parts of it were even blacked out. Thus it was reasonable to assume that the problem was there.

"You can start by handing me a screwdriver," he finally said.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Resisting the urge to groan loudly in boredom and annoyance, the trainee casually leaned against the door frame and waited for the Elite to finish up whatever he was doing. Maybe, if he was lucky, the taller man would just forget that he was standing here and he wouldn't actually have to do anything. But...of course he wasn't lucky. When was he ever lucky? Zacharie stared at the back of the others head for a moment before sighing quietly and turning to start rifling through the tool box. Screwdriver...Screwdriver...? What the hell was....

Softly muttering under his breath, he wracked his mind for what a screwdriver actually looked like.

"Here?" He withdrew a random tool that looked vaguely like it could twist a screw and held it out to the brunette.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Seth held out his hand for the tool, not bothering to look at it until he tried to use it. The elites face then dropped. Seriously?

"Then is an Allen wrench," he said with some annoyance, handing it back to the trainee.

"Try again."  

[insidiousEnigma]

...What was the difference?

Zacharie took the tool back and turned it over a few times in his hand. Wouldn't it work, it certainly looked like it could do the job. "...Alright." He carelessly dropped the 'Allen Wrench' back into the tool box and crouched down to dig through it again. "Is the screw driver flat on the end?" He asked, holding up another tool.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Plenty of difference.

Seth frowned at the question. "One of them is. I need the other one. The Philips head screwdriver."

Dammit this kid didn't know anything. Every man would know his way around tools atleast a little bit.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Okaaay." Zacharie sighed in annoyance as he dropped the 'Philips head' screwdriver into the tool box. With a faint scowl he plucked another tool that looked sort of like the last one but with a star shaped tip and held it out. "I believe you would be much faster without me here." He pointed out, absently reaching up to tug on his overgrown hair with his free hand. "I, obviously, have no knowledge about tools."  

[BlackPidgeot]

Seth took the tool and ah yes this one was it.

"I know I would be," Seth retorted. "But it's ridiculous how little you know. I've never met a man who didn't know what the hell a screwdriver was. That's pathetic."

With that he used the screwdriver to remove a panel from the control board. "You do know what a flashlight is, right?"  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Gender roles are as idiotic as the people who believe in them." Zacharie said promptly, crossing his arms back over his chest. "Males are not genetically predisposed to know which tools are which. That's something that one would need to research because of interest or necessity. I have no interest in things that would require tools nor have I ever needed to use them to repair something or put something together. So why would I know which screwdriver is which or whether it is an 'Allen Wrench'?" With a scowl and a huff he bent and snatched up the flashlight out of the tool box. "And just because I'm not educated in the finer details of tools does not mean I'm an idiot. So I would ask that you not treat me as such...here is the flashlight." He held said item out towards the Elite.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Zacharies drawn out commentary drew a withering glare that was only amplified by his current discomfort with the temperature.

"Are you arguing with me, trainee? I'm neither interested in your excuses or your opinions. I know plenty of women who know what a damn screwdriver is. It's a common tool and I can only assume you've had other people do your repairs and simple tasks for you, which is even more pathetic despite your gender. But from now on I suggest you keep you comments to yourself unless you wish to deal with me for the rest of the afternoon. I will treat you however I damn well please."

After his seething words Seth then snatched the flashlight from Zacharie and proceeded to rummage around inside the panel.