[FIN] Brawn For Brains

[Magician Arcana]

It occurred to Adam that having signed up on Grunt duties for anything 'physically intensive' was a poor idea. Well, it didn't occur to him in time. No, it only really dawned on the Grunt when he stood in the library on the base, mouth partially agape at the sheer damage inside. Three bookcases, as tall as two of him and as long as three, were completely barren. Lying around each, like a snowdrift of knowledge, were books upon books upon books.

Dumbly, he pointed at the mess and looked at the short librarian beside him. Her face was tense and clearly displeased, "Yes well, I had hoped they'd send me someone a bit stronger looking. Oh well. I need you to pick up each book and replace them on a shelf. Afterwards you can sort them"

"M-me?" Adam pointed in dismay to himself. This job would take all day, hell, maybe two days if sorting and filing was added into the mess. The Librarian shot him a withering look that said more than her words, and left the blonde slumped and sad.

Manny Chirped, He bust into laughter, rolling this way and that. Adam huffed a laugh and batted at his ghost, "Hardy har har, Man. C'mon, we got stuff to do."

Approaching one mound, he squatted down and grabbed handfuls of books, carefully setting them in a pile. Slowly a rhythm began... Until -

"Just WHAT do you think you're doing?" Adam yelped and landed on his butt. Librarian had returned, scowling at the stacks, "You're not being gentle at ALL. Take care, will you? Some of these are worth more than your life."

Adam bit back an acidic remark and smiled cheerily, "Certainly Ma'am." It as good enough for her, as she turned and walked away while massaging her temples. Adam could make out a faint, "I hope the other helper is more capable than this one."

Another person? At least he wouldn't be alone for too long.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

The exchange between the librarian and the second person assigned to the job didn't take long. He may not have been any more burly-looking than the first, but if he was daunted by the task ahead of him, he gave no indication. When he walked to the indicated shelves, Izaya gave Adam a completely neutral look before bending to pick up some of the books.

"I know she said to put the books up first and then sort them, but it'll be faster to just sort them as we put them up," he said, eyes trained on the books. "Namie, hand me those over there, please."

A Gardevoir that trailed silently in his wake turned to look at the books her trainer had indicated before using her psychic powers to lift them up off the ground.

"Let me see them," he said, making a gesture for her to bring them over. "I need to figure out what order they go in and what sections they belong to."

Namie levitated the books over in a line, one after another as he took them from her. While she did this, she quietly regarded the Haunter and his tall trainer out the corner of her vision with curiosity.

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((Thursday, October 01, 2015 9:42:57 PM))

 

[Magician Arcana]

The look was lost on the grunt, as he was currently grabbing (carefully) and stacking (gently) the books. Every four or five pulled from the pile caused the mound to shift and send a volume or two (or three, or five) to slide down. Cursing softly below his breath, Adam wondered if there was a faster method to this madness. He was aware of another person approaching, that sixth sense of another body near his prickling sharply on high alert.

Now, the voice was what caught him. Adam jerked, visibly surprised at who was there. He schooled his face from surprise into calmness. Of course. Of ******** course. Adam mutely turned back to his efforts at grabbing and stacking. There was a new pokemon near him, named Namie, huh? Why did that leave a bitter taste in his mouth? Why had he become so uncomfortable? So tired and spent after not even a hello... Adam shook the thoughts out and blew out a breath, still keeping his back to Izaya.

"Dunno... I mean, that might work? But we don't know what subjects or what authors or s**t this has. And seeing how many books there were, just halphazardly throwing them onto shelves is no better than sorting through them all and putting them up." He rubbed the back of his neck, rolling his head around to loosen the tense muscles.

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((10/1/2015 9:52:18 PM ))

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"While most Rockets were training their pokemon, I spent my time looking over and reading these instead," the man in the Trainee uniform responded, still not lifting his head as he inspected book covers and spines. "So I more or less know what sections there were and where they went. It wasn't much different from my filing system in my previous apartment." Checking the number of one book, he placed it on one of the shelves before inspecting another and placing it on the shelf above it. "Just pick them up and give them to me if you're not going to bother using your common sense to find out their subjects or authors."

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((Thursday, October 01, 2015 9:59:03 PM))

 

[Magician Arcana]

Almost. He was almost able to stop from rolling his eyes at the last comment, "I'm guessing that was before your episode in the slammer, huh?" Adam asked dryly. Manny watched his trainer closely, but said nothing. Instead he grabbed another book with his claws and set it done.

"How 'bout instead of being a condescending p***k you tell me how the system works? Or is that too much to ask?"

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((10/1/2015 10:01:45 PM ))

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

A small smile widened the corners of the man's mouth. "Which one?" he asked, his tone equally dry. Izaya had to take a minute to ponder over the second and third inquiries before holding out a book's spine to show Adam.

"Library books have stickers to differentiate them from personally owned ones. Over here, this indicates the genre. The subject matter you can try deriving from the title or the synopsis. But it's best to start by arranging them in alphabetical order starting with the first letter of that author's last name." He smirked. "You do know how to do at least that much, don't you?"

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((Thursday, October 01, 2015 10:08:52 PM))

 

[Magician Arcana]

"OH right, sorry. You're a repeat offender, as they call it." Oddly the joke and the banter brought a smile to his face. There was a strange sense of familiarity to the conversation. It took a moment for the blonde to remember he wasn't happy with his partner.

Craning around, Adam watched as Izaya pointed out the various portions of the book, the genre, and then the information about the author's last name. The jibe about alphabetical order actually earned a laugh out of him, "Yeah yeah, jerkface. I know my ABCs." Sighing in defeat, he stood and brushed off his knees. "Manny, can you get me any that start with A in this part?" He held up a book and showed the ghost where the Author's name would be.

"Haunter!" Manny chirped a yes and grabbed a few books starting with the name, setting them on the shelf.

"Thanks buddy."

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((10/1/2015 10:13:49 PM))

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"That's right. Only after one-too-many repeat offenses, they just call you a traitor." When Izaya saw Adam's smile, his own faded and he returned his attention to the books. He almost seemed to be contemplating a reply when he heard Adam speak to his pokemon. At that, his expression momentarily turned steely, but quickly returned to one of indifference. He continued to replace books on the shelves in the order and place he roughly supposed they should have been in.

Namie suddenly asked Manny. She had been paying attention when Izaya explained the book system to Adam and had taken it upon herself to help reshelve them directly instead of passing them on to her trainer. He could pick up his own books.

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((Thursday, October 01, 2015 10:20:15 PM))

 

[Magician Arcana]

Unaware of the change in the other mans demeanor, Adam continued to place and order books as Manny ferried them to his master. The ghost was content on working, searching diligently for the proper letters.

Nami's question made the ghost pause,

Adam heard the response, but didn't chime in with questions, "Do you have any books by Albion? I have part of a set here." Adam looked over at Izaya.

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(( 10/1/2015 10:56:56 PM ))

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

The Gardevoir didn't seem too concerned by Manny's failure to introduce himself. After all, she hadn't done so either.

Izaya, oblivious to the pokemon conversation going on, read the cover of one book in his left hand while holding out to Adam a book by Albion in his right.

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((Friday, October 02, 2015 1:22:33 PM))

 

[Magician Arcana]

Manny still didn't understand what had led the two to split and what had caused the weirdness between them.. He knew from what Adam said, Izaya should have been dead. Clearly that wasn't the case.

Manny tilted his body/head and scratched it with a claw,

Adam kept an ear on the conversation, but soon let it slide below his radar. It was typical banter, and seeing as Namie was a relatively new pokemon, given the questions and the fact Adam didn't know her, it was obvious why she asked. Adam took the book silently and slid it into place, "Thanks Iz." The odd calmness of work helped settle whatever nerves were underlying Adam's happy venear. Something was bothering him, but he... He couldn't figure it out.

"You got a new pokemon? What's her name? She seems smart, very friendly." Adam pointed out, slipping in another book where it needed to go.

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(( 10/2/2015 3:05:29 PM ))

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Namie sighed, glancing back at her trainer. he wants to act. Just the other day he blew up at someone who told me he didn't normally lose his temper.>

The Gardevoir blinked at Manny's comment. she repeated. She paused. did seem wary about his treatment of them - as if they expected him to drop a facade at any moment or have some ulterior motive.>

At Manny's last question, Namie shook her head. She looked at Adam.

Izaya cast Adam a brief glance at his question, frowning slightly before picking up another book. "If you mean by 'friendly' that she's not ready to take a chunk out of your arm or shoot poison in your face, then I guess so. But intelligence is relative. Most Psychic-types are percieved as being smart." He replaced a couple of other books and searched for a spot for a third. "Her name is Namie. I named her after a secretary I had before joining Team Rocket."

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((Friday, October 02, 2015 6:24:01 PM))

 

[Magician Arcana]

Manny laughed at her comment on being awkward, But then again, that had been some time ago. He listened to Nami speak, taking in the new information. The haunter blinked owlishly,

the ghost hesitated, looking sad as he spoke softer, The haunter shrugged his claws.



So much for not listening in... Bones couldn't help but stretch his ear and listen to Manny's reply, especially after how long Nami had spoken. Typing and speaking to pokemon. Adam weighed the idea in his mind and placed it to what he knew of the informant. Izaya hated pokemon. Well, that was a strong word. Severely disliked? Bothered? Something along those lines. Pokemon were a nuisance that took away the love of his precious hu - No. Adam blinked, sudden clarity dawning upon him. A mix of emotions tumbled angrily in his stomach and tightened his throat. Adam swallowed them down and tried to keep working. It wasn't easy.

"Nami... That's a nice name. You're right, they are perceived that way. I meant that she started sorting on her own, that was a quick thing to pick up." Adam felt the need to justify his observation, miffed slightly that Izaya would think he'd stoop to baseless small talk... God, he was pissed at that, wasn't he? And Nami, he was actually angry at Nami. Adam rubbed his face and knelt down, eager to get some distance between the two of them. Maybe not at Nami or even with Nami. There was some other anger that boiled inside him, it kept clawing up and taking hold, threatening to shake his resolve.

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(( 10/2/2015 6:36:18 PM ))

 

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Namie looked incredulous at Manny's comment. that. I've seen that. That's nothing more than an act he puts on to fool other humans. The moment he's out of sight of them, he goes back to being his usual self. As if he doesn't think that it matters what pokemon think of him. It's actually really pitiful and sad to watch.> She continued to replace books nonchalantly.

She looked thoughtful. The Gardevoir picked up a book with her hands.

The Gardevoir laughed quietly; derisively. She tapped her chin. She studied Adam next to Manny. If they have a strong connection.>

The man in the trainee uniform looked back at Adam with a deadpan stare as if to say, 'seriously?' "She observes and picks up things. Must have been paying attention when I was showing you. It's not that hard to do; it's just that most people don't tend to bother paying attention to their surroundings that much."

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((Friday, October 02, 2015 8:07:17 PM))

 

[Magician Arcana]

Laughter spilled from the Haunter, He grinned toothily and and shrugged his clawed hands, The ghost grabbed two more books and slid them into place on the shelf, Manny remarked. So the twins could play now together. They were probably very happy. His body drooped gently.

"True." Adam responded to the deadpan stare and left it at that. Izaya wasn't about to praise his pokemon. Also, it was clear (now even to himself) that he didn't have anything to defend. He kneaded a tensed muscles in his neck, waiting for the sweet release of tension. Normally talking didn't cause this... Especially not with Izaya. Snorting, he stood up and pushed a few more books into place, arranging them into alphabetical order. There was a solid, invisible wall between them. Did they take it down?

Was it even possible to remove?

"So why the reds? You got demoted, obviously, but..." Adam let it hang in the air, arching a brow at the other man as if he were passing a baton in a race. Your turn.

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(( 10/2/2015 8:18:59 PM ))