Well. Were it anyone but Elijah holding that locked box, it would have looked shady as hell. Thankfully Elijah confirmed the contents of the container and Vic let out a soft sigh of relief. "Thanks, man. I appreciate it." Vic didn't know what was harder -- running Zinnia, or ensuring that Lily's flower stayed nice and healthy. Even the slightest miscalculation on his part could cause her to start withering, and the gamble he took with a new growth serum had backfired spectacularly. The pokemon center was useless when it came to this sort of thing. The only thing he could trust was formulas from an apothecary and thankfully, Vic knew just the man for the job.
[break]
He came out from around the counter to approach Elijah. "Good, good. Can't complain. But I've been so worried about Lily that I haven't been taking care of the rest of the flowers as well as I should," Vic divulged as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "What about you? How's business?" He had to appreciate Elijah's dedication to his craft, and the fact that he could whip something up so quickly. Vic had been so tense until Elijah barged through the door that he didn't even realize he had released the tension in his shoulders when the other man came in.

Vic very well knew he deserved Elijah's admonishments, but damn if it didn't sting a bit. "I know, I know. You'd think I'd know better by now." Like all Lilligants, Lily's care demanded the utmost care and the highest quality serums and fertilizers, balanced alongside attentiveness to all sorts of factors such as sunlight, air quality, and even humidity. "There was a weird turn of weather that messed with some of her fertilizer and I just had to make do..." There was a pain in Vic's voice that he just couldn't hide, even if he averted his gaze. "Bad call on my part, really."
[break]
Normally Lily would be out and about helping with the flowers but considering the delicate state she was in, Vic wouldn't dare let her suffer more than she needed. But now that Elijah was here... He reached for his belt and tossed out Lily's pokeball. What emerged was a wilted and slumped over Lilligant, whose normally vibrant hues were turned dull and the edges of her leaves shriveled. "You gotta save her, Elijah. Please..." As much as Vic hated to sound weak in front of another, this was Lily's life on the line and he would do anything to save her.

He watched Elijah get to work, moving as directed to get a special bag of soil that he reserved for Lily. "I knew it was bad just... Maybe there's a part of me that still holds out on humanity being good." His laugh is a little self-deprecating at that. Society? Good? The very opposite was what landed him in Team Rocket in the first place.
[break]
Vic evenly poured the soil all around Lily, whose eyes opened and let out a weak cry of acknowledgment to Elijah. "Shh..." His heart broke at the sight of Lily still trying to fulfill her duties as the store greeter despite her broken state. "She..." Vic's lips curled inward as he thought about his answer. "She's the old store owner's. A good friend of mine. Lily and Zinnia are what she left me when she..." Three years and he still couldn't say it. "Sorry." Vic instinctively apologized for his show of emotion and turned away to wipe a few tears away. "But you're right. She means a lot to me. I put a lot of work into making sure she thrives."

"Right... Right. Sorry." Vic quickly pulled himself together. Lily would be okay, especially now that Elijah was here. "Normally I do some basic apothecary work with her nutrients, just to make sure that everything is balanced out. I'm really glad I picked it up in Goldenrod when I uhh..." Vic cleared his throat awkwardly. He had been part of the Rocket takeover in Goldenrod, doing surveillance around the city before the takeover proper.
[break]
Right. Now wasn't really time for the past. Not when Lily was still in such a fragile state.
[break]
"Anyway, even that didn't help when I tried to give it to her." He carefully watched Elijah work, just the scent of the serum alone seemed to perk Lily up... Even if Vic was probably just imagining things. "I know I can trust you but... I lost a lot of people when I moved here. Lots of my life choices probably weren't the smartest ones." Goldenrod, for example. He let out a heavy sigh as he knelt down where he wouldn't get in Elijah's way. It had been a long time since he last saw Lily like this, when he first inherited her and took her for granted. Now... She was practically his lifeline.