Welcome to Gaia! ::

Time had bother seemed to crawl and fast forward in the weeks since their last meeting. It probably didn't help in that regard that Natalia had stopped by the place around almost every day as well. Of course she had turned it into a training exercise for her pokemon after a bit when it was clear that Asch would be a no show so it wasn't all a waste. As was becoming a habit she walked along the path looking out over at the harbor, hands clasped behind her back.

She hadn't been expecting him so it was just as much as a surprise this time when she spotted him as it had been the first time. "Asch." She greeted with a smile and moved her hands from behind her as she walked up. "How have you been?" The blond asked and gave him a discreet once over to check for anything that might be wrong.

Hearing the familiar tone of Natalia's voice, Asch stood up straight and turned slightly to look in her direction. He appeared to be fine, if a little tired, although he was doing a fine job of hiding it and was probably more tired than he appeared. Team Rocket had been working him hard lately, but he wasn't about to complain. However, to see a familiar smiling face was certainly a pleasant change.

"Fine," he told her calmly.

He was about to continue when something caught his attention. Asch's green gaze quickly whipped away from Natalia and towards a certain blonde man that was approaching. Then Guy spoke, and realized that Asch was there as well. The red head merely stared back coolly, not saying a word.

Asch said absolutely nothing in regards to Guy's arrival, and Guy didn't really mind that. He was much more concerned about Lady Natalia than dealing with Asch at the moment. Such things would come later. He quickly made his way over to the Lady [obviously without getting too terribly close] with concern blatant in his expression.

"What am I doing here? I was only just passing through! But Lady, what are you doing here? I mean..." Guy glanced from Natalia to Asch and back to Natalia again. Confusion was prevalent in his voice as he spoke again to his friend. "Um... How exactly do you two know each other?" Surely the Lady was aware of just what Asch had done?

As Sir Guy went on with his interrogations, Oki took a moment to observe the two humans now before him. It was obvious that Sir Guy had previously encountered both humans, but it seemed that he was in much better relations with the female rather than the other male. Perhaps the female was more powerful and thus a more worthy companion? Or perhaps she and Sir Guy had simply been acquainted for a longer period of time? Oki quietly recalled that bonds between humans could be very strong - or very frail - indeed. He decided it would be best to observe the reactions of these humans for future knowledge. He could call it research, but it was also fascinating in of itself.

What was she doing here? Well it was obvious that she was talking to Asch but she supposed it could either seem like either a chance meeting or a planned one to Guy. Natalia glanced over at Asch then back at Guy, unsure just how much he was willing to let her say on that. Did Guy know about Asch and Luke? "We ran into each other at the Halloween party." She said, purposefully evading whether that was the 'first time' they met of not.

She looked over at Asch with a slight panicked look when he said he was leaving and turned to go. "Wait Asch! Please don't go." A few steps closer to him let her reach out and lightly grab his hand, not grasping too tight to not give him a choice.

There was something about the way Natalia grabbed his hand, or the pleading sound in her voice that made Asch pause. Thus he stopped and frowned, taking a few moments before finally turning to face them again. Although he did pull his hand away from Natalia's, he didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave anymore.

Folding his arms across his chest, his frown was now leveled on Guy, as he was certainly close enough to hear what he'd said. There was no point in denying that he had done anything wrong, since he had. He would admit to it. And there was no point in avoiding the inevitable either, thus why he decided to stay.

If Natalia decided to hate him then so be it. It wouldn't change anything and he would just be back where he had been before she arrived in Kodo.

"Oh, so he hadn't told you, had he? But that only makes sense," Guy commented rather bitterly. He had not intended to sound so rude about it, but thinking about it more and more just proved to make him angrier about it. Lady Natalia seemed to trust that Asch to an extent, and it pained Guy to say anything that might upset her, but it pained him even more to remember how hurt Miss Rosie was that day of the contest.

"Lady, he stole someone's Pokemon! Guy gestured accusingly in Asch's direction. "He stole it from someone who had trusted him as a friend, and it nearly broke her heart." Moreover, Guy could do absolutely nothing to prevent it. All he had managed to do was slow Asch down, but he couldn't get Vahy'n back. In the end, he wasn't able to protect his friends, and the guilt of that fact weighed heavily on his shoulders.

Oki passively watched on as Sir Guy made his statements to the company. The Zoroark himself had not known about the aforementioned thievery, and he cast a scornful glare in the red-head's direction. There was no honor in stealing for any purpose; in Oki's opinion, the act of thievery was reserved for the cowardly and the weak. However, he could not help but note that the accused human did not flee when he was presented the chance: he could have easily escaped from the female's grasp. He was not running away from the inevitable. Silently, Oki continued watching, his interest slightly piqued. Perhaps there was more to the short human than he had first imagined...

Asch put on his best neutral expression as he looked at Natalia, asking if it was true.

"Yeah." He said after a moment. There was no way he would lie to Natalia, at least if he didn't have to. She deserved to know the truth about him. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes and furrowed his brows, knowing that this wouldn't settle well with her.

"I can't tell you why. Just that it's my job." And that was that. He didn't want to go into how he was a part of Team Rocket. That would be crossing into dangerous territory, and he didn't want to get either of them involved anymore than they already were.