Ordinarily fervent in the acquisition of knowledge, Gavin is downright brimming with suppressed energy as he enters the sterile environment of the lab. He grins as he catches Chu-e Choi's gaze, a sharp-toothed smile that manages to convey both menace and genuine content.

"Anything interesting?" he wonders of the report, flicking his amber gaze over it before crossing to the other side of the room and setting down several pokeballs on a silver tray. He selects one of them from the bunch and seems to consider the containment chamber for a moment before releasing his shadow Sandslash into the lab itself. The once-feral, dangerous creature still radiates a quiet malice, but the hatred with which it had once regarded him is no more.

Ice pools at the creature's feet, and wisps of purple smoke swirl around the underboss through no direction of his own.

"How have you been, Chu-e? Not licked any more space rocks, I hope." He laughs, but the concern directed toward his colleague seems real enough. "No change with the fragment itself, though I did acquire a few more... assets since we last spoke."

His Miltank and Roserade were welcome additions to the collection.

notes:
not us casually changing this to post-TOP so we can talk about it

"You know it's not." He grins and it's pleased, the manilla folder snapping closed and quickly forgotten on the table. It was something for Future Chu-e to worry about. He does watch the proceedings, noting how comfortable that Cillian Quinn was now with simply letting the Shadow pokemon free. It did seem to be alright for the moment, though; ever since that meeting on the island a lot had changed.

"No, just Mystery Dungeon and Dragon dice." He answers, eyes not leaving the Sandslash. These corrupted pokemon were always so fascinating. "I'm excited to see what you can do Mister Avatar." He's teasing, but his voice has pride in it. He's pleased as punch at what Gavin's done. Even if they hadn't known each other more than a couple months at this point, Chu-e found he liked the other. He liked his drive and willingness to do what needed to be done. He liked that he was intelligent. "I do have one or two new goodies of my own. Plus, I've put a lot of work into tracking down things for this fun little project." A handful of pokeballs were taken out and placed on the table. For later use.

He sits up, prim and proper, and opens his mouth to say- "And I would like to lick the rock again." Only he pauses at that, face twisting lightly, as if that hadn't been exactly what he had wanted to say. A mental tally and check-box starts, ticking back and... he finds he does want to lick the rock again. It's not just some slip of the tongue (ha), but some weird and nagging desire in the very back of his mind. He isn't even sure why. It hadn't been pleasant before. It made him sick. It reminded him of.... he pales lightly. "I want to lick the rock again." He repeats, this time sounding a little more horrified. The craving reminded him vaguely of when he had been on drugs as a teenager, just not as intense. The fuck.

Gavin's laugh is sharp with surprise; he's unsure whether Chu-e Choi is serious about the dice. The smile Chu-e receives from his teasing comment is brief, but filled with a genuine warmth not typical of the underboss.

"So am I." He had yet to explore much of the power that Lugia had bestowed upon him; for its part, the legendary seemed amused by the prospect of its avatar figuring such things out for himself. Perhaps it understood Gavin's pride, and how his ambition would be best fueled with discovery. "So far, I've figured out that it's not just Lugia who pacifies them."

He indicates the Sandslash with a fluid gesture of the wrist. With more daring than he'd previously possessed around the feral creature, he reaches out and scratches it lightly between the ears. It stiffens as if in surprise, then relaxes into the gesture.

"Incredibly convenient for the project," Gavin concludes brightly.

His apparent mirth fades with the colour in Chu-e's face. It does not strike him as a joke. Choi sounds worried, and Gavin worries in turn. His brows knit together, and he finds his fingers curling protectively around the odd-shaped fragment.

"Is this the first time the compulsion has presented itself?"

There is a slight crumb of guilt there for sucking all the fun out of the room. Chu-e did enjoy Cillian Quinn's company and it was so rare, with their jobs and duties, to find much reason to smile or find time to share camaraderie. Yet, if Chu-e was going to be having some issues he would rather Gavin know sooner rather than later. Chu-e might have been sharp, observant, and good at asking questions- but he didn't have the same sort of analytic mind that Gavin did. Even if Gavin became worried, he trusted the other to approach the situation from a place of logic rather than feelings. Which was comforting in it's own way.

The wheels turned in his mind, a hand lifted to his chin, eyes wide but entirely somewhere else as he picked back over his mind. Certain mannerisms he had picked up since then came to mind, certain compulsions he had had that he had written off... but now, in light of this, seemed just a bit more. Before licking the fragment, Chu-e never had the urge to cram dice in his mouth. He had never had the fleeting thoughts to taste the fossils while on missions. But since then? Well...

He blinked and slowly withdrew from his mind, back in the room with Gavin, lifting his eyes to meet the other's.

"No, I just didn't put it together before." Scowling, Chu-e crosses his arms and leans back in his chair, upset with himself. "Damn. We'll have to talk about this. And I wanted to talk about the shadows and some things Lulu Flint dug up for me."

"Fuck," is all Gavin can think to say, at first.

It had seemed harmless, at the time — a dumb joke between colleagues having a little fun on the job. He should, perhaps, have predicted the illness: it was a chunk of unknown material he'd found in a wormhole, after all. But this?

"We'll talk about everything in time," Gavin assures him, "but this... definitely takes priority. Did it start before you licked it? Is that why you asked? Or was it not until after?"

Ever the scientist, Gavin starts taking notes.

Chu-e shook his head at the questions.

"No, I was just screwing around when I did it the first time. None of this started until after." How did you properly explain it? Why he was so alarmed at the sudden realization? Chu-e opened his mouth, closed it again, moved a hand as if trying to fan the thoughts in his mind or the proper words.

"When I was fifteen I was on drugs." Was finally spat out, missing eloquence. "Not, like, anything too hard. But I was. Rocket got me off them." And what hell that had been. Bless Valerio Dachev for being so patient with his ass during that time. Bless Valerio for a lot, actually. He owed a lot to that redheaded fucker. "It feels kind of like that? Like uh... like I can live without it, but like I would be so much better off if I had it. It's, uh..." How exactly did one explain addiction?

Shaking his head, he decided against trying further. Chu-e was sure that Cillian Quinn could put things together on his own.

But....

It was definitely the fault of the fragment itself, then. Gavin can't decide if that's good or bad. On one hand, it meant that only Chu-e Choi was having compulsions to lick it. On the other, it was Chu-e, and this was a mysterious fragment that could very well be a chunk of the thing he'd fought in that wormhole.

He listens to the explanation with a serious expression, offering no judgement. Had the situation felt less dire, he might've laughed. Imagine Rocket being good for someone. It had been good for him, too, he supposed. In the end.

"Okay." He processes this new information, makes a few edits to his notes, and nods to himself. "Okay. We'll work with this, all right? I'm pretty sure it's one of a kind, so as long as I keep you from licking it, we should be fine, right?" There's a beat before his brow furrows. "Unless this is the kind of addiction where you're going to be busting into my office at midnight and going through my shit."

It's hard to tell whether he's joking or not.

Joke or not, Chu-e waves that concern off.

"Nah, I was never on anything so strongly to be that bad even before....."

His hand is curled under his chin again, though, a thoughtful look on his face.

"... Now that I'm aware of it, just know this isn't like... compelled. But I almost want to lick it again to see what happens." Chu-e tried to meet Cillian Quinn's eyes after he said this, so the other could see he wasn't messing around or being wishy washy. Or was even embarrassed about saying that. "It might make me sick again, but like... I want to know what happens. Why does it want to be licked anyway?"

And, again, Chu-e was not a man of science. But he was curious. He liked knowing things and could even be considered nosy. Curiosity may have killed the cat but satisfaction would always bring it back.

Unfortunately for Chu-e Choi, Gavin has never been on hard drugs. Loss of control terrified him, and he wouldn't so much as drink to excess. So when Chu-e asks to lick it again, the blond underboss isn't sure what to make of the request.

"I don't know," he admits, "and that's why I'm worried. Did I tell you where I got the thing?"

He can't quite remember how much information he'd divulged; had Chu-e gotten around to reading the report on the Blackout, or would Gavin need to start from scratch?

A sort of vague and halfway shrug on Chu-e's part.

"I read the report and you briefly mentioned it last time. It could be that creature's shit for all we know." He sighs lightly. "I know it's... strange. But if something happens, I would rather you be around than someone else."

Which was true. Chu-e was good at feeding people what they wanted to hear but he wasn't trying to piss in Cillian Quinn's mouth and tell him it was lemonade. It was the truth.

"If I have adverse effects, I would rather you get a hold of me than any of the other scientists here. If something worse happens, I know you'll put me down and not pussy-foot out of it."

"Gross," says Gavin flatly.

It's strange to hear his ruthlessness summed up so succinctly, but Chu-e Choi isn't wrong. Should something go wrong with anyone in Rocket, Gavin would be the first to cut away the disease to protect the body. Even if that disease was a friend. Or a sister. Or a lover.

"If it's necessary, yes," he affirms. "But I don't want to necessitate it myself. We can try it with a Pokemon, perhaps, and see if it exhibits the same illness and compulsions. You are too valuable an asset to be used like a guinea pig, Choi."

There's a slight smile after the words, but it's edged with discomfort, concern.

It is nice to be complimented by Cillian Quinn. An asset? Maybe, but to be considered something valuable at all was welcome. It's a strange thing to be flattered over.

"If Rocket needs ms to be a guinie pig, as longs it's you, I will be." Chu-e shifted a bit, uncomfortable, crossing his hands in his lap. "Gav.... I only have about two years left. And my physical and mental state will decline before that time expires.... I would rather go out doing something as stupid as eating a rock than that slow slope."

Even if he kept those parts to himself, Chu-e did fear what he would become. Losing himself was terrifying. Even now, when he would have the occasional lapse in memory it was horrifying. To be alive without being him was....

But. Well. This was something they could talk about over time. It was never easy to broach the topic of what very well could be seen as assisted suicide.

"I found out why they were experimenting on us." His hand vanished into his pocket, a phone quickly pulled out. A few taps and a Porygon-Z materialized, twitching and jerking, hollow eyes staring at Gavin and expecting. It had files to deliver. "They were trying to force us to be artificial Avatars."

"Hey," Gavin protests, and there's an uncharacteristic kindness in the look he gives his counterpart. A rarity, something only Emma Wolfe usually gets to see. "Rocket did this to you; I'd sooner try to find a way to reverse it than make it worse. Right now, Chu-e, what Rocket needs is for you to be a leader. These idiots need us to guide them, otherwise they're the ones that are gonna go out eating rocks."

Though he calls them idiots, there's a fondness to his tone. He'd never admit it to the average grunt, but they were his family.

Gavin blinks at the Porygon-Z, watching it spaz and glitch out. "Yours too, huh? Hope it didn't get some kind of malware from mine." His own Porygon's been fucked up ever since it evolved, and he hasn't had the time to ask Lulu Flint if there's a cure. Other matters always get in the way. "Artificial avatars, though? Shit. They ever get it to work?"

Had Lugia not bestowed its blessing upon him, it's the sort of thing Gavin might've lusted after.