six: some kind of betrayal
They brought the stored devices to the scientists in the outside laboratory just to be given three heavy boxes to take back. Managing two of them, they returned for the last. Jessie had been planning to leave it to James and Meowth, only to see several more boxes had been placed with it. "Can't you deliver it to us?!" she demanded of the other employees. They just glanced at her momentarily before turning back to the items that were out on the table.
Of course they couldn't. Jessie and her friends were saddled with this annoying grunt work. They seemed to have settled into it as well. Without any more grumbling, at least external grumbling, they carried the boxes back to the home base. Staring at the stack of junk as James and Meowth started taking it out, Jessie supposed this was an over-glorified storage room, if that much. The room didn't have a window, instead assaulting them with harsh light from artificial sources all day. Were they going to be given a more glamorous mission already?
"Hey Jess, maybe you can lend a hand for once?" Meowth said as it tried to take out a cumbersome item that took up an entire box.
"Like you and James can't handle this much," Jessie said. She then went and helped Meowth pull out the item anyway, following with the others. They spent time arranging them on the shelves with the accompanying before helping rearrange to accommodate the excess. It was boring but beat doing nothing. "I've had more than enough of this," she muttered, kicking the empty boxes closer to the door for them to get later. "Maybe I'll be done with Team Rocket completely if this is the best they've got for me."
"Will you really?"
James asked the question in a serious tone, and now both he and Meowth intently looked toward Jessie for an answer. "Why would you even ask that?" Jessie said.
"Well, you do have a boyfriend now," James said. "Maybe you were thinking you'd want to go farther with that."
"You mean like marriage?" Jessie asked. The idea of herself as a blushing bride was something she hadn't thought of for years. So many years that she was probably just a stupid kid that liked the idea of a fluffy dress the last time she'd considered it. However, Butch had implied that he had an 'imagination' for what might happen next for them. Was something so final included in his thoughts? "Come on!" Jessie chided. James didn't even deny that was what he himself had been implying. "You shouldn't be talking about that before my boyfriend even does."
"Of course he hasn't even considered it," James said with a smirk. "After all, you're already-"
Jessie pushed the item on the table toward James, the screeching of it interrupting the obnoxious thing he'd been about to say. "Shouldn't you be working a little more?" Jessie said. James continued without comment, getting the hint. He'd commented several times about how she and Butch were having sex. Jessie supposed she ought to say something to her boyfriend about sharing too much. She'd been too busy getting mad about what else had apparently been said. Besides, it had probably just slipped out in response to a weird comment, considering how intrusive James had been about the topic with her.
"If you do want that, and he won't marry you, you can look for another option," James suggested.
Jessie sighed. As if it would be so easy. Not everyone had their parents betrothing them at a young age. Jessie had to wade through options and be able to offer something as well. "Can you just drop it?" she asked James with an exasperated tone. He glanced toward the item Jessie had pushed toward him, possibly damaging, going along with her request.
At that point, she was just enjoying her time with her boyfriend, anyway. They had fun spending time together even doing mundane things. All of the attention and doting was nice too. There was no need to get too serious, especially so fast. They had been going out for a while now, or at least it seemed like that. Jessie didn't want to demand anything happen when he'd already made her happy with all that had been given freely. Would he even want anything beyond that?
Well, there was the talk of others about leaving Team Rocket along with that comment about his 'imagination'. They technically didn't have to leave the organization to get married, but doing so would be better to fit the ideal image. If there were to be any kids especially, staying in Team Rocket wouldn't be a good idea at all. "Maybe I would want to leave with him," Jessie mused aloud. "And maybe marriage isn't out of the question."
"If you want that, you should push him for it now," James suggested.
Ugh, there he went again. She should have just kept that thought to herself. "Are you that eager to get rid of me?" Jessie asked, glaring James's way.
"Well, no." James frowned, again answering the question too seriously. "You aren't really going to leave us right now, are you?"
Why was he so upset about the possibility he himself had suggested? Of course, as he'd implied or even outright stated before, James thought Butch wasn't really serious about her and wouldn't ever give her anything like that. That could be right, but Jessie wasn't sure that was the case. Neither was James apparently, since he was getting so upset like this.
"Yeah, Jess," Meowth added to the possible upset, hopping up and peering toward her with a concerned expression. "If you leave, we're gonna miss you! Plus we'll have to mop up the muck around here all by ourselves."
"Wobbuffet!" Wobbuffet called out in agreement as it exited its pokeball.
As her pokemon, it could come with her, wouldn't it? Jessie held up its pokeball. She paused before sending it right back in as James spoke. "Don't push her, Meowth. Jessie's free to do anything she likes, the same as we always have. She can fly free, blown by the wind, or even go against it, whatever she desires." Her partner of many years then stared toward her with a reassuring smile, though Jessie could tell it was forced in some ways.
"Good," Jessie said blankly in response to James's speech. "Because I'm going to take an extra day off after our day off. My boyfriend's taking me somewhere out of Viridian, even. So you two can pick up my slack."
James couldn't say anything after his last comments, but Meowth groaned loudly. That at least ended the conversation. There was no point to the dramatics. Jessie was just having some fun. Who knew if she even liked her current boyfriend enough to do any of those things, should he even want to.
At the end of their too long work day, she happened to see him in the hall on the way to get some rest from Team Rocket's mindless overwork. "Hey," he greeted her with his awkward smirk. "Can't wait to see you tomorrow."
He swept a hair from her face as he spoke before realizing their partners were watching along with several other onlookers. Jessie's boyfriend stopped there, allowing his attention to be monopolized by Jessie's presence a moment longer before he left.
That small interaction was enough to turn her attention and now thoughts completely to him. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough. Jessie wanted to spend time with him right then, maybe even tell James and Meowth to get lost, do various things. She could just talk to him. Just be with him.
Maybe she'd been trying to convince herself otherwise, but she really did like him.
Butch glanced toward the hall Jessie had just disappeared, still seeming alluring even with her entourage. He just had to be patient and wait until tomorrow, didn't he? Then they'd be far from these dimly lit halls, out in the sun sightseeing, not having to worry about any shady, gloomy people witnessing them. He wouldn't hold back then, only being in the company of Jessie.
Her vibrancy was welcome. Their relationship was at the point where the reactions and statements that used to come across as stupid or annoying now seemed cute, even desirable. Even when she seemed to get very annoyed with him, he had the extreme luxury of not having to panic about it. He tried to set things right, of course, but there was no need to be too worried. Jessie kept coming back to him. The same as him, she wanted to work things out. She wasn't going to dump him somewhere. Even without anything else, being able to believe that was worth so much.
"Hey."
Snapping out of his thoughts about Jessie and her distraction, Butch turned to the sound of Cassidy's voice. He realized he'd been about to run into the open door of her, formerly their, small dorm. Butch nodded at Cassidy, trying to get serious. He'd been letting himself get too caught up in his thoughts, hadn't he. Cassidy probably had more to say to him about their work tomorrow. "Come inside." Cassidy opened the door and stepped back to make room for him to do so.
He took the invitation without hesitation, though maybe he did look to make sure Jessie wasn't still around to see him go in. It wasn't that weird. Sure, he no longer shared this space with Cassidy, but it was a private area for them to discuss things as colleagues who regularly worked closely together. Did something come up since they'd seen each other last, or maybe she just wanted to talk about what they'd be doing the next day?
Cassidy smiled at him as he entered. He couldn't help but smile back. How long had it been since he'd seen that kind of expression from her? It was certainly directed at him, the only other one in the room. Of course, he'd already long accepted that it wouldn't mean what he wanted. But at the same time, he liked to see her happy. "What's up?" Butch finally spoke.
Cassidy touched his arm, looking up and in his eyes with a gentle expression. "Why don't you stay with me tonight?" she suggested.
The sensation of her hand, the tone of her voice, the expression on her face, and the words that had been spoken themselves all brought about mixed emotions. How long had he wished for this? Not so much the implied offer, but just her attention, implying his presence was not only tolerable but also desired. This was a moment of happiness with the implication that he wasn't a burden. Just hearing that question caused the light emotions of affection and desire to wash through him.
The sentiment was brief, soon overpowered by confusion. Why now? He'd already accepted nothing would ever be between them. The memory of how strongly he'd felt and how he'd really believed there might be something only to have that idea smashed was incredibly painful. In the present, it was confusing. Why was she asking this kind of thing now?
And of course, he had just been thinking of Jessie, just looking at her, even briefly speaking to her. Jessie's mostly positive reaction didn't come as a surprise since they'd grown so close lately. Cassidy's certainly did, but he felt almost hopeful at hearing it. His happiness over what was going on with Jessie combined with his automatic positive reaction to Cassidy's offer along with the memories of the emotional backlash he'd gotten from reading too much into things in the past with the person in front of him was definitely jarring.
After it all sunk in, he may have even felt angry.
Since Cassidy had touched him, he took her hand and squeezed it gently, forcing a calm smile. "You want me to cheat on her?" he asked. After a pause, she didn't answer. He couldn't even really read her expression, though it certainly seemed to lose some of that initial warmth. "With you?" he added. He took a slow breath after he paused this time, leaning closer to her, even trembling. She maintained the unreadable expression, but at the same time, didn't seem too displeased. "I could do that," Butch offered. "But then I'd have to tell her right away. Doubt she'd be happy. It would probably wreak everything between us. We'd be over."
Cassidy glanced away this time, and Butch dropped her hand easily. Her shoulders had risen slightly, showing subtle tension. He was still angry, but didn't want to upset her. His intense response might be intimidating, even though she showed no signs of being frightened at all. Even so, he took a step back before he spoke again. "Instead of that, you could just order me to dump her. It would save you the trouble."
He'd gotten a possible motive out into the open. Would she deny such intentions? Would she admit any kind of jealousy, animosity? Say she didn't care about his personal life? Or maybe, would she even give said order?
He waited with a pointed anticipation for her response. It never came, her continuing to not meet his gaze before she finally did, seeming to dare him to say more.
He would. "I'm taking Jessie someplace really nice tomorrow," he said. "By the ocean. Not just loitering around HQ or wandering around Viridian. I've been thinking about it all day. Several days. She can't wait either. Maybe we'll be there even longer. You know not to count on me for a couple days, right?"
Cassidy subtly raised her eyebrows before blinking purposefully. "You'll do as you please, no matter how short-sighted, won't you?"
"Yeah," Butch affirmed before opening the door. He stumbled into the hall, no clue why he was so shaken up just by that short conversation. What had her last question even meant? Did she think his current relationship was short-sighted? Maybe he hadn't been thinking long term. Or maybe she had expected him to still sleep with her even after all he'd said? That certainly would have been short-sighted. Or maybe she was simply referring to him skipping out on work? As Butch found his way to the overcrowded group dorm he'd been staying in, he couldn't stop thinking about the whole situation. Finding and crawling into the empty bunk, the question of what it all meant wouldn't leave his mind while anguish from the conversation along with remembering other things crashed over him.
Jessie was who should be thought of instead. Hadn't he dedicated himself to her? Going along with Cassidy's request might not even have been something that could be followed through with even without an actual girlfriend in the picture. But yes, Jessie was the one he was focused on at the moment.
Maybe his mind would settle after some sleep. He could just forget the whole thing. In the meantime, letting himself be so affected by another woman, even if it was Cassidy, seemed like some kind of betrayal.