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 Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:09 pm
Ha! He'd managed to pin the b*****d and get him right where he was vulnerable! Sitting atop the toppled Conri's chest with claws pressed down into the larger pokemon's forelimbs, Kabuki's muzzle twisted into a horrible half-grin-- which wasn't really a grin at all, but such a disgruntled and livid snarl that it looked almost cheerful. Oh, the fleabag would pay dearly now! He'd--
... No. No no NO, the fleabag had NOT just done what he thought he'd done!
But he had, and Kabuki's eyes glazed over in a total stupor. His cheek was covered in houndoom slobber, and... just how was someone supposed to respond to that kind of cheap-a** tactic?!
".. Wha..." His face unraveled to a blank state, then shifted back again to confusion, and finally... "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN SKULL?!"
... Of course, he was one to talk, rear planted firmly on Con's chest and still looking ready to tear his throat open.
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:21 pm
Oh, yes that fleabag had just done exactly what Kabuki thought he had done. It couldn’t have been very many other things, not unless Con had somehow fallen upwards while pinned and had hit his tongue against Kabuki’s cheek by accident by some sort of reversal of gravity. Maybe if he needed a really stupid excuse in the future, he would try that. But, for now, it would certainly not work.
In response to Kabuki’s growls and snarls, Con simply looked smug and proud of himself, as if he had accomplished some impossible task. “Well, you are sitting on my chest after tackling me. I was simply curious to see how you’d react. Besides, it was very cute. But, luckily for Con, his brain did not want to be eaten by a pissed-off Ninetales, no matter how adorable the pokémon in question was. Therefore, he kept this observation to himself and merely continued looking up at Kabuki with that smug expression on his face.
“Besides, I think it’s a pretty strange reaction to being told that you look cute,” he added after a moment’s thought. Kabuki could have just laughed Con off as ‘a senile old man’, but he didn’t. Instead, he placed special significance on the words. Huh. There was probably some sort of story there.
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:31 pm
... Oh, right-- he was perched on him and pinning his forepaws, wasn't he? Well, Con had just been begging for that kind of retaliation with his snide remarks, so Kabuki didn't feel particularly guilty over it. Awkward? Sure. But guilty not so much.
Well, at least the 'cute' insults were done with (he hoped) for now, and the Ninetales paused briefly to sober himself, the haughty anger slowly fizzling out until a look of peeved exasperation was all that remained on his face. With a last half-hearted growl he leapt off, sidestepping his victim and subconsciously willing his tails to de-frizz.
"... Well, you got your damn 'curiosities' satisfied now, alright?!" he spat, and promptly turned his back to the latter, taking a few steps off in no particular direction. He just... wanted to be away, wherever that was. "I'm not some stupid fluffy toy for you to coo at and humiliate just because you're 'curious'!"
Hmph, even Malice treated him better than that! At least she respected his strength and didn't call him such.... such ridiculous and insulting things!
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 9:45 pm
Once Kabuki had climbed off of him, Con got up slowly, as if nothing had happened. Also, one of his joints was starting to hurt, after being held in an awkward position for so long. Most of Kabuki’s words washed over him; they sounded like the usual words of anger and… well… frizz-inducing cuteness, so that hardly mattered. A few words struck very specific neurons in Con’s brains: I’m not some fluffy toy. That sounded like there was some sort of story behind it. And now Con felt the crushing guilt… he hadn’t realized that Kabs was taking it like that… he thought that the Ninetales just had some sort of weird self-esteem problem or something.
“Kabs…” He stopped himself, shook his head, and quickly trotted after the Ninetales to catch up. “Kabuki. I’m sorry; I didn’t realize that you thought of it like that. Believe me, I know what it’s like to be treated as a tool.” Oh, yes. Con wasn’t the type to engage in stupid angsty pissing contests ‘my-life-is-worse-than-yours’, but he did occasionally have to remind others that, yes, he did indeed know what it was like to be abused. Clearly, Kabuki needed a reminder of that now.
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Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2008 10:00 pm
... To be perfectly honest, Kabuki wanted nothing to do with anyone right the, particularly the Houndoom who'd put him in such a state, and yet... the violent fire had dissipated in his eyes, merely looking over his shoulder with a kind of weary half-interest. The encounter had worn him out-- and that didn't mean physically.
"Look, you--" he started, but caught himself, resigning with a heavy sigh and drooping his ears. "... Con, I don't need your pity, alright? Just... knock it off with the damned cute s**t. I told you; I'm not a toy, and I'm not 'adorable', either. I'm a fighter, and that's it."
Still, he slowed his pace a little, deciding that it wasn't worth it to try and race ahead of the rickety old houndoom. He didn't have the energy for it, somehow.
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:01 pm
Actually, Kabuki was still annoyingly cute, even when depressed. In fact, when the Ninetales sighed and drooped his ears, Con’s first impulse was to try snuggling him. This is a very difficult feat for a creature with four legs and no hands, but he felt he was a top-grade snuggler anyway. Not that he actually tried it; he very much enjoyed living, even with rickety joints that didn’t work properly all the time. He snorted and rolled his eyes at Kabuki’s words.
“It’s not pity, Kabuki. It’s called sympathy. Come on, say it with me: Sym-path-ee. Or is it empathy? I always get those two mixed up… either way, it’s not pity. Pity would mean that I’ve never had a similar experience and merely feel sorry for you. Instead, I suppose it’d be more accurate to say I feel sorry with you because you’re not the only one in the world who’s ever been treated like a thing.” Once again, Con was vaguely worried that he’d be pulled into one of those stupid pissing contests, the ones that went, ‘My-angst-is-bigger-than-yours’. It was a stupid game and everyone ended up depressed afterwards.
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Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 9:22 pm
... Well, pity, sympathy, empathy or whatever, it was all a new and unsettling experience for Kabuki. Mal had always treated him with a kind of reserved dignity, careful to make certain that his pride was never questioned, and that had made the girl easily tolerable despite her coddling-- but this was just... just...
Dammit, he didn't even know what it was, and that only made the situation worse!
"Look, I don't care what it is," the frustrated fox hissed... or growled in pathetic resignation, still dragging his paws along through the dirt at a sluggish pace. He seemed preoccupied with staring at his forepaws. "I don't need it. I'm not that weak, understand?"
It sounded more like he was reassuring himself than informing Con, honestly. Either way, it wasn't particularly convincing.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:06 pm
Con may have spent the majority of his life with only a grumpy umbreon and an even worse absol for company, but even he could recognize that Kabuki was trying to convince himself rather than the houndoom. And, because he recognized that, he also kept his mouth shut. It was a struggle, it really was, especially since he had a number of smart comments that he could have made, something along the lines of, ‘yeah, because, clearly, anyone who flies into a rage at being called ‘cute’ is clearly strong’. And it would have been such a perfect comment too… But, since he was rather fond of Kabuki---in that ‘he’s fun to tease’ sort of fondness---he held his tongue. He didn’t even say anything to even humor Kabuki, like, ‘Of course you’re strong…’ because that would merely insult the Ninetales’ pride even more.
Still, he felt like he should say something… something reassuring. But, nothing came to mind; he’d already said he was sorry. That was pretty much it, as far as he could figure. Besides, if he said anything else, then Kabuki would merely take it all personally and whatnot and probably attack him again and Con’s back already hurt enough. For now, he decided, he should walk in silence.
~.~
Alastair, however, never walked in silence. This was a survival trait; back on the farm, if you were approaching a rapidash, you wanted to make sure it heard you BEFORE you touched it. A startled rapidash could very easily reduce someone to a smear on the ground, which was not something that Alastair personally aspired to in life. He wasn’t entirely sure, but he felt pretty certain that surprising Mal would have even more dire repercussions, perhaps involving fourteen olives, some thin rubber tubing and, possibly, a rubber duck.
He could be totally off though.
“Mal! Ma…” he stopped there, looking over at the clearly sleeping girl under the trees. Aww… his shoulders slumped and, just for a moment, he felt bad for himself; now who was he supposed to bother? Once he got over his moment of self-pity, he noticed a few other things, like the fact that Mal looked like a dire warning against going more than two weeks without sleep. Poor girl…
Lum followed in Alastair’s footsteps, bleating happily when she saw Stell. She remembered that flaafy! Her bleats were cut off by Alastair reaching down and clamping her muzzle shut with one hand, but Lum didn’t seem to mind. She was just happy to see Stell again.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:47 pm
... Oh, silence. It was only now that Kabuki had it that he realized how desperately he'd been craving the bliss of zero commentary, left to at last to stew on his bitter thoughts of disgruntlement and confusion. He really didn't know what to feel towards Con anymore; hatred seemed far too strong, and yet... there was a kind of bitter, frustrated, awkward something there that he just couldn't get his paws around.
Either way, the Ninetales didn't linger there for long, merely passing a glance (as nonchalant and cool at he could possibly fake) over one shoulder and heaving a sigh before, like a bolt of cream-colored lightning, he took off into the woods.
Elsewhere, things were much more peaceful... but not really, as Mal's quiet dreams were instantly disrupted by a familiar (and grating) voice. Despite Alaister's best efforts, the shabby looking redhead gave a dull groan, cracking one eye open and blearily trying to comprehend the new intruder. Sepia, curled tightly in her lap, seemed equally groggy and off-kilter as she tried and failed to pull herself upright. The little Eevee was sporting deep purple bags under each eye.
Stell on the other hand (for once) recognized the newcomer easily, bleating a chipper hello and waving with one stubby hand... while Phinneas shrieked and cowered in her lap, and Saul gazed on with snobby indifference.
"... A... Alaister? What are you--" Mal took a moment to clear her sandpapery throat, coughing into one hand and using the back of it to scrub sleep from her eyes. "... What are you doing out here? I mean-- Oh." And then, as if just seeming to realized her pathetic condition, she straightened, forcing a composed look. "This isn't a trail leading anywhere in particular, I mean... Trainers don't come out here on a regular basis..."
And just where had Kabuki run off to, she wondered? He'd been there when she'd fallen asleep...
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:03 pm
When Kabuki, once again, took off into the woods, Con let out a sigh. Damnit, but he really was getting tired of running… still, he tried to run after the Ninetales anyway, forcing his slightly stiff limbs to move. He got only a few steps before his joints all but screamed in retaliation, now calling upon those old debts of his. He whined pathetically, as if hoping that the noise might bring Kabuki back. But, it looked as if the Ninetales was stubbornly set on growling at something angrily. Well, fine. Con huffed before turning around and starting his limping walk back to the camp.
Snuffling along the ground, he soon caught Alastair’s scent and followed it diligently.
~.~
“See, if this was a normal situation, I’d answer a question like that by saying, ‘Oh, I’ve just been sitting here… observing, complete with an eyebrow waggle,” Alastair said conversationally. Brushing off some dead leaves from an upraised root, he sat down and looked through his pack a little. No trainer went anywhere without a pack, and this one was more careful than most about some things. “But, somehow, I doubt that this is the right time. You look like something the Hellbeast dragged in, Mal. And then got dragged outside again. And then dragged inside again before flopping down before the fireplace and chewing on it” Nah, he wasn’t going to ask any tricky questions like, ‘so, why are YOU out here, Mal?’ because he seriously doubted he would get any answers.
Ah, right… here’s what he was looking for. Pulling out his water bottle, he offered it to her. “Without drugs and everything. Come on, you need it more than I do. I was just passing through when Con got Kabuki’s scent. I was just following Con. He likes hunting and it gets him outside. Honestly, it’s best to let Con hunt in secluded areas, otherwise he ends up chasing down some trainer’s poor Pikachu. Actually, between you and me, that is pretty damn hilarious. Still, I have gotten tired of dealing with idiots who, for some reason, decide that Con needs lots of hugs. Takes forever to get the blood out of clothes.”
Lum quickly trotted over to her best friend forever---ignoring Phinneas---and bleated again, her little tail wagging behind her. Snuggles!! She loved snuggles! Still not noticing Phin---which took some doing, seeing as he was a shrieking ball of terror---she nuzzled against Stell, all happy and warm and fluffy!
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:27 pm
Who could guess where Kabuki had spirited off to... but there was no doubt that the Ninetales would return at some point. For all of his snarling and feral attitude, he just didn't have it in him to abandon his trainer and return to the great blue (well, green) yonder.
"..." Obviously not about to take him at his word alone, Mal eyed the water bottle with the look of someone surveying a goblet for poisoned wine. Sure, he was a nice enough lad-- but she wasn't stupid enough to exempt him from the possibility of antics, either... particularly when they had mysteriously chanced across one another in such a remote area. Just how in the world did they keep doing this, anyway? To blame it on coincidence was too ridiculous... but fate wasn't logical, either!
"... Ah, thanks," she finally resolved and cautiously accepted the offer, taking a quick swig before she glanced down at her lap, to the very shaky looking Sepia. "... Here, Sep. Try it." Obediently, the Eevee opened her little mouth and repeated the action, if not a little more clumsily, as little dribbles of water fell off her chin and stained her muzzle. Mal was kind enough to wipe it away with a shirt sleeve, and gave her a soft pat on the head.
"I've just been... camping out for a few days in the area," she added quietly, with a kind of half-hearted shrug. "Sepia's not been well." ... Which was ironic, coming from someone who looked like death warmed over.
Stellar, all the while, also seemed blithely unaware of Phinneas's panic (despite the fact that he was still cowering in her lap) and threw her stumpy arms around Lum's tummy in a gleeful embrace, bleating... as the little Shinx down below whimpered and tried his best not to suffocate. The poor boy.
... Saul, however, found his pain and panic rather amusing.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:48 pm
Alastair didn’t seem to think anything was weird about them randomly coming across each other. He wasn’t a huge believer in fate or anything, but… well, when you got right down to it, there’s only so many people in the world, right? So, you’re bound to come across someone once in a while. Besides, Con seemed pretty fond of Kabuki; that only made it more likely, seeing as houndooms were amazing trackers and hunters. “Yes, I can see that…” poor little eevee… hopefully, she would be alright. Living on a farm meant you learned about death bright and early, most likely before the sun rose. Several times, Alastair had been called out to the fields to deal with a mareep having a particularly difficult lambing. Sometimes you just had to… give what help you could. With all of this in mind, he eyed Sepia critically, hoping that it wouldn’t come to that.
“Well, she’s still drinking; there’s always hope so long as they’re drinking,” he said, partly to himself and partly to reassure Mal. “You know, she’d get much better help at a PokeCenter… why don’t yo… oh…” just a moment too late, he remembered Mal’s curious aversion to PokeCenters. Well… that changed things a bit. Still, this had to go beyond Mal’s normal hatred of her family; surely, she would put the eevee’s health above all other things…
So, that meant that the eevee’s decline had been a recent thing, which didn’t at all answer why Mal was out here in the first place. “Never mind that; I know you don’t like going to PokeCenters. I’ve never been completely comfortable with handing over mine to complete strangers either.” Although, to Mal, they wouldn’t be strangers, now would they?
Finally, when being hugged against Phin, Lum noticed something cowering. She blinked in surprise and looked down at the little blue shinx. Bleating happily, she shoved her face right up close to his, apparently having absolutely no concept of personal space.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:04 pm
"Yes, she's been taking fluids well enough..." Discussing medical and health-related affairs was surprisingly easy to do with Alaister... but then again, it was a subject Mal had grown up with, and knew better than most. Heaving a plainly worn-out sigh, she traced her fingers around to the backs of Sepia's ears, scratching lightly until the little Eevee's weak legs gave out, and she dropped back onto her stomach with eyes closed.
She was about to say more, when Alaister made the dire mistake of mentioning a Pokemon Center-- and all the (scant) color drained from her face in an instant. Her lips tightened in a grimace that reeked of discomfort, and she coughed (a bit too harshly) into her hand, as if that might somehow magically change the subject.
"I-It's only a sporadic deteoration, though," she added suddenly, completely glossing over what he'd just said. "It seems to come and go on a daily basis... She's usually a bit less listless by evening, at the very least..."
If only the same could be said for Sepia's human caretaker-- but Mal seemed to be holding together... sort of, and no doubt that her sad state was only a side effect of nursing care to the miserable Pokemon.
Poor, poor, panic-stricken Phin didn't stand a chance against Lum's cheery hellos-- especially when Stellar thought it would be a GRAND idea to grab him under the arms and hold him up like some kind of prize for the Mareep to recieve. Confronted with the giant, bold, over-noisy face of a total (but not really) stranger, for a moment he just sort of... stared.
Another moment later, however, he suddenly shrieked, foam spluttering at the corners of his mouth... and promptly fainted.
Saul had never laughed harder.
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 7:38 pm
It often came as a surprise to people that Alastair actually did know about a few pokémon diseases and was actually somewhat knowledgeable about medicine. Nowhere near as knowledgeable as Mal, but he could keep up. Mostly. If he couldn’t, he figured that staring at her mournfully would work well enough. “Well, she’s still eating and drinking. Sounds like she’ll get over it soon…” they all did, sooner or later. It was just that some pokémon who ‘got over it’ simply didn’t live afterwards.
Although… although… he scratched one cheek thoughtfully, thinking about the first evolution he had ever seen, a ponyta growing up into a fine rapidash. Ol’ Podarge had been a little green around the gills for a bit. Mostly just interested in eating and drinking for a week or so before she finally evolved completely. But this was clearly a different case; Podarge didn’t have this whole daily illness before getting better at night. Probably just some sort of cold maybe.
Same with Mal, he supposed. Most likely the result of spending the nights in the forest to avoid the pokémon centers. “Still, your aversion seems rather… foolish, considering the circumstances. I know that you don’t like going to pokecenters, but what’s more important? Sepia’s health or your own personal comfort? And, yes, that is a rhetorical question because I know full and well what the answer is.”
Bushes rustled softly as Con slunk into the little clearing. Looking around everything regally, the white houndoom circled the area, just once, to create a distinct perimeter. Only then did he flop down on the ground nearby Alastair and put his head on his paws. His tail thumped once or twice before he closed his eyes, apparently intending to nap. Alastair didn’t seem to think this was weird at all and merely patted the houndoom’s head a few times. “Huh… guess Kabuki lost him… Con’s a good tracker and hunter, but he can’t go for long. Joints give him trouble. I still haven’t figured out how to help him with that problem. Do you have any ideas?”
As Phin fainted, Lum let out a frightened bleat and moved even closer to the little shinx, nudging him with her nose. She stared at the fainted Phin then at Stell and bleated again, clearly pleading with the older flaafy to help. But… but, a little thought sparked in Lum’s brain, pointing out that Stell didn’t seem scared at all. Maybe this was normal?
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Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 8:07 pm
"... what’s more important? Sepia’s health or your own personal comfort?"
Okay, now that comment struck a raw nerve, and Mal made no attempt to hide it. Her entire body stiffened as if by reflex, jaw clenching slightly as her hazy eyes suddenly sharpened to an irritated glare. Sick and tired or not, the fact that he would make such an insinuation was just... just...
"Pokecenters are unnecessary for me at this point, Alaister," she told him, voice sharp as a knife. "And I have my reasons. Don't call something foolish if you have no knowledge about it."
... Well, that had been a little caustic. Still, she shifted quickly to the next subject at hand, shrugging lightly at the sight of Con. "... Kabuki is swift footed. I'm not surprised... But he'll come back in his own time."
It was almost surprising, how much faith and certainty she seemed to have concerning that wily fox. Most trainers would've been panicking if their semi-feral Pokemon had taken off and gone AWOL, but she knew better. And knew that Kabu knew better, too.
In her lap, it seemed that Sepia had drifted off again, wheezing in a kind of pasty, lethargic, comatose sleep that was not natural in the slightest. Yes, it had to be a cold.
As for poor Phinneas, the little Shinx had now become a ragdoll in Stellar's lap-- and she was sure treating him like it, flapping his forepaws like a toy and gleefully tugging his muzzle about to make different expressions of silliness. It was all in love, of course! Gesturing to the lifeless body gleefully, she smiled down at Lum in a reassurance that, yes, this was perfectly normal-- and she was free to try playing with him, too!
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