4.0 Dedicated to its Members and Fans of Pokemon A Pokemon Sandbox RP
Pokémon Dubstep (ft. Lindsey Stirling)
W
elcome Adventurer to EPOCH! A Pokemon Sandbox Rp set in the original region of Nue. Everything you need to know will be in the Guidebook and PokeDex 101!
EPOCH uses the Manga and is built on the Original ideas suggested by our members.
We are more than just a Pokemon RP, we're a friendly community with a goal on being a memorable experience for those that look in.
Golden Rule: Treat others as you wish to be treated. If you find yourself content with being an asshole EPOCH and its members will not tolerate you.
RULES
Understand We're All Human. Respect the staffers as well as your fellow members and guests. We all have flaws, tempers and quirks. Be patient with one another, but if issues involving other members come up please don’t just grin and bear it. Contact a staff member, informing them of what's going on so they can address and resolve the situation. The staff won't know what's bothering you unless you tell them.
EPOCH is PG-13. Proboards’ Terms of Service:
Sex; When you get under the clothes, fade to black.
Violence; Do not go into extreme nauseating detail.
Cursing; This is so fucking allowed, but don't go overboard.
Suggestive Content; In avatars, signatures and templates can attract the wrong kind of attention. So be careful.
Eight days. It had only been eight days since that incident, and he was already worse for wear. Murdoc had a fateful encounter in Orre that involved a terrifying masked visage, a collapsing building, and the worst part - a wrenched shoulder and a pair of broken ribs. Under his shirt he had his midsection wrapped carefully with gauze and a brace to help keep himself steady while his broken bones set. Ducky didn't have much to worry about in that sense.
All he was actually doing, after all, was sitting around. The Rocket was here in Snowpoint to actually help with the current progress of their excavation they had in the area, but given his current physical condition he was stuck in this lodge to deal with paperwork and logistics. The lodge itself, granted, was quite nice - they had rented the entire thing for just Rocket for the entirety of the project, and Ducky found himself in an upstairs room, the current office for his work. Papers scattered all about as he grunted, clutching his side to stand. He let out a sigh before gripping the mug filled with warm drink, sipping the cocoa. At least the food here was nice.
Ducky turned, nodding at the room's other occupant. The intimidating look of Hilda was currently gone; the woman was content with standing in the corner of the room opposite the door, leaned back and eyes closed. Murdoc briefly wondered about her - all he really knew was that she was assigned to assist him while he was injured, and that she was apparently part of Rocket's special forces of some kind. At least, that last part was something he had pieced together himself, with the way she moved and carried herself and acted. She pretty much never left him aside from the obvious private moments - she even slept in the same room as him, constantly sleeping upright in a chair. It was unnerving, but... somewhat comforting to know Rocket had his back.
Ducky himself took another swig of drink as he sank back down into the chair, eyeing the closed door before going back to paperwork land. At least this evening was looking to be one of slow advents and he'd get another day of peaceful rest. Heaven knows he needed it.
Post by Ricki Jace on Dec 11, 2013 17:35:08 GMT -5
I HAVE 1,520 WORDS FOR MURDOC NIKTER
So many weeks wasted, so much time lost for something so sickening and painful, to say she was pissed may have been an understatement. Many who knew Ricki would know her temper was often vented in physical means, punching walls, kicking rocks, throwing a left hook at the instigator, and even going for below the belt on special occasions. Many who knew Ricki would probably be unaware of just what happened when she’d keep all of that bottled up for a long period of time. The golden eyes, typically ignited with a fire of passion as many described it, had hardened and become almost chilling to see. A solemn look had become prominent on a woman who very rarely took anything seriously.
Nothing had really ever gotten to this point though, and the nearly invisible scar on her neck was just another bitter reminder of that very point it nearly reached. Electrocuted and thrown in a tiny cell for the first day, had she not been unconscious for most of her time inside that cell, she was sure she would have gone mad. Following that were three days of another kind of Hell altogether. The interrogator, he was nice at first, trying to make friends with her, in which she was content to talk to him. Though, she avoided revealing too much. Small talk, like the weather, or Pokémon, anything that wasn’t too personal, she could go on and on for hours. Then after some talking, he’d ask questions, but not about her. About Jason, it was always about Jason Tham, and where he was, what he was doing, how was he, and so on. After the third time he tried to ask about him, Ricki stopped talking.
That’s when the worst of it began and Ricki nearly cringed at the memory. The files thrown in her face, the attempt to persuade her to give up information, to talk to them and betray him. She shut down, and any time she spoke, it was to utter an insult, to remain ever rebellious, and to keep him safe. After what she saw, what she read in Jason’s file about what they had done to that innocent kid… She was disgusted, she was pissed, and she was not going to break. When it became clear the methods weren’t working, and Ricki took every torturous hit like a champ, they in the end screwed themselves over when they called Jason himself. He saved her, and would proceed to care for her over the several weeks it took to recover. Walking wasn’t easy for a while, but now? Now Ricki had a stride of confident air, like a woman marching to the front lines of a war zone, ready to do whatever it took to clear the field of battle.
The funny thing about hotels was the fact there was always so many people coming in and out, it was practically impossible to notice that one person that did not belong. Something Ricki was not ashamed to take advantage of as she made her way through the lobby of the building. To her left, her Lucario walked with his head bowed and the black bands on the back of his head hovering up ever so slightly. He held her hand, acting as a silent guide for his trainer. The golden eyes would stay straight ahead, but from her peripheral view, Ricki would watch the receptionist carefully as she passed her to go straight for the halls of rooms. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too easy to remember, as Ricki had carefully taken the time to shove all of her long green hair into a messy make shift bun hidden underneath a black hood. The thick jacket, thick jeans, and boots she wore perfectly hid herself and wasn’t too questionable given the terrible blizzard outside.
As she’d walk down the hall, she would pull back her hood and reach up to remove the single clip that held her hair up. A shake of her head to allow the green strands to fall, Ricki walked along silently with the Lucario subtly tugging her hand to guide her way to their destination. For nearly an hour the two had sat outside and done a scan of this building, Rep writing down what he was noticing and where he knew for a fact the relatively unmoving Murdoc Nikter was situated. It wasn’t until the cleaning ladies started doing their rounds that Ricki would finally make her way inside. Making her way to the second floor, she went straight to the door, but ignored her ever present desire to kick it down. No, she had to take things much slower than that, and she merely waited. Leaning against the wall by the door, shifting anxiously and glancing up and down the hall, she waited and waited for one of the cleaning ladies to appear.
Finally a cleaning cart rounded the corner, and Ricki immediately returned the Lucario. “Excuse me!” she called out softly, her usually relaxed tone taking on a surprising note of maturity. With a glance to the door to memorize the number, Ricki trotted up to the worker, who gave her a curious and puzzled look. “I’m sorry to trouble you, but you see, my uncle must have fallen asleep or something, because he’s refusing to answer his phone” she sighed, a notable tone of irritation in her voice. “I left my keys in the room, so I can’t get inside, and I don’t want to waste the front desk’s time with getting a new key when I haven’t lost it. You have like… A master key or something, right?” she questioned with a hopeful grin. The woman merely gave that motherly smile of understanding and nodded. Following the question of which room was it, Ricki sighed in relief and curtly answered. Walking away from her cleaning cart, Ricki and the woman would make their way to Murdoc’s door and Ricki could suddenly feel her heart racing in anticipation, fear, and terrible excitement. Finally, finally she could really get this nightmare over with, said and done.
The lady slid in the key and opened the door very slightly, and Ricki’s eyes shot wide in a moment of panic. The door was going to be opened much faster than she had really wanted it to be, and the woman was in the process of turning a happy smile to her when Ricki moved. She quickly grabbed the handle and turned an anxious look to the lady who looked puzzled by the response. Ricki merely gave her a soft thank you and explained ‘he’s a light sleeper’ in which the woman only looked more confused. She was about to ask, but with a desperate nervous smile from Ricki, she left it be and walked off. Ricki heaved a heavy sigh of relief the moment the woman vanished into another room, and her gaze turned to the door handle she was holding. The door had only been held ajar for a moment, and it was long enough to drive Ricki’s nerves crazy. There was another person in this room, too. The element of surprise was gone, and Ricki was still not sure she was ready for any fighting of any kind. The fear reached her eyes, for this moment of weakness, this moment of potential failure. It wasn’t so much dooming herself that she feared, but the fact Jason was on the line, too. If she got caught again, what would he do? He’d already been through so much, if she ended up just screwing him over like tha—
No. Breathe, damn it.
Ricki suddenly shook her head and with a pat to her cheek, she made her way into the room and shut the door quietly behind her. Her head didn’t rise for a moment, merely studying the floor and listening to see if anyone was already approaching. Slipping her bag from her right shoulder to carelessly slide the much lighter than usual duffel bag to hang from her fingers, Ricki looked up finally. After her near melt down moments before, in record time, she managed to once more regain her composure, thus scanning the place with her cold gaze. Her eyes stopped on Hilda for but a moment, before slowly drifting over to Murdoc. All of the forced down rage began to boil and bubble the moment her eyes rested on him, but with tense stiffness, she kept control of herself. Using her wrist of the arm carrying her bag, she hit the pokeball on her belt to let out her Lucario once more, as a means to keep an eye on Hilda, and keep her at a distance. “Sorry for the surprise visit” she began voice sharp with a clear level of agitation. Starting towards him with her bag in tow, Rep not too far behind, Ricki wasn’t sure if she was going to hit him or take a seat by him. “But we need to talk. Now.” Emphasis placed on her last word, and the anger dripping in like corrosive venom, Ricki was reaching her snapping point.
NOTE:
Sorry I kind of went into a ramble in the first half of this post. Will make any kind of edit if necessary, and can cut this down some if it's too much. Ricki's angry, but boy oh boy is she trying to control herself.
And that was that. He shoved the last file away, leaning back into the seat and letting his left hand come up and rub his right shoulder as he tried to relax for a moment. Ducky never could quite catch a break, but perhaps he was going to get to make the best of being injured, as odd as that sounded. No exertion through physical labor and the only person he actually had to put up with was Hilda, and she did little more than deal with others and the help around here when she wasn't brooding over there in her corner. The older man almost found himself chuckling over how they seemed like two shut ins to the rest of the people working here.
At least they were left alone. No one to barge in with random orders or a sudden mishap. Nothing that could possibly go awry to any plan. Nope, Ducky thought as he leaned back a bit more. Nobody knew where they were and they couldn't touch him with their worldly problems. At least, until the door clicked with a touch of movement. Ducky furrowed his brow and looked over at the door, cracked just enough so you could tell it was cracked without anything beyond it apparent. Before he had even tried to sit upright a bit, Hilda was stiff - he didn't need to look at her to know she was wide awake in her corner across from the door, and while she probably still retained her lax positioning she was aware of her ability to cross the room and disarm someone in roughly seven seconds. More than enough time.
The door cracked more with the sound of conversation bleeding in, and Ducky saw one of the cleaning ladies. Hilda kept tensed, but it slightly lessened - it might just be a cleaning round or one of the inquisitive owners come to inform them of some storm of some kind. Ducky sat up in his seat, setting both of his feet down heavily. What on earth could it be?
And then one voice faded out and the door opened, and boy was he in for a treat. Ducky's glinting glasses moved up as he stared at one of the last people he expected to see. Ricki Jace moved in and closed the door behind her, with Ducky unable to vocally respond at the moment. As the duffel bag moved, so did Hilda, ever so slightly - in both of her palms was a Pokeball. That was largely irrelevant as Ducky moved his chair back a bit so he could face Ricki in profile, a confused but still stern look on his face. He already held up his palm as a signal to Hilda when Rep was released, as a showing sign to let her know not to act, even if his control over her was tentative at best. Ducky made no other move as his newest guest began to speak, only pausing and taking a sigh.
Ducky adjusted his glasses from the side with his good hand, meeting Ricki's spit of venomous anger with a look of sincerity. "Well, if you made an effort to come and find me, I suppose the least I can do is talk." Ducky glanced behind him to Hilda, whose own look was still as cold as ice, but her posture was breathing fully with the deep setting of flames, licking for a chance at removing the threat. Ducky paused once more, and at this closer view Ricki might have gotten to see the dark circles somewhat hidden by his glasses, and the small lines etching into his face. Being thirty-five wasn't quite as young as he sometimes acted.
"So, Ricki. I... believe this is your conversation to start."
Post by Ricki Jace on Dec 13, 2013 17:03:04 GMT -5
I HAVE 573 WORDS FOR MURDOC NIKTER
Boiling, steaming, and just bubbling under her skin, the demon of wrath clawing at her mind demanded for Ricki to release him in a violent outburst. Break a lamp, break his face, shatter a decorative vase, just do something to release all of this pent up anger. That wouldn’t get her anywhere, though, but it was oh so tempting as she took note of just how luxurious this room was. Settling for roughly throwing the duffelbag back to her Lucario, Rep caught it with ease and swung it onto his shoulder, but his eyes never left Hilda. He moved carefully after his trainer, practically walking backwards as the duo crossed the room to come to a stop in front of Murdoc’s desk.
Upon reaching it, Ricki’s hands slammed down on the surface with a loud BAM! that could have woken up a neighbor if the walls were any thinner. “Damn right it is!” she snapped, before gritting her teeth, biting her tongue painfully. Golden eyes met golden eyes for a brief moment. She studied his face as her fingers curled in and created fists on his desk. She was practically shaking, trembling as the emotions inside of her stirred in a violent tornado. Where would she even begin with this story? Jason? Being kidnapped? She had this scenario played in her head again and again as she planned out this self-assigned mission of sorts. All of them of course weren’t that realistic as Ricki’s imagination had a knack for playing up her own abilities and making the world around her look like it was full of bumbling morons.
Ricki once more looked over her shoulder at Hilda across the room, before she turned back to Murdoc. “Might as well start out by saying I know you’re one of these officers or high-ranking-whatevers of Team Rocket, so don’t try any bullshit excuses because I am not in the mood for that, obviously” she stated bluntly, not one to beat around the bush. Stomping her foot down in a means to get another wave of anger out of her system, it acted as emphasis as she went on. “So! Now that we’ve got that out of the way, where should we start!? The fucking fact your little twat brigade of assholes in Kanto decided it’d be fun to kidnap me, interrogate me, and hold me hostage for a week? The reason for that is one hell of a story, let me tell you…” she forced out a harsh laugh, leaning back off the desk a bit.
“Or, y’know what, maybe you can tell me that one! Since your Team is the one that arranged the whole thing, surely you must know about this Masked Kids bullshit, and what they did to Jason all those years” she continued, one of her thumbs beginning to rapidly tap the desk out of anxiety.
Ricki was talking fast, and trying to get to everything she knew she needed to cover in a nearly sloppy fashion. The moment the ‘Masked Kid’ started to come out, her voice got hit with a hint of distress. A feeling of disgust and misery at the very mention of the subject concerning what had been done to Jason. Luckily enough, the ranting was helping her calm down, some, but she was still ready to pounce the moment Murdoc tried to pull anything. As she warned, she was not in the mood for that today.
He was no snake charmer, no was he capable of calming an eruption. All he could really do was weather the grating assault, despite any real urge to do otherwise. It was something he was capable of - to just enter a state of reception and take what was thrown at him, regardless of wounds created or punches taken. And so this is the most he could afford at the beginning of this situation, where Ricki needed to let off what was obviously some pent-up issues and apparently Ducky had drawn the lotto ticket.
Fists made, noted. Her entire body was a vessel of emotion at the moment, and he'd had to play this entire conversation very carefully, although it was apparent that at the moment logic and reasoning were beyond being much more than anchors and lifelines. His gaze didn't drift off of Ricki, however, as he figured that would be unwise - he did know that all it would take to get help would be to glance at Hilda three times in succession, which was a code previously worked out in case something similar happened. He didn't quite expect it to be Ricki, however, unless...
Nah. She wasn't one of them. She wouldn't be firing off the canons she just did by revealing that she knew who he was, which even caused Hilda to start for a moment, opening her mouth ever so slightly. Enough people in Rocket even knew who he was, but if someone outside of Rocket was able to take that and find him... Ugh. Worrisome to her, but he had other concerns on his plate. Like the one standing before him, shouting.
Boom, the bomb dropped. his eyes had a lovely display of sudden confusion when she talked about her kidnapping, his shoulders tensing up as she was kidnapped. While he wasn't fully aware of his own display of emotion, he seemed both locked up and overly concerned, almost like a father hearing about his child getting hurt. Her laugh cut like a rusty butterknife, smashing into his ribcage and twisting into his heart. While Ricki herself had tensed, balled fist, his were laying open, like one who was in defeat.
A second slash, this time coming in the form of something regarding the masked kids. Ducky didn't really have much of a way on questioning that - what the hell were masked kids? - but they had done something to Jason, and he was aware enough of her to know that she and he had a bond that someone had tried to step all over. He didn't see Hilda's reaction at this at the moment, but he let out a small sigh. That last part had the true origins of the anger in it - some distress, some depression? The source of the anger come from something that cut deeper than just rage.
". . . yes. I am a member of Team Rocket." State something small and let it be known it was indeed true. He was hoping to ease into this and take it gentle, as much as he could. He cleared his throat once more. ". . . the rest of what you said, however... I didn't have anything to do with it." Murdoc adjusted his glasses as he tried his best to maintain eye contact with her.
"I don't know why you'd get kidnapped and... the rest of it." He couldn't quite bring himself to say it as he remained unmoving, despite the growing ache in his side. His cracked ribs were at a digging angle. That was when a slight bit of movement from the side of their vision kicked in as Hilda's smooth voice kicked in.
"I know why," She began then pointed at Ricki with a slender forefinger. "If she knows a Masked Kid, she would have been a high profile target for one of the admins, sir." There was a pause from Murdoc before it was apparent that some explaining was going to be needed.
She continued after that moment. "Masked Kids were... a failed project, by someone who had been in charge of Rocket after our initial Kanto disbanding." She spoke with a hint of something Ducky had never gotten from her, something... hidden. She was normally quite blunt and ice-like, never showing hints at melting. "It was simple in its idea: kidnap children and raise them to be effective units for the team. Assassins, executives, bounty hunters... raised exactly for their role... like myself." She adjusted her collar with her left hand at her last comment, letting those implications sink in.
Ducky sat in silence, not commenting and waiting to see how Ricki would react. It was crucial that she didn't give way into a violent path that he couldn't stop or control.
For the time being, Ricki nearly forgot just who this man was to her before what she had learned about his criminal life style. Her mind was so intently focused on the current matter it overlooked just how close the two had been prior to tonight. Being close friends who playfully debated over who had the better “bubble” or Murdoc being kind enough to help her out when money got tight. All of that nearly escaped her mind as she let anger take priority. It left her baffled, therefore more frustrated, when he looked at her with his own confusion and concern. Her thoughts maliciously questioned why he would look at her like that, almost as if it was an accusation of being weak from someone she loathed. Part of her hated that expression, even more so after having to deal with Jason looking at her with such guilty and worried eyes during her recovery. The frail expression of defeat crawled under her skin, and it was starting to dawn on her just how absolutely terrible her old friend looked at this moment. While a part of her rage was beginning to be spawned from irrational reasons, she managed to keep it relatively in control at least.
“Yes. I am a member of Team Rocket.”
Ricki scoffed quietly at the words as he confirmed what she already knew as fact. At least he wasn’t going to try and play mind games with her, so she was spared from that annoyance. While he attempted to maintain eye contact, Ricki’s golden eyes drifted down to glare at the table top. So, as he would go on to explain he hadn’t been involved in the matters of her kidnapping or Jason’s history, she didn’t meet the his own golden eyes that seemed to seek a sort of understanding or sign of her being alright. His lack of knowledge concerning the situation resulted in a nearly disgusted look crossing her face. Great, so now she’d have to try and explain everything to get to the main point of her coming this far. She was ready to hit the top of the desk, again, when another voice piped up. Immediately when Hilda would speak up, she whipped around as if expecting the other to be coming in for an attack.
The initial flinch would immediately transition into a more relaxed stance as she noticed that Hilda hadn’t moved from her spot on the other side of the room. Ricki remained silent, partially grateful to have the other woman take on the act of explaining it, especially since explaining things to others was not exactly her forte. When Hilda would pause to see if Murdoc was catching on, Ricki’s eyes would once more turn to the older gentleman. This time she turned more slowly, a calmer movement to simply study his reaction but it was clear he was in the dark about the whole Masked Kids matter. Her eyes shot back to Hilda when she would go on to give a rather basic summary of just what the Masked Kids had been. Hearing about it, the upset trainer could only tense up more so, her fists curling up more and knuckles beginning to turn white.
“Assassins, executives, bounty hunters… raised exactly for their role… like myself.”
Like a statue, Ricki froze at the last two words and her eyes slowly drifted up to Hilda. The words sank in and for a moment, the shock of the revelation and the weight the words carried caused her muscles to briefly release their tension. Another one, another masked kid, and Ricki could only imagine just what they’d done to make this woman whatever she was. For a few seconds, she merely studied Hilda, before her muscles would tense up again. Even under the thick black jacket she wore, the way her weight shifted, it was easy to notice she was getting apprehensive, again. Looking over at Murdoc, she softly growled the next bit of information concerning Jason, as if afraid of letting Hilda hear it. And as she would speak, her hands would raise up and jerk around in the air to emphasize her words.
“Jason was nine-years-old when they took him from his family. His parents couldn’t pay a fucking debt to the team, so they took him instead. Training him, punishing him when he wouldn’t do what they wanted, they…” her hands begin to slowly still in front of her “They treated him like some…” forming fists with her hands, they began trembling violently and beginning to rise up into the air as her mind struggled to find the words she wanted to say “Some… Like some tool!” she finally snapped, her hands snapping down. One would smash down on Murdoc’s desk in what was probably a painful collision just based off of the sound the impact made, but Ricki seemed to pay it no mind.
With a deep breath followed by a heavy sigh and finally speaking a bit louder, Ricki went on despite her hand’s aching and stomach slowly becoming filled with butterfrees anxiously attempting to escape. “Keep secrets secret. Catch the rats. Cut the loose ends. Silence threats” she grumbled, her gaze turning down to her jacket as she got to the task of unzipping it and removing it in the form of a distraction for her shaking hands. “That’s all he had to do…” she trailed off for a moment to shrug the coat off, another jacket was underneath and she spent no time hesitating to remove it as well. “Jason… Was an assassin” she finally forced out, tearing her jacket fully off to toss both articles of clothing onto a nearby piece of furniture, not really bothering to check what it was. Almost like ripping off a Band-Aid, she forced the fact out as fast as she could manage. The revelation was probably obvious with how she built up to her point, but finally bluntly stating it like that unnerved her.
Now with the truth out in the open, she was getting restless once more. Her anger was still demanding some sort of action, preferably a destructive one, but Ricki was trying her best to not resort to that. She knew how that route would go, and the odds were not in her favor. Rather than her typical lash out, though, Ricki attempted something else. Stepping away from Murdoc’s desk, she would turn to start walking off, pacing to try and release her pent up energy. As she started to walk away, Rep didn't move from his spot. The Lucario let his trainer get her space, and stayed put in front of Murdoc’s desk.
Just a couple of steps away, she began talking again, her hands once more expressively jolting around with the flow of her words. “Was. He was an assassin” she made very sure to emphasize that. “He didn’t want to be one, but they made him. They forced some kid to go and kill people, and if he didn’t… If he didn’t fucking listen then…” she couldn’t say it, so she cut off the point with another harsh chuckling scoff. “Y’know what’s funny is he probably used exactly what they fucking taught him to get out of that Hell.”
She paid little mind to her path, starting to nearly go in circles, but making a point to avoid going anywhere remotely near Hilda. Her eyes to the floor rather than Nikter, and she found solace in not having to watch his expressions anymore. “He went two years without being caught. Two fucking years, and then I come in” she gradually stopped her pacing, locking her gaze down on the ground. The moment the final words left her mouth, a wave of guilt would suddenly overcome her. Right, he went so long without being caught or hearing so much as a peep from the team, it all changed when she got involved. Maybe if she hadn’t met him, if she hadn’t dragged him along, suggest they work together, insist he travel with her, if she just left him alone…
NOTE:
I figured I'd split up Ricki's rant into chunks so you wouldn't get the whole break down in one long post without a chance to interrupt / chime in / ask questions / provide a prompt of sorts. If Murdoc has no words to add in / questions, or you just need more to work with, I can add in more of what I had written. On the other hand, if he would have cut in sooner, I can cut out part of the post and just save it / edit it for my next post.
He wasn't the only one taking hits from this ordeal and it was showing on all sides. For a brief moment, Ricki's guard seemed to have dropped a touch to reveal the person who had been subjected to the atrocities at the hand of the very people who employed him. Murdoc could afford no time to fully analyze her much; he had his own stab wounds she was chucking at him for him to really dwell on it. There were other worrisome things for his mind to peg upon - like the fact she was avoiding eye contact at this point. If anything, it looked like his words and attempts at meeting some middle ground was just causing her to grow a bit inward, and he wasn't sure how to handle it fully. She looked just about ready to lash out in some way - whether it was some defensive mental measure or if she was just about ready to wreck this hotel and him in it, he wasn't sure.
When Hilda spoke up and he moved to face her, Ricki did as well, although she was understandably jumpier; albeit she didn't have much to worry about considering Rep existed. He didn't really want to see what a Lucario was capable of doing to the human body, especially not after seeing what another... human? could do to his body. He didn't even need to remember that Aspis to know what could be done; Hilda herself was a prime example of fear and what a weapon fear could be.
At least Hilda wasn't trying to wield that now. It was just factual knowledge, although Hilda did purposely drop the fact she was a Masked Kid to weigh in her presence as a threat to Ricki - do anything and she'd deal with her. Nothing personal, of course. It was just how she was groomed. Moving on from that, both Hilda and Murdoc cautiously watched the ticking bomb in front of them.
“Jason was nine-years-old when they took him from his family. His parents couldn’t pay a fucking debt to the team, so they took him instead. Training him, punishing him when he wouldn’t do what they wanted, they…”
Those words were scraping into him like rusty nails. The voice was a gutteral roar to him, the true growling nature something he didn't want to hear from her. She was someone from his personal life, not from his Rocket life, and now those things were merging her. It was no relief that it was her; it would have been equally disastrous if it had been someone like the mermaid. She smashed down a hand as he jumped ever so slightly, the persperation on his face now apparent to himself as he could only silently adjust his glassed by the side, keeping his eyes on the green haired woman before him.
“Keep secrets secret. Catch the rats. Cut the loose ends. Silence threats” was what came next, and he swallowed his spit in silence as she went about removing layers. She was quickly becoming a cornered animal, and this was not a situation he wanted her in when she was like this. He did not want to see what she could do when she went all out. Hilda notably reacted a bit more than Murdoc when she dropped the assassin bomb, both of her eyes locking directly to Ricki's face with a look mixed of equal parts seriousness and equal parts curiosity.
Murdoc noted her turning away, taking in a breath and wondering what she was doing before some things clicked. The need to breath, the shedding of heat layers, the pacing. She was getting eaten up by nerves moreso than he was. She moved in a circular pattern, starting to start into the steep slope that led away from conversation and into a downhill rant that might end with her just letting it all out in the worst kind of way. He had to intercede. At least, until that laugh caught him again, and he wasn't really sure how far gone she was into this state of mind.
All he could really do was tense and untense himself, trying to keep his cool despite feeling his heart in his throat. The last bit she managed to leak out, however, got him in a vulnerable spot and a lot of what she was saying and the emotions she was displaying made sense. She blamed herself. Ricki blamed herself for Jason's treatment and her kidnapping and the current mess they were probably in.
At this, he found a second wind. He didn't risk moving or standing as he ached to do - he would want nothing more than to give her the comforting hug she sounded like she needed, but the risk of her going off was too great for him to try. No, he'd have to take it slow. "It isn't your fault." He added weight to this statement, as much as he could afford to, in an effort to keep her from falling off the edge. He eyed Hilda, and she took her queue to continue. "He's correct. A Masked Child was bound to be searched for, regardless of your actions." Of course she could still blame herself for it, but it wouldn't do her any good and he'd try to get that in there.
Murdoc sighed, audibly, before continuing on. Pausing for too long would let her dig into a rut. He needed to keep this flowing and keep her talking so he could figure this out. "I'm sorry, Ricki, that you're in this mess." A moment's pause. "What is it you want me to do?" There wasn't anything sarcastic or sardonic about his comment; it dripped with genuine concern and a desire to help in whatever way he could. If she could see his face, it was like a combat medic to a fresh wound patient.
How could it not be? She didn’t move as the two Rockets spoke, merely taking in their words and allowing her mind to dissect them. A Masked Child was bound to be searched for, true, but she didn’t blame herself for Jason being tracked down. She blamed herself for the fact he was caught. When she read his file, it made obvious sense to her that Rocket would make sure to try and get him back. That’s why he didn’t seem to even “exist” for two years, he knew he was being searched for. So, what did she do? She slapped her number up for the world to see and call her any time they needed her. She dragged Jason along, introduced him as her co-worker, and established an obvious bond with him for the world to see.
She put him back out in the open, and practically slapped a target on his back like some cruel ‘Kick Me’ sign.
“I’m sorry, Ricki, that you’re this mess... What is it you want me to do?”
She didn’t answer right off the bat, and for good reason. Her prior rant had loosened her control a little, the pacing allowing energy to flow once more. One of her hands slowly slid to her neck, rubbing it as she struggled to reign everything back in. “Yeah, I’m fucking sorry ‘bout it, too…” she quietly growled, before swallowing her nerves and taking a deep breath. Her hand slowly slid from one side of her neck to carefully cup the other side. She fell silent once more as she dug around her mind to force away her concerns and guilt to try and find what she’d wanted to say. It took a couple of minutes for her to really start getting back control, forcing down her anger for the time being. She focused everything she had on the main task she had set for herself before even entering this terrible region.
“I need you to just… Pull a few strings” she began, gradually raising her head to gaze over at Murdoc. With the anger bottled back up, her heavy weighing guilt and desperation was starting to become more obvious. Starting back towards his desk, the obvious plea for help had replaced the rage and coldness once in her eyes. “I don’t know your rank, but you have to have connections, right?” she questioned, stopping briefly in her approach to attempt a moment of calming herself again. Her voice was letting her anxiety show, now.
“I’m willing to offer anything at this point. I used to be a member of my home region’s terrorist group, I have no issues stealing something, breaking shit, causing some trouble” she began slowly walking towards Murdoc’s desk, again “I’m a trainer, too, so I can catch some stuff, maybe do some battling, or uh… beating someone up. Just as long as no one dies, of course… Also, I spent a month or so here with my ex-husband, I can help with your team’s travels through the ruins nearby. He’s told me a few things about the place since he grew up here. Probably nothing really… Worth much, I guess, but it’s something. And there’s… Um, the ruins in the Sevii Islands, I can go through them if you want some like old artifact from there or something. I’ve been through the ancient steel city, I still have a map for it.”
She finally came to a stop in front of the desk, her hands for once just gently resting on the top of the desk. She drummed her fingers in a light roll, before tapping her right index in a continuous tap. Her gaze didn’t meet his yet, instead watching her fingers move across the wooden surface of his desk. “I just need Rocket to stay away from him, that’s all” she softly confessed. Her head rose up gently to meet his gaze finally, her eyes slightly teary from her emotional typhoon on the inside. “I just need to know they won’t come for him, again. He left because he didn’t want to kill anymore, Murdoc” she explained, her muscles tightening as her hands began to curl into fists. “He didn’t want to do it anymore, but he…” she could only recall the blurred images of Jason’s anger turning to her. His intial defiance when she told him not to do it, and her final pleas before passing out being enough to make him stop.
Immediately one of her hands shot up to wipe off her eyes, knowing the tears were trying to leak out.
“There’s especially one Rocket I need to be kept away from him at all costs. No matter what, even if you can’t get the whole team to stay away, I beg of you to just make sure this one guy and Jason never cross paths again. This bastard’s probably rotting in jail right now, but Jason was sure that he’d be out in like five years. Vane Nomed, the one who set up the whole plan for kidnapping me to try and use me as a means to get Jason to come back willingly… Let’s just say he wasn’t very happy when he realized Jason wasn’t going to comply with his request” she explained, her hand falling from her eyes to lightly adjust and toy with her left sleeve before she set her hand back on the table. “I’m asking a lot, I know, but I don’t know what else to do” she began, her voice trailing off into a whimper. She gritted her teeth, and swallowed, now getting angry at herself for this suddenly fragile display.
Her shoulders rose up slightly as the rage flowed back out slightly once more. “I’ve been running for so long now, I just want it all to end. I’m tired of running away, I’m done with being such a coward. I’m so fucking sick of people around me getting hurt like this because of me and not being able to do anything to help them. You have to help me some way, please…” she softly begged, her head falling to let her face turn to the ground. Her hair slid to create a curtain, but her trembling muscles and her previous display, it was clear she was reaching a final breaking point.
“I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up…” came her final breathless words as she waited for a response.
By The Way; Ricki's pretty much ready to do a number of favors to ensure Jason doesn't get caught. As for arranging for Jason to do favors for Rocket as well, Murdoc can ask for those, but he'll have to be sure to assure her he will not do anything questionable. She's pretty desperate at this point. If there's any edits I need to make / questions you have, just ask.
It was a tense silence that followed. Murdoc briefly glanced to the Lucario near him, wondering if the Pokemon was reading everyone's Aura. If he was, he was probably receiving a lot of varied feedback from the three of them. Movement caught his eye and he found himself watching her as she motioned her hand about her neck, wondering what kind of anxious energy was running through her. She had obviously been in a rough spot; there was no doubt about that. Compound any of the stressful memories and feelings she experienced in captivity with the guilt trip she had grabbed first class tickets for...
She growled out what she had to say, and silence once again befell the room. Ducky was, for once, extremely pleased that his bodyguard was a very quiet woman. He himself preferred the peaceful silence. This, however, wasn't peaceful. The ever-so distant sound of the wind was heard somewhere against the building as his heartbeat was loudly heard in his own ears. Minutes ticked by as he motioned about with his hands, cupping and recupping them and intertwining fingers in his own nervous habit.
Strings. Looking over the edge of his glasses, his tired gaze met the one that looked much too ancient to be on the young lady before him. She was weighed down into a mental and emotional age her body didn't match. He leaned up ever so slightly as she moved to him, trying to keep himself at full attention so that Ricki would know that he was all ears. Her voice seemed to drop the bubbling anger and instead played off the discord of helplessness.
Before him wasn't an angry, powerful punk of a person with street smarts and a violent streak. This was girl, someone who had been beaten and couldn't win the fight alone. Someone just reaching out for help and after fighting off the initial anger, was finally reaching up for help over this mountain within her. She spoke and he listened, blinking only every so often as the words rolled out of her and into him. Murdoc's face betrayed the slight amount of shock and surprise at the fact that she used to be part of some terrorist group, but it quickly faded - that was for another time, another place, as was the betrayel his eyes gave at the mention of the husband - er, ex-husband. This was a time for seriousness.
It was at this point that her hands come to a stop on his desk. Ducky's eyes didn't watch the tapping finger, instead trying to secure a lock on Ricki's face as she asked the favor part of the deal. Leaving Jason alone - a seemingly tall order if Hilda was right about parts of Rocket wanting a Masked Kid that badly. His eyes met hers and he locked down, resolute and with a determined expression as she pleaded with him, the peaceful part of Ricki speaking right into his mind.
Hand up, gaze interrupted as she continued on, on a more serious side note. His own grip on his hands tightened as he heard the name of the one who was guilty, and he immediately glanced to Hilda, who met his second long look. Ducky gave a nod. "Hilda, go and make the call to see that he doesn't get an out." With a moment's nod and a brisk walk, her eyes on Lucario the entire time, she set out of the room, entering the hallway to proceed to another room with a phone. Ricki was proven to be an emotional threat, not a physical one, and that wasn't in Hilda's job description.
"I'm asking a lot, I know, but I don't know what else to do."
Her voice began to break then and there but she continued on, her green visage curtaining herself off from him as she seemed to divulge the deeper fear within her; the fear of herself being the cause of pain and the magnet for all the trouble around her. For just a second he was silent and breatheless, scared to death of making any kind of wrong move in front of someone who had bared themselves like they did before him before instinct took over.
Popping to his feet, two arms moved out, one for her shoulder and the other for her head, bringing the shorter Ricki into his grasp, where he kept her in a one-armed embrace as his other head gently held her head to him. He didn't speak for a few seconds and when he did, it began more in his chest before he managed to find the right words.
"I'll do anything I can to help you. Anything." Murdoc took in a deep breath of his own, glad she couldn't see the insurmountable levels of guilt behind his own glasses painting his face. He was a part of Team Rocket, who were ultimately at hand for this horrible series of events, and he should have been able to prevent it in the first place. But here he was, instead, being the pariah to his friend. "You don't have to do this anymore, Green. No more running, and no more being afraid of this pain."
At this point he pulled his hand away from her head, giving her a quick two-arm hug before grabbing her shoulders in his hands to look her in the face, even if she was still looking down. "Jason won't have to do anything like that again, and neither will you." His voice was trying to be full of confidence, trying to instill Ricki with hope. "I'll see to it that you won't have to do anything if I can help it - I'll keep you guys safe." He nodded, unsure if he could fulfill a full-commitment like that.
He looked to the side and sighed. Murdoc spoke up a little quieter, "And if you have to do something... I'll just... do my best to keep it free. Patrol duty or something. Nothing that would put either of you in harm." Regret was in his voice the entire time he spoke that part, wanting anything else for Ricki and her Jason.
"You're strong, Ricki." Firmly spoken, he continued. "But its my turn to be strong. I'll find a way." He nodded once more, his mind whirring.
With Hilda being sent off to immediately deal with Vane, Ricki continued on with her speech, now more comfortable without the ever vigilant eyes of the Masked Child on her back. Her break down was coming, but she fought it. Oh how hard she fought to stay together. To stay strong and not crumble under her moment of weakness in front of Murdoc, she struggled for that. Her battle was fruitless, though. She could feel her tears betraying her, and she had to fight down the sob trying to crawl out of her throat. When her last breathless plea left her mouth, she honestly didn’t know what she expected, but it certainly wasn’t what was about to come.
He shot up and instinctively she retreated from him, but his arms would come out to stop her just in time. She didn’t fight his pull, Rep not interfering either as he sensed no malice from the man embracing his trainer. He stood near though, ready for anything. Ricki slid her right hand across the desk to help balance her weight as her other hand would come up to grip the sleeve of the arm holding her shoulder. She didn’t know how to react at first, her tear ridden eyes wide in genuine shock at the action. The warmth of his arms around her, the protective grasp he had her in, it tore at her last bit of strength to stay together. As he began to speak, the shock began to subside and her eyes slowly shut in understanding. Her hand carefully slid from his sleeve to rest on the table, just brushing the surface in a limp motion as her right arm continued to carry most of her weight.
She bowed her head into his grasp, taking comfort in it for the time that it would last. Ricki had never been one for hugs, and being touchy-feely, especially when there was a crowd present. Growing up, the kids she hung around made it clear that only the weak cried and anything that upset her was just ‘petty’ or no big deal. No hugs, just being told to get up and walk it off, or get over it. So, honestly, she was always awkward about being hugged…
“You don’t have to do this anymore, Green. No more running, and no more being afraid of this pain.”
But at this moment she didn’t care. When his hand moved to release her head, it began to rise back up, eyes slowly craning back open to let her tears roll freely. Her eyes were a mixture of emotions, bringing together her fear, gratitude and relief, her worry and surprise. She put up no fight against his hold moving to her shoulders, if anything, her caught off state resulting in a rather surprisingly cooperate Ricki for the time being. Swallowing back the sob that had caught in her throat, she followed the act with a quiet sniffle. Meeting his gaze, she remained silent as he confidently spoke, her eyes focused despite the tears that blurred her vision. A part of her mind wanted to question him, doubt him and alert her to potential danger in the situation she placed herself in, but she ignored her paranoia.
This was Murdoc. This wasn’t just some Rocket who owed her a favor, or just had some bizarre sense of justice she managed to tap into. This was her good friend who she debated about ‘bubbles’ with, and planned to get her a helmet for Christmas because of her wild nature. He was going to bring the vodka, she’d get the ice cream, and they’d plan to waste the night having vodka floats if either of their bubbles ended up floating too far away. He bought her food when money was tight, and here he was, ready to put himself on the line to keep her and Jason safe. He genuinely cared for her.
When he brought back up payment, her head lowered slightly in a nod. She broke eye contact and took a moment to pull herself together. Her hands came up to start wiping away her tears, again, her head bobbing up and down slightly to demonstrate to him that she was still listening even if she wasn’t looking at him.
“You’re strong, Ricki. But its my turn to be strong. I’ll find a way.”
She froze, her hands covering her face stopping their rubbing motions as those final words fully sank in. Her hands slowly curled into fists, sliding down her face as she looked up at him once more, blinking a few times. She hadn’t uttered a word this whole time, giving him her full attention, and now was her time to respond.
Her mouth slowly opened, but no words managed to come out. She shut her mouth and just stared at him for a moment, before everything really settled in and the tears began flowing even heavier. She glanced down briefly at the desk that separated the two, before suddenly tearing herself from his grasp.
In a brisk walk, nearly a run, she moved around the desk, her Lucario knowing what was about to happen moving quickly after her. Once getting around the desk, she moved towards Murdoc and nearly threw herself at him, but Rep grabbed the back of her shirt to pull on her enough to lessen the power of the impact. He’d been picking up on Murdoc’s weakened state and knew in Ricki’s current state, she would have totally missed or forgotten it.
Still knocking into him, her arms came around him in a hug of her own, paying no mind to Rep’s tug on her. The moment she latched on, she couldn’t hold it down anymore, crying out an apology, before another sob broke out and was followed by another apology. Rep kept his grip on the back of her shirt, his ears folding back as his trainer cried. She mentioned ‘thank you’ and ‘I owe you so much’ in her random phrases, lost in her crying to the point she was in a state of just repeating the same phrases over and over in the mix of her sobs. She would be most likely stuck like that for a while, but would give Murdoc the relief of a loosening grip as she carried on to the point her right hand would be tightly gripping his shirt while her left arm ended up just falling to her side in a limp hang.
By The Way; And the final wall has crashed down. Sorry for the damage her hug may have caused Murdoc, she was kind of in one of those emotional "run in head first" moments. If I need to add more / edit what I have, give me a heads up.
Ricki was one of the last people he'd expect to see crying. It just didn't fit in with her gruff image she had painted to him. She was like the lovable street corner thug, in many senses. She was resourceful and streetwise, but could never fully come across her walls and become defenseless, even around those she cared about. To catch her in this unique moment was something he doubted he'd ever see again.
The silence took a moment to digest as the tears were on Ricki's face, causing a pause in Murdoc. He wasn't exactly used to tears and seeing someone close to him cry was a bit unsettling. Even when her hands were up to wipe away the steady flow of waterworks he knew they were there, visible between them and only them in that room. It was quite fortunate he had sent out the only other witness, leaving it down to just Lucario - and he didn't exactly go around telling everyone, so the Luke was just fine at keeping a secret.
As it seemed apparent that she might speak, Ducky tilted his head ever so slightly, attempting to get a better view of her face, in the case that her crying would make hearing her difficult and he'd have to piece it together with her lips and what he did hear. He was about to prompt her when she broke off, prompting a sudden look of confusion from him as she darted around the desk. His brain didn't quite keep up with what was happening as his body reacted, turning to face the direction she was coming from as she launched at him.
That smarted in all kinds of ways as the jolt of pain from his sore ribs caused him to hiss in an intake of breath as she gripped him around the middle and raised him from perdition. The previous feelings of guilt and responsibility at what he had done melted away for the moment, as the fragility before him caused him to sigh and put on a fatherly smile as a single hand patted her on the back, ushering out all of the tears and sobs she had stored in her. Ricki had to let it all out, everything on this she had stuck inside old wounds and closed up in half-assed emotional stitches.
Luckily she didn't stay vicegripped around him and he let out a breath of relief as his ribs got the freedom of extra movement, with Murdoc hoping they wouldn't swell back up too much. He gave Ricki one last pat on the back before doing his best to keep the smile. "Feel better?" He didn't give much time for a response before he continued on. "You don't owe me a thing, Green. Hope ya know that."
Murdoc glanced over at the clock across the room, pinned to the wall. About an hour until the rest of the Rockets made their way back here. Plenty of time to finish things up here with whatever Ricki still needed.
AND PAST AVALON
N O T E S: Lemme know if needing edits / more for you to respond to.
The pats of the back and the occasional reminder that he was there was enough for her at this point. She let it out, repeating her mindless phrases as she broke down and just let go of her tension. For weeks, she’d been hiding and running. She had to avoid friends and family, and while she hadn’t seen the latter in a long time, it was different when she realized that she may never be able to see them again. She was scared of being kidnapped again, or losing Jason, or being the reason someone else she’d been close to would be hurt. The situation as a whole understandably took its toll on Ricki and finally she felt she could get a break from it.
After what felt like an eon of crying, she had finally quieted down to brief sniffles and clearing her throat. With a final pat to her back, Ricki slowly sank away from him, reaching up to use the sleeves of her shirt to wipe off her face. Slightly flustered by her fit, she didn’t speak for the time being and merely began nodding once more at his question about feeling better. As he told her she didn’t owe a thing, she merely looked up at him with a baffled look. Didn’t owe him anything? Yeah right. She shook her head at the notion, letting her eyes drift to the side to look out the window and observe the weather outside.
Her eyes watched the weather before slowly settling in on her reflection in the glass. It was a smack in the face by reality to see herself so messy at that moment, and quickly she started to gather herself back up. A loud sniff followed by another swipe with her sleeve across her face and she was managing to get back into her usual stance. “I’m pretty sure I owe you a lot” she quietly commented, scratching lightly at her neck. She started to move back from him, Rep moving out of the way to follow her as she went back around the desk.
Back to the other side of the desk, she swallowed some of her nerves and looked up at Murdoc. “Thank you” she managed, before remembering that for most of her crying fit, she’d been uttering her gratitude. The memory sparked a bit of a more flustered look from the awkward young woman. She opened her mouth, before shutting it and clearing her throat. Clearly, she was not used to these kind of situations, as she nervously tried to find a way to move along this conversation. She glanced down at her bag, before her eyes shot back up to him. Blood shot golden eyes met the golden eyes behind a set of glasses, and without her vision blurred, she could finally see just how horribly exhausted her friend was. She inwardly grimaced at the delayed realization of his current state of health, and she’d come in on a warpath. Way to go, Ricki, taking advantage of the potentially ill.
She looked down at his papers, furrowing her brow slightly as she tried to understand what was on the various sheets of papers in a brief distraction. He had always talked about doing paperwork, but when she imagined Rocket, she never saw this part of it, but someone had to keep track of this stuff. It made sense and was an important part of the work she was sure. She curiously reached over to grab the corner of a paper and pick it up to try and peer at what was under it, before retracting her hand and letting the papers settle. “So… This is what you do…?” she softly questioned, attempting some sort of subject change. After the way things went, she hoped to leave on a much lighter note than how she’d come. Granted, he looked way too exhausted for someone who just did paperwork, so she felt nearly obligated to ask. “I’ll be frank when I say this, but… Either I really drained ya, or you’ve been doing a lot more than just paper work because you look like shit, Ducky. When’s the last time you got a good night’s sleep, man?” she questioned, voice remaining light despite her usual attitude leaking through.
Really at this moment, she wouldn’t mind crashing herself. After marching through Sinnoh, charging through the snow, and making a b-line for Murdoc, the idea of being able to rest for a day or two was lovely. She would’ve head to the nearby Pokémon Center, but she was pretty sure her ex-husband still worked there. Despite her wallet’s desperate cries for mercy, for the sake of her sanity, she would indulge on a hotel room for the night before heading off to another city and call Jason to give him some sort of update. She was certain he’d be pissed at her for acting on her own like this, but she’d deal with that problem later.
By The Way; Recovery from her break down, she brings the subject back to Ducky for a bit. Let me know if I need to edit anything, or give more to respond to.
It had been a long day for the last few weeks for both of them, so he was more than willing to comfort her until the waterworks began to dry up. She was still capable of a few sniffles, sure, but the steady stream was gone for now, and that was sufficient. She went to clean the last bits of water from her face, pulling back and giving him some breathing room to lean back onto the desk just slightly, putting weight down and glad to have the pressure fully off of his ribs. It didn't hurt enough to say a word, but another wrinkle or two might have been apparent on the man before the girl.
He ended up observing the window with her, gaze following gaze as he eyed the way the wind moved the trees tall enough to be seen from this vantage before he caught sight of her movements, still messing with her face before the light comment caught his ear. Maybe she did owe him, maybe she didn't, but he certainly wasn't going to say it out loud. That wasn't for here or now. Before he could choose to push that comment away, however, she moved away with Lucario in tow, back to the side of the desk she was on before.
He adjusted his hands onto the back of his chair, pulling it in as he sat, eager to take a seat. Standing forever wasn't something Murdoc planned to keep up if he could avoid it. Besides, she wasn't so short from this angle. He leaned into his seat as she thanked him once more, prompting him to bring up hands in a No-style manner. She had already said thank you more times than humanly possible, even if most times were choked out through sobs. No need to revisit that, which she gladly didn't.
Rather, she commented on the papers on the desk - basic logistics stuff, really, to keep shipments of supplies incoming for the camp. To the untrained eye it would just look like jargon and numbers, but... well, it was what it was. Boring old paperwork he had to keep filled out since he couldn't do much else. Her furthered questioning, however, touched on the real reason for bringing up the paperwork, it seemed, so he'd have to give her something. Writing it off wouldn't be the best thing in the world, anyways.
"You're not the only person to visit me." He lightly shrugged, then leaned back a bit, left hand pointing to his ribcage. "Five broken, two fractured." He leaned back into his previous seating arrangement, letting out a sigh as he looked down at the desk. "Some group with a bone to pick with Rocket, unsurprisingly. Some masked goon working for something called Steinhart." He wasn't really comfortable saying more than that, and even then, the name had just escaped him in the moment; he didn't even want to say that much.
"Besides that..." He waved a hand to the paperwork before him. "No time to sleep. Million different things to keep up with all at once, since we're spread thin. Not much else I can actually say, just... only one me, but we need ten." That was the truth of it; they needed more higher-ups capable of leading this mass of members and grunts all willing to work for a cause. With only so many voices speaking it was hard to get heard, after all.
Post by Ricki Jace on Jan 24, 2014 18:21:06 GMT -5
I have 688 WORDS for MURDOC NIKTER
She tilted her head slightly as he confessed that she hadn’t been the only one to visit him. As he pointed to his ribcage, her gaze was briefly puzzled, before turning into a grimace upon the revelation of the damage he’d taken. Especially with her previous actions coming to mind, plus the fact she knew full and well how painful broken bones were, she almost felt compelled to apologize again. Damn, and she thought she had it rough, that was a lot of damage to acquire to one area in one encounter. With little thought, one of her own hands moved to her ribs as if holding a wound on her body.
She nodded along to what he had to say, before furrowing her brow at the peculiar name of this group that had assaulted her friend. Steinhart? What the fuck was with these regions and their weird names for teams? Granted, she couldn’t complain much, she once worked for a group called Arcane after all. She could only imagine what the other super special teams of these regions called themselves. Team Fabulous, Team Galactica, Team… Arsenic? Whatever, not her team, not her problem. Wave your banners proudly Team Fab. She merely nodded to the revelation, though part of her was curious enough she almost wanted to question Murdoc further about this group.
He didn’t let the subject hang there long enough for her to ask though, moving along to admit there was no time for sleep. She quirked a brow at him and glanced down at herself, before looking back up at him. “There’s always time for sleep” she assured, before looking down at the papers he had laid out. Sighing, she rubbed the back of her head whilst shaking it slightly. She was good at math, doing lengthy problems in her head with general ease, but a lot of this was escaping her at the moment. Probably her own exhaustion catching up with her, still, after what she was sure was a painful collision from her earlier hug, she almost felt obligated at this point.
“Well… Anything I can do to help lighten the load? I’m not kidding, you look like you’re ready to conk out” she informed, leaning over the desk to try and find something she could understand. She was no vigilante looking to take down the team, and lord knows she’d had enough of dealing with secrets this team had. She was in debt if he managed to get the team to back off of Jason, and this would be a fine starting point. “I’m pretty good with math, and I used to have to handle some paper work back in the day” she mumbled, trying to spot something anything familiar. These were mostly about payments, though, nothing really in her forte. She lightly poked through some of the papers, before letting them be and settling back.
“Although, I always did try to shove my work on my partner… He usually made me do it, but there were times he took over the work load to spare me the headache” she lightly joked. Said partner of her’s had also been her ex-husband, who’d been practically her co-admin, he just lacked the title. He had taken on more of the dirty work the admins set up than her if memory served right, and Ricki never did really ask just what they made him do… He was never really upset by what he had to do, so maybe it wasn’t all that bad?
Her mind briefly wrapped around the mysteries she’d left behind, before she dismissed them as unimportant. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her pants and slowly let the fact she’d confessed to having been a member of a terrorist organization settle in her mind after a moment. Man, she wasn’t sure how shocking such a thought really could be, and now that she considered it, maybe she should tell Jason about what she’d done. It might make him feel better about his demons, but what she’d done back then must have paled in comparison to the demons he hid inside.
By The Way;It almost felt weird talking about Ricki's days as a member of Arcane. Feels like a life time ago since she really mentioned it / thought about it at all.
The mimic in movement wasn't lost on him, but it wasn't something to fully concern himself over. It was just a natural reaction to the idea of pain in another person, he assumed. It wasn't the first time he had seen reactions like that; stub your toe and people inwardly care for their feet placement. Get smashed in your nose and people care for their face. When he pointed out his tender ribs, it just made sense for her to care for her ribs.
He was glad that she didn't inquire further about Steinhart. Murdoc wasn't really able to say much about it - partly because he didn't know shit about them and partly because it was still Rocket information, and he just gave her the name of it as a favor to a friend and as a warning... and in a slight way, to see if she knew anything about it, though she didn't reveal any kind of significant reaction. What he had to say was news to her.
Always time for sleep? Perhaps, but there was stuff to do before he could get a solid few hours of sleep. To sleep now would be to wake up early before he even felt rested, just to get his nose back to the grindstone. To hear her offer such help took him by surprise as his mind yanked away from the idea of snoozing to the girl leaning over the desk to eye paperwork, leading Ducky to readjust how he had his arms crossed to lean back slightly in response. There was no harm in letting her shift through those papers - nothing confidential within. Just business front paperwork that was as innocent as other businesses and their tedious paperwork.
He gave a sole chuckle at her light joke about the partner. "Yeah, always nice to have someone to shrug off work on." Murdoc took his eyes to her, eyeing Ricki through glasses that had dropped ever so slightly closer to his nose. He momentarily paused before leaning back into his seat, undoing the forward movement from earlier. He wanted to ask her a million questions - about Arcane, about Jason, about how she was - but none of it seemed quite right at the moment. It seemed to be implied in the moments of silence that there would be time later to talk and discuss such things, when the situation wasn't so... odd.
Murdoc squinted at her before blinking it off. "If there's anything you can do for me, it's this." He paused, moving both hands onto the table for dramatic effect, because he was Ducky and damned if he wasn't going to try and make an impression on this young adult that meant so much to him. Might as well adopt the idjit. "Go lay low with Jason for a while, and just... relax, enjoy yourself somehow. Just... go be happy while you can be until this is all smoothed over." He put on a reassuring smile as best he could. That was all he wanted, anyways, was to get this solved. Best thing she could do, in all reality, was to help make that happen. "That, and this is literally just papertrails. Nothing as fancy as what Arcane sounds like." It wasn't meant as a question; not to probe her for Arcane information, and his tone conveyed it. Just a stab at humor with both of their new information on one another, in a way. They were both convicts, in that sense.
