rudeness demands reparation

Not that, of course, this was destined to go well. Maxie remembered the last time both teams had met. He’d been deep into his statements on Team Magma’s current needs when that vexing human headache of a rival had the gall to fall asleep. Was he really that boring? Did his technique need dire improvement?

Of course not, the Great Maxie was flawless. Archie just didn’t get it.

Even then, Maxie still wasn’t exactly prepared for this meeting. He must’ve miscalculated the amount of work he still needed to do in organizing feedback from his admins and grunts, mapping timelines of what they’d accomplished together in the past few months, highlighting progress made on winning over the people of Hoenn once again --- usually he was on his game with these kinds of things, but something seemed... off.

What was wrong with him?

The knocking snapped him out of his thoughts as he stared at the half-finished slideshow on the monitor, puzzling over what he was missing. Three loud ones, followed by two quiet; only one person knocked in such a pattern. The inquiry only confirmed it; Team Aqua was here, whether he was ready or not.

And he wasn’t.

Maxie stood up and beelined to the door, cracking it open ever so slightly that his face could just fit within. “You’re early for once,” he observed in a flat tone, raising an eyebrow.