emsiecat
July 21st, 2008, 04:05 pm
Ryoji and Fuyumi wandered through the corridors towards the mess hall. Lectures had finished for the day and the Intermediates now had the afternoon off to catch up on any outstanding paperwork, apply for various missions, train their Pokémon or so on.
First came lunch.
Fuyumi filled her other friend in on the details of her eavesdropping as they walked from the lecture room to the mess hall. As the corridors became more crowded Fui wrapped up her discussion so that less favourable members wouldn't overhear.
Ryoji changed the subject as he pushed open the mess hall doors and the overall level of noise increased tenfold. Team Rocket members trotted here and there carrying trays filled with food, some were shouting over at team mates or companions to join them at a particular table, others were slumped looking fed up and tired as they chewed quietly, more still queued up for the near inedible slop they served as food. The word 'queue' was probably too formal a word. It was more of a disorderly line in which people shoved, pushed and jostled to try and get the food that least resembled a squashed Mudkip.
There was a pronounced shout over the din in the room as a man pushed his way through the crowds and launched himself at Ryoji.
Anyone who had been witnessing this for the first time might have thought that yet another Team Rocket brawl was about to take place. Thankfully for most in the vicinity Ryoji was only tackled in a friendly manner as the newcomer latched himself to Ryoji in a hug that would put a Tediursa to shame.
"Ryo!" The man squealed amusingly.
"Koijiro!" Ryo replied.
The pair trying to hold one another's weight went careening into one of the tables. The pitcher of orange juice that was knocked over came dangerously close to dumping all over one Elite Rank Domino.
"Oi, watch it you idiots!" The blonde haired girl seethed as she scooted away from the large puddle of juice that was expanding over the tabletop.
Neither of them seemed to notice as they awkwardly held onto one another and began to spin and jump around in a ridiculous half-dance that Koijiro's companion Meowth, ambling up to them on two legs, had only thought was possible when both men were completely drunk.
The unusual Pokémon with the ability to speak the human tongue saw fit to tell them that they looked completely ludicrous, and thus prompted some over the top pouting from both of them.
Fuyumi, deciding they'd drawn enough unwanted attention to themselves, ushered the trio over to a nearby table. The table in question only had one occupant, a woman with long magenta hair, who was currently trying to fend off would be table-usurpers whilst she saved places for her friends.
"Musashi." Fui nodded to the woman politely.
Musashi smiled and returned the acknowledgement before turning on Koijiro. The change in her facial expression was amusing. Pupils contracted, smile was wiped from her lips, and a vein throbbed at her temple. The lavender haired man yelped and closed his eyes in long standing knowledge of what was coming next. His fears were proven as Musashi smacked him upside the head, hard.
"Next time I won't hold your place for you, idiot!"
"B-but I wanted to say hi to Ryo! We haven't seen him in aaages!" He drew out the word in a childish gesture of emphasis.
"You saw him last week and did the same thing then, don't exaggerate." Musashi snapped back.
Fui winced as the pair continued to bicker. Ryoji sliding easily into a seat and into the argument as he mischievously fuelled the fire with one or two comments of his own, a smirk on his lips.
"So, where's Li?"
Fui looked down to see Meowth looking around expectantly for their other red-head.
"I think she's in the queue, gone to get our food."
"Brave kid. Looks more like she's doin' an impression of a sandwich if you ask me." Meowth smirked pointing her out.
Fui whipped her head to the line to find the woman completely squashed between two much larger Team Rocket members. She looked decidedly ill at ease and was motioning to her friend for some help.
Fuyumi could sympathise. The two burly people she was stuck between looked in need of a shower.
"Want to help her?" Fui asked the fanged cat.
"Sure. You'd only get pummelled anyways." Meowth puffed out his chest and walked towards the line, trying to appear heroic but only pulling off looking foolish.
***
Liana had been stood in the queue a while and wasn't best pleased with her situation. It was bad enough one foul smelling muscle-bound moron was in front of her, but when another joined the queue behind and started trying to push the entire line forward, well that just about did it.
She helplessly jiggled a hand towards her companions in hope they might see her but it didn't seem to work. As the man behind her shoved the line again, the man in front stepped back… right onto Liana's foot.
"Fighting a losing battle here aintcha."
Liana glanced down in relief to see the familiar Pokémon that followed Musashi and Koijiro around.
"Meowth, get me out of this and I'll buy you whole bag of Skitty-brand catnip." Liana muttered from the corner of her mouth.
"No need to bribe, but as youse is offering…" he threw her a fanged grin before drawing himself up to his full, and unfortunately unimpressive height. "One knight in shining armour coming up."
Like the cat he was Meowth slunk around the two larger members unnoticed. He looked this way and that to check for witnesses before unsheathing his claws.
With two well aimed swipes he left his mark on the behind of the man at the back of the queue. Who shrieked amusingly and leapt out of the line. Only to have a young woman take his place seconds later.
Meowth smiled mischievously and turned his attention to the other lug in the vicinity. Making sure again that nobody was watching him. He waited until the line shifted forward slightly before making that famous move of all felines, getting under a humans feet.
The large man went stumbling forward into the rest of the queue. Meowth's reflexes getting him out of the way before his tail could be trodden on, or worse.
Shouts of irate people and threats were issued to the 'clumsy oaf' until all he could do was stalk out of the lunch line and go back to sit at his table.
Liana could finally breathe fresh air again. She turned and gave Meowth a grateful smile.
"Thanks, I owe you one."
"No problem. Jus' make sure to get me the special B lunch today, oh and I still want that catnip."
Liana rolled her eyes at the greedy creature but decided it was probably worth it.
***
"And dats when this idiot loses control of the mecha!" Meowth gestured idly to Koijiro as he finished talking about one of the groups' recent misadventures.
"Needless to say we blasted off soon after, damn brat." Musashi chimed in dully as she sipped at her drink.
"I didn't lose control of the mecha! You'd switched the controls so you could pilot it easier!" Koijiro sounded angry, his cheeks flushing from either embarrassment, frustration, or both.
"Yeah but I told youse about dat! You jus' went and did your own thing as usual."
"I saved the bloody thing, well mostly. At least the boss didn't have another mecha repair bill to worry about. It was relatively unscathed!" Koijiro was still trying to defend his actions.
"Relatively meaning…?" Ryo wheedled.
"Don't ask." Musashi moodily snorted as she bolted down some of the pork noodles she'd ordered.
The group descended into more bickering which was thankfully drowned out by the rest of the noise in the mess hall.
Liana looked at Meowth who was sat beside her. He'd stopped arguing in favour for his lunch and left Musashi and Koijiro to it. It was generally the way most of their 'heated debates' went. Meowth would start it; the other two would finish it, mostly with insults.
Fuyumi and Ryoji hadn't discussed what had been overheard in the Executives office with them yet, so Liana set about telling Meowth.
It was okay to tell him, she decided. He may be a blabbermouth who wanted to please his boss and former master but his heart was in the right place and he wouldn't betray a friend. Besides with his sensitive hearing she could basically whisper the tale to him and he'd still pick it up, so she didn't have to worry about anyone else overhearing.
Meowth listened to her intently, interest filling his intelligent eyes.
"Well dat's new alright." He muttered when Liana had finished speaking. "So this thing is still on da loose?"
"We think so."
Meowth rubbed the gold charm on his head in thought. "Might be best not to tell anyone else this but us, even Ayumi can't be fully trusted with this kinda info."
Liana quirked an eyebrow, for some reason Meowth had never fully trusted her roommate.
Liana decided it was time for a subject change and began talking to Meowth about his active duty in the field. She hadn't been able to join in with any outside work yet and loved hearing his stories. He had such an interesting accent too. It was odd enough that he spoke, where he'd picked up the accent was beyond her, but it was definitely Kantonian. Having never been anywhere other than Johto it was interesting to listen to.
"So how's 'da twoip'?" she asked, trying and failing to mimic his way of speaking.
Meowth chuckled.
"He's fine, unfortunately." He groused. "Damned Pikachu still as feisty as ever, I'm positive he has a grudge against me. Whenever we manage to catch him he always says to me: 'You're gonna get yours y'know'. And we do."
"Hmm how strange, maybe it has something to do with you continually kidnapping him?" Liana teased as she tapped her chin in mock thought
"Pfft, no reason to pump electricity into us every time he sees us is it. We're not always after him."
"Of course not." Liana humoured him as Meowth grumbled about 'brats and their Pikachus'.
First came lunch.
Fuyumi filled her other friend in on the details of her eavesdropping as they walked from the lecture room to the mess hall. As the corridors became more crowded Fui wrapped up her discussion so that less favourable members wouldn't overhear.
Ryoji changed the subject as he pushed open the mess hall doors and the overall level of noise increased tenfold. Team Rocket members trotted here and there carrying trays filled with food, some were shouting over at team mates or companions to join them at a particular table, others were slumped looking fed up and tired as they chewed quietly, more still queued up for the near inedible slop they served as food. The word 'queue' was probably too formal a word. It was more of a disorderly line in which people shoved, pushed and jostled to try and get the food that least resembled a squashed Mudkip.
There was a pronounced shout over the din in the room as a man pushed his way through the crowds and launched himself at Ryoji.
Anyone who had been witnessing this for the first time might have thought that yet another Team Rocket brawl was about to take place. Thankfully for most in the vicinity Ryoji was only tackled in a friendly manner as the newcomer latched himself to Ryoji in a hug that would put a Tediursa to shame.
"Ryo!" The man squealed amusingly.
"Koijiro!" Ryo replied.
The pair trying to hold one another's weight went careening into one of the tables. The pitcher of orange juice that was knocked over came dangerously close to dumping all over one Elite Rank Domino.
"Oi, watch it you idiots!" The blonde haired girl seethed as she scooted away from the large puddle of juice that was expanding over the tabletop.
Neither of them seemed to notice as they awkwardly held onto one another and began to spin and jump around in a ridiculous half-dance that Koijiro's companion Meowth, ambling up to them on two legs, had only thought was possible when both men were completely drunk.
The unusual Pokémon with the ability to speak the human tongue saw fit to tell them that they looked completely ludicrous, and thus prompted some over the top pouting from both of them.
Fuyumi, deciding they'd drawn enough unwanted attention to themselves, ushered the trio over to a nearby table. The table in question only had one occupant, a woman with long magenta hair, who was currently trying to fend off would be table-usurpers whilst she saved places for her friends.
"Musashi." Fui nodded to the woman politely.
Musashi smiled and returned the acknowledgement before turning on Koijiro. The change in her facial expression was amusing. Pupils contracted, smile was wiped from her lips, and a vein throbbed at her temple. The lavender haired man yelped and closed his eyes in long standing knowledge of what was coming next. His fears were proven as Musashi smacked him upside the head, hard.
"Next time I won't hold your place for you, idiot!"
"B-but I wanted to say hi to Ryo! We haven't seen him in aaages!" He drew out the word in a childish gesture of emphasis.
"You saw him last week and did the same thing then, don't exaggerate." Musashi snapped back.
Fui winced as the pair continued to bicker. Ryoji sliding easily into a seat and into the argument as he mischievously fuelled the fire with one or two comments of his own, a smirk on his lips.
"So, where's Li?"
Fui looked down to see Meowth looking around expectantly for their other red-head.
"I think she's in the queue, gone to get our food."
"Brave kid. Looks more like she's doin' an impression of a sandwich if you ask me." Meowth smirked pointing her out.
Fui whipped her head to the line to find the woman completely squashed between two much larger Team Rocket members. She looked decidedly ill at ease and was motioning to her friend for some help.
Fuyumi could sympathise. The two burly people she was stuck between looked in need of a shower.
"Want to help her?" Fui asked the fanged cat.
"Sure. You'd only get pummelled anyways." Meowth puffed out his chest and walked towards the line, trying to appear heroic but only pulling off looking foolish.
***
Liana had been stood in the queue a while and wasn't best pleased with her situation. It was bad enough one foul smelling muscle-bound moron was in front of her, but when another joined the queue behind and started trying to push the entire line forward, well that just about did it.
She helplessly jiggled a hand towards her companions in hope they might see her but it didn't seem to work. As the man behind her shoved the line again, the man in front stepped back… right onto Liana's foot.
"Fighting a losing battle here aintcha."
Liana glanced down in relief to see the familiar Pokémon that followed Musashi and Koijiro around.
"Meowth, get me out of this and I'll buy you whole bag of Skitty-brand catnip." Liana muttered from the corner of her mouth.
"No need to bribe, but as youse is offering…" he threw her a fanged grin before drawing himself up to his full, and unfortunately unimpressive height. "One knight in shining armour coming up."
Like the cat he was Meowth slunk around the two larger members unnoticed. He looked this way and that to check for witnesses before unsheathing his claws.
With two well aimed swipes he left his mark on the behind of the man at the back of the queue. Who shrieked amusingly and leapt out of the line. Only to have a young woman take his place seconds later.
Meowth smiled mischievously and turned his attention to the other lug in the vicinity. Making sure again that nobody was watching him. He waited until the line shifted forward slightly before making that famous move of all felines, getting under a humans feet.
The large man went stumbling forward into the rest of the queue. Meowth's reflexes getting him out of the way before his tail could be trodden on, or worse.
Shouts of irate people and threats were issued to the 'clumsy oaf' until all he could do was stalk out of the lunch line and go back to sit at his table.
Liana could finally breathe fresh air again. She turned and gave Meowth a grateful smile.
"Thanks, I owe you one."
"No problem. Jus' make sure to get me the special B lunch today, oh and I still want that catnip."
Liana rolled her eyes at the greedy creature but decided it was probably worth it.
***
"And dats when this idiot loses control of the mecha!" Meowth gestured idly to Koijiro as he finished talking about one of the groups' recent misadventures.
"Needless to say we blasted off soon after, damn brat." Musashi chimed in dully as she sipped at her drink.
"I didn't lose control of the mecha! You'd switched the controls so you could pilot it easier!" Koijiro sounded angry, his cheeks flushing from either embarrassment, frustration, or both.
"Yeah but I told youse about dat! You jus' went and did your own thing as usual."
"I saved the bloody thing, well mostly. At least the boss didn't have another mecha repair bill to worry about. It was relatively unscathed!" Koijiro was still trying to defend his actions.
"Relatively meaning…?" Ryo wheedled.
"Don't ask." Musashi moodily snorted as she bolted down some of the pork noodles she'd ordered.
The group descended into more bickering which was thankfully drowned out by the rest of the noise in the mess hall.
Liana looked at Meowth who was sat beside her. He'd stopped arguing in favour for his lunch and left Musashi and Koijiro to it. It was generally the way most of their 'heated debates' went. Meowth would start it; the other two would finish it, mostly with insults.
Fuyumi and Ryoji hadn't discussed what had been overheard in the Executives office with them yet, so Liana set about telling Meowth.
It was okay to tell him, she decided. He may be a blabbermouth who wanted to please his boss and former master but his heart was in the right place and he wouldn't betray a friend. Besides with his sensitive hearing she could basically whisper the tale to him and he'd still pick it up, so she didn't have to worry about anyone else overhearing.
Meowth listened to her intently, interest filling his intelligent eyes.
"Well dat's new alright." He muttered when Liana had finished speaking. "So this thing is still on da loose?"
"We think so."
Meowth rubbed the gold charm on his head in thought. "Might be best not to tell anyone else this but us, even Ayumi can't be fully trusted with this kinda info."
Liana quirked an eyebrow, for some reason Meowth had never fully trusted her roommate.
Liana decided it was time for a subject change and began talking to Meowth about his active duty in the field. She hadn't been able to join in with any outside work yet and loved hearing his stories. He had such an interesting accent too. It was odd enough that he spoke, where he'd picked up the accent was beyond her, but it was definitely Kantonian. Having never been anywhere other than Johto it was interesting to listen to.
"So how's 'da twoip'?" she asked, trying and failing to mimic his way of speaking.
Meowth chuckled.
"He's fine, unfortunately." He groused. "Damned Pikachu still as feisty as ever, I'm positive he has a grudge against me. Whenever we manage to catch him he always says to me: 'You're gonna get yours y'know'. And we do."
"Hmm how strange, maybe it has something to do with you continually kidnapping him?" Liana teased as she tapped her chin in mock thought
"Pfft, no reason to pump electricity into us every time he sees us is it. We're not always after him."
"Of course not." Liana humoured him as Meowth grumbled about 'brats and their Pikachus'.