Naomi chanced looking away from her supervisor briefly, just to give Jolt a nod of acknowledgment, while Sakaki stared at him for a little longer. So he'd already manifested his abilities, with no apparent difficulty. That was the mark of a highly skilled fighter. Nonetheless...
"Keep it contained," he warned. "You're not in your original body. Without proper practice, there's still a chance of that electricity going haywire, and you'll risk hurting others around you if that happens."
The esper half-heard this, but remained focused on Tanizaki for the most part. She had some things she wanted to address, and there was no time like the present.
"How dare you." Her voice was low, controlled, but there was barely-restrained rage in her eyes. "How dare you blame him for anything, when he's done so much for me. How dare you judge him. How the hell do you expect me to listen to you when you're preaching trust in others and accusing them in the same breath?? If I ever hear you saying anything like that again, I'll be asking for a new supervisor. And I mean it."
Tanizaki stammered something, but Naomi chose that moment to drop him and turn away.
A small nod was the only indication that he'd heard the doctor as Jolt stood there dumbly for a moment, staring at his hands. That was so incredibly stupid of him. He had, as always, acted on impulse, and, as always, that had not been wise.
"Naomi," he approached her carefully, speaking softly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have provoked him. I--" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. This morning had quickly devolved into one big mess.
The look she gave him was still irritated, but six years of fighting for B.A.B.E.L. had given her remarkable control and discipline, and it wasn't Jolt she was furious with. After a long moment of silence, she took a deep breath. Sakaki very discreetly shoving Tanizaki outside helped.
"Maybe you shouldn't have, but he provoked you first. As far as I'm concerned, you aren't the one at fault here."
"Then I shouldn't have risen to the bait." He kept his distance- she was plainly still angry- and plopped down on the edge of the bed. He buried his face in his hands and just sat like that for a very long moment. "This," he said into his palms. "-isn't how I would have liked to start this morning."
"..." To be honest, she'd had better mornings, too, but watching Jolt slump like that made her anger slowly ebb away. It really hadn't been his fault; Tanizaki had some kind of twisted talent to infuriate anyone in his vicinity.
Naomi waited until she'd fully calmed down before she sat beside him, one hand resting lightly on his back. "You've got a whole day to go to make up for it," she reminded him gently. "Try not to let this get to you."
"As sage as ever, Naomi-chan." Sakaki grinned affably, dropping a hand onto Jolt's other shoulder to glimpse his patient's health before he removed it and returned to his desk to type some things in. "You've still got that fever, Jolt, lowered as it is, so the order still stands to take it easy today. There may be some electrical discharge too; you'll want to watch out for that."
Oh, lovely. Not only did he still have a fever, but apparently he might just randomly shock people if he wasn't careful? Briefly, he was tempted to give Tanizaki a nice handshake, but he discarded the thought immediately. He didn't want to see that man again for a very, very long time.
With a sigh he flopped back onto the bed and pulled the covers over his head. "Wake me up when this gets less complicated."
"Oh, lovely," Sakaki said dryly. "He's picked up Kaoru's sulking habits. Naomi-chan--"
She smiled up at him in perfect understanding, looking for all the world as though she hadn't exploded five minutes ago. "I know. I'll stay with him. You've got reports to finish-- and that date with the Little Mice's sister, right?"
"... You're a good kid."
With a few more medical orders given, the doctor went on his way, leaving Naomi with a grumpy Autobot.
Well, she'd dealt with worse. With a little smile, she let her hand hover over the blanket-clad human, then lowered it to trail her fingers along the stomach area. "This is B.A.B.E.L. It only gets more complicated by the day."
What the- that tickled. "Hey!" He squirmed under the covers, attempting to escape from her exploring digits. "That's not exactly reassuring-" A laugh. "And stop that!"
So he reacted to that? That opened up a whole new realm of possibilities, most of which made Naomi display a smile that Jolt was probably better off not seeing. There were more complicated ways to cheer him up, and there were much easier ways. This just so happened to be one of them. "Hm?" She asked innocently, stilling her hand for a moment. "Stop what? This?"
"Naomi!" The squirming increased, he was very steadily getting himself tangled up in the covers, but so did the laughter. For the life in him he couldn't figure out why he was laughing, but it seemed his body just reacted to some things on its own.
"It's easier to 'take it easy' when you're not hiding under the covers-- in other words, when you're in a better mood." She grinned triumphantly, finding her own sense of enjoyment in his laughter. Had she known she could have gotten this much of a response from him, she might have tried this sooner. "And it's hard to be a grouch when you're laughing, isn't it?"
This was supremely unfair- he'd never been ticklish before. At least, not that he knew of, because really, who in their right mind tried to tickle a giant robot?
"You little- wait until I get my hands on you!" It took quite a bit of flailing, but he finally managed to free himself from the covers, only to pounce on the esper with a triumphant smile of his own.
"Wha--!" Not having expected him to retaliate so swiftly, Naomi wasn't prepared to brace herself, and instead fell backwards with a yelp, landing flat on her back-- still, thankfully, on the bed. "Jolt-san!!"
Oh, this was a little awkward. He had been expecting some form of resistance, and now that he suddenly found himself on top of her, he was a little lost.
Naomi was less lost, and more red, but managed to quirk an eyebrow at the one pinning her down. If she was lucky, she could get out of this before he got any mischievous ideas. "You're not planning to sit on me all day, are you?"
"Keep it contained," he warned. "You're not in your original body. Without proper practice, there's still a chance of that electricity going haywire, and you'll risk hurting others around you if that happens."
The esper half-heard this, but remained focused on Tanizaki for the most part. She had some things she wanted to address, and there was no time like the present.
"How dare you." Her voice was low, controlled, but there was barely-restrained rage in her eyes. "How dare you blame him for anything, when he's done so much for me. How dare you judge him. How the hell do you expect me to listen to you when you're preaching trust in others and accusing them in the same breath?? If I ever hear you saying anything like that again, I'll be asking for a new supervisor. And I mean it."
Tanizaki stammered something, but Naomi chose that moment to drop him and turn away.
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"Naomi," he approached her carefully, speaking softly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have provoked him. I--" he trailed off, unsure of what to say. This morning had quickly devolved into one big mess.
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"Maybe you shouldn't have, but he provoked you first. As far as I'm concerned, you aren't the one at fault here."
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Naomi waited until she'd fully calmed down before she sat beside him, one hand resting lightly on his back. "You've got a whole day to go to make up for it," she reminded him gently. "Try not to let this get to you."
"As sage as ever, Naomi-chan." Sakaki grinned affably, dropping a hand onto Jolt's other shoulder to glimpse his patient's health before he removed it and returned to his desk to type some things in. "You've still got that fever, Jolt, lowered as it is, so the order still stands to take it easy today. There may be some electrical discharge too; you'll want to watch out for that."
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With a sigh he flopped back onto the bed and pulled the covers over his head. "Wake me up when this gets less complicated."
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She smiled up at him in perfect understanding, looking for all the world as though she hadn't exploded five minutes ago. "I know. I'll stay with him. You've got reports to finish-- and that date with the Little Mice's sister, right?"
"... You're a good kid."
With a few more medical orders given, the doctor went on his way, leaving Naomi with a grumpy Autobot.
Well, she'd dealt with worse. With a little smile, she let her hand hover over the blanket-clad human, then lowered it to trail her fingers along the stomach area. "This is B.A.B.E.L. It only gets more complicated by the day."
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And now this time she used both hands.
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"This is not 'taking it easy'!"
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"You little- wait until I get my hands on you!" It took quite a bit of flailing, but he finally managed to free himself from the covers, only to pounce on the esper with a triumphant smile of his own.
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For lack of a better plan, he settled for mussing her hair before rolling off of her and back onto the mattress.
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