[FIN] Whistling Arrival

[Gwennythe]

So. Long, long tunnels... Deep underground.
Well, at least there was a lake above.

This was his -only- option, Clancy reminded himself, making his way done to the Trainee quarters, with his battered rucksack over one shoulder, and a brand new, red (why red?!) uniform slung atop of that. New boots where clasped in the other hand; he'd change when he got to the rooms...

The new recruit was, for now, dressed in a battered leather jacket, blue t-shirt, and jeans, with brown lace-up boots plodding the halls.

Still, for all his gripes, he felt... accomplished.
Team Rocket! This truly was his -only- option, and not just because he was desperate... No, this was the only place, he was sure, that he could be who he was and do what he was good at, with some, relative, safety.
Here, perhaps, he could -enjoy- himself again, but with perks, once more.
He whistled a jaunty tune- a sailor's song he'd learned in his time with Aqua- as he walked.  

[Venti Mico]

The only way to properly do chores was to do them with enthusiasm, obviously! Even if these chores were totally lame, the broom was taller than you, and you could be spending your time doing much more productive things... everyone had to start somewhere, right? Right. Ugh. Someday, Aija thought, they'd realize her true potential and never have her doing this dumb trainee work again.

Everything would be better once she didn't have to wear this bright red uniform. Struggling with her broom(really, who needed a broom this tall? Tall people?), Aija busied herself sweeping a hallway with as much vigor as she could without smacking herself in the face with her broom. She perked up when she heard whistling, looking around for the source, then scowling.

"Hey, you!" She called, noting the red uniform he carried. Ah, good; someone her rank. "You are tracking dirt, are you? In my nice hallway? As you are seeing, am currently cleaning this hallway. Do not make mess of it!" She advised, leaning on her too-tall broom and giving this new guy a stern look.  

[Gwennythe]

And then someone shouted at him.
"What the bloody-?!" He muttered, to cover the fact he'd been seriously startled, then turned to look at the loud address-er...

The very small, loud, address-er... With some kind of accent... Was that? Russian? Maybe?

"All right, all right, calm ya bloody tits Matryoshka..." He frowned, looked at his own uniform, then looked at the one she was wearing.
Same rank... Good.
"Besides, you can't blame all this bloomin' mud on me; either I ain't the first chap to amble this way, or you've missed a spot or ten, luv!"
Clancy couldn't resist but tease.  

[Venti Mico]

"Pah! You will call me that again if you like having big bruises on face, you smarmy old fart!" Aija snapped, puffing out her chest and stomping right up to the man. Great, a tall one, another one of those! Just what they needed. Tall people had too much attitude.

"You are new here, yes? You look new. Must be. Well! You will be finding out how the things are going, for bottom of toting poles. Lots of cleaning!" Aija huffed, lips pursed. Her cheeks flushed pink and she crossed her arms over her broom.

"'Luv'? I am not love to you, I am Aija." She outreached her hand, for a handshake, still watching him with an annoyed look. "And you are messy new recruit. Have you had room assignment yet, messy childman?"  

[Gwennythe]

The new arrival looked taken aback, as Aija retorted, but his mouth twisted in a smirk: he didn't seem very insulted.

"Now, be sensible; how are you gonna reach all the way up to my face, luv? I ain't gonna wait while you bugger off and get a step, y'know..."
He listened, while Aija 'deduced' he was new and then proceeded to give him a warning... and introduce herself.
"Toting.. poles? Oh, d'you mean the broom or totem poles? 'Cuz, uh, toting a pole... Well that's kinda what you're bloody well doing with that old sweeper there." Oh, he did amuse himself sometimes...

"Well, I am not 'messy childman', littl'un," He thought about that for a moment, frowned, and added "least, not always... Anyhow," Clancy thrust his hand out, and crouched, a little, deliberately, to shake Aija's hand "nice to meet ya, Comrade Aija; y' can call me 'Eel', if you like. It's not m' real name, but I've come to like the moniker... And, nah, not a clue where I'm assigned, or even where I'm bloody goin', yet. This place is flipping massive."  

[Venti Mico]

Aija tilted her head back, unfolding her arms to place a hand on her hip. "You better be watching that big, tall face of yours, buster." Oh, she didn't need a step to give anyone a black eye. Not even a tall jerk.

"Toting poles, totem poles, these are same thing! You know what I am meaning!" She waved him off, "Would you to be having this old sweepy, then? Hm? You are welcome to sweep, oh Mister High and Mighty Messmaker!"

Littl'un? Oh, now that was just uncalled for. Aija gave him a dirty glare when he couched down to shake her hand, and squeezed his hand a little too hard, shaking with the intent to snap his hand off with the shake. She switched to as sweet a smile as she could, keeping hold of his hand. "Mister Eel, how great to meet you! I will show you where to be finding room and such places! You will be getting map for here. Have you gotten your Rocket Dex? Oh, and also..." Aija swung out her broom to whack him in the face.  

[Gwennythe]

Clancy kept his smirk as he was told to watch his 'big, tall face'... And then informed that 'toting poles' and 'totem poles' were the same.
He couldn't help it; it got a snort and a muttered sentence, that was likely along the lines of 'bloody don't think so...'

He put one hand up, in an attempt to placate and refuse, shaking his head, and... sort of waving the boots he still held.
"No no, I've just gotten here; you've got all the sweepin' training, eh, missy? Best you carry on, eh? Practice, and the like..."

He tried not to wince at the surprising grip Aija had... and, unfortunately, was reminded of small shrimps with powerful pincers.
"Eh, I'm gonna need that hand, back, but that'd be bloody kind, shrimp; much than-" -WHACK-
He hadn't even gotten to answer regarding his 'dex, before a broom collided with his face.
"Holy bloody flaming crap, what the hell was that for?! /JESUS/! That freaking stings!" Clancy exclaimed, stumbling back, and, out of reflex, seeking out the wrench... At some point his uniform, and new boots, had tumbled over the floor, and he now stood, one hand gripping a wrench in, what was likely, hope it would fend off any further broom attacks, with the other hand pressed to his cheek. He took a moment to gather his wits, and smiled warily, with a wince, at the broom-wielder...
"Bloody hell, luv, that's one hell 'f a way to welcome a chap..."  

[Venti Mico]

Aija stepped back, clutching her broom, and broke out into a loud fit of laughter. Even after Clancy dropped his boots and uniform and pulled a wrench out of... wherever, she still doubled over and clutched her stomach as she laughed.

"Oh man! You should see your face, Mister Fish! It was so pricey!" She straightened up as her giggling died down, wiping tears from her eyes. "Did not even see it coming! Did not need any step to get your face, hahaha! Oh man, oh man..." She had another short burst of laughter, then looked up at him with a grin. "Best initiation, yes? Now! We should be finding room for you, yes? Perhaps also restroom, so you may see nice bruise you have been humbly gifted! Hah! I will show you to trainee quarters, if you would like." Did the smug grin leave her face once? No, no it did not.  

[Gwennythe]

Well... Now he looked kind of sheepish...
Aija was not, he decided, currently posing a threat as she was laughing...
The girl had whacked him in the face, and was now, apparently, in hysterics.
All right then.
It was kind of infectious...
Gradually, he let the wrench drop, and then tucked back into his belt, while his mouth split into a grin of a his own, which turned into a wince, but stayed.

'Pricey'... Well, let her have that one, the rest of the sentence was just amusing...
"Yeah... You really bloody didn't! Hell of a hit, mind; combat training?" He queried, then shrugged. "I ain't gonna bloody disagree with you right now, in case you go and hit me again. This bruise'll stay asymmetrical, thank you very bloody much!"
He shook his head, keeping an eye on her, as he gathered up his stuff- taking his hand from his cheek would reveal where the bruise, small, but angry, was to take shape.
"You can flaming lead the way, boss," he teased, but, at least, without the size joke this time, still warily grinning "if y' can afford to tear yourself away from the 'toting of poles', of course..."  

[Venti Mico]

Hm! So he could take a hit! Even if he was kind of a tall jerk, Aija decided she liked him. Anyone that could get hit in the face and smile about, now that was a good person!

"It is fine, I will continue brooming later! Do not worry about my toting poles. We will get you settled, and put to work!"

Shifting her broom into one hand and nodding down the hall, Aija started off to show him the way. "My father was in Soviet Army, before deserting. Then, he joined Latvian resistance. Mother, she was a sniper. Maybe small bit of combat training!" She laughed, "Would have thought big talker like you would have more training. You have wrench, are you a fixer of stuff?"  

[Gwennythe]

'Brooming'... Clancy's mouth twitched... and then twitched again in a wince.

Aha... So he might well have nearly gotten himself killed then... Great first start... At least Aija seemed... friendly, for someone who had just hit him the face...
That was a good sign so far...

"I... Well. Bloody hell." That really was some family... Maybe he would try -not- to piss her off again...
He rolled his shoulders in a shrug as he followed the other trainee.
"Ex-Aqua: basic training, we never exactly got all that far..." He had to admit, seeing Rocket, and the like, sometimes made his old team look a bit of a joke...
"Uh... In such a matter a speaking, I suppose; I can damned plumb worth m' salt, at least... Figure that's going to be bloody well useful down here..."  

[Venti Mico]

"It is not so impressive! I am not as good as parents, they both are having experience in war you see. Neither of them know knife throwing, though," she added on with a proud tone.

"You have Dex, yes, no? Should have been provided, I do think." Aija led him to an elevator and pressed the down button, hopping inside as soon as the doors opened. "I believe Dex might have map already, but maps are confusing and is more better to learn from exploring! Hm..." She paused and scratched her cheek, then took out her own dex and clicked through to pull up her map. "Ah, yes. Map has room assignment on it. Once you know room place number, I can show you place!"

She leaned up against the wall in the elevator. "There are classes here, for training! You will have basic training here too. If you want to know much cooler things, I can do a teaching to you." She pressed the button for the 5th floor impatiently. "Plumber! See, is very useful! You will save us if there are leaks, yes? So we are not drowned? If you are quicker with wrench too, you can beat people in head with it!" She offered sincerely, hoping he'd beaten at least one person with a wrench before.  

[Gwennythe]

"Well, that stands to reason... Ah," Knife throwing... and talking about it with pride "but, uh, you do, I'll wager?"

The dex... Yes, he had that... Where'd he put it.
Aha! As he stepped into the elevator, he was rummaging around in one of the boots, before pulling the rocket-dex from it.
"Seemed a good way t' carry all this... I ain't got a lick of a clue how to use the Arceus-damned thing... Can't make heads nor bloody tails of it..."
He offered the tech' out to Aija hopefully.
"You seem to know how the damn thing works, though?"

He grinned, though.
"Could come in handy, t'a... Aye, though; any leaks, I'll get 'em, and, uh," He shrugged, once more, a little more cocky, though "can't say the thought's never occurred to m' good self; can't say I ain't bloody acted upon such thoughts, either..." He had, indeed, hit people with the wrench before.  

[Venti Mico]

"Yes!" She beamed, "Since I was small kid, am good at it- not to be tooting my horn. Can demonstrate for you someday! Maybe teach you!"

Aija shoved her own dex into her pocket and took his, tilting her head and she turned it on. "Let see... you click these things for map," she showed him as the elevator descended. The map showed up and Aija moved it around until she found his room. "Here! This is where you will be. We can find that! Maybe you will get smelly roommates," she snickered, handing the dex back to him so he could look at the map. "I know how to get to map on it! ...That is it. Don't know anything else."

The elevator dinged and Aija hopped out, confidently strolling down the hall. "Ah! Am glad to hear! You will get on well here! See, the trick is not caring if people get mad when you hit them. Then, you just hit them with all might, no hesitation!" She laughed a little, a small bounce in her step as she came to a stop and twirled around when she'd found his door. "Here is place! Now, you should be changing clothes. You must suffer with all of us."  

[Gwennythe]

"Well, I certainly won't say no to that..." Learning how to throw knives would, he suspected, be very useful... Of course, he suspected he'd still favour his wrench- it was a good weapon, he thought, nice and heavy, but portable... but some range would likely be entirely useful; and he wouldn't have to -rely- on a pokemon's attack... Oh, sure, he had confidence in Mircalla, but she was one fish, and he'd like to think he could defend himself without her...

The 'dex, however...
"Oh, well that's a damned lot more than I can do... Never did like these friggen things; all the doodads and gizmos and buttons and 'features'... Give me the damned guts of piping, or even just the wiring, and a bunch of tools... None of this 'screen' and 'touch' and whatever..." Clancy rambled on in semi-pleasant grumpiness now that he had a good thing to complain about.
He shrugged regarding 'smelly room mates'; he'd probably smelled things that were worse...
Maybe...
Hopefully...

"Surely the trick would be to care just enough to get out of the bloody way when they try to hit you back so you can hit 'em again, no?" He warmed up again; she had... way too much energy, but it was a good kind of energy.
Aija was a kind of nuts that Clancy found he didn't really mind at all.

He did pull a face when he saw the door to the room. Even without going it it just gave off an aura of 'cramped'... And they were so far down.
"I have really gotta get my arse promoted..."