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Shit.
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Rhys stood outside the building, straightening his tie for the eighteenth time and running through his options in a feat of mental gymnastics that left even him reeling. Somehow he'd gotten the attention of one of the Head Scientists well earlier than he'd expected, and while his initial response was that of quiet deference masking IMMEDIATE ELATION, he had since had time to turn the situation over a few times in his head.
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Never a good time.
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Was this liable to be a method to earn a feather in his cap as he found his footing in Rocket? Likely. Was it a giant step forward to furthering his personal goals and honing his skills as a researcher and trainer? Almost assuredly.
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Then again, it could be that the Head Scientist wanted to put him out of his professional - or literal - misery, and regardless of her motivations, Rhys knew that one wrong step would mean disaster for his future prospects.
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The tie slipped loose again.
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Cursing under his breath, he loosened the knot to lay at the base of his collarbone, growling as he undid the top button of his shirt one-handed. If he was going to his first meeting looking like a lazy college student, he'd at least try to make it seem intentional. At his feet, his Goomy offered a plaintive bloop, eyes sparkling up at him.
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"Thanks, Vaughn," he muttered grudgingly, reaching down to pat the slimy pokémon absently. Reasoning that wearing a hole in the sidewalk wouldn't get him any further through his agonizing, he made his way to the lab with relative calm, hands thrust firmly in his pockets. Reaching the door in question, he knocked twice and, after what he figured was a suitable moment, opened it slowly.
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"Dr. Sato?" he inquired, slipping into the room, Vaughn at his heels. Glancing around, he caught sight of the woman herself at her desk and blanched, quickly recovering into an embarrassed smile and a deferent nod of his head. "Sorry, sorry," he muttered, the door thudding shut behind him.
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They say first impressions are everything. He quietly hoped he'd have the chance for a second.

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Swing and a miss, he reasoned, but he couldn't fault himself for being eager to make a good first impression. He'd chosen this path, after all, and the more he became accustomed to the workings of Rocket, the more certain he was that there was, in fact, no turning back.
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Not that he intended to, either.
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He strode toward the head scientist's desk, an apologetically wry grin flitting across his features, the Goomy sliding forward just behind him and casting an almost comically vacant green-eyed gaze around the enclosure. "Ah, well, congratulations in advance, then?" He gave a little chuckle, waving one hand airily. "Wrong of me to make assumptions, but that just makes your reputation even more impressive, if you don't mind my saying."
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Vaughn, for his part, noted the approach of the Klefki and paused in his own advance, his jellylike antennae waving about to test the intent of the other pokemon. Cocking his head this way and that, he settled on blowing a single iridescent bubble glistening with oilslick colors, offering a bright chirp at Kudzu.
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She's not wrong. Rhys didn't flinch, couldn't flinch at Nomi's seemingly offhanded comment, but it was as bald an accusation as he'd ever been leveled with. It's the safer option.
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Bullshit it was.
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His half-nervous, ice-breakingly lazy smile frosted over in an instant, and he regarded Nomi defiantly. "I am," he allowed, "On both counts. I know how to get where I need to be, and the League and their joke of a system can both stuff it," he bit out.
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Then, as though suddenly recalling to whom he was speaking, the easy, lazy half-grin is back. "If you'll pardon the turn of phrase, ma'am."

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Well. He'd seen this coming, of course, but it was one thing to run over a list of his endeavors in his own head and another entirely to voice it aloud. Granted, he was still finding his feet in this comparatively new environment, but he'd spent the past few years keeping the majority of his work, his thoughts, his blistering frustration close to his chest, concealed by the paper-thin mask of affability that despite its fragility didn't so much as smolder from the inside.
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Vaughn swiveled his antennae toward Rhys, offering an inquisitive coo that startled the man out of his brief reverie. He spared a glance to the Goomy, then cleared his throat. "I don't know if you could call it success, but I'm farther than when I started," he chuckled.
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Smooth, you idiot. Feed her some more empty bullshit and maybe she won't see through it.
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He offered Nomi an apologetic shrug, having at least the grace to look contrite. "I'm not the most prolific collector, but I've been focusing on the interactions between bio-organic substances and pokémon. My Paras gave me the idea, actually - I've had him the longest, and if I'm honest he'll be more mushroom than insect before too much longer."
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He took the opportunity to shoot Vaughn a warm smile, the Goomy bobbing idly at his feet oblivious to Rhys' next tangent. "Could similar effects from the spores take root in other organisms? Vaughn, here, for instance? Humans? Fresh spores don't work, it needs a simpler system to deal with. If the fungus were further along the maturation process, it would be more promising, but I haven't figured out how to successfully perform a transplant without terminating the initial host."
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His attention returns to Nomi, his expression open and eyes bright. "Still, always room to try. It's just difficult keeping specimens handy when I've got a fantastic habit of being interrupted, but I'm sure you get that."

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Rhys allowed himself a smile, this one not even forced. He'd been nervous for this meeting for days, and while he hadn't necessarily expected to be eviscerated - verbally or otherwise - by the woman, he found himself exceptionally gratified that she thought him on the right track with his first inept attempt at...extracurriculars.
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Here she was before him, a Head Scientist, and her own ideas were no less far-fetched than his own. And she'd even been able to test her theories! Perhaps he wasn't quite the impostor he thought himself to be, he mused to himself, as Nomi continued on to talk about her inf-
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Infinity weapons??
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One of Vaughn's antennae brushed against his hand reassuringly, jarring him from his erstwhile reverie, and he blinked, catching himself. Okay, maybe he still had a way to go, at that. Wait, what was that last bit? Back him?!
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"Uh. You would?" Rhys blurted inelegantly. "I mean, you would! I, ah, appreciate the opportunity, of course. The organization has more resources than I could ever dream of, and - well - I feel I could much more quickly and concretely apply my theories."
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What was his actual life right now. In over his head? Probably. Finally taking a first step toward his own goals? Definitely.

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Despite the spike of adrenaline that currently had his spine reminiscent of a live wire, Rhys liked to think that he'd done a fair job of schooling his features into an expression of neutrality. Had he remembered to blink at any point in the past minute while he'd been focused on his own racing thoughts? He did so, just to be sure. Smooth.
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"Ah - yes, of course, I'd be honored," he responded hastily as Nomi rose, stepping back out of her exit path and narrowly missing an embarrassing tumble over Vaughn, who squelched amicably as his trainer drew near. He hadn't seen any of the submarine's interior, hardly, and although he had a death grip on his humility held closely around him like a shield, he couldn't suppress another spark of elation that he'd have his own space to work.
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Her final words caused him to pause only fractionally, the corners of his mouth twitching upward even as he offered a decisive nod to the woman. "Thank you for giving me the chance, ma'am. I won't let you down."
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He wouldn't, of course. He couldn't afford to.

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