Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lucas emerged from his room with a yawn. Though his room was where his bed was housed, somehow he detested napping within its confines. Perhaps it was for the lack of a window... He began his drowsy march down the hall towards someplace with more sunlight, passing a young woman as he went. A strangely damp young woman. Was it raining? He stopped and turned to watch her as she went, eyebrow raised, and caught a glimpse of the wound on her arm. His protective instincts seized him, and he turned on a heel, pursuing the other Rocket.

"Hey!" It was not long before he managed to catch up with her. "Hey," a hand reached for her shoulder to better command her attention, "you should be headed to the infirmary."

He took her wrist gently in an effort not to offend and held her arm up so that she could better see the bleeding wound that was there, "That's why." His tone was firm yet entreating, soliciting compliance without pushing for it. "It'd be horrible if it got infected, right?" And, judging from her appearance, there was a chance she had been in the type of environment where it had the opportunity to become infected.

Lucas' first concern was who this he was that would lay a violent hand on a woman, but this was overshadowed by the younger Rocket's refusal to visit the infirmary and have her injury treated. The man knew all too well the importance of having wounds looked after properly, and he wouldn't accept her dismissal so easily.

"All right, how about I ask you as a friend, then? Would you go if I said I was concerned about your well-being?" His hand remained clamped around her wrist and his gaze firm.

Lucas released her wrist at last, both pleased and relieved at her concession. "Nothing you need to earn, ma'am," he said with a small shrug of his shoulders. If criminals didn't look out for their own, who would? He stood aside, gesturing her to proceed and subtly indicating his intent to see her to the clinic himself.

"How did that happen, anyway? You said something about a he?" Lucas' brow furrowed automatically.

"All right then, Faleen. In that case, you can call me Lucas." His usual charming smile accompanied his introduction, and he proceeded down the hall at his self-assigned charge's side.

"Ahh, a pokemon," he realized. He realized how silly the conclusion to which he had jumped sounded now and rubbed the tip of his nose dismissively. "A Sharpedo sounds like a dangerous type to train... I think I've got a first aid kit in my room, if you'd like to borrow it for the future?"

"Abrupt? I uh... I sure hope not, heh..." He could only grin apologetically. "Sorry to bully you into this. Just... I'd hate to see something happen, you know?" A misplaced concern, perhaps, but one that he couldn't help.

He listened to her description of the Sharpedo and grimaced, grateful that he didn't have to deal with such perils from his own Chimecho. "I wish I could offer more advice than that... I'm not too great with training pokemon myself, though." Regrettably. He really needed to hop on that. It didn't behoove him to belong to a largely pokemon-centric organization with only minimal knowledge of how to handle them.

"Yeah, I guess it is..." It wasn't the first time he had heard something to that effect. He had been chastised by his peers on multiple occasions in the past for being too friendly with the lower ranks. But where was the fun in living if everyone you met feared or resented you? "I guess it's just not in my character. Exemplary Rocket-esque behavior, I mean. Call me crazy, but I prefer people not disliking me." It was sad how many indignant, anti-social kids he had met throughout his life. It was even sadder to think how none of them would enjoy the sensation of laughing among friends.

Lucas nodded in understanding. Cutthroat was a good way to phrase it. 'If you don't make the cut, we'll cut your throat,' was it? A common phrase he had heard used by instructors to intimidate trainees. "It's good that you're practicing, though," he approved. "Better than me, in any case. I don't even want to take another pokemon, let alone train one..."

Faleen's question about his employment with Rocket drew a long, thoughtful hum as he considered the best way to lie about his situation. "...Yeah, I guess it's been a while since I joined..." Something about the conversation had disarmed him, however, and he felt he was dangerously close to divulging information that could pin him as a potential threat were it leaked to the right individual.