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 Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2012 10:54 pm
Star had finished his first day serving on the robotics team of Team Rocket. It hadn't gone well.
Hadn't gone well was an understatement.
It had been a sort of unholy torture. He spent the day in the ridiculous baggy (by his standards) Grunt uniform now worn under his coat, hunched at a desk, staring at a large display of Deimos' drawings, mapping out the fiddly details he recognized into legible plans. He'd say it was exactly the same as his job back at Galactic.. but it wasn't. It was worse. Back at Galactic spontaneous marshmellow gun fights didn't break out. And it was quiet. And people didn't call him Ian. The constant fear of Tethys appearing to beat him senseless was better than this.
He walked away from the lab, staring down the hall in a way that suggested he couldn't really see it. He knew. He'd made the wrong choice. He'd given up what little progress he'd made.. thrown it all away... burned every bridge available to him and nearly been shot in the head by his previous commander. For this. Meandering in the general direction of his shared quarters, his throat tightened and he felt sick. He wanted to cry.. and that was a rare thing. Star was loud, emotional and did little to hide his feelings... but he didn't cry.
He slowed to a stop in the middle of the hall and ignored the Rocket behind him who bumped into him. After staring at the shiny white floor several long moments, he winced and altered course for the Cafeteria, coat billowing behind him with abrupt speed.
Two minutes later he was standing at the self-service counter shouting "What do you mean you don't serve liquor?!" at the unamused Rocket working the register.
"I mean we don't serve liquor." She answered blandly. "You want booze you'll hafta drive to town.. or find someone willing to share."
"But.. but that's ridiculous how can you not..." Star looked down the long counter. Arceus, it looked like the buffet at a college cafeteria. He thought of the small cafe onboard the Galactic ship. He missed it.
Shaking his head and looking furious, he abandoned the register and approached the dessert selection. After begrudgingly selecting a slice of strawberry cheesecake, he paid for it, practically throwing the money at the Rocket behind the register, then collapsed at a table in the corner and stared at the wall.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:25 pm
Jerome knew he wasn't likely going to be able to sleep very easily tonight. sure being back in his own bed was a huge upgrade, both from the cell floor and the infirmary beds, but he had been feeling a dull ache all day, probably not helped along by the walking around he had been doing.
By the time evening had set into night, the soreness he was feeling, had bloomed into a more unsettling pain. Not that he showed it by the way he carried himself, though he was feeling a little anti-social on this night particularly because of it.
Feeling a bit shut in in his room, Jerome had hoped to take a few bottles of beer to one of the rec-rooms. only to find the closest one was occupied by a large group enjoying some kind of horror movie.
The gangster might have joined in, but tonight he didn't feel like being around large crowds- So, with the help of Bro and Boss, Jerome found his way to a much quieter place... or at least it was quiet, until someone started shrieking their complaints about... no booze.
The dark skinned man had settled himself into one of the booths, watching absently as his Gengar, Bro', continued to vanish in and out of sight, on occasion returning with another bottle of alcohol, beer, wine, vodka, some shots of whiskey.
Most of this stuff Jerome didn't even recognize as belonging to him, the Gengar seemed to have a sharp a sense as ever for finding booze.
Jerome was content to just watch passively, sitting with his own thoughts and nursing a half finished beer. While Bro continued to compare the drinks he had brought, shoving some over to Jerome or downing them himself with a snicker.
When the yelling started, both Jerome and the Gengar shifted their gaze over to the counter, where a tall thin man was, complaining loudly to the Rocket working there.
Bro' lost interest pretty quickly after the Rocket moved on to get a pastry, but Jerome's dark eyes lingered.
Where had he seen that man before?
Once the man had sat down at one of the tables on the far wall, it clicked.
leaning over the his caste arm, as his other elbow pressed into the table, Jerome pointing to the guy casually.
"Yer that Galactic that got us outta there." He said, loud enough for Star to hear him.
Bro' stopped making some unholy mixture of the different alcohols and looked up again.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:51 pm
Star blinked a moment and pulled his eyes away from the wall to look at Jerome. He had a good memory for faces and Jerome's was impossible to forget. "Yes." He confirmed. "You're welcome." His tone was bitter and annoyed. Frowning, he turned his eyes downward to stare at the untouched dessert on his plate.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:18 pm
Jerome didn't say anything after Star replied, but he continued to watch him, taking his time in taking a swig from his beer, before he glanced over at Bro, who was also staring at the man.
Jerome wasn't sure why he was in a bad mood, but anyone would be able to tell.
sharing a quiet jerk of his head to Bro' the Gengar snatched up one of the shot glasses he had stolen, along with one of the random bottles sitting at the desk, and floated over.
once the Gengar was by Star's table, the small glass was filled, and slapped down by the man's hand, a wide ridiculously toothy grin was turned up at the man.
"this place s'pretty strange bout booze, seems ya gatta bring yer own, r'know who to talk to." Jerome said casually, lifting his bottle to his lips again.
He was clean shaven now, something Bro' had helped him with, but it showed a hole in his lip where his piercing had once been, and he had yet to find replacement plugs for his gages.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:22 pm
Star raised a thick eyebrow as the drink was poured for him. He stared a moment, then picked it up and examined it. "...what is this?" He glanced at Jerome, looking confused. Either by the glass's contents or by the random generosity. Or both.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:34 pm
He raised an eyebrow of his own, glancing to his drink to see if he could identify it, then up to the bottle his pokemon was holding, the label said 'Whiskey' but the contents sure didn't look like Whiskey.
"D'no... Bro'. what did y'give em?"
"Gengar gar," The pokemon replied, carrying on in an explanation that neither of the humans would be able to understand.
Jerome though, knowing the pokemon all his life, was able to gather that it was one of those "mixed" drinks that him and his old gang used to place bets on who would be able to last the longest, they never would remember who won.
Jerome watched as the Gengar upturned the bottle into his mouth and started to float back toward the booth.
A small smirk twitched at the corner of the gangster's lips.
"Probably don't want that one." He said honestly, reaching out with his good hand and grabbing up a couple of bottle necks.
"Got some beer, er some vodka here." he offered instead, gingerly sliding out of the booth and striding over as he glanced at the bottles.
"Gin, n'some kinda Margarita mix Bro' found." this was followed with a shrug.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:42 pm
Star was still examining the shot glass as Jerome spoke. He sniffed it cautiously, then looked back at the other man, "..you have vodka?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:44 pm
A quick glance up from the bottles in his hand when Star spoke.
wordlessly a bottle of clear liquid was slid across the table.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:53 pm
Star set the shot glass down and tilted his head. After eyeing the bottle a moment he nodded at Jerome and accepted it. As he unscrewed the cap he looked at Jerome again, "What did you say your name was?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:05 pm
"Didn't" Jerome replied,
While unabvle to use his other arm, he was still able to twist the cap off of the remaining beer he had with one hand, and flick the cap onto the table, before taking a seat.
"But its Jerome." He answered. "N'thats Bro'" He nodded to the Gengar, she flashed a smug grin.
Here he paused taking a drink from his beer.
He knew the others had said his name before, though, it wasn't like Jerome was in the habit of remembering what it was yet.
"you got one of those fancy names huh? what was it?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:09 pm
"A Galactic name..." he nodded and sniffed the freshly opened bottle before taking a sip. He sighed, shoulders relaxing. "It's Star."
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:15 pm
Well, that was interesting, a Galactic name.
Jerome knew gang nicknames were a pretty big thing, helped bring a sort of brotherhood in the gang, Jerome had his own, sure, but not one he used anymore.
"Star." The tattooed man rumbled to himself. "A Galactic name hum? Ganna keep it even though yer not with them anymore?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 10:22 pm
Star sat back in his chair, hand still on his bottle, "My name isn't from Deimos' Galactic. It's from the original Galactic... the organization run by Cyrus. I kept it through Deimos' organization. I'll keep it through this one." He twisted the neck of the bottle, turning it around on the table, "Whether my new coworkers choose to use it is another matter.. but it's my name."
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:00 pm
Jerome gave a few slow nods of understanding, certainly didn't seem like something he would hold against the guy.
"Boss change hn? I get it. This Cyrus guy must'a been better then Eye Patch." Jerome's noise wrinkled, as if on the verge of a disgusted look.
"Ya ditched em after all."
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 11:07 pm
"He was..." Star's brow furrowed, ".....until he abandoned us all and the organization collapsed." He sighed and twisted the bottle a few moments longer before taking a long sip from it and eyeing Jerome, "I was the head of weapons robotics there." He placed a hand on his chest and lifted his chin importantly as he said this.
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