Field Office 9 - Afternoon - Sunny
Aidan Klein
It felt nice to be a free man.
Of course, he hadn't seriously doubted he would be. His faith in the justice system was nonexistent, but Michelle Kane was in a whole different class than the local schmuck from the DA's office, and the judge at least seemed not to be an idiot, or especially anti-NTR, which was a stroke of luck if ever there'd been one. So the worst was avoided, and for the moment the status quo had been restored. He'd had honest thanks to give to Mel's mom, who'd waved them off with nothing more than a 'if you ever need a lawyer again, you know who to call,' and that had been that.
She'd flown back out yesterday, and today he was headed back to work, black shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows and hair back in its customary spiky nest. No more dressing for court, thank arceus.
He was rather looking forward to relieving Katia of his duties, actually. Pulling open the door, Aidan shifted his sunglasses up to sit on his head, spying Hailey behind the desk and approaching her first. "What's the damage?" he asked.
He'd seen her and a few of the others over the course of the trial, but there hadn't been much time to talk.
She looked a little surprised as her eyes widened. “Oh, Mr. Klein! I mean... Aidan," she stated, nearly standing from her chair. “Uh, oh, damage. Well..." she trailed off, sitting back in her chair before twiddling with her thumbs. “Kasimir was assigned janitorial duties more than twice in the two weeks you've been gone. Mr. Thomasen came down with the stomach flu and returned yesterday, but Ms. Durova put all of those duties onto Kasimir even though we have other people," she began.
“She had Eryk do all of his reports on paper. He had to handwrite almost every single thing," she continued. “She tried to get him to do other things, but Eryk didn't comply. She tried to suspend him without pay, and the same thing with Cyrilla. She terrorized the other grunts, though," she pursed her lips together as she glanced back up at Aidan.
“She almost made poor Luke quit, and he's one of the nicest people I know. And I'm not just saying that because... well," she trailed off and glanced back at her computer.
He expelled a breath. "Somehow I can imagine," he replied, frowning a little. Luke was a nice guy, more sensitive than most, but that wasn't a bad thing at all. Though Katia would no doubt think she'd done a good thing weeding out the weak if he'd quit, Aidan knew better. Luke was one of the best of the lot, precisely because he was so empathetic.
Shaking his head faintly, he rapped his knuckles on the counter. "Well, you can tell him to hold off on the resignation. I'm about to kick her out. We'll see how spectacular it gets before she figures out the more fuss she makes the more people will enjoy it."
“He'll be happy to hear it," she replied, smiling brightly at him. “I'll let him know soon, though. Ms. Durova... confiscated all of the personal phones of the secretaries," she stated, frowning slightly as she reached for what might have been her phone if she had it.
“It's really... really good to have you back," she added.
Aidan sighed, giving her a small smile. "I'll be sure to get those back before she leaves. It's good to be back," he added, inclining his head and making for the stairs.
He expected that Katia would be in his office, so he alighted on the second floor and headed that way, knocking slightly on Nero's closed office door, then Rheinallt's, then Cyrilla's. He poked his head into the last, suspecting they could all hear him anyway.
"Hey I'm about to go upstairs and kick Katia out of my office. You guys wanna come?"
"You could not pay me to stay away from that," Rheinallt said, standing immediately.
“Oh my arceus, Big Bro's back," Cyrilla stated a little too happily as she nearly collided with him. Her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. “I wouldn't dream of missing it," she muttered before she removed herself from him. Nero was the next to walk up, arching a brow at Aidan before nodding his head.
“I think she's become a little too comfortable in your office. There were talks about renovating it and other stuff. I mostly drowned her out after she opened her mouth," Nero stated as he sighed softly.
Aidan had patted Cyrilla's back, but let his hand fall to his side when she pulled away. "Probably for the best," he said to Nero. "She has a real habit of pissing people off when they listen to her." He shook his head. "Heard Rheinallt got stuck with janitorial duty twice."
"Yep. And when she found out Ryk wasn't good at email she made him hand write everything." He made a face like the very idea was anathema. Considering the speed at which Aidan has seen him type, it probably was. Slow and extremely inefficient. He'd actually never seen Rheinallt's handwriting, come to think of it. Techie types usually had terrible penmanship, in Aidan's limited experience, so perhaps that was a good thing.
"Yeah, well. You can all get yours back. Let's go." Tilting his head towards the door, Aidan climbed to the next floor and marched towards his office. He made it look casual, of course, really nothing more than his usual ambling stroll, but his way of announcing his presence was a little more... pointed.
"Something wrong with the décor?" he asked, surveying his office as if for the first time. "I heard you were thinking of changing it, but of course you wouldn't do that unless something was really off, right? Since it's not yours?"
Katia's head snapped in his direction, her eyes slightly narrowed as she seemed to regard him. “It is off," she stated, folding her hands on top of the desk. “It's unfitting for a member of your rank, especially one so highly regarded," she stated, causing Nero to roll his eyes slightly. “Since you've been gone for the last two weeks, efficency has gone up almost ten percent under my guidance," she continued, giving Aidan a flat look.
“Bullshit,"
“Bullshit," Cyrilla muttered beneath her breath almost at the same time Nero said it out loud so Katia could hear him.
“Watch yourself, Nero. I'm still in charge for the remainder of the day," she retorted as a subtle smirk appeared on Nero's face.
"Actually, you're not." Aidan reached for his smartphone, pulling up the email Gregorovich had sent him at his own request. "You were copied on this, right?" It likely would have only just arrived in her inbox, but he flipped the phone to show her the screen anyway—direct orders from the boss for him to resume command of the Cinnabar Field Office.
"As of five minutes ago, this is my office. If you're not ready to leave, though, I hear Thomasen's out with the flu. We could always use the extra hands, as I'm sure you noticed."
There was a snort behind him that sounded like Rheinallt.
Her eyes narrowed in Aidan's direction, almost as if she were glaring at him. “Should have had him fired years ago," she stated before straightening out her posture in the chair. “And I will not be helping out in that capacity." She sounded almost adamant about it.
“Kas did it, why can't you? We're currently the same rank with the exception of Aidan," Nero stated, arching a brow at her. “If it wasn't beneath him to take over for Mr. Thomasen, it shouldn't be beneath you." There was almost something smug in the way he smirked a bit.
“Go to hell, Nero," Katia retorted. “You and I are not the same," she continued, standing up from the chair and making her way to stand in front of the desk. Nero shrugged his shoulders, though.
“Didn't know you were demoted, Katia. I mean, that's what you're implying, isn't it?" Cyrilla stated as Katia shot her a glare.
“You stay out of this Niav."
"Klein," Aidan corrected flatly, allowing the faintest bit of his irritation to show through. He wasn't actually pissed off—not by anything except the fact that Katia would not acknowledge a legal name change that came with a legal adoption and made Cyrilla his sister—more his relative than Katia's now.
"You're of course not obligated to stay, but we don't fire people for getting sick here, either, so I'm going to have to decline that suggestion. If you're not ready to leave yet or need to get paperwork in order, there's an empty desk on the first floor you're welcome to use." It was in the cubicle pool with the grunts, but as there was no empty office proper, it was quite literally all there was by options if she wished to linger.
He was grateful for the fact, because he knew it meant she wouldn't.
"Thanks for watching things while I was gone." He was a professional, after all, and had slightly more need to maintain a functional working relationship with Katia than the others did. Plus there was something especially satisfying about doing this with irreproachable courtesy.
She gave an unceremonious huff before shaking her head. “Whatever," she replied, making her way back to the desk and grabbing a few things. “Have your office back; things will just fall apart once I'm gone," she stated before pushing past Nero. He merely stood his ground as he watched her leave before turning his attention back towards Aidan.
“It is good to have you back," he stated shifting a little awkwardly in his spot. Cyrilla merely chuckled before lightly patting his shoulder.
“It's alright to say you missed Aidan, Ryk. We all missed Big Bro," she stated before once again hugging Aidan. “Just please, please, please don't ever let her be in charge again. I don't think we could take any more of her," she continued, almost pleading with her eyes. Nero huffed slightly but nodded his head.
“Half of the grunts wanted to quit because of her. Unfortunately this is an only viable source of income for them," Nero stated.
Aidan shook his head. "It's not like I wanted to be on trial, you know," he pointed out, snorting softly at what he supposed must be an attempt at pleading eyes but returning the hug.
"I'm not too proud to admit I missed you," Rheinallt said, swooping in for a hug once Cyrilla was done. This one was of a distinctly more exaggerated variety, thumps to the back and all, but Aidan weathered it with little more than a sigh.
"Yeah, well... glad to be back."
Of course, he hadn't seriously doubted he would be. His faith in the justice system was nonexistent, but Michelle Kane was in a whole different class than the local schmuck from the DA's office, and the judge at least seemed not to be an idiot, or especially anti-NTR, which was a stroke of luck if ever there'd been one. So the worst was avoided, and for the moment the status quo had been restored. He'd had honest thanks to give to Mel's mom, who'd waved them off with nothing more than a 'if you ever need a lawyer again, you know who to call,' and that had been that.
She'd flown back out yesterday, and today he was headed back to work, black shirtsleeves rolled to his elbows and hair back in its customary spiky nest. No more dressing for court, thank arceus.
He was rather looking forward to relieving Katia of his duties, actually. Pulling open the door, Aidan shifted his sunglasses up to sit on his head, spying Hailey behind the desk and approaching her first. "What's the damage?" he asked.
He'd seen her and a few of the others over the course of the trial, but there hadn't been much time to talk.
She looked a little surprised as her eyes widened. “Oh, Mr. Klein! I mean... Aidan," she stated, nearly standing from her chair. “Uh, oh, damage. Well..." she trailed off, sitting back in her chair before twiddling with her thumbs. “Kasimir was assigned janitorial duties more than twice in the two weeks you've been gone. Mr. Thomasen came down with the stomach flu and returned yesterday, but Ms. Durova put all of those duties onto Kasimir even though we have other people," she began.
“She had Eryk do all of his reports on paper. He had to handwrite almost every single thing," she continued. “She tried to get him to do other things, but Eryk didn't comply. She tried to suspend him without pay, and the same thing with Cyrilla. She terrorized the other grunts, though," she pursed her lips together as she glanced back up at Aidan.
“She almost made poor Luke quit, and he's one of the nicest people I know. And I'm not just saying that because... well," she trailed off and glanced back at her computer.
He expelled a breath. "Somehow I can imagine," he replied, frowning a little. Luke was a nice guy, more sensitive than most, but that wasn't a bad thing at all. Though Katia would no doubt think she'd done a good thing weeding out the weak if he'd quit, Aidan knew better. Luke was one of the best of the lot, precisely because he was so empathetic.
Shaking his head faintly, he rapped his knuckles on the counter. "Well, you can tell him to hold off on the resignation. I'm about to kick her out. We'll see how spectacular it gets before she figures out the more fuss she makes the more people will enjoy it."
“He'll be happy to hear it," she replied, smiling brightly at him. “I'll let him know soon, though. Ms. Durova... confiscated all of the personal phones of the secretaries," she stated, frowning slightly as she reached for what might have been her phone if she had it.
“It's really... really good to have you back," she added.
Aidan sighed, giving her a small smile. "I'll be sure to get those back before she leaves. It's good to be back," he added, inclining his head and making for the stairs.
He expected that Katia would be in his office, so he alighted on the second floor and headed that way, knocking slightly on Nero's closed office door, then Rheinallt's, then Cyrilla's. He poked his head into the last, suspecting they could all hear him anyway.
"Hey I'm about to go upstairs and kick Katia out of my office. You guys wanna come?"
"You could not pay me to stay away from that," Rheinallt said, standing immediately.
“Oh my arceus, Big Bro's back," Cyrilla stated a little too happily as she nearly collided with him. Her arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. “I wouldn't dream of missing it," she muttered before she removed herself from him. Nero was the next to walk up, arching a brow at Aidan before nodding his head.
“I think she's become a little too comfortable in your office. There were talks about renovating it and other stuff. I mostly drowned her out after she opened her mouth," Nero stated as he sighed softly.
Aidan had patted Cyrilla's back, but let his hand fall to his side when she pulled away. "Probably for the best," he said to Nero. "She has a real habit of pissing people off when they listen to her." He shook his head. "Heard Rheinallt got stuck with janitorial duty twice."
"Yep. And when she found out Ryk wasn't good at email she made him hand write everything." He made a face like the very idea was anathema. Considering the speed at which Aidan has seen him type, it probably was. Slow and extremely inefficient. He'd actually never seen Rheinallt's handwriting, come to think of it. Techie types usually had terrible penmanship, in Aidan's limited experience, so perhaps that was a good thing.
"Yeah, well. You can all get yours back. Let's go." Tilting his head towards the door, Aidan climbed to the next floor and marched towards his office. He made it look casual, of course, really nothing more than his usual ambling stroll, but his way of announcing his presence was a little more... pointed.
"Something wrong with the décor?" he asked, surveying his office as if for the first time. "I heard you were thinking of changing it, but of course you wouldn't do that unless something was really off, right? Since it's not yours?"
Katia's head snapped in his direction, her eyes slightly narrowed as she seemed to regard him. “It is off," she stated, folding her hands on top of the desk. “It's unfitting for a member of your rank, especially one so highly regarded," she stated, causing Nero to roll his eyes slightly. “Since you've been gone for the last two weeks, efficency has gone up almost ten percent under my guidance," she continued, giving Aidan a flat look.
“Bullshit,"
“Bullshit," Cyrilla muttered beneath her breath almost at the same time Nero said it out loud so Katia could hear him.
“Watch yourself, Nero. I'm still in charge for the remainder of the day," she retorted as a subtle smirk appeared on Nero's face.
"Actually, you're not." Aidan reached for his smartphone, pulling up the email Gregorovich had sent him at his own request. "You were copied on this, right?" It likely would have only just arrived in her inbox, but he flipped the phone to show her the screen anyway—direct orders from the boss for him to resume command of the Cinnabar Field Office.
"As of five minutes ago, this is my office. If you're not ready to leave, though, I hear Thomasen's out with the flu. We could always use the extra hands, as I'm sure you noticed."
There was a snort behind him that sounded like Rheinallt.
Her eyes narrowed in Aidan's direction, almost as if she were glaring at him. “Should have had him fired years ago," she stated before straightening out her posture in the chair. “And I will not be helping out in that capacity." She sounded almost adamant about it.
“Kas did it, why can't you? We're currently the same rank with the exception of Aidan," Nero stated, arching a brow at her. “If it wasn't beneath him to take over for Mr. Thomasen, it shouldn't be beneath you." There was almost something smug in the way he smirked a bit.
“Go to hell, Nero," Katia retorted. “You and I are not the same," she continued, standing up from the chair and making her way to stand in front of the desk. Nero shrugged his shoulders, though.
“Didn't know you were demoted, Katia. I mean, that's what you're implying, isn't it?" Cyrilla stated as Katia shot her a glare.
“You stay out of this Niav."
"Klein," Aidan corrected flatly, allowing the faintest bit of his irritation to show through. He wasn't actually pissed off—not by anything except the fact that Katia would not acknowledge a legal name change that came with a legal adoption and made Cyrilla his sister—more his relative than Katia's now.
"You're of course not obligated to stay, but we don't fire people for getting sick here, either, so I'm going to have to decline that suggestion. If you're not ready to leave yet or need to get paperwork in order, there's an empty desk on the first floor you're welcome to use." It was in the cubicle pool with the grunts, but as there was no empty office proper, it was quite literally all there was by options if she wished to linger.
He was grateful for the fact, because he knew it meant she wouldn't.
"Thanks for watching things while I was gone." He was a professional, after all, and had slightly more need to maintain a functional working relationship with Katia than the others did. Plus there was something especially satisfying about doing this with irreproachable courtesy.
She gave an unceremonious huff before shaking her head. “Whatever," she replied, making her way back to the desk and grabbing a few things. “Have your office back; things will just fall apart once I'm gone," she stated before pushing past Nero. He merely stood his ground as he watched her leave before turning his attention back towards Aidan.
“It is good to have you back," he stated shifting a little awkwardly in his spot. Cyrilla merely chuckled before lightly patting his shoulder.
“It's alright to say you missed Aidan, Ryk. We all missed Big Bro," she stated before once again hugging Aidan. “Just please, please, please don't ever let her be in charge again. I don't think we could take any more of her," she continued, almost pleading with her eyes. Nero huffed slightly but nodded his head.
“Half of the grunts wanted to quit because of her. Unfortunately this is an only viable source of income for them," Nero stated.
Aidan shook his head. "It's not like I wanted to be on trial, you know," he pointed out, snorting softly at what he supposed must be an attempt at pleading eyes but returning the hug.
"I'm not too proud to admit I missed you," Rheinallt said, swooping in for a hug once Cyrilla was done. This one was of a distinctly more exaggerated variety, thumps to the back and all, but Aidan weathered it with little more than a sigh.
"Yeah, well... glad to be back."