[PRP] So It's You Again

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Good behavior and a strike system didn't mean Nakura couldn't still find ways to meet his own ends. He was determined to get out of base, but not just to be outside. After all that had happened, he found himself desperately needing to see someone, which was difficult to come to terms with in itself. Up until now, though, he hadn't ever felt so out of sorts with the organization he called himself a part of.

Sure, he'd been angry and mistrusting enough when he hadn't felt his worries had been addressed. This was an entirely different matter, though. This time the problem seemed to lie within himself rather than Team Rocket and he didn't want to think on it too hard. He needed to get away.

How, though? It wasn't likely Faleen would let him out - not without keeping a watch on him every step of the way, at least. On top of his strike system, he still walked with a slight limp thanks to his injury from the last mission, and what were the chances she'd let him get very far with that?

A new option had recently made itself known in the form of Elite Agent Hayes, however. Having found it pretty obvious for some time now that the elite's love interest seemed to be his very own partner, Nakura wondered if he could possibly use this to his advantage. Thus, the grunt found himself in a newly washed and ironed uniform heading toward the brand new tech lab on a mission. It'd been a while since he'd gotten to talk to the blonde man, anyway.  

[Tinnunculus]

'Forty-eight hours to get situated' had lasted about sixteen, or as long as it had taken Hayes to visit Aulus, unpack, sleep, grab breakfast, visit Aulus, and wander down to check out B6 and say hello to the tech team. After a round of greetings and introductions they'd started talking shop..

..and now refactoring these data streams wasn't strictly necessary, but it would do away with that messy chunk of code in the subclass-

"Okay, no, day off." The blond pushed the chair back from the monitor and swiveled it around to its rightful owner, who took it from him with an amused look. "I'm gonna grab some lunch; I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Unless there's a database failure," someone quipped, to some knowing grins (and a few groans of "Don't even joke.")

The elite laughed. "Yeah, that. Seeya guys." Tossing off a wave, he stepped back into the gleaming hall and nearly bumped into Izaya. At his heels, his pale Glaceon backpedaled with a huff.

"Oh, hey," Hayes smiled, recognizing the grunt.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Ah - ! Elite! Sorry about that," Nakura said quickly, surprised to have so easily come across the man he was looking for. "I take it you're still settling in?"  

[Tinnunculus]

"Too easily!" came a voice from the lab.

"Hey," Hayes called back with mock sternness before his attention returned to Izaya. "Kinda, yeah. Forty-eight hours to find out where stuff is and get used to the lake thing." He grinned and glanced at the ceiling while Nemerle blinked pale eyes at the grunt around her trainer's nonuniform jeans. "You looking for something?"  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"...?" At the sound of the voice, Nakura curiously attempted to peer past Hayes into the lab.

"Ah...yes, that does take some getting used to," the grunt agreed with a small smile, trying to ignore the eeveeloution's disconcerting stare.

"Actually...I was looking for you. Only if you have a minute, though; I'd hate to overwhelm you when you've only just returned to us."  

[Tinnunculus]

The elite didn't impede him; rather, he absently shifted his stance for Izaya's benefit, giving view to the spotless lab and some neatly uniformed agents, one of whom - presumably the wit - was looking the grunt's way.

Nemerle cocked her head slowly, long ears dangling like pendulums, and sent a puff of cool air rolling for Izaya's knees.

"Me?" Hayes blinked. "Well, I'm on my way to lunch, if you want to walk that way." He jerked a thumb in the direction of the lifts, with a glance to make sure he'd got it right. "What's up?"  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Heheh...glad to hear it," he said cheerfully, suddenly realizing that the agent had been responding to his question from earlier. "It would be such a nuisance if the elite agent forgot how to deal with the simplest codes like an I-D-10-T, wouldn't it?"

Involuntarily, Nakura jumped back at the small puff of cold air, unsure what the ice-type had intended to do and not optimistic about her intentions in the least. He gave her a dubious look before returning his attention to her trainer.

"Oh, um...alright," he remarked, considering the lifts. It wasn't exactly a conversation he wanted to have in the open, but at least maybe the elevator ride would give him some time and privacy to set the tone for what he wanted to ask.

"Pardon my intrusion, but I was curious...you haven't yet scheduled any specific time or date to meet with my partner yet, have you...?"  

[Tinnunculus]

The agent - a brunette with five o'clock shadow - smirked, either at Izaya's comment or his little hop backwards, the latter of which made Hayes look down. Nemerle looked up, impassive. "Yeah, don't go dropping anything heavy on his head," the agent replied. He fired off an abbreviated salute at the elite. "I can take it from here, sir."

"Thanks, Duncan," the blond grinned, and with a nod to Izaya started strolling for the elevators. The Glaceon roused herself and followed, soft paws making no sound on the new tiles. One diamond-shaped ear turned towards Izaya as she passed.

Like all floors of the new base B6 was still pristine; dust had barely had time to gather. The air had a full, enclosed quality, brought on by the faint hum that meant several computer systems were running without incident nearby. Hayes took in the setting as he walked, looking around - one of his glances fell on Izaya.

"Not yet," he replied, in the slightly puzzled tones of someone waiting to see where something was going.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

With the remnant of a smile on his face from the agent called Duncan's advice, the grunt once again tried not to let the ice-type bother him.

"Well, you know, I was thinking...she spends a lot of her time trying to help me train my dark-types," Nakura explained. "Especially since I got back from jail because I hadn't had a chance to work with my newly-evolved Zoroark very much."

"She and you would probably like to have a decent amount of time to yourselves to catch up, I've no doubt, and while I'm injured like this, I'm not really looking forward to the idea of training." Not like he ever was, but nevermind that.

"So I was wondering...how about you let me have a day off in exchange for a day you two can spend doing whatever you like together uninterrupted? I'd be out of her hair and off the base so she wouldn't have reason to worry about me for once."  

[Rocket Agent Hayes]

Though his eyes were mostly for the new facilities, Hayes' occasional 'okay' and 'right' indicated he was listening as they made their way down the hall. Nemerle kept close, nearly twining around the elite's ankles at points in his unhurried stride. Once he paused to summon the elevator she did, and stepped neatly out of the way once the car arrived and he got inside.

"It'd be nice to see Fal, I'm not gonna lie-" he studied the buttons for a moment before hitting B4, "-but it's up to her what she does with her time.. and technically I have to be your department head to grant you leave." The blond turned to Izaya with an apologetic smile, the 'Caution: Combustible Lemons' logo of his t-shirt reflecting faintly in the brushed metal door. "You're Field Agent?"  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

The grunt's spirits fell for a moment, but he refused to back down so easily. Barely noting the buttons that were pressed, he considered the agent's words.

"You do? Ah, but Fa - Agent Faleen isn't my department head, but she still - " Well, actually, was she allowed to grant him leave? He wasn't sure. "She usually allows me to go..." Provided she accompanied him, which may have been why it had previously been allowed.

"Anyway, I think Elite Agent Kunai has enough to worry about without me bothering her for leave. As I understand it, she heads both divisions of the Intelligence department, which is the one I'm a part of. But hey, she's an elite, you're an elite - what's the difference, really?"

Feeling more confident with this particular path of argumentation, he shifted his stance to lean more of his weight on his cane as he used his free hand to gesticulate more vigorously. "And it's only going to be for one day. Kunai-sama won't miss me; heck, not even Faleen-chan will know I'm gone if she has you there to distract her." Nakura nudged Hayes meaningfully with his elbow.  

[Rocket Agent Hayes]

"Okay, Intelligence, yeah, Kunai's usually pretty busy.. " Hayes was still smiling but his eyebrows had risen and drawn together slightly, giving him a look of mild confusion. "..but I don't have a whole lot to do with that department, so.." he shrugged, "kind of weird to mess with her schedules, y'know?" He glanced at the doors as they closed. "If you've got something worked out with Fal and she's usually cool with it, why not ask her?"

Nemerle houghed sharply at the intruding arm, but her trainer just laughed and pushed his glasses up to look at Izaya. "I mean," he leaned against the elevator wall, one elbow braced on the little railing as his other hand waved loosely, amusement still in his voice, "right now it sounds like you're sneaking out."  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Ah, I know, I know, but the elite hasn't really been giving us a whole lot of orders either, so I don't think she has much of a schedule regarding her underlings. Probably too caught up in her own personal agenda. Agent Faleen, on the other hand..."

Nakura shrugged. "You know how she is; always busy with some project of hers or another. If she hasn't specified a time with you yet, what are the chances she'll be able to get around to it within the next week? You know how passionate she is about her work and how she can get lost in it to the extent that she forgets about other, more personal matters. If she forgets the basic necessities of eating or sleeping, how do you think she'll remember to do such things with you?"

"As busy with the new base and helping to set it up as she is, there's virtually no chance she'll get to spend time with you at this rate. She even passed up going on that last mission for that reason. However, if she has time specifically set aside like she does for training with me, then she'll stick to her schedule. If I, for whatever reason, happened to be taking the day off and didn't need her, though, she - and you - have that quality time to spend together doing whatever it is you so desire."

"It's a guaranteed open spot in her schedule; you can't miss an opportunity like this. There's no other real chances like this for someone who isn't social enough to eat more of her meals in her workshop than the cafeteria. And that's just her; I don't even need to mention how busy you get, especially as head of your own department."

He glanced down at the Glaceon again, the line of his mouth twitching. Maybe he should keep his own pokemon out more often; to appear less vulnerable to others if nothing else. If only he could trust his own to behave well enough to do so. Another thing to work on.

The grunt released a heavy sigh at the indirect suggestion that he was sneaking out. "Okay, you've got me. But after months and months cooped up in jail, transferred and confined to the outpost, finally getting a chance to go out for air on a mission, and then being attacked brutally by two legendary pokemon, wouldn't you want some time off, too? Out in the world without worrying about if you're going to die at the claws of some unknown monster?"

He inclined his head incredulously at the higher-up's suggestion. "Faleen-chan is pretty understanding, it's true, but right now I'd really appreciate it if she wouldn't be hovering over me like I'm some cripple. She knows I've been on my best behavior over the past few months since I came back to Rocket, and if you or she asks Agent Aulus, you'll both know I did my part well enough on our most recent mission."

"Still, though, with my injury right now, I doubt she'd give me some time to myself outside and I feel like I'm suffocating in here. That's why I'm hesitant to ask her - because even if she allowed me to go out, she'd probably insist on coming along or something, and that would kind of defeat the whole purpose of getting some air. You understand, don't you?" He cast the blonde a pleading look, balling his hands into fists at his sides.  

[Tinnunculus]

Hayes shifted slightly as Izaya elaborated on the proposal and the elevator continued upward. He looked on the verge of saying something as the grunt described his partner's zealous dedication to her work, but then the truth came out - "Heh," the blond chuckled, nodding slightly to himself. Nemerle meanwhile looked up from between Hayes' sneakers, eyes the colors of old glaciers, and waved her spade-shaped tail slowly back and forth at Izaya.

"Well yeah, this place is a box," the elite started to say to that pleading look, "but- wait." He stood up a bit. "Two legendaries?"  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

The grunt had returned to intently staring right back at the Glaceon as he formulated a response to his superior's inquiry. "Yes, two. Didn't your partner tell you?"

His crimson eyes glanced at the elite agent out the corner of their vision. "Keldeo, which we caught, courtesy of Agent Aulus - and Yveltal, which I personally didn't get a good look at myself. I had just enough time to catch a glimpse when I came to after falling unconscious, but the devastation it had left behind in its wake had been more than enough proof of its presence."

Really? No one had told him? That didn't seem possible. Maybe he'd just forgotten or not realized the Legendary pokemon that Nakura had been referring to or something.