008. [Video/possible action for Goldenrod City, also one other thing]

[scientificflair]

[PRIVATE TEXT TO EMMY ALTAVA]

I have something I would like to ask you, and some further things to discuss. Some more pleasant than others. Do you have time?


[VIDEO]

[Well, if you're familiar with the stores around Goldenrod (or even if you're not, and just happened to wander in there one day by chance) then the chances are good that you're aware of a music shop nestled amongst the larger stores and malls. More specifically and to the point, you may be aware of the piano set up within the shop itself - both for the sake of lessons to those willing to pay, and to advertise others like it for purchase. Descole is in here for neither, though had he the space he wouldn't be terribly opposed to the latter; for the last couple of days, he's come in when business is slow and settled himself behind the keys, sometimes playing, sometimes just running his hands over them lightly. Today, however, he is clearly settling for none of that. The camera clicks on after seeming to have been set up directly alongside the keys, showing nothing but his hands and a bit of the long ruffled sleeves covering the backs of them; he begins playing after a bit, and...uh. It's a bit difficult to say what in the world set him off but he's having at fairly hard and holding absolutely nothing back, his hands fast and firm on the keys. It's not anything classical, or even anything terribly classy; it's somewhat more akin to...well. While it isn't anywhere near exact, it's closer to this than anything.

Yeah. Um. There's probably something to be said for the fact that Descole is baring his soul to the world and it sounds sorta like Skrillex, but we won't go there.

His hands linger on the keys for a moment after the sound dies; the camera angle doesn't adjust any, leaving his face well out of the shot, but after a moment Descole speaks, his tone clipped and more abrupt than usual.

He's clearly a bit stressed; he's doing a terrible job of concealing it.]

I'm looking for ways to further improve myself. Anything at all. Physically, intellectually, I don't particularly care. Tell me what you excel at; I want to hear what your talents are.

I don't care that time doesn't pass back home, not while we're here; there is still such a thing as having been here too long. If I can't return to my life's work...

[He pauses for a moment; without warning, he slams his hands down heavily on the keys, the sudden clash ringing out sharply. One can...pretty much hear the rather alarmed sound of the shopkeeper in the background, telling him to watch it.]

I've had enough. Give me something to pursue.

[And with that, end feed.]

Comments

[snapandscoot]

....

[Pausing for a moment, Emmy takes a quick sip of her tea, eyes darting to the side. That...sounded awfully like Descole...asking her to-]

....are these platonic sorts of meet-ups, or were you thinking more along the lines of.....dates?

[yeah screw puzzling that one out

she can earn the picarats later]

[scientificflair]

[...Emmy

Emmy no

Emmy why are you doing this can't we just assume they're platonic - ]

...why do you ask?

[snapandscoot]

[...........uh-oh]

Well, I'm just....curious, that's all.

[yeah that'll do]

[scientificflair]

[He remains silent for a long moment after that, toying absently with the edges of his sleeves.]

If you would prefer that they remain platonic, that's entirely possible.

[snapandscoot]

...but you'd rather they didn't. Is that what you're saying?

[no really are you allergic to giving straight answers this is ridiculous]

I just...like to know this sort of thing. I....

[.....thank goodness the Professor isn't here any more....]

.....well, I....wouldn't be opposed to....the non-platonic kind, I suppose....

[scientificflair]

[emmy does he look like a person who gives straight answers to you or are we done here]

...that would be what I'm saying, yes.

[He actually seems...somewhat less tense now that that's out there, however; the fact that he's calming down somewhat is visible.]

And I'd like that.

[snapandscoot]

[At that, Emmy pauses, running a finger lightly along the rim of her teacup. Now that they appear to be on the same page, this is surreal; it's obviously been far too long for the both of them here in Johto, because if she wasn't mistaken Descole just asked her to date him.

And she had said yes.

What on earth was going on here? What would the Professor think? What would he say? What was the logical conclusion to all this....dating business? Did he just want something playfully casual? Was he being very serious with his intentions? Was this all just a giant trap in the name of whatever it was he had dedicated his life to, back home in England?

Her head hurt.]

...

[What was she doing? She...she barely knew this man properly, she didn't even know what he really looked like, that mask didn't betray anything....and what if 'Jean Descole' was just another persona, another disguise?

Emmy had so many questions flying through her head, but only one answer. It was an odd thing, too.

She found that she quite wanted to date this man. She wanted it quite a bit. Did that, if you took out the middle man, mean she wanted him?

....it was too complicated to think about now; she decided that, for the time being, she would play along with this 'dating' business, and anything else that came with it. Because that was definitely what she was doing; simply playing along.

....now why on earth did she feel those familiar tingles of excitement?]

I'm disappointed you didn't put it in a letter. It's just not the same.

[scientificflair]

[Again, he didn't try to interrupt her thoughts, though somewhere in the back of his mind he found himself rather aware of the fact that the silence was going on far too long and this was awkward and it didn't take him long at all to utterly convince himself that she had changed her mind.

...and then she actually broke the silence herself and he was immensely grateful, good lord.]

I'll just have to put more effort into the flowery turns of phrase next time, won't I?

[snapandscoot]

Well I would appreciate something a bit more thoughtful than just a text, private though it was.

[....what is she doing-]

Shall we decide when to meet for our first...lesson, I suppose?

[scientificflair]

...I'll let you know. There's someone I'm supposed to get in contact with shortly - someone replying to that...video from earlier. Apparently he's taking it as reason to be concerned.

[tl;dr - Ondorus is attempting to stage an intervention...]

[snapandscoot]

Oh? Well, isn't that kind of him!

[you made a friend ;w;

well done ;w;]

Regardless, just let me know when you want to meet up; as I said, I'm not too busy at the moment. I might even go shopping for ingredients....

[....give her a moment to space out and think about food, okay

.....d-delicious food....]

...it's nice of you to think about me, by the way. You know, in regards to that creep on the network.

I really appreciate it.

[scientificflair]

[He's quiet for a moment before answering that.]

...someone made a move against said creep's base of operations recently; I think that's the reason he resurfaced this last time, with regards to the birds. So I had reason to be concerned, as he's obviously displeased, though I can't tell to what extent; I just can't imagine why else he would have come out of hiding with a display of power like that.

Your friend Kimblee made an appearance on the network as well, around that time. I doubt you heard about that part; it wasn't a public announcement, if you follow. He didn't seem terribly pleased, either.

[snapandscoot]

[Oh good, her favourite topic.]

What are you trying to say, Descole? Do you suspect Mr Kimblee has something to do with that...awful man?

[scientificflair]

[He leans forward a bit, keeping his voice low to lessen the chances of being overheard.]

Your current theory is that this...Seth person is one of the Executives. Proton, wasn't it? Kimblee's received another promotion, but he isn't nearly high-ranked enough to have any sort of real power at this point; however, it's possible that if your theory is correct, Kimblee is in enough contact with the Executives that they're pressuring him to actually do his job. Things going badly within this organization mean things are going badly from all of us; the higher one is up the chain of command, the more pressure one is going to be experiencing.

I'm not accusing him; simply saying that he may know something we don't about what's happening. I don't know that he's taken any punishment for it, but that's also possible, given that he returned to the base after months of being absent. That's all.

[snapandscoot]

...I admittedly haven't seen Mr Kimblee in a while, so I don't....really know what's going on with him. Maybe I'll try to get in contact with him.

[No really, can't we go back to talking about silly things? All this talk of Team Rocket is depressing her.]

They're not....pressuring you, are they?

[scientificflair]

They aren't, no, but I'm not as far up the chain as Kimblee is. Most of my research is also in Kanto, though not all, and as such I wouldn't be held responsible for anything that happened in any of the bases here; Kimblee is in charge of several field operations in Johto, if I'm not incorrect, and he's one of the highest-ranked "foreigners" here, so I'm assuming this is being seen as at least partially his fault. Especially as he's often away from the base, doing...god-only-knows-what.

[......]

I honestly don't think this was his work, either; I'm fairly sure he was in the base immediately following the raid on the Violet City gym, which would be impossible with travel times being what they are, and then there was the attack on Sprout Tower that he obviously couldn't have carried out either...

...I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, Emmy.

[snapandscoot]

....well, I appreciate that much, at least.

[Frowning, Emmy peers down into her now empty teacup.]

We - the PGC, I mean - conducted a raid on the Radio Tower recently. But we didn't find anything useful. It's rather disheartening. They seem so....untouchable.

[Have a wry smile.]

And before you ask; yes, I was careful during the raid. I only fought three men at once, rather than my usual four!

[scientificflair]

[...okay, that gets a light laugh out of him, you.]

Well, if it was only three, I might be able to let that pass.

[He seems more than content to allow the mood to shift; there's no sense in continuing with such a...disheartening topic, anyway. He had cleared his conscience a bit by telling Emmy to go check on her idiot of a friend, and that was quite simply going to be that.]

[snapandscoot]

You might have to get used to it; I'm more the sort to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

[There's a bit of a twinkle in her eyes, now; teasing Descole is always fun.]

Although something tells me you might have already worked that out.

[scientificflair]

Well, as long as you aren't beating up my completely ineffective squadron of henchmen, I can't say that I mind.

[snapandscoot]

[how dare you make her laugh at that-]

Don't worry; I'm having a bit of trouble defeating their boss, but I think I'll be able to manage it fairly soon.

After that, no promises.

[scientificflair]

We'll see about that soon enough, won't we?

[He's amused by it, however.]

I'll let you know when these lessons of ours can start, then.

[snapandscoot]

[That did seem like a fine point to end things on, really; standing up, Emmy couldn't resist winking.]

I'll be watching my mailbox.