"This is your room," Felix said as he opened the door. "Or at least it will be."
Poking his head inside, Rowan could almost taste the dust in the air. The room itself wasn't nearly as large as the others, but it would do just fine. He never required much room to begin with, even in his past life.
Multiple types of furniture were haphazardly stacked on each other and draped in cloth of various colors. Many of them were too small and, while covering whatever was on top, left the ones below it exposed. Felix wrapped his team bandana around his mouth and nose.
"We sent word to Ollie and his team. They will be coming tomorrow to empty it. Cleaning and decorating afterward will be up to you, though," Felix explained, as he began removing the cloth coverings. Rowan coughed and sneezed as the dust became thicker, disturbed from its resting place.
"That's fine," Rowan coughed, backing away from the doorway until the Servine was done. "I appreciate it, really."
"You know," Felix asked as he exited the room, the cloth's bundled into a ball and tied together with his vines. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"
"Yeah, I don't like large open spaces when it comes to sleep. I prefer to be somewhere small and dark." Rowan replied. Felix shrugged as he headed down the hallway.
"Not what I was getting at, but good to know," Felix laughed before rewording his question. "I mean, are you sure you're okay with joining this? Our team? We have a couple others in the field right now, but we're not exactly in the best spot financially."
"I know," Rowan replied. "And I'm sure it'll be rough but… Whether or not you guys realize it, I owe you a debt on many levels. And honestly, I wouldn't want it any other way."
"Great, we got another softie," Felix laughed as he bumped into him lightly. "For now, I think both Chloe and Fergus want to see you about the 'benefits' our team offers."
"Alright, thanks again Felix," Rowan nodded as the grass type headed to the laundry room.
Now that he had the freedom to roam around as he pleased, Rowan was able to fully appreciate the construction of their base. He had heard from Fergus that most fighting type teams handle construction because of their sheer physical strength, while most Grass type teams handle agriculture and so on.
"I can't believe how efficient everything is," Rowan thought to himself as he rounded a corner; Chloe's room was just ahead. "Pokemon society is much more….organized than what I expected."
From behind the door, he could hear Fergus and Chloe talking about something, the only thing he made out was his name mentioned. The rest was unintelligible. With his paw, he tapped on the door to let them know he was there.
"It's me!" Rowan said loudly.
"Come in!" Chloe replied.
With his forehead, Rowan pushed the door open. Chloe was sitting on one side of some plush cushions. Fergus sat at his desk, scribbling away on something with a feather; a small dish of black liquid was next to him.
"Rowan!" Chloe beamed as she patted an empty seat next to her on the cushion. "Sit next to me!"
Fergus glanced in his direction before returning to his work, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. Rowan awkwardly stepped onto the lush cushion and laid down as well, trying to give Chloe some space. Despite his efforts, their flanks met and Rowan became self-conscious of it. While he had become used to her presence as well as the others, her close proximity caused his heart to thunder in his chest.
"Rowan," Fergus started. "Considering yer circumstances and Team Cosmic's financial backing… Are ya sure ya want to work here?"
"Felix asked the same thing earlier," Rowan replied. "The answer is yes."
The otter sighed as he set down the feather, bridging his paws together and rested his chin on top.
"I'll be straight with ya lad. Things here won't be easy for ya, Team Cosmic is willing to shelter ya and take care of ya till yer ready to be on yer own...as long as ya answer their questions."
"I know... but, I really don't want to be so close to... myself," Rowan replied hesitantly.
"If you stay, I can teach you everything I know!" Chloe chimed in. "I bet you don't know anything about your new uh... body."
"Calm down lass, we can talk about that later," Fergus said to her, annoyed. "Let me do my job first."
"Don't be shushin' your boss!" Chloe teased.
Rowan felt something fall on his tail. Glancing behind him, he noticed Chloe's tail overlapping his own. Clearing his throat, he interrupted the two before their banter continued.
"Anyway… My decision won't change," Rowan said to Fergus before turning to Chloe. "I actually look forward to your lessons. I still don't know if my knowledge of pokemon is worth anything."
"A-any time," Chloe stammered.
"Well regardless, what we'll do for now is give ya an allowance from Team Cosmic's funding and yer gonna have to learn to fight," Fergus said as he slid the parchment he had been writing on across his desk as well as the inkwell. Rowan got up and walked to his desk to see it.
Rowan frowned as he looked at the paper. It was written in nice and neat lettering and symbols he didn't recognize. He also didn't know what to do with the ink as Fergus still had the feather in his grasp, twiddling it around in his paw.
"I uh… know it's a bit late, but I can't read your language," Rowan said sheepishly. "And how would I sign it? No thumbs, remember?"
"Shite, that is a problem," Fergus laughed as he grabbed the paper, crumpling it up and tossing it onto the floor. "What do we do, Chloe?"
Raising a paw to her lips, she thought about it for a moment. "If you can't read, you can't be a member yet, not officially anyway…" Chloe murmured.
"Oh," Rowan said, crestfallen.
"Guess I'm useless here," he thought to himself.
"It can't be helped," Chloe sighed. "I'll teach him. Can you get us some books for it Fergus?"
"I can, but where are we going to get the money?" Fergus asked. "Our coin purse is a wee bit low lass, even with Vrid backing us."
"Use what would've been my allowance," Rowan suggested. He had little need for money at the moment anyway. With little knowledge about this world's economy, Rowan had no idea what this world's equivalent of a dollar was, nor did he know what he would even spend it on.
"Are you sure?" Chloe asked, concerned. "What about your room? You're going to need a bed for it. What about equipment?"
"Aye, we don't have the funding to get stuff like that. When the others return from their assignments, maybe, but we simply can't afford it." Fergus sadly, but firmly replied. Rowan was impressed, the otters mind for business was second to none as far as anyone he met.
"That's fine, I'll just sleep on the floor, I'm use-"
"Absolutely not!" Chloe chided. "I'll not stand for anyone sleeping on the floor of this building. We have our own standards to uphold."
"Then what about the couch in the co-" Rowan tried to offer.
"No," Chloe replied flatly. Fergus sat in his chair with a knowing smile. Rowan was beginning to get irritated at her refusal to budge. He slept just fine without any bedding before, what changed?
"Why?" Rowan demanded.
"Because, until things get sorted, you're sharing my room!" Chloe replied, almost yelling as she got up. Stomping over to him, she poked him in the chest with a paw. "I don't know what it was like for you humans, but we take care of our own here. We don't let someone go without while others have comfort. I don't care if it leaves me destitute! I will have you!"
The whole room went silent for a minute. Rowan stood staring in surprise at her outburst while Fergus dropped his feather, utterly flabbergasted. Chloe's ears fell flat against her as the realization came over her of what she had said. Backing onto the pillow again, Chloe buried her face into its fluff out of embarrassment.
Wordlessly, Fergus slid out of his seat and went to the door. Holding it open he looked between the two of them before addressing Rowan.
"Laddie… Can you excuse us for a minute?" Fergus asked calmly. Eager to escape the tension in the air, Rowan quickly obliged his request and quietly slipped out. Times like this, Rowan couldn't tell who the real team leader was.
"What did she mean by she 'would have me?'" Rowan thought to himself. Surely he was more of a hindrance than an asset to them. What use was he if he couldn't contribute in any meaningful way? No matter how he sliced it, he couldn't make sense of it.
While he couldn't figure out what happened at the end of his meeting, he did have an idea to solve his illiteracy. Once before Vrid had shown a keen interest in his memories as a human. Could he make a deal with the inquisitive psychic type?
"It beats doing nothing…" Rowan muttered under his breath as he looked for Felix. With the Servines help, he could send a message to Vrid.
After Rowan left, Fergus shut the door behind him carefully and pressed his forehead against it. The small otter started to chuckle, laughing even harder as he heard Rowan's footsteps become more and more faint.
"Why are you laughing?" Chloe asked, her face still buried inside the pillow.
"Because," Fergus replied between breaths. "Ya made a damn fool of yerself!"
Falling to his knees, Fergus continued to cackle at her expense. Chloe could feel her blood rush to her cheeks.
"Shut up!" Chloe cried as she raised her head. Tears were freely flowing from her now. Relenting at the sight of her, Fergus chuckled softly a couple more times before sitting on the floor in front of her.
"Chloe," Fergus said as he tapped the crown on her head. "Can ya at least explain why ya said that? I know yer crushin on him, but ya gotta snap out of it. Yer our leader, not a wee starry-eyed kit."
After a few sniffles, Chloe laid her head onto her paws, looking at nothing in particular.
"I can't explain it. There's something different about him. I've had a few others try for my affection over the past few years, but they've always wanted the same things," she explained. "They either liked me for my power or my looks. The last asshole even suggested I should let him take over and become a stay at home mother. But Rowan… He hasn't looked at me like that."
Fergus sighed as she confessed a side of her he had never seen before. This was the second time someone revealed their innermost thoughts to him. Why he was suddenly everyone's therapist, he didn't know, but he had a hunch it probably wouldn't be the last time either.
"I just can't help it," Chloe said softly. "When I first saw him lying in the snow, I thought 'wow, this poor guy… He's so vulnerable. I need to protect him.' and thought that was just it. Every time we talk, I find myself wanting to learn more and more about him."
"I get it, yer smitten with this 'mysterious tortured soul' thing that's happenin', but this ain't daycare lass. Yer gonna need to reel yerself in a wee bit before ya drive him off. Ya just offered to share a bed with the lad and said 'I will have ya.' to his face," Fergus replied bluntly. Chloe grimaced at his assessment, she clearly didn't want that.
"I know he's a Glaceon now, but are ya sure yer okay with him being a human before?" Fergus asked, crossing his arms. "I won't meddle in yer pursuits, but… are ya sure this is what ya want?"
"Yeah," Chloe murmured before affirming herself. "Yeah, I think I do. So his background is a bit different than most pokemon, it doesn't bother me… but, you're right. I need to control myself better, if I keep acting like a kit then I'll end up driving him off."
"Good," Fergus sighed, glad she had finally come to her senses. "Now can we get back to fixin' the real problems? I'm not yer doctor, so let's get back on task eh?"