Britney sighed. She never liked jokes very much, especially ones about mortally wounding people. Although currently her mind had already thought of that, and a few more embarrassing solutions. She stood there attempting to ignore her partner once again.

As if she didn't draw attention already by being the only red-head in the group, now she had Silas for a partner. As he continued to move a bit more her nose started itching. she sneezed her hands flying to cover her nose and mouth with the small sounding sneeze again. She wondered what could be making her sneeze so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica nodded. She knew exactly how people in her position acted. Except that Agent Gilder seemed a little more fair to people below her on the ladder then the others she had met. Sure she sucker punched Watson here but she had a reason behind it.

She decided for the first try she'd move extra slowly to let her body memorize what she was doing. She managed to elbow him back and gave the move her own flare by twisting away from him and holding the gun, pointing it at his heart.

She smiled a little and held it out to him. "Cool, That's basically my family. And thanks. I might just have to do that." She said to his offer. "My dad really wishes that I didn't want to go into law enforcement. So he tried to convince me to be a lawyer instead while he taught me how to fight to win... Didn't work too well for him though." She said with a sideways smile.

Silas paused a moment, looking up with a grin. It still sounded cute and also a little funny when she sneezed. "Bless ya!" he said, returning to his stretching. He already seemed to be slowly mellowing now that he had an actual activity to focus on. How long this would last, though was anyone's guess (though to the exasperated ones that had to deal with him, the answer was usually 'not long enough').

"You want any help with your warmups? I know a good routine. And it is important to get yourself primed before jumping in!"


~*~

Wats let her move unimpeded, follow through, and take the gun. He nodded approvingly afterwards- she had natural talent, he could tell. The way her body moved and the way her technique flowed was better than some men he'd tussled with that had years of fighting under their belt. That was good- less time spent on the basics meant more time spent on training up actual skills. Next time, he could put more resistance in, work towards na actual challenge- not just for her, but for him. Learning how to resist being disarmed was as important as learning how to disarm. You never knew what side you'd end up on, after all.

At her comment, he gave a small laugh, nodding. "It's hard to grow up within a law enforcement family. I think the only thing that would be harder is growing up within a military family." Especially if you didn't fit the mold. "There's a certain expectation and pressure that other families lack as far as behavior and future plans go. And either your parents want you to go into the field and are significantly disappointed when you don't... or due to all they've seen and the dangers they know, they want you to stay far, far away. There's very little gray area. It's all very polarizing, in my experience. But no matter the pressure, it's important to do what you would like to do with your life. It's nice, that your father sounds like he understood that, even if he wasn't entirely happy with the outcome."

Britney glared at him briefly before she sneezed again. "No. I do not need help" She got interrupted by another sneeze. "With my stretches." She finished before once again sneezing.

She groaned with irritation not aimed toward Silas. She had absolutely no idea what was making her sneeze so much. It was more then irritating to her to be sneezing all the time, it could actually endanger her chances of staying at the White Hat.

That almost scared her, thinking that she could get kicked out just because of a stupid sneezing spree. She tried holding the next one in only to fail as she sneezed eight times in a row. She groaned again. "What in the world?" She whispered to herself rubbing her eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica smiled brightly at him. "Well, if it counts I lived with my uncle for a couple of months when my parents went undercover." She did the disarming move once again only a little quicker. At the end she continued what she was saying. "I couldn't believe how many times he moved in such a short time."

She held the fake gun back out to him. "Don't get me wrong it was pretty cool seeing so many places, he actually offered to give a letter of reference for me to go to a military college but seemed glad when I decided not to."

She looked around briefly. "I'm guessing he didn't want me to go into the military even when he offered." She looked back at Watson smiling a little. "I'm sure I'm boring you. What's the deal with those two?" She asked nodding back at Silas and Britney. The boy was being loud and the girl seemed a little nervous with each sneeze.

He shrugged and returned to his stretching and warm-ups. He was starting to get the feeling his partner was maybe not entirely happy. Though... it did sound like her allergies were acting up. He tended to have seasonal allergies (related to high pollen count days, uninterestingly enough) and Silas knew that when his allergies were acting up, he felt pretty crummy and not quite as chipper or energetic as usual.

"Um...okay then. Thought I'd offer all the same, though. It'd be rude not to!" he said, offering a small smile in response. "...and are you sure you're not allergic to anything here? Cuz those sound like allergy sneezes."

He was being nosy, sure... but it was for the greater good! If he could find out what was bothering her, maybe he could help! He might have some benedryl in his bag back in the barracks, if he recalled correctly. Maybe if it was allergies, he could share some.


~*~


Watson nodded, impressed with how easily she grasped the exercise. But then again, only the superlatives were chosen for this organization's training program... so he supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Still, he could respect skill.

"Ah, undercover work. That can be a challenging and dangerous line of work. Your parents must be very brave." When you worked undercover, you put yourself right in the middle of danger. You brushed elbows with all sorts of unsavory sorts- drug dealers, gang members, members of organized crime- and if you were found out... well, it rarely went well. You had to have not only significant skill, but a fair amount of courage.

He took back the training gun and listened to her talk, nodding slowly. "Parents- and parental figures- often want the best for their children and sometimes, keeping them the safest is the 'best'." he remarked. It was natural to want to protect your children and want them to pick a 'safe' profession. "And don't worry about boring me. I think it's important to learn about your fellow recruits."

At the question, he looked over to where the excitable boy and the significantly less excitable (and rather unimpressed) girl were. Ah yes, the two from breakfast. The young man looked about as full of energy as he was earlier... though as the day progressed, he seemed to be pulling himself together a little more. Just as well- his attitude might make him fun at a party or good to have around for morale but it was... not exactly great to have in a job field like this, refreshing or not. You had to have some sort of focus and composure if you wanted to not get shot or kidnapped.

"He's young and has not come to know the hardships of the world, would be my guess. So a lot like your average young adult. Abundance of energy, strong personality. Impulsive. It's the kind of personality that grates on someone more serious, focused and perhaps a little on the introverted side. Sneezing could be secondary to allergies or maybe a stress-mediated response." he theorized, watching the two of them.

Britney sighed. "I still don't get it though..." She trailed off sneezing. She didn't much like how nosy Silas was being. If Agent Gilder was listening, even though she had it on her forum, she might get kicked out with how badly some allergies effected her.

She held her breath hoping to stop sneezing. "Not unless someone's hiding a ca-ca-ca" She said as she sneezed again. "A cat." She put her finger under her nose sighing. "I'm super allergic to their hair, their dander... Just about everything to do with the--- the" She sneezed again only a little louder. "Them..."

She sighed again mad at herself for not having non-drowsy benedryl in her bag. It was almost their turn on the equipment and she sighed as she started looking for it her eyes looking a little pink. "Should've taken it earlier but no had to try and tough it out...." She muttered to herself as she finally found it in the bottom of her bag. "Why is it always the bottom..." She continued muttering.

She pulled it out her note book falling open to a rough doodle she had done earlier that had ended up looking strangely like Silas. She didn't notice it as she re-read the label on the bottle more concerned about stopping her sneezing that sounded ridiculous to her. She hadn't even really noticed that the book had fallen out to begin with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica sighed her eyes ending on the fake gun and she stared at it. "I guess so. Or they were just dumb." She said with a small smile. She didn't really mean the smile but felt that it might help stop her from saying anything else about them. She loved her parents sure but hadn't really liked being uprooted and shuffled off to her other relatives every time they volunteer to go undercover.

She smiled truly at the next thing he said. "Yeah it is good to learn about the people you work with but there is a line that should be drawn when the other starts falling asleep." She joked around a little her positive attitude back.

She looked over at the two as the older man explained it. "Well, he doesn't look any older then I am and I'm not bouncing off the walls..." She said smiling straightening out to her full height. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it almost seems to me like they were friends when they were kids or something of that sort and he's trying to get noticed by her....." She said looking back at Watson her face looking smug.

Silas paused his workout, looking over at her, attempting to put on his best poker face. Cats. Oh man. cats. He had a cat... under his bed. He... he swore he was going to get rid of it as soon as he could! He didn't think it would be a problem... it was just supposed to be for a few days! And yet, here it was, causing a problem. Indirectly, granted, but still! Okay, he could fix this! Not right now but... eventually. Though given that as recruits, they were banned from going anywhere but to the barracks and mess hall, it'd be a lot harder than he thought.

Maybe there'd be an exception for a brief walk around the grounds to get some vitamin D and fresh air? He could just smuggle Rei out then, let her free and coordinate his friends to be nearby to intercept the fleeing kitten. Or he could release her out a window and hope for the same results. Ah, but he hated risking anything happening to her. She was his world! She was always there for him and never judged him... he owed her safety, if nothing more.

He'd fix this. Eventually. And if he got kicked out an found out before he could fix it? So be it. It'd suck, oh how it'd suck! But Rei was a living thing and he could never have abandoned her. He'd lose a thousand job if it meant keeping her alive and happy and out of an animal shelter.

"W-well... um, I used to have a cat." he said finally, trying to cover. "Maybe some of her fuzz is still on my clothes and junk? I just got here and everything I tossed in my bag I tossed right in from my drawers and room without washing it. So maybe the allergens are still active?"

As the notebook spilled out, he quickly jumped on it, trying to move the conversation away from his cat. He moved from his stretching position and picked up the book, laughing and holding it near his face.

"Well, who's this handsome guy?" he joked. "Y'know, there's a stunning resemblance, if I do say so myself. I always can find appreciation in good art, you know, and this is good art!"


~*~


"Boring, interesting... it's all perspective, anyways." he shrugged with a smile.

He was always keenly interested on learning about others. Aside from generally being interested in psychology and sociology, it was just another survivalist carryover from his young years. Knowing ythe crew that surrounded you could mean the difference between getting along smoothly and getting your teeth cracked in. Hell, sometimes, it could mean life or death.

Plus, getting to know people and what they were about... that was just keen business sense. Knowing what your client base wanted and what made people tick (to an extent) meant greater success, income and reputation. Granted, he was no puppetmaster- he didn't have the passion to be so predatory. But he made sure to know enough and that worked for him.

He observed the two a little more as she spoke. "I'm not so sure it's a 'boy trying to get attention from a girl' sort of situation. He lacks the forward peacocking and showboating you see from that sort. On the other hand, he lacks the awkwardness a nervous and shy attention-seeking type has. But, I wouldn't rule out attention in general... it just seems more like the kind of attention-seeking you see in a child." he mulled. "Anyways, maturity is a spectrum, regardless of age. Factors such as upbringing, life events and any compounding disorders can affect it for better or worse."

[The facility is underground. Under a small coffee shop. Jules will talk about it later on. ^^]

Britney sighed. Why did it seem that all her problems today had one root? She hated to think that Silas would do this to anyone but it was just what was going on the whole day. He'd been making her sneeze her brains out just by standing there moving around a lot.

She sneezed again her eyes still pink. "You think?" She said as she closed her eyes willing the medicine to work faster then normal. She rubbed her shut eyelids feeling a small headache from sneezing so much.

At the sound of Silas talking again her eyes shot open, still pink. Her face turned bright pink, either from anger or embarrassment, she didn't know herself. "Don't look at that!" She yelled louder then he had said anything that whole day as she grabbed it back.

She prayed that he hadn't read any of the words that were on the page surrounding the drawing. She didn't like people seeing her drawings let alone reading her writing. "Don't touch it even." She said her cheeks still red as she shoved it back into the bag.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica sighed. "Yeah. I guess so." She said smiling, her mind still on her parents.

Veronica laughed as he gave his piece on the young man. "Sounds like you're an expert on it." She said laughing a little. "Well you can't really balm me for thinking that. You probably can't tell but she's been blushing half the time. Her red hair masks it though." She touched her chin thinking

"Well I suppose that it could be from him making all that noise and everyone looking at him but still..." She trailed off thinking. She snapped out of it as she registered him saying something about maturity "Sure that could be part of it but it's no excuse for acting like a monkey when you're trying out for a new job."

[Haha, oh man sorry... it's been awhile since I read the initial info post, whups. Plus, I had a bit of sick-brain when I typed that so even if I had read it I'd have prolly forgotten >.>]


He let her snap back the notebook without a fight, holding his hands up defensively. He hadn't happened to see the words- he sort of assumed they were just notes on art or something- he had been more fixated on the fact he was interesting enough to be doodled. And he knew some people were funny about their work but... well, she had no reason to be self-conscious! It was really good-quality work, better than anything HE could do personally.

Plus, the picture was of him, right? So he totally had the right to look at it!

"Whoa, whoa... I was just looking, sorry! And- and you know? If you're gonna draw someone, you should at least let them look at the work you produce of them. It's only fair, you know?" he debated.


~*~


"Not an expert, I just enjoy people-watching. After years of doing so for one reason or the next, you gain some skill in determining what people are like on a basic level." he said with a small smile and a shrug. "Of course, my assessments do have room for error... people are very complex and can surprise you sometimes with what they're truly like."

He'd been wrong before, after all. He WAS only human.

At her comment on the other girl, he glanced over. She did seem to light up red quite often, didn't she? Some people were blushers, though, flushing red at everything. Especially the more anxious sorts (not that he thought she was any more anxious than anyone else- she had seemed pretty stable thus far). He wasn't entirely sure she had any sort of infatuation with the boy but... he could see where his partner would surmise that.

"...I do agree he could tone it down. Especially given the lecturing he'd already gotten this morning. He may have won back some points with a clever answer but it'll be all for naught if he fails to buckle down. But... some people don't take things half as seriously as they ought to, I've found."

[It's okay. ^^ Just thought I'd remind you ^^]

Britney sighed rubbing her eyes a little as she let her bag drop to the ground. As she started calming down felt pretty bad about yelling at him. She was usually softer spoken. "I'm sorry Silas... My allergies must be messing with me." She said opening her eyes a little they were still fairly pink but a tad less bright.

She thought about what he had said for a bit. "Well... It's kind of my journal and that doodle just ended up looking like you." She said a slight blush forming under her original pink cheeks. "If I was actually trying to draw you it'd look a lot better." She said smiling a little lopsided.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veronica nodded. "Well, I hope they don't get into trouble, Silas is pretty cool." She said smiling as she scanned the equipment as it slowly seemed to empty and groups of people she had noticed at breakfast started forming to the sides near the door.

She sighed a little exasperated. "Well, I guess Agent Gilder can't kick them out for being uncreative...." She said to herself then looked back at Watson smiling. "I'm fairly good at reading people too but I saw those two coming back to the group after breakfast together and I got curious." She admitted shrugging.

[Being a forgetful soul, I appreciate it! :3]


Silas hardly had seemed phased by the whole thing, offering a small smile in response. "S'okay, it happens."

Very little seemed to ruffle him, though. He was a very mellow boy in at least that sense. Very little got him too flustered and if he did experience a spike of huffiness or offense, it faded very quickly. He was just terrible at holding grudges! But in his experience, it was just too much effort to be angry.

He laughed at her remark on the drawing, preening a bit again. "Well, that's reassuring! But you know, it is pretty hard to capture all this awesome!" he said gesturing vaguely to himself (clearly joking around more than actually being egotistical).

He relaxed again, looking around the gym area. He looked back to his partner excitedly. "Hey, some of the machines are free! You want to go use them?" he asked, his energy seeming to spring back readily. "Do you have on you want to start on? I'm game for anything... they all look neat! Well, except the pull-up bar. I was always bad at pull-ups and flexed-arm hangs and junk..."


~*~


Watson laughed, nodding. Yes, he could see how someone would get that feeling if they saw them skulking back alone and happy. But...they didn't seem like that sort, the sort that would sneak off to canoodle. Especially the boy. It wasn't that he seemed *innocent* or *pure*, per se... just very, very oblivious. Too oblivious to put smooth moves on a female comrade. That sort of thing seemed like it would be far from his mind (unlike some of his peers, Watson wagered).

"Hm, I see where you'd get that. But they- the boy in particular- don't seem like *that* sort." he said, iterating his thoughts. "He does seem... interesting, though. Very energetic and charged. Raw potential. Not that raw potential will do him any good if he doesn't settle and focus."

Glancing around the the congregating grounds, he place the fake gun in his belt for the moment, looking at the vacated machinery. "No, though I suspect it would win more points to do more than the minimum. At any rate, we should get started as well, now that the opportunity has presented itself. Do you have a favored machine to start on? I don't suspect it matters much in the end, though, since we have to work on all of them eventually..."