Chu-e Choi isn't wrong: Gavin is always busy. It's for this reason that, when he gets the message from his fellow underboss to meet him at Slateport beach, the stoic Merlino assumes it to be a business meeting.

He's surprised, then, when he arrives at the location to a comfortably spread blanket (adorned with pawprints, of course) and a... picnic basket? Well, Chu-e had made macarons during their first official 'Rocket' meeting, so it shouldn't be too much of a shock.

"Oh, no, what did I do this time?" he jests, sun catching on sharp canines as he approaches and gestures to the basket. He doesn't hesitate to join his colleague, though he makes a funny sight in his formal attire sitting cross-legged on a beach towel and brushing grains of sand from the creases of his pants.

In a more sober tone, he adds, "How've you been?"

Chu-e doesn't answer at first. He just digs a sizable bento out of the basket and passes to Cillian Quinn before pulling out his own. A bottled lemonade is fished from the cooler. The picnic basket still has stuff inside, too; Chu-e didn't actually know if Gavin liked his style of food.

He's opening up his box and sliding the chopsticks from their place in the lid when he finally answers. "Poisoning you might be the only way to get you to rest for a few days." He gives a small grin. And Chu-e looks... tired. A little frazzled. But it's nothing close to the near manic place he had been in when he was routinely stabbing himself to try and get his body to do... something. Anything.

"I think I'm doing better." Is what he finally answers with before plucking a gyoza out of his box. "But!" The gyoza is shaken at Gavin dramatically. "We're here to relax and talk about fun stuff. You need this just as bad as I do, mister." A brow is raised, playful, as if daring Gavin to argue that he didn't need a little rest.

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picture of the bento as i imagine it. i looked up pics for inspo and it was too cute and stacked to ignore lmao

Gavin accepts the bento wordlessly, nodding his thanks and delicately lifting the chopsticks between thin fingers. He had struggled with the dexterity required to wield them upon first relocating to Kanto, but seems now to have no trouble.

"You've got a funny definition of relax," he shoots back, but he's smiling. "If you poisoned me, I'd be more worked up trying to get you back."

He's opened his mouth with clear intention of further discussing the Genesect-Necrozma incident and the subsequent mental deterioration that had led to Chu-e Choi stabbing himself in front of Gavin, but a quick reprimand from his counterpart sets him straight. He hesitates as if to argue, then lets out a breath and closes his mouth. This was, perhaps, the first time anyone had ever told him to relax. In a strange way, he appreciates it, and the smile he offers when the dust settles is more genuine than most get to see.

"All right," Gavin acquiesces, and takes a swig of lemonade. "Fun stuff. What do you even do for fun?"

"Yeah, but you would be plotting and planning in a nice, fluffy bed and off your feet."

A few bites of food are crammed in his mouth. Not too much; Chu-e's been doing better but he still can't eat very much. The medicine sours his stomach too much for full meals anymore. It's a shame since most of his free time, when not getting into trouble or working for the glory of Rocket, is spent...

"I like to cook." He snips one of the omelet roll pieces in two and pops in his mouth. "Lots of free time spent looking up and saving recipes to try. I also read a lot. Mostly old legends and fairy tales. It's interesting how, if you look at the history behind the stories, even stuff about... people turning into pokemon or curses has, like, a grain of some truth in them."

Glancing up from his food, Chu-e leans over to nudge Cillian Quinn lightly with his elbow. "What about you? You secretly have the biggest stamp collection in all of Hoenn?"

"You're good at it," Gavin says of Chu-e Choi's cooking, pausing to savor a bite before he swallows and continues, "I learned to cook because I was tired of shitty premade meals living on my own for so long, but I don't have the passion for it that you do."

It's strange, admitting things about himself so readily to another. Strange, but nice. He'd been at odds with Marcel more often than not, even before the other had been deployed back to Kanto.

So when the question gets turned around to him, he lets out a sharp laugh. "Not stamps, no. I do have a pretty big library, though." Over the years, it had grown to encompass the majority of his Fallarbor living room. "Mostly science-related, back when that was still my field. I try to keep up with new developments but — well, Rocket takes precedence." He doesn't seem saddened by the thought; where once his passion had been science, Rocket had become all-consuming. Remembering that they're meant not to be talking business, he further divulges, "I really like archaeology, too. Might've been my career if things had gone the right way."

Here, there is a brief pause for consideration of what could have been. He takes a long swig of lemonade, contemplative.

At the compliment, Chu-e huffed a little, cheeks dusting the slightest bit pink. Genuine compliments like that had always made him flustered too easy. Normally he was better at hiding his reactions but he felt like he could be more open with Cillian Quinn than he normally was allowed. It meant that the other had the power to cause more real reactions from him; not the fake acting he did to show people what they wanted to see most of the time.

"That seems fitting. I could see you, like... on your knees, bent over...." A pause and Chu-e wiggles his brow before laughing and continuing. "a great big fossil as you use one of those super tiny brushes to get all the dirt away. You're really good at that kind of, uh... delicate, detail oriented stuff. I bet you would have been able to put those fossils from Galar back together the right way."

Gavin's lips purse as Chu-e wiggles his brow, but he cracks with a slight smile and a shake of his head. Damn it, Choi. The thought is fond.

"I find it relaxing," he says, of detail-oriented work. "Helps take the mind off things."

His mind, sharp as it was, constantly raced. When he was anxious over something, it was all he could do not to obsess over it eternally. In those times, reading a book was not enough of a distraction. He needed something to focus his nervous energy, and often his fossil restoration was the precise escape required.

He laughs at mention of Galar. "Shame it's so hard to get two of the right pieces at once," he laments, "I bet I could. Kind of like them all demented, though. Gives them character, even if it means I've got to hand-feed my Arctovish. You have any fossils?" He tilts his head, curious. "I do more than just uncover them; I've restored a couple of my own. My shadow Aerodactyl, for one. Not as a shadow, of course, but..."

Chu-e is already nodding before Cillian Quinn finishes, seeming a bit eager to reply.

"I do! An Arctozolt, Dracovish, and a Tyrunt. I didn't, like... raise any of them myself, though. I got them in trades or from that one shelter in Slateport." Chu-e pauses to cram a bit more food into his mouth. It's too much for him in general and he snaps the lib back in place, hoping Gavin didn't spot how little he actually ate. His appetite had never been good and the last few weeks it's been even worse. Regardless, he washes his food down with a drink from his bottle.

"That detail stuff is... well, I guess that's why I like cooking? You have to know what's good together, but even if you're a little off it'll still turn out good." Chu-e sighs, frowning and glancing up to watch a few clouds roll bu. "I mean, most of what I do now is detail work. Making sure that this plan is feasible, allocating estimated manpower, budgets, multiple contingency plans... well, I'm sure you've seen some of the data compilations and those fat-ass manilla folders on your desk. But, I do that stuff more because I want to factor in as much risk as I can and because someone has to do it and less because I like it. So, enjoying stuff like that is so out there for me. But it makes you really reliable."

Unfortunately for Chu-e, Gavin's attention to detail is rivaled by few. Fortunately, he makes no comment; he's sure he knows the reason behind a loss of appetite.

His own remains voracious thanks to a strict training regimen designed by marie jules as a precursor to an upcoming experiment. He takes bites between comments, savours the tang of lemonade as an aftertaste. His brain demands a cigarette post-meal, but he isn't carrying any. He'd thrown his last pack into the fireplace as both a symbolic and permanent solution.

"I've got a few from trades, but nothing's more rewarding than bringing them back with my own two hands."

Naturally, because the two of them were conditioned in such a way, work finds its way into even pleasant conversation. But Gavin doesn't mind; Rocket is his life, his purpose. There's a twinkle in his eyes as Chu-e Choi mentions the folders.

"I appreciate your resignation to detail," he chuckles. "Me, I love that shit. You've seen some of mine: they're a nightmare of detail. Almost feel the need to apologize to the boss every time I give him one."

"I hope he appreciates all our hard work." Chu-e huffs a bit, puffing his chest up and tone teasing. "Boss only gets by on being a hot dilf thanks to our hard work. Without your phone book reports and my thirty risk-preperation alternatives for one job, he would just be pretty."

Chu-e manages to keep a straight face after he says this for all of two seconds before he tilts his head back and bursts into laughter. It's loud and genuine and hurts his chest a little but it's nice. The best he's felt in days. Sadly, neither of them know that in the wake of the upcoming surge of missions, this mood will crash into something darker than what happened between them on the sub.

"You know, between us... sometimes I don't really know what he's thinking. It's not easy to talk to him. But" Chu-e clicks his tongue. "At least I can approach him." A small shrug. He leans a little closer to Cillian Quinn, lowering his voice to whisper just between them. "And not saying I want anything to happen but... if something did I think you'd make a good Boss."

Gavin nearly chokes on his lemonade at Chu-e Choi's comment on Walsh; red-faced from suppressed laughter, he clears his throat and presses his lips together.

Chu-e was a goddamn gem.

The mood turns serious once their combined laughter dies down, and Gavin wipes tears from his eyes before assuming his characteristically stoic expression once more. He nods sympathetically; Walsh was far from approachable, but both of them clearly preferred his methods to Silas. "Whatever he's thinking's been nothing but good for me so far." Gavin chuckles, low in his throat, miasma at his fingertips. "So I'm all for it."

He blinks when Chu-e leans close, then again at a bomb dropped.

He's serious, Gavin realises.

Momentarily at a loss for words, Gavin gathers scattered thought before offering the other a brief, genuine smile. "That means a lot, coming from you, y'know." Choi had been through the reign of terror from one of Rocket's worst. "I've — I mean, I've thought about it, of course. When Cadis promoted me, and for a little while I was the only one. Thought if something happened to him I'd have to step up, and I would've." Then Cadis had fallen ill and Walsh had taken over and it had no longer been Gavin alone but Dominic, too, and the other had seemed the clear choice for successor with Darkrai's blessing and years of experience as an underboss.

He'd never liked Dominic, but he thinks he'd have followed him so long as Rocket remained something he believed in.

"You wouldn't want it?" He cants his head, curious.

Chu-e shakes his head.

"I like the position I'm in now. Plus, if I was, I wouldn't be able to be leader for long in the worst case." Which was a hard fact, even if Cillian Quinn was working against that particular ending for him. "I'm good with plans and thinking on my feet, but I'm the type of person who needs a little bit of direction. I wouldn't know where to start."

He pauses, swirling his drink in the bottle before finishing it off in one, last drink.

"Plus I think without someone like you to keep me in line, I'd just fall back into old patterns. I'm trying, but I'm still not used to just..." Chu-e makes a vague wave. Whenever Chu-e had needed, most of the time, any Grunt who pissed him off too much would suffer the price. He still had a short leash, as the nature of Beasts then, but what power he had he flexed when needed.

"You'd be a good boss, anyway."