A/N: Have a short one before with hit an arch!
Learning Curve
The sound of the water outside against the basin of the lair, and his breathing, were the only sounds Drakken could hear. Those and the rapid tapping of his pen against the papers of his desk. He'd been sitting there for hours and nothing had happened. No thoughts, annoyances, or even problems... Just unmoving and unshifting stagnation. Drakken let out a growl as he slammed his hands against his lab table in frustration.
A sudden voice from behind him caused him to yelp in shock and lose his balance.
"Geesh, someone's moody," Shego scoffed. Drakken slipped forward and clung to the desk as his chair rolled away.
He hit his knee slightly, but nothing to be concerned about. He turned his head and glared in annoyance, the chair still rolling further away to where Shego stood. Her expression was of mild concern at best as her hand casually stopped the chair. He got to his feet and held out his hand to get his seat back, but instead she sat in the chair where she stood. He narrowed his eyes further but returned his focus to the papers scattered across his desk.
"Can you not?" he grumbled under his breath. "Do you live to startle me?"
"Actually, yes." He heard the cheeky tone without looking. "It's like an energy source."
"It's like an energy source," he mimicked and shoveled papers around in annoyance.
"So," he heard the wheels propel forward and a second later Shego slid next to him in his chair, "what's with the meltdown this time?"
"I thought propelling oneself in a chair was discouraged," he scoffed.
"No. You are discouraged from it," she smirked. "Never said anything about myself."
He rolled his eyes.
"So, what gives? Haven't seen the angry tantrum for a while... Something not working—" Drakken cut her off.
"Nothing is working! None of it... It's all useless." He pulled at his hair. "Nothing is connecting, it's just...junk."
He waited for a smug remark or snide comment about how that was nothing new...but it didn't come. He watched as Shego grabbed one of his blueprints and waited for her to find more fuel. Instead of casually discarding it, she turned it over and he watched her brow furrow as she actually began deciphering his notes. It was nothing new. Sometimes he wondered just how much she simply pretended to not find interesting or be bored by. The small bit of happiness at her actually showing interest was squashed by the fact he knew she was only reading more failures.
"This doesn't look like nothing... Is it just the math or...is this causing an acid storm?" He heard the shock in her voice and he let out a defeated sigh.
"I'm supposed to be finding solutions...not...adding to the destruction. But it's like I'm incapable of not having malicious tendencies!" he snapped. He grabbed the papers from her and hastily took a handful of them. "That one's supposed to help with toxic soil issues... The other one is for a defense laser... This one is supposed to be for shield use in soldiers... And this one—"
He grabbed a larger paper.
"This one is for the ozone depletion issue... I'm trying to repair it but all I keep coming up with is controlling it for nefarious purposes!" he finished.
Shego looked at him with wide eyes as she took the sheet and stood up. Drakken seized the moment and grabbed the chair to flop into.
"Well first...good on using' nefarious' properly," she sighed. Drakken grumbled under his breath. "So explain this to me... Are you supposed to be fixing world problems now? Is that what these commissions are for... To come up with inventions for others to use?"
"No... Just the shield and laser... These are all projects I started to clear my mind," he muttered. "It started with the ozone one...but then when you were out with Junior I went down a rabbit hole while looking at graphs online... Turns out acid rains have increased because of the ozone problem... And toxicity in the soils are stagnating crops because of the Lorwardian robots leaking fluids—"
"So these are yours?" asked Shego, shoving two aside and gesturing to the pile. "Wait...when I left you just played online?"
"No... Okay for a little while, but mostly researching." He let his head fall on the desk. "How long until they realize I have nothing to contribute and they recant everything... A few months?"
He waited for her to say something, but instead he felt a hand at the base of his neck and her hand loosely massaged the tension there, if only for a short amount of time. As he felt his eyes drifting closed in relaxation she finally spoke.
"This one with the ozone...how are you controlling it?" She sounded curious and Drakken flopped his head to the other side to look at her and the sheet.
"It makes pinholes that essentially can be stitched with fabricated energy construction... Like glue or stitches...in theory...but nothing to undo it," he sighed.
"So...why can't you apply your quick stitch thing for the bigger ones?" Shego's brow raised as she flipped the paper over.
"It doesn't erase them," he glared. "It's temporary until it heals... Could take decades."
"But does it stop it from becoming bigger?" Shego looked at him. "A band-aid is better than an open wound."
Drakken's brow furrowed as he reached over and took the paper she offered him. He began looking at his sketches and how to make the pseudo-energy on a larger scale than his small plans. It wasn't perfect but it would at least do...something. He mentally went over the ridicule and comments due to something so simple and mundane he'd come up with. It took a few seconds for his mind to switch gears and remind him that no one else had yet to bring about a solution. He realized Shego had picked up another paper.
"What about your acid storm... After you'd use that for a world takeover scheme...how were you fixing the damage?" asked Shego. She held a smug look on her face. "Or were you just going to chalk that area up to corrosion and destruction."
"No. My plants are rather durable so planting some of them there would even out the damage, and a mild countering chemical bath would break apart the surface acid remaining... It's not...oh."
Drakken's head was spinning as he hastily grabbed more papers and some he simply flipped over. That was the key. He needed to think about what he would do to clean up his world by creating counter measures after his destructive devices would wreak havoc. It was simple and obvious... Slightly frustrating, but the images, words, and numbers were spiraling as he began. He felt Shego's hand leave his and somewhere between writing down the chemical breakdown of acidic rain formulas he stopped to look at her. She'd already made it halfway up the stairs.
"Shego," he called up. She waved dismissively.
"Don't worry I'll be back. You know, design flaw... There's no bathrooms down here. After you're done playing mad scientist you should call someone about that." She looked back at him.
"Noted," he agreed. "Eh...perhaps you'd like to hear more solutions?"
"Sure," she snorted. "You can worry about the weather... I'll worry about the fish."
"Right," he nodded and then paused. "What?"
He watched her shake her head and smirk as the elevator door closed. Drakken looked around at the table for a minute and then back at the door in confusion.
"What do fish matter?"
He shook his head and dove back into his work. He had several problems to solve...of his own brilliant creation.
Fact: Dancing is essential to any good heist.
