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 Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 8:37 pm
Tunda carefully sets the bundle of items on the counter for the cashier to ring up. He leans against the counter slightly, trying to take weight off his injured leg. He was indeed getting tired, his ears now flicked flat against his head, tail hanging down behind him once more. Once everything was rung up and paid for, he carefully grabs the bag and waits for Mel to lead the way out.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:06 pm
The dragon kept watch over Tunda out of the corner of his eye as he paid for the clothes. The cashier's expression was suffused with consternation and indecision. All Mel could do was shrug slightly and frown, the sympathy on his face genuine. For all he knew the cashier took one look at the new clothing then at all the bruises and came to the conclusion that in her presence was a 'wife beater.' That or someone was trying to get away from one. Perhaps they would be lucky if the cashier did not call the police.
"Let me take that," Mel said gently, reaching back for the bag, though he would not force the issue if Tunda insisted on carrying it. Tunda's fatigue was obvious to him. "Would you like me to go get the car so you don't have to walk that far?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:24 pm
Tunda easily allows the other to take the bag from him, but his face paled greatly when the other asked if he wanted him to go get the car. "I.. I d-don't mind walking..." He stammers out quickly, his tail swishing rapidly behind him. He really didn't want to be left alone in this strange, busy place, where anything could happen to him without proper supervision. "I... do-don't wanna be left alone..." He whispers softly, looking up at Mel once more.
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Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2009 9:48 pm
Mel nodded. "I had a feeling you'd say that." It was no surprise, especially after his reaction outside the dressing room. Not only that but he could imagine what it must be like to be left in such a widely open, accessable place, no matter how close their parking spot was. How easy it would be for a former master to just drive up, grab Tunda, and never be seen again?
With that in mind he smoothly pushed the bag back into Tunda's grasp and without another word scooped the pokemon up into his arms. He might never have tried such a thing if he weren't a dragon; the strength in this body was surprising, and at times mind-boggling (at least to Mel!).
He proceeded into the parking lot with a grin. "I admire your tenacity. I know you're doing your best to keep up and to act like you're just fine, but you don't have to. You're not fooling anybody. Pick one random person off the street; they'll take one look at you and wonder how you're out of bed, let alone walking around the mall without your crutches. I should never have brought you out here today. So you know what? For the rest of the day you are sitting on your a**. You're not allowed to do anything but whine when you need something." Of course he wasn't seriously ordering the pokemon to do anything, but he was hoping he would. He deserved to be pampered.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:25 pm
Tunda squeaks as he is picked up, one hand clutching the bag for dear life, the other looping itself around Mel's neck for support as he was lifted up into the others arms. He blinks at Mel's statement, finding that he couldn't really argue, so he just nods meekly, his ears flat against his head once again, as if he'd just gotten a lecture. In all honesty, he wasn't used to being treated as something other than an object, so, being treated with such care was entirely new and alien to him. He curls into the strength of Mel's arms however as they cross the parking lot, noticing quite a few people stopped in their daily business to stare at the two of them. Most likely taking in his condition and condemning Mel for it. He shot these people an annoyed glance, hoping it would go unnoticed by Mel. He didn't want the other blamed for his appearance, especially since Mel had had nothing to do with how he had become injured.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:08 pm
Well at least Tunda was relaxed. How hard would it be if he was sitting there stiffly? Of course that also meant that Mel wasn't pressing on any injuries, causing Tunda to flinch. Major score there. Meanwhile, he was not privy to the looks Tunda was giving people; he was too busy making goofy ones of his own. He hated being stared at, even if he was odd enough to earn them on a good day. Between the two of them, people were hastily glancing away again.
He paused when they got to the car. Frowning slightly for a moment in contemplation, he continued on again until he reached the front and set the pokemon on the hood, just above the wheel well. "Hold on a sec while I unlock the doors," he said before fishing around for his keys. On second thought, he took the bag from Tunda's arms and tossed it in the back seat once the passenger door was open. Then he crawled across the seats to unlock his side before hopping out again.
"Bah, this must be so awkward for you," he said apologetically as he picked Tunda back up again. "I'm sorry." He fumbled with the door, finally prying it back open with a clawed toe. Somehow he got Tunda in his seat without hitting anyone's head on the door frame, using his handy leathery wings to prop the doorway so he didn't fall in Tunda's lap.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:14 pm
Tunda looks up at Mel as the other carefully placed him in the front seat. He peers around Mel slightly, noticing that one wing was holding the door open. "Doesn't that hurt..?" He asks curiously, knowing that doors in general could put quite a strain on delicate limbs, and those wings certainly looked delicate to Tunda's eyes. He nearly missed the comment about the whole situation being awkward for him, blinking back up at Mel's face before speaking again. "Everything that has happened to me recently has been... awkward." He says, giving a small, weary smile before laying a gentle hand on one of Mel's arms. "But... Thank you, though, for deciding to take care of me. I know I must be a huge burden." He says softly, eyes looking back down at his lap.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:51 pm
"Oh... well... it's easy to ignore," the dragon replied, chuckling sheepishly. This body did not bruise quite as easily as his original one however so it was even easier to ignore!
He glanced at the other's hand. Tunda rarely used gestures like this. He reached up to pat Tunda's hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Yeah... I know. I wish I could say I'm sorry for turning your life upside down, but I really thought I was doing the right thing. Once I decided that, it was easy enough to go through with, even though facing off with your former masters was terrifying." He frowned and watched Tunda drop his gaze. "Don't ever think you're a burden. Things will be difficult at first, sure, but you and I are both learning from all of this, we're growing. How can growing be a burden?" he asked with a broad grin.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:11 pm
Tunda had started to pull his hand back as he noticed Mel glancing at it, thinking he had overstepped some invisible boundary. At the patting and squeeze, however, he gave another small smile, then nods at the other's words. "A-alright. I'll try not to think of myself as a burden, but it's hard, since I was trained to always earn everything that had ever been given to me." His face flushed slightly at the memories that statement brought, but, he knew deep down that if he ever had to repay Mel back for everything he'd been given, he'd do it in a heartbeat. Mel was, of course, least likely to accept that kind of offer, but was also much less likely to beat him over anything.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:56 pm
"Obviously you aren't going to be able to do much right away, Tunda. No one's going to expect you to try to do much of anything. Trust me, I'm not the only one who would tell you to plant your a** for the next couple weeks." The dragon grinned and set the pokemon's hand back in his lap. "Don't worry about it for now. You'll find your niche sooner or later, but until then just try to enjoy being treated like a king." He chuckled then and leaned back outside again, made sure nothing would be caught in the door before closing it firmly. Then he circled back around the car and got himself strapped in before starting the car.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:03 pm
Tunda sighs and frowns slightly, then nods at the others words. "Alright. I'll just have to think of it as an order then, so that you don't worry about me if I don't say anything." He nods, watching the dragon out of the corner of his eye.
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:13 pm
"I would really prefer it if you just happened to decide you wanted to enjoy yourself," Mel replied, checking his windows before pulling out of the parking spot. "Since everything's so different for you, I know I can't expect you to just change how you think. So I'll try to make it easy on you. I can be forceful sometimes so I guess it's not that hard to do. But please try to think of it as me making a suggestion, and you have every right to say 'no,' no matter what. You also have every right to say 'yes,' if that's what you choose."
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:23 pm
Tunda blinks, nodding ever so slightly. He had, obviously, been trained to forget about what he may or may not want in life, always following his two former masters' wills. Now, however, he was going to have to learn to think for himself, which, in itself, seemed an impossible task to him. Briefly, he wondered if he would ever really be considered normal again. "Ano... But... Do you really think I can ever be... normal... considering what I've been through...?"
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:33 pm
"Well... I've never been normal, how should I know?" He smirked and glanced over at Tunda at a stop sign. "You know what anyone ever does? At least near as I can tell... Y'focus on each little decision. You ask yourself which possibility is what you want, which is best. Then you move on to the next decision. Every day is full of them. Some are bigger than others of course, but you can't waste time worrying about it. It's okay to make the wrong decision, or to make the right decision for the wrong reasons." He glanced back at the pokemon. "It's a lot to think about, I know. After a while you'll get used to it. Most things you can get used to after a while, right? But you're lucky with us, we're like a big family... sort of. You can take as much time as you need, and the others will back you up. You'll be able to sit back and think about what you really want, not just out of the small everyday things, but what you want to do with your life. That's not supposed to be stressful. And you know, it's okay if it takes you a long time to figure out what you want. Some people never figure it out." The dragon blinked, making a face and chuckling. "And you have to not let me ramble like that."
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Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:46 pm
Tunda blinks, then nods again, watching the lights for a moment, then slumping slightly in the seat, feeling tired all at once. "I'll try.... Really I will..."
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