Killian strides into the labs hoping to find Miles Sharp hard at work. Instead, he's nowhere to be seen. Chances are he's taking care of some kind of project. That or dealing with the girl he's been keeping secret from everyone.

The trip isn't a total bust, however. natalie fairchild is there, a woman that Killian's been meaning to talk with given her research. He's just been a bit too busy taking care of matters on the homefront.

He approaches, Espeon on his shoulder and Queen the Galarian Slowking behind him. "Natalie." he slides into the chair across from her, "You're just the woman I was looking for. Do you have a moment to talk?"

natalie fairchild

Killian Decker

natalie's eyes drift upwards, a pointed emerald gaze staring out from beneath her brow. she regards the man, vague familiarity tingling the corner of her mind. she presses the memory for more details, but doesn't focus entirely on it.

natalie lowers the screen, but doesn't fully shut it. a sign that her work was important to her- so too, this better be.

"and now you've found me."

she leans back in her chair, tossing one leg over her other knee, the heel of her foot still using the arbok as a foot rest.

"i could spare a moment." blink. "or two."

"Excellent."

Killian clears his throat, Loveless hoping from his shoulder and onto his lap. She curls into a small ball with a gentle purr as he strokes her back.

He can tell Natalie's more interested in her work than conversation. Best to keep things brief.

"I'm curious about your research. Avatars, they're something I've got a vested interest in myself."

Gavin and Lulu were the focus now. But once MAGMA got started, he'd be the one they were poking and prodding with needles. Killian shivered at the thought.

natalie fairchild

Killian Decker

she regards the psychic-type pokemon as it slips down the man's shoulder and into his lap. from beneath the table, syfus lifts his head up slightly, tongue flickering to sense the heat in the air. beneath her foot, she feels the arbok's body tighten in anticipation. with little thought, she kicks him.

"is that so?" she purrs, flicking her gaze back onto the man. "i imagine many people are interested in them. but-" a slight head tilt. "-why are you?"

Espeon opens an eye to glare down at Arbok. A faint glow emanates out from the gemstone on her forehead. Killian notices but does and says nothing.

"I have an insatiable curiosity for the unknown." is the short answer. It hardly offers much insight, and Killian doubts she'll be satisfied with it. They never were.

"But I also want their power for myself. I assume you're familiar with project MAGMA?" he leans back in his chair.

natalie fairchild

Killian Decker

with an audible sigh- or grunt, really- syfus returns his chin to the ground.

"oh?" the corner of natalie's lip turns up into a half-smile. "a man after my own heart." she muses.

natalie leans forward this time and intertwines her fingers. with both thumbs she strokes the bottom of her chin. so it was about power then? why was it always power? it did little less you knew how to use it. even Cillian Quinn, avatar of a demi-god, still bowed his head to someone like walsh.

it was an illusion, if anything.

"bits and pieces. but explain it to me anyways." it's not an order. but, killian wanted something. and she felt that he'd not leave until he had it.

or thinks he's had it.

Killian chuckles, "Yes, I liked to learn as much as I can. You can never be too informed." he glances down when she leans forward. Fingers scratch at the underside of Loveless's chin. The sound of her purring fills the air, and he smiles.

It's been a while since he's given her this much attention.

"I'm not that familiar with it myself." he looks up to meet her eye, "You'd be better off asking Chu-e Choi for the finer details." but he'd share what he did know. "Basically, though, they're trying to transfer the powers of an Avatar to someone without them."

natalie fairchild

Killian Decker

her memory chimes and a name pulls through to the front.

"i agree.. mr. decker, wasn't it?" one black eyebrow raised.

she of course knew the details of the project, though only the ones that applied to her. anything else was simply fluff; a distraction. if she needed to know it- she would.

"ah, that project." she says, nodding slowly, lip pursed in thought. her mind goes back to her talk with Cillian Quinn and the data she collected from him. most of it was inconclusive; frustrating. still, some oh his answers were discoveries in their own right. she was currently travelling down a number of their paths, seeing where it led her.

"am i to assume you wish to be a candidate for this procedure then?"

of course he did. why else would he have a vested interest?

"You can just call me Killian. I'm not a really big fan of the whole surname thing everyone seems to do around here."

He smiles, his posture shifting as he leans forward, bringing his hands to rest templed on the table. "I already am a candidate." it came with his promotion to admin.

Killian recalls the conversation with Chu-e Choi, with Cillian Quinn, and the promise he'd made. Anything, he'd told them. He'd give anything for the power to protect Alexandra Briarwood.

"It's cute, you know." the admin leans back, "That you're pretending to not know who I am, I mean. A smart woman like you has to keep up with who's in charge."

natalie fairchild

Killian Decker

"glad to meet another one who finds it vaguely odd and unnecessarily mysterious." she says through a small smile.

natalie watches and reads his body language; people were often more telling in their actions than words. to her eyes, killian seemed to be a man who was used to giving orders. sure, he'd taken them on occasion, but she sensed that wasn't his preference.

"you'd be surprised," natalie muses. "though, it was my understanding that mr. walsh was in charge, hm?" she raises an eyebrow, but thinks fondly of Cillian Quinn 's... 'quirks' when it came to the rocket boss.

perhaps killian would share a similar reaction?

"why is it you've come here specifically, killian?"

He's unphased by the mention of Walsh. It was rare that Killian let someone's name have power over him.

"Walsh is in charge of Rocket as a whole, yes. But he has to delegate some of that massive workload to others. One of them is me."

"Originally, I came here to talk with Miles." he smiles, aware that's not what she's asking. "He's a good friend. I'm hoping that we can be friends too, Natalie."

natalie fairchild

Killian Decker

natalie decided to play along.

"and what is it you're responsible for, killian? Cillian Quinn is the underboss. Lulu Flint head of these precious labs along side Miles Sharp . what role do you play?"

she blinked. her expression unchanged. fingers tapped against the desk like a trotting rapidash.

"friends? i'm open to the idea. what kind of friends?"

"I'm the head of intel and espionage." he states plainly.

He'd had the position for a month or so now. While it wasn't too different from what he'd been doing before. With his own network of spies, the scale of things had taken some getting used to.

"The close kind, ideally." he reaches for one of the Poke Balls around his waist and sets it on the table. "You know, the type who share things with each other. Who help one another achieve their goals."

"How does that sound to you?"

natalie fairchild