Neptune, the Mystic

[dox]

The Ancient Greeks defined the planets in our solar system. In those days they were fewer. Mercury, Venus, the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.

The Greeks had different names for 'em, sure. But that's what we call 'em, none of that Hermes Luna nonsense. And of course, they were wrong, the Moon and Sun aren't planets, and Earth is, plus they missed a bunch of the ones far-off.

But those Greeks used a word for the planets, it meant "wanderer." Settin' out on his own, Dov was a wanderer too, yeah? And he took to thinking - which planet is he?

Mercury, the quick messenger? Dov was fast, yeah. But Mercury always seemed to be light on his feet and quick thinking and all. So maybe not Mercury.

And Venus was a girl, all peace and beauty, so that's out of the question.

Rapt in his thoughts, Dov plodded along, a subconscious voice keeping him headed for the door of the Lab.

Mars, that's a hell of a god. Power, y'know? War and all. The glory of the battlefield, the eye of the tiger, the thrill of the fight. Adrenaline. But Dov wasn't altogether fond of being thought of as a troublemaker, a warmonger. So let's keep looking.

Shit, what's next? Jupiter. Like Zeus? King of the Gods? Philandering white beard, lightning bolts? Wrath! Big and bloated, with more power than the other one, Mars.

And Saturn, bringer of Old Age, with big rings. Father of the Gods, I think. If Dov was recalling his middle school mythology lessons correctly, Saturn didn't do much but pop out baby gods and then become obsolete.

Uranus! Jokes aside, Uranus had a tough time being remembered. The Magician, the sky, castrated. His detached balls had some small adventures of their own, building Aphrodite and the Furies or something. But Dov was as far from castrated as one can be.

Snapping back to reality, Dov noticed his flat feet had brought him trodding to the door of the Lab. Dov and his feet smiled at each other for this serendipitous wandering (except his feet, they didn't smile). He was exactly where he was supposed to be. And feeling more than a bit entitled, by fate among other things, he entered looking for a handout, surprised to find the place more empty than not.

"Morning. I need a Pokemon."

[/blockquote]

[valbro]

"..."

Ned Pogle sat behind the desk, gazing towards his TV just as earlier. It seemed as if it hadn't been even knocked over, much less broken. The strenuous amount of time taken to re-align the appliance could be mentioned, but is rather unnecessary. It seemed, however, to be in perfect working order, regardless of the earlier experience. So once again he sat, gazing into its screen.

Without lifting his head or turning his shark-like eyes, the ugly man gave an initial grunt, then spoke:

"I might be able to give you one, provided you aren't another little urchin bent on destroying my pleasures. Would you mind closing the door, by the way? The runt from earlier seemed to have 'forgotten.'"

Ned Pogle was most definitely having a bad day. Why did he always seem to be stuck on shift when the most people came in?

[dox]

"Cool."

What kind of system is this? he asked himself, suddenly realizing he knew nothing of how this interaction was supposed to go down. I thought it was like "Free Balloon Day" or something, everyone gets a free Pokemon and goes their separate ways, to do whatever. I thought it'd be quick.

Noticing Pogle's hairline had receded to a miserable point visible from the back, Dov feared for the future of his own scalp.

And with a silent shuffle betraying no thoughts, he shut the door tight as ordered and awaited further instructions.

[/blockquote]