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

[TawnyAngel]

It had taken some persuading her but eventually Agent Westron had released him to check up on his and Tam's pokemon but on the promise (read: threat) that if he came back worn out and sick he would be confined to bed for the next week; as such Aulus was behaving himself. It would have been hard not to behave himself actually given how weak he was but he liked to pretend that he could have done a backflip had he so chosen.

As it happened rather than being acrobatic he was sitting on a folding chair in a vacant training room with a Rapdiash doing its best to climb into his lap.

Initially Phaethon had freaked out to say the least - it had taken about five minutes just to stop squealing in distress - but now the fire-type was over the initial shock he was lying on the floor by the chair with his head resting lightly on Aulus' legs. Aulus was rubbing his ears and face rhythmically, soothing himself as much as he was his childhood friend. After all the s**t they'd been though - together and apart - it was... well it was just good to be close to him for a while, that was all.  

[caffeinecraving]

She had been back to visit him everyday. Right after she was done training her pokemon a bit. She had sent the gift to him later in the evening so it wasnt directly tied to her, and she had a nurse carry it in. The card simply said, from your friends.

She was coming from a nearby training room. "You are getting really good at your protect Brim!... " The Emboar snorted proudly at the compliment. Kailee walked by the training room until what she saw made her blink and back track. "Au-Agent?! Are you allowed to be out of the Hospital?!" Now she was worried. What the hell was she gonna do if he had snuck out.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Company.

Aulus was all set ready to glare to death whoever had dared disturb him but as it turned out....

"Kailee." Aulus scowled slightly less than he otherwise might have done. "I've not snuck out, I've been released for a couple of hours to check up on my team and my partner's team." Right. Now they were here, not with loads of other people around.... "I wanted a word actually." Aulus made a beckoning gesture and tried not to feel self-conscious about the fact that he was wearing a rather scruffy pair of charcoal grey sweats and a dark blue t-shirt that actually had a couple of holes in. He probably still looked sick enough that what he was wearing didn't make much of a difference to his image anyway... which wasn't actually at all comforting. Ugh.

When the door opened and revealed the blonde girl Phaeth pricked his ears up and whickered a brief greeting to her and Brim but his attention was soon back on Aulus. Whickering again he nosed his friend's chest gently, asking for more scratches.  

[caffeinecraving]

She crossed her arms not sure if she believed him right away but she just smiled and dropped her arms after a moment. "Ok... Well thats good then." She was just going to excuse herself. And go stop by the hospital to talk to the others.

She jumped slightly as he spoke again. He wanted a word. "Um... Oh ok... " And then he was beckoning. She smiled and walked in. Sure she could talk to him here. She would have seen him if he was in the hospital. "Whats up?" She was being a lot informal. He could tell her off if he wanted but until he did she was leaning to that she was off duty at the moment. And so was he.

She smiled at Phaeth. "Hey pretty boy..." Brim simply waved following Kailee in as she went.

 

[TawnyAngel]

At another time, if in a bad mood or feeling tetchy or insecure, Aulus might have felt the need to assert his authority over Kailee but just at the moment he was distracted by other thoughts and hardly noticed.

"Question." Aulus lent forward a little and made to steeple his fingers which, for obvious reasons, didn't work. He lent his elbow on his leg instead and then his chin on his hand, trying to pretend he'd been going for that all along but that fact that he then repeated; "Question," hinted that he was a little off balance. Har har. "That frame with the photographs that turned up by my bed the other day. Know anything about it?" He hadn't mentioned it or even acknowledged it at all in her presence so far and before he said any more he wanted to know how she'd react to his initial question.

Phaethon swiveled an ear towards Kailee for a moment but his attention was clearly firmly focused elsewhere now.  

[caffeinecraving]

Kailee smiled at him since he didnt correct her. She didnt mind play his dominance games... but she was off duty and he was talking to her so she wants in the mind set to roll over for him.

"Answer." She didnt say anything about him trying to steeple his fingers. She imagined it took some getting used to. She nodded as he repeated himself. Encouraging him to ask. She wished she didnt. She turned red faster then a traffic light. She glanced to Phaeth and then looked over his face looking to see if he knew the answer already. "Depends... On what you know already...."

Phaeth's lack of attention was notably acceptable.

 

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus scowled a little deeper at the tease, sitting up straighter with his metaphorical hackles rising as he perceived that he was being mocked. "Funny," he said in tones that made it clear that it wasn't, at least not from his point of view. Why was she mocking him now? She'd spent days being perfectly- even too nice and now this? His hand flexed restlessly and he tried to work out what he should say next or if he should just give up on the whole conversation and send her away.

Eventually Aulus said; "You're responsible for it, aren't you?"

'From your friends' it had said. Two of his four friends had been in there with him and in no position to acquire such a thing or take those shots and the other two wouldn't have done it, not their style. The only possible culprit he could think of was the only other person who had come to see him, the blonde now standing before him blushing furiously.

And why did he think nobody else came?

Why did he think that he could only name four real human friends in the world?

Who's fault was that?  

[caffeinecraving]

She held up her hands and turned her face into a semblance of a scowl. It looked and felt weird on her face so she dropped it. "Chill... Its what i say to everyone who says Question... Its just a way of acknowledging that i heard you..." She crossed her arms across her chest, the only sign that she wasnt really as bold as she was trying to be.

She glanced to the pokemon. "Are you mad?"

That was her worst fear that he would be extremely angry. She tried to tamper the blush. She had been caught. She should have known she would. "Im sorry" She mentally frowned. Why was her first thought to apologize for giving him a gift. "Did it at least make you smile?"

 

[TawnyAngel]

"Don't tell me to chill!" Aulus replied hotly, a flush of anger coming to his pale face. "It sounded like mocking, not acknowledgement!" Anger took effort though and he had promised that he wouldn't stress himself out. Just getting un-angry wasn't something he was good at though; he'd never really practiced, shouting at people and or threatening them until they went away was a lot easier.

Nevertheless Aulus tried because he really didn't want to be trapped in bed for another week; he let out a slow breath and looked down at Phaeth instead of at Kailee, resuming his petting of the Rapidash's ears.

Was he mad? Yes, but not about the present... or whatever it had been. "I'm not mad about it," Aulus said after a rather long pause. "It was... thoughtful. I just don't know why you thought of it, or did it." She obviously had some clue about photography what with the backdrop and all, a nice camera too and access to a decent printer and such. Why had she done it? That had been niggling at him ever since he'd figured out that it must have been her. He didn't know what she wanted, or if she really didn't want anything and was 'safe', and if she was 'safe' whether or not he gave a s**t.  

[caffeinecraving]

She stared at him. And then she exploded. "Dont yell at me! You wanted to talk to me... So i was talking to you like normal humans talk... Have i said anything before to you that makes you think i dont respect you or the ground you walk on?!" She looked down for a moment to try to collect herself. "As i said i say it to anyone i feel comfortable with. Do you want me on Edge all the time? Tripping over myself to say yes sir... How high sir?! Thats not a friendship... And im not gonna be your lackey... not when im off the clock...On the clock you can bet your a** ill do what you tell me... but right now... Sir... You are yelling at someone who has done nothing to warrant it." She frowned. This wasnt going to work. She wanted to be his friend... he wanted to keep her far away... She was tired of beating her head on a wall.

She took a breath trying to calm down. "Good... Your pokemon posed very nicely... and i would love to take another of Phaeth sometime since his werent as stellar as i know he is... But he was worried... so sometime ill snap another picture and get it on there for you... " She pressed her teeth together. "Because i would want my pokemon beside me... and I know you have a heart at least for your pokemon... " She frowned and glanced to Brim.

 

[TawnyAngel]

"Actually," Aulus replied, voice going low and sibilant as his pulse started to race in reaction to the perceived threat, "off the clock or on it if a superior officer tells you to do something you'd better do it pretty damn quickly. This isn't some office in Camphoreon this is Team Rocket! It's-" He paused abruptly raising a hand to his head as he felt a rising wave of giddiness. Shouldn't have got stressed, stupid boy, shouldn't have asked, should just have waited for her to leave like a... leaving person.

Suddenly he was leaning back in his chair. Phaeth had stood up and was nudging his face. He must have missed out on that memo.

Aulus shook his head in an attempt to clear it and sat up straight again. "It's not a nice place," he muttered, continuing on from where he thought he'd been but his voice the venom and gained a faintly puzzled note. "It's full of not nice people. Like me. Why do you even want to be my friend? I haven't been even remotely pleasant to you, why would you go out of your way to do something nice for me? It's...." He blinked and shook his head again. "You're like... somebody shoved sunshine and rainbows and kitten whiskers into a blender and then compressed them together like an industrial diamond. I don't understand why you'd do it.... And of course I do. They're my friends." Maybe he shouldn't have said that bit, he wasn't really sure just now. He felt tired and shaky and... he really hoped that he felt less so before he had to go back to the infirmary or he was going to be in really deep s**t.  

[caffeinecraving]

She opened her mouth to argue. But he was right. Even off the clock if a superior asked her to do something she would do it. But when both were off clock... They were people... and all he had over her was 6 years. She held that to herself though as he leaned back. "Yes...Sir."

She frowned hesitating but took a small step forward. "Are you ok? Is there something i can get you?" After saying she wouldnt be his lackey... but she was doing it as a friend, damnit, not because he was a superior rank. Ranks could go rot in a ditch.

"No its not... but its full of unique people and new experiences... Its teaching me how to do things i would never have learned...." She sighed and shook her head... "You arent a 'not nice' person... You have trust issues... You have a sharp tongue and a keen eye for faults in people... and you are honest enough to say them... but you do not go out of your way to make people feel bad about themselves." She frowned. "You helped me... a mean person would have laughed and watched me struggle." She looked affronted. And then she beamed at him. "Why not?" Her blue eyes cleared and she glanced down. "I trust you with my life on missions... why wouldnt i trust you with my friendship... and while you can be very angry at times... you arent a bad person... I can tell by the way you treat Tortie... and by how loyal Char is... If they love you... you must at least be friend worthy...And no... you havent... you really should work on that... Im planning a party for tortie... and you are going to have to be there... and people will be smiling... I would hate for you to feel out of place."

As he said of course, because they were his friends she just nodded. She wasnt going to call him on it... Pokemon were like dogs... Loving unconditionally no mater your faults... and you had to love them... to get their trust... and once you shared that... it was beautiful... and the took a part of you to their heart. And them to yours. She simple smiled though. "I think Tortie was less then happy with the rainbow part of me... The look of disgust as she walked into my room was almost enough to laugh... but i didnt... i get credit there."

 

[TawnyAngel]

What was he supposed to do?

What would Alex tell him to do? Alex always knew what people stuff to do... usually. Sometimes. Well a lot more often than he did anyway.

Aulus draped his arm over Phaeth's neck to stop the Rapidash from nudging at him, breathing deeply and trying to get his pulse to calm. It didn't seem to take much to put him close to panic these days, usually not a problem physically but at the moment... bit too much maybe.

"I'm fine," he managed eventually, finding a bit of gruffness from some deep hidden reserve. "Just... just a bit dizzy. Major recent surgeries and all. It'll go away." In the meantime he would feel miserable and sick; it was probably lucky he still wasn't eating.

The rest of what she said was... baffling. He wasn't sure if he should find it obnoxious or foolish or what. Why was just accepting it not an option, accepting people? Because people were difficult and people hurt you if you let them, or most of them did anyway. Claire hadn't. He remembered meeting her in the mall, saving Zeus from the chocolate and then snapping at her a lot. Chocolate right up to his elbows. That had been a weird day, the first weird day in a string of intermittent really weird days that had led him to this day; down half an arm cuddling his lost Rapidash and talking to a girl about friendship. Maybe one day he'd wake up and find out it was all just a dream after all and he was fifteen years old again with a whole life ahead of him and endless choices and.... He hoped not. His only friend at that age had been Phaeth.

"Uh," Aulus gave himself another shake, the weird thoughts fading out a little and a bit more of reality fading in. "Unique... well I have to give you that." He wasn't even going to touch on the 'trust issues'; half of him thought she was right and the other half of him screamed that he couldn't trust her. That probably said something about one or both halves. "I suppose I could have just watched you struggle... but that would have been stupid." He couldn't say that he trusted her with his life, but he trusted her to watch his back in the field and that was something wasn't it? Maybe that was just teamwork.

"Oh, missions." Well he supposed he should say it. "You made a good spot on the fur.... I think I made a note of it somewhere but it was when I was really high so I might not have. I'll check." She might be a sunny klutz but when people got things right you had to recognize that, right? Right. Decent superiors did that and he wanted- he really wanted to be good at what he did. Was a luck of trust serving him well or holding him back? Maybe he'd ask Alex later, when Alex was more Alex and less concussion.

"I...." What? Where was he going with that? He had been going to say something about his relationship with his pokemon companions but there was nothing there. He didn't really feel like he was worthy of anything much though, certainly not them or Alex or... anything much really at the moment. He felt a bit pointless and that was stupid, he knew that, but....

"Tortie takes after me in a taste for colour. I don't like things too bright." He also didn't like to be in debt, which he realised he would be soon because Kailee was planning a party for Tortie. "She'll probably pretend she doesn't care... I mean Tortie, about the party." Maybe his head was still a bit weird, he felt like he was talking a bit disjointedly. "She'll pretend she doesn't she'll like the attention.... Or... make much of her prowess as a warrior an a huntress, like some kind of Viking s**t. She'll lap that right up." What could he do to repay the gesture of the party? He couldn't be on uneven footing with Kailee or she might try to use it against him sometime... right?  

[caffeinecraving]

"Im sorry... "

It had been he fault he became riled up. But it was his fault for caring so much about ranks. That and always jumping to yelling and talking sternly. She nodded though as he said he was ok. "If you are sure... If you need help Brim is more then willing to carry you back to the hospital." Her eyes glittered. Brimstone nodded and snorted a few flames.

She nodded. "I yelled back and forth with this one guy... He is unique... But he disliked my pokemon... so i had to stand up for her..." She had gone toe to toe with the man... He was older then her and yet somehow not outranking her... so she had yelled. And at the end she left, not hating the man.

She smiled. "The key here is you didnt...and you still think it would be stupid... that means you arent inherently bad." She would hope he didnt... she proved that she was a chicken... she had run... he had stayed to see that his friends got out... Her choice to run would have changed if she had friends in there... But the fact that she was alive... She thanked all the people lying in those beds. She now trusted them to keep her alive, team mates... She wouldnt tell all her deep dark secrets... but she would if she got to know them better.

She waved him off. "Please dont worry about it... The stress of having to think about it and going back to edit... " She shook her head. "They know that we found fur... thats all that matters."

She laughed. "Then i suggest you not visit my bedroom." She grinned and looked to phaeth. "My room is all bright neons... Pink...Orange... with splashes of Neon Green... " She shrugged. "Bright colors make me smile..."

Kailee didnt think of it that way. If he had been well he would have done it. "Oh i expect her to stalk in... roll her eyes... glare at me... And then when we sing happy birthday i bet she will stare at you wondering why you are making her play nice... " She laughed. "But everyone deserves one day... Some people and pokemon deserve more but at least on their birthdays you know?" She grinned. "And i have found a recipe im gonna alter for her cake."

 

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus' eyebrows raised. "You painted your room?" He was pretty sure grunts weren't meant to do that but then he'd never asked, and he wasn't planning to ditch her in it anyway because there was no point he could see to that either. "Don't let anyone with too fancy a uniform see it, I don't know if you're supposed to decorate that much." There was an important difference between just 'arsehole' and 'vindictive'; he held the former Executive now Elite known as Seth as an example of the latter, he'd thrown a Porygon at somebody's head!

"Which one of your pokemon?" Aulus continued, catching on a subject that interested him more. "You've got a good bunch... we should see if Sissy and Tortie can get along sometime, when I've been released formerly. I'm going to have a lot of time on my...." Aulus gave a little exhale that was almost a laugh. "Hand." The whole mess was still hard to think about, and he still hadn't looked at it. He'd have to sooner or later though... but not right now. Still though as he would have all that time he'd check what, if anything, he had actually submitted because a good Agent was damn well accurate regardless of the modesty of others.

"And yeah, she will," he confirmed re: Tortie. "She likes to play the hard b***h." Not like anyone else he knew of course. "And I wouldn't say everyone deserves it... but most I suppose. Most.... What sort of cake?"