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The usual spring in Grunt Nakura's step was absent as he headed toward the elevator that was to lead him to his destination floor. The Rocket wasn't wearing his regular attire, either; he seemed to have 'borrowed' another uniform from his fellow grunt roommate in exchange for his new favorite parka, V-neck shirt, and black pants.

Instead, he had traded them in for the signature black long-sleeved top, gloves, boots, and trousers of his station, accented with the bright red 'R' that adorned his chest. He even chose to wear the black grunt's traditional hat to shade his eyes, though the reason behind it might have had more to do with concealing the emotions within them. Izaya had been summoned to Executive Seth's office and was not pleased about it in the least. He hadn't even had to go through such a tedious and unpleasant process when he had been re-promoted to grunt! So why now...?

Nakura's back straightened a bit and he walked a little more rigidly as he recalled the first and last time he had personally encountered Seth beyond a brief glare in the rec room or an irked growl while passing through the corridors. He never wanted so much of Seth's raw attention on him ever again so long as he could help it. He wrung his hands together behind his back as he remembered Seth ripping off the hood of his parka before his eyes just to spite him.

It wasn't as though the grunt hated Seth. He loved him just as much as any other human simply because he was human. The man seemed like he would have been a fun toy to play with had he not been so high in the ranking system of the Rockets. As it stood, however, Izaya really couldn't see anything worth the trouble or even remotely good coming out of a direct confrontation with the executive. It was like purposely walking up to Shizuo and asking him if he was stupid on purpose. The consequences were far too dangerous to test out, no matter how enticing it might have been.

Orihara had to remind himself constantly that he had come too far now to stand for being set back another demotion or to let Aial down yet again. He wore his grunt uniform precisely to remember that he was serious about being in Team Rocket and that he wasn't going to overstep his bounds this time. Not for now.

He probably had me come up all this way on purpose, the informer pondered darkly, his crimson eyes flashing beneath the visor of his cap. Perhaps to make a point of how much 'higher up' he is - both metaphorically and literally. What a childish tactic. I've got to remember to treat this like I'm dealing with a toddler... That was the key. Don't do anything that might even remotely upset the spoiled brat. Don't allow him to throw a tantrum. Just nod and agree to whatever he said. The idea burned Izaya up, but he would get Seth back...one day. One day when he didn't have to worry about his life being on the line, maybe.

Smile, like you always do - yes, don't forget to smile. Hide all visible expressions of emotions behind that smile. Don't smile too much, either, or then he might pop another vein...or turn that lovely purplish color. Grunt Nakura struggled not to grin. Well, unpleasantness of being trapped with Seth in the executive's office aside, the whole reason behind this meeting was bound to be interesting.

Izaya couldn't imagine that the brunette wanted to spend any more time with the informant than he did with him. With luck, the whole thing would be a minimum waste of time. I'll bet he couldn't bother to tell me the details because he couldn't stand to communicate more than two sentences with me. Or maybe he just couldn't be bothered to fully-inform a mere grunt.

Just as he turned the corner, a blond young woman appeared in his view, standing in front of the precise elevator he had been expecting to take. The man blinked. "Faleen-san?" he inquired slowly. "Nice to see you. Ah...are you going up?"

Realizing he probably appeared very different than normal to the agent, Izaya chuckled and adjusted the visor of his cap to see her better. His tense shoulders relaxed slightly, but his enigmatic smile did not waver. The informant tilted his head slightly in an inquiring fashion.

"You were told to come up with a grunt?" he asked, his gloved hands feeling for his parka pockets out of habit before realizing he had no pockets to put them in. The grunt settled for returning them to their original location folded neatly together behind his back. "Mmm...seeing as there's no one else here, I would assume so. It's a funny thing, though - all I got was a brief statement commanding me to report directly to Executive Agent Seth's office immediately. I suppose he couldn't waste his time explaining anything further to a lowly grunt." He paused. "That is who you're going to see, correct?"

In order to maintain his illusion of complete and utter obedience, Izaya had left all his pokemon - Celty, Mairu, and Kururi - back in his room. He still hadn't gotten the latter two under control, but he didn't trust them to be left on their own in his dorm, so he had to leave the Spritiomb as well to babysit the Purrloin twins. Without his pokemon, he felt strangely...helpless. It was a sign to him that he was beginning to rely on them more than ever, because prior to becoming a Rocket, Izaya would have preferred to be unburdened with the responsibility of the creatures. Now, he just felt vulnerable with none of his pokeballs within reach.

"If it's you, though, Faleen-san, I think I'll be able to handle a second meeting with Seth," the grunt told her wearily as the elevator doors finally opened and he stepped inside. "At least I don't have to face him alone. If we're going to see him together, then it's safe to assume he isn't inviting me over to kill me quietly in the privacy of his office, neh?" the man laughed.

Heaving a deep sigh, the grunt relaxed his neck and craned his head back to stare at the ceiling of the lift as Faleen typed in her Rocket ID code. He'd forgotten how high-security things were areound the less-commonly frequented areas like the higher-up offices - especially on the upper levels of the building. At least the basement floors below ground were less conspicuous should some unwanted wanderer stumble across their base and decide to investigate.

"How fortunate for you to know be able to guess why he calls," Izaya commented dryly, his less-than-cheerful demeanor exposed through his tone for a minute. When the doors closed and the lift began to move up, though, he returned his gaze from the ceiling to the agent. "Had you not been the second person to give off the impression that his actions tend to become predictable over time, I'd have never imagined that our favorite executive could ever be gotten used to. I certainly have no intention of becoming accustomed to his whims and wishes." He was so glad he wasn't working in the tech department.

As Agent Faleen laughed, the grunt glanced over at her immediately, startled by her reaction. His smile returned broader than before, pleased he could amuse the down-to-buisness agent. Even if maybe she had been taking his joke a bit too seriously for his comfort. "You've got a point there. He'd probably prefer to see me tortured in the name of science than grant me a quick, painless death at the cost of getting his hands dirty."

Nodding silently in agreement with the blonde woman's confessed curiosity, Izaya shifted his stance, rocking back and forth on his heels in anticipation. Since Faleen had showed up, though, the quantity and intensity of his worries had significantly dropped. Surely this couldn't be any sort of punishment, since Izaya believed Faleen to be one of several agents who were the model of Rocket efficiency at what they did. Not only was she good at her job, but she kept a professional attitude and a level head no matter the circumstance. He quite admired her for it, as he had since th day he'd met her, and that admiration had only grown since then.

As the lift doors opened, Izaya casually stepped out and looked around, his gloved hands still clutched behind his back. "No wonder we hardly ever see the higher ups," he murmured with a snicker. "They're probably too busy lounging up here the majority of the time. I'll bet they're as anti-social as the rest of the Rocket members - the only difference is they are allowed to indulge in their isolation and introvertedness." He turned to beam at Faleen with fake joy. "Shall we?"

"Not difficult?" Izaya repeated with a besmused demeanor. "It's difficult for me just to be in his presence. How you and Hayes have been around him for so long without him biting your heads off is a mystery I'm still in the process of uncovering." Perhaps before their time in Team Rocket, they had worked in a pre-school or some similar childcare facility. Izaya could only guess.

At least Seth didn't possess idiotically massive strength like Shizuo, but there was his authority as an executive to worry about. And how Seth had gotten to that level with his temper was yet another mystery. Abusing his power like that on their first meeting...ugh. The grunt shivered involuntarily at the recollection of being man-handled. It wasn't fair that Seth had gotten away with that and yet he had been thrown in the brig for simply calling him 'kun'. Not to mention the multiple injuries to the head he had sustained and his ripped parka. Oh no, Izaya wasn't going to forget that anytime soon.

"Oh, doesn't he? Well that's great to know," the grunt answered with lavish sarcasm. "Thanks for that. Perhaps instead he'll do something to make me 'wish I were dead'. That's a common one." Her words did give him some reinforcement, however. If Faleen didn't think Seth wanted to kill him, well, then...that made one less person in the world that didn't. Nakura trusted Faleen's judgement, particualrly about the executive. Anyone who could speak calmly and understandingly about Seth deserved at least that much.

"More paper-signing and order-giving, sure," Nakura jeered, laughing, though he was intelligent enough to know Faleen was probably right. It just kind of annoyed him that she seemed to be trying to justify their anti-sociality rather than acknowledging his joke and the minor truths in it. He supposed that was what one should have expected from an agent as loyal as her, though. Granted, he too was aware the he likely could be overheard, but his mouth had once again run off before he could shut it. If anyone wanted to discuss his words with him, he would have been happy to oblige.

That was, at least, until he remembered he was supposed to play 'obedient and quiet' this time around. Pulling the visor of his hat lower over his eyes once more and dropping his smile, he followed silently after Faleen with a blank expression. Lifeless and dull, like a robot. Was that how Seth wanted it? At the very least, maybe Faleen would be a little happier. He stood at attention, hands still behind his back, as he watched her knock and waited for the door to be answered.

"Quite contrary to popular belief, its not that difficult to know what to expect from Seth, once you understand the kind of man he is. Over the year he's been a great teacher to me, and a supervisor I've trusted fully."
She explained to the Grunt, not sounding to surprised by Izaya's opinion of the Executive.
It was very clear that his first dealings with Seth left a mark that Izaya resented, She looked over at him, arching her eyebrows lightly while his tone seemed to deteriorate further. But she left it as it was, making no comment on it, or otherwise reacting back in a defensive way that might further worsen it.

"Despite his volatility, Seth is a teacher, a reasonable superior, and someone who works very hard in what he does for this organization. I do understand where the frustration of his methods get to others, but in this line of work, Its been his teaching that has helped many of us keep on our feet and alive."
It certainly sounded like something she had to say before, but that didn't take any of the truth she knew to herself that it held.
She knew Izaya had a bad experience, and to come back from that would be very difficult, But she knew Izaya had a mouth on him, and even if he didn't see it, by all appearances, he was purposely pushing buttons despite knowing after a certain point that he would be getting in trouble.
Or maybe he didn't know.
Either way.

Izaya didn't have to work with Seth very much, so in the end it probably didn't matter what Izaya' feels were toward the Executive, Izaya had his own Elite he had to take orders from, and Faleen knew very little of Kunai.

The Lock on the door clicked, and Seth's voice came from inside, the Agent turned the handle, looking over at Izaya as she opened the door, taking note that he had changed his demeanor quite drastically.
Perhaps he has learned, since he is trying a new approach it seemed.

"Good Morning Seth, Sir." Faleen greeted the Executive politely, as she stepped into the office, and moved to the side to let Izaya in, before closing the door, behind them.

She took a moment to glance around his new office as she sat down, eyes lingering for a moment longer on the rifle behind him. before she looked to Seth.
Well, now to find out what this was all about. hands folding quietly in her lap/

As the two sat, Seth grunted his acknowledgement to Faleen's greeting, then turned his gaze back down to the papers he was working on. As the two sat with their hands folded in their laps like good little children, Seth said not a word. Although he was keeping a careful eye on them out of the corner of his vision.

Moments passed into minutes as Seth continued to work. There was only the sound of a scrawling pen on paper, before that paper passed into a done pile. Then he would read the next one and only the sound of a ticking clock in the background could be heard. Then the process would start all over again. Although there was one paper that drew a disgusted look as he crumpled it up in his hand and threw it into the waste basket.

The two might as well have not been there, for Seth said nothing and didn't even look up from his work.

Is this guy trying to test our patience? Izaya wondered irritably as he sat in silence, fighting several urges at once. About half of them were certain things he wanted to say - about the room, the decor, to Beta, to Seth, about Seth himself, his wardrobe, Seth's wardrobe, etc. A few others consisted of considerably less life-threatening actions, such as taking out his 'dex to fiddle with it, sending Faleen a message via 'dex, mouthing words to her, tipping over the waste basket to see what unfortunate piece of document had angered the executive enough to deserve to be crumpled...no, no, no! He was here to behave. That was it.

We came here immediately and he sits there wasting our time. Is this his way of showing us our time is less precious than his own? Does he simply want someone to observe how 'busy' he is, so he has witnesses to attest to such after he decides to slack off? Are we here to support his alibi when he's asked about some crime he's committed, like a murder...? Izaya wondered idly if Seth had accidentally killed anyone in one of his tantrums yet. It didn't seem so since he presumed Faleen would have told him and the most-likely person to be killed first, 1337, was still alive. As far as the grunt knew, anyway. He'd yet to lay eyes on the guy.

Finally, Orihara settled for innocently turning his head to Faleen, as if inquiring to the agent about this executive's behavior (or lack thereof) from the standpoint of a much less-experienced and completely naive grunt. A completely-naive-about-Seth grunt, to be exact. Even the blonde, however, seemed perplexed by what Seth hoped to accomplish by having them sit there quietly while he did his paperwork.

Does she doubt him? Izaya pondered. He seems to be acting less predictable than she made him out to be. Maybe he heard us earlier. Or maybe he's just doing this to us both because I'm here. Whatever the reason, it has to be on purpose...he's too smart to have made some mistake. He knows we're here. He let us in, after all.

The grunt observed, at least, that Faleen, despite her apparent confusion, still said nothing. He decided to follow her example and continue to do the same, though it was starting to unnerve him. He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, trying not to squirm. It wasn't out of fear, rather, but out of restlessness. Time was wasting. Seth, better than most, should have known the value of time and the loss of work that he was subjecting them to by keeping them there like good pets of his.

Oh. Faleen had looked over at him too. She still seemed wary of how he would react to Seth and perhaps how they were being treated now. Izaya didn't blame her. He himself was burning to do something - anything. Even just comment on the weather or maybe one of those books on the shelves that were obviously written in another language. He wondered how many languages Seth knew, and if the executive would allow him to hold a conversation with him in one of them besides English sometime. Probably not. It probably wouldn't have ended well if he did either, though. It just seemed too easy to push the taller man's buttons; accidentally or not.

Grunt Nakura returned Faleen's glance with a meaningful, but otherwise innocent, shrug of his shoulders. He then turned his head back to face the hard-at-work Seth, trying hard not to smirk. He doubted anyone but Aila would have guessed it, but he himself used to spend hours into the night staying up late to fill out paperwork just like the executive agent was doing now. It had been necessary as an information broker to keep proper files and records of activity around the city, to answer e-mails in a timely matter, and more. That's why he'd even needed Namie as his secretary to help him out.

Thinking back to those days, Izaya realized he was somewhat glad they were past. If he was forced to sit all day at a desk filling out paperwork now, especially in secrecy in the middle of the desert filling out papers for the benefit of other people, he was quite sure he would have gone insane. Perhaps he might even have become as bitter and cranky as Seth himself.

At least as an info-broker he had been his own boss and thus had been able to take a break whenever he wished. He could have gone out into the city and watched humans pass by, or merely observed them from the large window he used to have. Poor Seth didn't seem to have either luxury, even as an executive. He still had a boss to answer to, and even though he appeared to have a window, it didn't seem to be opened much. Izaya doubted it had much of a view, except of the empty and desolate desert. That would have been bound to depress anyone rather than perk them up. Kawaisou...