two: some pleasant tension
"Meowth, try it!" James goaded, interrupting Jessie's concentration as he pushed the device toward their feline pokemon friend. "It goes right on your forehead, see?" James pointed to the picture in the report which showed an electabuzz wearing the item.
"There's no way!" Meowth protested. "Does this meowth look like some lab rat?"
"It's already past the initial experimental stages," James informed. "It works! You'll be stronger!"
"Hmm..." Jessie groaned as she tried and failed to concentrate on the boring report in front of her. She turned her attention to the various things around them, which mostly looked like dusty scrap. "What do they expect us to do with all of this?"
"There's-" James began.
"There's instructions right there!"
Jessie looked to the door, seeing her number one rival standing there, hands on her hips as she got inside, pacing around the room. "What business is it of yours?" Jessie said to the busy body invading their newly assigned space.
Cassidy closed her eyes, turning up her nose as she glanced away. "Even though this assignment wasn't exactly glamorous, I just hate to see our work trampled and ruined the moment it's given to some incompetent agents."
"That's right, maybe this kind of thing should be left to someone like you!" Jessie said. "There's better things waiting for us, right James?"
James looked up from his reading with an awkward smile. "Well, this is our first official assignment in a while," he pointed out.
"And it's very difficult. I'd like to see her try it," Jessie said, tossing her head toward their rival.
"I just told you, I already-" Cassidy began with her voice raised, before the opening of the door silenced them both.
"Hey."
Jessie nodded as the one guy greeted them. Butch was his name, Cassidy's partner, if that was even still the case. He'd been hanging around Jessie and her group more and more lately. It wasn't that objectionable. He could still be irritating at times, but was becoming less so the more they saw each other. He joked around with them some and kept battling her and Wobbuffet even after losing, which was satisfying all in itself. He had mentioned Cassidy several times since they'd started hanging out, so he was probably here because his work partner was there. Jessie raised her eyebrows, folding her arms and turning away from the group of them. "So you were found incompetent at this simple task, and now we have to clean up," Jessie concluded Cassidy's story.
Cassidy shook her head at the declaration, but otherwise didn't respond. "We handled it fine," Butch spoke up, his tone calm. "I can show you how if you want." He exchanged glances with Cassidy, who glared at him, brow furrowed. "That's why we were told to come here, right?" he said.
Cassidy again tossed her head to the side, her expression going blank. "I'm not part of Team Rocket to be a tutor for failing idiots. You suit yourself."
Jessie almost shouted after Cassidy for the implications as the other woman left, but was distracted as Butch walked closer once the door closed, a smile on his face. "You don't have to bother with everything at once. It's written in the attached reports," he said.
"How can we be expected to read all this dry nonsense! Can't they get to the point?" Jessie demanded.
Butch walked closer to her. Jessie blushed as she realized how close he was, but of course, his attention was focused on the report she was reading. She pushed it over to him right next to her, their gloved hands briefly brushing against each other before her eyes traveled away. He flipped through the pages, pointing to the back. "It does get to the point, see?" he said, pointing to the last paragraph, labeled 'summary'.
Jessie leaned over, their faces getting close as they both gazed toward the paper. Butch was the one to pull away, looking across the room awkwardly though there was still a wide smile on his face. "This part at the end's always the cheat sheet of the entire report. It also talks about what they want to do next, if anything," he informed.
"Yeah. I've got it," Jessie said. Had she imagined some kind of pleasant tension between them? He definitely seemed to be reacting positively just to her being nearby. It hadn't been the first time, either. What might he do if she were close to him again? Jessie decided to see. She reached to put the report away, having to lean closer to him in order to do so.
"Is that how they let us know what to do?" James asked, interrupting their scene with his voice and the sound of flipping the papers. Meowth added to the noise by picking up and clanking the device they'd been discussing back into its designated spot.
Butch looked away from Jessie, hand to his head as his face seemed to flush. "No," he said. "They'll mostly say if they want us to do anything, directly or send a note. Cassidy liked to get ahead though. To make it seem like we were doing more than we really were, you know. And you might want to know what this all is, and where it is, in case anyone comes around asking questions."
"Oh, so we don't have to do all this? Who wants to spin their wheels?" Jessie raised her eyebrow as she scanned the stock of items. She eventually grinned. "Then again, maybe some of this stuff seems like fun to mess around with."
"If you really want to use anything on your pokemon, make sure you read the whole report," Butch advised. "There might be something important that's not in the summary. You don't want to miss out."
Jessie looked toward him, nodding. "Of course," James said with all seriousness.
Butch went around the room, pointing out some more dangerous devices that might explode on them before pulling out one that popped out, causing Meowth to jump in surprise. "Ha. Is it that scary?" Butch asked.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet confirmed.
"It's just a simple training device. Not dangerous to use, just better to train with other pokemon," Butch said, then turned to the door. "Guess that's all," he muttered, nodding to Jessie in salutation before going to the door.
Jessie watched as he left, feeling cold and disappointed somehow as he was gone. "Did you want to ask him something else?" James asked, noting where her attention went.
"Did you?" Jessie asked. Her partner's blank expression denied the question. "Forget it, I can figure all of this out by myself..." Jessie grabbed a report, going to the summary and reading only briefly before she slammed it on the table. "For now, I think I know everything already. Want to stop?"
"Already?" Meowth said, eyebrows raised.
Jessie blinked, subtly shaking her head. "Like that guy said, they'll tell us when they want us to do something. We can waste time here later, and find something more fun to do now. That sounds better, right?"
"Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet called loudly, putting an arm to its head.
"That's fine with me," James said, starting to put away some of the paperwork he'd taken out. We will be here tomorrow, too, so I suppose there's no rush."
"There's not," Jessie agreed with a smile. "What's fun to do around here, anyway?"
"We've got plenty of food and battles! Your pokemon can practice their skills here easily," Meowth said with a grin.
"I guess so," Jessie said, frowning as she leaned against the table. "Do you think that one guy wants to battle again?"
"Who?" James asked.
"You know, Butch. We just talked to him," Jessie pointed out.
"The same challenge, again? Didn't you already beat him this morning?" James asked, heading to the door.
"Well..." Jessie paused. "Maybe I did."
Meowth grinned to itself. "Guy's a glutton for punishment, and his poor pokemon are the ones taking the hits!" The feline pokemon shook its head, tutting. "Not fair to those guys, since maybe he has another reason for humiliating himself and them both."
"Like what?" James asked, curiously glancing toward Meowth.
"Let's go already! No need to waste too much time around here!" Jessie said loudly over Meowth before it could continue. Her heart beat quicker as she tore out of the room before the nosy pokemon could speculate too much. Besides, Butch didn't have the reasons Meowth seemed to be suspecting. He couldn't be blind to how gorgeous she was, but he was their rival, and probably just couldn't let a loss go. She'd been the same, constantly going after that pikachu before they were called back to base like this. She might still get it one day. Butch might beat her one day, too. It just wasn't too likely, given the current loss record. Even so, it was his right to keep trying. And why couldn't she also enjoy the moment?
He'd honestly only come because that had been the order. Apparently, one of the scientists was getting annoyed with Jessie and James. He and Cassidy had been told to go deal with them. After Cassidy stormed off, saying she'd meet him there, he had finished up the chores they'd been doing and left. Maybe they should have just stayed on that job, but that wasn't the fault of their replacements. He could help them.
Jessie and James were now very familiar. They were co-workers, there on base doing something they were supposed to, so the rivalry between their groups could cool off a little, couldn't it? Cassidy still seemed annoyed with the eccentric duo, but besides the past, what reason was there to be? James was weird as hell, but still agreeable enough for the moment. Their talking pokemon sidekick sometimes was annoying, but other times stayed on the line of just 'amusing'.
Meanwhile, Jessie was something else. Being around her went beyond the surprise that she could be tolerable like with James and their pokemon, and outright made him happy. Being allowed to, no, outright asked to spend time with her brought an elation far beyond what he deserved.
The reaction was over-the-top, but Butch already knew that. There would be no assumptions that it meant anything other than wanting someone to spend the time with. There was probably also an element of her enjoying winning against him in battles, his pokemon dealing with the punching bag that stung back twice the punch. Wobbuffet wasn't invincible though. They just had to get tough enough offensive-wise to punch it hard enough to knock it out the first time, or defensive-wise to take the power of their own punches doubled, then one more punch should do it. They weren't pushovers.
Unfortunately, Hitmontop had been trained to be more balanced, and must be frustrated. A different strategy might be considered later, but at this moment in time in the lab, only helping Jessie's group out needed to be considered.
An argument of sorts between Cassidy and Jessie was taking place when Butch entered, but was quickly defused before Cassidy left. Leaving this task to Butch alone felt fine. Being right by Jessie like that felt pretty awesome, actually. How annoyed she got by having to read stuff as part of their job seemed almost cute instead of irritating like before.
Then she'd gotten close to him, and he felt a wave of something pass through him. As he pulled back, he knew Jessie must have noticed his reaction, and maybe guessed at why. Or did she? After all, she moved close to him again, though just to put something away. Yeah, Jessie probably hadn't had those kind of thoughts at all. Had he, even?
Yeah, he was attracted to her for sure, but that didn't mean he had to make things weird. Spending time with her - no, with all of them - was an agreeable enough way to pass the time, and he could appreciate that much without going farther or making any weird assumptions. He did what he was supposed to, giving them needed information on the various stupid devices, and left. Though not currently having any kind of real relationship, therefore theoretically being open for one, there had been enough trouble in that area that he didn't need to go looking for more.
Going through the hall, Cassidy was found waiting for him by the door that led downstairs, her arms folded and eyes closed as she leaned against the wall. "Hey," Butch said, breaking her lull.
Cassidy looked up, an annoyed expression on her face. She turned away, scowling further. "That took you a while. So you really wasted your time helping them?"
"I wasn't helping them that much. It's just basic stuff," Butch tried to justify his actions.
"That's my point! It's just basic! And they need help with even that!" Cassidy shouted. She then closed her eyes again, folding her arms and tensing up as she headed toward the door. "I don't even care about what happens there. But our replacements including someone as incompetent as Jessie has to be part of our punishment."
There was really no doubt that some in the organization wanted to punish the two of them for their recent failures. Even though their boss usually just remained occupied with whatever project he was most enthusiastic about at the time, they might have even caught his ire with how he'd had to intervene personally a few times. But even so, Cassidy's conclusion didn't seem to fit. "I don't think they thought about it that much, just got someone that was available in," Butch concluded.
Cassidy grimaced with exaggeration. "Maybe you're right to just play along," she said. "Even though they're trying to make us seem like we're lower than those idiots, we're really not. Having to help them proves it. We'll get our status back before too long."
"You really think we've fallen that far?" Butch asked. Maybe he'd suspected it, but wanted to hear her thoughts on the matter. Maybe his partner would say something assuring.
Or not. "What do you think?" Cassidy shot back, turning and staring at him.
His shoulders went up. Maintaining a straight face was difficult as the negative outlook he was prone to believe washed over him in the face of his partner's implications. Trying to push that aside, he forced himself to speak up. "Yeah. We might be sucking now, but we'll get back. Just tell me what to do, I'll do whatever you want. Whatever you decide on."
Even hearing the optimistic and supportive words, Cassidy turned her back without another comment, apparently still annoyed. If it was because of himself or Jessie, Butch didn't know. He continued to follow her until they stopped, this time Cassidy being the one to talk to Wendy. Wendy seemed like she was indirectly mocking him with his body language, briefly glancing at him with subtle changes in expression, but maybe that was just in his head. Though it was typical of Wendy, there was plenty to be occupied with other than him.
As he waited, Jessie entered his mind, though the woman really had nothing to do with the situation. He didn't need to consider her at all, even as the various recent scenes between them went through his mind. Even Cassidy seemed to be forgetting about her while demanding information from Wendy about what else they were going to be asked to do, making a list of the mundane tasks as if they were important. Butch tried to forget too, but the thought in his mind was enough that it pushed himself to actually speak to Cassidy after she was done with Wendy.
"I need to know something," he said once they wandered away from Wendy's desk, trying not to sound too obnoxious about it.
"No need for any hype or build up of tension. Just spit it out," Cassidy said, eyes still on the list she'd just created.
Though maybe he should have, Butch didn't hesitate at all to follow her advice. "Are we just done?" he asked, probably still some kind of tone in his voice that might piss her off.
She silently snapped shut the folder in front of her, seeming to confirm the prediction before staring blankly his way. Finally, she answered, "You're assuming we ever were anything."
Any negative feelings from before amplified. Despite that, he'd already made the decision to just go along. Swallowing nervously, he forced himself to reply. "Yeah, I get it," he said calmly.
The silence between them lasted just a little too long. Finally she spoke, telling him what stupid chores she wanted him to complete. Silently, he listened, almost relieved to go and do them. Though following through both occupied and distracted him, somehow that pain in his chest was still there.
"There you are!"
Jessie's loud voice caused Butch to shudder, startled. Meowth laughed at the reaction. "He's afraid of getting beat again!" it said.
"I told you inviting him to another battle so soon may not be wise," James said.
"I haven't said anything! It's not like I was going to ask him anything at all," Jessie insisted. She smoothed her hand over her hair, appearing to calm with her next statement. "Well, as long as we're here, maybe I will ask you to come with us. We don't have to train or battle, we can just finish up this boring day with a meal, and then maybe you could watch me and James battle. Unless you feel like giving it another try, of course."
Jessie didn't meet his eyes as she spoke. She seemed unsure of what she was saying, even while speaking up as she usually did. Even so, she was inviting him to go and spend time with them, absolutely. He still had stuff left to do from what Cassidy had outlined, but here Jessie was, talking to him, giving him options, more than one at that, and seeming to want him around, if only slightly. Such a sentiment was so rare.
"Maybe I do feel like battling," Butch said, trying to force confidence and contentment into his voice to match Jessie's own. "Maybe I could show James what it means to lose, again."
"I guess you could battle him..." Jessie muttered.
"You scared of Jessie's star player?" Meowth taunted.
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet appeared suddenly from its pokeball, seeming to continue the conversation.
"I've never seen you battling. Want to give it a try against Hitmontop?" Butch challenged the more loudmouthed pokemon. Maybe poor Hitmontop could use an easy win to increase its confidence.
"Na, no thanks," Meowth said nervously now, seeming to sweat at the idea.
"Let's just go already!" Jessie said loudly, walking off.
The idea of continuing the 'boring' tasks was considered, but caused him to sink down back even further from where the short conversation had briefly lifted him up. Deciding to just forget it all, he followed Jessie's instruction.
Hitmontop ended up winning against James's victreebel. When Jessie goaded him for a battle, Butch's pokemon approached Wobbuffet all on its own, narrowing its eyes before nodding seriously. "Wobbuffet," Wobbuffet replied.
Butch had wanted to avoid having it lose, focus more on what it could do, but now it was seeking out the psychic type all on its own. "Come on, enough!" Butch shouted.
"Hitmontop!" Hitmontop stomped and glared up at its trainer.
"You could have picked a better rival," Butch said.
"Do you feel the same?" Jessie asked, leaning over his shoulder. Butch shuddered in a start. Jessie laughed in amusement, and he put a hand to his head in embarrassment. "I mean, with picking the rival you can't win against?" she clarified.
"Hitmontop can win," Butch asserted. "Maybe not today though..." he muttered.
Jessie gazed down at Hitmontop. "He's right. Know when to take a break," she said.
Hitmontop stared up at Jessie silently a moment before slowly walking back to Butch. Was it listening to Jessie more than him now? Of course, it listened to Cassidy quite often as well. He exchanged glances with his younger fighting type to confirm the understanding they wouldn't be battling again that day before looking back to Jessie, who sat on a bench next to James. He took a spot in the corner opposite them, the group of them seeming to take a collective breather from the day.
Butch couldn't help but observe Jessie, looking good as usual in her uniform. She was sitting quite close to James. Was there something between them? Probably, but not definitely. Maybe it wasn't the case, since James seemed like he might not even be into women. But it was still possible, though none of his business. Though Jessie had her eyes closed, seeming to collect herself during the lull, James noted where his rival's attention was going, meeting Butch's eyes with a neutral, perhaps partially inquisitive expression.
Butch just looked away. "Guess you've both got better stuff to do," he said, scanning the battle arena as if making sure they left it in good shape was the only thought he'd had. "I wouldn't want to be a third wheel or anything."
Oops. He'd indirectly broached this topic anyway. A quick glance back to the duo revealed James with his eyebrows raised in a surprised expression. Meanwhile Jessie looked more curious. "A third wheel to what?" she demanded fairly quickly. "Me and James?" Butch just shrugged, and Jessie made a noise of annoyance in response. "We're not up to anything exciting like that," she declared firmly.
Did that mean James was letting the relationship grow stale, or just that there wasn't anything going on between them, period? Butch looked back at them, trying to figure it out without asking. Jessie had folded her arms and turned from the two of them, but James didn't appear that concerned by her reaction, instead addressing Butch. "You must have some sort of exhilarating date for this evening yourself," James said.
"No. Nothing exciting like that for me either," Butch admitted. Of course, 'excitement' when he thought about himself in situations like that in the past didn't always have a positive connotation. He'd rather not think about it, especially since he was done with his work and around company that promised an appealing distraction from those kinds of topics.
Jessie met his eyes with a relaxed expression, dropping her shoulders, seeming to have some sympathy for someone in a similar situation. He smiled at her, pleased by the momentary attention. "I might like to try something exciting like that with you," Butch spat out as his and Jessie's gaze locked before thinking about it much. Realizing what he'd said, he turned away, face hot while thinking about how dumb he'd sounded. Even as he started to sweat, he continued to ramble. "No, I mean - I know I couldn't. Don't think I'm-"
"Why couldn't you?"
Butch stopped, forcing himself to turn back to Jessie as she asked the question. She had spoken directly and calmly, and now seemed to be waiting for his response with interest. Why couldn't he? He was available. Maybe Jessie was too. Maybe not, and she just wanted to hear him ask in order to tease him and turn him down. Or not. If that were the case, Jessie had a tendency to be more over-the-top or just annoyed. Her demeanor didn't seem snide at all in the moment. The question seemed like a challenge of some sort, though at the same time didn't guarantee success if he were to actually follow through. The fact Jessie's human and pokemon friends were there, watching with interest made it all the more difficult to actually answer the question.
Maybe it would be better to just ask something instead. "I'd love to go out with you," Butch began. "Would you like to go somewhere else with me sometime?"
"Sure," Jessie agreed.
The others present maybe had some reaction, but Butch could only concentrate on the fact Jessie had accepted, and with such a pleased expression on her face. That she was happy about the idea, the same as him, incited a feeling of elation.
At the same time, there was a weight of sorts from thinking about being in similar situations before. But that could be pushed aside. He'd never had someone respond to being asked on a date as contentedly as this. He'd never been with Jessie before, or at least been alone with her. This might just be fun, maybe.