[attr="class","izrigidw"]

Izzy wasn't sure if he'd grinned - wildly, fully grinned - since he was a very young child, entertained by simple things like colours and lights. He'd learned to shut away that excitement at a very early age to avoid disappointment, and it was a bad habit that had persisted so hard into adulthood that it seeped into his blood. With someone like Luka, though, to whom a smile looked so natural on, Izzy subconsciously wished he'd had more practice with it himself.[break][break]

He works under the watchful gaze of her Anise, following her as dutifully as he'd follow any admin or underboss. She drives him just about as hard as one, after all - it'd almost be cute if she wasn't taking it so seriously.[break][break]

Luka naming her pokémon after sweets was perhaps the least surprising thing in the universe, but it certainly was very adorable.[break]
"That's cute" He says - plenty of people's naming schemes for their pokémon stemmed from being a child, like naming stuffed animals. Cutesy names had never bothered him much - Bunny, Fluffy, Rose, Daisy, Cuddles. As he plants another seed and diligently buries it, he looks up to look at Luka for a moment.[break][break]

"Me? Ah--" It makes him think back to first receiving Myszko, the little terror that he'd never admit he loves dearly. "So... yeah, uh, I do. My family speak a specific little dialect at home so... I learnt that before I learnt speaking like everyone else does, and named all my pokémon in that. So it's kind of..." He thinks for a moment. "...personal, I guess. My Salandit's name means little mouse. Because he's always, uh, chewing on stuff."[break][break]

"A lot of them are named after herbs and spices and stuff, though. I always loved all the spices you could see in shops, and we had pretty simple meals, so, I guess..." He pauses and looks back down at the soil - doesn't want to bother Luka with rambling about his life.[break][break]

"...You do a lot of gardening, then? Since you've got all the tools n'stuff"

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

Was Izzy more confident in just the short time he'd known Barnaby? If you'd asked him, he'd probably think a resounding no, but perhaps it was more to do with how he felt around Bee himself. He'd only met with him properly twice, once at the old house and once now here, and seen him in the distance at Rocket functions... but he did feel a little more comfortable with him, in general, then he had. Maybe it was to do with Barnaby's demeanour - flirty and confident though it was, it was also relaxing; as though Izzy didn't have to pretend to be someone he wasn't.[break][break]

"Hopefully not ghosts again, huh?"[break][break]

Czerwony, despite being much larger than the little Eevee, allowed Pepin to lead. It was refreshing for Izzy to own a fire type that didn't have brain worms and wasn't constantly causing trouble, but the cat kept up calmly as Izzy followed along, and then, in tow, Barnaby.[break][break]

"Don't say it like that" He half-grumbles, but there's a slight smile-tone in the way he says it. He's never been flirted with much as far as he remembers, but there's silliness in the way Barnaby ooooh~s at him, and it's almost like sharing a joke with a friend.[break][break]

They turn a corner again into a side-room, seemingly used to store things that didn't have a place anywhere else. Boxes full of tat and shelves housing broken pokéballs that someone probably kept around with the intent to fix but never did.[break][break]

Splayed across the floor was a crunched-up display of various baubles, decorations and sprigs of plastic tree. Izzy frowns as the two pokémon head in to sniff about.[break][break]

"The hell happened here? This shit looks like it's been chewed to bits"

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

Izzy had enough troubles dealing with physical contact and hot guys as it was, but if he knew that Barnaby was doing all of this on purpose? Dead. On the floor. Deceased. His poor, sweet, secretly romantic and also virgin-since-teenagerhood heart can't handle it all. So many hormones, so many emotions.[break][break]

"Right, yeah, um--" He clears his throat and thinks to himself just how great it would be to be snatched up by whatever wild pokémon haunted the sub's halls, and maybe to get violently bitten apart and not have to think about Barnaby Finch any longer.[break][break]

Nothing jumped out at them just yet, though, and his partner for the day has his own idea. He releases one of his pokémon: a tiny - very tiny - Eevee, festively decorated with a jingling collar. Izzy takes inspiration and begins to grab one of his own pokéballs, but after the drama that Myszko caused the last time he'd been with Bee, he didn't want to embarrass himself further, and instead goes for a different ball than his usual Salandit.[break][break]

As the darling little Pepin disappears around a corner, following it's nose (wherever it goes), Izzy lets out his Torracat to assist.[break][break]

"Czer, follow that Eevee. Don't let it get jumped on, yeah?" The thing was so small, after all, if it happened to come across whatever chompy beast had chewed on the decorations, it might not stand a chance on it's own.[break][break]

He almost stops for a moment to after you to Barnaby, but shakes it out of his head. This was his mission, after all, Izzy couldn't go all blushy and submissive anytime someone offered to help him out. Not on the submarine, at least, where anyone could see! Instead, he balls his fists a little and steps forward to follow the Eevee first.[break][break]

"Keep up" He says, simply, before disappearing around a corner.

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

"Ha." Said as dry as sand. "Don't worry, I have a dickhead Salandit at home who burns holes in all my shit. I'm used to a little fireproofing and self care by now" The closest thing to joking Izzy felt comfortable with at the moment, but it was something, at the very least. Not to mention, it was fucking true. Myszko had only recently fire-fanged a smoking hole through a pair of his comfiest socks.[break][break]

He's glad that they move away a little, ever being the grump his is, but of course this only leads to more conversation. Izzy matches their gaze for a moment as they speak, forever surprised by just how easily and brightly some people could smile, as though they'd been doing it all their lives.[break][break]

"Yeah, no shit, it's a fuckin' ice cave. Nice to meetcha too."[break][break]

He begins to head into the cave proper with the Houndour and his mission partner at his side.[break][break]

"You got any helpful skills for caving? I'm a mechanic, so, this is a little out of my area of expertise"

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

Interrupted by a waddling, jolly Delibird that hands them both a gift - was Izzy the only one who wasn't like, insanely festive, or something?[break][break]

"Perfect for the job..." He grumbles to himself as he shoves the Delibird's gift in his backpack and frowns up at the stranger. He wanted him to... go with him to the winter fair? And... enjoy the day? Izzy squints just a little.[break][break]

"...That's it? What, just... go around and look at stuff with you?" Admittedly it didn't sound... completely awful. Izzy was intending to hang around the festival at some point anyway, and maybe being there with someone else wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Potentially embarrassing if they needed to buy food or trinkets, though, since Izzy wasn't exactly well off enough to be throwing money at cutesy little stalls or overpriced mulled wine. "Alright. Sure, we can... do that. No funny business or anything though, yeah?"[break][break]

The stranger introduces himself as Romeo, a name that nearly makes Izzy roll his eyes when paired with just how jolly and social this guy was. Of course he was called something like Romeo.[break][break]

"Not Mister anything, just Izzy, thanks"[break][break]

He hesitates but gives in to shaking Romeo's hand, perhaps worn down by the pure barrage of positive waves being launched at him by the taller man. He was only worn down so far, though, and the suggestion of matching cat ears nearly sent Izzy running for the hills. "Erm- no, no, I'm good. Not my kinda thing"[break][break]

Izzy shifts his weight a little awkwardly from one foot to the other - a little like a kid waiting for his parent to take him by the hand and lead the way. He wasn't exactly sure what kinda things people did together at festivals like this.[break][break]

"...So, uh... whattaya wanna... do first?"

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

"Fucking hell..."[break][break]

The guy was crazy.[break][break]

Izzy understood ruthlessness as much as anyone, even though he'd never been all that good at it. Fucking people up and being violent was something he could shut his mind off for, but it would eat away at him afterwards. Wolfgang on the other hand... well, he lived up to his namesake, that was for certain.[break][break]

The last rabbits left in the warren rushed out to escape the Typhlosion's smokescreen, running straight into Wira's constricting tentacles. Before long, every single Bunnelby was secured.[break][break]

"Guess that takes care of those bastards, huh?"[break][break]

He goes to catch up with his Inkay and turns to Wolfgang.[break][break]

"What do you wanna do with 'em?"

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

"Jessie. Right. I'm Izzy" Just a quick, polite nod at that - Izzy wasn't exactly one to be all smiley and shake hands when introducing himself to other people.[break][break]

At her suggestions, he took the time to look around as she had just a few seconds earlier at the walls of the sub. It creaked and moaned like some old beast, but it pretty much always did that, so nothing seemed super weird just yet.[break][break]

"I do a little bit of mechanics stuff, so I guess if it's that I might be able to sort it out..."[break][break]

After glancing around in a full circle he draws his gaze back to the pink-haired Jessie, and realised she was, uh... adorably wiggling her fingers at him. "Well... I mean... it might actually be ghosts, to be fair. There was a bunch of 'em moved into an old house outside Slateport recently, too..."[break][break]

Depends on the noises they hear as they explore, he supposed. Maybe it would be something nice after all this worry - a gentle dinging of a lost Chimecho, or something.

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

Taking a glance at his mission partner for the day, Izzy can't help but feel underdressed. Atlas was wearing a full suit jacket and coat, while Izzy had dressed in a hoodie, sweats and a coat. Shoal Cave got chilly at the best of times what with all the cold little Spheals rolling about in there, he wasn't taking chances![break][break]

He meets the grin with his usual resting bitch face, and shrugs.[break][break]

"Yeah, sure, s'long as she doesn't burn a hole in my sweatpants"[break][break]

The mission was just go find something cool - not a lot to go on. As much as Izzy hated some of the nastier jobs he had to take up in Rocket, the boring ones like this were exactly that... mind-numbingly boring.[break][break]

"Eh- I'm Izzy, by the way" Might as well introduce themselves, right?

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

The submarine was a tight squeeze at the best of times, even considering Izzy's below average height, so for there to be space to house the both of them involved a little... manoeuvring. Izzy tried to pre-emptively wriggle out of the way, but with the lack of space and the fact that Barnaby wasn't the kind of person who had to process and internally have a panic attack before interacting with people, he was already reaching for the string of lights and Izzy was still very much there and in the way.[break][break]

It happened so fast that suddenly Barnaby's warm body was cosied up behind him, any closer and Izzy would have felt his stomach against his back. It sent a shock through his mind like coursing electricity, and brought back that embarrassingly familiar bright red to his cheeks.[break][break]

Breathe, Izzy, he's just a guy. He's just doing what you told him to do.[break][break]

"All done"[break][break]

Izzy felt his breath hitch in his throat for a moment, and nearly covered his mouth to prevent it. Everything like this - the hot breath on his ear, the presence of a larger, stronger body behind his - it all felt so distracting, so unneeded... and terribly dirty, on top of all that. It caused his mind to wander far beyond what he wanted it to at all, let alone with a fellow Rocket.[break][break]

It wasn't that Izzy didn't want to do the things he spent long, lonely nights thinking of. Sometimes it was all he could think about - he was still a young man, after all - but he'd never had a chance to even attempt anything like that. Back in Unova, life was hard and busy and he kept himself distracted by stealing and starting fights, those kinds of things never lead to relationships; kissing, or anything else. He'd never even held someone's hand beyond his parents as a young child, and even that was short-lived.[break][break]

"Y-yes, yep, all... done" He steps away quickly, not giving himself the chance to dwell on thoughts and subconscious wishes, all-but snatches the lights Barnaby delicately pulled down into his own hands and turns away again to take a look at them. Looking for bite marks, claw marks, perhaps? Anything that would give a clue, and anything that would focus his mind away from... wandering.[break][break]

As Barnaby speaks again, a part of Izzy wants to tell him to stop talking and go away forever - it's childish, but it would certainly solve his current problems. Sadly, the taller man is making a valid point, as Izzy's eyes find their way to the crumb trail too, beside a clod of half-chewed tinsel and the shattered remnants of what was once a candy cane-striped bauble.[break][break]

"Ah. Yeah... guess we are." He looks up at Barnaby, then back on the trail. "...I'll go. Ahead, I mean. You can come too. If you want. Not that you... have to. Ugh--" He hurried off before he made even more of a fool of himself.

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

"Not usually, yeah..."[break][break]

Izzy had also noted the influx of different people lurking around the area on their Unown hunts, but took little notice of the event aside from it's interruption of his usual quiet place. He told himself he preferred the silence, liked life better when nobody else was around to make things more complicated than they already were.[break][break]

But why, then, was he drawn to start a conversation when he'd seen Mars? Why did he join Victor Wexler at the campsite that night, why did he almost force a smile at BARNABY FINCH when they'd finished that mission together at the old house? Despite how he wanted to come across, Izzy ached for connection.[break][break]

His eyes are drawn to the Starmie as they blink to one another, a beautiful Morse code of crystal colouring that just the two of them could appreciate in it's full glory. Pokémon searched for one another, too.[break][break]

"Do you usually hangout at graveyards?"[break][break]

It seemed so judgy, despite not coming with that kind of tone. Perhaps it was Izzy's own anxiety working against him, but it nonetheless made him feel watched in a way he didn't feel comfortable with. He tugged awkwardly at the sleeve of his sweater - grey and dull, nothing special. He wasn't the type of guy to invest in garish Christmas sweaters, after all.[break][break]

In his moment to think, he notices a shy red eye peeking from what he assumed was a nearby tree - a Trevenant, so it seemed. He releases Myszko from his ball, nods in it's direction for the little lizard to go make friends.[break][break]

"...I don't... make a habit of it. I mean- not graveyards on purpose. Like..." He clears his throat. "I like it here, if that's what you're asking. Feels... calm. So I like that kinda thing"

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

To call Izzy a holiday person would be untrue, but it wasn't really his own fault. He'd always had hesitant interest in holiday celebrations. His family had been poor, sure, so there'd never been any extravagant gifts around Christmas, no decent costumes for Halloween. But he'd always seen other kids dress up and decorate and be festive, and a part of him had envied them. That same part of him was the one that had smiled when he'd first noticed the sub decorations.[break][break]

The sub itself was a source of stress more than anything else to Izzy: a reminder of things he'd done and would continue to do, and those stains were hard to scrub off even when he wasn't in the belly of the beast itself. With the presence of underbosses, beasts and Martín del Mar lurking around every corner, the sub never felt like a place that would be nice to live in.[break][break]

He reaches up for a moment on tippy-toes to try and pull at a string of lights, but he's just a little too short to reach, which causes a gentle pinkness to stretch across his cheeks - so embarrassing.[break][break]

The voice that reaches out causes him to redden further before he even recognises it, internally dying at the fact that someone had seen him struggling to reach something. He turns and does, indeed, recognise the fellow wandering towards him with that bright-as-stars smile.[break][break]

"Bee..."[break][break]

He almost smiles back, as if it's a conscious effort not to. He follows the taller man's gaze to the strewn-about decorations, and then lets his own trail back to the lights he couldn't reach.[break][break]

"Mmhm. Very funny - wasn't me, obviously. Hey, can you, uh... pull those lights down?"[break][break]

It was embarrassing to have to ask, for sure, but the fact that Izzy had worked with Barnaby before calmed his stresses just a little bit.[break][break]

[attr="class","izrigidw"]

The fact that someone had decorated the sub whatsoever was almost hilarious in and of itself. You'd have thought a literal mafia wouldn't care about holiday spirit, but evidently someone cared enough to put up tinsel and lights, even a tree in the foyer topped with a sweet little Eiscue figure. Someone else evidently didn't care enough to remove it, so things had been just slightly festive for a while. In all honesty... it was pretty nice.[break][break]

Until, very suddenly, half of the decorations disappeared. They looked as though they'd been torn down pretty roughly, from Izzy's point of view, at least. He'd been pushed onto the case with someone else who'd be joining him shortly, if they even bothered to turn up. He wouldn't have blamed them, after all - who wanted to take the job of finding some dork who hates Christmas and telling them to probably not be a dick about it?[break][break]

Izzy runs his hand across a string of red tinsel that had been on the floor when he turned up. If someone wanted to pull all the decor down, why leave so much of it behind?