++ Office (Light Labs) ++                          

  The office is a formal affair, the walls and floor a deep, rich, dark      
  hardwood, with curtained windows in the east and south wall. In the center 
  is a hardwood table with several leather-backed chairs, and at either end  
  of the rectangular room is a desk. The walls are lined with shelves full of
  books, and various engineering artifacts; diplomas and other certificates  
  are framed on the walls. Tall filing cabinets and servers sit in the       
  corners. One desk seems to be decorated with American memorabilia, the     
  other, Russian. Terminals sit on either desk -- though the "American" one  
  seems to be forever cluttered with napkins, empty coffee cups, papers and  
  noodle cups, much to the chagrin of the housekeeper.                       

        Cossack is sitting at his desk.
        He's staring at the papers in front of him, his face inscrutable, the reflection from the light of his monitor obscuring his eyes.

A light tap is bestowed upon the door frame as Disco lingers there. The quiet manner that Cossack had dealt with the rest of the evening left her rather distraughtly guilty, and her expression showed it. All the nerve and moxie she'd shown earlier very well may have come from someone else entirely. "Doctor Cossack?"

Ra is standing with her, silent and stoic as always. His face is a little less troubled, just relieved that his father has been cleared of all charges... the storm clouds on the horizon? a thing to worry about later. Now, now is the time to regroup and reconnect.

        It takes a moment for Cossack to register that others are here. He stares blankly for a moment, then startles, rubbing his forehead and waving the two in. "Oh--! Da, be comink. Is okay."
Disco allows her lips to quirk in a faint smile at the invitation, and she glances towards Pharaoh as well, in case he would prefer to step in first. Cossack was his father, after all. She steps a bit to the side, edging into the room in that manner she tended to do when fearing she was an unwanted interloper in spite of all the assurances otherwise. Fidgeting her hands behind her she looks up to utter sincerely, "I'm sorry. I should have let you handle the situation."

Pharaoh Man steps inwards, and likely is pushing Disco further into the room herself. "Don't worry too much about that Disco..." He hmmms a bit, moving forwards to his own father. "It... could have been a lot worse..."
Pharaoh Man |Obviously not good at situations like these.

        Cossack offers a half-hearted smile. "No, is okay, Disco. I am thinkink you actually helped matters." He sighs. "Considerink Forte was facink death... result we got is beink better than nothink."
        He gestures for the two to come in and have a seat and apologizes right back to Pharaoh. "I am sorry I haff not been as attentiff to rest of family, especially you, Pharaoh. I know you are haffink big part in museum openink."

Disco is ushered in whether intentionally or not, only to nod quietly in response. "Maybe. I... I just did what I thought was right." Which was an odd admission for her, really, and left her frowning inwardly at some thought or another. Maybe Rock had rubbed off on her a bit. "I could go after him," she finally states, glancing up towards Cossack a moment.

Pharaoh Man just waves a hand, and steps up, and pulls his father into a small hug. "Family comes first. Frankly... I was rather glad not to have to talk on and on with politicians and the elite."
        He steps back from Cossack rather quickly however. No need for /that/ to continue. He eyes Disco a bit, and makes a grunt that's hard to read. "I'd rather we leave Forte to those most capable of it..."

        "Goink after Forte is big mistake at this point. He has already told me to "piss off", to be usink his own words," Cossack explains. "I haff done all I can do for him at this time." He picks up the papers on his desk, looking at them.
        "...." You can just -see- the gears turning his head as he stares at that red and black circular logo.

        There's a knock on the doorway.

        Standing there is Laika Cossack in the open, his coat folded neatly in his arms, whose icy gaze pierces inward as he sees just who is there. He waits for anything further before he enters.

"Yes, but..." There really was no argument to that, and it left Disco floundering with no idea of what to say or suggest. Thankfully Laika appears, and gives a distraction to her clearly troubled thoguhts. Looking up she stares at him a moment with that morose, forlorn expression that was rather similar to the apologetic one she'd worn during that short time he and she had spent at the tender mercies of Plant Man. Her gaze tears away to stare at a spot on the floor as she chews on her cheek trying to think.

Pharaoh Man hmphs a bit, and gives Laika a salute... not trying to be an ass, but it just seems like the right thing to do. "Disco, just relax. We'll deal with Forte when the time is right." He sighs, trying to keep everyone's moods at least a bit up.

        Cossack seems to have some sort of supernatural Laika sense.
        "Good ewening, Laika."
        He also seems to have supernatural Laika Disapproval sense.
        "I know. You are goink to be tellink me 'I told you so.'."

        Laika nods to Pharaoh Man. Pharaoh isn't a superior so he doesn't need to salute back. He glances at Disco momentarily, apparently not fond of that look -- the memories behind that one are still scabbing over and don't need to be picked at. Not saying anything, the young Russian calmly adjusts one of his gloves. He walks in and toward the doctor, past the other two.

        Cossack is given a quick, efficient, and brutal slap.

Disco jerks forward at the motion that she sees coming with a look of shock upon her face. "What're you doing!?" She blurts out, incredulous, shocked, and needless to say more than a bit surprised at Laika hitting his father.

Pharaoh Man hmphs dissaprovingly, but it's not really unsurprisingly. This is... how the family communicates, at least. He gives another hard grunt, and gives up on that whole 'cheering up' thing.

        Cossack's head is snapped to the side, and it knocks his glasses off. There's a red mark on his cheek.
        "...." He looks up at Laika.

        Laika draws his hand in, but keeps it up, as though ready to strike again. He looks pointedly over his shoulder, giving Disco a severe look before eyeing Cossack again. There's something about that look -- that vindicates him.

        "You are the one who caused this. You adopted a dog off the streets and coddled its killing instinct. You made excuses when it started to destroy the neighbor's flowerbeds. Now the dog has bitten the hand that fed it, and you want us all to believe that you 'tried'?" He sticks his nose up, making a derisive, throaty noise and stepping back. "You are worse than Dr. Wily: you're naive and incompetent, thinking you can change people. You haven't changed me. You haven't changed Forte."

        "When I'm finished cleaning up after your mess, I'm going back to Sharo."

        Cossack adjusts his glasses.
        "I am not giffink up on him. And I am not giffink up on you, either." It seems to be all he has to say on the matter looking Laika firmly in the eye.

Disco tilts her head to the side a moment, staring with an angry shock at Laika's remarks. Part of her agreed with him, but another part... Her head cricks back the other direction as she states, firmly without flinching for once from Laika, "He changed me. Maybe someday you'll find something to believe in, Laika." Whether Laika had intended to depart after his remark, she cuts him off, brushing by him with an obvious bump of her shoulder to his as she heads for the door. "/I'll/ go after Forte. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself. Again."

Pharaoh Man hmphs, and just... keeps his mouth shut. There goes the family.

        Laika tenses his shoulders, letting Disco move away from him. He would laugh if it weren't so ridiculous -- acting as if she defeated Plant Man singlehandedly. Looking at Cossack again, he wrinkles his nose and starts to turn. "You'll never learn if you don't admit that you made a mistake. Have fun beating your head against that wall of pride."

        "Like father, like son," Cossack replies, organizing his paperwork.

[OOC] Dr. Cossack says, "This whole family has pride issues."
[OOC] Laika says, "Yes."
[OOC] Pharaoh Man says, "...YOU PLATED ME WITH GOLD"
[OOC] Pharaoh Man says, "/DUH/"
[OOC] Disco asides to Cossack, "You're never going to tell him it's gold foil, are you?"
[OOC] Dr. Cossack asides to Disco. "It would break his heart."

        Laika actually laughs at that one. He heads out of the room, pulling his hat off and placing it on the coat; laughing the whole time, until at last it disappears down the echoing hallway.

        Ra just... sighs. "He'll be back in teh week, won't he?" He tries to comfort his father now, and falls into the chair next to him.

        "Oh, he is not gettink away from old man so easily," Cossack says with a smirk. He winces, the slap still hurting.
        "I haff decided to accept job offer at Ministry of Science."

        Pharaoh nods a bit, and gives Dr. Cossack a bit of a look. "Really now? And why is that?"
        He glances down at the paper... eyeing the logo that Cossack was looking at earlier. Why does it look familiar.

        "Dr. Hikari has made request for help in robotics field, and in work with Spectrum project," Cossack explains. "I haff discussed this with Thomas. I haff his blessinks."

        Pharoah nods once more, and gives a slow sigh. "Things are only going to get worse, arn't they, before they get better?" It's obviously been on his mind for some time now...
        "Thinks haff been bad before," Cossack points out. "Remember Siberia, when Skull Man had kidnapped Kalinka and Roll. And then Robot Master Tournament... I haff faith in family and friends. We will be pulink through this."

        The golden Robot Master sighs, and nods once more. "If you need anything, just let me know Father." He smiles a bit, reaching over to pat his arm. Signs of affection are understandably rare in the family, but Ra is learning here and there.
        Cossack appreciates it. It's a liferaft for him at this point. "Thank you, son," he says back, appreciatively.

        Ra smiles back to his father and nods once more. "If you need anything, I'll be in my room. I have work that's piled up, but I don't have to tell you that." He stands up again, and heads for the door.

        "Thank you. I haff phonecalls to make," Cossack says, digging into his pocket for his cell phone.