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 Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:50 pm
"Not at all," KO replied, climbing out and making a sweeping gesture at his car. "This, Herr Commandant, is art; I don't mind suffering a little for it! Anyway, it's a lot harder to pick up dates on a bird, and the wind messes your hair up." Moving around to the trunk KO glanced around the garage. "So which of these are we taking on to...." Star. Flying. "....Base." KO turned slowly to the taller man, face carefully neutral. "We're not taking a car, are we?" It wasn't a question.
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Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:02 pm
Star chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Of course we're not." He unclipped Scream's ball and summoned the bird in a flash of red light. The long drive since his encounter with the Jigglypuff had apparently been enough time for him to recover because he was awake.
"Pidge." He stretched his wings and gave them a few flaps before folding them closed again.
Star smiled, glad to see his buddy upright. "Feeling better?"
"Pidgeot." Scream's eyes twitched evasively toward a wall. He didn't want to discuss the embarrassing incident.
Star nodded and looked back at KO, "Perhaps if you'd done the sensible thing and learned to fly on your own you wouldn't have to hold on for dear life between here and HQ." He considered this and frowned, "I'll ask you to remember I was set on fire a short time ago so if you must hold on to something it had better be my shoulders. If you latch onto any burns I can't be held accountable for what happens to you."
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Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:09 pm
Flying. He hated flying, especially on something like a Pidgeot. He licked his lips nervously and looked for a way out. "You know, it wouldn't be fair on Scream to ask him to carry all my things, Commander, in fact I'm sure it wouldn't be manageable. Maybe I should just borrow one of these cars and follow you? In any case, are you sure you'd be comfortable with me cuddled up behind you? You're a handsome man; I might just forget myself and start fondling you mid flight." Somehow he had a feeling that he wasn't going to worm out of this; Star would be able to tell how uncomfortable the idea of flight made him, and wouldn't miss the chance to drag him up into the sky after how he'd mocked him.
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Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:02 pm
Both bird and man turned an unamused stare on KO. They exchanged glances and Star shook his head. "Nice try, Naos. While I'll agree that I'm quite attractive," he gestured at himself, "in all the time I've known you you've never made an ill-fated pass at me. I find it unlikely you'll start now. As to your belongings, Scream's remarkably strong."
Scream lifted his head proudly, puffing the feathers on his chest. The behavior made him look even more like a bird version of Star.
"It won't be a problem." He grinned, looking somewhat malevolent, "But we appreciate your concern."
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 1:30 am
Well then.
KO took a deep breath and opened the trunk; the sooner they got going the sooner this would be over. Flying. So far above the ground cars looked like toys and if you fell....
Realising that he had been gripping the edge of the trunk rather hard KO shook himself mentally and heaved out a large suitcase, followed by a leather satchel. It was a bit sad that his whole life fitted in these two containers now, but then he didn't imagine he'd get a lot of storage space at first anyway. He should look at this as an opportunity for getting new things in the future rather than missing old ones; most things could be replaced but his hide was not one of them. Under the circumstances he had made the best decision, the lesser of many evils....
Flying.
Shouldering the satchel KO closed the trunk and turned back to his once and soon to be again superior officer, looking perhaps a few shades paler than usual and lacking his usual relaxed poise. Star looked like some kind of predatory insect, totally delighted by his plight; they could be allies, perhaps, but never friends. "Shall we be going then?"
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 6:40 am
Still smirking, Star watched KO shoulder the satchel and gestured at the suitcase, "You can leave that on the floor. Scream will carry it." He took hold of the strap around the bird's neck and hauled himself onto his back.
Scream watched KO carefully before hunkering down to make it easier for the nervous man to climb onboard.
"I'm serious about the burns." Star muttered, adjusting his gloves. "If Scream thinks you're causing me pain he'll eject you before you realize you've made a mistake."
"Geot."
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 8:10 am
"That's fine," KO replied tightly, "luckily a steady hand is essential in both of my areas of expertise; your burns and other delicate areas are safe from me, Commander."
Okay.
Get this over with.
Flying.
Why flying?
Licking his lips again he climbed up onto the bird and took a firm hold of Star's bony shoulders. So long as he didn't mess about Star wouldn't let him fall... probably. Maybe he should have thrown in a few more uses of 'Commander' and sucked up a bit more. It was a bit late for that now though.
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 8:38 am
If Star could hear KO's thoughts he'd remind him that it's never too late for more sucking up.
With both passengers on board, Scream shot into the air with an uncomfortable abruptness, swooped around to pluck KO's suitcase off the ground with his feet, then zipped out of the garage and skyward. To say Star was in his element and vastly enjoying KO's reaction was an understatement. The fear in the redhead's voice and body language couldn't have been more apparent. Star was probably enjoying it a little too much. It made the lanky man feel powerful and important. Suddenly his day was much better.
It was approaching evening now, and the beachside city disappearing beneath them was rather picturesque, if KO was of a mood to appreciate it. Up against Star, he'd be able to feel the subtle movements and gestures that guided Scream's direction and pitch as they contitnued to climb upward. He leaned, angling the bird northwest, toward the desert just visible off on the horizon. "I hope you like warm places."
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:00 am
Only by biting down on his tongue did KO avoid letting out a yelp of shock; he'd lost enough face already over this, he was not going to make it any worse. Oh. Oh they were high up already, s**t they were high up. He redoubled his grip on Star's shoulders and squeezed his eyes tight shut, hoping that none of those little movements Star was making were hints to the bird to throw him off.
"I love warm places!" he replied, sounding rather strained. "I wouldn't want my lovely tan fading now would I?" He was going to die. He was going to fall and die. Splat; live fast, die wide. s**t. Maybe either babbling or getting Star to ramble would help him to stop thinking about it. "So what's it like in Team Rocket? Accommodation, food, entertainment?" He could have asked all of this before he'd agreed to go, yes, but he was pretty sure he knew the answers anyway; it mainly sucked when you were new, and gradually got better as you rose through the ranks. He wasn’t looking forward to the initiation period but, once again, keeping himself safe from the people who would be trying to trace him won out over the unpleasantness of starting somewhere new on the bottom rung.
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 9:32 am
Star was grinning as he felt KO tense and tighten his grip. He leaned forward slightly and Scream took the cue to speed up. KO liked going fast after all. He certainly talked about his love of speed enough.
As they streaked across the sky Star cast a glance over his shoulder, arching an eyebrow. "...horrible. Frankly." He looked forward again. "They expect the lower ranks to share accommodations with other Rockets, the food is terrible and they send their Grunts on menial missions like the one you found me on today.." He eyed the bag of pokeballs still tied to his hip, caught in the wind.
There had been a point when Star climbed the ranks at Team Galactic. In the first organization he'd started as a new recruit and moved up. But time and an inflated sense of self worth seemed to have dulled his memory on what was and wasn't acceptable. If he had any idea that Team Rocket's ranking system and the jobs involved were pretty average, he gave no indication. As far as he was concerned it was a step away from slave labor.
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:22 am
Could be worse; he'd shared a room back in the old Galactic and he'd enjoyed that... but that was of course because he'd liked his roommate. He still did miss the big muscle-head, and hoped he was alive out there somewhere.
As it didn't seem like he was going to get dropped immediately KO risked opening his eyes; they were going faster now, but that was just fine by him because the faster they went the sooner he'd have his feet back on the ground.
"Best hurry up and get ourselves promoted then," KO said with a grin that was far more like a grimace; he might not be convinced he was going to die right this second anymore but that didn't mean he was happy with his position in relation to terra firma in the least. "I expect they've only kept you a grunt because they're paranoid about loyalty," he went on, "given a bit of time I'm sure it will become obvious to them that they can't afford to waste your talents on lowly missions like this one." What had Star said he wanted, a department? Of course he did, it was what he'd had before and so it was the very least he'd settle for. Somehow KO didn't imagine there was a headless department just waiting to have Star's visage to take on the position, but he was a long long way off the ground and thoroughly at Twinkle's mercy so he wasn't even going to hint at something he wouldn't like.
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:37 am
"I'm working on it.." Star muttered in response to the mention of promotion. When KO started pouring on the compliments again he lifted his chin and nodded, "Precisely. They can't possibly ignore the opportunities I could offer them. Every day they waste my skills on Grunt work only reflects poorly on them. I expect apologies will be in order when they realize what they've-" A pop and a flash of red light at his hip interrupted what was no doubt the start of a long and very puffed up speech.
"Star starrrrr!" Star's eyes widened as Sky materialized just in front of him. Perhaps the little bird had sensed flying was going on without his involvement. Whatever the reason for his ill-timed arrival, they were going much too fast for the little Starly to keep up. Sky seemed to recognize this quickly because he immediately latched onto a footful of Star's hair.
"Ah!! No! This isn't the time Sky!! Get off!"
"Star!" The little ball of feathers clinging to the flailing roboticist's head blinked at the unfamiliar man just behind him, "Star?" He released Star's hair, bringing a few gray and red strands with him as he landed on KO's chest. "Star star!"
Star snarled and looked back, "I told you to stay in your ball!"
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:45 am
"Ahh!" He was going to die! Something was attacking them and he was going to fall of and it was coming at his face!...
It was small and puffy.
KO blinked at the little bird on his chest, abject terror fading back to only mild terror that came with being so high up and now along with a large amount of confusion too. "Uh... this one's new. Kind of cute," he observed with brittle brightness. "I didn't think you were really interested in collecting pokemon other than Scream, Commander Star."
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:51 am
"Starly star." Sky tilted his head, still looking up at the interesting man.
"I'm not." Star huffed, "I don't have him by choice. He was forced upon me some time ago."
"Star." Sky looked between KO and Star. It wasn't lost on the little bird that the unfamiliar man had called his owner 'commander'. He only knew one person who held that title and Star most definitely was not her.
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:57 am
KO looked down at the bird again and then at Star. "Why would TR make you take it on when you've already got a powerful flying type? I would've through if they made you take another pokemon it would be something of a different type...." Hang on; 'some time ago'. It sounded like Star had joined Team Rocket recently, so had it been somebody else who'd forced him to take the little puffball? "...If it was somebody in Team Rocket?" If it was somebody from Galactic there was nothing stopping him getting rid of the bird now; did that mean that - despite his huffing - he was fond of it? Eh, maybe, and it was pretty cute, if apparently disobedient.
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