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 Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 4:42 pm
Orihara desperately needed to get away from Asch. He had come so close to stabbing the teen on the way back to base, but the fact that he was driving and his hands were preoccupied with the steering wheel prevented him from fulfilling his urge.
It wouldn't have been a deep cut...just a few shallow ones, the sort that hurt more than any really serious wound. The sort that you wanted to scratch, but you couldn't because you'd open the scab or open the cut wider. In any case, it would have made the story about Asch being attacked by wild pokemon all the more convincing.
As soon as he got back and reported what had supposedly happened to the agent, Izaya allowed the medics to take care of the rest. Even now, two months later, he still couldn't stand to look at the young agent. The grunt needed to get away. He needed the familiarity of concrete sidewalks. He needed the obstacle course of a cityscape. He needed...people.
People were exactly what he got - just not the people he had expected. As soon as he had parked the van a few blocks outside Camphoreon and taken one step into the city, Izaya was seeing red. Literally. It was like Asch was haunting him out of spite, returning to trouble the informant some more.
Upon closer inspection, though, the Rocket forced himself to calm down and allow his usual logic to fall into place. If that wasn't Asch, that had to be Mr. Luke fon Fabre. But that was strange...no posse of trainer friends this time? Perhaps this wasn't such a horrible thing after all. The memory of the twin's unique flareon had not left him.
With the gaze of a predator, Izaya began to slip through the crowds towards the red-headed trainer, not realizing he was about to cross paths with yet another young man.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 5:20 pm
Why was the commercial area of Camphoreon always so crowded anyway? There were enough cars and buses and stuff on the road; there was no reason for so many people to be on the walkways as well. It could have been worse, Luke supposed - it could have been a festival or something. Those were always kind of... stifling. He didn't let it distract him too much, though, from his current considerations. His current project - or a side project, rather, with properly training his team remaining his main focus - was demystifying the process of obtaining an apartment in the city. He'd been in the region long enough that it stood without saying that he had no intent to return home any time soon, but the whole ordeal seemed somehow... secretive. Guy would probably help him if he asked, he understood, but he wanted to manage it by himself; he'd never figure out anything if always depended on his friend's guidance. And so he moved with the flow of the other pedestrians in a rough line towards a more residential area, absently thumbing through the newsprint real estate magazine in hands, completely unaware that he was apparently be stalked like some kind of prey.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 5:49 pm
The sidewalks were indeed not lacking in people, and despite his strange attire, another young man seemed to blend in with the crowd. A sword dangled from his left hand while a blue Growlithe also followed at his heels.
The sea breeze teased his long raven locks as he paused, catching sight of a familiar mop of red hair as it passed. He glanced over his shoulder as he watched Luke continue on his way. But due to his astute observation skills, he also noticed someone following the boy. Someone who didn't seem to have his best interests in mind.
He continued walking, although now he'd altered his path just slightly to cross Izaya's. Striding along casually, Yuri then discreetly shifted to the side just in time for his shoulder to connect with that of the shorter asian man.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 7:27 pm
Just as he was nearing his target, Izaya grinned and reached in his pocket for a pokeball - but was bumped and dropped it before he could look at whose it was. Glancing at the long-haired individual who had seemingly 'accidentally' run into him, he froze for a second. No, it couldn't be - could it?
The sun was behind the person's face so he couldn't make out their features, but Izaya had enough enemies to realize when he was being harassed. Confused and stunned, he forced a sheepish smile. "Ah, Namie-san! What a surprise! Wait here for a moment, will you?"
Pivoting sharply, he maneuvered through the crowd and even used a few parking meters as stepping stones as he followed the pokeball's progress. He didn't have to search for long.
"CHING! Chingling ching!" cried the Psychic-type as first its pokeball and then itself slammed into Izaya's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to fall back. "-OOF!"
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 8:05 pm
Something familiar passed by his peripheral vision, bringing Luke to slow his pace until curiosity got the better of him. By the time he had turned around, something seemed to be going on, as indicated by the few startled cries that rose from the crowd. Luke wasn't really sure what he had expected to find on the sidewalk behind him, but it certainly wasn't some guy getting tackled by a Chingling. And oh hey, there was Yuri.
Come to think about it, the man who'd been knocked backwards was kind of familiar too. He was that weird guy with little regard for personal space who'd tried to buy Mieu, wasn't he? Luke recalled sort of disliking him, but then he recalled sort of disliking everyone around the time he'd arrived at Kodo, so it stood to reason that his opinion could have been flawed. Surrendering to benefit of the doubt, he thought he could at least make sure the Chingling wasn't about to maul him. ...Did Chingling even have teeth?
He approached somewhat warily, his confusion towards the scene evident in his features, "Uh, do you need a hand or something?" Preeeetty sure Chingling didn't have teeth.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 8:13 pm
Of all the reactions he had expected, that hadn't been one of them. Yuri blinked as a foreign name was flung at him. Namie-san? What the-? And then he watched as the man darted off and collided with a Chimecho.
Placing his hand on his hip, Yuri turned to watch the events unfold as Luke then approached the guy and offered to help him. Staying put for the moment, he waited to see what would happen next. This could be interesting.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 8:38 pm
Heaving himself up onto his elbows, the irked informant looked up to see Luke standing above him, offering him a hand. This surprised Izaya, though he still noted the hesitance and caution in his actions as well as the confusion on his face. Returning his expression to his usual grin, he shook his head and hopped to his feet, dusting himself off. How embarrassing...
"Ching-LING!" yelped the white bell pokemon, its pink-heart-patterned face turning upward as it slid off Izaya's stomach and fell on its back. It stared up at the two trainers for a bit before merrily getting back to its feet (which took some effort and a bit of rolling around before he remembered he could levitate) and happily clunging to Izaya's leg. Then it switched over to Luke's, nuzzling him affectionately. "Ling, ching!"
"Ugh...make up your mind already," Izaya snarled at it under his breath before realizing he was in front of an audience. Clapping his hands together, he beamed. "I think I finally understand how annoying it is to have a pokemon obsess over you." He sighed helplessly. "Meet Delic. A shameless flirt."
As if on que, the happy psychic-type floated up and perched on Izaya's shoulder, giving Luke a silly little salute and a suggestive wink. Which was odd coming from a squinty-eyed, spherical creature.
"I daresay his obnoxiousness might rival even that of your Flareon's. Mieu, right?" he asked, still smiling. "Still keeping 'em with you?"
All the while he was speaking, he prayed Luke wouldn't notice the beads of sweat trickling down the sides of his face. Either that, or that Luke would just attribute it to the little chase he'd just had. Namie was close. What did that mean? Would she ignore him? She didn't work for him anymore, so she couldn't still want to kill him...right?
Meanwhile, Delic had swerved and was looking out from his trainer's shoulder like a sailor from a crow's nest. "Chingling?" he said curiously, noticing the pair of obsidian orbs on them. He tapped the Rocket's shoulder excitedly. Izaya ignored him. He tapped some more. Izaya literally brushed him off.
Taking this as a 'Do Not Disturb' sign, Delic floated a little ways toward the stranger, glanced back at Izaya, and then floated some more. He'd come back to his trainer later. This new person was funny. Delic couldn't tell if it was male or female, but that didn't matter to the psychic-type.
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Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 9:08 pm
Luke regarded the little creature that briefly attached itself to him with a vague sense of befuddlement, deciding once and for all that it didn't have teeth. His attention returned to the pokemon's trainer as he introduced it, and he gave a short laugh at the thing's salute and returned it with a faint waving motion - the implications of the wink, even after hearing the psychic-type described as flirtatious, were altogether lost.
Mention of Mieu under such a description dampened Luke's demeanor; he had talked about the Flareon that way, hadn't he? It kind of hurt to be reminded of that, especially after the fire-type had stood beside him through everything. "Yeah," he answered, tucking his hands into his pockets and dipping his head slightly down. "He's always with me." A mild attempt to right the man's perception of Mieu, since he'd clearly given him a very wrong idea.
He watched as Delic attempted to get his trainer's attention to no avail before merely wandering off on his own, and he gestured after him slightly, "I think he's leaving...?" Or possibly investigating Yuri. He did seem to be headed in that general direction.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 7:11 am
As Yuri stood there, watching the events unfold, he then looked down to see a strange thing floating towards him. Was it.. a Pokemon? He could only assume so since he'd never seen such a thing before. He also couldn't help but notice how girly it looked with the hearts and all.
Repede tilted his head up to stare evenly at the Chingling, giving it a single bark of greeting before he folded his haunches in a sit. He sensed they might be here for a bit. Today there was a plastic spoon hanging from his mouth, his most recent acquisition from where Yuri had eaten lunch.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 10:32 am
"Mmm...?" Raising his brows at Luke's reaction to his talk of Mieu, Izaya could tell something had changed. Could it have been shame that he was reading in the teen's behavior? "Has Lukey-chan's attitude toward his faithful companion changed...?"
He smirked, wondering if this had something to do with the other trainers' influence on Luke. Or maybe even Asch's influence on him. "How...unfortunate. It would seem I'm alone in my beliefs on pokemon once again~" Izaya's perception of pokemon had also changed since they last met, but it wasn't anywhere near the level of what Luke's change. Besides, the informant would have never admitted it out loud.
"Eh...? Damn it- DELIC!" He wasn't in the mood for this. What the hell was that psychic-type doing? Maybe he should have just stuck to dark-types. This thing almost seemed more trouble than it was wor-
Orihara pulled up short. That was Namie he was going to! ...Or was it? Last he'd seen her properly, he has still been at least half a head taller than her. And with an undeniably larger bust. Was his weary mind playing tricks on him again? Why was he mistaking so many people for others today?
Delic, meanwhile, smiled broadly, responding to Repede's bark with a playful, "Ching!" He floated over and wondered why the canine had a spoon in his mouth, and if he had just eaten something sweet. Deic loved sweets.
Snatching his pokemon out of the air by the trailing tie that adorned it, Izaya grabbed it to his chest. Instead of struggling or protesting, the Chingling enthusiastically embraced its owner, nuzzling into the man's chest. Immediately the grunt regretted having grabbed him. No help for it now, though.
"Ah...gomen," the Rocket apologized guiltily, dipping his head in apology to Yuri. "I don't know what got into him. Or me," he added as an afterthought. "You, uh...you reminded me of someone I knew. I'm sorry."
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:06 am
"I don't know about changed... Maybe, I guess?" He wouldn't really call it 'change,' per se... It was more like being more aware of how he'd felt on the matter all along, or more capable of expressing that or-- That was a disgustingly sappy train of thought, and he duly abandoned it. It was probably more realistic to say that his perception had indeed changed anyway. He shrugged vaguely, "Seems like it's kinda hard not to be friendly to something that's always friendly to you." That was his own experience, anyway.
As Izaya's attention was drawn to the Chingling and its target, Luke took a few advancing steps himself to place himself more in the vicinity of Yuri and, by property of association, the Chingling and its trainer. He raised a hand in greeting.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:16 am
As Izaya apologized Yuri looked on with brows raised in amusement. Although the word "gomen" was completely lost on him. "What did you call me?"
He then caught sight of Luke again as he approached and lifted his hand from his hip in returned greeting, a friendly smile on his face.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 11:51 am
"Well, something definitely changed," Izaya remarked, though mostly to himself. "As for your reasoning with friendliness...I'm afraid I have to disagree." Delic was still nuzzling his face against his trainer's shirt. "Vehemently."
"Call you...?" The Japanese man blinked. "Ah, I said 'gomen'. Force of habit. Means 'sorry'." He continued to regard the taller figure, surprised at how deep and...masculine their voice was. It didn't seem to match the person's soft features, wide eyes, and round face at all. Come to think of it...were girls daring enough to wear V-necks that low, even if there was almost no cleavage to speak of?
With his back to Luke, the grunt didn't realize the red-head knew the stranger until the long-haired one raised a hand in return. Izaya glanced over his shoulder. "...Ehh? Lukey-chan knows this young lady~?"
"Ching, chiiiiingling~?" Delic mimiced Izaya, although in a tone that implied a stronger sense of innuendo.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 12:05 pm
"Heh." Yeah, it sure didn't look like the two got along all that well. Well, not mutually, at least. "You never know. He might grow on you without you ever realizing it." He gave an earnest shrug that very clearly said maybe, maybe not. He wasn't a psychic, after all.
Luke listened to the short exchange absently, snapping to attention when he realized he was being addressed. "Uh...?" His initial reaction was of course to wonder what young lady Izaya referred to, but then the word 'princess' came to mind and Luke realized whom his words indicated. He offered a faintly apologetic smile, "I think there's a misunderstanding, but yeah, I know him." Emphasis, him.
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 1:32 pm
Oh, come on. Yuri was aware that his appearance could be deceiving, but he also knew most people tended to realize his gender after he spoke. The fact that this guy referred to him as a lady, annoyed him a little, but he didn't let it show. Instead he just heaved one of his exaggerated sighs as his hand returned to his hip.
Luke's emphasis on the him though, was certainly appreciated.
"Yeah, I'm a guy. Name's Yuri. Nice to meet you."
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