[PRP] Let's Start Over

[Venti Mico]

"Zachie..? O-oh, Zacharie, yeah. I'll ask him. Thanks, I didn't really think about there even being a library here... guess it makes sense, gives people something to do." He's definitely be asking one purple haired friend of his for some help when they were both mobile again.

"Y-yeah, um... KO? Or, er, Kirk, I think it was... he's a tailor, we talked about maybe working together. He's more ambitious than me though, s-so I don't know... I don't really want more money." Mostly, he was afraid if he tried to sell things, it might get around that he knits and people would make fun of him. A childish worry, but a worry nonetheless.

Lu shrugged one shoulder(he'd learned from his attempt at a full shrug), "It probably is, being happy. Maybe some people want something else though, like... a giant rocket ship? I guess if they got that though, it would make them happy, so it comes back to happiness. ...I guess you could put a bunch of us back on a boat and that'd make a rocket ship, heh." Lu squeezed in a quick joke, making a small, quiet laugh. "I guess not... I just hope I'm not the only one with a, um... embarrassing hobby."

Lu glanced over and gave Izaya a small, sheepish smile. "You want to go on and go bigger and better things, huh..? Maybe not 'bigger and better', but more interesting... cleaning gets really boring." It wasn't so much the burdens that Lu was afraid of, it was more the power. He knew he didn't have the leadership skills, he wouldn't be able to make the right choices or lead people. He wasn't smart enough. He didn't want to sound too self deprecating though and kept it to himself. Then, he blinked in surprise, "O-oh, you want to? You don't have to, my hair is probably really gross." He slowly pushed himself to sit up anyway, placing a hand over his stomach to steady himself.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Research is pretty important to Rockets," the black-haired informant laughed. "If they don't have any of the sort of books you're looking for, though, there's always the internet. They monitor what you do on there, but I doubt you would get in trouble for searches on plants or knitting."

"KO? That explains it," he commented with a crooked grin. "What a fun couple of roommates you must make. I know he loves his ideals of fashion and clothing, but it's amusing that someone so confident would befriend someone so shy. I suppose that's what they mean by 'opposites attract'. And I'm sure it helps you two share related interests."

Chuckling a little more at Lu's stance on money, he said, "You may not be after wealth, Lu-lu-puu, but perhaps you might not be so opposed to what may come with it. Opportunities, respect, a partnership or business with someone like KO...that might be worth it, right? You should at least look at the big picture before you shoot down the concept."

Lu's verbal thought process about happiness just amused Nakura even further as he listened. The joke gave him pause before he laughed aloud. It had been so long since he'd met a Rocket - actually, probably another human being - with a proper sense of humor. At least one that they were willing to share with him. The fact that Lu of all people was the one attempting the joke was probably more funny to the older grunt than the joke itself.

"I guess you'd be right. But as far as embarrassing hobbies go, I can promise you right now that you aren't." His eyes held the mischievous glint of someone who knew more than they were willing to tell. "The real question is whether or not the person with the hobby would actually find it embarrassing, even if everyone else does or doesn't."

"Let's just say I like to be in control," he explained. "Of myself and my life at the very least, though of course I wouldn't be opposed to having more. I've just felt that in the years since I joined the Rockets, I've had far too little say in what I get to do, how I do it, and how much I put myself at risk. I'd like to change that. That's a reasonable enough request, isn't it?" Still smiling as he parted Lu's hair into three equal sections, he acknowledged, "But it would be a great deal more interesting than cleaning."

"Your hair is fine," Nakura assured him, starting to pleat the sections once he'd seperated them evenly. "My sisters used to make all sorts of messes and get stuff stuck in each others' hair. Now that was gross."  

[Venti Mico]

"At least, it is to the smart ones," he said, returning the laugh quietly. "I suppose I could... maybe I can find some new knitting patterns. I haven't had much chance to garden, especially now we're underground.

"...But, KO wants plants in the room, s-so that might change," he smiled wider now, very pleased to finally get some plants to take care of again. "KO is nice, I like him. He is pretty different, but in a good way; I'm glad he's my roommate and not someone more, ah... you know, um... mean. Or loud... yeah. I'm pretty lucky in that regard. ...I'm thinking about it, a business with him, but I'll see. I guess now would be a good time to talk to him about doing commissions, since I'm kind of... stationary?" Respect would be nice, he'd like to have that- it'd make him feel more confident for sure. But he wasn't sure he'd get respect by knitting his way to fame. Lu did like knitting though, so it wasn't like he'd be miserable doing it...

Lu smiled shyly at Nakura's laugh, always happy to have gotten a good reaction out of someone. He scratched his cheek as Nakura went on, "Heh, I guess there are things out there more embarrassing... like, like collecting creepy dolls, or something. ...I guess that's true. You don't seem like you think your hobby is embarrassing. Guess that's why you're so confident, huh?"

Nakura's explanation made sense to Lu. Being told what to do left and right, after so long it was only natural that you'd want a change and to take control of your life. "I think it's reasonable," he nodded earnestly, "You just have to prove you're responsible, right? Y-you can do that. You did really well on the mission, so..." Sure, he knew very little of Nakura's past, it was likely(read: almost positive) that he'd messed up badly enough he really had to prove himself. To Lu he didn't seem so bad though.

"You have sisters? Little ones?" He asked curiously, "And you braided their hair... h-heh, don't get mad at me, but I think that's kind of... cute? Not in a weird way!"  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't think we have any dumb Rockets," he remarked almost thoughtfully. "We all have strengths and weaknesses in some area or another, but I doubt someone who was just plain stupid would have reason to be recruited. Stupidity gets you killed pretty fast." As Nakura had almost been.

"But yeah, knitting patterns seem likely. In regards to gardening, being underground doesn't seem to stop Zachie-chan from turning his room into a miniature greenhouse. Perhaps you could take another leaf out of his book there." Okay, so it wasn't as clever a joke, but he hoped Lu would get it nevertheless.

The other grunt's grin slowly broadened as Lu spoke of KO. "Good idea. Just...as a word of warning, Kirk-kun seems to be the sort to enjoy teasing people. From the sounds of it, I doubt he would play with you in that manner, but from what little I gathered during our brief run-ins, he's fond of flirting, so don't let him get to you."

Did the older Rocket mention this guessing that such a warning would put Lu on edge more than at ease? Perhaps. But it was too good an opportunity to pass up and it was such a little thing, anyway. Likely nothing would even come of it except maybe a slightly more flustered Lu. KO probably wouldn't even notice.

The mention of creepy dolls elicited another genuine smile from Nakura as he continued to braid the brunet's hair. "Confidence is as confidence does," he replied, not directly answering the taller man's question. "Even just pretending to be more confident than you are will gradually make you feel prideful enough to back it up. That's where the saying 'fake it 'til you make it' comes from." A snicker. "Though of course that doesn't keep others from calling me creepy. I just don't let it bother me and that's all that matters."

"Aww, Lu-lu-puu, I'm touched!" he cried, putting a hand over his heart. "You really are too kind, though. I didn't do nearly enough on the raid to make up for all my transgressions in the past and old habits die hard. I've got an infamous reputation around here that I suspect may take more time to break down than that," he chuckled. "Still, though, your faith in me is appreciated."

Nakura was quiet for a time as he continued to pleat Lu's hair. It had been a long time since he'd done Mairu's, but braiding seemed to be one of those muscle memory things you never forgot once you learned. After a time, he chose to speak again. "Yes. Twins," he said, smiling, though it didn't seem to go any farther than the tight corners of his mouth.

"Our parents spent most of their time overseas, so I ended up taking care of them for most of their childhood. I fear my weird and perverse traits may have affected them, though, because they've grown into quite a perverse pair themselves." Another mirthless laugh. "You say that now, but if you met them, I doubt you would think it so cute. They're a handful for anybody, and I regret having influenced their minds to become nearly as twisted as mine."

"Why am I telling you this, though? You didn't even ask. Sorry, I got a little carried away." Leaning back to admired his work, he said, "I apologize it's nothing fancy like a French braid or a fishtail, but hopefully it'll at least keep it out of your way. I wonder if they have any hair ties or rubber bands around here..." He took up his cane to get back on his feet. "Ah...I must be talking your ears off. Another bad habit of mine," Nakura said with a sheepish smile. "Not exactly fair to a captive audience. If you're still tired, you know, you can ask me to leave so you can go back to sleep."  

[Venti Mico]

"A-ah, I guess you're right," Lu said, trying to sound like he agreed. The circumstances he'd come to Rocket under weren't exactly because of his stunning knowledge of plant care, and Lu wouldn't consider himself smart at all. If Nakura wanted to believe there weren't any dumb Rockets, Lu wouldn't object. Might as well let people assuming he wasn't stupid.

Lu grinned at Nakura's joke, all too pleased about it, "I could ask him, I don't know if he'd appreciate the joke though. If I ask him for help, I'll, um... leaf the joke out." Heh!

Lu blinked in confusion at Nakura's warning about KO. Teasing, flirting? ...There was no way. Lu had never flirted with anyone in his life, or at least not intentionally, so sure, it was possible that there had been some flirting that'd flown right over his head. But... Lu couldn't think of any reason KO would flirt with him, and was fairly certain he hadn't. "Are you sure...? I don't think he flirted with me, um... I'm pretty sure he didn't. Maybe I'm not his 'type'? Ah... maybe he just liked you and that's why he flirted with you?" Lu offered, thinking this a much more likely occurrence. Lu wouldn't know what to do if someone flirted with him; panic and try to leave the situation, most likely.

"O-oh, no, no," Lu almost shook his head but stopped himself, not wanting to mess up the work Nakura was doing on his braid. "No, I really didn't do anything... I haven't heard about your reputation or anything. But you seem competent and, er.. you know, good at doing...things? And you have a lot of experience. That's all good stuff."

Lu listened to Nakura talk about his sisters, quite confused. Nakura himself was... strange; his sisters being strange too wasn't unnatural. Who knew, maybe they had family issues; maybe he had been in a fight with them? Nakura did seem more mellow than when they'd first met, so something had happened to Nakura between now and when the two had met. The black haired grunt had this subtle way of being self deprecating that Lu hadn't noticed the first time they met, too. "I don't know if they're as bad as you say. Maybe kind of hard to understand...? That's not bad though, I think.

"I don't mind, I don't talk to people often, really. And, ah, um... sorry if it's i-intrusive, but..." Lu trailed off, picking up the end of his newly braided hair and fiddling with the tail of it, "You kind of seem like you are feeling... guilty, about something. I-I don't know a lot about you or anything, but if it's about the mission I don't think you should worry too much. If it's something else, maybe, um... well, don't dwell on it a lot? Sorry, I'm not very encouraging... you just seem less happy than when we met." After that had been said and done, Lu nervously leaned over the other side of his bed, plucking out a lonely hair tie from the small drawer next to the bed. He'd only had a few things on him when they brought him it- his pokeballs, an unopened bag of pretzels, and his hair tie. "L-luckily I still have this, thanks for braiding it for me." He said quietly as he tied up his braid.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"I think it's more likely that you were oblivious to his flirtations than he having not flirted with you," Nakura told Lu offhandedly. "He teases pretty much everyone, but I doubt he ever means it seriously. And though I don't recall ever mentioning him flirting with me," he pointed out, "I'm pretty certain that the one time he did was his attempt to piss me off rather than anything else. I flirted with him first, you see - to gauge his reaction - but I think he knew the cheekiest thing he could have done was to reciprocate." He still had to get that guy back for that.

"Oh? Funny you should say that when I recall you commenting that my pokemon were ill-trained," the grunt said in regards to Lu saying he seemed competent. He sounded amused. "It's true, though, of course. Pokemon are one of my biggest weaknesses; I much prefer spending my time studying humans. Still, can't really get by in this world, let alone this organization, with at least some knowledge about them. And we all have our weaknesses and strengths, so I'm really not ashamed of mine~"

He blinked as the topic returned to his sisters. "'Bad'? Hahaha, I guess you can call it that," he snickered. "After all, just like Shizu-chan, I've found them to be unlovable. Their mentality is actually easy enough to understand, but that's what makes them so odd." He waved a hand. "I won't bore you with the details."

"Mm?" Looking up at Lu as the younger grunt began to fiddle with the end of his braid, he listened with raised brows. "..." He remained silent as the brunet withdrew a hair tie from a drawer, mulling over what he'd said to him. When Lu finished tying it, Nakura was smiling his default smile again; the one he was usually seen with that seemed to hide his true emotions.

"You're very perceptive, Lu-lu-puu - maybe a little too much for your own good," he said, sneering. "Even if I seem 'less happy', though, you seem more at ease with me when I'm like this. Why is that...?"  

[Venti Mico]

--  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Well, I know how to recognize it generally, but I don't know about being 'good' at it. I'm not really a romantic, so people can generally tell right away that if I'm attempting to flirt, I'm just teasing," Nakura clarified, not sounding too concerned about the topic. "There's a difference between seriously flirting to attract someone's attention and playfully flirting simply to tease. KO's intentions are probably the latter towards everyone, so pay him no mind."

He looked up. Evidently no, he hadn't known what Lu had meant in regards to his competence. "Oh." Nakura blinked at him. "Well...thanks, but I can't agree with that, either. I was knocked out for the most important part." He wasn't even sure what part Lu was calling him competent for, really. He hadn't even been with the taller grunt for most of the mission. "Teasing...? Not this time, I wasn't," he said. "In fact, I agreed with you about my incompetence with pokemon. I didn't realize you had been talking about the mission, though."

"Perhaps another time, if you're still interested," the crimson-eyed grunt answered, patting Lu's head. This time he wasn't so concerned about the action as he'd already gone so far as to braid the man's hair. "Right now, though, don't worry your pretty little head about it~"

"That so...?" he murmured, stroking his chin. "Well then - I hope for your sake that you don't get addicted to those meds, either for the pain relief or the 'edge' they take off everything. Secondly, I also hope we can still get along after this without them. And maybe you are right," he continued, tapping Lu's nose lightly with a finger, "but talking with you has already helped me out a great deal in regards to not dwelling on it. It's kept my mind off more negative topics as well as been a lot of fun, so thank you."

After bowing slightly at the waist with what seemed to be gratitude, Nakura headed toward the recovery room door. "I think I had better get back to work on my grunt tasks, though. Don't want them to pile up too high while I'm away~"