The Dark Suitor

by KarmaLeafbarer

On a weekend employee retreat, Rosemadder has finally found the uni of her dreams...or is he? Originally published in the Neopian Times, up here for your amusement :)

The Dark Suitor

By karma_leafbarer

((Dedicated to all of you who have neomailed me hinting, nudging, and winking that you wanted some sparks to fly between the doc and Rose...I hope this appeases you all, and no this will not carry over into my comic. 'Tis a standalone O.O;;)) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Will you watch where you're going??" Dr. Death snapped, regarding the spreading coffee stain on the front of his labcoat with chagrin.

"*YOU* watch where you're going!" Rose shot back in a rare show of venom as she shoved past him with the stack of folders she was carrying and continued on her way to the filing cabinet. She wasn't about to take the blame for him stepping out of the break room with a full coffee mug at the same time she had been bustling down the hallway with adoptee paperwork to sort and file. The usually-sunny pink uni had had enough of her coworker for one day and it wasn't even noon yet. The techo had been in a vindictive mood since he had come in that morning and it seemed as though he was determined to get upset with her.

First he had griped about her coming in two minutes later than he had, then he had gotten angry because she had left him alone up front to deal with the customers for a bit while she had hurried off for a bathroom break. The icing on the cake that had snapped her last thread of patience with him had been when she had been in the back helping a particularly choosy adopter find a pet and he had made an off-handed accusation upon her return that she had been slacking on her job to fraternize.

Since then, she had been avoiding him and quietly stewing. It never ceased to amaze her how one neopet could possibly carry so much spite on his shoulders, but it seemed Dr. Death was a never-ending fountain of it, no matter HOW pleasant she tried to be to him.

He regarded her with a look of contempt before quietly walking to the desk and sitting down, examining the stain on his coat with a sigh. Why had he been cursed with such a featherhead for a co-worker? After years of working together under the same roof, he would have thought the two of them would have at least grown used to one another, yet RoseMadder seemed determined to give him new reasons to be annoyed with her every day.

"I hope this comes out with normal detergent." he commented for her benefit, gratified to see her cringe a bit as she continued to sort through files. The uni bit her tongue, determined that she wouldn't take the bait and say something in return. That was exactly what he wanted her to do and she wasn't in the mood for a knockdown drag-out fight with him today.

She finished with the files a moment later and returned to her side of the desk, quietly willing 12:05 to roll around so that she could disappear for her lunch break and give herself a chance to calm down. ~Please...just let him keep his mouth shut for another forty-five minutes. That's all I ask...~ she thought to herself.

As though in answer to her plea, the door to the pound swept open and a red- haired human girl stepped inside, a chipper-looking faerie usul perched on her shoulder. By the girl's demeanor, both poundkeepers knew she was there to adopt and not abandon before she even reached the desk.

"Excuse me, I'm interested in taking home a male kacheek. Could one of you help me?" she asked in a voice tinted with a very slight Irish accent.

"I'd be happy to, ma'am." Rose offered instantly, standing hurriedly and glad for an excuse to get away from the doctor.

"Just like she's happy to dump coffee on people." Dr. Death muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Rose to hear him. The uni froze in mid- step, her body tensing as she trembled with frustration before whirling on her heel and jabbing a hoof sharply at the techo's shoulder.

"What is your problem today??" she demanded to know. "You've been ragging on me since I walked in this morning!"

"You've been giving me reasons to." he replied simply, narrowing his eyes.

"You've been LOOKING for reasons to!" she cried. The techo snarled as he and the uni sized one another up, looking for verbal weaknesses. This all, however, screeched to an abrupt halt as the redheaded girl spoke again.

"Oh dear, if I'd known you and your husband were having a spat, I wouldn't have come in. I'm sorry!" she said, turning and hurrying out with her usul (who had suddenly developed a very bad case of giggles), leaving the uni and techo both silent and dumbfounded.

For a moment, Dr. Death looked like he was about to say something about how incredibly off the girl's statement had been, but at length turned back to the desk and began shuffling through papers aimlessly in an attempt to look occupied. Rose blinked owlishly as she climbed down from the shock the words had given her. Husband?? That was a laugh. Is that what their fighting honestly made them come off as to onlookers, she wondered?

"Are you going on your break or what?" Dr. Death asked sullenly after a moment more of tense silence. Rose instantly cast a look at the clock, finding that it was scarcely 11:30.

"Isn't it a little early?" she asked. He shrugged, not looking at her. After a moment of mental debate, she got up and headed for the door, deciding she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Dr. Death breathed an audible sigh of relief once Rose had left. If he had had to deal with her for another minute, he felt he would have gone utterly out of his mind.

He closed his eyes, rubbing at his temples with his index fingers gently to stave off the headache he could feel coming and enjoyed the silence that Rose had left behind when she had gone. As he calmed himself, the front doorknob turned again and the door creaked open.

"Forget something, addlebrain?" he muttered in annoyance, not looking up.

"Excuse me?" an official-sounding female voice inquired, making the techo's eyes snap open as he directed his attention up front. A fire faerie stood, hands on her hips and favoring Dr. Death with a rather unsavory look through flame-colored eyes.

"Oh!" he faltered. "I'm sorry, I though you were my coworker..." The faerie shook her head in reply with a haughty flutter of her butterfly- esque wings.

"Nice to hear that you treat your fellow employees with so much respect." she remarked. The yellow techo, at that moment, looked as though he wished he could disappear into a crack in the floor as he cleared his throat. Mouthing off at Rose was one thing, but he didn't like to get on the faeries' bad side....no one in their right mind did, really.

"I'm sorry." he said, sounding as sincere as was possible for him. "Can I help you?" The fire faerie seemed to let her guard down a bit as she approached the desk.

"I'm just here to inform you and whoever else works here about the mandatory employee seminar this weekend." she stated matter-of-factly.

"Seminar?" Dr. Death asked, quirking a brow. "I didn't hear anything about a seminar..."

"Its a bit of a spur of the moment thing." the faerie explained, sounding tired of elaborating on it as she waved one delicate hand. In a flash of shimmering red light, a piece of paper appeared, fluttering to the desktop. "All you need to know is on there." she told him. "And if you'll excuse me, I've got plenty more establishments to visit before the day is out."

Saying so, the fire faerie clapped her hands and instantly dissolved into a glowing orb of crimson light that zipped toward the doorway, pausing in the threshold to ease the front door shut again before disappearing. Once she was gone, Dr. Death picked up the paper she had dropped and read it over.

--------------------------- !!!NOTICE!!!

In an effort to bring Neopia's shopkeepers and masters of trade up to speed on what is expected of them and how to better reach our goal of continuing to make Neopia a fast-paced and helpful land to belong to, The Faerie Queen, Fyora, has requested that all employed neopians take part in a mandatory 3-day seminar where we will better discuss ideals for work environments and collaborate on ideas with one another.

The seminar will take place from the 26th day of The Month of Swimming until the 29th and will be held at the Mountain Lodge. All businesses (with the exception of the food store and pharmacy -- temps have been assigned) will be closed for the duration of this retreat.

Employees are asked to pack accordingly as supplies, aside from meals, will not be provided and to arrive no later than 7 PM on Friday evening. Rooms and workshop schedules will be assigned upon arrival. Thank you for your cooperation. ----------------------------

Ugh...three days? The techo sighed in disgust and placed the flyer on Rose's side of the desk so she could look at it when she returned. Luckily, he had no plans for this weekend (he seldom did), but the fact remained that sitting around with dozens of shopkeepers he didn't know or care to know, and listening to lectures about mission statements and proactivity really didn't appeal to him.

As he returned to his paperwork, realizing that he'd be more likely to grow purple fuzz all over himself than to weasel his way out of attending one of Fyora's get-togethers, he began to compile a mental list of things he'd need to start packing once he got home. He could already tell it was going to be a long weekend. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday evening came quickly, with mingled excitement and annoyance from those asked to attend the seminar. For Rose, it was a welcome escape. She had always wanted to stay at the Mountain Lodge and this seemed the perfect chance to do it. No customers, no battling through the raucous food lines waiting to be fed at lunchtime, and a chance to break away from Dr. Death for a little.

All businesses had closed an hour early to give everyone a chance to prepare that hadn't already and she had taken the time to pack and reserve her transportation to and from her destination. Her shuttle had taken off precisely on time, a rare occurrence since it seemed they were almost always delayed for stragglers or technical difficulties, and had dropped her off in front of the lodge at six thirty-seven.

The pink uni trotted up the walk carrying her single suitcase and entered the lobby, greeted by a muttering throng of Neopia's employees who were all standing somewhat impatiently as a single green wocky called out room numbers and handed out keys. Rose's enthusiasm faded a bit as she moved to the back of the crowd to wait.

"Hi Rose." a familiar voice stated as she turned her head to see Hubert, the hot dog vendor, standing not far from her, a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and looking as though he had been standing there for quite some time.

"Hello Hubert...slow going?" she asked. The mynci rolled his eyes.

"You don't know the half of it. I've been waiting here for about forty- five minutes." Rose felt her ears droop a bit.

"Oh..." she remarked, wondering how long she'd be doomed to the same fate.

"RoseMadder, Neopian Pound?" The wocky called, as though reading her thoughts. Startled, but quickly regaining herself, the uni set her luggage aside and trotted to the front to claim her keycard.

"Your roommate has already picked up the other key. You're on the second floor." the wocky informed her as he handed over the flat piece of plastic. Before Rose had a chance to ask whom she was rooming with, the wocky had returned to sifting through the pile of keycards and names to call up the next employee. The uni quickly removed herself from the crowd to keep from getting in other peoples' way as she crossed the lobby, stepped inside of an elevator, and punched in the second floor button.

Who was she rooming with, she wondered? The doors slid closed and the elevator began upwards. She hoped, whomever it was, that she'd get along with them. The last thing she wanted to hear was that she had been stuck with someone like the toy shop owner. What an obnoxious prude that red lupe was. In the times Rose had ventured into the toy store, the keeper seemed more likely to bite her customers' heads off than to sell them any plushies. You'd think spending so much time around smiling stuffed animals would make a happier person out of someone!

The elevator lurched to a halt and the doors whispered open with a ding as she stepped into plush carpet of the hallway, breathing deeply of the air. She didn't know what it was about hotels, but all of them smelled the same...like a swimming pool with a light undertone of fresh laundry. Casting a quick look at her room key, she noted that the painted digits read "206" and began down the hallway in the direction that the room numbers ascended.

When she arrived to 206, she wasn't surprised to find the door hanging slightly open...her roommate must still have been inside getting settled, she reasoned. As she took the knob and eased the door open, the first thing to hit her was a wave of stifling warmth that made her feel a bit faint. From the wall, the heat ducts were hissing softly as they filled the room with balmy air. What in the world...?? It was the middle of summertime!

Rose approached the thermostat and twisted the knob into the "low" position, listening as the flow of warm air came to a halt. Perhaps her roommate had made a mistake and thought that it was the air conditioning, somehow.

"Hey, don't mess with that!" a voice protested from around the corner. A familiar voice. There was a sound of stirring and then someone started for where Rose was standing. "Its freezing in here and I just---" Rose's mouth dropped as Dr. Death came around the corner. He stopped short upon seeing her, narrowing his eyes. "What are *you* doing here?" he asked, quirking a brow.

"Me??" she gasped. "This is MY room!" The yellow techo flinched as though he had been slapped.

"There's got to be a mistake." he answered quickly, snatching her keycard from her rudely and peering at the printed numbers. No, no mistake, the key's number matched the one on his own keycard. "Are they crazy??" he growled, throwing Rose's key back at her and storming to the service telephone that sat on the end table, grabbing up the receiver and punching in the number for service.

"Front desk." an enthusiastic female voice picked up immediately after the first ring.

"This is room 206 with the employee seminar. Who was in charge of room assignment?" Dr. Death demanded to know.

"Why? What seems to be the problem, sir?"

"It just doesn't seem very appropriate to me that you'd put unattached males and females together when you planned this out. You want to tell me why it is that I have my LADY coworker in the same room as me???" He paused, realizing his voice had escalated to a yell and calmed himself again.

"Its nothing personal, certainly, sir." the voice replied, sounding a bit rattled. "We thought it might be a bit more relaxed on everyone if we kept the different establishments grouped together so they'd be around familiar faces."

"Relaxed? RELAXED??" the techo spat, tightening his grip on the phone as though he meant to choke it. Rose flinched a bit at his verbal explosion and was relieved when he finally slammed the receiver back onto its cradle and sat on the edge of one of the two beds in the room that he had claimed as his, looking thoroughly angry.

"Well....maybe it won't be so bad...." Rose offered, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Whatever." he snorted in reply. "And turn the heat back on. This place is an ice box." Rose fidgeted, already uncomfortably warm, but turned back to the thermostat, cranking it back to where it had been when she had come in.

"I'm guessing we're going to lay some ground rules..." she sighed, picking up her suitcase from where she had set it down and carrying it across the room to drop it on the remaining bed closest to the window.

"You guessed right." he told her, favoring her with an unsavory glare as she began to unpack. "First of all, I don't know what you women do in the bathroom for hours on end, but I shower as soon as I get up and am done and dressed in fifteen minutes. If you can't keep up with that, then you are NOT getting the bathroom first."

"Deal." the uni muttered, pulling her hairdryer out of her suitcase and setting it aside. "At night, the heating goes off and the window gets opened. We're in the middle of the hottest month of the summer, for crying out loud."

"You're not cold?" he asked skeptically. Rose ignored his question, digging out the washcloths she had brought with her and laying them aside in a neat stack. Techos, as reptiles, were cold-blooded and, because of which, were almost never warm enough for their liking. Dr. Death was no exception and it had become the main reason he was one of the few Neopets who constantly wore clothes.

"Alright fine." he relented, and then added "We're supposed to be at our first workshop tomorrow at seven-thirty. I'm putting in a wakeup call for six and that means we're going to sleep by ten. No movies, no gossip, none of that junk." Rose, having really had no plans for it anyway, shrugged. The techo nodded once, glad she hadn't argued. Maybe this, somehow, was going to work out after all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So how's the rooming catastrophe going?" Hubert asked later at dinner around a mouthful of the butter biscuit that sat on the edge of his tray of greens and fried chicken.

"Its going." Dr. Death replied disinterestedly, not bothering to look across the table at the mynci as he prodded at the bowl of leek soup he'd selected from the kitchen area with a spoon. He'd eaten before he'd come up to the lodge that evening and wasn't very hungry. "I get enough of Rose at work, frankly, and I think by the time this seminar is over, I'm going to want to tie her tail in seven different kinds of knots."

"You mean they didn't switch one of you out of that room??" Hubert asked, looking surprised. Dr. Death shook his head. "Wow...that's rough, man."

"Who'd they stick you with?" the techo asked, changing the subject a bit.

"Me? Oh I'm roomin' with Ned. He's the night manager at the food shop. Green kiko, doesn't talk much." Dr. Death nodded, silently envying his friend's luck. "So what're you gonna do?"

"Stick it out, I guess." he shrugged. "Unless I go crazy having to share a room with her by tomorrow, and then I think I'll just give it up and find a park bench to sleep on until this is all over."

"Hi guys!" Rose's voice filtered toward the table they had been sitting at, making both of them instantly silence their conversation. The pink uni approached the table they were sitting at, carefully balancing a tray on her hooves. Trailing behind her was a shadow-painted male uni, favoring Dr. Death and Hubert with a look of mild distaste, waiting until Rose seated herself beside them before taking a place across from her beside the silver-haired techo.

"How're you liking the lodge so far?" Hubert asked.

"Its great! Much better than I had thought it would be! The staff is so friendly and the--"

"Rose, who's this?" Dr. Death interrupted irately, jerking a thumb at the shadow uni.

"My name is Zhani." he answered in a voice like silk, not giving Rose a chance. "I work as somewhat of an overseer for the book store."

"Yeah, that's great. What are you doing at our table?" the techo challenged, already not much liking him.

"Doc, be nice!" Rose snapped. "Zhani and I were just talking while we were waiting in line to pay for our dinner, that's all. And I told him he could sit with us. He doesn't have many friends."

"I'm rather new to Neopian employment." the uni explained, flashing a smile that made Dr. Death give a slight shudder of unease. "I once belonged to somewhat of a scholar...as a result, I've been reading since I was born and have become quite cultured since." as he spoke, he delicately took up his spoon and tapped at the top of a shelled hard-boiled egg on his plate before beginning to peel it. "When I finally saw fit to leave the restrictions of being someone's pet, I was a shoo-in for work at the book store." he added proudly.

"What an interesting story." Hubert remarked in a tone far too strained to have been anything other than a mild attempt at sarcasm. Much like Dr. Death, something rubbed him the wrong way about this uni as well, though it was hard to put a finger on it.

"No one's really spared me a second look, but much to my appreciation, this lovely creature and I have been having a delightful conversation over the past few moments." he smiled at Rose as he said so, making her blush.

"Nngh...can I fall on my steak knife now?" Dr. Death growled in disgust, turning his attention back to his soup. Zhani's smile slipped a few notches.

"Why, if I'm bothering you, sir, you may as well have just said so." the shadow uni huffed, gathering up his tray indignantly. "RoseMadder, my dear, thank you for allowing me to meet you but it appears your...friends...don't precisely approve of my being here. I will see you around sometime, perhaps."

"Zhani, wait, they didn't mean--" Rose called after him, but the uni was already stalking away from the table, refusing to hear another word. "Well, I hope you two are happy now..." Rose sighed angrily, fixing both Hubert and Dr. Death with a glare. "First friend I make in months and you ruin it for me!"

"Rose, the guy's an eel." Dr. Death shrugged. "If his ego inflated much bigger, he'd have had to get up and move anyway. There's only so much room at these tables." The pink uni looked from the mynci to the techo before shaking her head, gathering up her tray as well and leaving in the direction Zhani had gone.

"Must be a uni thing." Hubert remarked, not being able to remember the last time he had stormed off in a tizz because someone had offended him. "But its kind of funny. You'd think she had a crush on that guy."

"I don't really care what's going through her head anymore, really. Understanding that woman is like trying to nail jello to a tree." he grumped.

'I'm sure you're not the first person to think so." the mynci nodded. "Unless you're jealous, of course, and then that's a whole new ballgame." he added as he picked up a piece of fried chicken off of his tray.

"Why would I be jealous?" he muttered, spooning up a limp green leek from the depths of his soup and poking it into his mouth.

"Well, I mean, not to insinuate anything but you and Rose HAVE been working together for a long time and--"

"I think you've been watching too many movies." the techo muttered as he chewed the leek. "Rose, to me, is what nails on a chalkboard is to the rest of the world. She annoys the living snot out of me." Hubert looked as though he'd been about to argue when the loud tinking of a spoon against a water glass caught his, and everyone else's, attention as a light faerie rose from her table near the front of the dining area.

"Quiet! Quiet please!" she called as the drone of conversation slowly died away. "I'd like to thank everybody, first of all, for coming on such short notice...I know this retreat probably flushed a few plans down the sewer." There was a general murmur of agreement. "BUT...but..." she continued, holding her hands up for quiet. "I'm afraid it was either we did it now, or we took time out of everyone's Christmas vacation to do it later."

"Now...we're going to begin things tomorrow, as your schedules say, with a workshop on interacting with customers. At some point in time, the employment agency has received complaints about each and every one of you for something or other. We need to try and keep that to a minimum as Neopia is starting to grow and its very important we keep the public happy. Everybody is to be on time, lateness will not be tolerated and breakfast will be served shortly after the first workshop, so if you're the type that needs to eat something as soon as they wake up to concentrate, you're urged to bring something with you back to your room from the dining hall tonight."

"Curfew is at nine tonight, once you're done eating you're free to do whatever you like until then...the lodge has a library, a swimming pool, a game room, and lounge. See you all tomorrow, everybody." the faerie smiled, concluding her lecture as she seated herself again. Conversation tentatively began again and was soon droning at the volume that it was before.

Dr. Death regarded his soup a moment more before shoving it aside, no longer hungry. "I'm going back to the room." he informed Hubert. "Maybe there's something on TV."

"Probably not...we could split the cost of a pay-per-view movie though, if you want. That movie adaptation of Carnival Of Terror they're running was supposed to be a decent horror flick." the mynci offered. The techo thought about it a moment before shaking his head.

"No offense, I don't feel much like company." the techo shrugged, getting up from the table. "See you around." Hubert watched the techo leave, his shoulders hunched and hands stuffed into the pockets of the black jeans he was wearing. Maybe it was his imagination, but Dr. Death seemed almost more dismal than usual. Whether it was due to the nine o'clock curfew or Zhani, however, he couldn't say....and in this particular case, felt it might be best not to say anything at all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm really sorry again that Dr. D and Hubert were so obnoxious..." Rose apologized for what felt like the twentieth time since dinner.

"I assure you, my dear, its quite alright." Zhani smiled warmly as they walked down the hallway leading to Rose's room. "And I had a wonderful time with you tonight, despite your friends' rudeness."

"Well....they're not really *friends*..." Rose said thoughtfully. "I work with one, and the other's just sort of a passing acquaintance."

"Then I suppose they'd have no trouble about you and I palling up for this retreat, would they?" the shadow uni stallion pressed. "I mean, I don't wish to impose on you, fair Rose..." he smiled. "I just DO much appreciate having someone to talk to."

"I--I dunno..." Rose faltered, feeling a pang of self-loathing as she saw the crestfallen look that had come into his eyes. "I guess its okay..." she relented, relieved as he brightened up almost instantly as they stopped outside of 206.

"Wonderful. Shall I meet you at the workshop in the morning?" he smiled, taking her hoof in his and kissing the back of her wrist gently. Rose nodded, feeling as though she'd been knocked for a loop. She barely knew the guy...yet she wasn't sure if she entirely minded his forwardness. It had been a long time since she'd been on a date, after all. "Goodnight then." he grinned, turning and trotting briskly away.

Rose watched after him a moment before opening the door to the room. The lights were off and the heaters were still going and made her instantly uncomfortable as she sighed, reaching blindly for the thermostat and turning the knob to off. She wondered if Dr. Death was still elsewhere in the lodge as she found the lightswitch next, clicking it on.

The techo was sprawled out on his bed, on his back, one arm flung across his eyes, and sound asleep. He was no longer wearing the black shirt and jeans but had changed into a pair of blue shorts and a gray T- shirt...something completely unbecoming to his character. Rose grinned at how absolutely ridiculous he looked as she strode across the room to her own respective bed, heaving her suitcase off of it and folding the covers back. As she moved to the window, fumbling with the latch and shoving it open, she jolted as a voice spoke.

"Where've you been?" the doctor's voice, tinged with sleepiness, asked.

"I don't really think its any of your business." she replied. "I got here before curfew, didn't I?"

"Out with Mr. Education?" Dr. Death asked, rolling onto his side away from her and gathering the covers up over himself since the heaters were no longer on.

"As a matter of fact, I was...and he has a name." she replied haughtily, crossing the room again to click off the lights and then stumble through the darkness back to her bed. As she climbed under the covers and flopped onto her side, getting comfortable, he spoke again.

"I hope you're not actually thinking of getting serious about him." the techo muttered irately.

"So what if I am?" Rose grumbled, nestling her head against her pillow. "What are you? The dog in the manger?" There was a long silence and then a frustrated sigh and a muffled thump as Dr. Death grabbed his pillow and slammed it over his own head. Rose bit back her initial urge to ask him if he was alright and simply closed her eyes. If he wanted to act like a baby just because she had taken an interest in someone and he was still single, that was his problem.

Still fuming, she drifted off to sleep a few moments later, though Dr. Death laid awake for a long time, the pillow over his head masking his look of deep thought. Somewhere along the line, between wondering what it was about Zhani that bothered him so much and wondering how he could go about keeping Rose away from him, the techo fell asleep. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, you got another live one?" a scruffy spotted pteri smirked as Zhani strode into his own hotel room and closed the door firmly behind himself.

"It took me less time than I thought, really." the shadow uni replied. "You'd think it would be harder to get yourself lumped into a group like this....especially when its hosted by Fyora herself."

"Their fault for not keeping a tighter leash on their guest list. So what's *this* pigeon like?" the bird neopet chirped.

"This one's a nice, trusting pink uni mare....trusting being the most important part." Zhani explained. "Unfortunately, this one's got its snags too. She has a couple of friends that already don't trust me much."

"Toldja you should've gone for the starry or rainbow look. Its those shadows that set people's alarms off about you."

"Quiet, Magus." Zhani snorted. "She's already agreed to spend tomorrow with me, I'll see if I can get her to follow me back here between the workshops. You just be ready. You almost blew our cover in Faerieland when you let that meerca get away."

"Yeah, yeah....wait by the door with the vial. I got it, okay?" Magus grumbled.

Zhani and Magus, unbeknownst to anyone except those that needed to know, were refugees-turned-spy in Dr. Frank Sloth's service. They, and scattered others, had been captured from their owners or seized as infants from the Neopian Pet Stockhouse years ago to take part as test subjects, whether they wanted to or not, in one of Sloth's programs to develop new transmogrification potions.

The ones that had buckled quickly under the research had been left anonymously on the doorstep of the Neopian Hospital under the guise of neglected and sick pets. The ones that had held up well, but had exhausted their list of things to offer the twisted scientist were given a choice. What it came down to was Sloth needed new test subjects and lacked the means of getting them in the volume he desired. The remaining pets were given the option of having their memories erased and being deposited in the Neopian Pound for a second chance at life, or they were to join Sloth in his search for fresh subjects and be released once the demand had been met.

Most of the pets had opted for the memory-wipe and had been taken in a clueless drove to the pound the following morning. The ones that hadn't, Zhani and Magus included, had been given their instructions and for the past few months had circulated around Neopia's more remote locations and duping whomever they could into being dragged back to Sloth's laboratory.

Zhani had relied mostly on his charms to lure unsuspecting young ladies away...Magus had used promises of money and adventure on his various victims. Between the two of them, they'd managed to send about thirty Neopets off to Sloth's labs. Ten more, and they were free to go. If all went well, Rose would make that nine.

"Haul your tailfeathers into bed." Zhani ordered. "I've got to be awake in a few hours."

"Yeah? Well I don't." the pteri challenged, picking up the TV remote and beginning to flip through the channels idly.

"Magus..." the uni growled, grabbing the remote control away from his cohort and tossing it across the room. "I think you'll find things get done a lot easier, when we cooperate."

"By cooperate, of course, you mean when you get your own way at my expense." the pteri scoffed, glaring at Zhani as he grumpily pulled back the bedcovers and got beneath them while the shadow uni turned off the television.

"Just put up with it for tonight." the shadow uni sneered. "By tomorrow, we'll have our pigeon and be out of here and you can watch as much trashy TV as you want back at the laboratory. Now goodnight."

"Goodnight, your highness..." Magus growled sarcastically, flicking off the lamp purposely before Zhani had crossed the room so he would have to stumble through the darkness to find his own bed. The uni cursed quietly as he struck his ankle on the TV stand as he passed it and somehow managed to find the bed and climb into it. Oh well...before too much longer he'd be away from not only his annoying partner but from Sloth himself. It had been so long, he'd almost forgotten what being free was like...and if a few morons had to take his place that was, frankly, alright by him. Zhani soon fell asleep, as always, with a clear conscience and no dreams. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The key to customer satisfaction is learning how to diffuse the bomb, so to speak." a lively red usul preached to the group of half-awake employees who sat, looking incredibly bored, in the first workshop the following morning. "When a customer is upset, it is our job as the employees to ease their anger as much as possible and make sure they leave happy." she paused and pointed a paw at the food store manager. "You there...a customer approaches you saying that the apple she bought from you an hour ago is rotten and she wants her money back, what do you do?"

"Offer to replace it?" the chia muttered, stifling a yawn behind his hand.

"Alright, good...anyone else?" the usul asked, casting her eyes around the room.

"Give her her money back?" the elephante pharmacist piped up.

"Correct. Anybody else?" she asked, her eyes falling on Dr. Death who had fallen asleep, his head lulling backward over the top of his chair. She cleared her throat loudly, glaring in his direction. When that failed to work, someone sitting behind him gave his chair a kick, jostling him awake again.

"Hunh?" he asked, sounding bewildered.

"We're discussing customer refunds, Mr. Death." the usul said coldly. "Or have you mistaken our meeting for naptime?"

"Doctor." he said, narrowing his eyes.

"Excuse me?" the usul asked, cocking her head.

"Doctor Death. Not Mister." he corrected her, feeling particularly sarcastic. "Or just Doc. Or even D. It all depends on how well you know me." His remark raised muffled snickers from a few people. He didn't care. The meeting was a waste of time and was boring people to tears. He'd zonked out five minutes into it, actually.

"My aim is most certainly NOT to know you." the usul huffed, shaking her head and regaining her cool. "Now then, since you missed my earlier question, I'd like to enact a short scenario with you to illustrate the same point." he shrugged in reply. "For a moment, pretend that you run candy shop. I'll be a difficult customer and will be asking for a product you do not carry. The way you handle my behavior will illustrate your people skills and give us all an idea of how you deal with your customers on a daily basis." Those familiar with the techo's sour disposition hid smirks behind cupped palms as they anticipated how this was going to turn out.

"Eh." was all the yellow techo had to say in reply, crossing his arms over his chest and readying himself to tell her that he hoped her role-playing didn't involve him getting out of his seat. He disliked being singled out enough as it was without having to stand up and make a further idiot of himself.

"Sir, could I please buy some taffy?" the usul asked, lapsing into the role of the customer she was playing.

"We don't carry any, lady." the techo muttered, playing along grumpily. The surprised disapproval in the usul's eyes struck him as funny and he bit his tongue to keep his composure.

"My little boy is out in the car and he really would like some taffy. I drove all the way from across town, sir."

"I told you, we don't have any. Go somewhere else." She paused a bit more this time, clearly annoyed. Dr. Death was almost sure that this would earn him a demerit from the Employment Agency if she chose to inform them of it, but it didn't worry him. He knew full well that if they could find someone who honestly wanted to fill the job he had, they would have thrown him out on his tail as soon as the first complaints of his obnoxiousness started coming in. Besides, this was fun. Something he rarely had these days.

"Can I have just a little? I just want one or two pieces." the usul said at last.

"Ma'am, can you spell the 'can' in candy cane?" he interrupted. The usul quirked a brow at him, confused.

"Of course I can." she said.

"And can you spell the 'choc' in chocolate?"

"Yes..." she replied, sounding a bit suspicious. A few employees who knew where he was going with this covered their mouths to muffle giggles.

"How about the 'frig' in taffy?" the techo asked, inwardly delighted she had taken the bait.

"But there *is* no frig in taffy." she countered, annoyed.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, kiddo." Dr. Death told her as scattered chuckles rang up. The usul paused, not getting the joke made at her expense for a moment, but growing clearly enraged once she did.

"Leave." she snapped, pointing at the door. He hesitated a minute to make sure she was serious before shaking his head with a thin smile and getting up, sauntering toward the door and walking out. As the door to the room thudded closed again Zhani rolled his eyes and looked over at Rose from where they were sitting in the back row.

"Is your friend always so juvenile?" he asked, sounding disgusted.

"Hmm?" Rose asked, looking up from the small notebook she had been idly scribbling notes in. "Oh...actually that was kind of rare for him." she smiled, patting Zhani's shoulder. The shadow uni didn't smile back and looked to be quite flustered.

"Honestly...a man his age should know how to behave in public." he huffed. "Did he think that was funny?"

"Its just how he is." she replied. "Getting worked up over it won't do any good."

"You're too good of a person to have to be exposed to that, Rose." the shadow uni assured her. "Why don't you get a real job away from that kind of behavior?"

"Oh..." Rose muttered, sounding stunned. "Well, I guess...I guess I don't know where I'd go, is the thing." she managed at last. "I've worked at the pound for a long time, you see, and it would be a lot of work to try and learn a new trade....and I like helping pair up people and pets."

"But still...wouldn't you be more comfortable around people more of your own status?" the uni pried. "Maybe even around more of your own kind?" Rose fidgeted, but said nothing. "I was placed in my job through an agency, Rose....an agency that specializes in talented unis. Maybe they could help place you somewhere better."

"Really?" Rose asked, sounding flattered.

"Of course. If you'd like to come with me up to my room after lunch when we have a break, I'll see if I can get you on the phone with them and they can put your name into their computer." Zhani secretly congratulated himself on how natural all of this sounded...the way he talked, one would think there really WAS such an organization.

"Sure!" Rose readily agreed. "That's very sweet of you, Zha---"

"Are we paying attention back there??" the usul's voice asked sternly, rattling both unis out of their conversation. "If you don't want to take this seriously, people, you're welcome to leave as well." Zhani and Rose exchanged a look and both silenced themselves as the speaker returned to her lecture. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You shouldn't have done that." Hubert told Dr. Death later as the yellow techo looked up from the magazine he was thumbing through at a corner table of the library.

"What? Cheese off the instructor?" he muttered. The mynci nodded. "What's she going to do? Mousse me to death?"

"No but she's probably going to get the employment agency on your tail."

"You're talking to someone who really couldn't care less." Dr. Death told him curtly, closing the magazine again.

"What were you doing napping in there anyway? I know you went to bed early last night...I stopped by right before curfew and knocked. Nobody answered."

"Eh....didn't sleep very well, I guess." the pound director shrugged.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"You'd have change coming." he snorted. And then, after a pause "I REALLY don't like that uni."

"Who, Rose?" Hubert asked, quirking a brow.

"No, the other one."

"Ohh, Zhani..." the monkey neopet nodded. "Yeah, he hits a wrong button on me too, but Rose seems pretty happy around him." the techo's eyes narrowed slightly. "....or is that what's bugging you?" he asked.

"No." Dr. Death grumbled, shifting his weight in his chair unconsciously.

"I see..." Hubert nodded, a look of knowing coming into his eyes.

"I don't think you do." the techo replied coldly. For a long moment neither said anything. At length, Hubert rose from where he'd been sitting and stretched.

"Maybe I don't, doc, but I think it might do you some good to start admitting a few things to yourself."

"Admit what?" Dr. Death asked vehemently. "I don't have anything TO admit."

"Oh please..." Hubert sighed. "Most guys don't get this up-in-arms just because they don't like their coworker's choice in boyfriend. Its gotta run deeper than that."

"Its gotta, huh?" the techo replied skeptically. "And what if it doesn't?"

"I'm telling you it does." the mynci said matter-of-factly.

"And I'm telling *you* that you're full of it." Dr. Death said, shaking his head.

"Am I?" Hubert pressed.

"I'm not talking about this with you anymore." the reptile snarled. "You're not going to rest until I break down and say what you want to hear whether I agree with it or not."

"I'm not trying to get you to say anything, actually." the mynci pointed out, beginning to walk away. "Just saying it might be good for you to get one or two things off of your chest rather than pretending they don't exist."

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about, you--" he broke off as he realized the mynci had moved out of earshot and was already out the door of the library. Dr. Death stared after him a moment and then snorted, grabbing up his magazine and returning it to the shelf he had gotten it from. If he wasn't being hassled about one thing, apparently, he was being hassled about another.

He would sooner have mopped Tyrannia clean with a Q-tip than he would have let Hubert bully him into saying something ridiculous. The ridiculous thing in question being, he was sure, that he had feelings for RoseMadder....which, most certainly, he did not. His thoughts turned to Zhani again as he sought something else to read and his insides clenched with rage. The smug way he spoke, the look of omnipotence on his stupid high-browed face....

As the techo's vehement thoughts coursed through his head, his mind's eye conjured a perfect image of the shadow uni's visage hovering in front of him, giving him a very false grin...the same one that had made his flesh crawl during dinner last night. Snarling in agitated anger, Dr. Death wheeled back on sheer reflex and swung his fist at Zhani's phantom head, being shaken back to reality by the searing pain of his knuckles striking the hard unforgiving wood of the bookcase.

He drew in his breath in a hiss, rubbing at his hand irately. As the pain subsided, he remained resentful toward the stallion, still trying to place why he hated him so much...well, other than the fact that he thought Zhani was so full of dung that his eyes must have been brown. The charm he had laid on around Rose was painfully false...and the doctor didn't understand why it seemed Rose had been oblivious.

"Because she likes him." he fumed, grabbing another magazine at random. "Because he makes her *happy*." he put special loathing on the last word, spitting it out as though it tasted bad as he roughly sat down with it and flung it open to the first page, oblivious to the fact he had grabbed a copy of "Housewives' Quarterly" as he blindly flipped through the pages, looking at them but not seeing them. His mind was elsewhere and in a turmoil.

"He's not anything special..." the techo continued to mutter, not even realizing he was still speaking. "He's a jerk...he doesn't give two shakes about her, just wants her on his arm to show her off is all. Any moron could treat her better than that....Sloth, the snowager, the pant devil....god, even *I* cou--" he cut himself off abruptly, realizing what he was saying.

He was thankful, at that moment, that he was the only one in the library as he silenced his anger, looking down for seemingly the first time and wincing in disgust at the open article in front of him about how one would go about putting a ruffled edge into a skirt hem. Now he was EXCEEDINGLY glad no one was in the library with him as he closed the magazine in humiliation and returned it to its shelf, not selecting another one this time as he seated himself again.

"Get a grip on yourself..." he muttered aloud with a sigh, running a hand over his untamable pouf of hair and beginning to calmly sort out the facts in his head. Alright, he didn't like Zhani because the guy was full of himself and full of it...that was a given. He also didn't like him because he had so easily won over RoseMadder and had, in a matter of hours, not only isolated her all to himself but had convinced her that everybody else was a bad influence on her. His fists clenched, claws digging into the pads of his palms, and he forced himself to relax again.

"But what else?" a nagging voice in his head demanded. "What else is there, doc? What're you hiding?"

"Nothing." he snorted, propping his head up on his hands.

"You lie like a cheap rug." the mental presence taunted. The techo growled, feeling his firm grip on things begin to grow uneasy and slip. Was he hiding something? Not to his knowledge...and he thought he'd ruddy well know if his reasons went beyond the ones he had already stated.

"Not like I care about her or anything." the words escaped his jaws before they had even formed coherently in his mind and he listened to them die on the air with mingled disgust and uncertainty. Was that really it? Had he just not recognized it until the possibility of losing Rose to someone else came up? He shook his head, giving a drained groan and suddenly feeling ill as he got up from his table and quietly left the library without further ado to retire back to his room to better thing thinks over. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"But what if they don't like me?" Rose asked, fidgeting as Zhani herded her down the hallway.

"Nonsense, my dear...after all, what's not to like?" the shadow uni smiled.

"Well, I'm not very talented..." the pink uni muttered, her ears drooping. "And I'm certainly not special..."

"Modesty." Zhani scoffed, smirking. Inwardly, he was growing extremely impatient with her. He'd done nothing but compliment her all morning in an attempt to boost her ego enough that she'd follow him back to his room to where he told her he would phone his supposed uni-based agency. Magus was likely waiting for his return so that Rose be apprehended and he and the pteri could deliver her to Sloth by that evening, and now it seemed she was going to chicken out completely on him and he'd be left to find another sucker before the day was out.

No...it had to be her. It just *had* to be. He hadn't, in his brief conversations with the others, found anyone to be nearly as trusting or willing to believe as Rose was...not to mention that he was so close now to finishing his mission and leaving the entire stupid lodge behind that the idea of having to backtrack made him want to scream.

"No, I think I'd better stay at the job I have....maybe its not up to my potential, but at least I know how to do it well..." she smiled weakly, turning to leave. "Thanks anyway..."

"But Rose, dear..." Zhani called after her, trying not to sound like he was whining, even though every nerve in his body was shrieking in frustration. "Aren't you curious? Even a little? What if they tell you you'd be better off in a movie studio starring in motion pictures? What if they could give you those kind of connections?"

"I seriously doubt it..." Rose sighed, stopping. "Let me think about it a little more, though. I'm not sure I'm ready to drop everything and run off chasing rainbows."

"But why wait? You could know right now." The shadow uni fought the urge to stamp a hoof irately as he began to hastily wonder if anyone would notice if he simply grabbed Rose and dragged her to the room to be sedated and captured.

"A little later. I don't think I'm ready to talk to them just yet" the pink uni told him, smiling at him. She couldn't believe the great lengths he was going to simply to make sure she was happy...nobody had ever done anything like that for her before. At length, realizing that he was helpless for the moment, Zhani relented, sighing heavily.

"Alright..." he said quietly. "I suppose they're not going anywhere, fair Rose." he added, oblivious of the fact she blushed at his words as he trotted back up beside her. "In the meantime, we have a half hour before the next workshop...could I persuade you to have a cup of coffee with me?"

"Of course, Zhani..." Rose grinned, walking with him back in the direction they had come. "Let me stop off at my room first, though...I need to run a brush through my mane." The shadow uni opened his mouth to protest, but stopped, an idea crossing his mind. Maybe this wasn't a complete waste after all.

"Come to think of it, I need to get something from my room as well....wait here for me?" he asked. Rose quirked a brow but nodded as he walked briskly toward the hotel room he and Magus occupied and slipped inside. The spotted pteri was perched against a stack of pillows, his eyes glued to the television as the latest music video from Wock Till You Drop blared loudly. "Give me the vial." he commanded.

"Huh?" Magus asked, looking away from the screen at his partner.

"The vial, lint-for-brains." the uni repeated, eyes narrowing.

"Oh...yeah..." the pteri muttered, fumbling into the drawer of the nightstand that stood between their double beds and pulling out a small glass bottle containing the tranquilizer serum they used as a common form of putting the potential lab subjects in a more "agreeable" state of mind. The vapors from the serum alone were enough to render a victim unconscious for up to three hours, and if ingested, it could last up to two days. Neither knew what it was made of when Sloth had given it to them, but it did its job well. "What do you need it for?"

"Guess." Zhani grumbled, crossing the room and grabbing the vial away, also grabbing a blue cloak and draping it about his shoulders. "Have the crate ready. I'll call you when its done and you will help me carry her back here. Understood?"

"I hope you're not going after her on her own turf." the pteri scoffed, turning his attention back to the television. "You're asking for trouble."

"Mind your own business." he snorted. "We're within spitting distance of being allowed to live our own lives again, Magus, and the last thing I need to hear from you right now negativity."

"Whatever." the pteri shrugged, not in the mood to argue. Zhani parted without a further word, closing the door firmly behind himself as he pocketed the vial in his cloak, hurrying back to where Rose waited for him.

"Cold?" Rose asked, regarding his cloak with a certain degree of curiosity.

"A little chilly, yes." he replied, giving her a wink. "The air conditioning in these hallways makes one shiver from time to time." She nodded, not seeming to give it any further thought as they headed down the hallway together in the direction of her room.

"I'll try not to take too long." she informed him when they had reached 206. She paused as she opened the door, looking over her shoulder at him. "You can come in too if you want...just don't get into anything. As you know, my roommate upsets pretty easily..."

"I would never." Zhani assured her, entering the room with her, one hoof wandering to the pocket he had placed the vial of serum in as he nudged the door shut behind himself. He watched Rose steadily like a cat about to pounce as she puttered about the room, pausing at her suitcase to fish her brush out of it and beginning to run it through her hair absently as she continued to talk to him.

He was no longer listening as he grabbed up one of Dr. Death's white T- shirts that was resting folded on the dresser, gently uncorked the vial, holding his breath as he poured the serum into the shirt's fabric and gripping it tightly before beginning to creep up on the pink uni who was looking absently out the window, still brushing and chattering.

"And they sound like a nice organization of people, Zhani, they really do, but I honestly don't see myself doing anything mainstream or high-brow. I've spent my entire life doing---" at this point she looked over her shoulder, seeing the predatory stance the uni stallion had taken as he advanced on her. "Zhani...?" she asked, her voice betraying her uncertainty.

"My deepest apologies, fair Rose." he sneered, lunging forward and pressing the T-shirt against her muzzle before she had time to react. RoseMadder inhaled sharply at the shock of his sudden movement and instantly her mind filled with a black fog as she fell to the ground limply, deeply asleep. Zhani observed her for a moment, waiting to see if she would get up again. When she remained in a solid slumber, he crossed the room to the telephone and lifted it from its cradle to dial up Magus and inform him that it was time to get things rolling. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Death, having laid in bed for an hour and accomplishing nothing but staring blankly at the ceiling and giving himself a headache, had retired to the bathroom to soak in the tub for awhile, locking the door in case Rose decided to try barging in without knocking. He had enjoyed silence for nearly 45 minutes before he had heard the door clatter open followed by Rose's inane conversation and sighed in exasperation, deciding that the tranquility was over as he climbed out of the water and toweled off.

He had been in the process of getting dressed when he had heard a second voice and had paused, startled. It had taken him only a moment to place that the other voice had been Zhani. His initial outrage at the stallion's presence was shattered, however, by a dull thud from the other room followed by an eerie silence. The techo, confused and suddenly overcome by a sinking feeling that something was very wrong, quickly finished dressing and approached the bathroom door, listening intently.

Zhani was speaking again, but it was far too official-sounding for him to have been talking to Rose, the doctor decided, silently undoing the latch and turning the doorknob slowly. As he eased the door open a bit, the first thing he was aware of was the shadow uni, wearing an odd cloak for some reason, perched on the edge of Rose's bed and on the phone with someone.

"I don't *care* if the show isn't over for another five minutes, Magus, I distinctly told you---" Zhani was saying curtly. He paused, looking as though he was listening. "About three hours, give or take, why?" another pause. "Look, there's no time for that, pinfeathers, we need to get going!" Dr. Death winced, mildly surprised by the uni's sudden change of attitude. "Magus, please...." Zhani said, sounding exasperated. "....I know Neopia's Funniest Home Movies is on......what? No I certainly will *not* come watch it with you! And you had the gall to say that I was treading on dangerous ground earlier?? What do you think leaving her here like this is?? Now help me carry her back to the room and get her kenneled so we can be out of here!!" Another pause. "It is, huh? .....Fine, but just for a few minutes." And with that, the uni curtly hung up the phone and, rolling his eyes with an exaggerated sigh, paused to look at something on the floor that Dr. Death couldn't see from his current position and then strode past him to the door. There was a pause and then it shut solidly, leaving the techo alone again.

He waited for a moment, and when he was sure that Zhani wouldn't come bustling back in, he emerged from the bathroom, moving quickly to the door and locking it with a soft snick of the latch. He didn't know what was going on, but he would be struck dead before he'd let that shadow uni anywhere near him again.

That left another question...where was Rose? He had heard her come in, but that had been it. The techo turned slowly, his eyes freezing wide open at Rose's inert form on the carpet. His first impulse was that Zhani had done something horrible....but then he relaxed a bit as he saw the steady rise and fall of her sides. Dr. Death tentatively approached her, looking down at her uncertainly.

"Rose...?" he asked, crouching beside her and pressing his palms against her shoulders, turning her onto her back. She moved easily, and didn't even stir when she was moved. The yellow techo bit his lip with mingled worry and confusion. She clearly had been sedated with something, but why? He checked her pulse, and finding it normal, he half-lifted, half-dragged her onto the mattress so she could rest more comfortably.

Once the uni had been situated, Dr. Death slowly began to pace the room and collect his scattered wits. As his mind recalled the tidbits of conversation he had overheard Zhani have on the phone, the pieces of the puzzle fitted themselves together, though the finished product still didn't make much sense to him. Zhani had intended on apprehending and dragging Rose off somewhere...but why?

As he mulled this over, his eyes fell on the shirt rumpled in a heap beside the bed intended to change into after his bath before Zhani and Rose's entry had startled him and made him pull on his old clothes. He quirked a brow at it, remembering leaving it folded on the dresser as he leaned over and picked it up. On the front of it was a green-blue stain of some sort that, from a distance, smelt faintly of fruit.

Curious, he lifted it to his nose and almost instantly his head began to swim and red spots danced in front of his eyes. Wincing, the techo dropped the shirt to the floor again and fought to keep consciousness. After a few moments of dizziness, the feeling passed and left him normal again, if not feeling a little sick. After a moment of debate, he picked up the stained garment again and folded it over, deciding he'd take it to the only person he really could think of who'd know what the substance was and whether it was poisonous or not.

After assuring himself Rose would be alright and that he had, indeed, locked the door behind him, Dr. Death hurried down the hall in the direction of the elevators. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe you pulled me out of the lecture for this drivel." Kauvara complained, rolling her eyes at the silver-haired techo as they stood in the hotel lobby. Behind the closed door of the convention room, the lecture on appearances and cleanliness for customer safety that the doctor had retrieved her out of a moment ago droned on.

"Look, I just want to know what this stuff is, that's all." Dr. Death told her, holding out the shirt. "And then you can get back to your brainwashing."

"Its not 'my' brainwashing." the starry kau snorted. "And come to think of it, aren't YOU supposed to be in attendance as well?"

"Whether I'm jumping through Fyora's hoops or not is not the issue here." the pound director snapped. "Just tell me what this is."

"Hah! You're in no position to give orders." Kauvara replied smugly. "YOU came to ME for help and unless I start seeing a little respect, you can just forget it." The young sorceress was, by nature, a gentle creature, but was known to annoy very easily and was not fond of pushy people. The only thing she was less fond of, in fact, was being bossed around by people who were near-strangers to her. She had seen Dr. Death in passing a few times, but had never spoken to him before today and she was already fairly sure, given the techo's bitter attitude, that she'd never want to do so again.

"I don't have time for this...." the yellow techo snarled.

"That heavy feeling in your belly might be whatever you ate for breakfast, or it might be the barrel I've got you over..." the sorceress smirked, pretending to look at the glossy surface of her hoof in idle admiration. Dr. Death quaked with frustration a moment and then sighed raggedly.

"Alright....I'm sorry..." he said stiffly.

"Well, its a start." Kauvara nodded, relenting as she took the shirt from him and examined the blue-green splotch on it. "And where did you say this came from?"

"I don't know...I can tell you WHO it came from, but not where." the techo muttered. Kauvara looked confused a moment, and then returned to examining the stain. She took an experimental whiff and her eyes crossed.

"Nnghh....potent..." she remarked, holding the shirt away from herself. "Well, I can tell you right off the bat that ONE ingredient to this was voidberry juice...but probably just so the scent would cover up the other things in it. And, really, the only thing that comes to mind with this kind of knock-out power is baggus pollen, or a lab-created equivalent."

"Is it poisonous?" Dr. Death asked.

"Not to my knowledge..." she shrugged. "It will definitely put someone's lights out for a few hours though. You went to school, you should know that." she scoffed.

"I majored in animal husbandry. Not botany." he snorted. "Anyway, thanks..." he added, taking the shirt back from her and moving to leave.

"Well don't keep me in suspense..." Kauvara said sharply, making him stop and look over his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"Nothing you want to get involved in. I promise." the techo assured her.

"Hmph, if there's an assassin wandering around in this lodge, I have every right to know." she shot back, narrowing her eyes.

"Not an assassin, but definitely someone to steer clear of." he sighed. "I don't know what's going on myself, but he's knocked my coworker clear out for some reason."

"Oh....oh dear. The pink uni? Is she hurt?" Kauvara asked, her expression softening.

"She doesn't look like she is, but I think he meant to come back and get her later...cart her off somewhere from the sound of it..." he explained, feeling his resentment at Zhani flare itself again. The starry kau's eyes suddenly clouded as though something had clicked for her.

"Are there two of them?" she asked suspiciously.

"Two of what?" Dr. Death asked, puzzled.

"Two of them. A pteri and a uni. Is that who it was?" the sorceress asked, a resentful tone creeping into her voice.

"There's only one as far as I know...and yes, he's a uni, but--" the doctor began.

"Figures...he's probably got that little rat with wings stashed in a room somewhere." Kauvara muttered. The techo looked at her oddly, clearly very lost. "Sorry..." she sighed. "Those two cretins came sniffing around the Haunted Woods about a month ago and ended up spiriting away my apprentice at the time."

"If it wasn't that Magus idiot promising her treasures and adventure, it was that Zhani character trying to win her over with sweet-talk and flattery." She shuddered to punctuate her disgust. "And then one night the three of them just disappeared. No note, no two weeks' notice, just gone. Had to shut down my potion brewing hut because I didn't have anyone to help me manage it."

"Why...? Where did they take her?" the techo asked numbly, feeling as though the bottom had just dropped out of his stomach.

"How should I know??" the kau demanded, sounding enraged. "But lord only knows whatever happened to her wasn't good...especially if they've resurfaced again so soon and are pulling the same thing."

"Well, like I said, there's only one that I've seen and I'm not even sure that--"

"Where did you leave your coworker?" she interrupted.

"In the room..." he answered.

"And you had the brains to lock the door, I hope?"

"Of course I did!" he snapped, outraged. "What kind of idiot do you think I a---"

"Good. Give me your key." she told him. The techo looked at her uncertainly. "Come on..." she urged, holding out a hoof. Dr. Death reluctantly fished the plastic keycard out of his pocket and handed it over. She looked at it momentarily and nodded once. "Good." she said again. "I'll handle it."

"Just like that, huh?" the techo scowled skeptically. "And what am I going to do?"

"You're going to go and sit in on the rest of that lecture." Kauvara informed him haughtily. "I've got a bone to pick with those two and I don't need an amateur getting in the way."

"But what if--"

"Do you want my help or not?" Kauvara asked impatiently, stamping a hoof to silence his further objections. Dr. Death glared at the sorceress and sighed defeatedly.

"Alright...just..." he rubbed at the back of his neck. "...make sure they don't hurt her." he said lamely.

"I wouldn't worry." Kauvara nodded once before trotting out of the lobby, rounding a corner and disappearing from his sight. He waited a moment more, almost inclined to follow after her anyway though she had told him not to before forcing himself to turn back to the closed door of the convention room. He paused at a trash can, depositing the shirt inside of it before approaching the door and easing it open as quietly as he was able.

"----furthermore wrinkled clothes are NOT permissible at any job-site no matter how casual of a working environment it is!" a green kyrii was ranting at the front of the room to his silent and captive audience of employees. "If one is to show up looking like they just rolled out from under a bridge, then they'll be *treated* as if they---" he trailed off, squinting at the back of the room. "Who are you?" he demanded. "My lecture started twenty minutes ago and I'm NOT repeating anything I've said."

"Sorry..." the techo muttered, slipping into a vacant seat in the back of the room, ignoring the scattered stares from people. The kyrii glared at him a moment more and then picked up on his lecture again, acting as though nothing had happened and leaving Dr. Death alone for the moment.

"Hope you know what you're doing, Kauvara..." the doctor thought miserably. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kauvara was most usually one not to be fueled by resentment or to meddle in other people's affairs. In fact, if it had been anyone other than the two oafs in question, she would have told Dr. Death that he was on his own. Being that it was Zhani and Magus, however, she only felt it fair to get in her digs. They had caused her a lot of trouble, after all, whether they had meant to or not.

She had let herself into the room, finding everything just as the doctor had left it. Rose still slept soundly on the bed and it didn't look like anything had been disturbed. Satisfied with this, she had gone back to her own room to retrieve a few things, just in case she needed them and returned, casting a cloaking spell on herself and becoming effectively invisible as she stood in the corner of the room and waited.

The minutes ticked by with nothing and the starry kau remained motionless, wondering where Zhani and Magus were. It wasn't very professional of a kidnapper to knock his victim out and then leave her there, she scoffed. Her hope had no sooner begun to dim, however, than she heard voices in the hallway and froze. Footsteps paused outside and then the doorknob rattled as Zhani and Magus entered.

"I'm just saying its more than I would have liked to stay, and if you had just cooperated...." Zhani was muttering at his companion.

"Oh c'mon, it was a good episode." the pteri snickered. "And you laughed at those videos just as hard as I did."

"Hush." the shadow uni snorted disgustedly, apparently not liking to be reminded that even he could be something other than high-and-mighty sometimes.

"Besides, its not like she was going anywhere, ya know?" Magus continued as they sauntered into the room. Zhani stopped short, looking puzzled. "What's wrong?" the spotted pteri inquired.

".......I didn't leave her like that." Zhani said quietly, his voice heavy with suspicion as he stared at Rose sprawled across the mattress.

"Did you leave the door unlocked, you moron?" Magus snarled, shaking his head. "Good god, and you treat ME like an idiot."

"Shut up. Her roommate must have come in and found her and gone off to get help. That's all." Zhani spat. "Now help me carry her."

Kauvara felt her annoyance flare as she set eyes on the duo, remembering them well....the beady glint in the pteri's eyes, the snide way the uni's mouth curled. Despite her efforts to contain it, she felt rage bubbling within her at the two. What was happening to this poor uni now was likely the same thing that had happened to her apprentice a month ago.

"Where'd Sloth say he'd pick her up?" Magus grunted as he grabbed ahold of Rose's ankles and lifted as Zhani picked her up under the arms.

"He said to leave the kennel next to the dumpster behind the shuttle depot and then to report back to base." The uni replied curtly. "Now come on. We've got nine more to go after this."

"Oh, no you haven't...." the kau snorted from her invisible post in the corner, her eyes narrowing.

"Did you hear something?" Magus asked conversationally as they bumbled unevenly toward the door carrying Rose.

"No. Keep moving." Zhani commanded. "I want this pink nag out of my sight as soon as possible."

Kauvara wasn't quite sure what had been the final straw for her...the fact that they were about to get away with something so underhanded, the mention of Frank Sloth's name, or Zhani referring to Rose as a nag. One thing was for certain though, she had had enough of them both. Withdrawing a nanka bottle from the cluster of items she had grabbed from her room she smiled mysteriously.

"Lights out, boys." she declared, dropping the bottle to the floor with a tinkling of broken glass. Almost instantly, the room was filled with impenetrable darkness. As the two males cried with dismay, Kauvara held up two more bottles, her sorcerer's sight seeing the pteri and the uni perfectly as they stumbled over one another in frightened confusion. Still smiling, she crossed the room, muttering a spell under her breath as she approached them.

As she finished, the two of them straightened and became as rigid and still as statues, staring vacantly ahead of themselves. The kau smirked, delighted the spell had worked and not backfired on her as her magic sometimes did. "Now then..." she said quietly, uncorking both bottles. "This is a delayed gift from me, that uni on the floor there, my apprentice, and anyone else you've ever inconvenienced. Just repeat to yourselves....its all a bad dream." she grinned, putting a bottle to Zhani's lips first and the other to Magus's beak.

There was a pause as she made them drink the contents in their stupefied state, and then the two of them began to contort and change. Kauvara watched in satisfaction as the once regal shadow uni and sleek spotted pteri were slowly replaced by greenish-gray hulks. At last, before her stood two mutant chias, still deeply entranced by her spell, their rheumy eyes empty.

"Now then, gentlemen, what was this you were saying about Sloth? Why not show me this kennel you were planning on packing that uni in and we can discuss it further...?" the kau smirked, herding the two of them out of the room as they shambled with forced obedience in the direction of the lodge room they had come from. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hmph...I could have sworn that flea-bitten excuse had said he was giving me a uni..." Dr. Frank Sloth remarked as he paused before the iron kennel cage three hours later behind the shuttle depot, regarding the two groggy mutant chias inside with mingled contemplation and resentment.

"Blorg?" one of them burbled sleepily.

"Mm...oh well....two for one. Can't be petty, I suppose." Sloth sighed, turning to look over his shoulder. "MEAT!! Get over here!" he barked as an enormous mutant grundo shambled toward him, its antennae twitching questioningly. "Take that back to the labs." he commanded, pointing at the cage.

"For me's to squeeze!" the grundo declared happily, flexing his fists as he reached for the cage.

"No." Sloth said sharply, swatting the grundo's upper arm. "Gently. If you squash those like you did the last, you'll take their place."

"Hrrrmmm?" the grundo grunted.

"Laser, liverlips. Pain." Sloth snapped. Understanding dawned in Meat's eyes as he gingerly picked up the cage, careful not to disturb the two chias within and carried it with ridiculous care down the alleyway back in the direction of the transport pod they had arrived in. "Zhani and Magus should be back at base by now...if they know their rears from their elbows at least..." the doctor prattled as he followed after his slave idly.

One of the chias, seeming to have shaken whatever had been sedating him began to scurry about in the cage, rattling the bars, and frantically staring out at Sloth with feral intensity. "BLOOG!! BLAROOGOLAFLAGAROO!!" it exclaimed. Sloth wrinkled his nose at it in distaste and pretended not to hear. Zhani, puzzled and outraged, attempted a few more times to explain the mistake Sloth was making...when it became apparent that the scientist had no intention of listening, he groaned and slumped against the bars of the cage.

He couldn't remember precisely what had happened to land him in the current state he found himself, but he was certain of one rather odd thing......if he never saw another kau again, it would be too soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EPILOGUE

Rose quietly packed up her things as the last day of the retreat drew to a close. Since she had awoken from the stupor the sleep serum had put her in, she'd not spoken to much of anyone, keeping her feelings of hurt and betrayal to herself. They wouldn't understand...none of them would, she decided.

Across the room from her, Dr. Death had long-since finished packing his bag and was leaning idly against the wall, his nose buried in a novel he had brought with him and hadn't had a chance to do much reading of as he waited for her to finish so they could lock the room and turn in both keys at the same time. However, while he read, half of his attention was focused on Rose and her unnatural silence.

As she folded her towels and set them into the suitcase, one of her elbows struck the metal rim with a faint thunk, making her wince. "You alright?" the techo muttered, not looking up.

"Not that you care, but yes..." Rose sighed.

"Are you still hung up about that Zhani jerk?" Dr. Death scoffed, turning the page in his book. The uni drew in a deep breath, pausing in what she was doing.

"Can we not talk about him please?" she asked, her tone an interesting mix of meekness and anger. The techo felt a stab of pity for her, which he quickly shook off again.

"He's not worth being upset over..." he offered with a stiff shrug.

"Its not really HIM I'm upset over." Rose replied, sighing again. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, doc. Just nevermind it. I'll be fine." She offered him a half-smile that was so incredibly forced on her part that it was painful to look at.

"I'm just saying, you're a better person than that is all..." Dr. Death muttered. "Don't let one bad apple ruin the bushel." Rose, who had been carefully folding her bathrobe, now threw it in a haphazard wad into the suitcase with frustration and stood rigidly, looking at nothing in particular as she stared straight ahead of herself.

"......do you know how long its been since I've been on a date, doctor?" she asked him, a slight waver in her voice. There was a long pause.

"How long?" he asked disinterestedly, taking the bait when he realized she wasn't going to keep speaking unless he did.

"Nearly a year and a half." she answered icily. "And its been even longer since anyone even pretended to like me." she turned to face him then, her eyes shining unnaturally bright with tears that hadn't yet fallen but threatened to. "You know, taking up this job has killed my social life. I haven't really said anything about it or even minded it much since I've enjoyed helping pets find homes, but as soon as most people hear I'm associated with that----that PLACE---not to mention with you, most of them walk the other direction."

"That's right, Rose, its all my fault." he said sarcastically, still not lifting his eyes from his book. "Talk to anybody in Neopia and I'm sure they can find some reason to blame everything wrong with them on me."

"Way to put words in my mouth." she grumbled, throwing in the last of her belongings and slamming the suitcase shut. "I'm taking a few days off when we get back." she informed him non-chalantly as she lifted her piece of luggage from the mattress.

"Are you?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes. I am. And don't think the agency won't give it to me. You use up your sick time as soon as you get it, but I've not taken time off for myself in months. I think I have at least three days' worth saved up."

"Am I allowed to ask why or will you bite my head off?" the techo muttered, no longer pretending to read the book.

"Because I need to get away from things for awhile." she informed him flatly. "The pound, the people, and you too."

"What'd I do?" Dr. Death asked, unable to dodge the slight twinge of hurt he felt at her statement.

"You're part of my problem." she said matter-of-factly. "And I'm not saying that to be nasty either, doc. Its true. You know, I do my best to be friendly around you no matter how viscous you are to me and it just wears me out after awhile to give and never get." She paused, slitting her eyes and fighting with the rush of tears that wanted to overtake her. "....and just when I think I've found somebody decent who DOESN'T treat me that way, that blows up in my face too." she whimpered, her ears folding back.

"Nothing that happened was your fault. Nobody knew what that creep was planning on doing. And it wasn't just you...it could have been anyone in that situation." he said reasonably, setting the book aside.

"I should have known better." she murmured, gently pushing past him as she moved toward the door, dragging her suitcase behind her. "Should've known he was lying as soon as he even acted interested. Nobody could possibly like me."

"You used that same line of logic when you entered the beauty contest, didn't you?" he asked quirking a brow. "And didn't you place in species?"

"I placed because people thought I was funny. Not because they thought I was pretty...and the lack of interest from guys in general just proves that point. Now if you'll excuse me." she said sharply, walking briskly from the room. Dr. Death stood alone for a long moment, looking in the direction she had gone before gathering up his things and following after her.

He caught up with her shortly in the hallway as she stood, waiting for the elevator.

"You're only in that frame of mind because you're upset." the doctor informed her as he came up beside her and set his bag down.

"Are you suddenly a therapist now?" she sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. "Just stop. Please. I know you're trying to help, but all you're doing is aggravating me. You can't possibly even begin to understand how I feel right now."

"Heh...you'd think if there was one thing I knew about, it was being treated like garbage." the techo snorted. "But honestly, though, I DO know how you feel." he paused. "And I still think you're wrong." he added quietly, looking at the floor with terrible concentration.

"What's there to be wrong about?" Rose asked quietly. "Its true. Nobody wants to be saddled with a homely little bubblehead. There's no man in his right mind who'd---" She stopped there. Not because she didn't want to finish, but because she found herself unable to speak. The doctor, acting more on impulse than on better sense, had leaned in, cutting off her self- hating tirade with a soft, if not painfully awkward kiss.

His courage failing after a moment, the techo drew back just as the elevator arrived and dinged open, leaving Rose goggling at him speechlessly.

"Color me insane, I guess." he told her, his composure betrayed by the tremor in his voice as he turned quickly and boarded the elevator without further hesitation, not daring to look back at her and expecting, really, to be screamed at at any moment.

Instead, she boarded quietly behind him after a moment more of stunned silence. As the doors slid closed, she said only two words.

"We'll see."

"....guess that's the best I can ask for right now." Dr. Death shrugged, stifling a smile as the elevator began its descent down to the lobby.

THE END