"...Ah."[break][break]

Elisabeth blinked slowly, finding herself more befuddled than anticipated by this casual request.[break][break]

Her reputation in Rocket ever since ascending to Wo-chien's Avatar had been, for lack of a better word, undesirable. Most Grunts and even those whose rank mirrored her own went out of their way to avoid her. The other two underbosses were no exception.[break][break]

Did this woman truly not recognize her, then? The idea was bizarrely refreshing.[break][break]

"I haven't used one in a few months," she confided, recalling her time examining the crystablooms under its lens, "but I believe I recall how, certainly."[break][break]

Was she nervous doing this? For some reason, she was. Proving her competency in a laboratory was a peculiar point of pride for her, nursing a secret insecurity that her lack of formal education had left her a failure in some way.[break][break]

"What sort of specimen are you examining?" she asked, the curiosity in her voice genuine.

[attr="class","ooc"] Neffatari Nzingha

[attr="class","pkmn"]

She'd always thrived in anonymity; it was one of the things she mourned most about her infamy. That made this little conversation a rare respite among the drudgery of her Rocket duties.[break][break]

"It was fascinating, actually," Elisabeth agreed, warming to this impromptu encounter in spite of herself. "We discovered the flowers were a source of infinity energy -- leading to the first Sygna Suit prototype."[break][break]

Others had assisted in that endeavor, of course, but she took quiet pride in being one of them. In another universe, such pursuits would have been her life's work.[break][break]

Unfortunately she found herself more often than not the specimen under examination, rather than the scientist conducting research. Naomi Sato had collected her own blood not so long ago, examining the twin strains of infinity energy coursing through her bloodstream.[break][break]

Which made Neffatari Nzingha's answer both startling and unsurprising.[break][break]

"Avatar blood? Is there a specific hypothesis you're testing?" Elisabeth asked, readying the microscope for use. It was strange how quickly it came back to her, the muscle memory filling in the blanks of her knowledge with ease. "If you don't mind my asking."

[attr="class","ooc"] Neffatari Nzingha

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"A virus, hm?" She hummed a bit, letting this thought settle. "I'd be curious to see the results of that study, myself. Especially if you ever find yourself able to extract the bone marrow."[break][break]

On the one hand, she couldn't fathom such a scenario being true for her; on the other hand, her own Avatarships seemed distinctly different than Zev Harcourt's.[break][break]

Elisabeth possessed sway over her environment, while Necrozma's abilities had altered Zev himself in a fundamental way.[break][break]

For all that Neffatari Nzingha had implied her abilities with the microscope to be rusty, the scientist took to it with ease, adjusting her sample with the exacting precision of any tenured Head Scientist.[break][break]

"Crystablooms, yes," she continued, pleased at how natural conversing about things like this was proving to be. "Though I want to revisit them, in truth, given the poisonous variant that has appeared within the region."[break][break]

It was a specimen dearly won after an unexpected altercation with Andrea Vaneau.[break][break]

"I am curious if the infinity energy in them has been corrupted in some way."

[attr="class","ooc"] Neffatari Nzingha

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Laughter, surprised and sudden, spilled out of her at the matter-of-fact admission of failing botany. "I would have loved to study it deeper in a collegiate setting," she confided, "but I've had great opportunity elsewhere. Rocket can be giving, at least in that sense."[break][break]

A rare compliment for the organization that had lost her trust the day it forced her to enable a meteoric apocalypse. Even so, the compliment was a sincere one.[break][break]

Elisabeth's Kalosian accent would surely fumble and butcher the other woman's Alolan name, she knew. So when she was offered a nickname, she gladly took it, nodding as she said, "A pleasure to meet you, Nenet." For a rare, shining moment in Elisabeth's life, she meant the sentiment. "I'm..."[break][break]

Underboss Fiorelli would be the correct answer. Part of her wanted to hold off on saying it just yet, though.[break][break]

It was a silly, girlish instinct, but it happened so suddenly and reflexively, her name came out before she could reason through it: "Elisa." She tilted her head, eager to turn the conversation away from herself. "May I ask what you'd use radiometry for in particular? I'm less versed in that field."[break][break]

A nagging sense that she already knew the name 'Nenet' hit her with peculiar deja vu -- that it had been echoed by someone else at some unknown point -- before she began to piece things together.

Nenet's study of Zev Harcourt's DNA. The deal Elisabeth had struck with Beast Harcourt.[break][break]

...Well. This might go easier than anticipated.

[attr="class","ooc"] Neffatari Nzingha

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"Coffee?" A slight flush stole across her features at this unexpected invitation, taken aback by how nonchalantly it had been given. "I, ah, tend to prefer tea." The honesty escaped her before she could assess if it was wise, and swiftly she remedied it by saying decisively: "But coffee sounds most enjoyable. Yes."[break][break]

Wasn't this beneficial to her agreement with Zev Harcourt, as well? Yes. Yes, of course. It was all around the wise thing to do, to build social bonds with this woman. It had nothing to do with the comfort of feeling 'ordinary,' after a lifetime that felt determined to unwillingly force her -- kicking and screaming -- into the spotlight.[break][break]

She spared another glance at the specimen she'd stored away, ensuring she had left no thread unfinished, before she turned back to the other woman.[break][break]

"...Unless you have a more useful way to spend your time, of course. Sadly I can be no help to you regarding the other machine."[break][break]

Strangely she could already sense herself bracing for the sting of rejection, like a Toxipex retreating into itself.

[attr="class","ooc"] Neffatari Nzingha

[attr="class","pkmn"]

She rarely found herself in the breakroom. There were good reasons for this, such as it was the preferred area for lower-ranked Rockets to gather, gossip, and relax after work. Her presence silenced all of that, and usually resulted in them scuttling out of the room like Scolipedes.[break][break]

Joining Neffatari Nzingha for tea and coffee, then, was an anomaly in her routine. One she pretended to adjust to easily enough, seating herself across from her with a stiff posture that she attempted to mask with a pleasant expression.[break][break]

"You clearly know your way around lab equipment," she commented, leaning forward with a teasing smile of her own. "I imagine coffee machines and brewing tea give you no trouble at all."[break][break]

She'd selected an earl grey tea -- Galarian, she noted, and potentially left over from Remiel Calcifet's reign as the last Admin Fox -- though she pretended that thought didn't enter her head.[break][break]

Cream and sugar both found their way into her cup.[break][break]

"What is a woman like you looking to gain from Rocket, may I ask? Specific research, I take it?"

[attr="class","ooc"] Neffatari Nzingha

[attr="class","pkmn"]