[Fin] Don't look a gift horse in the mouth

[caffeinecraving]

She held up her hands waving them frantically. "No no! Just like a blanket... and the lamp shades... and the curtains... Sissy flushed the standard issue ones in the toilet so i replaced them. They are neon pink to match my bed spread... the pillows are Orange... I put a rug down... thats orange too... The lampshades are Neon Green. I put up a poster too... but otherwise... the room is the same So nothing that cant be changed... and the other half for the room mate that they still havent assigned... is completely bare." She shrugged.

She gave him a look that said. 'you know which one.' "Sissy... she flushed the curtains down the toilet... and it clogged... flooded the bathroom... i tried to stop it and couldnt... so... had to call someone to come help..." Her face turned red again. "It was an accident... I was teaching her how to flush the toilet... and we ran out of toilet paper... and when i went to get more she beat me to it... and flush." She wasnt exactly proud of her pokemon... but she didnt blame sissy.

She nodded. "Thank you... I do so love them all." She grinned. "Im not sure if they will. " She shrugged. "But we could definitely try... worst thing that happens is we have another battle right?"

She gave a soft smile at his -joke- "Yes you will... But you will fill it fast... trust me."

Nodding about Tortie she grinned. "Why... someone happened to tell me that her favorite was cheese cake... So its cheese cake... with an essence of salmon... and covered in Sardines... Candles on the side~"

 

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh, right," Aulus nodded understanding re: the room. "That sounds terrible," he soon added with a shake of his head. Still... no need to go on about it, right? Wouldn't it be better to have her as an ally at least rather than actively seeking enmity?

....Wait what?

"What?" Aulus stared incredulously. "Why would she-?" He shook his head and gave a snort of amusement because it wasn't him that'd had to clean up the mess. "Well I image that was a useful life lesson," he added dryly.

Had he told her Tortie liked cheesecake? Apparently so- oh, wait, yes he had but it had been that day, the details of the conversation had kind of slipped his mind. "She'll like that. Thanks," Aulus added after a brief pause, sounding faintly guarded again.

What was he going to do with himself through? He should make a list of goals or something: learn to shoot, train up his less experienced Pokémon, progress the more advanced students onto weapons maybe? That last might be difficult actually given... but he could still put it on a list, right?  

[caffeinecraving]

She nodded. "Oh it is... i really cant wait for them to assign me a roommate so that we can get to decorating their side of the room too." She smiled knowing full well he meant her color choices. But everyone liked what they liked... Kailee happened to like bright colors... And browns... She loved browns... but bright colors were much more fun to play with.

She laughed. And he had laughed, sorta, which made her smile. "Oh yes... Sissy learned that Curtains arent flushable... and i learned that Wigglytuffs cant be trusted alone in the bathroom."

Yes he had. "No problem. And i hope so... because so far all my pokemon have listened to the recipe and kinda turned green.... so i'm sure she will get it all to herself." She glanced to Brimstone and he nodded. "I may make some with normal berries... For people and such..."

 

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus rolled his eyes but bit back further comment on the matter; it was only decorating, and just antagonizing people for the sake of it was stupid, right? Just so long as he didn't let her get too personal everything would be alright... right?

As Phaethon finally settled himself down again Aulus raised an eyebrow; "No s**t." He paused. "Well I hope not anyway." That would have made everything a whole lot worse for whatever sap had to fix her screw up. Oh well, his own time on such tasks was mercifully long since past.

"It sounds disgusting," he continued with a slight wrinkle of his nose, but then it was fish so that was inevitable regardless of what it was paired with. "She'll be pleased though, she doesn't like to share food." She would do so if he made it very clear that it was necessary, and had actually shared with Killer a few times of her own volition, but in general she made her displeasure over the matter extremely clear. "Hopefully I'll be out of the infirmary by the tenth, getting real sick of that place," Aulus added in an undertone, as much thinking aloud as addressing Kailee. Sleeping in his own bed away from disinfectant smells and bleepy machines sounded fantastic... though being far away from Alex and Tam when they were still sick sounded less so. He'd visit them though, lots, and they'd be okay. He'd been promised that they'd both be okay.  

[caffeinecraving]

Kailee smiled though. This was almost... a normal conversation.

She laughed. "Nope... it was all very clean water... not that any of us would want to drink it... but it was clean... He even taught me how to fix it... In case it happens again... Although... im pretty sure Sissy wont soon flush curtains again."

She blinked and then grinned. "Oh no... I am using only the finest salmon... " She pulled herself up looking haughty and waitress like. "The sardines were pulled only from mountain streams. The cream cheese is milked from miltank fed nothing but the finest grains and single malt whiskey..." She laughed softly. "Now sir... Cant i interest you in some of our delicious cheese cake?" Brimstone snorted with amusement and she reached over to pat his arm.

Kailee sobered a bit. "You will be back in your own routine in no time... Dont you worry about that." She smiled softly at him.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus scoffed at the description and shook his head. "No sale, I don't eat meat or fish." No matter how tempting bacon smelled sometimes... no. Just no.

...Back in his routine? Aulus looked down at Phaeth again, avoiding Kailee's gaze lest he either get stupid and weepy or stupid and angry; he wasn't entirely sure which way he'd swing which was a confusing feeling but it would have been one or the other. Back in his routine in no time. It was a lovely fluffy thing to say but it wasn't strictly true, which was to say it wasn't true at all. "Right," he said tersely, not presently trusting himself to say anything else.  

[caffeinecraving]

She blinked. "Oh! Im sorry... i didnt know..." She had had no clue that he was a vegetarian. She wasnt... she liked meat of all sorts. Fish especially. She loved a good Haddock. Especially fried, with tarter sauce. And Bacon... bacon was amazing.

She frowned as he looked down. What was she supposed to have said... Your life is going to be seriously changed now... hope you are strong enough to deal with it. So she went back to food. It was a safe topic. "So do you eat milk and cheese and eggs and stuff like that? Or just Nuts and plants?" She knew there were both kinds out there... The strict Vegans were really a pain to cook for. And all the cookies she had been bringing him had eggs and a touch of milk.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus shrugged, glad that she'd stuck to the food topic not the other one. He would get back to normal - mainly - but that was months and months down the line with lots of potential complications. Why him? It wasn't fair. "Yeah," he confirmed, reminding himself to stick on the topic Kailee had offered rather than going down that depressing spiral of thoughts for the umpteenth time. "I'm veggie, not vegan. Vegans are insane if you ask me, can hardly eat anything interesting. No pancakes, no pizza... it's hardly any wonder most of them look miserable."  

[caffeinecraving]

"You're a Veggie? hmmmm... Turnip?... Nono... um... Carrot? Oh! I know... You are an Onion aren't you?" She grinned tring to pick on him gently enough that he wouldnt bite. She would retreat back to simple nodding if he didnt go for it.

She nodded. "Oh gosh... no pizza! Thats gotta be a fate worse then death." She said this completely serious. She loved pizza. She grinned. "Ok so you eat plants... and eggs... and cheese..." She was making a mental note. It was important to her. She would hate to try to give him a sandwich and have him growl just because she forgot.

She glanced around and then sank carefully to a hip. "I like Veggies... just not enough to swear off meat...Did you do it for any specific reason? If you dont mind me being nosy."

 

[TawnyAngel]

Okay. Joke. Obviously joke. No way it could possibly be a dig at him right, like saying he was stupid?... No, not so far as he could tell. Aulus looked up, deadly serious. "Obviously I'm an onion. I have layers." And lo the pop culture reference was made, which was... good? Comparing himself to an ogre, kind of? He didn't know, but if it turned out to be a problem later he could blame it on drugs so it was all okay. Probably.

The next question was okay too, it was a natural lead on from what they were discussing, but he wasn't sure that he wanted to give the whole truth. Part of it would do though. "Yeah, pizza is pretty great," he shrugged, "and it's an environmental thing. Rearing animals for meat costs a hell of a lot in the way of space, produces a lot of CO2 and greenhouse gasses and crap, and most modern fishing practices are pretty damaging and or unethical in other ways." He shrugged again. "I don't give a crap what other people do, but avoiding meat is a choice I've made for myself." The other part of the reason was that he simply couldn't stomach the idea of killing other animals (he included grass type pokemon in this category) to feed himself when he had alternatives.  

[caffeinecraving]

Nope. She had picked the least threatening vegetables... Potatoes... they made one think of laziness. So she stayed away from that since Aulus would in some way take it that way. He made the joke! "Oh! You watch animated movies!" She said this like she had just stumbled on a gold mine. Laughing she added on. "Now that you mention it... You do look a bit green."

She nodded. "Ive heard that..." She glanced over him at his line about not caring what others did. "You do know... im not judging you right? That im simply curious...." She smiled. "If i had to be the one to prepare all my meat i couldn't do it... Blood makes me squeamish... Aside... from apparently when it matters..."She thought of the battle field and it wasnt until she was on the jet home,char next to her, that she had seen the blood on her hands and she had broken down into hysterics. He had been out when she had gone to him so she was keeping that to herself. She had thought a couple times that if she had done something different... maybe... he wouldnt have lost the arm.... Instead of stopping one of the other wounds... she should have stopped one on his arm... Something.

"So i can understand... I just figure... And this is super selfish... but by the time the CO2 in the air makes the ozone disappear... Ill be long dead and wont care... So i buy meat from the butcher... and i go... mmmm..... food. And pretend that they were happy to be in those meat farms." She wrinkled her nose. It was amazing how much one could over look when they didnt want to think about it.

 

[TawnyAngel]

"Ha." It wasn't a laugh but it was an acknowledgement that Kailee had made a joke-like item that he didn't object to. "Probably the analgesics or the... whatever they're calling them, drugs to promote faster healing. They work but they make me feel like s**t." Feeling like s**t was acceptable in exchange for shaving even a little time off his recovery though, more than acceptable. If everything kept going well they might do the first surgery in five to six weeks time, and that would be one hurdle out of the way.

"You can judge me all you like, but I didn't think you were," Aulus continued, half scowling for a moment more or less by reflex. "I've been told that it's not very manly to be vegetarian a few times, but the people who said that mysteriously ended up upsidedown against walls. Very mysterious. Hu, and I'm not exactly in a position to judge selfishness; joining Team Rocket is not exactly noble now is it?"

What she'd said about blood though, that had got him wondering. She must have had a reason to mention it and given what had happened he guessed that reason related to the mission. "Amazing what adrenaline can do for you in the heat of the moment," he commented neutrally.  

[caffeinecraving]

She smiled at him. "Probably... I wouldnt be surprised if they are giving you experimental things they had need to try out." She looked him over though. "It must be working though... Because you are up and moving... and thats a feat in itself."

She laughed. "Thats funny... " She shook her head. "If i judged you it would be all sorts of wrong. All that i first thought of you turns out i was wrong... " She shrugged. "How does what you eat... make you any more or less of a man? I like a good steak... Do you think im very manly?" She held out her arms so he could look at her very unmanly self. Pretty pink nails and long curly blonde hair. She smiled dropping her arms. "You will have to show me that magic trick sometime." She grinned. "I think since we both joined.... we can leave that off of both our selfishness lists."

She pulled her mouth up in a half smile. "Yeah... Im just glad char was there... I owe your Charizard... so very much." He was a wondrous shoulder to cry on.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus made a derisive noise and a vague ceilingwards gesture with his hand. "People are ridiculous." That summed up his attitude to a lot of things in life. "If you want to learn to hurl people against walls though you should join my karate class, when it starts up again that is." New students was always a good thing; the more people he taught the better he looked, and having teammates who could handle themselves when backed into a corner was helpful too. "Agents Jerome and Tambery help me with it, I've been teaching both of them for a couple of years and they're coming on well. Most people drift in and out but some have been coming a while so everyone's at different levels." Maybe that counted as doing something for her that would repay the party for Tortie? Perhaps.

"...And yeah, Char's great. He's never let me down, never asks for anything back either." Pretty much from the moment he'd evolved to his final form the Charizard had been saving his skin one way or another and he kept his life organized too. He was pretty sure he didn't deserve that level of dedication, Char never wanted anything in return. Kind of made him feel like he was taking advantage of him, using him like a tool like the worst of trainers did, but Char seemed to be happy and that was what mattered wasn't it?  

[caffeinecraving]

She grinned, fully agreeing with that statement.

She frowned though and looked more then put off by that thought. "Thanks... but i dont think... i would fit in there... " She glanced toward the door feeling uncomfortable all the sudden. She had spent her life bucking her dads overpowering need to make her into the boy that he never had. She knew how to fight... Not Karate... but she could definitely hold her own. She heard that Tambrey helped along with another unknown agent and she rubbed her arm.

She didnt hate boy things. She hated being forced to like boy things. She enjoyed a good fight, but she liked being babied at the end when the opponent had got a lucky shot to her face. She liked Video games... but she loved being able to distract her opponents to be able to win every now and then.

She smiled. "A true friend." Her eyes glittered a bit devilishly as she softly drove that point.