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 Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:50 am
The one activity that seemed to give Asch the most satisfaction and focus, was sword practice. He'd had little time for it lately, and the agent finally had found a moment to go down to the gym and use a room just for that. While it was better to spar against a real person, there were not many people who practiced the old art these days. So he had to settle for dummies and imaginary opponents.
He was returning to his room with the weapon holstered at his left side, when approaching the elevator. The doors starting to close by the time he was almost there.
The doors suddenly shuddered as they made contact with a gloved hand that had been put between them. The safety sensors of the lift noticing that something was there, and thus the doors opened again to allow the person entrance. Wordlessly, the red head agent stepped past the doors and onto the lift.
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:09 pm
He didn't like the swimming pool changing rooms, didn't like them at all. For want of a far, far better word they were icky. Disgusting was better. Foul. He had no idea how they got so dirty so quickly; he knew for a fact that they were cleaned daily by trainees. Perhaps not all of those trainees were not so very conscientious about their work. Nevertheless, it was worth braving the changing rooms in order to go for a swim; his ribs were still sore, but at this point starting to get some exercise again would help him. Having been for said swim, however, he was feeling tired and achy; not at all in the mood to take the stairs, and as such he summoned the lift and stepped inside.
Just as the doors were closing, however, a gloved hand appeared in the narrowing gap between them, and they slid open again. As the owner of said hand entered the lift Frost resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow. Impractically long hair, a cape of all things, and... and a strikingly familiar face. He had never seen this boy of uncertain rank before, but he had seen his spitting image only the day before. Frowning thoughtfully and studying the youth intently Frost asked; "Do you have a brother, by any chance?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:20 pm
There was another person here, someone that he'd never met before. It didn't matter much to Asch, and he wasn't exactly the friendly sort, so he kept to himself. That is... until the man asked a rather unexpected question out of the blue.
The boy stiffened visibly, green eyes going wide for just a moment, before they narrowed in a seething manner. Asch's hands clenched into tight fists as he watched the doors close again.
"NO." He said a bit more harshly than he had intended.
He paused, kicking himself mentally as he realized that his reply likely gave him away.
"What makes you think that?" His tone now more leveled and calm, but still with a hard edge to it.
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:36 pm
The reaction was strong enough that even he noticed, and it caused Frost to raise his eyebrows very slightly. "Do you not?" his brows lowered again in a slight frown of confusion. "To be honest that was intended as a rhetorical question, as an... mmh, as an icebreaker I suppose. In any case, to answer your question, I think that because yesterday I met a boy who looks identical to you save for his hair style and colour, and his manner of dress. Do you genuinely not know about him? Mmh. Why would you get angry - annoyed? at least somewhat displeased - if you did not know? Perhaps you thought he was dead, or perhaps you are angry with him for some reason?"
There was no chance at all that the pair weren't related... well there was a chance, but it was so infinitesimal that it was hardly worth considering as a serious possibility. Other relatives could look very similar, he knew, but surely the two had to be brothers. Twin brothers in fact, most likely mono-zygotic ones.
Frost was so preoccupied with the confusing matter at hand that he utterly missed a faint creaking from the lift.
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 1:14 pm
Asch's brows furrowed as the man went on with his prying comments and questions. He too didn't notice the creaking from the cables above as his mind was now rather preoccupied with unpleasant thoughts. At first he remained silent.
Do you genuinely not know about him?
He grimaced as his eyes closed. No, he definitely knew about him.
Why would you get angry - annoyed? at least somewhat displeased - if you did not know?
The leather and fabric of his gloves complained as his fingers clenched even tighter, if that was possible. The young man also gritting his teeth.
Perhaps you thought he was dead, or perhaps you are angry with him for some reason?
Asch growled and opened his eyes again to turn a hateful glare on the man he didn't even know. "SHUT UP! Its none of your damn business!"
There was another pause, as he remembered a comment that this guy had made previous to those questions. Folding his arms, Asch looked away, seeming content to glare at the elevator wall instead. "Where did you meet him?" he then demanded.
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 1:42 pm
What a volatile little boy he was. Although deeply unimpressed by such an attitude no sign of it showed on his face or in his stance; for one that would be impolite and he always strove to be polite, and for another he didn't know this boy's rank as yet, and being polite to somebody who could be your superior was simple self preservation as much as it was proper. "My apologies then," Frost replied calmly, "I did not mean to offend or upset you by my observations and questions. Mmh. In any case, I met him in the big shopping centre in Campheron; we were temporarily trapped in a lift. His name was Luke."
Perhaps the frivolously attired boy got on as well with his doppelgänger as he himself did with his family. His grasp of human nature was sorely limited and so he couldn't make a guess as to whether or not Luke had seemed like the type to be cruel to a sibling, but he could certainly have been the favoured child or some such... Luke had been very sheltered indeed, hadn't even known how a lift worked; that certainly hinted at some major differences between the lives the two of them had led.
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Posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:13 pm
Volatile or not, there were certain matters that definitely made Asch more prone to anger and violence than other. And this was definitely one of them, perhaps the largest among them even.
Oh how he hated that name. While Asch didn't comment, the look on his face spoke volumes. He looked as if he had swallowed a bug as soon as Frost mentioned it.
Luke was actually here in Kodo?! A dark look passed over his face, as Asch made a mental note to pay a visit to the city as soon as he had the opportunity.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:01 am
No response? Well the boy did look a little... put out? Or was he actually angry? Probably angry (or a similar emotion) if it was blatantly enough written on that young face for him to notice. "He seemed to be having some difficulty with the basics of survival if that makes you feel any better," Frost added after a moment, wondering even as he spoke whether it might have been better just to fall silent.
His musings were abruptly cut off, however, by a stronger jerk from the lift. After one more judder the moving metal box ground to a halt. Again. Frost scowled up at the ceiling and shook his head in disbelief. "Oh come on," he muttered, "the laws of probability dictate that this really should not happen. Well, not often... Bother, I'm a statistical anomaly." Stuck in a lift for the second time in as many days, and with the very likeness of the youth he'd been stuck with last time. Really, the universe had to be having a laugh... Not that the universe did laugh, but odd circumstances like this led the strange thing that was the human mind to conjure up such imagery. Wonderful. Just wonderful.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:02 am
Angry didn't quite describe it. Asch hated the boy that he wouldn't even acknowledge as his own brother. It was all Luke's fault. He had taken everything from him. If he had his way, his twin would die a slow and agonizing death at his hand.
"Tch," a sound of disgust came from Asch at Frost's comment. How utterly pathetic. Was that moron so sheltered and spoiled that he couldn't even take care of himself in the real world?
However, these thoughts came to an abrupt halt as the elevator did as well. The jerk causing Asch to nearly lose his balance and glance up at the ceiling with a scowl, as the man next to him started muttering about statistics and probability. "What the hell, are we stuck?!"
Growling to himself, Asch now glared at the door, as if doing so would make them open on the floor he had been destined for. When it didn't happen, the boy's anger was taken out on the slabs of metal as he kicked at them thrice with the flat of his foot. The heavy thuds resounding though the car and likely into the shaft. "Dammit, I don't have time for this!"
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:16 am
In a rare moment of social savvy, Frost refrained from commenting that Luke had reacted in a very similar way when they had got stuck in the shopping centre's lift yesterday. "I can't say it's exactly ideal from my point of view either," the blond replied calmly after a moment. "I was going to return to my room and work on the particulars for a Voltorb powered dirtbike. Mmh. The best laid plans of Minum and men. Shall I press the button to let somebody know we're stuck, or would doing so yourself relive some of your frustration?"
So far this was not shaping up quite as well as last time... Humm, what made him think that? He had just observed internally that the two boys had reacted similarly... but no. Luke had been less... less... Violent. More petulant than vicious. Polite, once he was certain that he was being treated with respect. Maybe his cape-wearing twin would be the same. He hoped so; said brother appeared to be in possession of a sword of some variety, and with a volatile temper... Perhaps he should be ready to let Skiron and Persephone out at a moment's notice; being sekwered would put a serious crimp in his day.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:34 am
That had probably been a wise decision considering the typical red headed temper that this boy seemed to have. But he seemed to calm a bit as Frost spoke and took a step back from the door to fold his arms and stew in his agitation rather than taking it out on the elevator.
"Do whatever you want," Asch replied impatiently at the offer to press the call button. If this man wanted to do it, that was fine with him.
Deciding to take up a corner, the boy leaned against the wall and stewed silently. This was turning out to not be such a good day. Hopefully they wouldn't be stuck in there for too long.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:53 am
"Very well," Frost shrugged slightly and pressed the button, waiting for a few moments before addressing the microphone/speaker. "Hello? The lift appears to have broken, could you possibly see to it that this matter is rectified in short order? I am Grunt Frost and with me is...?"
Trailing off, the small blond turned to regard his companion expectantly. He could hardly say 'Luke's identical brother'; for one thing the redhead would probably eviscerate him (which as he had previous considered would be extremely unfortunate), and for another whoever was by the speaker the other end probably hadn't the faintest idea who Luke was in any case. In short he really needed to know the boy's name. Humm. Perhaps if he was important enough matters would be sped up; he couldn't yet be twenty but Frost knew there was an elite or two aged around nineteen so it was far from impossible.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:53 am
"Agent Asch," the boy answered in a timely fashion, although seeing little reason to introduce himself to the voice on the other end of the speaker. He was no elite, but being an agent at his age wasn't something to scoff at either. But certainly not important enough for them to make extreme haste in fixing the elevator.
Still, he let out an impatient sigh. They hadn't been in there for more than a couple minutes and already he was getting antsy. Although part of it might have been the company he was forced to share, and his already sparked agitation.
"How long is this going to take?" he then asked, even though he doubted the person on the other end would be able to give a definite answer.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:07 am
A vague response along the lines of 'no idea' came from the speaker, which then fell silent again.
Frost regarded it in silence for a few moments before sighing and turning to Asch. "You are quite young for an agent," he observed, "you look to me... Perhaps eighteen, certainly less than twenty. Team Rocket does not accept members below the age of sixteen, so the longest you can have been here is a couple of years. Advancement to agent in a couple of years is hardly impossible but somebody as young as you, I assume, would usually advance more slowly due to an immature attitude... I suppose what I am attempting to say is that you must be quite good at whatever it is you do, and mature for your age."
He wondered if the boy was in the tech department. He really did need to get to talking to some people in development; he was already working on basic repairs and maintenance in the garages which was a good start, but it wasn't where he wanted to remain once he was an agent himself. Research and development. Innovation. Helicopters with advanced targeting systems and pokeball launchers for chasing down rare pokemon that lived in inaccessible areas, and flying vehicles that got their lift from Metang and... and things.
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:19 pm
Still leaning against the wall, Asch turned his attention to Frost when he spoke. His expression remaining a constant frown as he talked and gave him the most roundabout compliment he had ever heard. This guy really liked to ramble and seemed to have a hard time getting to the point. A quality that he didn't really care for at all.
"I get that a lot," Asch replied finally once Frost had finished his voiced musings, "I'm seventeen." He wasn't even considered an adult yet in some countries.
He would normally have left it at that, but it looked like that they would be stuck together in here for a while. And he doubted that Frost would wish to pass the time in silence, thus he decided to expound and answer inevitable questions ahead of time.
"I was raised by a member of the team, so I guess you could say I've been in training since I was eleven. I only became an official member when I was sixteen."
While talent certainly had a part in it, it wasn't the only reason he had risen through the ranks quickly.
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