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 Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 1:59 pm
Right. Okay. Aulus moved slowly over to the bed and perched on the edge, looking faintly like a cantankerous bird that might take wing or suddenly savage a face at any moment. There was also the faint possibility that it would contain its inner arsehole in favour of less immediate rewards than escape or face pecking. "Uh.... Yes. A bit. It's been pretty good I guess." Weeping Angels. Eff Weeping Angels with something that would really eff them up; he hadn't been able to look at statues for weeks afterwards or, more to the point, hadn't been able to turn his back on them.
"So."
Vague conversation. No harm. Build enough communication to work together so that he could perform well and get promoted or... or whatever the hell he was trying to do here.
Aulus rubbed the scar on his face.
"You seen some of the new stuff?"
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 2:33 pm
That grin again, easy and boyish; Hayes didn't seem to be having half the trouble with the interaction as his new partner, or if he was, he wasn't letting on. "I've got some of the new stuff," he countered, resting a hand on his keyboard and pushing his glasses up with the other. "Some of nine, most of ten - oh and the movie with eight, that's pretty good," he added as an afterthought, with a little one-shoulder shrug as if to say 'Y'know. If you're interested.' "And Blink - nightmare fuel for a new generation."
True to the programmer's word, a fold of comforter that was bulkier than it should be shifted and collapsed as an Espeon emerged - a bright green Espeon, who froze mid-yawn at the sight of a strange human on the bed. "Spe."
"S'okay Ther, he's cool," Hayes assured, looking past Aulus to the wide-eyed psychic. "C'mere?" The Espeon's gaze darted between the two Rockets, judging the distance between the scarred one and Hayes' beckoning hand. Then with a wave of its forked tail it was gone, pushing behind the window blinds to the clatter of metal slats.
The blond shrugged, sitting back. "Not really combat-oriented," he commented, with a rueful little smile; the subject was ambiguous.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 2:43 pm
"Ugh! Blink!" Aulus showed his teeth in a grimace that was neat, straight and white, attesting to good habits long drilled into his head, and good orthodontistry. Abruptly realising that he had maybe reacted too much the scarred man pursed his lips into a thin line and shrugged again. "Give me something you can fight any day." Daleks, Cybermen and so on had been scary when he was little but now... Weeping Angels and Vashta Nerada. Ugh.
Luckily he had something else to focus on now, namely the Espeon vanishing out of the window. "A real Shiny?" he asked with a tilt of his head. "Never can tell around here, you - we - can make them look however we like without faffing around breeding for generations and generations, can't we?... Do the wacky colours even come from nature, or is it all lab stuff that's got out and been bred with, and into other things?" A good question, one that made him wonder about Tortie's origins a good deal.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 3:18 pm
"Mirrors," Hayes agreed fervently. "Lots and lots of mirrors." Or a time crack, but even then.. He shook his head, ridding himself of the old urge to hide behind the sofa. He didn't even have a sofa. "Yeah, I'll stick with the pepper pots." Familiar old monsters, to the point he'd put one on his wall.
His gaze strayed to the Espeon, a sleek silhouette just visible through the blinds. "Uh - I think so, yeah," he blinked, consciously aware of the action after the mention of Angels. "Dunno. They'll put just about anything together down there, from what I know, but they've got to start from somewhere, right?" Another shrug; Pokemon, despite him owning a fair number, weren't his forte, and his knowledge of genetics ended with beans. "He was from a raid, though, so he's probably legit. Nice guy; just takes a while."
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 3:26 pm
"He looks in nice condition," Aulus said, his tones carrying grudging approval. "Guess I will get to know him... given we're partners and all. What exactly is expected of us as partners anyway?" His Dad had got hold of Dalek salt and pepper shakers from somewhere. They'd been a staple of the table until he'd swept them onto the floor in a fit of rage aged eighteen. Salt had shattered into pieces, and he'd felt bad but hadn't been able to say sorry. Pepper had survived, but the next day plain shakers had been on the table with Pepper nowhere to be seen.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 4:03 pm
"Thanks," the blond smiled, expression mellow and open before nonplussed confusion clouded it over. "Uh.." His brow furrowed a moment, and then he laughed. "Good question. Back up. Work in tandem." No mention of 'get along.' Nor did he bring up the official description; Hayes knew PR boilerplate when he saw it. He was running off limited experience here, and memories of his last partner prompted him to add, "Not almost die in an avalanche. What d'you want out of it?" He lifted a hand in a vague palm-up gesture, turning the question back at Aulus.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 4:11 pm
Aulus was not a great actor, at least not when he wasn't totally focused on being an angry arsehole. Thrown off guard by Dr. Who and promises of testing out the base defences his own defences weren't quite what they usually were, and he had no snark to throw at the spectacled blond.
"Uh.... I didn't ask for this, alright? I don't know what I would want out of it. I guess we just have to... kind of get along and see what works, and what gets asked of us?" Partners in crime like Bonnie and Clyde, but with more maleness going on and... stuff. He didn't know. He still didn't know if he should even have joined Team Rocket. "I guess I have your back on missions though. Seems to be my function, right?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 6:28 am
Hayes leaned back in his desk chair once Aulus was done, an elbow thrown carelessly over the armrest. "Heh," he grinned, seeming to take some not unkind amusement from the uncertain, meandering answer. "Long as I've got yours - works both ways, right? Mostly they sign us on missions together and.. expect us not to screw up as much as we would alone?" He'd never quite gotten the hang of working in groups.
He paused for a moment, then continued.
"I'll be honest - my last partner and I didn't.. really work out, so I've got about as much of an idea of how this is supposed to go as.. well." He ended on a laugh, self-aware and sheepish, as his fingers crept into his hair long enough to make a bit of it stick out at an odd angle, then dropped.
The blond glanced down briefly before meeting Aulus' eyes with a smile. "But getting along sounds good. I work weird hours but the Xbox is free if you want it, 'n I'd be up for co-op sometime." Another grin, touched with impishness. "Call it teamwork simulation."
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Posted: Sun Jun 03, 2012 12:17 pm
Aulus gave a brief harsh laugh and shrugged. "Well, I've never really worked out with anyone before, so I guess it'll be a challenge for both of us.... Co-op sounds nice, I haven't played anything since I came to Kodo really." There were a few games in the rec rooms but he didn't feel comfortable trying to relax in there; there was the constant worry that somebody would say something to him and he would have to Deal With It.
Hayes seemed okay so far, kind of... pleasantly neutral. He certainly wasn't giving the over friendly air that meant somebody wanted something, but nor was he being a total d**k. Didn't mean he trusted the guy of course, but he wasn't quite as wary as he might have been. Perhaps he was also a little less wary now than he would have been six months ago; coming here and actually making friends... well a friend - Claire - and maybe that made him feel less on edge. Maybe he was just more confident. Maybe, because he was now in a criminal enterprise, he kind of felt that a lot of the arsehole cards were already on the table and he didn't have to worry about them being up somebody's sleeve so much.
Maybe it was the dalek picture.
Hard to say.
"How about tomorrow evening or something?... Guess we should start our teamwork simulating as soon as possible, right?"
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:32 pm
"You sound like you're willing to give it a chance - I'd say that's a pretty good start," the other agent shrugged, rolling his shoulders in an easy, diffident motion before he added, "We'll figure it out; don't worry about it." By all appearances he wasn't, with his relaxed, placid smile. They'd already gotten past what had been the big hurdle last time, and standoffishly uncertain as he seemed to be, this Aulus wasn't writing the arrangement off from the start.
"Tomorrow, yeah. Have a computer in there?" Hayes asked, jerking a thumb toward the bathroom and quarters beyond. "I can burn you a copy; the co-op's better if you've done some of the single-player."
A rattle of blinds behind Aulus was the Espeon, cautiously nosing his head around to peer at the both of them.
"And if it all goes south we've got Who." If you like that show you can't be that bad, his grin said.
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Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2012 2:54 pm
Aulus was about to think something about burning copies of games being illegal, but then he remembered where he was and was very glad he hadn't properly thought it, doubly so that he hadn't said anything aloud. "Uh, yea, thanks," he nodded slightly, "I think my laptop should be able to handle it. Hopefully. Hu, and yes, it's good to have something to fall back on."
Oh, hello! The Espeon was back. Smiling slightly, and temporarily forgetting his new partner, Aulus turned his head away from the psychic type slightly and held his knuckles out towards it for sniffing, in case it wanted to come over and say hello.
All in all it seemed that so far as bathroomies went, he'd got a reasonably good deal.
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