she watched his face. his eyes. more attentive to every feature than she’d ever been before, as she tried to peer right through them. he was a mere shell containing what interested her. a test subject.

her eyes caught the shift in leather on his sleeve, as though something was rearranging.

”no handcuffs,” she assured. the whole point was to see what he could do, after all. ”and i wouldn’t call it a cell... more of an unbreakable chamber.”

she watched, again. poking the bear, before offering some reassurance. ”i want to test your strength, but should you become aggressive, best for there to be some barrier between us. that way, i won’t have to become aggressive back.”

”reasonable?”

Killian Decker

☉

her eyebrows arched as though she were surprised at his discomfort. had she struck an nerve? she seemed unalarmed—until his eye color suddenly changed, and she took a whole step back. she watched, as his body began to shift under his clothes.

”what’s happening?” another step back, and another.

”i’m hardly pushing buttons; i’m simply being transparent. if you expect me to allow you to unleash your newfound strength on my laboratory without safety precautions, you are mistaken.”

this would not be another genesect episode. she stood her ground, straightening.

”i’m no threat to you, deoxys. i helped call you here, from this lighthouse.”

Killian Decker

☉

lulu glared back at the insult in his tone. rather than consider the danger building in front of her, she chose pride. to belittle his efforts, because how dare he, honestly?

”control yourself, decker! this is unacceptable! there is too much equipment—!!”

with a shriek and a growl, she was lifted into the air by... a tentacle? this wasn’t the episode we were looking for. ”what the fuck!” the words left a shadowy face as she all but disappeared from deoxys’ grasp in a whisp of darkness. it moved along the floor, away from... them.

darkrai was alerted by the action, descending from the ceiling to floor close-by, legs stretching out to stand on nubs as it watched quietly, ominously.

”get the fuck out of my laboratory!” lulu screamed. her control panel would not suffer the same fate as his sink.

Killian Decker

☉

this was the second time that someone had come over to cause a ruckus in the lab, but it would not go like the first. freedom of consciousness was only granted to guests who could behave themselves. skyler dross was a special case. lulu had no desire to test her luck with an entirely different species.

just as it swung around, she slipped under the arm—reflexes courtesy of THEO BECKETT ’s training, but what came next was something no level of hand-to-hand combat skill could top. killian would likely recognize it a few moments before the darkness took hold. shadows curling towards him from darkening eyes, growing to shroud him in terrifying slumber.

”that’s enough.”

all consciousness would slip away as they briefly entered darkrai’s abysmal dreamscape. then, they’d wake up in a chamber, blasted with chesto berry vapor which would dry the throat and eyes, but rid them of any drowsiness. restraints held them back from beating on the thick glass, through which lulu watched them like an insect in a terrarium.

”you should have left when i told you to.”

Killian Decker

☉

she stared up at him, face void of anything akin to sympathy or compassion. it was steel. focused on progress, and on the safety of her work, much more than the ‘friendship’ they had developed over the past year.

”not until you calm down. this facility contains very important research and equipment. i will not have it destroyed by an extraterrestrial parasite you have yet to learn to control.”

the restraints remained true, and darkrai continued to loom close by, prepared to inflict another slumber if need be.

”i think you are forgetting our motto, decker. all pokemon exist for the glory of team rocket. it is my duty to learn what i can about what it is that now shares your mind and body. i encourage you to try your best to communicate to deoxys that i am not a threat; however, aggression will not be tolerated.”

they could do this the easy way, or the hard way.

”i am asking for cooperation—from both of you.”

Killian Decker

☉

offering trust was difficult for the scientist, who would later attempt to push her own lover over the violent edge and expose himself as an extraterrestrial. better to prod a bit and find out what they were capable of than be a sitting cramorant, waiting for the attack.

perhaps lulu and MATIAS SILPH had more in common than they could have ever guessed. maybe this might even make her a bit of hypocrite for that comment on the HNN article, when she’d expressed a hope that commissioner dahlia goode drowned for a perceived similar strategy.

oh well.

”sticks and stones, killian. stick and stones.”

she sighed, heading over to a coffee maker to start a brew.

”it’s nothing personal. you are the one who told me you accidently ripped your bathroom sink off the wall. to be frank, if you had wanted full autonomy, you should have informed me of that incident prior to coming to my personal laboratory. this is not the sub, and i do not have time to rebuild anything, considering our impending doom.”

she fiddled with a mug before turning back.

”so. two options: consent to studies here, in those restraints, or take a hit of CALM MIND and leave.”

Killian Decker

☉