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 Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:35 pm
He didn't like chocolate that much. Really. Chocolate was a woman's vice; he ought to be an alcoholic or a smoker or something... Still. The smell of chocolate. So maybe he was just curious, that was no crime. Maybe he was looking for a gift for his girlfriend. Ha. Still, sod what anyone thought, he wanted some damn chocolate so there. Let them snigger, that was their business, just like it was his business if he punched them in the teeth... Or looked as if he planned to anyway, he didn't really want to end up in legal trouble out here and have to call home to ask for bail...
The smell of chocolate.
On stepping into the exclusive looking shop, he discovered the cause.
It was a chocolate fountain in the same way that Elemi Lake was a garden pond.
The thing was gargantuan, and opulent in the extreme. The thing was made of marble by the looks of it, and it was nearly as tall as he was. Liquid chocolate cascaded down layer after layer, pouring down into a bowl that had to be a couple of feet deep. A couple of feet deep. There was serious money behind this shop; the fountain screamed that, and the elegant layout of the shelves, and packaging of the chocolate murmured seductively...
They also murmured that this place might be a little out of his price range. Still, there were little bowls of assorted fruit, marshmallows, and even chocolate brownies set around the fountain. There were also skewers. A well dressed, rather taken aback looking shop assistant smiled nervously at him and made a vague gesture towards the fantastic fountain before vanishing behind the polished wooden till and into a back room. Well, that suited him fine. Taking a skewer, Aulus stabbed a marshmallow (with what could be considered excessive force) and held it under the stream of chocolate. If he couldn't afford to buy anything, then he was going to make the most of what was free before he got thrown out.
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:52 pm
Chocolate. Chocolate chocolate chocolate chocolate chocolate chocolate chocolate. Oh dear, sweet Arceus, chocolate. He could smell its decadent, delicious, irresistible aroma from halfway through the mall nestled in Camphoreon. Zeus still wasn't sure why his trainer had wanted to come here in the first place, but the only thing that mattered was they were here and he could smell chocolate. Its siren scent was too much for him to resist, and it made him quiver with an insatiable desire for his favorite treat. Before Claire could even smell it, the chubby Pikachu was off like a rocket, following his nose to the delicious source of the smell.
"Zeus!" She called, absolutely indignant he'd just run off, but she followed him as best as she could. Unfortunately for her, however, he was at least twice as fast as she was. The hunk of chub could really move when he wanted to.
And at that moment, he did want to. With all of his little chocolate-obsessed heart. It seemed like mere moments before he had entered the expensive store, with its glimmering walls and decorations. The only thing that mattered to him, however, was the tall fountain standing there that, dear Arceus, made it rain chocolate. He could die happy with just seeing this wonder of the world, but no - it wasn't enough.
Suddenly Aulus would find a short, chubby, shiny Pikachu scrabbling to get high enough to look into this grossly expensive fountain. With a jump he was clinging to the edge, his hind feet flailing to try and lift him high enough to see... And then there it was - a pool of delicious chocolate that was filled to at least twice his height. His green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at seeing this delicious, heavenly sight. Was he dreaming? This couldn't be real. But it was. And.. and... It was all his. His eyes were nearly sparkling as he wiggled himself all the way up and quickly jumped in. There could be no mistake - he didn't slip or fall, it wasn't an accident - the chocolate-obsessed Pikachu had purposefully jumped into the deep chocolate pool and disappeared.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:09 pm
The marshmallow has been good. A bit of pineapple had been excellent. The chocolate brownie, smothered as heavily as possible, had been sublime. He had been about to stab another brownie piece when the little claws scratched at his leg, and the weight made him glad of a good belt even as he swatted at the offending whatever it was. The whatever it was, however, was quick and his initial swipe missed. Looking down, he identified his assailant as a pikachu, and refrained from taking a second swing. He did, however, fold his arms across his chest and shoot a scowl at the electric type; "What do you think you're up to? Where's your train-"
Before he could finish his sentence, a look of pure ecstasy spread across the pikachu's face and it jumped into the the chocolate, vanishing with a noise that was somewhere between a splash and a gloop.
For some moments the red-eyed man stared dumbfounded at the surface of the pool, but when he realised that the pokemon was not going to surface under its own power he cursed and plunged his arms into the chocolate. After a moment he felt something brush against his right hand and, grasping it firmly, he whisked the pikachu out of the delicious death trap by what fortuitously turned out to be the scruff of its neck.
This left him his elbows in chocolate, holding a chocolate coated pikachu, and not entirely sure what to do next.
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:23 pm
Said chocolate-coated Pikachu had been wiggling in chocolate twice as high as himself, holding his breath with his mouth wide open... until a hand grabbed him by the scruff and hoisted him out. Green eyes blinked open, the only part of him that wasn't coated in a thick layer of delicious chocolate, and his now-heavy tail twitched lamely as he tried to figure out just what had happened. He had been in a pool of chocolate, able to die happy with just that - and had been saved by something. His first instinct was his trainer, but he could hear faint calls of his name slowly getting louder, indicating her ever nearing presence. So.. someone else? "Chu?" What happened?
Claire could smell the chocolate now and cursed under her breath, then ran towards the source of the smell she couldn't see quite yet. It didn't take her long to find the store, and she cursed again when she saw how fancy and expensive it was. If he'd broken anything... But she couldn't see him anywhere.
Oh. Oh crap, a chocolate fountain. Cursing a third time she jogged over, cheeks a bit pink and her breathing rate increased from having to run through the mall, and she peered at the fountain. It was then she noticed the scar-faced man holding a green-eyed pokemon covered in chocolate, and her expression of confusion and worry morphed into surprise, and then to absolutely indignant when she realized those green eyes were all too familiar. "Zeus! What the hell were you thinking?! You.. agh!" And then she realized that the chocolate-covered chubby pokemon was being held by someone she didn't know, whose arms were coated in chocolate as well up to his elbows. Her expression changed yet again, back to mild confusion and worry, as well as uncertainty. "s**t, I'm sorry," she said, trying to figure out how to take Zeus from him without getting herself covered in chocolate. It didn't seem like that was possible, so she awkwardly reached out to grab him round the middle. The chocolate squished out between her fingers and made her falter a bit. She would never eat chocolate again. Ever. ...especially now that the Pikachu was gleefully slurping the treat off his arms. "I'm sorry. Thank you, but I'm sorry," she repeated again. Crap. "He must've smelled it from there and just bolted. Obsessed with the stuff," the young woman explained as she kneeled on the floor to set the Pikachu down. He sat with an awkward squishing sound but continued to lick the chocolate off his arms, and the side of her mouth twitched into a disgusted grimace. Crap, why did she keep this chubby annoyance?
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:42 pm
So, this was the erstwhile trainer? Aulus looked her up and down, not resisting when she reached out to reclaim her chocolaty pokemon. Long black hair, purple-pink streaks, and eyes the same colour. Pretty face, pretty good figure. Not bad... He was dripping chocolate all over his clothes. Pulling a face, Aulus held his arms away from his body in an attempt to minimize the damage. Great. He only had one clean shirt left, and no clean trousers. He was going to look bloody stupid sitting in a laundrette covered in chocolate. Great.
When the woman finally stopped babbling, Aulus gave an non-committal grunt. "Well I couldn't exactly let him drown," he elaborated after a moment, "crazy little rat, you should keep him on a leash or something if he's going to run off like that." Daft wench. Being pretty didn't excuse her not controlling her pokemon and thus putting it at risk...
Oh great.
Stupid girl and her stupid pikachu; as soon as any employee reappeared he was going to get thrown out! "You'd better hope they don't make you pay to refill the fountain," Aulus added with a scowl, "this place doesn't look cheap to me." Perhaps he should just leave now so that nobody decided he should be responsible for a portion of this sticky disaster.
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:00 pm
Claire pursed her lips as she glared down at Zeus, absolutely furious with him again. "I've never been in here before, I didn't know they had a chocolate store, let alone an expensive one with a giant chocolate fountain. I might have to buy a leash for the little rat." Ugh, why did she keep him? Why? It was a question she always asked herself whenever he caused trouble, which was almost all the time. And yet she didn't get rid of him. Crap, she was attached to the chocolate-obsessed trouble-maker.
At his comment her eyebrows raised and she took a quick glance around. If there was only one thing Claire knew quite well, it was when to stick around and when to get the hell out as fast as possible. "Good point," she said, quickly grabbing Zeus by the scruff and, looking at the man's arms as well as his chocolatey clothes, grimaced again slightly. "I'm not paying for a damned thing, so let's go." She assumed he didn't want to either, and being covered in chocolate like he was... she didn't think the employees would exactly like that and might want him to pay instead, and she wouldn't feel too great leaving someone else to pay for her error. With that in mind she started jogging for the exit, whether he decided to high-tail it out of there too or not. There was no way in hell she'd stay there and get conned into paying for anything, no thanks.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:45 pm
Oh no way, no way was he staying behind to get the blame. Muttering a curse Aulus hastened after the black-haired girl, feeling extremely conspicuous. He just hoped he wasn't leaving an incriminating trail of chocolate. Perhaps luck was on his side today for once though; they got a few odd looks but nobody made to stop them. He wasn't about to rest on his laurels given there would be a very chocolaty patch on the shop floor where the very chocolaty pikachu had been set down though, and so when the chance came to head down an escalator Aulus took it. He took it a couple of stairs at a time in fact, and near the bottom he swung over the moving handrail with the intention of landing lightly on the ground.
The best laid plans of chocolaty mouse-pokemon and men, however, often go awry; chocolaty as his hand was, it was slippery, and he lost his grip on the rail about two thirds of his way through the intended perfect leap.
Good reflexes saved him for falling and cracking his head open, but he landed awkwardly all the same, with all of his weight on his left leg. There was a reason Aulus always chose to avoid doing this, and that reason became apparent when the limb buckled, sending him crashing to his knees. "Fffffff..." Swallowing the rest of the cuss Aulus heaved himself back upright and tried unsuccessfully to hide a grimace of pain. So much for luck being on his side. Bloody stupid electric rat, he should have just left it!
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:04 pm
Claire might have tried a similar endeavor but she realized chocolate was a slippery substance when warm, which it was, so when Aulus blatantly disregarded this and fell she was not the least bit surprised. She was surprised, however, when he seemed to have injured himself. Great, just great.
She pursed her lips and hopped down the rest of the way to the floor - escalators could be unbearably slow sometimes - and studied him for a moment. Violet eyes then quickly scanned their surroundings, looking for -- ah, there. She leaned down and hesitated for a moment, then with her free hand she slipped her chocolatey fingers around his chocolatey arm. At least she didn't have to worry about either one of them getting even more covered in chocolate. "Come on," she said, gently tugging at his arm to indicate she'd help him up, "there's a bench just over there." Why she was sticking around this rather unsavory person she had no idea, but it was her fault he was covered in chocolate and now it was her fault he'd fallen, even if the decision to jump the escalator had been his. He wouldn't have needed to if Zeus hadn't been suicidal for chocolate.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:19 pm
The touch on his arm was unexpected, and as such he jerked away reflexively. He felt stupid for it a moment later, but there wasn't a lot he could do about that. He probably could get over to the bench on his own, but he'd look more foolish hobbling along than he would accepting help. "Fine," Aulus muttered after a moment, grasping the purple-eyed woman's arm and setting off for the bench. Great. Just great. The initial searing pain would ease in a few minutes, but he was going to be pretty sore for days. Stupid. Stupid him, stupid pikachu, stupid leg, stupid physics, stupid chocolate, stupid girl, stupid everything.
When they reached the bench, Aulus sank down gratefully and stretched his leg out with a grimace. He also reached down instinctively to rub the line of the scar. This introduced copious amounts of chocolate to his trouser leg and caused him to curse again. "Well this is perfect," the muscular man growled, "what's next? Is that stupid fat rat of yours going to go rabid and savage me or what?" Stupid girl. This was all her fault when it boiled right down to it. If she'd kept her pokemon under control he wouldn't be in this mess.
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:27 pm
Well, he was a lovely person, wasn't he? She pursed her lips and attempted not to glare at him as she helped him to the bench, and when he sat she remained standing, though set Zeus on the bench. The Pikachu immediately set about licking chocolate off his tail gleefully. At his wonderful comments, she put her hands on her hips and scowled. "I wouldn't mind if he did. He might, actually, since you're covered in chocolate." A moment later she realized her hands were too, and looked down at her pants with a defeated sigh. There were smudges of chocolate on one side anyway from carrying Zeus by the scruff. Odette would have a fit if Claire rode her like this... bah. Well, they were at the mall anyway, and she needed more clothes...
Zeus, after their comments, realized two things: One, he was swiftly running out of chocolate-covered areas on himself that he could reach. Two, Aulus' arms were also covered in chocolate. This discovery caused him to elicit a 'chu!' of glee as he jumped over to the scarred man and immediately set about licking his arms, starting all around his elbow. This development distracted Claire and her eyebrows rose, clearly not expecting Zeus to actually do as she said. "Zeus, don't--" But too late, he had found chocolate and nothing she said or did could separate him from Aulus' chocolatey arms.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:38 pm
Aulus squealed. He squealed like a little girl, and then started giggling like one as he tried to get out of reach of the licking; "Get off!" It was hard to sound gruff and manly whilst giggling like a girl. When the pikachu showed no sign of listening to him, he grabbed its scruff for the second time in less than five minutes and lifted it away from his arm.
"That's not funny," he told the electric type, trying to sound as though he found the beasts actions infuriating rather than kind of adorable. Dumb rat, it really did love chocolate - a love he could empathise with - and it hadn't meant him any harm by trying to get at it. It was the dumb trainer who he should be annoyed with, not the pikachu. Speaking of, Aulus turned his head to shoot her a glare, which he hoped was dark and dangerous enough to make up for his giggles. "Is this pikachu ever not causing trouble? Anyone would think you'd trained him to do it on purpose," he grumbled.
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 3:44 pm
...what. He was... giggling? Like a little girl?
The look on her face indicated this was a a complete and total surprise. So, when he turned to glare at her after disarming the Pikachu, he would see her attempting not to laugh herself. It was actually sort of hard. "He's been quite difficult to train," was all she said. Anymore and she might have slipped in a joke or taunt and then wouldn't be able to not laugh. It seemed Mr. Grouchy Face wasn't so mean after all, if he was ticklish and giggled like a little girl.
The Pikachu did not like this development, so he quite easily squirmed free of the man's grasp. His fingers were covered in chocolate, and the pokemon's scruff was still coated as well, which made it incredibly simple and easy to accomplish. With a leap and a bound he was back up on the bench again, and proceeded to attack Aulus' arms with his tongue for the second time, except this time he aimed for the other one.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 4:49 am
He could see that laugh she was trying to hold back. Thought it was funny did she? Aulus opened his mouth to say something really vicious, but was interrupted by the escape and subsequent second assault by her pikachu. "Get off! Not funny!" He tried not to shriek and giggle this time, and just barely succeeded and grabbing the pikachu again before he succumbed to the ticklish tongue. "Come here you," he lifted the electric type up to face level and glared at it, reiterating; "Not. Funny... Fine. I suppose it's the only way you'll leave me alone." Setting the chubby pokemon back on the bench, Aulus quickly scooped a quantity of slowly setting chocolate into one hand and held it out to his assailant. "See? Chocolate here, so you can leave my elbows alone..."
The black-haired woman must think he was a total idiot. First she saw him as a pikachu-rescuing chocolate-covered softie, and then he made a prat of himself on the escalator and had to accept her help walking to a bench, and now she knew he was ticklish. He tried for another dark glare. "You could've tried to help," he growled, "were you just planning to sit there and let him keep licking me or what?... What's his name, anyway? Best tell me now unless you want me to start calling him Chocolate or Idiot or something." He needed to find a way to recover from this disastrous first impression and fast. She must think he was a total joke.
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:01 am
Unfortunately for Aulus, it was far too late. Those few moments of girlish giggling and squealing had been forever burned into her mind and there was no way she could ever forget it. So, he liked to pretend to be all rough and tough, did he? That made her rather curious, and being the curious sort she didn't like to give up on something curious until she found out the why's and other similar questions. "Zeus," she answered, managing to reign in her near-giggling with a quiet clearing of her throat. "But I call him Idiot sometimes anyway, so he's used to it."
Zeus nearly squealed himself at the amount of offered chocolate, and quickly took the semi-solid into his own paws to devour it. It made Claire grimace again and look at anything besides the Pikachu. Neither had seemed affected in the slightest by his attempts at glaring. The Pikachu was impervious anyway, and Claire, well... That giggling had been more than enough. She avoided his question of her helping, because it was sort of obvious she had no intentions of stopping the Pikachu. First of all, he could do it himself, and second... Watching him squeal like a girl was freaking hilarious. "What's your name, by the way?" She would have offered hers first, but being cautious about non-Rockets made her attempt to figure out something for him to call her... Ah, might as well just use what she told Frost before. "You can call me Lucy." Not that it was a pretty name or anything, but old nicknames had their uses.
She wanted to tease him so bad. About anything. Anything at all, because squealing like a little girl? Seriously? Oh hell, he was practically asking for it, but she managed to refrain. Barely. Barely. She didn't really need to offend someone to the point of getting incredibly pissed anyway. Not that he scared her at all (sort-of lie), but she had no intentions of getting into any fights today.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:17 am
"Hu," Aulus glowered at the girl now known to him as Lucy for a moment before turning his attention back to her pikachu; "Nice to meet you Zeus, you can call me Aulus." It was a bit of a silly snub, he he was kind of grasping at straws here. She thought he was pathetic, stupid, weak, possibly even mildly adorable. What was he going to do? He was hardly in a position to get up and leave right now, and anyway Zeus was enjoying the chocolate... A lot of chocolate.
"He's going to feel really sick if he eats much more of this," Aulus commented, deigning to look at Claire again with yet another scowl. "Chocolate isn't the best thing in the world for pikachus even in pretty small quantities... Insatiable little sod, aren't you Zeus?" It wasn't his fault, he didn't know about nutrition and calories and food groups. His trainer ought to, and difficult or not she ought to take care of him.
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