He watched Fred as he sat down, pleading eyes studying his face. Even if he was half expecting the news the other would give him it still hit him like a ton of bricks. It almost hurt him more than all of what Proton did to him. His teeth gritted tightly; he was upset–at Team Rocket, at Proton, at Fred, but.. also himself. He’s always so weak, he could have at least tried to escape before now. Yet, even with his sense of dread, he held onto that little bit of trust against his better judgement. Look where that got him.
“Of course he did. Of course. It ain’t like I told ya or anythin’ that they weren’t gonna let me off easy-” His tone was harsh, lashing out in anger, frustration and most of all fear. He paced a bit in a small circle, his hands continuously struggling at the binds on his wrists as he tried to steady his breaths. He shook his head. “Arceus.. Arceus, I fuckin’ knew it.”
He flinched away as soon as Fred’s hand touched his back, taking in a sharp inhale through his teeth. It was a light touch thankfully, but it still made the welts left on his back underneath his shirt flare up with pain. Proton didn’t go easy on him.. Despite that, he shook it off with a shaky breath and turned to face Fred.
“I can’t do that– I gotta get out now-” He moved closer to Fred, his eyes terrified and wild with desperation. “Fred, please. They ain’t gonna jus’ forget ‘bout me, ya know that right? They wanna make me like my dad. I dunno if ya knew ‘im at all, but I ain’t like ‘im in the slightest! Look at me, I ain’t the type to last in a place like Rocket.. An’.. An’ ‘sides that, that bastard Proton knows where my sister is, an’ he threatened her. If I go now, I could get her out o’ Johto- we could both escape-”
His frantic pleadings paused a moment as he could feel his tears starting to spill over again. He quickly backed off, biting his lip as he desperately tried to wipe them away on his shoulder–though also leaving a bit of the blood from his face there too. “I-… I’m awful scared. I.. don’t wanna be stuck here again-”
It was hard to bite his lips and smile falsely at the same time, but Fred made it work. His eyes glittered gently as he looked up at Adrian, hoping that he’d see the forced smile and not the wetness of his eyes. It was hard not to feel guilty, but he forced it down into the pit of his stomach with all the other feelings he didn’t like feeling.
As Adrian flinched so did he, in the opposite direction. Right. Careful... Recommend a luke-warm shower... Don’t introduce yourself to your room mates until you know they’re friendly... No, do... That was what he had to say as an ambassador, right? But what did he have to say as a friend? Fred wanted to get Adrian through this more badly than he knew. Over-sugar-coating a bitter pill wouldn’t make it go down any easier, but a sweet drink to wash it down couldn’t hurt. With a deep breath, Fred hardened himself.
“You ain’t stuck here, Adrian. Don’t think everyone here is like that sick fuck... There are good people, people like me, who just want somewhere safe to stay for people like us. If you’re a grunt, you get to walk around the base, go out accompanying missions, stuff like that. The more trust you get, the more freedom you have. Speakin’ of, you want the rope untyin’?” He preemptively sauntered behind him, trying to look as least threatening as possible. It wasn’t usually a huge ask, but in his full uniform, it probably didn’t help allay Adrian’s fears.
“Just stay calm an’ think sensibly. If you try an’ run off right now in the state you’re in right now, you’ll be easy to track, and Proton will be extra mad when you do. Free advice: don’t piss him off. Your best move right now is to play along until the Executive thinks you ain’t puttin’ up a fight. Between you an’ me, he’s put me in charge of watchin’ you... which is dumb,” he mumbled, voice lowering from his previous confidence for a second. “I’m recruitment and intel, not trainin’... but you’re a pal, so I’ll make an exception. If you behave enough, I’ll keep his eyes well away from you in return... an’ I’ll go tell your sister to take a long holiday in Alola... How’s that sound for a start, pal?”
