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 Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 9:12 am
((This rp is for any trainers who know about Asch staying in the hospital, Asch himself, of course, and Grunt Nakura, who came to investigate Agent Asch's disappearance after several days of his not returning to base.
Chronologically, this roleplay takes place a few days after the events of Brotherly Love & Battered and Broken.))
Grunt Nakura had purposely avoided signing up for the raid involving the Sky Plate at the Eterna Museum. Despite his eagerness to join his fellow teammates on the last two Rocket missions, the most recent one had taken its toll on the informant. Though he complained it was because of his recent, major injuries, including the stab wound to his side, a broken arm, and a broken leg, there was more to it than he cared to admit.
The loss of Aila still weighed heavily on the grunt's shoulders, as did the suffering her partner had sustained as a result. The outwardly cheerful man would never admit it, but he was still disheartened and inwardly grieving over the death of his 'friend' and recruiter, especially having played the role that he had in her ultimate demise.
Asch seemed to have come to realize this, having had similar feelings of blaming himself, but as Nakura had actually been there, the grunt still felt more responsible. It hadn't been Asch's choice to stay behind on that particular mission, after all. It had, on the other hand, been Nakura's choice to disobey Elite Kunai's orders, costing Agent Aila her life at the expense of saving his own. Therefore, the older man believed that he was to blame for the red-headed teen's sorrow and that it was somewhat his responsibility to watch over Asch until he was of a stable mind once more.
If he ever had been, that was. Over the months of getting to know Asch better and observing him, Nakura was starting to think that the young man was just as bad as Aila had been in terms of being a workaholic. Perhaps he had always been that way. Aila certainly wouldn't have said anything against it, since Nakura had noticed she had the very same, unhealthy tendencies of pushing herself beyond her limits for the sake of Team Rocket.
It was their pasts. It had to be. Both Aila and Asch seemed determined to constantly be keeping busy in order to avoid thinking about or dealing with their pasts. Well...Aila didn't need to worry about that anymore. But Asch...it was like with Aila gone, he was forcing himself to work twice as hard. And with all that had been going on with their department and the captured Rockets and Team Galactic, no one had bothered to say anything against it.
This did not escape Izaya's notice, however. Even when Faleen had signed up on the most recent mission to rescue the imprisoned Rockets from Galactic, the grunt chose to hang back on stand-by, deciding he would only come along if needed. There were still plenty of things he needed to take care of, and while he had been doing plenty of his own reseach on the Galactics, it wasn't yet enough to exact the full revenge he planned to carry out on the team for Aila's death. Besides, Asch had been out on his own mission for some time, now. The teen had yet to return.
Nakura offered to go after the red-headed agent, and although he was merely a grunt (or perhaps because of it) his department accepted his proposal. Though the members of their stealth and undercover division were being stretched thin, they hardly could afford to lose more, and Asch was one of the few agent-ranked Rockets they had left. They needed him back as soon as possible, and though it was generally believed that the agent could take care of himself, Nakura thought differently.
He didn't see Asch as an agent so much as a depressed, angsty teenager caught up in his own grief, too tired and sick both mentally and emotionally to be concerned with his own health. He found it little wonder that the red-head was missing, truth be told. Even if they'd tried to send someone to go with the recently concussed agent, though, Nakura knew Asch probably would have rejected the help immediately. Aside from being fiercely independant, Nakura sensed there was no one who Asch would allow to take the place of his partner; not even temporarily.
It hadn't taken him long since setting out to surmise what had happened. With his pokemon's help, Nakura had followed the trail that Asch had taken to find the missing Mew clone. It had led him to an area where the Earth had collapsed in on itself, leading into a cave where the remains of a broken pokedex were found. A good deal of blood, not too old, had been spattered about on the rocks as well. The informant had followed the trail to the river, which had led outside once more. The closest town had been Sandalwood, where a hospital was conveniently located.
Stubborn little wretch, the grunt thought silently as he entered the hospital. He continued to wear his usual, emotion-concealing smile as he strolled in, casual as could be. After checking in as a visitor at the front desk, he discovered the room where Asch was staying and made his way on up. When he got there, he knocked cheerfully, but didn't pause before entering. "Aschy-kuuun...are you in here...?" he sang out.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:41 pm
Aila had indeed been a great loss, not only to the team, but to her partner as well. She had been his first partner and he had resented it at first. But eventually this had passed and evolved into a respect for the girl. They had worked well together and even got along to the point of perhaps becoming friends. Her death added to his long list of people dear to him that he had lost. Even if his family and friends from his childhood hadn't died, he had still lost them, and it made for a rather lonely existence. He did blame himself and used work as a distraction as well as self punishment. If he had known that Izaya had been that insightful about him, Asch would have been disgusted.
However, with the loss of Aila he had regained Natalia in a way. And it was that which helped him overcome his guilt and grief in losing his partner. He had given her Aila's necklace, his first big step in moving on. However, old habits did tend to die hard, and while recklessness had not been intended, trouble seemed to follow him. Now he found himself injured and in the hospital with no way of contacting headquarters. Surely he would be missed at some point, but little did he expect who would actually be the first to do so and actually go looking for him.
The red head was sleeping in his bed. Hooked up to IVs and machines monitoring his vitals. Able to rest more deeply thanks to the drugs that were introvenously fed into his body. Thus as Izaya came bursting into his room, he didn't seem to notice right away. The sudden obnoxious sound did cause him to stir. Moaning lightly he turned his head towards the door and opened his eyes to stare at the asian intruder. His expression went from blank, to stunned disbelief, to horror.
What the hell was he doing here?! A sense of dread came over Asch, knowing that this wouldn't end happily for him.
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Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 7:32 pm
As Asch's expression gradually worsened, Izaya's increasingly brightened. "There you are!" he cried happily, leaping over to the teenager's bedside. Without much thought to the IVs and other tubes, the grunt leaned over and hugged the agent unceremoniously about his shoulders. Nevermind that the bedridden man was obviously injured with broken bones. As far as Nakura was concerned, Asch deserved the pain for being so idiotically stubborn. If he hadn't been so stupid, then the informant wouldn't have had to come all this way just to track him down. Of course, he revealed none of this in his merry demeanor as he pulled away with a grin.
"It's so good to see you're still alive! We were starting to wonder where you were, you know," he told the agent. "The others figured you could handle yourself, but I knew better." Izaya held out a finger to tap Asch on the nose. "Going out on your own in your state, hardly recovered mentally and physically...I think someone needs to have a visit to Miss Isadora, don't you? Come on, we should get you home as soon as possible." Glancing at the papers and charts at the foot of Asch's bed, he skimmed the information as if he understood the meaning. "Did the doctor say anything about you being due to leave yet? I'm certainly glad they haven't seen fit to discharge you yet, or I would have likely had to bail you out of jail..."
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2012 9:55 pm
Asch's eyes widened and his teeth clenched as the other man threw his arms around him in a hug. Not only was this an invasion of space, physical contact that was not appreciated, but it also hurt like hell!
"AGH! Let go of me you idiot!"
Once he finally let go, the red head leveled Izaya with one of his death glares. Not that he could really follow through on any threats in his condition, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.
"I haven't been told a specific date," he muttered, trying to recover from that painful embrace. "I -can- handle myself. The cops were already here, and there was no proof to arrest me. I'm not stupid." Despite Izaya's thinly veiled claims to the contrary.
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:33 am
"Hahaha! Look at you, calling me the idiot," the grunt laughed, though there was no humor in his voice. A dangerous glint flickered in his eyes, offset slightly by his smile, but it was gone in an instant. "Whatever happened to respect for your elders...? And after I came all this way to pay you a visit!"
The man giggled and twirled once, surveilling the clean, sterile room. Hopping up onto the edge of Asch's bed, perhaps uncomfortably close to the teen's broken leg, he leaned forward on an arm and met the red-head's death gaze. Izaya smiled madly, but his own gaze was dull and dark.
"On the contrary..." he said softly, shifting his view to Asch's cast,"Your current situation reveals your stupidity knows no bounds. It's a wonder you ever got promoted to agent in the first place." Tracing a finger slowly along the injured Rocket's cast, his smile gradually faded. When he looked back up at Asch's emerald eyes, Izaya's mouth was a thin line.
"If you could handle yourself, Agent, then you would have been back in base right now minus all these new injuries. I know your brain was damaged during your concussion but it seems no one realized just how much." He tilted his head inquiringly, resting his head on the shoulder of the arm he was leaning on. "Or were you always this moronic?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:37 am
Asch's eyes narrowed a little as Izaya spoke, this whole circumstance reminding him of the time his hair had been cut. It unnerved him a little, especially since he was in such a vulnerable state, but he didn't let it show.
"What is your problem?" Asch asked irritably, disliking that the man was so close to him. "Look if I could have predicted that the ground would have disappeared from under me, I wouldn't have been there! It was an easy mission, and it -should- have been fine! If you don't think I should be assigned things like that then talk to Kunai, not me! I'm just doing my job!"
The insults about his rank and mental capability did sting a little, but he brushed it off for now. He'd been through enough already, why did this guy have to rub it in?
"At least I don't piss off my superiors and get Pokemon thrown at my head." ... Oh yes he'd heard about that.
"Did you come here just to lecture me?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 9:59 am
"Naturally. No one would have been there," Izaya stated matter-of-factly. "But you didn't even seem to consider what might have happened to you had you gotten lost in the wilderness alone. You were lucky you had help." He sighed heavily.
"I imagine you were just too used to Aila-chan always saving your a** and keeping you from making your own mistakes. And now that she's gone, there's no one to stop you. No one to baby the head-strong, reckless, selfish, self-pitying, stubborn idiot. What a pity."
"Whether you think it was an easy mission or not is besides the point," he continued calmly, though keeping his voice lower. It wouldn't have been good if anyone happened to overhear their conversation. "As an agent, particularly of our division, you should know by now things aren't always what they seem."
"When I was a grunt, my first 'mission' off base was to retrieve some liquid soap from the Camphoreon Outpost. Even so, I had to go with Frosty-chan. I could tell he hated my guts instantly, but he still accompanied me. Good thing, too, considering what happened that day." He crossed his arms across his chest.
"You should have at least taken someone else along, Asch-kun. Judging by what I saw near the site of the accident, you were forced to accept assistance from someone other than our own. If that person had managed to get you arrested, it could have compromised not only you, but everyone else."
Yawning, he seemed to ignore Asch's last question for a bit, reaching over to see if he could lift the teen's cast. "Hmm...can you feel this?" he asked, before letting it drop. "As far as Seth-chan, that was his bad judgement call. He couldn't control his temper. Not my fault."
He attempted to pick up Asch's arm cast next. "Concerning my lecturing, I doubt any of what I've said will get through to you, considering how hard-headed you are. It would be nice to just walk out of here and say, 'tough luck, have a nice day', leaving you stranded here for who knows how long. But..."
Izaya smiled and leaned closer to Asch's face. "That wouldn't be any fun. So why don't you try again to ask me for help? A little nicer this time." He dropped the cast.
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:16 am
Asch cringed as his leg was dropped, and did even less so when the abuse was shifted to his arm.
"What does Aila even have to do with this? Are you -still- hung up on her? She's DEAD, get over it!" Asch snapped venomously.
"I didn't need her before, and I still don't need her now. She had you and everyone else during that raid, and she still died! What's your excuse? You have no right to judge me!"
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:42 am
Nakura blinked a minute when Asch snapped back at him. Then he laughed, loud and forcefully. "'Hung up on her'? You make it sound like we broke up or something," he gasped, gaping for air. "My point was that she was always cleaning up your messes before, so you never learned to take care of yourself, like controlling your temper or thinking before you acted. This has nothing to do with Aila; it could have been anyone. She just happened to be assigned as your caretaker. A.K.A partner."
He grinned darkly. "Though...it seems someone stopped grieving over their loss," he snickered. "I take it Natalia-chan has been kind to you lately. Made you feel less alone? Aww, but you are alone. So alone~" The grunt waved a hand dramatically. "Such forbidden love could never come to fruition. Besides, you're too much like me to ever want to fully settle down. The difference is I enjoy my solitude while you simply want to wallow in your own self pity."
Izaya paused. "I feel like we've had this talk before. Probably have, considering how hard it is to get through to you. If it didn't then, I doubt it will now, but I guess repetition does the memory good."
Waving a finger in Asch's face, Izaya clicked his tongue. "Tsk, tsk. See, that's the sort of thinking that makes you so abhorrently ignorant. You're soo obsessed with your pride and dignity that you can't admit you need anybody. You need my help right now, don't you? Though I'm still wondering how we're going to deal with those casts, given how heavy they are..." He began to glance around in search of a wheelchair.
"It wasn't the team's fault she died; it was her own," Nakura told Asch as he looked around, his back to the agent. "What's my excuse for what? Not sure I understand what you mean there. And as far as judging you, what does it matter to you what I think of you~? You don't care for my opinion at all. So why get so worked up?" He stood, looking thoughtful. "Could it be because you yourself are doing the judging? Maybe your judgement just agrees with mine and you can't stand to admit it."
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 10:51 am
"She did nothing of the sort," Asch said back with irritation. "I think you've got some pretty damn twisted ideas about her and I."
However, as Izaya continued to speak, Asch just huffed and looked away. This was pointless and some of the words the man said were in fact somewhat truthful.
"Natalia is living a fantasy. I can't be what she wants me to be, you and I both know that."
"I still don't need your help, but whatever. Just shut up."
His tone was less angry and more resigned. Asch was just sick of this person, and sick of arguing in general.
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:05 am
"...She kept you from doing anything to me at the Halloween party, didn't she?" he asked. "And I could be wrong, but I thought she intervened during the Anniversary party at the karaoke bar as well...oh, wait, no. That was Faleen. But that doesn't matter. It doesn't have to do so much with Aila as it does with you. Like I said, the main point is that you're like a Growlithe that can't be trusted to go anywhere and behave himself or keep from getting hurt without a leash."
At the mention of Natalia, Nakura nodded slowly. "Yes, that's true. But then why do you indulge her fantasy? Don't tell me you don't fool yourself into thinking it could happen every now and then. You take comfort in knowing she doesn't think you're alone in the world, or want you to be. But the fact remains that you are."
He did a little skip and a hop towards the door, grabbing its frame and leaning out from the wall. "Really? Well, if that's the case, then okay. Have fun being bedridden~!" Izaya made to step out of the room, perhaps slowing just a tad more than usual to see if Asch would change his mind.
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 11:14 am
Asch snorted at the part comparing him to a Growlithe, but as far as Natalia was concerned, he said nothing. He hadn't really thought of it like that, and perhaps he was. A part of him definitely wished it could be true.
The red head looked thoroughly unimpressed as Izaya stepped out the door. He huffed and leaned back against his pillow and closed his eyes.
"Fine. Good riddance. Now I can have some peace."
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:01 pm
Unfortunately, both Rockets probably knew things wouldn't be that simple. As much as Asch and Izaya would have liked nothing more to do with each other, Izaya was too angry to just leave the teenager alone. His exit had been real, in a certain sort of way, because when the grunt returned to Asch, it wasn't going to be the same, emotion-concealing, cheerful-faced grunt he was used to. The agent was really starting to irritate him and Nakura couldn't ignore that any longer.
Once outside, Izaya's smile disappeared completely and his mouth was a thin, hard frown. He narrowed his eyes as he turned a corner and headed into a bathroom, locking himself in a stall. Withdrawing a pokeball, he stared at it a moment before releasing the Zorua within. Aila's former pokemon blinked and shook himself as he realized what a cramped space they were in. "...Zor?" he asked, looking up curiously at his new master.
"Riviere," Izaya addressed him softly, crouching down, "I need you to go outside and take on the illusion of the first medical person you see. You know what medics look like, right? They're like the ones that work at the infirmary at base."
Riviere looked uncertain, but he could tell something was off about his trainer. The grunt didn't usually look so...ruffled. He nodded, thinking he would probably be able to remember what a medic looked like if he saw one. He would do his best.
"Good. Do that and meet me in the lobby. I'll find a wheelchair. Then you take it to the room I point at. Understood?"
The blue-tipped Zorua nodded again, snickering a little. This would be fun! And he'd get to stretch his legs some. And in a new place, too! Before Izaya could say another word, Riviere was sneaking under the stall door and towards the exit, where he could wait in the hallway for a medic to pass. His trainer waited a while for the pokemon to get a headstart before leaving the stall after.
It wasn't long before a Blissey came to greet Izaya at the Lobby. He wouldn't have noticed it if it hadn't tugged insistently at his shoulder, wearing a creepy grin with mischievous eyes. He flinched at first before realizing what had happened. Peering at the Blissey's backside he realized its tail wasn't visible. "So you can do pokemon just fine, but not humans," he noted. "Interesting. I guess that makes it easier for us, then."
Handing the Blissey the wheelchair which he had borrowed from some doctors, he pointed the way with spoken directions to the room Asch was in. Soon enough, a happy if disturbing-looking Blissey was strolling into the room, holding the wheelchair out in front of it. He bumped it meaningfully into the agent's bed a few times, snickering all the while.
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:10 pm
Hearing something approach, Asch cracked open one eye as he watched a Blissey walk in with a wheelchair. Confused as to what it would want, its intention became clear was it bumped the wheelchair against his bed. He wasn't supposed to be getting up, even in a wheelchair. And why would the doctors send it by itself? It made no sense.
Then all became clear when the thing snickered. He knew that look on the Pokemon's face. He owned a Zorua and a Zoroark, Asch wasn't so easily fooled. The red head groaned and rolled his eyes.
"Since when did Nakura get a Zorua?" he muttered. He then glared at the Pokemon.
"Fine. I'll come with you. But get my stuff first." He pointed to a table across the room that had a bag on top of it. Inside were Asch's clothes and his pokeballs.
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2012 8:46 am
At Asch's glare, Riviere's smile wilted and his posture drooped. He knew this human, but the human didn't recognize him? Well, he supposed the agent couldn't really have been able to tell while he was in this form. And besides, he'd never technically been introduced to the red-haired human, but he'd seen Tyke and Saber around. After all, this Rocket had been the partner of Riviere's original Rocket trainer.
He couldn't worry about that now, though. His new trainer was waiting outside and he didn't like to be kept waiting for long. Hurrying wordlessly toward the stuff Asch had indicated on the table, Riviere did his best to please. Unfortunately, he had thought to take a shortcut, leaping up onto the bed on his four, stubby limbs and scurrying across Asch's body. Luckily he wasn't all that heavy, but it must have been quite a sight to see a Blissey crawling over a patient's body to get to the table on the other side.
In no time Riviere had the clothes draped over the back of the wheelchair and the pokeballs placed securely and carefully within their folds. He then held out his stubby arms encouragingly, attempting to offer help to the bed-ridden Asch.
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