[PRP] Sunrise

[Dante-Sayre]

Even this far into autumn, days in the desert were harsh. It wouldn't be until the winter months that the heat'd calm. Lore'd always enjoyed being outdoors; the long hallways and repeating offices of HQ felt prison-like to him if he didn't escape from time to time. The brutal afternoon heat wasn't really his cup of tea, but the mornings - those were extremely nice.

Beside the towering headquarters, reclining in the sand with his head propped up against a big shoulder bag, the grunt was wearing a pair of sunglasses, shoes kicked off, watching the rising sun and sipping a tropical drink he'd gotten from who knows where. Stick a palm tree next to him and snap a picture, you'd swear he was at the beach.

His ever-present pair of whimsicotts sat beside him, playing in the sand and chattering back and forth.

But for the occasional pidgeot-induced sonic boom or passing trainees forced on a morning run, these early breaks from the world were always quiet and relaxing. Lore was considering making them a daily event.
 

[TawnyAngel]

He hated being a Trainee.

Hated it.

He didn’t mind running, what he minded was being forced to do it in a pack of crass no hopers while being shouted at by some agent with bad breath and a terrible haircut. He kept himself to the middle of the pack during these torturous morning sessions, not wishing to draw attention to himself by being either too slow or too fast.

After what seemed like far too long the base and the end of the run were in sight. He and the rest of the group picked up their pace for the home stretch, and it wasn’t long before the leader of the pack passed by Lore.

“Alright you worthless sons of bitches, hit the showers and get on to the rest of your duties!” shouted said leader of the pack; the agent in charge. Apparently keen to hit the showers himself he didn’t pause to watch his charges inside.

Although very keen to shower off himself, KO was not keen to be there at the same time as certain other Trainees; apparently some of them took offense at anyone with the slightest regard for their appearance. One such individual shoved roughly past him, causing the red-haired man to stumble slightly. KO came to a halt and gave the back of the man’s head a poisonous look as the lump of muscle laughed and jogged on into the building.

Breathing hard and wiping sweat from his brow KO turned to the only person left around; some guy relaxing with a cold drink and a pair of whimsicotts. “Can you believe that?” he said incredulously. “What did I ever do to him, I ask you? Tch, no manners some of these people.”

...A guy with brown hair, a relaxed attitude, and a pair of whimsicotts. Humm, hello, was that opportunity knocking?  

[Dante-Sayre]

Lore pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head with a thumb and offered KO a friendly smile, "What, Steel?" This was the burly trainee's popular nickname. Lore sipped his fruity drink, "F'it makes you feel any better his real name's Herman. Y'know. Not that you heard it from me."
 

[TawnyAngel]

Oh. Those eyes. Yellow and gold like the beast and the sun. Yes. This was the one. KO gave a shot laugh and ran his fingers through his hair as the wheels in his mind spun swiftly. "Is it? Well, I didn't know that. My name, if you didn't know it knowledgeable friend, is Kirk. What's yours?" Without further ado, and without duty for at least another hour, KO sauntered closer and then sat down cross-legged in the warm but not yet hot sand.  

[Dante-Sayre]

Lore twisted his mouth slightly, looking distracted as he reached over his head to dig around in the bag he was propping himself up with. After some rummaging he produced a pineapple-flavored canned beverage. If KO paid attention he might glimpse that the bag was stuffed with other drink cans and snack bags, all of which looked familiar. Cause they'd been pilfered from the cafeteria's storage room.

Lore sat up and tossed the can KO's way. "Loreven. You can call me Lore." He took another sip of his drink, "You're the new ex-Galactic, yeah? Sager's friend."
 

[TawnyAngel]

He managed to snatch the tossed can out of the air without incident and quickly cracked it open to take a swig; the flavour turned out to be quite acceptable, and that with the fact that it was cold and refreshing made it seem like almost the best thing he'd ever tasted.

"Lore it is, and I see my reputation precedes me," KO smirked externally, internally wondering how Lore had heard of him and what he had heard. He could probe that later though, once they were settled into a casual conversation. "I wouldn't say we're friends though," a small dismissive wave of one hand, "he was far too important in Galatic to want to associate himself with me in a personal manner. As for now, well, I think he still thinks of himself as Commander and me as a raw young Agent." Sauntering closer KO sat down opposite Lore; close, maybe nearly too close for comfort to some. Given the man's attitude so far however he doubted the boss' brother would be disquieted.

"Thanks," he added, tilting his can at Lore, "this is just what I needed."  

[Dante-Sayre]

Lore gave no indication of minding the invasion of his personal space. He just smirked passively and nodded, "That's a shame. When I heard he'd brought you here I thought maybe that'd mean at least one person at base who likes him." He leaned back against his bag. "He'll be out in-" Lore checked the thick-banded watch on his wrist, "Four and a half minutes." He gestured vaguely at the sky. "I started this sunrise lounging thing about a week ago. It wasn't for the free air show but so far he hasn't missed a morning. Every day, seven on the dot." He tilted his head to look at KO. Of course the trainee wasn't dressed in his typical clothes and he was still catching his breath from training exercises, but all the same this guy didn't look like the same sort of strict schedule-keeper. "Are all galactics like that?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"I never said I didn't like him," KO replied easily with a faint smirk. "Ian certainly isn't without his charms - very clever man, great heels - but whatever esteem I hold him in he doesn't return. Not that he seems to hold anyone in esteem, of course." Sipping at his drink KO's red eyes swivelled back towards the tower, and at Lore's question he gave a slight chuckle. "Oh no, the Galactics I knew were as diverse as the Rockets I've met here. Things aren't too different here to the galactic I knew - I gather things are very different these days - other than the fact that Rocket uniforms are slightly less of a travesty than Galactics.... Star's really that precise, is he?" Learning a bit more about the former Commander, and what others thought of him, could be useful in future. There weren't many kinds of information that weren't worth collecting especially information about people; if you didn't have money or power of your own then knowing the right people and having them look favourably on you was just about as good.  

[Dante-Sayre]

"Mmm. Kind of a shame the teams don't get along. It'd be neat to visit each one for a while. Y'know, like a foreign exchange program. You seen the airship they've got now? I don't wanna criticize big skyscrapers in the middle of the desert but I mean.. airship."
 

[TawnyAngel]

"I'm all for harmonious relations," KO agreed smoothly. "I mean, surely with a bit of talk over a few drinks we could work out a way to align our goals.... Not that that's for a redshirt like me to say, but surely having their boss here is an opportunity for our boss, beyond getting his design ideas deciphered by Ian?" KO took another slow sip of his drink and pushed his fingers through his hair, for a moment thinking exclusively, longingly of a five star wetroom. Hot water pounding down, a stone bench to sit on, scented shower gels and loofahs and....

And later on he was going into a greasy nasty rank of showers with low water pressure and other peoples' hair stuck to the walls.

He sighed and lowered his drink.

"I only mean that if we could work together... well, I don't think many could stand against us."  

[Dante-Sayre]

Lore quirked an eyebrow at KO's diplomatic words. "It's a nice thought but the guys at the top... mmm. One doesn't play well with others and the other....." He tapped a finger, looking thoughtful, "Have you met him? Deimos, I mean. He's the Galactic leader by rank but.. m'not sure he was really the guy at the wheel."

As Lore had predicted, at 7am on the dot a gray and red streak shot from the towering building beside them and started spiraling through the air. A tiny black speck fluttered after. Lore watched Star and Scream's loop-di-loops for a few moments before looking back at KO.
 

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmmmh." KO let the question hang for a short while, just to watch Commander Pipecleaner show off a bit. "When I knew him, he was just Julian," the redhead said once he'd finished observing the display. "I was one of the medics that treated him when he came back half blown up from that mission with one of the lake spirits." KO tapped his own brow just above the eye Deimos was missing and shook his head. "Not a pretty sight, I can tell you. A few days later though he was back to his crayon drawings with his first little patch over his eye; I hardly believed Ian when he said that Julian Todd of all people was the new head of Galactic. It makes sense that even if he has the brilliant ideas he's not at the helm; I wouldn't trust his driving for even a moment."  

[Dante-Sayre]

Lore chuckled and nodded, "I don't think he's changed a lot since then. I wouldn't expect much in the way of diplomatic negotiations from him. Not that it wouldn't be funny to watch Luce try." He turned his eyes back to the dark shape sweeping around the tower. "F'you can get clearance you should visit him some time. He might like seeing a familiar face." It was obvious from Lore's tone that he felt sorry for Deimos. Which, given what KO knew about the recent kidnapping event, probably didn't make a whole lot of sense.
 

[TawnyAngel]

Humm, that was interesting. "Got a soft spot for the little guy?" KO asked curiously, draining his drink and stretching out his legs. "Forgive me for saying so but that seems a little peculiar, given your recent experiences with him." He didn't think that the comment would be stepping over the line. Actually Lore seemed so laid back that he wasn't sure it was possible to even come within sight of his line without a Herculean effort, which was a nice change from dealing with certain other individuals.  

[Dante-Sayre]

Lore sipped his drink, smirking a bit, "Ah yeah, that. I dunno. I mean I'm not saying I'm happy any of that kidnapping business happened but the guy's a little hard to hate. Like I said, I don't think he's really calling the shots."