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 Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:16 pm
He wasn't lost. Not really. He knew where he was, he just wasn't sure where everything else was. Tugging at the collar of his brand new uniform, Aulus gave a scowl that hadn't changed a bit; he was hungry dammit, and he couldn't find the cafeteria. He'd only arrived here a few hours ago, and there hadn't exactly been a grand tour. He'd been shown to his bunk (which was in a room he had to share with seven other people), given standard issue gear (a couple of uniforms, a pokedex, and pokegear), given his orders for the next day (a large number of annoying menial jobs were on the list), and a basic rundown of where everything was. That rundown had been really quite basic, however, and in the blur of activity he'd more or less forgotten it. He thought he was on the right floor, but HQ was not a small building, and so 'possibly right floor' was not especially helpful.
Aulus stomach growled at him in protest, apparently convinced that the world would end if he didn't get something to eat right effing now. Muttering something rude under his breath, Aulus turned a corner and set off down a new corridor; he swore that this place had been designed to be confusing. Maybe it had; that would be pretty sensible now that he thought about it. Sensible or not, however, it was keeping him from his dinner, and therefore he despised it. Stupid building. Stupid lack of proper tour. Stupid everything. Bah.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:08 pm
Lucas had been improving, slowly but surely. He had the attention span of a butterfly on LSD and was prone to confusing anything with anything else, but he could walk with only a minimal threat of vertigo and could even consciously navigate the base towards a predetermined destination. This didn't stop Merry from remaining at his side at all times with her long tail wrapped supportively around his wrist - due in part to the fact that Claire still had her pokeball - and so the pair proceeded through the halls, headed in the general direction of the cafeteria. They passed a man in a red uniform whom, under normal circumstances, Lucas should have recognized, but Mr. One-Track-Mind passed the familiar stranger dazedly, intent on his mission of achieving dinner.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:08 pm
...Wait. Was that? Yes, yes it was. Lucas. Lovely; just who he hadn't wanted to run into... Hu. The man had just walked straight past him. He also had a Chimecho wrapped around his wrist and looked somehow off. Distracted. Well, he must be to have walked straight past without a death glare. The man outranked him now, which was galling in the extreme, but that didn't mean he was just going to whimper in a corner like a good little pansy.
Squaring his shoulders Aulus set off after the other scarred man, and as he drew level with him he cleared his throat pointedly. "Not even going to say hello?" He could have added more, and a large part of him wanted to, but his desire to snark was - for once - outweighed by good sense. Try not to annoy superiors too much, especially ones who might just decide to shoot you. Sure the git would probably get in a heap of trouble for killing a fellow rocket, but that wouldn't do him a lot of good if he was dead.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:10 pm
"Hello?" It was an instinctive reaction; he had learned to respond on instincts, finding that his answers either fit into the conversation perfectly or made no sense whatsoever. The results weren't that different either way, fortunately. It finally registered that there was a person standing there, and he stared momentarily. "Uhh... Hello. Sorry. Most give me funny looks if I say hi." He didn't recognize him at all, and neither did the Chimecho that moved a little closer to her human, preparing to defend if necessary.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:10 pm
Well this was different. He'd expected a glare or something at least; Claire had said she'd talk to him, but she'd also said to expect Lucas to go on hating him thoroughly. "You've changed your tune," Aulus observed with a bemused frowned, "what happened to breaking my spine?" Maybe Claire had been really persuasive. He couldn't imagine why she would have tried so hard on his behalf though... Maybe Lucas really just was crazy; either having really massive moodswings, or more than one personality. Claire hadn't hinted that either of those were the case, but then getting Claire to volunteer information of her own accord was like trying to get blood out of a stone.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:14 pm
"What?" Lucas was taken aback by the accusation, brow furrowed in confusion. Was he supposed to know this guy? "Who are you?"
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:15 pm
What? Okay, he was definitely going with the 'crazy guy' theory now. "What do you mean who am I?" Aulus demanded with another scowl. "You met me in Ambergris only a few days ago, and threatened to murder me horribly if I ever went near Claire again. Are you messing around, or do you actually have the memory of a goldeen?"
It was possible that the guy was messing with him, but Lucas didn't really seem the type... Mind you, all he knew about Lucas' 'type' was that he fitted into the 'psychotically over-protective brother' category. Maybe pretending not to know people was how the freak got off; what did he know?
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:21 pm
He continued to stare, thoroughly perplexed. "Do you know where Claire is? I haven't seen her in days." He picked up on the name and ran with it, disregarding the stranger's question. He'd been seeing an awful lot of Fionnuala, though, she seemed to be perfectly willing to relay messages to Claire without ever letting Lucas meet her himself. Fionnuala was okay in her own right, but he couldn't shake the suspicion that she was a terrible liar...
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:25 pm
Wow. It seemed like the guy really was confused. He could almost feel sorry for him, but after the crazy spine-breaking threat 'almost' was as far as it went. "No idea where she is right at this moment," Aulus replied, seeing no point in being contrary with a man who was clearly a bit 'special' under all the psycho, "but I saw her not long ago. She brought me here. Recruited me... You at least know where they heck you are, right?" This was nuts, and he wasn't any closer to finding the canteen. Brilliant. Just brilliant.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:32 pm
Thanks to the conversation between the two men, a certain anxious young woman had two familiar voices to follow - one much more familiar than the other - with the hopes she'd be led to Lucas. This turned out to be a wonderful idea as she quickly descended a stairwell and stopped in the hallway. She looked one way first and then the other before pinpointing the pair - at least Merry was with Lucas, thank Arceus - and her expression of worry and concern immediately morphed into stressed frustration. "Lucas! What are you doing out of bed?" She asked as she jogged over, habitually scanning him quickly to make sure he hadn't injured himself further. Merry was offered a brief smile but she focused on Lucas once again, hands moving onto her hips. It was almost as if she hadn't noticed Aulus yet, which was more than likely due to the fact she was so focused on her older friend and his well-being. "You should be in bed, Lucas. What are you doing wandering around?"
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:39 pm
He was disappointed, and it showed in his expression. Claire used to be around all the time. Oh, but there was a question he could answer. "I do. First floor. Towards the um... the, uhh... cafeteria? The cafeteria." That was right, right? Yes. He was hungry. The cafeteria was where he was headed to take care of that.
And then he heard a familiar voice saying a familiar name - his own name, actually - so he turned to face her. "What? Are you mad again? I left you a note and everything!" He slipped a hand into his pocket and withdrew a scrap of paper, its contents addressed to one Fionnuala and explaining that he was going to go to the cafeteria to have dinner. He pushed the note into Claire's hand with an indignant humph.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:47 pm
This was ludicrous; he'd thought he'd signed up for Team Rocket, not a bloody circus. Aulus pushed his fingers through his already spiky hair and turned to Claire for some semblance of sanity. "See Claire, he left you a note!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with a mixture of confusion and frustration. "You should have looked in his pockets before you got worried and came looking for him. Also; what? Should be in bed? And he doesn't seem to have any idea who I am. Is this some kind of joke, or did they maybe put some really weird stuff in this uniform that's been absorbed through my skin?"
Seriously. This was not what he'd expected from Team Rocket... Should be in bed. Was Lucas sick or something? She hadn't said anything about that, but then there was that whole blood/stone thing again. Well, at least he'd found out he was heading the right way for the cafeteria... Ah. According to mister 'I left a note for you in my pocket' he was going the right way; somehow he didn't think that was exactly an accredited source.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:53 pm
The note was pushed into her hands with an annoyed exclamation, and Aulus immediately got on her case as well, so she shot the latter a glare. "Shut the hell up," she said with a heavy sigh before rubbing a hand over her cheek and part of her forehead, shutting her eyes tightly for a moment. This was not what she signed up for, either. Too much stress. Way too much stress.
After a moment she exhaled through her nose and peered down at the note half-heartedly, not bothering to read it or even check to see if it was legible or not. "Alright," she relented quietly after a moment. Where was he going? And where was Aulus going? The only thing around here was the cafeteria. Was that it? "You're going to the cafeteria?" She asked, looking between them both for an answer before addressing Lucas again. "Alright, just please go to bed after, okay? Please? That concussion will never go away if you don't get enough rest." There. That should answer Aulus' question without directly explaining things. She was definitely not in the mood for this...
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:05 pm
At mention of Claire, he glanced around briefly in search of the woman. There was Fionnuala, but... Oh well. Maybe this guy was crazy or something. He had been saying some weird things for a while, after all.
Ahh, Fionnuala was upset... Lucas breathed a sigh, turning his gaze to the floor. "I know. I'm sorry." He was trying, dammit, but if he felt well enough to walk around then there was no way he wanted to stay in his room all the time. There was just no way to keep her happy and keep himself from feeling like a useless lump simultaneously.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:10 pm
Shut up? For a moment the urge to knock Claire senseless was almost overpowering. Fists knotted at his sides, Aulus forced himself to see reason. Decking somebody who ranked higher than you within hours of arriving on base would not set a good example of your character. Plus being subsequently court-martialed or shot would mean he didn't get any dinner.
"Look," Aulus cut in after Lucas' apology, his body relaxing once more, "I want dinner, but I don't really know the way. Lucas wants dinner, and apparently you want to keep an eye on him so how about we all go together so we can snap at and or confuse one another over food at least? Can we manage that?" Egh. He hadn't thought his first evening here was going to be glamorous or anything but really!
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