Repercussions
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Kanto North
Chapter 3: Repercussions
***
Later that evening, Theodore and Abigail are in Theo's hotel suite with their company for the night. The nidoking was standing next to the couch, swishing a drink in his paw while Abby was seated next to a rather large female arcanine and a sandslash male roughly the zangoose's height; the latter's legs were casually kicked up on the coffee table.
Taking a sip, Theo set a paw on Abby's shoulder, looking to his guests, "This is Lieutenant Agent Abigail; she is my new assistant," giving a light shake, he smiles down at her while his eyes drift to the arcanine, "You'll find the thing I say next the best, Rhombus."
"Oh?" the arcanine speaks up, tilting her head a little bit, "How would I find it to be funny?"
"I didn't say funny," the nidoking said after taking another sip, stepping back while swishing the glass again. "You see...my new friend here," he winks at the zangoose, "apparently said that you wanted to access some papers. Important, classified stuff...her job, you know?" He looks down to Abby again, "That is how the story goes, right?"
"Yes," she nodded a few times as she eyed the guests, only to have them look back to her. As she abruptly broke contact with them, Abby looked back to Theo, "It was requested that I retrieve a few files--"
She was cut off by him as the nidoking gestured with his glass to Rhombus. "For you,agent Rhombus. Isn't that absurd?"
"Mmmhmm..." the arcanine agreed while letting her arm slide over Abby's shoulders, lightly gripping her opposed shoulder. Abby gave a startled jolt at this, looking up to the arcanine's face to find her looking down with what would otherwise be a friendly smile, "And then what happened?"
"Apparently," he said before downing the rest of his glass, "You then ordered another agent to collect the documents for you." With that, he paced over to the dining table, picking up a bottle.
"Of course," the arcanine said while pressing the smaller pokemorph up hard against her side. She gave a broad grin to Abby, the zangoose gritting her teeth. "That's my standard procedure. But I forget what I wanted to retrieve. Please continue."
Refilling his glass with amber liquor, the nidoking turned around again and paced back to the side he was on earlier. Looking to his now nervous assistant, he sipped and smiled at her, "Some findings on the ruins of alph, Rhombus. That assignment the two of us worked on a couple of years back." He watched his subordinate wince as the larger female's claw tips pierced her skin, the shoulder of her shirt turning slightly red.
The Sandslash draws all the attention to himself with a few words, "Rhombus, ma'am; this may be out of place, but I believe agent Theodore does not want you breaking his newest assistant." That was all said in a bass monotone, the sandmouse not even looking over to anyone else.
"Of course, Slate." The nidoking nodded while looking over to the disinterested sandslash and then moved onto Abby, who's eyes locked with his immediately. "Could you please release her; that's more than enough," he calmly said to Rhombus and the arcanine released the zangoose; she immediately moved her other paw to grip her slightly bloodied shoulder while giving a mixture of a confused and worried look to Theo.
Rhombus, still beaming down at the zangoose, pressed her muzzle close to Abby's ear. "Be happy I don't pull rank on Theo over there."
"She's right," said Theo as he flicked one of his large ears, "For important reasons, I have to answer to Rhombus here. I brought you here to get permission to bring you along on my assignment, agent Abigail." He turned from Abby to the large arcanine female, lowering his ears halfway as he did. "May I keep this agent in my service?"
Rhombus kept that grin on her muzzle while she brought her attention to him. "I'll allow it," the arcanine said before she stood up, "Though any troubles or errors on her part are going to be placed directly on your shoulders, Theodore."
"You wouldn't have it any other way," he replies, bowing his head for a moment. The arcanine sidestepped to Theo's side of the sofa and gave him a pat on the shoulder. She then gave an over shoulder glance to the sandslash, who immediately stood up and began to follow Rhombus as she made her way to the door.
"Hope you two do well," Rhombus said as she opened the door, "may check up on you later." With that, she stepped out, followed by Slate.
After his sensitive ears could no longer hear the footfalls of the other pokemorphs, Theodore sat down on the couch next to the zangoose, who was still holding her shoulder and still giving him a worried look. "Speak up," he said plainly to her.
"Y-You we're going to let her kill me if she didn't like me enough?" she finally exclaimed, pulling her paw back as the bleeding began to subside. "I mean, I already signed the paperwork and everything."
"She wouldn't kill you," he replied to her calmly after taking a sip off his glass, "She's part of the reeducation branch as well as the inquisitorial. Agents who willingly work for them tend to be a bit depraved, but murder is...typically unacceptable for them as well." He takes another before shifting up a bit closer, "Though I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her I said that."
"Oh...will do," she mumbled while removing her paw from her shoulder. She looked down to find five small dots of blood, which matched the arcanine's claws. "I guess all there is to be done is hope she decides to keep her distance?"
"She's not so bad," he paused on those words for a second before looking down to his glass, "In comparison to some." He finished his drink and set it down on the table. "Enough negative," The nidoking said while he picked up a warmer tone, "Go bandage your arm if you feel like. Then, have a drink and tell me a bit about yourself."
"If that's what you'd like."
***
A few minutes pass as Fractal curls himself up next to Alexei; the feral-minded absol gave a snarl at it, but the protest died down quickly. As he stared up at the ceiling and the red light of Fractal's tail began to fade, he began to remember things again. He was Alexei. That was Fractal who was lying next to him-- not the omega in his pack. Fractal was his best friend. He was a member of Team Rocket, a Lieutenant Agent...they were current leaders of this nation. He was under the command of Elite Agent Datan. Elite Agent Datan would be very upset at him if he was caught.
If he was caught. With that thought, Alexei's breathing hastened and he rolled to the side and right out of the ampharos' paws. He jumped to his feet, scrambling about the room to collect his clothing. Fractal blinked a few times at the sudden shove onto his back and looked up to find his frantic friend throwing his shirt on and then slipping his slacks on, haphazardly buckling them while pacing over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Fractal asked him tiredly; Alexei did not even answer that as he ran out, the metal door slamming shut behind him.
Jogging through the hallways back to his room, the absol managed to just avoid clipping the few other morphs passing through at this hour. Once he reached his room by the hall to the servers, he began to pant lightly. A faint scent of tobacco struck the absol's nostrils while he unlocked the door. Before he could even take a step back, the door opened up and revealed a leek-twirling Datan, unfastened tie hanging across the back of his neck.
"Hope it was it good," the duck stated plainly before he grabbed Alexei by the shoulder and dragged him inside with no resistance from the absol. Kicking the door shut, the Farfetch'd gave a hiss and shoved the absol back and towards his bed in the same motion. Alexei tripped over his paws and fell backwards onto the mattress, head striking the wall.
Datan did not give him a moment to recover, he immediately stepped over and seized him by the thickly furred ruff between his shirt collar. "Tell me, you stupid bitch, when did I say it was allowed for you to fuck around?" He pressed the leek up to the side of Alexei's neck, gray eyes narrowing. "Well?" He gave a couple of grating quacks, pressing the green onion up harder while he felt the absol tremble.
"You--" Alexei coughed a bit, looking right into Datan's angered eyes, "Y-y-you didn't! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Really?" Datan hissed and flicked the leek down and across the absol's shirt, cleanly cutting it down the center buttons and flicking it open before he brought the onion back up. "I own you," he whispered softly, brining the leek up and rubbing at the end of where the horn on Alexei's head once was, "You serve no one but me in that regard. And as long as I am the boss here, that is how it is going to stay."
"I understand," said Alexei, whimpering as he averted his eyes from the farfetch'd for a second. He received a hard shake for it and was then pushed down against the sheets, the duck bent over him.
"If I catch you fucking with him again," he paused while he slid the leek down and under the fur of the absol's exposed chest, "I may have to inform him of why I do not appreciate others interfering with my work."
"I-I'll try not to," the absol's eyes clenched shut as he felt the tip of the onion scrape painfully against his skin.
Datan paused in thought for a few seconds before he gave his response. "Did I tell you to stop it?" His eyes went wild as he swiped the leek across his subordinate's chest. Alexei gave a growl as the plant shallowly cut him, a diagonal line of red appearing in a couple of moments.
"I won't!" Alexei protested and was rewarded with another shallow swipe to his chest, this time taking a few tufts of fur with it as the duck hissed down at him, his restraining paw sliding up to the absol's throat.
Squeezing down on Alexei's neck, the duck made a few soft quacking sounds and waved the bloodied veg back and forth in a scolding manner. "Been awhile since you've bit back," he whispered while tapping the leek against the newest cut, "I'll remind you of an important fact: You disgust me. You're the son of one of the highest ranking members of our entire nation and all you managed to do is become some techie nerd!" With that, he began to squeeze harder, the absol's whole form quaking as he stared up at Datan desperately, paws almost moving to clasp the strangling paw before he managed to stop them. "Your old friend Theodore made himself into something, even after deserting with you. And he's got someone just like me watching his actions, too."
He paused his words, just letting Alexei's thoughts grow more frantic before he continued. "You must be getting a bit lightheaded by this point...though I'm not sure how much more is possible considering how empty headed you are in the first place. I will release you and you will apologize." And he did so. Alexei gave a couple of hard coughs, rubbing over his throat with a paw before taking a few deep breaths.
"Sorry," Alexei gasped out in a meek tone of voice "Sorry, that was out of my place. I'll do what you tell me to..." his eyes began to wander to the side and Datan responded with a hard slap across his muzzle.
"Eyes on me," Datan said down to him, watching a line of blood begin to trail out from one of Alexei's nostrils. "I want you to keep...things up," he prodded the tip of the leek at the absol's crotch, making him flinch from fear it would cut. It did not and Datan gave a little snicker at the reaction before he continued, "with Agent Fractal. Understood?"
Alexei blinked a few times as Datan finally eased back. The farfetch'd took a couple of licks off of the bloodied leek and then a nibble, winking at the absol before he turned and began to pace out. "Tell Sophia, or whoever is on duty, those cuts are from training with me." And with that, Datan made his exit. "It's true, after all."
***
Back in Goldenrod, Theodore was pouring another glass. Handing it to Abby, who was now slouched back on the couch, he set himself down next to her while picking up his own drink from the table. "So..." the nidoking said, looking to her, "Got family-- a mate? You know, the things that make up a good life?"
"No mate," she said with a shrug before she took a curious sip of what Theo gave her, giving a small cough after downing it.
Theo gave a soft chuckle at her reaction before he downed his it in one gulp and set the glass to the side, "So why no mate?"
She gave a little smile and looked up to him, attempting another taste before she replied, "Well, what's happening right now is a good reason not to. Don't you think?"
He nodded at that while he leaned down to the table to pour himself another, "True enough."
"You?" The zangoose asked, leaning against his shoulder while she watched him just finish half of his new glass in a few seconds. That was only making her job easier.
"Me neither," he said, turning and giving a somewhat surprised look as she pressed up to him. "At one point, I had an arranged pairing made by my family, but it never met reality. This career does not exactly make me popular and loved, either."
"That's too bad..." she trailed off, looking him right in the eyes again. It was time to win him over even more.
The nidoking sniffed a few times as he got a hint of her scent filling the air, the edges of his ears going a little red. Giving a small smile, he let an arm wrap around her lower back. "What's there to be done? I was born into this organization, as many are, and the path I am on discourages any concrete commitment to anything besides the Team."
It was working. The incorruptible paragon was so vulnerable to such primal manipulation it seemed. She brushed her bushy tail up against the side of Theo's face a couple of times, which made the nidoking's blush grow deeper. Winking at him, the zangoose let a paw slide over his, giving a light squeeze. "Oh my," she cooed, "seems like you are not that difficult to get going."
"Highly inappropriate conduct," he responded in a whisper, the nidoking tilting his head and brining his muzzle close to her. "Though I'd hate to admit being base," he let his paw slide onto her thigh while finishing the glass and setting it down, "I like that." At that, she felt the nidoking's tail start to trail up her leg and around to wrap hers.
Too easy. She ran her paw up his chest and unbuttoned the top of the nidoking's shirt. He gave a small smirk at this, ears falling a bit as he lightly squeezed her tail with his. "From that," said the zangoose as she slowly stood up and placed her unfinished glass on the table, "Do you mean this is what normally happens?"
He shook his head and stood up behind her, wrapping both arms around her while carefully avoiding her injured shoulder. Swinging his tail with hers, he gave a playful blow at an ear before he rested his head lightly on hers, looking down as he did. "Not at all. I let other seize the initiative if they desire-- it would be even more inappropriate for me to pressure anyone."
Her eyes looked up to the nidoking's. "So you're as decadent as the rest," she said in a mocking scold, "Shame on you. You're supposed to be an impartial force of order in this government."
"Please," the tipsy nidoking responded dismissively as he gave her tail another squeeze, "You're the one who's trying to encourage me. I'd like to consider this simply a matter of building our trust and bonds."
"Whatever you'd like to call it, Theo," the zangoose responded with a little laugh, stepping out of his embrace and tugging on his tail as she nodded to the bedroom door. Ears falling to the sides of his head, he followed her in while their tails continued to swing together.
This was too easy.
***
Returning to Kanto North, Datan was kicked back at his desk, phone receiver pressed between his shoulder and head while he flicked around the half-eaten onion from earlier. "Hey hun," said the farfetch'd affectionately as he heard the call open on the other end, "Sorry for calling so late tonight-- work got in the way as it usually does."
Hearing the response, he took a nibble of the leek before answering back. "Glad to know you're not upset. So, how's our daughter been lately? Last I heard Mallory was considering applying to the Mt. Silver academy." His eyes lit up at the response, "She was accepted? Great, I'm sure she'll make a fine inquisitor someday."
He licked the last dried drop of blood off the onion while hearing more. "I'm happy for her, though kinda curious what turned her off of going down her father's path. Most in the business take up their parent's paths, after all." He shrugged at the response, "I guess that's a good enough reason. I'll have to make sure to take some time off before she leaves to pay you two a visit."
"Yeah...yeah, It's been really busy over here lately," he said next while balancing the stick on one fingertip. "Latest news is we're gonna be getting a transfer that a few of us are somewhat concerned over, though I'm sure with the proper precautions he'll do just fine in our division."
"Don't worry about me, dear. I'll bow out if things start to go astray over here. Now, I really need to be getting to bed; so you take care. Yep, love you too. Goodnight." With that, he set the receiver back and sat up. Yawning, he finished off the leek and made his way out for the night.
He arrived at his own quarters, the room being bare besides standard furniture and a large clay planter in the far corner filled with growing onions, a bright lamp above shining down on it. Pacing over to it, he ran his feathered paws through the plants for a few moments before reaching up and flicking the lamp off.
Kanto North
Chapter 3: Repercussions
***
Later that evening, Theodore and Abigail are in Theo's hotel suite with their company for the night. The nidoking was standing next to the couch, swishing a drink in his paw while Abby was seated next to a rather large female arcanine and a sandslash male roughly the zangoose's height; the latter's legs were casually kicked up on the coffee table.
Taking a sip, Theo set a paw on Abby's shoulder, looking to his guests, "This is Lieutenant Agent Abigail; she is my new assistant," giving a light shake, he smiles down at her while his eyes drift to the arcanine, "You'll find the thing I say next the best, Rhombus."
"Oh?" the arcanine speaks up, tilting her head a little bit, "How would I find it to be funny?"
"I didn't say funny," the nidoking said after taking another sip, stepping back while swishing the glass again. "You see...my new friend here," he winks at the zangoose, "apparently said that you wanted to access some papers. Important, classified stuff...her job, you know?" He looks down to Abby again, "That is how the story goes, right?"
"Yes," she nodded a few times as she eyed the guests, only to have them look back to her. As she abruptly broke contact with them, Abby looked back to Theo, "It was requested that I retrieve a few files--"
She was cut off by him as the nidoking gestured with his glass to Rhombus. "For you,agent Rhombus. Isn't that absurd?"
"Mmmhmm..." the arcanine agreed while letting her arm slide over Abby's shoulders, lightly gripping her opposed shoulder. Abby gave a startled jolt at this, looking up to the arcanine's face to find her looking down with what would otherwise be a friendly smile, "And then what happened?"
"Apparently," he said before downing the rest of his glass, "You then ordered another agent to collect the documents for you." With that, he paced over to the dining table, picking up a bottle.
"Of course," the arcanine said while pressing the smaller pokemorph up hard against her side. She gave a broad grin to Abby, the zangoose gritting her teeth. "That's my standard procedure. But I forget what I wanted to retrieve. Please continue."
Refilling his glass with amber liquor, the nidoking turned around again and paced back to the side he was on earlier. Looking to his now nervous assistant, he sipped and smiled at her, "Some findings on the ruins of alph, Rhombus. That assignment the two of us worked on a couple of years back." He watched his subordinate wince as the larger female's claw tips pierced her skin, the shoulder of her shirt turning slightly red.
The Sandslash draws all the attention to himself with a few words, "Rhombus, ma'am; this may be out of place, but I believe agent Theodore does not want you breaking his newest assistant." That was all said in a bass monotone, the sandmouse not even looking over to anyone else.
"Of course, Slate." The nidoking nodded while looking over to the disinterested sandslash and then moved onto Abby, who's eyes locked with his immediately. "Could you please release her; that's more than enough," he calmly said to Rhombus and the arcanine released the zangoose; she immediately moved her other paw to grip her slightly bloodied shoulder while giving a mixture of a confused and worried look to Theo.
Rhombus, still beaming down at the zangoose, pressed her muzzle close to Abby's ear. "Be happy I don't pull rank on Theo over there."
"She's right," said Theo as he flicked one of his large ears, "For important reasons, I have to answer to Rhombus here. I brought you here to get permission to bring you along on my assignment, agent Abigail." He turned from Abby to the large arcanine female, lowering his ears halfway as he did. "May I keep this agent in my service?"
Rhombus kept that grin on her muzzle while she brought her attention to him. "I'll allow it," the arcanine said before she stood up, "Though any troubles or errors on her part are going to be placed directly on your shoulders, Theodore."
"You wouldn't have it any other way," he replies, bowing his head for a moment. The arcanine sidestepped to Theo's side of the sofa and gave him a pat on the shoulder. She then gave an over shoulder glance to the sandslash, who immediately stood up and began to follow Rhombus as she made her way to the door.
"Hope you two do well," Rhombus said as she opened the door, "may check up on you later." With that, she stepped out, followed by Slate.
After his sensitive ears could no longer hear the footfalls of the other pokemorphs, Theodore sat down on the couch next to the zangoose, who was still holding her shoulder and still giving him a worried look. "Speak up," he said plainly to her.
"Y-You we're going to let her kill me if she didn't like me enough?" she finally exclaimed, pulling her paw back as the bleeding began to subside. "I mean, I already signed the paperwork and everything."
"She wouldn't kill you," he replied to her calmly after taking a sip off his glass, "She's part of the reeducation branch as well as the inquisitorial. Agents who willingly work for them tend to be a bit depraved, but murder is...typically unacceptable for them as well." He takes another before shifting up a bit closer, "Though I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell her I said that."
"Oh...will do," she mumbled while removing her paw from her shoulder. She looked down to find five small dots of blood, which matched the arcanine's claws. "I guess all there is to be done is hope she decides to keep her distance?"
"She's not so bad," he paused on those words for a second before looking down to his glass, "In comparison to some." He finished his drink and set it down on the table. "Enough negative," The nidoking said while he picked up a warmer tone, "Go bandage your arm if you feel like. Then, have a drink and tell me a bit about yourself."
"If that's what you'd like."
***
A few minutes pass as Fractal curls himself up next to Alexei; the feral-minded absol gave a snarl at it, but the protest died down quickly. As he stared up at the ceiling and the red light of Fractal's tail began to fade, he began to remember things again. He was Alexei. That was Fractal who was lying next to him-- not the omega in his pack. Fractal was his best friend. He was a member of Team Rocket, a Lieutenant Agent...they were current leaders of this nation. He was under the command of Elite Agent Datan. Elite Agent Datan would be very upset at him if he was caught.
If he was caught. With that thought, Alexei's breathing hastened and he rolled to the side and right out of the ampharos' paws. He jumped to his feet, scrambling about the room to collect his clothing. Fractal blinked a few times at the sudden shove onto his back and looked up to find his frantic friend throwing his shirt on and then slipping his slacks on, haphazardly buckling them while pacing over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Fractal asked him tiredly; Alexei did not even answer that as he ran out, the metal door slamming shut behind him.
Jogging through the hallways back to his room, the absol managed to just avoid clipping the few other morphs passing through at this hour. Once he reached his room by the hall to the servers, he began to pant lightly. A faint scent of tobacco struck the absol's nostrils while he unlocked the door. Before he could even take a step back, the door opened up and revealed a leek-twirling Datan, unfastened tie hanging across the back of his neck.
"Hope it was it good," the duck stated plainly before he grabbed Alexei by the shoulder and dragged him inside with no resistance from the absol. Kicking the door shut, the Farfetch'd gave a hiss and shoved the absol back and towards his bed in the same motion. Alexei tripped over his paws and fell backwards onto the mattress, head striking the wall.
Datan did not give him a moment to recover, he immediately stepped over and seized him by the thickly furred ruff between his shirt collar. "Tell me, you stupid bitch, when did I say it was allowed for you to fuck around?" He pressed the leek up to the side of Alexei's neck, gray eyes narrowing. "Well?" He gave a couple of grating quacks, pressing the green onion up harder while he felt the absol tremble.
"You--" Alexei coughed a bit, looking right into Datan's angered eyes, "Y-y-you didn't! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Really?" Datan hissed and flicked the leek down and across the absol's shirt, cleanly cutting it down the center buttons and flicking it open before he brought the onion back up. "I own you," he whispered softly, brining the leek up and rubbing at the end of where the horn on Alexei's head once was, "You serve no one but me in that regard. And as long as I am the boss here, that is how it is going to stay."
"I understand," said Alexei, whimpering as he averted his eyes from the farfetch'd for a second. He received a hard shake for it and was then pushed down against the sheets, the duck bent over him.
"If I catch you fucking with him again," he paused while he slid the leek down and under the fur of the absol's exposed chest, "I may have to inform him of why I do not appreciate others interfering with my work."
"I-I'll try not to," the absol's eyes clenched shut as he felt the tip of the onion scrape painfully against his skin.
Datan paused in thought for a few seconds before he gave his response. "Did I tell you to stop it?" His eyes went wild as he swiped the leek across his subordinate's chest. Alexei gave a growl as the plant shallowly cut him, a diagonal line of red appearing in a couple of moments.
"I won't!" Alexei protested and was rewarded with another shallow swipe to his chest, this time taking a few tufts of fur with it as the duck hissed down at him, his restraining paw sliding up to the absol's throat.
Squeezing down on Alexei's neck, the duck made a few soft quacking sounds and waved the bloodied veg back and forth in a scolding manner. "Been awhile since you've bit back," he whispered while tapping the leek against the newest cut, "I'll remind you of an important fact: You disgust me. You're the son of one of the highest ranking members of our entire nation and all you managed to do is become some techie nerd!" With that, he began to squeeze harder, the absol's whole form quaking as he stared up at Datan desperately, paws almost moving to clasp the strangling paw before he managed to stop them. "Your old friend Theodore made himself into something, even after deserting with you. And he's got someone just like me watching his actions, too."
He paused his words, just letting Alexei's thoughts grow more frantic before he continued. "You must be getting a bit lightheaded by this point...though I'm not sure how much more is possible considering how empty headed you are in the first place. I will release you and you will apologize." And he did so. Alexei gave a couple of hard coughs, rubbing over his throat with a paw before taking a few deep breaths.
"Sorry," Alexei gasped out in a meek tone of voice "Sorry, that was out of my place. I'll do what you tell me to..." his eyes began to wander to the side and Datan responded with a hard slap across his muzzle.
"Eyes on me," Datan said down to him, watching a line of blood begin to trail out from one of Alexei's nostrils. "I want you to keep...things up," he prodded the tip of the leek at the absol's crotch, making him flinch from fear it would cut. It did not and Datan gave a little snicker at the reaction before he continued, "with Agent Fractal. Understood?"
Alexei blinked a few times as Datan finally eased back. The farfetch'd took a couple of licks off of the bloodied leek and then a nibble, winking at the absol before he turned and began to pace out. "Tell Sophia, or whoever is on duty, those cuts are from training with me." And with that, Datan made his exit. "It's true, after all."
***
Back in Goldenrod, Theodore was pouring another glass. Handing it to Abby, who was now slouched back on the couch, he set himself down next to her while picking up his own drink from the table. "So..." the nidoking said, looking to her, "Got family-- a mate? You know, the things that make up a good life?"
"No mate," she said with a shrug before she took a curious sip of what Theo gave her, giving a small cough after downing it.
Theo gave a soft chuckle at her reaction before he downed his it in one gulp and set the glass to the side, "So why no mate?"
She gave a little smile and looked up to him, attempting another taste before she replied, "Well, what's happening right now is a good reason not to. Don't you think?"
He nodded at that while he leaned down to the table to pour himself another, "True enough."
"You?" The zangoose asked, leaning against his shoulder while she watched him just finish half of his new glass in a few seconds. That was only making her job easier.
"Me neither," he said, turning and giving a somewhat surprised look as she pressed up to him. "At one point, I had an arranged pairing made by my family, but it never met reality. This career does not exactly make me popular and loved, either."
"That's too bad..." she trailed off, looking him right in the eyes again. It was time to win him over even more.
The nidoking sniffed a few times as he got a hint of her scent filling the air, the edges of his ears going a little red. Giving a small smile, he let an arm wrap around her lower back. "What's there to be done? I was born into this organization, as many are, and the path I am on discourages any concrete commitment to anything besides the Team."
It was working. The incorruptible paragon was so vulnerable to such primal manipulation it seemed. She brushed her bushy tail up against the side of Theo's face a couple of times, which made the nidoking's blush grow deeper. Winking at him, the zangoose let a paw slide over his, giving a light squeeze. "Oh my," she cooed, "seems like you are not that difficult to get going."
"Highly inappropriate conduct," he responded in a whisper, the nidoking tilting his head and brining his muzzle close to her. "Though I'd hate to admit being base," he let his paw slide onto her thigh while finishing the glass and setting it down, "I like that." At that, she felt the nidoking's tail start to trail up her leg and around to wrap hers.
Too easy. She ran her paw up his chest and unbuttoned the top of the nidoking's shirt. He gave a small smirk at this, ears falling a bit as he lightly squeezed her tail with his. "From that," said the zangoose as she slowly stood up and placed her unfinished glass on the table, "Do you mean this is what normally happens?"
He shook his head and stood up behind her, wrapping both arms around her while carefully avoiding her injured shoulder. Swinging his tail with hers, he gave a playful blow at an ear before he rested his head lightly on hers, looking down as he did. "Not at all. I let other seize the initiative if they desire-- it would be even more inappropriate for me to pressure anyone."
Her eyes looked up to the nidoking's. "So you're as decadent as the rest," she said in a mocking scold, "Shame on you. You're supposed to be an impartial force of order in this government."
"Please," the tipsy nidoking responded dismissively as he gave her tail another squeeze, "You're the one who's trying to encourage me. I'd like to consider this simply a matter of building our trust and bonds."
"Whatever you'd like to call it, Theo," the zangoose responded with a little laugh, stepping out of his embrace and tugging on his tail as she nodded to the bedroom door. Ears falling to the sides of his head, he followed her in while their tails continued to swing together.
This was too easy.
***
Returning to Kanto North, Datan was kicked back at his desk, phone receiver pressed between his shoulder and head while he flicked around the half-eaten onion from earlier. "Hey hun," said the farfetch'd affectionately as he heard the call open on the other end, "Sorry for calling so late tonight-- work got in the way as it usually does."
Hearing the response, he took a nibble of the leek before answering back. "Glad to know you're not upset. So, how's our daughter been lately? Last I heard Mallory was considering applying to the Mt. Silver academy." His eyes lit up at the response, "She was accepted? Great, I'm sure she'll make a fine inquisitor someday."
He licked the last dried drop of blood off the onion while hearing more. "I'm happy for her, though kinda curious what turned her off of going down her father's path. Most in the business take up their parent's paths, after all." He shrugged at the response, "I guess that's a good enough reason. I'll have to make sure to take some time off before she leaves to pay you two a visit."
"Yeah...yeah, It's been really busy over here lately," he said next while balancing the stick on one fingertip. "Latest news is we're gonna be getting a transfer that a few of us are somewhat concerned over, though I'm sure with the proper precautions he'll do just fine in our division."
"Don't worry about me, dear. I'll bow out if things start to go astray over here. Now, I really need to be getting to bed; so you take care. Yep, love you too. Goodnight." With that, he set the receiver back and sat up. Yawning, he finished off the leek and made his way out for the night.
He arrived at his own quarters, the room being bare besides standard furniture and a large clay planter in the far corner filled with growing onions, a bright lamp above shining down on it. Pacing over to it, he ran his feathered paws through the plants for a few moments before reaching up and flicking the lamp off.