The fuckin’ boondocks of Petalburg… but, whatever boss says, he gets. That’s how it goes. He’s come on this specific mission because he was told that the boss wanted to help bring in a rookie.

And fuck oh boy was it a noobie. Kid was seething. Like a poochyena turned into a teenager and got a dose of hormones— dangerous? Maybe, but more annoying than anything.

Thaddeus doesn’t make a comment. Doesn’t bother saying one way or the other what he does or doesn’t think. He is, after all, here to make sure his boss stays safe. If the grunt’s stupid enough to get yacked on the first job then well, that’s on the grunt, y’know?

“All aboard who’s comin’ aboard.”

It’s partially a joke given as Thaddeus climbs up into the driver’s seat, leaning over enough to open the passenger door for the boss from the inside. A failsafe, can only be opened from the inside, for the sake of the boss’ safety— or that’s what the mechanic told him when he tried to get it fixed anyway…

“Better buckle up, boss.”

Martín del Mar

He knows the drill. He’s not really being asked his opinion as much as he’s the upgrade to Mars’ reflection and the silence surrounding them. Well, albeit low hum kinda silence with the engine going and all.

“I mean, so far he seems like a liability with a capital ‘L,’ all that energy.”

While Thaddeus could be a wildcard from time to time, he wouldn’t ever jeopardize his life because of his own inability to control his excitement… except that one time— but it doesn’t count, cause it wasn’t a mission. Just an angry old man who hadn’t wanted his son de-flowered by a grunt… or a man, for that matter.

“But he could surprise us. And if anything, you can use him as a kamikaze.”

A term that he and others used in the more ‘moderate’ circles of rocket. Referring to somebody who was, uh, sacrificial. Like a pawn, but a bit more brutal.

Martín del Mar

Thaddeus can see the look of near disgust on his boss’ face and it’s so priceless that he’s grinning.

How couldn’t he??

Oh and then he’s told they’ll likely have to intervene. Which is rich, because he wasn’t gonna let his boss get into any of it.

“You mean, you’ll let me step in, right?” It’s not a threat or a warning, but more like he’s asking permission to be the one to step back there. But not because he wants to prove himself, even if inevitably and unbeknownst to him that’s what will happen.

“You’re my top priority, y’know. I can’t have you getting injured. I’ll never hear the end of it. From you, or anybody else. Us grunts, we’re disposable. But you bosses; you’ve got the vision the rest of us wish we could. You’ve got the power to see it happen, too, more importantly.”

He’s quiet for a moment as he turns onto the highway.

“Can’t have you injured on my account, mostly.”

Martín del Mar

the amusement coming from mars has thaddeus letting his expression shift. something like a sly smirk, really just a small turning of one side of his mouth. a slight tug, a pull of his own amusement.

if you can’t laugh with others at yourself, then what fun is that?

the screams make the smirk grow into a full blow grin and then thaddeus is laughing, pulling over and putting the rig in park.

”yeah, alright.” he probably shouldn’t have, but he looked to mars and let his smirk linger for a moment before finally showing his canines in a slight grin, the screams still resounding, pounding on the door in a desperate plea to be let out.

”whatever you want.” the direct eye contact and hesitation in breaking that eye contact was show enough that thaddeus clearly liked what he saw. with that message sent, he grabbed the mightyena’s ball on his belt and slid out of the car, whistling so the mightyena was at the ready. that certain pitch, it had the hound growling low as it followed behind, hair raised, ready to scrap.

he went around to the back and fingered through his keys to find the one that would unlock the back.

”how important is the grunt? should i be rushing this?”

Martín del Mar

the moment the doors open and he sees the totodile, thaddeus’ right eyebrow twitches in mild annoyance. he can’t help but give a low growl, something to stop himself from from laughing. he stomps over instead, all big grumpy-grandpa like. pooch follows behind him, pouncing to crunch his teeth into the totodile and show it who’s boss.

but he’s been trained, he knows better, and he’s sure to throw the totodile out of the cargo hold like some kind of chew toy. he then pounces from the hold to the totodile, pinning it down and giving excited barks because the totodile’s eyes are replaced with x’s.

best yet, thaddeus had just grabbed the recruit by the belt and the nape of his neck like a bad pup and lunged him from the cargo bay next to the totodile and his mightyena. as the grunt hits the ground with a yelp, having failed the whole way, thaddeus takes a long drag of his cigarette and hops down.

the cigarette is removed from his lips and flicked to the side, eyes staring down at the new recruit with an annoyed twitch.

”gerald… the fuck man? you literally had one job.”

Martín del Mar

was it him, or was mars kinda hot when he got all professional with no smirks or smiles? damn.

whatever, anyway, the grunt’s scolded and the totodile’s unconscious. thaddeus whistles and the mightyena bounces over to him, up onto the container and sits next to thaddeus for a moment before getting bored and lifting his front paws to rest on thaddeus’ shoulders, watching the spectacle before them.

thaddeus is unbothered. the ‘good work’ has the mightyena’s tail wagging and damn if it likely look like thaddeus is the one with the wagging tail from mars’ angle. he smirks, like that smirk confirms the tail’s metaphorically his.

”yeah, good job, boy.” boy, pooch; the mightyena, who bars and turns in an excited circle as thaddeus stands, hops down, and walks a bit closer to mars. ”can’t wait ‘till you get comfortable enough to tell me ‘good boy’ instead.”

was flirting allowed? maybe not. maybe that’s why he never got hired for more than grunt work… oh well, deed’s done and he’s turning to pull gerlad by the back of the collar back into the back of the truck, tossing the totodile by the tail back into the back as well.

Martín del Mar