"Yeah, you heard about that?"

Domino nods. "Certainly did. But Ariana told me first, so yeah."

Wendy says, "Great," like it pains her to speak.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh…nothing."

Domino hates when Rockets have so much pride that they can't admit that something's hurting them, or annoying them, or bothering them in some way. She doesn't know what they should be proud of anyway. Everyone that works there is a lying, conniving, son-of-a-bitch, herself very much included. It's all part of the job description.

"You don't like being old news, do you?" Domino narrows her violent, violet eyes at Wendy, and Wendy looks away.

"No. That's not it."

"Sure it isn't."

"Seriously, it's not. By the way, I really enjoyed how you sent me your latest budget outline all drawn out in purple crayon. Yeah, that wasn't a total bitch to scan or, you know, to show the Boss in passing or anything—"

"You showed the Boss that? It was a joke!"

Wendy grins. "He thought it was funny. Almost had a spit-take with his coffee. We were in the Board Room, I remember distinctly…"

"You're a liar."

"You're good at detecting a liar."

"No. You're just a terrible liar."

"I know."

"That's why you're in Human Resources."

"Oh would you shut up!" Wendy's voice quickly jumps from playful to angry, and Domino certainly knows when her goose is cooked.

"Fine, fine. So about this meeting…"

"What about it?"

"Do you know who's RSVP-ed?"

"Oh. All the good people, rest assured. Lemme see. Butch should be there. And Mondo. And who's Hun's partner again? That hulking, blond guy? Ah, Attila, right. He'll be there. And—"

"You're joking, right? Because that seems to be a list of all the men in this organization that I can't stand."

Wendy grins again. "Yeah, yeah. It's a Johto operatives meeting if you must know. Which means the Execs and their divisions…you…the Marauder—"

"Ick. That creep—"

"And a couple others. You've had these little shin-digs before. Shouldn't be anything different from what you're used to."

"And what's the meeting about?"

Domino has a feeling that Wendy's ability to put up with her never-ending curiosity is not going to endure much more of this round of Twenty Questions.

"The hell if I knew. I'm just a lowly secretary, practically handcuffed to her desk by the overlord Giovanni…"

"Often handcuffed to her desk by Giovanni, you little slut."

"That was one time, okay?" Wendy exclaims, but then turns a faint pink and adds, "But I've said too much, haven't I?"

Domino is absolutely disgusted. "Yes. You definitely have."

"Closing tiiiime. The best time of the daaaaaay~!"

Mondo, much to Domino's embarrassment, decides to express himself through interpretive dance.

"You're a disgrace, Mondo. Now, would you quit it?"

"No, Donny-mino. You liiike it!"

"I most certainly do not."

Mondo stops for a moment, measuring Domino's unflinching face. She closes her fingers into fists and is about to sock him when suddenly…whack!

Someone does the job for her.

A tall, blond woman, in a uniform similar to Domino's, emerges out of the Third Floor Lounge and strolls out into the hallway, stepping over Mondo's sprawled, twitching body and taking a bit of time to straighten her long, white glove.

"So. Fucking. Annoying."

"Finally some peace and quiet," Domino says, wrinkling her nose at Mondo's figure. "How goes it, Cassidy?"

"Well enough, I s'pose. What's with him today? Isn't he usually pretty well-behaved?"

"Yeah. Normally. The scientists are testing some new drug on him now. So he's been pretty loopy lately," Domino replies, shrugging. "I was going to use my own brand of sedative on him, but you beat me to it."

"Ah, I see. Always happy to help," Cassidy takes out a tube of cherry ChapStick, swipes it across her lips, and then stows it back in her pocket. "I won't worry about him too much then. He's the Lab's problem. But at least they're not cloning anymore. Remember when we had two Tyson's running amuck?"

"Dear Arceus, don't remind me!"

Cassidy laughs, and, to Domino, the sound of Cassidy laughing is an instant headache, due to the fact that it's the single most obnoxious sound in the world. And that's not Domino's opinion. It's true fact. Here's the math. Cassidy's voice is like Butch's voice, but exponentially more grating on the nerves. And much higher pitched.

But life will go on when the laugh ends. And everything returns to normal, except…scarred.

Cassidy asks, So, got yourself any plans tonight, girl?"

"Eh…"

"Eh?"

"Maybe."

"You don't."

"Nope."

Domino expects Cassidy to be considerate, but once again is let down. She actually curses herself for getting her hopes up because, really, the idea of Cassidy being nice is much like the idea of the Boss promoting Jessie and James or a successful capture of Mewtwo. It just would never happen, but still Domino would continue to humiliate herself.

"Have fun staying here then, Dom-ster!"

And Cassidy, with her rambunctious laugh and overwhelming personality issues, rode off down the hallway, carefully treading around Mondo so as to avoid giving him a view up her skirt but still crushing his restless fingers.

Domino, after Cassidy leaves, glances down at the poor scapegoat who remains on the carpeted floor in a daze, still twitching ever so subtly.

She sighs. "I think I'll go rearrange my office again."