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 Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 10:42 am
What was this? The Chingling peeked over the top of Liam's hat at the proffered snack, and loosed her grip to float forward and take it. "Ching ching!" she chimed at the grunt in thanks, taking the scrap of bread in her paws.
Liam's other mentor wasn't too long arriving. When Hayes made his way over after about fifteen minutes, he was plus one black, structured messenger bag over his good shoulder, a little yellow shape at his feet. "Hey," the agent smiled when he was close enough, and slung the bag down at their table. "Be right back," he apologized to them, heading for the line.
As he moved off again, a green-eyed Pikachu hopped up on the chair and sat himself on the bag with a rather definite air. It looked for a moment at Nikki, but quickly disregarded her to study Liam with one ear cocked. "Chu." It seemed to be sizing him up.
"Chmf!" Noel squeaked, mouth full of bread, and waved.
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 10:48 am
Liam was making a heroic effort, but Nikki said nothing as she managed to seat herself after some time and difficulty. Darkfeather couldn't exactly help her since he didn't have any hands of his own and simply followed.
When the blonde seated herself, the bird stood nearby like a stoic sentinel. He watched in quiet disgust as the Chingling was offered food. Nikki didn't feed him table scraps, he was on a controlled diet after all.
The female Rocket at her food in silence, merely glancing up as Hayes arrived and then went to get his lunch. The Pikachu was offered a glance from both human and Pidgeot, but nothing more.
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 4:52 pm
Liam couldn't help but beam as Hayes approached. Sanctuary, at last! Nikki wouldn't dare kill him in Hayes's presence... right? Either way, before he could even squeak out a "H-h-hello" Hayes was gone to get his own food, leaving him with Nikki, Darkfeather, Noel and now a brand new Pokemon! This was enough to grab his attention for the moment as he offered it a piece of bread also.
"Hello, little Pikachu! What's your name?" he didn't even have to control his stuttering. Nothing made him feel more comfortable than a Pokemon... well, one that didn't want to rip his face off. The very thought made him glance once more towards Darkfeather. Should he offer him some food, too? He had a feeling Nikki would probably rip his arm off before he even had it outstretched...
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Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 9:44 pm
Noel finished her bread, eyes closed with contentment. When she opened them, she was looking up into the stern glare of Darkfeather. "Ching?" the little Pokemon asked uncertainly. What did she do?
Switch twitched his nose at the bread offering, but didn't take it, subjecting the hesitant, stuttering trainee to a rather analytical stare. This kid wasn't up to much. But girls were known to squeal over cute, helpless looking things.. maybe he could put this to use. "Pika pika," he answered - matter of fact, but sadly unintelligible.
Burgers were on the menu today, and that meant lines. It was about five minutes before Hayes returned, a tray bearing a Miltanburger, balanced on his left hand in much the same way as Nikki. Switch hopped into the next seat over as the agent set his tray down. The next seat was Liam's, but the Pikachu treated this fact as an afterthought, and the trainee as cushioning.
"Liam'll be working with us for a while," Hayes explained as he lifted his messenger bag onto the table, nudging his tray aside in the process.
Switch looked up at his ersatz cushion. After a moment his gaze traveled over to the other side of the table, where Nikki and her Pidgeot loomed like ill-tempered sentinels.
"Chuu." He patted Liam's arm in sympathy.
"Okay, so." Hayes pulled a laptop out of the case and worked it out of sleep mode as he talked. "I'm gonna pull up your records to see where you're at. Tell us about yourself while that's going on?" That seemed like a good first step.
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:47 am
Liam's guess was probably pretty accurate. She didn't like anyone messing with her Pidgeot and table scraps would only make him fat.
Darkfeather smacked his beak a little bit but otherwise turned his attention away from the Chingling and the Pikachu as Hayes rejoined the group. Nikki also looked up from her silent brooding as she continued to eat her meal which consisted of the same thing her partner was having.
They were quite the crippled pair. What with her on crutches and him with his bum arm. "Took you long enough," she muttered irritably as he pulled out his computer. When he started asking questions, Nikki turned a cold stare back on Liam. As if to remind him of her earlier threat.
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 11:10 pm
Liam saw Switch's hopping into his lap not a sign of indifference, but as recognition, and he couldn't be happier. He petted the Pikachu's head softly while watching Hayes.
"W-well, Agent Hayes sir, I just joined a few weeks ago and haven't done a mission or, uh... anything. Not that, I mean, you know, not that I wouldn't want to, sir... and ma'am!" he bowed his head to both of them as he finished his sentence, a true sign of subservience, always trying to be the best underling he could be.
"Oh! I do have a Pokemon, though!" he added, almost yelling it. He was quite proud of being presented his first Pokemon, a Totodile, though he was beginning to wonder if it was really just the higher-ups way of getting rid of an unwanted Pokemon...
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:21 pm
Switch tolerated the petting - that is to say, he didn't shock Liam, but his ears splayed out flat and after a moment he tilted his head to guide another spot under the trainee's hand. "Pi." A little to the left, kid.
"Burger day," Hayes grinned at his partner, with a little one-shouldered shrug for an apology as he typed, pausing while a display loaded to grab said burger and have a bite. The blond rubbed his fingers on a paper napkin before he touched his laptop again, scrolling through Liam's file with the touchpad.
"Yeah.. yeah, I see that. Says you're good with them," the agent acknowledged, brow furrowing slightly. It was partly from concentration, partly from what he was actually reading - a list of accident and injury reports, many more than a trainee recruited not too long ago should boast. Actually, a grunt shouldn't have this many..
The blond slid his laptop over so Nikki could see as well. "Totodile?" he grinned pleasantly. "Hear they're biters."
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 8:29 pm
Liam's enthusiasm was not of any consolation to Nikki. If anything it spoke too much of his intelligence, or lack there of... which was only confirmed when Hayes slid the computer over to her.
There was pause as she leaned over to look at it, her frown only deepening.
"You're a klutz," she pointed out none too gracefully. WHY were they stuck with him again? It seemed the elites like to torment her. Sticking her with the uber geek and now the uber wimp. "And a glutton for punishment," she noted. Not to mention an idiot.
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 9:23 pm
Liam's initial reaction was a near inaudible hiss, and a sudden increase in force as he pet the Pikachu who seemed to be enjoying his company, at the mention of 'Totodile' and 'bite.' So, they knew. To think those minor incidents had been reported and recorded. It wasn't as if anyone had been seriously injured. He had even heard that one guy had his finger sewn right back on... after Artie managed to get it out of his stomach... That had been a bad day for Liam, sticking practically his whole arm down the little Totodile's mouth...
Still, it wasn't as if they had kicked him out yet. And Nikki was being so mean about it! It was almost enough to make him pout. Almost. No, she would have enjoyed that one way too much.
He cleared his throat before he spoke, trying to ensure minimal amounts of stuttering, which would undoubtedly go on his record as well, if his mentors had anything to say about it.
"Yes, uh... sir... I mean, uh... Mr. Hayes, s-sir." That was one. He would have to keep it that way. "But! I've been train- uh... training him, sir. He's much... better now?" the last part felt more like a question, as if he expected Hayes to look back at the computer and confirm that there had indeed been a decrease in Totodile bite reports as of late.
Still, he couldn't deny Nikki's opinion on the matter. Totodile or no, he had managed his fair share of accidents on his own. Firearm safety had been a complete disaster, and they hadn't even let him handle a real weapon!
"You're correct, M... What I mean to say is, uh... Agent Nikki, ma'am. There is... no excuse..." He hung his head in shame, but there was no point in lying about it. "But," he added, now talking to the ground, "I will get better. I will be the best Rocket anyone has ever seen, even if it kills me... and it just may"
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 2:06 am
"P'ka!" Switch's head was pressed into his shoulders all of a sudden, and Liam was treated to a mild electric shock, like a very strong burst of carpet static. The Pikachu hopped down and went sauntering off between the tables, switching his tail like an offended cat.
Hayes glanced down as his Pokemon wandered off, but paid it no mind. Nikki's volley of insults provoked a rueful, lopsided smile; harsh. He clicked the asterisk after Liam's name, blinked at the footnote that popped up, and highlighted it to draw his partner's attention.
"Won't hurt to have Nikki work with you," the blond grinned, partly at Liam and partly at the Chingling peering over the top of the trainee's cap. "She's a pretty good trainer. You and me can handle a lot of the basics.. any division you're looking at?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:45 pm
Nikki couldn't help but give out a bit of an audible groan at Hayes' suggestion. Liam would undoubtably be a pain to work with if he couldn't figure out how to battle Pokemon well on his own. As far as she was concerned, Liam was an idiot that nobody could help and thus was shoved on them as a last ditch effort. Team Rocket really didn't need this.
A bit of an accusatory glare was given at Hayes for even suggesting the idea. However, after a moment she did smirk a little. She could -try- to help him... but that didn't mean she had to baby him. And she surely wouldn't.
Darkfeather glanced at the Pikachu as he scurried away, then turned his attention back to the humans with a bored look on his face.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 7:02 pm
"Oh, oh! I was thinking maybe... whatever the department for stealing stuff is... I mean, you know, not just general stealing, but something... specific. Or possibly somewhere where I could further my study of Apricorn genetics. I'm really interested in that! But... if you think Agent Nikki can, uh... I mean... whip me into shape to do real battling?" He smiled, a crooked thing that looked more like a grimace than anything else.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 7:10 pm
Hayes blinked. Did he just-?
Yes, yes he did.
The blond was grinning in disbelief at what he'd just heard. "Pretty sure she can whip you into just about anything." He typed in a few notes on his laptop, then shut it; apart from that footnote, there wasn't much to see. No hidden depths, no potentially untapped reservoirs of talent, just a semi-directionless kid with more ambition than sense. This was really a test. "I can find you someone from the labs for the genetics, but they're pretty selective. We'll stick to the basics."
He and Nikki would have to talk. A lot.
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Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2010 7:20 pm
Nikki just stared at Liam as he rambled on, the Pidgeot next to her remaining as he was for now. Glaring.
However, her cheeks then reddened at Hayes' remark and she looked away with an irritated expression. "I should slap you for that." Fingers drumming against the table in impatience.
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