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Pax could laugh at everything they’d been thinking previously about the Rust Syndicate. All the shady language and forceful ‘encouragement’ had been giving the impression of ‘Organized Crime’. And who could blame them, really? This whole thing had started when Taunie, who had no concept of financial caution, had taken out a loan from them. Before long, the entirety of Team MZ was being held accountable for downright predatory interest rates, and being forced into indentured servitude.
When Pax had first gone to the Rust headquarters, they’d been greeted by an imposing giant of a man who was probably testing them with a rather harsh battle. Pax’d had this feeling that Philippe was going easy, and his pokemon were too. After that, the damn hallway of similarly dressed thuggish-seeming workers? Corbeau’s office? Pax’s first thought in that office was the question of who Corbeau was bribing - or had dirt on - to get away with operating so out in the open in Lumoise city.
If there was one thing to be especially salty about, it was the fact that the whole ordeal with indentured servitude and heavily implied threats had ruined date night. Both Pax and Naveen had been too stressed out - trying to figure out backup plans if the Rust Syndicate got violent - to enjoy each others’ company. So much for a nice, cute first date. At least it was endearing when Naveen turned out to be more worried about having screwed up the date than Pax was; and that was saying something.
“Sometimes I admire how involved you get with everything,” Naveen began to grumble, tone quite contrary to the words he’d said, “but I think this might just be downright foolish.”
Pax turned to look at Naveen while doing up the last of the buttons on their fanciest black shirt, and then immediately flushed red. Upon seeing Naveen in their bed, with everything up to his bare shoulders covered by the bedsheets, Pax’s mind quickly flashed back to the events of the previous night. But there was a conversation to be had, so they took in a deep breath and regained focus.
“I don’t think so,” Pax disagreed, and turned back to the wardrobe to pick out the one patterned blazer they owned. “Besides, I think pointing this out to Corbeau will be a solid net positive on the wellbeing of the people of Lumiose City.”
“Dork,” Naveen teased, fingers idly fretting with the hemming at the edge of the bedsheets. “I just don’t want you getting beat up, or-“
“Awww, you do care,” Pax teased right back.”
“-or running up our already exorbitant debt,” Naveen then finished, rolling his eyes. “Corbeau doesn’t seem like a sensible person to mess with.”
“I’m not messing with him,” Pax argued back, and started combing through their long hair with both hands. “Besides, you’re not really one to talk. The dork who is so deep into his fashion special interest that he’d play nice with that Jacinthe woman of all people.”
“Screw you,” Naveen shot back, which worried Pax. This whole boyfriends thing was new, and they were scared to say the wrong thing and mess it all up. Naveen was hot and funny and exactly the kind of person Pax wanted to get to know in the most emotionally intimate of ways, and Pax was still finding their place in Lumiose City on top of all that.
“Did I take that too far?” Pax asked uncertainly.
Naveen gave them a small smile. “No, I’m just joking. I just hate admitting that you’re right. Besides… she does have incredible fashion sense. I wish those kinds of clothing could be cheaper so that more people could enjoy them. That aside, though, I do trust you. If you think this is a good idea, you have my support. I might grab Lida so the two of us can wait outside in case something goes wrong, though.”
“Fair enough,” Pax sighed, and started lacing up their boots. They didn’t have any ‘formal’ footwear, so these black combat boots were going to have to do.
The sheer tension in the air at the Rust headquarters was intense to the point of ridiculousness, and Pax had to remind themself to breathe as they walked through the corridor of syndicate staff in the main foyer. Everything would be fine once they made it to Corbeau’s office, and maybe after this talk he’d ease up on the intimidation routines. By Arceus, this whole ordeal was just ridiculous.
Near the end of the foyer, Pax looked up at Philippe, who towered over them with a looming expression that said ‘mess with us and I’ll see that you’re found dead in a dumpster next week’. Did he enjoy this or something? How would he take it if Pax was successful in what they’d come here to persuade Corbeau of? Well, they’d just have to hope that they could win a battle against the man when he was going at it for real.
“The boss is waiting for you,” Philippe proclaimed, and then stepped aside.
Pax gulped, and passed the hulking figure before making his way through the syndicate’s hallways and to Corbeau’s office.
“You may enter,” Corbeau’s voice called out before Pax even had a chance to knock. Considering that Pax didn’t see any security cameras around here, Philippe probably tipped him off. Was Corbeau that desperate for company that he’d bother to accurately predict how long it took Pax to arrive outside his office? Damn.
“Corbeau,” Pax said evenly as they entered the office, giving the man a curt nod. This wasn’t how they’d usually choose to greet a person, but for the moment Pax needed to play at Corbeau’s rules.
Corbeau looked them up and down, quite obviously appraising Pax’s choice of outfit, and then nodded back. Pax had picked this outfit specifically because they thought it would make Corbeau more comfortable, and therefore less defensive when Pax said what they’d come her to say. “Pax. You asked to meet with me?”
“I did,” Pax confirmed, and then took a steadying breath. This all felt harder than it needed to be, and Pax was honestly starting to feel kind of silly about it. They just couldn’t not meddle with a case like this. “We need to talk about the debt.”
“Oh?” Corbeau intoned, raising one eyebrow. “Then come in, and take a seat.”
Doing as instructed, Pax tried to make themself comfortable. And then they fought with all their willpower to not burst out laughing. It wasn’t a mocking kind of laughter. It was just… this was all so ridiculous.
“So, what precisely would you like to discuss? Do you take issue with the tasks I’ve assigned you, or something of that nature?” Corbeau inquired, and Pax almost thought they weren’t imagining the note of worry in the man’s voice.
“No,” Pax assured him, because that much was absolutely true. Before actually being assigned any of the tasks, they fully expected something like forcing people to pay off loans, intimidating dissenters and stealing valuables. They’d been brainstorming with Naveen and Lida to come up with ways to seem like they were completing each task while not actually harming any of the people of Lumiose.
And then they’d actually been given the first set of work and realised that Corbeau and his Rust Syndicate were genuinely trying to help people. It had taken some time for Pax or Lida to trust that there were good intentions behind all of this, whilst Naveen had reached that point far faster. Now that they did trust Corbeau’s intentions, however, things couldn’t continue like this. No way.
“I came here to tell you that you don’t need to manipulate people into indentured servitude like this,” Pax declared with as much confidence as they could muster. “You can just ask people to be your friend, or to help out with your work here. I for one would gladly agree to both.”
“Excuse me?” Corbeau barked, his hands gripping tightly at the fabric of his sofa. “What a waste of time.”
Pax sighed. Yeah, maybe they shouldn’t have held out hope that this would be easy. “You’ve never had somebody call you their friend before, have you? I bet you’ve heard people call you weird, or start avoiding you after getting to know you a little while. Right?”
Corbeau’s eyes thinned, and he was a little slower to speak. “Presumptuous. What would you know of matters like that?”
“Everything,” Pax admitted, and there was more weight to that than they’d intended. “Half of the reason I moved to this city was I had no friends, and I figured I’d find people who were more like me in a big city like this.”
“You say this as if you aren’t surrounded by people who admire you,” Corbeau countered, and Pax knew they were getting somewhere because he was so reactive. Corbeau was lonely as all hell, and he probably didn’t want to seem ‘weak’ by admitting it. “I, too, am surrounded by those who admire and respect me.”
“And you haven’t actually asked me to leave,” Pax grinned, and poked out their tongue. They hoped now was an okay time to drop their charade of formality. “So I think I was right the other day when I said you were just desperate to see us. As I said, I found my people here. Well, Taunie basically adopted me five minutes after I’d gotten off the train, so I have her to thank for getting me started with my social life. Sometimes you just need someone cool to find you and adopt you into their friend group.”
“I assure you, I don’t-“ Corbeau began to refute tersely, and then the office door swung open.
“Yes, boss, you do,” Philippe grunted as he took a few steps inside. Pax wondered how long the man had been listening in. “I honestly didn’t realise you had no friends beside myself until you roped this group of nosey kids into our line of work.”
“Hey!” Pax protested. “I’m twenty four!”
“Still a kid to me,” Philippe said easily, before turning his attention back to his boss. “Corbeau, you’ve been getting more stressed by the week, especially since these cases of Rogue Mega Evolution began. You don’t have enough of an outlet, and you need friends who you can be yourself around if you’re going to continue to lead the Rust Syndicate effectively.”
Corbeau’s hands balled into fists. It was hardly surprising; he was being ganged up on in his own office. “Is that a threat, Philippe? Dissatisfied with my leadership and planning to oust me?”
Philippe rolled his eyes and groaned at the same time that Pax let out a heavy sigh. “No, sir, I’m trying to help you. You’re almost thirty years old, and you still haven’t realised that the reason your staff keep telling you about the after-work parties is because they’re trying to invite you.”
“They-“ Corbeau started, and then stopped. “What.”
“These people really like you,” Pax ventured to guess. “You’re a pretty cool and kind guy, and I reckon a lot of people want to see what you’re like when they let loose. Not because they’re trying to find weaknesses in you, but because they want to care for you. So, are you coming over for dinner tonight? Taunie always makes way too much curry.”
Corbeau, failing to utter a single word in response to that, simply just stared at both Pax and Philippe with wide eyes.
“You’re going,” Philippe decided, folding his arms in the same way he did when he was trying to intimidate someone. “Otherwise I really will take over the Syndicate and kick you out.”
“You-“ Corbeau spat, and then buried his face in his hands. “Fine.”
“Fucking finally,” Philippe sighed, and Pax could only laugh. “The outright predatory loans were amusing at first, but they’re really starting to become a problem. Keep at it much longer and we’ll have some random twelve year old show up out of nowhere and bankrupting us because they think we’re evil or something.”