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Boss never fit right in his chair. He fidgeted a lot when he met with people. Not from a lack of anything, he could carry himself better than any other guy. Yet even the other grunts saw him looking uncomfortable the longer he sat in it. At some point he avoided sitting there altogether and just leaving it to catch dust. Those were dark times. He loved the Syndicate, and leaving the chair permanently was out of the question.
Because he never quite settled in, the grunts came and went too. Until they found a solution. He handled things from out of the office for a while but still instilled the vision of a better Lumiose for everybody. No one could argue that, so everyone kinda ignored that he wasn’t acting right. Doesn’t really matter, right? He’s saying all the right stuff.
It wasn’t even that bad. He hired some help, professionals better at dealing with stuff around the Syndicate. Wasn’t it around that time that they got the uniforms? Before they wore whatever they wanted. What else changed…? The weekly meets, some formal greeting stuff, and Boss tried to actually show up at the office again. The grunts all talked to him about their problems again. All was well in the world.
And then the world almost ended.
After Kalos suffered the tragedy of Lysandre’s disappearance (that’s what Boss insisted it was since they never found a body), everything got complicated, more than before. Stuff got rearranged, everyone started getting emotional and desperate for security.
That’s when The Boss took over. And he fit in that seat like a glove.
The Boss had strict rules, but he was also charismatic and easy to follow. You never questioned what you had to do ‘cause you knew what you had to do. He got all the power Boss previously had, but somehow, The Boss had more. He could scare people with a look, yet charm people like a snake. But again, you knew all you needed to know. Clear rules, clear boundaries.
The Boss had the same vision of the future too: a bright future for all the people in Lumiose City. The transition of power barely caused a blink of an eye to most of the grunts. A few left. Eventually they gained more grunts than they ever had before, and trained better than in the previous leadership that had no standard for training.
Some of the grunts got to talking and noticed someone else admiring The Big Boss. “They’re really close, huh?”
Another grunt looked over at him. “What?”
The original grunt shrugged. “The Boss and Mr. Philippe. They’re kinda close. Like, not like a working thing. I get why he stands over him and stuff, The Boss is kinda short, but why does he do stuff, like, opening the door for him, or carrying around spare glasses? One time he pulled out his handkerchief before The Boss even sneezed.”
“Mr. Philippe’s always been real mindful of people.”
The original grunt shook his head. “Nah, it’s different. He’s never been this attentive before.”
“Well, it’s probably what The Boss wanted him to do. He’s real picky with what he likes. You been to his office yet?”
“Yeah, yeah that’s true. And it makes him look better when Philippe does a bunch of stuff for him.”
They dropped it for a while because it’s not like they could prove anything anyway, right? Eventually, whenever a grunt came into The Boss’s office, they’d see Philippe standing near the chair. He used to move around and do little tasks here and there, but now he stood at attention. Almost like whenever someone walked in they were doing something before.
“What do you want?” The Boss asked the grunt who entered the office.
“I need some time off…” the grunt nervously admitted.
“Time off,” he repeated angrily, “for what?”
“I’m getting married in Alola…”
The Boss stood up and circled the desk. The grunt flinched dramatically when he reached out a hand. Oh, a handshake! Oh okay.
“Good man. About time. Heard from a little Skarmory that you were talking with someone. That’s nice.”
“Y-yeah. We decided to go for it.”
“I like that. If you’re not pursuing what you want boldly, nothing gets done. Right, Philippe?” He turned to glance at Philippe who averted his eyes briefly. “When is it? Take the month. Stay and have your honeymoon there too. You inviting anyone here?—Wait…”
The grunt felt the world freeze when he made some unknown realization. Did he mess up somewhere? Was he about to meet The Boss’s famous, unsurvivable wrath??
“You didn’t invite us?” The Boss turned completely around to face Philippe. “Tell me, I miss the invite?
“No, sir.”
He turned back around and stared into the grunt’s soul.
“I couldn’t invite everybody! Then the whole Syndicate would have to shut down!”
“Then we shut it down! Two of our men are getting married! You’d go to mine, right? You think we wanna miss this?!” He was so intense, the grunt felt like he was getting a lashing.
“No! I mean yes! I’d go to your wedding, sir!”
“Good. Now send out the invites properly. Philippe and I’ll close the Syndicate that day and fly back the next. You guys can stay the month and a handful of you can party after, okay?” When The Boss patted his shoulder, he nearly fell to his knees. “Send Philippe the dates, would you? I need to know sooner than later in case I need to move meetings around.”
He couldn’t form words yet and only nodded.
“Oh, I don’t care what your color theme is, I’m going like this.” He pulled happily at his long jacket. The Boss had good taste and knew what he looked good in. “But if you want, I’ll make Philippe wear white and pink or whatever you guys want.” A wink followed that that the grunt didn’t know what to do with.
By the time he started leaving, he barely remembered what even took place. He saw The Boss sit at his chair, his rightfully earned spot, and before the elevator door closed, probably accidentally too early, Philippe kissed The Boss on the lips.