[FIN] Mop Attack

[Venti Mico]

There had to be a word for the warm, bubbly feeling Lu was having. Zacharie had essentially said he liked... doctor stuff! The sort of thing Lu's mom did and the kind of thing Lu wanted to do. His cheeks felt warm and he felt giddy; Lu followed Zacharie to the table, waiting for Zacharie to sit and making sure he got seated alright, then sat down opposite Zacharie. Lu was trying to think of the right thing to say; he didn't want to seem too eager or uninterested. He furrowed his brows in concentration- giving himself a rather grouchy expression- and thought as fast as he could.

"I like plants!" he blurted out. Ah, yes, that was what he meant to say. ... No, it wasn't! "I-I mean, herbal medicines... I like those. I- I use those. Like a doctor. I don't know a lot about them, but my mother taught me some." Lu was pretty darn excited about finding someone who was interested in the same things as he was. His mother had always taught him home remedies and herbal medicines, he'd even helped tend her garden and learn what plants were good for what. Yes, he was excited, even if his face looked more like someone had just insulted his mother and also farted.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie sat up a bit straighter when he noticed the change of expression on Lu's face. He set a firm scowl on his face in return, he never backed down from anyone who didn't at least accept his passion for herbal medicine. He'd tear this guy a new one if he started talking bad about it. It seemed he wouldn't have to though what with the enthusiasm the trainee showed. The teen startled from the sudden blurted statement, but he quickly regained his composure. "I love plants as well. I...used to have a garden." Back when he had almost anything he wanted at his disposal. "My um...parents are doctors. I learned a lot from their books and papers but I branched off to herbal medicine when I got into high school." Organic medicine was far superior to anything that was made in a factory. "You...You're welcome to stay while I work on my experiments..." He said, sending the taller male a shy smile. He'd never met anyone that was so passionate about herbal medicine as he was before.  

[Venti Mico]

Lu was worried he'd said something wrong at first, Zacharie seemed to look mad at him- but that was all gone a few moments later and Lu was suddenly quite confused. He wondered if he'd misunderstood, but he hoped he hadn't. And Zacharie smiled! It wasn't a vindictive or cruel sort of smile, just a nice one. Lu took a while to respond, trying to process the few things that'd happened. Finally, tugging at his hair, Lu tried to return the smile. It came out crooked and awkward, but there was an attempt.

"I helped my mom with her garden. She was a doctor, of sorts... didn't have a degree, but she knew what she was doing," Lu explained, fiddling with his fingers again. "Y-you mean that? That I can stay? I won't touch your things, or distract you, I won't be loud either. I promise," he sounded like he was negotiating. "I-I...er...could show you the things I know... I don't know the smart sort of things about plants, but I know what makes people feel better..."  

[insidiousEnigma]

That...was an odd smile. Not that he had much room to talk when it came to expressions, he wasn't the master of them himself. "I wouldn't offer if I did not mean it." Zacharie said with a roll of his eye. He had never been one for playing nice, he saw no point in pretending to like people. "...An extra hand would be helpful." The teen conceded with a glance down to the arm slung tightly to his chest. "It would be alright if you stay here, you don't have to remain silent but do try to keep the noise to a minimum." He said absently as he reached to dig around in his bag. "You may learn something yet." He actually adored teaching people...as long as they were willing to learn.  

[Venti Mico]

Lu nodded, "I would be happy to help- I assaulted you with my mop, so I think it's fair... i-if you need me to help you, please let me know," he said. He imagined it'd be hard to get around and work when you couldn't use one of your arms. He'd never broken his arm, but he'd hurt his ankle once when he was younger and that had been bad enough. Lu wondered how Zacharie had managed to hurt his arm in the first place, remembering he'd said something about a raid... that could be it. He thought it might be too personal to ask, so he didn't say anything.

Lu suddenly remembered they had come here to eat, but they hadn't gotten the most important part of eating- the food. "...Should I make something to eat?" he asked, looking down at Zacharie intently. Again, he hadn't meant to glare, it just came naturally to him.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie was coming to suspect that a glare was Lu's default expression was a glare. "...I have food." He said, drawing a sandwich wrapped in shiny cellophane from his bag. "I am going to assume you don't have anything to eat. So you may have the one I packed for later." He pushed the sandwich across the table towards the dark haired male and Virus curiously followed after it. "Virus, that is not for you." He gently nudged the little Porygon away from the food despite its little chirp. "You don't even eat." He laughed lightly as he dug out his other sandwich from his bag. Virus vibrated and chirped as it made its way around the table, trying to take in everything that was going on around it. "It's peanut butter and strawberry jam." Zacharie motioned to the sandwich with his head as he struggled to unwrap his own.  

[Venti Mico]

It was true Lu didn't have anything- he didn't know what he was and wasn't allowed to eat here and was too nervous to ask. He didn't reach out to take the sandwich until after Zacharie scooted his Porygon away from it. Who knew if Porygons could bite? He knew Tea rarely bit people, and he wasn't even sure if Porygon had a mouth.

... Oh, right! Tea. Tea would probably want to come out, meet Lu's... friend? He wondered if he could call Zacharie that yet. "Thank you, for this, I'll, um... make you one next time," Lu said, looking at the sandwich, then setting it down and reaching behind himself to grab a Pokeball. "Is it alright if I let my Pokemon out? She's nice, doesn't get in to trouble... w-we lived up near mountains and she's used to never being a Pokeball." Lu also wanted to share the sandwich with her, it felt impolite to eat while your Pokemon sat in a ball and didn't eat.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"You don't have to, I can make my own food." He mumbled before taking a bite of his own sandwich. He didn't mention that it had taken a bit for him to get them both done. Virus let out a little knowing chirp but seemed to be more interested in what Lu was reaching for. "...It's fine with me." He hadn't been expecting to hear his life story or whatever. "O..kay." He said slowly from around his sandwich. "I normally let my pokemon roam free...the Agents don't really seem to care as long as the pokemon don't make any trouble." He shrugged his good shoulder slightly.  

[Venti Mico]

Lu was relieved Zacharie didn't mind, and let Tea out from her Pokemon immediately. The Absol looked pleased to be free from her Pokeball and immediately snaked her way up onto Lu's lap, sat, and stared across the table at Zacharie and Virus. Tea swished her tail a few times, not sure what to think of them.

"Her name's Tea," Lu said quietly, finally unwrapping the sandwich and taking a bite. Sandwiches made by other people always tasted better, he thought. He broke off a corner of the sandwich and held it out for Tea, who sniffed it rather haughtily and then looked at Zacharie again. The sandwich smelled like him and she still didn't know if she could trust him. "...You're not hungry?" Lu asked, expression softening and looking down at her. "If you don't want any you'll have to wait until later to eat." He warned, lifting the corner of the sandwich up as if he was going to eat it- and then Tea turned around with a trill of objection. Lu nodded and gave Tea the bit of sandwich. She ate it daintily, returning to giving Zacharie a cold stare.

Turning his attention back to Zacharie, Lu patted Tea on the head. "So...that guy, he's... you called him Virus?" He asked, pointing at the Porygon. "I've never seen one before...he looks like... like a shiny rock."  

[insidiousEnigma]

"That is an...interesting name." Zacharie commented, staring at the Absol in awe. He had always wanted one for himself but had never been able to find one to catch. Faleen had one...and it was absolutely gorgeous. This one, Tea, was also gorgeous. Lu obviously took very good care of her. "...Absol's are very interesting pokemon. I wish I had lived in an area where I could have come across one." He muttered as he picked at his sandwich. Virus, having been curiously watching the Absol and her trainer, turned to his own trainer. "Pory-gon." Zacharie looked down at the little virtual pokemon and rolled his eye. "Alright, you can try to eat some." He sighed, breaking off a small corner and setting it on the table. "Oh...yes. This is Virus, it's a Porygon. Porygon are gender neutral so Virus is technically an 'it' or 'them' if you prefer." He explained, watching the little pokemon try to eat the bit a food in amusement. It must be hard to eat when you don't have a mouth. "One of the Agents gave Virus to me to help me use computers. You can plug Porygons into computers and they can do whatever you need them to." He explained, affectionately patting his pokemon's head.  

[Venti Mico]

"You have to go into dark places to find them, I think... Tea was in a cave, but even now she likes to be under blankets when it's too bright." Lu explained, sounding a little bit more enthusiastic talking about his Pokemon. He took a bite out of the sandwich himself, finished that, then spoke again, "I didn't know Pokemon could work with computers. Must be a mighty smart Pokemon..." Lu said, outstretching his arm slowly and cautiously towards the little Porygon. Tea watched the Pokemon carefully, just in case it made some sudden move on her owner. She was quite protective of Lu; they'd been together for years. "If they gave you it to work with computers, does that mean you're bad at computers? ...N-not that- not that I think you're stupid- I mean, computers, they're tricky, th-the typing is hard and they, um, computers... y-you're probably good with computers? I don't know how t-to use them- computers that is-" He babbled, glaring down at the table and pulling his hand back. He felt his face heat up in embarrassment; he had no tact. "I'm stupid, with computers?"  

[insidiousEnigma]

"That's what I thought; before I joined Team Rocket I lived in the city. Not really the place for an Absol to live." He said thoughtfully, his gaze distant. Virus let out a little, startled chirp at the look before nudging the food back to his trainer. It was a bit funny and also a reminder why he never wore his hair pulled back, he had a very intense gaze. "It's fine, Virus. You can keep it." He murmured, self consciously ducking his head. The pokemon was obviously concerned, but its attention was drawn to the hand slowly drawing closer to it. "Yes, Virus is very smart." He smiled slightly as he watched Virus turn and nudge the other trainee's hand. "It's very curious, but I suspect that is because it is still very young. Hatched not too long ago." He had grown attached very quickly to his Porygon, much to Jabari and Essex's dismay. "I..." Lu really needed to work on that babbling problem of his. "I'm horrible with computers." He admitted once the other had stopped talking. "I much prefer reading books and taking notes by hand." It was a bit of a relief hearing that the other wasn't good with computers either, everyone seemed to be so good with them.  

[Venti Mico]

"The city?" Lu asked, looking curious. He'd never been to the city, even though his sister had moved to one. He had wanted to visit her someday, but he didn't know if he'd be able to now that he'd joined Team Rocket. He wasn't sure on what their policies of visiting family was... plus, he was new. He knew he wouldn't be getting any vacation time soon. "What's the city like? I mean, I... I heard there's a lot of people and tall buildings. And big signs with flashy colours and lights. Is that true? I heard that was true," Lu asked, looking down and patting Tea on the head. He took another few bites from the sandwich and finished it off- he had a big appetite.

"It's a baby..? Wow," Lu said, looking at the Porygon again. It was pretty cute... he smiled at it- and by smile, that meant he frowned a little less. "Tea is older, I don't know how old exactly... but she's at least..." Lu held out his hands and counted on his fingers, "At least 6 years old. I've had her that long." Tentatively, he moved his hand out towards the Porygon again; it didn't seem scared of him, it seemed curious. Plus, he'd never really gotten to see other Pokemon up close before, other than his Absol. "Computers don't make sense. The keyboards, and the screen, and the wires." Lu scrunched up his face, remembering the few times in school he'd tried to use a computer. He'd ended up breaking the mouse and being banned from ever using one again...  

[insidiousEnigma]

Lu...certainly could talk. Though he supposed that he understood, curiosity tended to have that effect on people. "Yes, it's all true." He assured the dark haired male with a nod. "It's very interesting in the city, there are a lot of things to do." Though there were also a lot of people to be avoided as well. "Perhaps one day you'll be able to visit." He himself would like to go back to visit some day, perhaps pick up some things he couldn't seem to get his hands on here. "Pory...Porygon?" Virus tilted its head back to nudge gently at Lu's palm and chirped. "You've had her for a long time." Zacharie said, his gaze intent on the Absol. "I have a Shuppet that I've had for a few years, but not as long as six years."  

[Venti Mico]

Lu stared wide eyed at the Porygon as it nudged him, it was so little and... chipper. Chirpy? It was really an adorable little thing, he kind of wanted to pick it up and cuddle it. Instead, he just gently patted it on the head.

Lu wondered if most people had their Pokemon for a long time. He'd only had one, Tea, and he had had her for quite a while... it was hard for him to imagine someone getting a Pokemon and not getting attached to it. He supposed trainers who had full teams of Pokemon had to get used to only spending so much time with certain Pokemon, and less with others... It didn't seem ideal to him at all; Lu didn't want to have so many Pokemon he couldn't give them all enough attention. Maybe just one more, someday, to keep Tea company. "She's a good girl, never causes problems-" and as the word 'problems' left his mouth, Tea hopped onto the table and strode over to Zacharie, sitting down in front of him and continuing the little staring contest they'd had going on. "T-Tea, don't do that- no feet on tables..!" Lu whispered, shocked at her behavior. Of course, she acts up when he was trying to make her sound like a well behaved Pokemon.