There had been a visitor, a strange boy who looked part Pokemon though how this was possible she didn't know but she could sense the power from him and knew deep inside he was someone, or something quite powerful despite his innocent looking exterior. Who he was, she didn't know but her master seemed to, and that was all that ever mattered to Mei, that he knew.
Such as him knowing he was going to die. He'd warned her weeks ago that his time was coming to an end, and there would be an auspicious visitor soon and after that, his spirit would leave his body and be free, leaving behind the empty vessel.
Even as she walked, she couldn't help but thinking back to the night they'd gotten their visitor, at the look she'd been given after the boy had left, the final words spoken by her aging master. He'd chuckled and spoken
Those had been his final words to her, and while she was glad he was no longer suffering from the ailments of old age such as pain and sickness, she still missed him terribly. Staying in his home was not an option, as the Pokemon owned by his great grandson were horrible to her, teasing her mercilessly about the meaning of her name, as she did not fit it in the slightest. They'd never been on good terms, and so leaving with them coming to lay claim to her home was for the best.
After the funeral the family had gathered and honored the spirit. It was while all slept that she took her leave with nothing to her name. She would survive, and she knew it even if it was with an aching heart.
Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 8:40 am
How to Calm a Mind
Ever since the death of her master, and her subsequent leaving to be on her own Mei had felt highly unsettled and cut loose. It was no wonder really, she'd lived with the man for many years and she'd lost her trainer and friend when he'd died.
Still, she traveled, and sought to learn what she could as she went, though her heart ached, and her mind was troubled.
She came across what she thought was a temple in her traveling and moved towards it, and found an out of the way spot to settle with her eyes closed. So it was with surprise she found herself with someone settled in front of her apparently meditating.
There was a grin from him at her startled response. "It's okay, you can stay. Welcome to my home. You look troubled, would you like me to show you a way to calm your mind and thoughts?"
Mei nodded her head eagerly, and listened to the instructions being given to her by the other, and closed her eyes again and began to do as he said, breathing slowly.
Time slipped away without her truly noticing and when she opened her eyes up once again she felt so much better. There was a startled gasp from her however as she found herself sitting not in a temple, or someone's home..but very simply in the middle of a field.
"What...happened!?"
She had no clue what had happened....but she felt better for what she was taught even if the whole experience left her slightly unsettled. Still, Calm Mind was a handy thing she determined.
Shopping was needed...a few of his favorite things had gotten semi-mangled lately in his daily romps with Big Daddy, and while he wasn't against the fun of it all, he hated that sometimes his clothes were paying the price. "Come on Brenny, lets go for a walk...maybe you can show me around the city a little? It seems really big..." the Mienfoo was out of her element in such a large city, so getting to learn the place better was probably a good idea really. "Maybe we can find something for you to take home to your daddy..."
"Oooh, we can bring a present home for Daddy!" Brenny was thrilled at the idea. Maybe they would make a friend! Maybe they would meet another wild pokemon to bring home. Maybe they would meet Kermit the Frog! How exciting! Going out on an adventure always was; but now that he had Mei to go with, things had become even better. It seemed having a friend to explore with made things twice as exciting. "Maybe I can buy you something too!" he exclaimed, beaming at the mienfoo. "I can buy you something to eat or play with."
"I think bringing a present home for him would be a very nice thing really." Mei smiled at the Celebi boy as she spoke. His enthusiasm was adorable, and really she didn't have the heart to tell him she was a bit old for playing. She recalled cavorting around many years ago.....many, many years ago. She felt closer in age to Connie...perhaps a little older though she knew her size, and the fact she was a Pokemon was misleading at times. She dealt with it easily enough. "If you'd like to buy me something you may, you always point out the most interesting things to try." Mei was walking along with Brenny rather slowly, enjoying the day when she heard an impatient clearing of a throat behind them and looked over her shoulder at a grumpy looking Mawile looking down at them. "You mind moving out of the way? Some of us don't have all day!"
"You don't have to be so mean!" Brenny turned to face the mawile, crossing his arms. "Some of us are just having a good time. You should try it!" He hesitated, scooping Mei up. He didn't know what kind of pokemon this mawile was, but he didn't feel it was very friendly. "Come on Mei, he doesn't seem like he's very nice," he said. "We can go look for presents somewhere else."
Scooped up wasn't such a bad thing really, it was a little less unnerving than having that grumpy looking teen glaring so far down at her. Her eyes narrowed however at the tone. "Now listen here! We have every bit as much right to be walking along the street as you do." "Of course you do, but do you need to do it so slowly? I need to do my shopping and get back to the club so I can work tonight sheesh." "And we were supposed to know this how?" The Mawile teen looked momentarily angry. "Of course. No one ever knows who I am...damn Reese and his stupid fuc.." "Watch. Your. Mouth." "Excuse me?" "You heard me. You need to watch the bad language, Brennen doesn't need to hear that." "Well excuuuuuuse me princess." Mei shook her head. "Come on Brenny, I think we should go, he's not going to be easily reasoned with I see."
"You shouldn't say mean words," Brenny said, shaking his finger at the teenager. "You should be nice! A smile can mean a lot to people, and kindness makes it so everyone knows you! I bet that's why you aren't well known. I have lots of friends," he gave a nod, "because I'm nice!" He gave Mei a squeeze. "You can come shopping with us, if you want. I can teach you to be friendly! Yay!"
"You have got to be kidding me...go shopping with you?" he sneered down at the boy, ignoring the admonition to 'be nice' and all. "I'd almost rather sit and talk to that stupid Teddiursa..." he growled a little at the idea, the jaws at his back snapping in irritation. "Brenny's right you shouldn't say mean words. It's not nice at all." "Who gives a s**t about nice?" Mei had never met such an unpleasant Pokemon before. Even the ones belonging to the relatives of her dead master weren't this bad!
"You're mean," Brenny frowned, lip trembling dangerously. "Mei, let's go. We don't need to talk to bullies. We can tell Daddy all about it!" He sniffled, wiping at his eyes. "We stood up to a bully!"
"Kid, you ain't the one in this life I'm nice to. You're certainly not Big Daddy." he laughed then an odd little laugh, though Mei caught the meaning though and frowned. "Yes, lets go. I think Connie will be proud of you for standing up to this guy." Mei looked Zev over, wholly unimpressed by what she saw. "So Brenny where do you want to go first?" she urged the child to walk...unhappy to see the guy following them.
"Let's go to the toy store!" Brenny exclaimed, pointing to a store across the street. "Look! I bet there's something you'd like! I have enough to buy you a doll or something!" he'd mowed the lawn for a neighbor, who had generously given him ten dollars. He'd also met with Mrs. Neighbor; she'd provided cookies and lemonade for his trouble. "And we can tell Daddy. Maybe he'll buy us icecream! Yay!"
"Toy store?" what was one of those? Mei still had plenty to learn about the city and it's various stores really. Zev followed behind just because it was amusing him to antagonize the two. He was becoming limited in what he could do back at the club. Urban kept Jayme away from him, and Big Daddy liked the brat for some reason, so he didn't often get to lash out anymore. So this...this was good! "Well I don't know about a doll, but I bet you might find something you like. We can look." "Go on babies. Go buy dollies, and ice cream, and don't forget the binkies..." Mei was growing tired of the shenanigans from this badly dressed guy. "Aren't you a little old for toy stores? Shouldn't you be finding clothing that fits you better?" Zev laughed. "Mmm why? Big Daddy enjoys what I wear, as do I." "I don't want to know. Come on Brenny. If we go inside he won't be able to bother us as easily."
"You're a baby," Brenny responded, turning and sticking his tongue out at Zev. "You don't even have manners. I bet you don't know how to. Because you're a baby! A big one." He wrinkled his nose in disgust. How could any one pokemon be so cruel? He turned around and nodded. "Let's go in! We can tell the store owner if he bothers us." Mei couldn't help but giggle some at Brenny's taunts. It was cute if ineffective. "Inside is best, I'm sure they'll kick him out if he harasses us." she glared at Zev. "I thought you had a limited amount of time?" Zev glowered, annoyed to be reminded by that and without a word walked off with a growl. "What a strange guy he is...come on Brenny, lets look around shall we?"
Brenny was relieved when the boy left, until he remembered something. He set Mei down carefully and took off after the boy. "Hey, wait!" he called. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings! ...Have you seen a celebi? Er. Not me. A pink one. Her name's Cecily and she's been missing since Winter. I've been looking for her for a long time... So if you see her, you'll tell me?"
Mei watched as Brenny took off after the teen, and frowned in concern and started after him, her legs of course much shorter so taking her a bit to catch up. Zev had head the kid calling after him and his jaws chomped at him in irritation as he spun on a heel and looked down at the kid with narrowed eyes. "Why should I bother telling you, you little brat?" he snarled some at the boy, Mei catching up in time to hear Brenny be called a brat, and she glared up at the teen so fiercly, he sighed. "No kid, I haven't seen any other Celebi's. Pink or other wise. Now, do you mind letting me get to my shopping?"
"She's my sister and I miss her and--" Brenny began, sniffling. He paused long enough to notice the teenager change his tune, and nodded. "But if you do see her?" he asked hopefully. "I've asked everyone I've met so far and no one's seen her..." But the teen wanted to get going, he knew. Maybe shopping was more important to him than even making a friend. The celebi boy wasn't sure he'd ever understand that reasoning.
"Yeah sure kid, if I see her I'll tell her that her obnoxious brother is looking for her, and if I see you again if I've seen her I'll tell you." he sounded more than a little impatient, and Mei reached up for Brenny's hand. "Lets go now. He's obviously wanting to go. So, what kind of toy do you want to get for yourself?" changing the subject? Yes of course.
"Nope! But I'm going to get you a doll!" Brenny beamed, taking Mei's hand. "Let's go!" he led her cheerfully into the store. "Now you pick one, okay? Any one you want. Then I'll pick something for me!"
"Uhm..Brenny dear I'm a bit...old for a doll." she squirmed a little, a sheepish smile given. "But maybe a ball or something the two of us can play with together...?" well it wasn't a bad idea she didn't think. She didn't know what she'd do with a doll!
"Oooh. A ball! We could play catch!" He didn't seem to mind the change. He was however, made increasingly aware that not all pokemon were the same age. "How old are you?" he asked, with a tilt of his head. "You never said. You must be older than me. But how old are you really? Then I can know what kind of presents you'd like."
"Catch is a good thing yes." she smiled in relief that he didn't mind the change. "Well....I think I'm around Connie's age maybe a little older or younger honestly but not by much either way. I've never really paid attention before. I just recall being young...a child...like you a really long time ago." she gave a smile to him and waited outside the door to the toy store so he could open it. She just couldn't reach.
"Hm... So you're Daddy's age!" Brenny's eyes were wide. He was having some trouble comprehending that such a small creature was so much older than he was. "Hm..." He paused in his thoughts to open the door. "But I don't know what Daddy would want, so I don't--but what would you like?" He was quickly realizing that buying for a set age group wouldn't work.
"About that age yes. Maybe a year or two older or younger but close." she could tell it was something he was having a hard time wrapping his head around, that she was older than him, and possibly Connie. "I don't know either. I'm not familiar with toys..." she expected to be in for quite a lesson on toys.
Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 7:05 pm
Beach Day (Urban, Cam, Mei, Phee, Niall, Brenny)
Urban sighed. Why was he at the beach? Oh yes...because Cam had asked him to go to the beach with him...and seeing as he was working on that whole...friendship thing with Cam so there they were...sun, sand, blue water...and babes as far as the eye could see! He was knee deep in the water at the moment, Cam was out on a surfboard and he admitted it...he was admiring the other. He couldn't surf.
Not far off in the water was Phee, or Lyre as she was attempting today...and listening intently to the names people used for one another. Nothing was striking her fancy. A sigh escaped her and she dove under the water and swam deeper for a few moments to enjoy the cooler depths.
In the sand was Mei...who was staring at Brenny curiously. "And whats the point of sand? Its getting in my fur..." she was less than impressed by it really as she poked a foot at it.
"I don't know!" Brenny chirped cheerfully, "But it's fun! See? If I get it wet, it goes up like this!" The celebi boy demonstrated by patting sand down into his pail with his shovel, and turned it upside down. He waited ten seconds, ten pulled it up off of the molded sand. "Yay!" he exclaimed. "See, it's a sand castle! I made it for you, Mei! Now you have a castle and you can be a princess!" Girls liked to be princesses, didn't they?
Niall was not so far away from Phee. After his initial reaction to having been transformed, he had found that hands could be as useful as flippers. It had taken him several days to adjust, and now, for the first time he was exploring the beach in his new form. He had been watching the Manaphy carefully for a long while from the shore. What was she doing? She seemed kind of bored, he figured. Maybe she was? He waved her over. He'd never seen a manaphy before! What was she doing there?
Fun? This was fun? It was gritty and annoying... still she was semi fascinated by the sand keeping its shape when wet, and she settled in the shade being thrown by someone's large umbrella more than happy for it and tried to mimic what was done...but forgetting to wet the sand and it falling to a pile. "Guess it's a good thing one of us can build castles." she laughed in amusement.
Urban decided to swim and moved further into the water and ducked under enjoying the feel of the cool water. Cam for his part wiped out and came up laughing and swam back to shore to have another go of it.
Phee was surprised to see someone else under the water like she was...and at the motion to come closer she did, glad she'd left her boots, and other what not on shore in her backpack. They would have weighed her down a whole lot. She paused by the boy, looking at him curiously.
Brenny giggled at her attempt, shaking his head. "No no, silly," he said, "you have to get it wet first!" He went to the water and filled up his pail, bringing it back over to Mei. "I saw Cam, I think!" he told her excitedly. "The boy who gave me the money for icecream! He's swimming, just there!" he pointed towards the waves, but was surprised to find that the boy had come up onto the shore. "Cam, Cam!" he called to him, waving. "Come make sand castles with us! It's fun! I'm teaching Mei to make them!"
"Want to play?" Niall asked, tilting his head slightly. He wasn't used to playing with others; he had a habit of attempting to ignore that others existed, when his sister was around. But since she wasn't--and he lacked an alternative form of entertainment, he figured he might as well find someone to talk to. "We could look for shells," he said, gesturing to his empty pail. "My trainer likes to put them up on a shelf."
"Ohhh..." she sounded sheepish at that and was in the middle of getting up to get water in the small pail when Brenny got all excited and caused her to look where he was pointing...only to blink at the teen boy coming over towards them and jabbing his surfboard into the sand and settling. "Sandcastles huh? That looks like fun. Sure, I'll help for a little bit. Nice to meet you Mei, I'm Cam." "Hi Cam, Brenny's told me a lot about you."
"Play?" she looked at him blankly. "How do we play? I've not played since I changed..." she looked so lost at the idea! "Shells is a good thing to look for though. We can dive down and get some from the bottom!" well, why not?
"Yay! Good. I think Mei's learning well," he said, and then lowered his voice, leaning closer to the teen's ear, "She forgot water though. If you help me teach her, I think she'll be happy!" He paused and glanced to where he had first seen Cam. "Where's Urban?" he asked. "Is he with you? Maybe he'll want to make sandcastles too!"
"We play... well... I don't know. I don't think I've tried to play since I changed either. I didn't figure it would be so different. We can still play chasing games and have swimming races," Niall began thoughtfully. "We could do that!" he agreed immediately. "I'm not sure I can hold my breath that long now, though..." But maybe! Maybe he had kept that ability!
"Urban is here...somewhere. I went surfing..." he turned to look out towards the water. "Oh, there he is. Why don't we let him swim a bit, and then maybe he will." maybe. He didn't know. "You two going to go swimming?" "Swimming?" Mei didn't know how.
"I didn't think I could hold my breath that long either, but I still can, so maybe you can too. If nothing else I can always go down and find some for you. The prettiest ones are always down there." so much for her acting big and bad and tough. She was in her element, and in a happy mood really. "I'm Lyre...." and here she wrinkled her nose. "I really don't like that name. I'm Phee. For now. Till I find a really good name!"
"Oooh, he's swimming!" Brenny had caught sight of Urban when Cam had turned to look for him. He'd followed the older boy's gaze. "Okay, we can let him swim for a while," he agreed. He hesitated, before adding, "I can't swim." He had never gotten the chance to try. He had been hatched in the late autumn of the year before, and had only been just discovering the world outside his egg when winter had struck full force. "Can you teach me?" he asked, hopefully. "Mei, do you like swimming?"
"I just changed," Niall said, frowning slightly as he glanced at his hands. "I'm still not used to it," it had taken a while to get used to walking up right. And to having legs, hands; being so big. "You think I'd be able to?" he asked, smiling slightly. It was nice to think some things hadn't changed. "Alright, I'll try. We can find her some really nice ones." And if he couldn't, the manaphy was nice enough to help him. "I'm Niall," he said. "Lyre's a pretty name, but if you don't like it, I'll call you by the name you gave me. Nice to meet you, Phee!"
"I don't know how to swim either. Never had a place to swim where I lived." Cam listened to the two of them and smiled. "I sure can teach you to swim. Why don't I start with you Brenny? I bet I can get Urban to help you Mei." "No its okay. I can sit in the shallow water and watch." and cool down!
"I changed not that long ago. I've been traveling around but I missed the water and decided to come back today for awhile." and she was glad she had! She felt so much better being in the water, more energized. "Okay on three we'll go down, and you can see if you can stay down or not." she grinned began to count. "One, two, three!" under she went then, breathing just as easily underwater as above.
Brenny beamed at Cam and nodded. "Okay!" he agreed. "We can start with me! I want to be a good swimmer. Then I can surprise Daddy! He'll be so impressed," the boy was delighted at the prospect of learning something new. He looked forward to showing his father how much he'd learned today. "Can you teach me now, and we can make sandcastles after?" he asked. "It'll be fun!" He hesitated and glanced at Mei. "Don't you want to learn to swim?" he asked. "You can show Daddy after! I'm sure he'll be proud of you too!"
"I've never left the beach," Niall said, shaking his head slightly. "My trainer lives there," he pointed towards a small cottage. "With her mate and my sister. She changed too. We both did. We were looking for shells for Iona, she's my trainer, and we found stars instead. They were very pretty, so we picked them up to take them--" he hadn't noticed the manaphy girl begin to count, until she hit three. He took a breath and dived under, a second too late. He held his breath for a long moment, afraid of what would happen if he didn't. When he couldn't hold it any longer, he let it go and found he was breathing under water just as he had been able to before. He pointed to the sandy bottom. "There! I saw something!"
"Sure lets go into the water now and we can do sandcastles later." Cam eased to his feet and held his hand out to Brenny, looking back at Mei. "Maybe later. I dunno...the water is sorta...unnerving." she'd never been to an ocean before! "Alright Mei. You sit in the water and watch and maybe later we'll try."
"Ohhh how neat. I got tired of every one telling me I was cute, and sweet and helpful...I'm trying to prove I'm not!" and doing a poor job of it in this moment. She listened to him talking until she went under, and waited patiently for him to figure out if he could breathe under the water or not. Seeing he could, she grinned and swam deeper. "Where?"
Brenny took Cam's hand, beaming at the older boy. "You're so nice," he said. He meant it, too. Cam was almost as nice as his Daddy was! He was sure if they met, they would become friends. "Is it scary?" he asked, once they reached the water's edge. "You won't let me drown, will you?"
"You are cute," Niall said, flashing Phee a small smile. "But I won't call you sweet or helpful. I don't like being called those things either." Cute wasn't such a bad thing, though. His trainer called him cute regularly. "Cute, though," he began, "I think it's a way for people to say 'I like you'. My trainer tells me I'm cute. It means she loves me."
Cam squeezed that hand gently as he made it to the waters edge and watched Mei settle in the shallow water, looking like she was cooling down some, and spotted Urban and waved him over. "Hey, mind helping my new friend Mei learn to swim?" Urban looked down at the tiny (to him!) pokemon. "Sure, why not. Hey kid." he gave Brenny a smile and moved towards Mei then, while came gave a gentle laugh. "I won't let you drown, and it can be scary, but fun. When you get good at swimming you can do other things like diving, and surfboarding."
Phee looked ready to protest till Niall explained the sentiments behind it and she looked thoughtful. "Huh. I never thought of it like that before. I'm still learning about this sort of stuff. I never had a trainer after all." she gave him a bright smile, and found a pretty shell with some green inside. "How's this?"
"Yay, Urban!" was the celebi boy's response to Urban's greeting. "Mei gets to learn to swim too!" And even if the mienfoo seemed afraid now, Brenny was sure Urban could help. "Let's go!" Brenny was reassured by Cam's words. The water could be scary, but it would be fun? And fun was always a good thing. "You'll teach me how to dive and surfboard, too?" he asked. "If I get good enough? It might take a while, but I'll be good at it, and then you can teach me!"
Niall nodded in understanding "I'm learning too," he said. "I hadn't had a trainer until the week before I changed. Aoife and I were playing in the water, and I got caught in a net. So Iona saved me! She cut me out of it. I don't know what would've happened if she--" he paused, glancing at the shell. "Oooh, that's perfect!" he exclaimed, moving to the sand to hopefully uncover more.
Urban gave a smile to Brenny, and looked to Mei and after the other two walked off, sat down to talk to her a little so she relaxed. Wouldn't do to go rushing into this. Cam smiled at Brenny and nodded. "It'll take time, but once you're good enough yes I'll teach you, and your dad too if he'd like." well it didn't hurt to offer he knew. "Alright, into the water we go, I'm going to help you lay on your stomach in the water. My hands will be on your chest and stomach..." and Cam began to carefully explain the swimming process.
"Oooh...well thats good she saved you! I hate those nets." she huffed some, and handed him the shell while sweeping sand off of others, a few broken ones pushed away and a really pretty white one pulled up. "Looks like you! All pretty and white!" yes...she'd just called him pretty in a round about way.
"Oooh. Daddy might like that!" Brenny exclaimed, delighted. "I'll tell him you offered! I don't know if he can swim or not. I never asked him! Oooh, I can ask him tonight! I'll tell him you're teaching me!" He followed Cam into the water, and cautiously allowed him to help him lay onto his stomach. "You won't let me drown?" he asked, watching the waves move around them. "You promise?"
Niall flashed Phee a bright smile. "Thank you for helping me," he said. "I'll introduce you to my trainer sometime. I bet she'd let you visit. She's really nice!" He beamed. There were two things he truly loved to speak about. One was his sister. The other was his trainer. He was equally possessive of both of them, and loved them dearly. He blushed at the compliment, taking the shell. "I wonder if I'll find one cute and blue like you!"
"Well I can always teach him if he doesn't know how." he was used to teaching people things, and he was between jobs with that whole body guarding thing, and his school was lacking students at the moment. So his time was his own really. "I won't let you drown I promise." Cam was sooo patient!
"I'd really like that Niall. I like meeting new people...and hearing their names. Maybe one day I'll find a name I like. I named myself...and it's too similar to Manaphy." and she frowned some. Though there was a blink and a slight blush at his words, a sort of shy smile given. "Oh...well...uhm...I can help you find one." she didn't know anything about relationships...crushes...or any of that. So that she was blushing at him calling her cute was...unexpected! She didn't know how to react!
Brenny felt himself relax. Cam was really good at this, he thought. He was good at reassuring him that he would be safe, even when he was afraid. "Okay. What do I do now?" he asked, instinctively beginning to kick his legs to avoid being washed away by the waves.
"I can help name you, maybe!" Niall said, concentrating. He'd never named anyone before. It would be a new experience. "Maybe Laura? That's kind of like Lyre, though... I don't know. Something pretty. Something that suits you. I don't know if any name ever could, though. A name certainly couldn't hope to be as pretty as you are!" He moved to pick up a shell. His smile widened as he swept the sand off it. "Look, Phee! It is blue, just like you! It's a snail shell! See, it spirals. It's for you!"
"That's perfect Brenny, you kick your legs like that. You also need to move your arms which helps pull you through the water as well." he held the boy firmly so he wouldn't feel in danger of slipping and coached him. He noticed Urban now doing similar with Mei a little ways away and smiled at the Mienfoo listening to Urban's instructions, though it sounded like there might be some squabbling there too. Still, he'd let them work it out.
Oh was she ever a mass of mixed emotions...he was so sweet really, and made her feel things she hadn't ever before...but there was uncertainty too. Did she like him too? Maybe...she didn't know. He was so nice though, that maybe it wouldn't hurt to find out right? Right! If nothing else they could be friends... "Help would be really nice. I dunno...I've gone by Grant, Merit, Lyre, Lynx, Bob..." and she began to rattle off the names...only to blink in surprise at the shell and took it from him carefully. "Oh wow this is so pretty! Thank you Niall!" she would have hugged him, had she known about hugs!
Brenny followed Cam's instructions, moving his arms against the water awkwardly. "Like this?" he asked. "But we're not moving," he observed. He glanced over to Urban and Mei, and smiled brightly. So she had decided to learn how to swim, after all! He'd have to tell his Daddy about that, too!
"Bob?" Niall repeated, grinning. "Some of those are boys names, and you're much too pretty to wear any of those," he said, shaking his head. "Maybe Mary, or Hope," he began rattling off names he'd heard before, either on the beach or at home. "You need something pretty." He moved to hug her when she took the snail shell and admired it. "You're welcome!" he said, flashing the girl a smile. He wasn't usually generous--but she was pretty, and a girl. Like Aoife!
"No we're not. I'm standing still. In a moment I'll walk into slightly deeper water so you can kick and paddle against the water and feel it pulling at you. Don't worry if it's hard. It will get easier as you get better."
He saw Urban was already at that step with Mei, who was faring well enough, though he admitted it was probably difficult to learn to swim like a human as a pokemon. "Hey Urban, keep her shallow!" "Sure Cam."
"There's a difference?" she blinked in surprise. She didn't realize there was a difference in girls and boys names. This brought another frown to her face. But no one had ever told her before. The fact her clothing choice made her look like a boy didn't enter her mind. The hug was new and made her eyes widen in shock, a whisper coming from her. "What was that? That...that thing you did with your arms?" how stunned she was! The shell was looked at again and she carefully put it into a pocket of her shorts so she wouldn't lose it. She wanted to keep it! Maybe see if she couldn't make it into a necklace!
"I'll try," Brenny promised, continuing to kick and paddle. He wasn't sure if he understood the concept, but he would try! "Mei's older than me," he confided in Cam. "She's closer to Daddy's age, she said she remembers being young like me many, many, many years ago." The boy's eyes widened with each 'many', as if to prove his point. "She's very smart! She likes being my pet, I think."
"Older than you huh? That has to be sort of interesting for all of you." he smiled and moved into the water to let Brenny kick and paddle against it then, watching and Urban did move to more shallow water for Mei, an approving nod given before he looked back to Brenny. "I'm glad she's happy there with you both."
"Ohh...no ones ever told me there's a difference before. I've just listened to names and tried them out...none seem to fit though." she frowned some and let out a sigh one bare foot kicking at the sand and uncovering some more shells. "A hug? I didn't know...never seen one...or hand one...or done one." how puzzled she sounded! But she was smiling anyhow, and did hug him back, even if it was kind of awkwardly.
"It is! She's smaller than I am, so it's hard to remember she's all grown up. I tried to buy her a doll when we met a bully, but she said she was too old for dolls. So I told her she could get something else. She's very good at playing catch!" He kicked and paddled against the water, attempting to keep afloat. "Yay, I'm doing it!" he exclaimed. Apparently the celebi boy had forgotten that he was being supported by Cam's hands.
"Well, now you have," Niall said with a nod. He had a feeling there were many things the girl hadn't experienced yet. He was willing to teach her, he supposed--but there were many things he hadn't experienced, either. "We can learn together," he said with a smile. "We can learn all about everything." He thought for a long moment. "You could be named after a flower," he said. "Lilac or Daffodil--" he wrinkled his nose. "Nah, that's a weird name. "Maybe Rose or Juniper..."
"Well thats good she can play catch really well. I'm sure in time you'll remember she's older than she looks." he gave the boy an indulgent smile at his cheering and lowered his arms a little so Brenny was more in the water. "Turn your head to the side so you can breathe while swimming..."
"That sounds like a really good idea!" she beamed at Niall then, though look at her blink. "Really? After a flower? Flowers can be names?" as he listed some off her eyes widened. "Oh, that one! Rose! I love roses, they're so pretty! I didn't know that could be a name though. but maybe not for a first name...I dunno...is there something like a second name?" she didn't know about middle names!
Brenny turned his head to the side as instructed, kicking and padding against the water. He wasn't sure about this. It had been much easier when Cam had been supporting him more. This was...kind of scary.
"Yeah, flowers can be names," Niall assured his new friend. "They're used as names a lot. I've heard them on the beach, when I was a seel too." He hesitated, frowning in confusion. "I don't know about second names," he began. "I don't have one, I'm just Niall. But I think my trainers have second names... I don't know."
"You're doing really good Brenny!" Cam's voice was full of encouragement for the boy and he made sure to keep him afloat well as he continued to walk so he'd feel like he was swimming. Mei was coming back up from under the water looking furious and stomped out of the water and up onto the beach yelling at the Aggron, who was yelling back, which made Cam sigh. "Looks like they're not getting along. Shall we go see whats going on?"
"Well then I like Rose a lot...so that's an all the time name now yay!" she beamed a moment, looking thoughtful. "I saw some books the other day...and there was a name I kinda liked on one..." she looked thoughtful...and then pieced the two together. "Armitage Rose...?" she looked at him curiously, wondering his thoughts on the name choice.
"Uh-oh," Brenny said, following Cam's gaze. He winced at the sight. "Sometimes Mei can be bossy," he said, in vague defense of Urban. But he'd seen that Urban could be bossy and rude--and Mei didn't seem to like rude people. She certainly hadn't appreciated Zevian's behavior. "Let's go see. Maybe we can fix it!"
Niall struggled pronouncing the name Phee suggested, and eventually shook his head. The name defeated him. "I can't say that," he complained. "Ami--Am--Arm--ugh! I'll just call you Rosie," he beamed at her. "See, it's pretty and it's not hard to pronounce."
Cam moved back to shallower water with Brenny and helped him back to his feet. "Good idea on checking on them. Urban can be a jerk...and you'll learn older people can be bossy." he gave a light chuckle and got close enough to hear an exasperated ..."........dropped me, twice!" "Just once. The other time you slipped." "I so did not slip!" "Yeah what ever. Are you done now? Or are you still being a drama queen?" "I'm done. I don't want you near me." she huffed and coughed some more, spitting out more sea water looking very unhappy. "Oh boy..." Cam sighed.
Phee frowned. Oh how she frowned. It was too hard? There was a full fledged pout on her lips then, and she of all things sat on the ocean bottom with a sigh, looking lost in thought. "Okay...so I won't go by Armitage...I want people to be able to say my name...but I still like Rose..." she was trying hard to come up with a suitable name! She looked up at him with wide eyes, looking hopeful that this was a doable thing.
Brenny hurried to Mei's side. He scooped her up, frowning in concern. "He dropped you?" he demanded, glancing up at Urban. "You dropped my pet into the ocean?!" His frown became a scowl. "But I thought I could trust you. I thought you were good at protecting people. You can't even protect a little pokemon?" He cuddled Mei close to his chest. "I'll take care of you," he promised. "You don't have to learn to swim with him. You don't have to learn at all, if you don't want to."
"No, it's pretty!" Niall said, frowning slightly. He'd upset her? Oh, this was awful! He moved to sit down next to her, leaning over to put an arm around her shoulders. "Just because I can't say it yet doesn't mean I won't be able to," he said. "I'm still learning things, just like you. Maybe I'll learn to say it. But until then, can I call you Rose?"
"She shouldn't have bitten me!" "I didn't bite you." Mei was honestly really upset at this point. He'd been rough from the start, and she'd accidentally scratched him, but not bitten him. Of all things she struggled out of Brenny's arms...and took off running, looking like she might cry. The look on Cam's face spoke of bad, baaaad things to come for the Aggron and Urban knew it. He couldn't help a grin though. He always did manage to piss Cam off royally...to constantly make him lose his temper. That was one reason they couldn't date. Cam gave Urban a withering look. "You're such an enormous jerk words don't even begin to describe it. Come on Brenny, lets go find her."
She was surprised by the arm on her shoulder, but merely leaned against him and sniffled. She'd never been sad or upset before! It was possible she was crying though in the water like this it was impossible to tell. But there.....his words brought a soft smile to her lips and she gave a soft nod. "I'd like that Niall..."
Brenny was astonished when Mei lept from his arms. He was distressed further when she took off. He sent a glare Urban's way, and stalked over to him. He kicked him in the shin before taking off after Mei. How was he going to fix this one? He'd show Urban later. Failing to protect his pet. Endangering her. Dropping her in the ocean and making her so upset. He'd show Urban! Oh yes. "Mei, come back!" he called after her. "It's okay, I won't let him hurt you!"
Niall was relieved when Phee smiled. He returned the smile and swept a hand over the sand in front of them. He picked up a shell. "Here," he said, holding it up for her to see. "It'll remind you of today," he said. "It doesn't really look like a rose--and it's not blue like you, but I know it's as special as you are. Look!" he gasped, holding it up into a ray of sunshine that had trickled down beneath the surface of the water. "Look!" he said again, gesturing to the inside of the shell. It was shiny on the inside. "I knew it was special!" he declared. "Just like you!"
Cam watched them run and he couldn't help but follow Brenny's example and kicked Urban. "You are such an a*****e Urban!" Urban muttered and rubbed both shins watching as Cam took off after the other two. Mei had very simply run a short distance away and under a pier, hiding in the shaded area and behind a pylon and dropped to sit with a sigh looking dejected.
Well didn't she already have one shell to remind her of today? Maybe two was okay though...especially when it sparkled. "Oh wow Niall! How pretty!" she sounded so excited and she hugged him (and better than before!) before taking it. "Thank you I love it!" she was all smiled again now.
Brenny was having trouble finding Mei. He searched behind logs. He looked near the shore. He stuck his face in the water to see if she'd fallen in--only to yelp and realize his eyes were stinging from the salt. And realize that the ocean was possibly the worst tasting water ever. Why hadn't suicune visited here? The water definitely needed purified! Yuck! "Mei, Mei!" he called, hoping for an answer. Was this what it was like to lose a pet? Was Mei lost? Would she be gone forever? At the thought, the boy gave a sniffle. He had to find her! He just had to!
Finding the shell had been worth it, then, Niall decided, when he saw the girl smiling. "Let's go back to the surface," he said, gesturing upwards. "I'm getting tired--and my fingers are getting wrinkly," he wiggled his fingers in front of her.
It was too noisy to hear Brenny calling for her, too many people about making it impossible...and after a few minutes of calming down she looked out...only to realize she had no idea where anyone was anymore. Panic filled her as she realized that. Cam was keeping pace with Brenny, and they had moved away from the pier at this point. Urban was grumbling..mostly to himself...and making his way back to the car. He'd call a taxi maybe. He could see Cam and that brat in the distance...and he saw that damn pokemon looking around lost.
He couldn't help a small smirk. Until he noticed her wandering around lost...and someone kicking her and sending her flying. He heard a kid yell "Look! A pokemon! I'm gonna catch it!" and pull out one of those blasted balls. Urban dropped his gear and took off at a run, and scooped up the dazed Pokemon before the ball connected. "Heeeey! No fair give it back! That's mine!" "Like hell she is! She belongs to a kid I know." "WAAAH! Dad make him give it back!" the kids dad took one look at the glowering Aggron and shook his head. "No, no he's right...come along son..." "Smart move." the words were growled as he brought his fingers up to his lips and let out a loud, piercing whistle, and watched Cam's head shoot up and look around. "Brenny...c'mon I think Mei's been found."
Phee...or Rose as she was now going to be called by him giggled and nodded. "Wrinkly fingers!" she didn't have that problem really and wiggled her own webbed hands a bit before she was kicking for the surface, her head breaking the water and she breathing deep.
Brenny looked up. "Urban?" he asked, blinking. Urban had found Mei? Maybe he would forgive him for being mean, after all! The celebi boy ran towards the teenager. "Mei!" he cried, reaching his hands out to take her. "She's hurt?" he asked, fretting over the mienfoo. He studied her carefully, before his expression darkened. "What attacked her?" he demanded. "I'll--" he wasn't sure what he'd do. But he'd do something. They'd hurt his Mei. They'd hurt his pet! His friend! His--she was family! He glanced over at the kid with the pokeball. He scowled and sent--he wasn't sure what that was. Sparkling, rainbow hued leaves came from behind him and moved at a rapid pace towards the boy in question.
Niall followed Phee, grinning. It seemed she had the ability to stay under water for long periods of time without any wrinkly fingers. That was talent. He surfaced, glancing at the manaphy. "Race you to shore?" he asked.
"She was kicked as she went darting out. It stunned her. She'll be okay in a few minutes." Urban had been in the process of handing her off to the kid, when he let loose with his attack. Cam saw, and he did the only thing he could, he got between himself, and the human child arms thrown up to protect himself as best he could as the leaves attacked him instead. Mei came out of her daze about this time, and though she was still sort of stunned there was a clear "Brenny no, stop!" from her even as Cam held his ground against the leaves.
She grinned and nodded. "Okay race you!" she raced that way with a laugh, feet kicking as she started for the place she'd left her stuff. She knew he was bogged down with the pail though, so didn't want to make it too unfair to him.
Brenny stopped, eyes widening in horror. "I'm sorry!" he said at once. He hadn't meant to! He wouldn't have--he couldn't have--what had he done? "Urban, take care of Mei? I have to--" he didn't finish his sentence, hurrying to Cam instead. "Cam!" he cried, wrapping his arms around the teenager. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I never hurt people, I was just--Mei was hurt and that kid--and I just--" he sniffed. "I just--I just wanted to protect her!"
Niall chased after her, laughing as he swam. This was his element. He was momentarily distracted by noisy people--he wrinkled his nose at a particularly noisy bunch. Honestly, a kid with green hair? He'd have to tell Phee about that later. Green hair!
Urban kept a hold of Mei, who was sitting up a little and rubbing her head with a wince while Cam himself winced at the hug, and patted Brenny on the head. "It's okay Brenny...easy on the hugs though. That was some attack." he gave the boy a smile. "I think the day at the beach is about done. You two want a ride home?" he thought home sounded pretty good about then. "Urban, hand Mei to Brenny, and go get my things please?" Urban gave a nod, and uncharacteristically walked off without a word.
Phee was on the shore waiting while sitting in the shallow water, laughing some. "Yay you made it!" she'd missed the noisy group of people herself. She wiggled her feet and dug out her socks tugging them onto her wet feet, and then her boots. Before long she had her spiked bracelet back on, and the collar, and her chain back on her shorts...and looking very boyish.
"I don't know how I did it," Brenny said, frowning at the realization. "I don't know how I did it, I was just so upset... I wanted to protect Mei, and--" he concentrated, his forehead creasing as he did so. "I can't do it again," he complained. "I don't know. I was worried about Mei and--I didn't mean to hurt anyone!"
"It's okay Brenny...here in a few days you can come by my house, and we'll work on it together, see if you can't maybe do it again. If you did it once, you'll be able to do it again, it'll just take some practice is all. Like swimming." Cam watched Urban come back carrying the surfboard and his bag, stopping to get his own things. "Come on, my cars this way. I'll drive us all back."
Things had been pretty interesting since Brenny had found her. She'd met him of course, and Connie who he called daddy...had become a pet which was amusing in a way....she'd met several other pokemon who were like Connie and Brenny and had somehow become more human like.
Mei found herself trying to help out with as much as she could, though there wasn't much she could really to do to help out about the apartment. Oh sure she could scrub floors, and clean most of the bathroom.
Cooking was off her list...her main task seemed to be keeping Brenny company, keeping him safe, and out of harms way and happy...it wasn't a bad thing. She just wished she could do more.
Today though..well she'd gone out back while Brenny was off at the beach...after the last time she didn't dare go to the beach. No telling who might try to capture her again. So, home she'd stayed and she'd gone exploring out and about.
Some kata's were done, working slowly through the moves her deceased master had taught her, enjoying the feel of her body going through long known moves without the need for thought.
As she went through her moves she wished she could do more to help out. Connie was so nice. So hard working. Did his best to keep Brenny happy and healthy, and had even let her stay. Mei didn't feel as if she contributed enough though to their well being.
"I wish I could do more...could help more..." Mei sighed...and blinked as she saw something sparkling near by. Had someone dropped a ring, or necklace? Mei moved towards it and reached for it and picked up looking it over curiously...for a second. Next thing she knew she was falling face first to the grass and laying perfectly still as if deeply asleep.
Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2013 8:00 pm
Mei Meets Connie (Not complete)
Mei walked along behind Brenny, looking around and every so often asking him a question. Though, as they drew closer, it was a soft, uncertain "You sure it's okay I'm coming with you?" she didn't want Brenny to possibly get into trouble, or to be a nuisance in the end.
"I'm sure," Brenny said, grinning at Mei. "Daddy will be happy I made a new friend, and you're so small you can live in my room without any trouble." He beamed at her. "Come on, Mei. He'll be happy. Plus I couldn't leave you all alone." He was sure Connie wouldn't mind!
Connie had come home earlier in the evening than he did most of the time. Work was considerably more lax this week compared to more recent preceding ones, and he chalked it up to the fact that the bug that had been going around seemed to have backed off. Employees were back at work, so there was less tension in the schedule, giving Connie the opportunity to head home early. But now that he was home... what was he suppose to be doing? It looked like Brenny was still out playing, and it was too early to start fixing dinner.
"Well okay Brenny if you're sure then." the Mienfoo relaxed a little at how sure Brenny seemed about the acceptance of her presence and all. "Buildings here are so tall....the tallest thing where I'm from was the trees." it was boggling to her mind. "Where do you live Brenny?" she was looking around all the buildings with wide eyes trying to make sense of the jumble. "How can you tell which is yours? They all look alike..." there was a low sigh from her. The city would take some getting used to.
"In an apartment," Brenny said, pointing towards the building. "I can tell it apart from the number on it. Don't worry! I won't get us lost. He scooped the mienfoo up, in case she would feel safer in his arms. "Look, there's daddy!" he pointed, beaming. "Daddy's home early! Daddy, daddy look! I found a pet for us!"
It was strange how Connie had never really felt the sense of boredom much in his past, but he was quickly finding that, while his patience was fully intact, waiting on anything was not the most fun way to pass the time. He almost forgot his deck of cards for a moment in the wait, more concerned over whether Brenny was alright or not. He might not have outright said so, but he knew that there were some concerning individuals that lived in the city. They were rare around here, but they existed, and it made him uneasy. So he was quick to his feet when he heard Brenny come calling, but the puzzled look on his face at the words were unmistakeable, especially once his eyes rested on the mienfoo in the boy's arms, "...Eh? Pet?"
Mei could hear the confusion in the voice she could hear, but didn't yet see the person it belonged to. There was some shifting about in Brenny's arms, and she was finally facing Connie, a sort of sheepish smile given, perhaps a lightly embarrassed one at that. "I'm Mei-Ling, or Mei if you prefer. It's an honor to meet you." she bowed her head politely, the best she could manage given her current location in the boys arms. "Brenny...found me in the...what was that place called? ...Oh the park." it had taken a second to remember the name.
"Yeah, Mei's our new pet!" Brenny exclaimed, beaming at Connie. "I found her all alone in the park, and she was going to get cold and hungry, and Daddy, she's all alone!" the celebi seemed rather displeased by the lack of smiling face he'd anticipated from his father upon Mei's arrival. "She needs a Daddy," he informed Connie, with a slight frown. "And a place to stay. Please, Daddy, please let her stay? She won't make any messes. I'll take really good care of her."
Connie perked when the mienfoo was the first to pipe up, unsure of what to expect... but it most likely was not what had happened. Very rarely did he come across anyone so chivalrous on a first encounter while he was in the city, so Mei's prompt politeness shattered any reservations he may have had at the setup. Blinking, he crouched down to be more at eye-level, considering his towering height may be more intimidating than he intended. He offered a gentle smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mei-Ling." There was a slight pause as he considered how everything was going to work out, but he knew that having nowhere to turn in a bustling place like this, unless it was what she wanted, was not acceptable, "Well... I suppose there's enough room. It's a two-bedroom apartment, but you're both pretty small..."
Mei seemed more than a little amused at Brenny's insistence on calling her a pet, and there was a gentle smile on her lips, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes even as Connie knelt down to level with her and she gave a warm smile to him. "Not to come across as rude or anything but...is there something other than daddy I can call you?" she wasn't going into her age at this point, but it had to be somewhat obvious to the teen she certainly wasn't a child like Brenny.
"I'll do my best to help out around here and not to cause any sort of problems. Thank you for allowing me to stay. Brenny's right, I've been traveling for some time now. My master passed away a short time ago of old age. I'd planned on living at the park, but Brenny informed me where I was going to live, wasn't a house." and here, she looked embarrassed but truly she hadn't known.
"See, she'll be good!" Brenny exclaimed, tightening his hold on Mei. "You'll let her stay, Daddy, won't you? She'll be good. She's very nice and I love her, Daddy. She'll be a good pet!" He gave Connie a hopeful expression. "She'll be the best pet ever."
Connie's grin became more sheepish with Mei-Ling's request as he held out his hand to her small paw, "Oh, I'm sorry! My name's Conrad, but I prefer the name Connie. Sorry about that, I guess I was just a bit confused for a moment there!" He would much prefer her call him Connie anyway, as the new term of 'Daddy' that Brenny had been using recently still sounded a bit strange to the teen; he was slowly getting used to it. Glancing around the small front room of the apartment, he tried to locate something the mienfoo could help with, considering her small stature and short reach, "Well, you could always help with some tasks with food preparation, maybe a little cleaning... but honestly, you don't have to worry about it. Any friend of Brenny's is a friend of mine, and any friend in need is welcome to stay." He almost felt bad about asking for any sort of help!
And with that, he nodded an affirmative to Brenny's question on the matter, "Yes, she can stay. I believe you, and I believe her. Sounds like Mei has had it rough... Well, hopefully we can change that now that you're here. Welcome to the family, Mei-Ling." 'Pet' still seemed like a strange title to give the pokemon, though, and offered her an apologetic smile as soon as the words left Brenny's mouth. Hopefully she was not taking offense!
Mei woke up laying not in her usual sleeping spot...but on the bed. Brenny's bed. She recognized it from all the time she spent sitting on it, so why was she asleep on it? She didn't remember coming back inside....and certainly not choosing to sleep on Brenny's bed!
There was a low yawn from her as she opened her eyes and sat up stretching some...but she blinked realizing there was a lot more to her than she was expecting. She brought her hands up...and suddenly let out a yelp. "Oh my god! What happened to me?!"
Brenny moved from his spot on the floor, looking up at Mei. "You're okay!" he exclaimed. "I took care of you all night. I thought you were sick or something." He moved to offer Mei a shirt. "Here," he said. "It should be big enough," he began awkwardly. "You must have found one of those stars," he said. He wasn't sure how to react. He'd lost his pet; but gained a sibling, he supposed.
Mei blinked at Brenny, and looked down at herself realizing she looked more like him and not like herself. The shirt was taken and she got it on...sort of. It was backwards, but on. “I feel sorta weird Brenny..." well suddenly growing like this, it was no wonder!
Brenny moved to hug Mei. "It is weird, isn't it?" he asked, frowning in concern. "But you'll be okay, Mei. I still love you and I'll take care of you just like I did before." He moved to gently stroke her back, as he had done when she was a mienfoo.
"It's really weird Brenny! I'm so much taller...and stuff...and just..." it was sort of overwhelming in a way. "And then knowing I was Connie's age before....and now I look your age...its so confusing!"
"But we know you're really Connie's age," Brenny assured her, smiling gently. "How you look doesn't change who you are, Mei. Or how old you are."
"You know that, and I know that...and Connie knows that but no one else will." she looked a little troubled...then suddenly smiled. "I'll be able to help out more now though won't I?" this prospect brightened her features and she threw the blanket back, marveling at her legs and wiggling her toes.
"Yeah! I bet you could. You're bigger now. And no one can catch you!" He beamed, hugging her again. "You're all ours now. But no more running away, Mei," he said sternly. "If you do, Daddy might cry."
Mei doubted it was Connie that would cry, but Brenny himself. Still....this sudden surge of emotions was strong in this form, and it did help her understand a little better why the Celebi boy got upset so easily. "I can't promise that but I can try not to." at least she was honest!
"Okay, trying is good," Brenny agreed, rather reluctantly. "Mei..." he began, "what are you to me now? You can't be my pet anymore, you're a person. Do you want to be my sister? You're older than me, though... so you'd be my big sister. Do you want to be?" he looked at her hopefully. "You won't leave us, will you? You'll stay?"
"I don't know what I am to you...I guess big sister works. Though Connie is still your dad not mine...that whole same age thing." she gave a soft laugh and sat on the edge of the bed swinging her legs lightly. "I'll stay as long as I can Brenny...this place is a bit small for three of us now though...I don't want to be a burden."
"We'll find a bigger place," Brenny decided. "We can help Daddy earn money for a bigger place. I'm sure that would make him happy. And he'd like that better than a video camera. You staying is more important than that," he nodded decisively. "Yeah! We'll raise money for a bigger place and surprise Daddy!"
Mei's eyes went wide and she shook her head. "No I know! We get the camera and the money for a bigger place. I wish I was as big as Connie though, so I could work and help earn more money. I like you guys, you're both so nice." she nodded her head lots.
"Oooh! Okay!" Brenny beamed, nodding eagerly. "We can get the camera and raise money for the bigger place!' He shook his head, taking Mei's hand. "Soon I'll be as big as Connie," he said. "Then I can get a job and earn money!" He gave her another smile. "I like you too, Mei," he said. "And Daddy does too."
Mei smiled brightly. "You wanted that for him...and it's a good gift. I think he'll like both." she squeezed Brenny's hand and shook her head. "Emotions are so...strange...and strong like this." it was so strange!! "I can't wear all your clothes...first thing we need to do is get me my own..." which meant money...and asking Connie. Which she dreaded. "I'll have to earn money though. I don't want to ask Connie and give him anything more to worry about."
"Wait!" Brenny cried, moving from his spot on his bed and bending to reach something underneath it. He pulled out a shoe box. "Here," he said, holding it out to her. "It's a dress and shoes. I bought it with some extra money from the lemonade stand. It was going to be for Cecily when she decided to come live with us, but I don't think she will--and now you're my sister, so I want you to have it." He beamed at her. "It's a present for finding your star."
She took the box from him and opened it up looking between what was inside and to Brenny, and smiled brightly. "Are you sure Brenny? It's very nice...but if there's any chance she might...well then you should keep it for her. I can wear this for now till I can get something of my own." she hated to take away the gift meant for his real sister...
"No," Brenny said, shaking his head. "I want you to keep it." He gave her hand a squeeze, beaming at her as he renewed his place on the bed. "You're my sister now, Mei. And that present was meant for my sister. That's you."
Mei set the box aside a moment, and very simply hugged Brenny tightly. "Thank you Brenny. I'll go try it on right now then." she picked up the box and slipped off the bed, looking around as she did. "So high...wow..." it was weird! Her fingers curled around the door knob and she stared more. "I can open doors now!"
Brenny beamed at Mei's reactions to being taller--and able to open doors. "Yes, isn't it wonderful?" he asked, smiling at her. "Go try it on," he said. "You'll look really pretty in it, Mei."
"It's so weird Brenny....but I like it!" she went into the bathroom and closed the door and began to fumble with the dress trying to work it out. Before long it was on, and she'd even brushed her hair. Brenny had used his brush on her fur more than once, so she borrowed it for a moment to brush her hair awkwardly. The shoes went on...and were back off...they felt weird! After a moment they were back on and she went back to Brenny's room carrying the clothes she'd been wearing, tripping over her own feet thanks to the shoes.
"You look pretty, Mei," Brenny beamed, offering her his hand. "Here," he said. "I can help you walk. When I changed, I couldn't walk very well at all," he confided. "Daddy had to help me learn. I was so used to flying everywhere."
"Its the shoes...they make it hard...but I know people wear them so I'll get used to them. I'll practice inside though so I don't ruin the dress." that would be bad she knew!
Brenny nodded in understanding. He hated shoes, and only wore them when he needed to. "You don't have to wear them all the time," he said. "I've seen people go around barefoot. It's okay in the soft grass and inside. But if you go on the side walk without shoes your feet might get burnt!" He had experience with that, ouch!
"Well I think practicing inside is good, so if I fall, at least I won't tear or stain the dress, that would make me feel really bad. But if my feet start to hurt I'll take them off for awhile...the shoes I mean, not my feet."
Brenny giggled. "No, you can't take off your feet," he said, giving another giggle. "Just like before!" It was nice, he thought, how Mei seemed to take this in stride. She even acted like she was about his age! "Come play, Mei. We can surprise Daddy!"
"Would be sort of weird if we could take our feet off huh?" she looked down at her feet and wiggled them a moment. "Play? Like what? Catch?" she smiled and started walking only to trip and fall...and started laughing. "That will take some getting used to..."
"Catch is good!" Brenny agreed, offering Mei his hand. "Come on, Mei. It'll help you with coordination, too. If you can catch, then you can do all sorts of things!"
"Catching is going to be different?" oh look at her eyes widen as she took his hand and got back to her feet and started off after Brenny. She had a lot to learn!
"Yeah. Since your arms are bigger now you have to-- how do you say--uh... be better prepared? Uh. Aim better when throwing? I don't think your strength will have changed. You're still a pokemon, you just look different now." Brenny beamed, leading her to the yard.
"Ohhh okay. Well that makes sense. Still this will be fun I think." she beamed and grabbed the ball to follow him outside, grinning again. "I like this...this whole being bigger thing. Catch Brenny!"
Posted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 11:07 am
Mei Meets Eliot or Eliot To The Rescue!
Mei hadn't been to the pond with Brenny and Connie before. The idea of it honestly scared her a little. The water was deep and she was small. So the fact she was going there now well it was probably the one thing in the world that really scared her all things considered.
There was still issues going on with the shoes she was trying to master wearing. She slipped and tripped and fell. A lot. Getting to the pond was no different, her hands were scraped up from multiple falls. At the pond edge she knelt to rinse the dirt off and stood up...
Only to immediately lose her balance and go toppling into the water with a startled yelp, thrashing ineffectively. She didn't know how to swim!
Immediately after Mei began to thrash something pressed against her, keeping her afloat. "Its okay," came a voice from under the water. "Don't struggle, I've got you." It was the magikarp Brenny had told Mei about. "Its okay," it said again, pushing the girl to the shore gently. "My name is Eliot," the magikarp said, finally sticking its head out of the water. "Did you bring me a cookie?"
Her head broke the surface and she gasped, coughing up some water she'd swallowed and rolled onto the bank coughing more trying to catch her breath and not realizing one of the shoes she'd been wearing had fallen off. "I had some cookies...they're all wet now." they were a snack, but reaching into the pocket of what she was wearing produced a soggy mess. "Thank you for saving me Eliot. I would have drowned..."
The magikarp studied the soggy mess before inhaling it. "Where is Brenny?" He asked."where is Brenny? He can dry you off. He's my friend," and here the magikarp splashed around, seemingly in search of his friend. "Did he bring cookies?"
Well at least the cookies got eaten she thought. "I'll be okay. I'll dry off eventually. It's nice and warm. Brenny is spending time with Connie...his daddy. So it's just me I'm sorry." she frowned some hoping he wasn't too disappointed.
"You are Brenny's friend?" Karpi asked, blinking. "I saved Brenny's friend? This is good! Brenny will be happy!" He was thrilled. He hesitated some, though, as he studied her. "You should learn to swim."
"I am. I live with him actually. I'm Mei." she gave him a smile...though she looked sheepish at his words. "I know. I tried to learn once and it didn't work out so well. Now...I'm kind of scared to try. I was dropped in the water and a wave crashed over me before."
"Oooh. You live with him," the magikarp sounded almost wistful. "I cannot live with him," he said. "There is not enough room for me, his Daddy said. But maybe they will get a bigger home, and there will be room for me."
"I think I'm allowed because I didn't take up much room before...now though..." there was a frown from her and a sigh. "I think I'm going to be in the way and cause Connie to need more money and I don't want to be a problem for them." she sat there looking thoughtful. "Keep wondering if it wouldn't be better if I left..."
"Brenny doesn't seem the type to only want a friend for a little while," Karpi said, expressing his displeasure with the idea as well as he could. It was hard, expressing something when his features were so set on one position. "I don't think you should leave," he said. "That would make him very unhappy. If he loves you, you should stay. And he must love you." He didn't think it was possible for Brenny to not-love someone. The celebi boy seemed the type to love everyone--but Mei was special to Brenny, just like he himself was. "And Connie must love you, too. If you left, it would cause them more trouble."
Mei thought Eliot was a wise little magikarp, and gave him a smile as she sat there next to the pond. "You're probably right. Connie seemed unsure about me staying before I changed though....and now..." she frowned. "I'll have to do something to help them out even more than before." she gave a decisive nod...and then realized about that moment her shoe was missing. "Oh no...did one of my shoes sink?" she laid out on the bank trying to peer down into the pond.
Mei ran for the pond with a gleeful smile wearing the new bathing suit she'd gotten. It was so cute in her opinion it was a pretty blue color and it had magikarp swimming on it. It was perfect as far as she was concerned! She had a towel and had finally gotten the hand of shoes. She was excited, she was off to see Eliot today and do more swimming. She'd been practicing as much as she could and was excited to show him. "Eeeellliiioooot!" she called out to her friend as she ran up a bag of cookies in hand.
Eliot swam to the edge of the lake to greet Mei. "Mei!" he cried, sticking his face out of the water. "I was hoping to see you today," he said. "I saw something shiny at the bottom of the lake." He'd been hoping to dig it out of the mud, and give it to her. It was almost as pretty as she herself was--but the magikarp didn't mention that. "Do you have something to help me get it out?" he asked hopefully.
"Something shiny? Really? Oooh." she laid down at the edge and tried to look down but couldn't see anything. "OH! I brought you some cookies. I don't have anything but I can maybe find something you can hold in your mouth." she pulled the cookies out and held her hand out to her friend with a bright smile, looking around as she did. "Ohhh..someone left a toy shovel! Maybe that will work..." she waited till he was done before getting to her feet and retrieving the little plastic shovel, holding it handle out to the Magikarp. "Think this will work?"
Karpi took the cookies from Mei, nuzzling her hand as he did so. "Thank you Mei. I like when you visit. It's nice. You should visit more often!" The magikarp paused after finishing with the cookies. He studied the shoven carefully. "If I use my mouth," he said, carefully taking the shovel's handle in his mouth. He hoped he could get the shiny thing out, and give it to Mei. It'd be a special gift. He dove underwater, playfully splashing her as he did so.
"I visit you every day!" she laughed softly and rubbed her hand over his back as he nuzzled her hand. The splashing was met with a giggle and she splashed back before getting to her feet trying to watch what he was doing down there, though the rippling water made it difficult.
Eliot swam to the bottom of the lake, carefully digging at the shiny item he had found. Oh, he hoped Mei would like it. He hoped--oh, it moved! It was coming loose! It hadn't been as buried in mud as he had thought it had been. He could see clearly now what it was; a star! He picked it up with his mouth, allowing the shovel to float to surface, and began to swim upward.
Mei kept watching vigilantly the entire time he worked, able to catch glimpses of him down there trying. When the shovel floated up she wondered if he'd lost his hold on it...especially as he came swimming up as well. He'd have to nudge it to her, unless she got in. Not a bad idea actually. She was here to swim after all!
There was a look of horror on her face as her friend floated belly up and stayed that way like he was dead. Was he dead!? Without hesitating she jumped into the water and swam to him as fast as she could. "Karpi? Eliot!?" carefully she towed him back to the shore and managed to get him out of the water realizing he was alive but very asleep...and that she couldn't leave him in the lake. That meant she'd have to take him home. So she got her towel wet and wrung it out a bit before rolling Eliot onto it and wrapping it around him, hefting him up into her arms and starting home. "It's okay Eliot...we'll be home soon and Brenny can help me with you till Connie gets home."
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:28 pm
Low Sweep and Acrobatics (Mei learns not one but two moves)
There was plenty on her mind these days...it was so strange being stuck in this child sized body. The new height was nice sure but there was so much to master for it. Shoes. Those things were dreadful at first and caused no amount of troubles causing her to trip and fall more than once.
Then there was clothing, hair, brushing teeth....it was all just another piece of this rather jumbled puzzle as far as she was concerned and it was taking quite a bit to get used to.
Of course there was the issue of being a burden to Connie. The apartment he had was small...and having two kids in it didn't help plus the added expenses for her... it made her feel extremely guilty to be causing extra expense. Body of a child maybe but she still had the mind of an older teenager.
So it was with that in mind she set out to talk to someone about a little part time job. Most people wouldn't give a child a job of course, but she was going to talk to the various friends Brenny had made. Though her first stop at Cameron's ended up being her only stop.
He offered her and Brenny both a job if he wanted one, to help keep his grounds clean as he had classes he had to teach so couldn't focus on the expansive front and back yards. She agreeds completely and was told to come the next morning with or without Brenny.
She was also invited to join in the days class for free since she was there and Mei jumped at the chance. It had been awhile since she'd learned any martial arts...and from someone so young was a never. So this was a chance she was eager for.
Of course it was a beginners class and she was able to keep pace well. Too well. This wasn't taxing, or even terribly exciting and when it was done she prepared to leave disappointment clear in her eyes.
Cameron spotted this and spoke to her a bit and invited her to stay for the second, more advanced class which she accepted.
These kids were bigger than her, older, and some gave her an odd look especially as she wasn't in a gi. Cameron however gave no explanations and the class came to attention. Mei kept up here too, not as easily but enough so no one could complain about her being there.
Then Cam started in on a new lesson, a low seep...interesting. She watched intently at how he did that and the class quickly paired off. Cameron had watched how quickly she grasped it and stuck her with a pair of his best students who began to give each other a 'Really? With us?' sort of look. He hoped to teach the boys a lesson. "Begin."
The command wasn't overly loud but the class began and the boys began practicing against one another and Mei watched. They weren't so good at this move. "You're not doing it right..." "Oh, you think you're so good? Okay prove it!" the boys double teamed her then and Mei grinned. Two on one...perfect.
A quick move had her dropping down with a fluidity the boys lacked, her left leg sticking out straight pivoting on the ball of her right foot and spinning herself around in a circle her left hand coming down to the ground to help propel herself a bit as well as steady herself her leg connecting both of the boys and dropping them flat on their backs, while she finished her spin and pushed up with her left hand and bounced to her feet with a grin.
"Good job Mei-Ling. Please demonstrate that perfect move for the class. Boys front and center." the pair looked humble as they followed her and stood there letting her demonstrate again...and again...and again.
After the class let out Mei was in high spirits. More so as Cam came to her and held out a TM. "Here. You should learn this one. You're quick Mei, and I think you'll find this interesting. Once you look it over, you and I will spar alright?" "Yes!" After a few moments she felt confident and met Cam face to face on the mat and they bowed.
They did a few warm up moves...and then she was suddenly bouncing across the room, a series of handsprings and flips before her feet were crashing into Cameron's chest and sending him flying backwards with a groan, slamming him into the side of the dojo. "Very good...I knew I was right to give you the TM for Acrobatics."
Mei swiped her arm across her forehead and bowed to him. "Thank you sensei for teaching me." "You're welcome Mei. Come to class whenever you'd like even if you're in the middle of chores. They're free for you, and I'll still pay for the work you do. I wish I had more students like you." She beamed and bowed again before she realized the time. "I should go, Brenny will worry. I will be back in the morning! Thank you again!"
Cam watched her go and groaned a little hand pressing against his ribs. That move was damaging but it was worth it. He'd take care of it inside, and wrap his ribs....and listen to Timmy fret of course. Couldn't be helped.
Ever since meeting Eliot that one day, Mei had found herself going to visit him more, and more often. He was fun to talk to, and though she didn't know how to swim he'd been kind and started to teach her...though the idea frankly scared her to death in a way.
The idea of being in the water and not able to touch bottom was hard for her even with Eliot there supporting her, and explaining...which was something given he was a fish and she was not. Eventually though Mei started to feel a little better and even started to figure out how to swim!
It was something she was keeping secret from Brenny though. She'd go with him to Cameron's to work, and take a class or two...and then run to the pond to swim for awhile and then dry up good before running back home. One just had to hope she didn't push herself too hard and over exert herself. She was trying to surprise Brenny with the swimming, and the work was necessary in her opinion and the classes were just amazing and were helping her to cope with her changes and weird emotions.
Hopefully nothing would happen to change any of this....
Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2013 3:52 pm
Eliot Wakes Up (What happens when the pokemon turned boy that likes you wakes up in your arms?)
Sure, the apartment her and Connie and Brenny lived in wasn't far, but it was far enough when she was carrying Eliot in a towel while he was sound asleep. The Magikarp was some dead weight and while she was strong, she'd had to stop more than once to rest her arms a little, and adjust her grip on the towel. As she was walking she realized he seemed to be getting heavier....was he falling into a deeper sleep?!
"Nnn..." the magikarp began to stir in his sleep. The towel fell off of his face, and he opened an eye. "...Mei?" he asked, wide eyed. "...What're we doing here? Where's my lake? ..." he felt strange. What was it? He couldn't pinpoint it. "Why're you carrying me? Are you taking me to see Brenny?"
Oh good he was waking up! She looked down in relief at him..only to blink in utter shock. "E...Eliot?" she blinked at him in utter shock and had to stop walking then, carefully sitting him down. "Uhm yes I was...you floated up to the lake and stayed belly up. So I got you out and was taking you home...but....look at you! You're like me now!" she was oh so wide eyed, a surprised look on her face. She hadn't expected this to be why he'd become all floaty.
"Belly up?" Eliot was horrified. Had he died? "Did I get the star to you?" he asked. "It was a present... it's almost as pretty as you..." his head slumped back against her arm. "I'm sorry Mei. I feel strange... Let's get home before anything else happens."..
She saw the horrified look and hugged him. "No you....did you say star?!" Oh look at her eyes widen more if that was possible at this point and she looked stunned. "Eliot! You're like me and Brenny and Connie now, look!" she pointed at his feet then. "Okay home it is. Can you stand?" she stood and held her hands out to him to help him up.
"Like Connie, Brenny and you?" Eliot repeated, eyes widening. He looked down at his feet. He stared. "But... why? I was going to bring you a present... And I lost it." He sighed, moving his legs close to his chest. He wrapped his arms around them. "I don't think I can, Mei," he said, with a shake of his head. "I've never had legs before..."
"It's okay Eliot, I'll carry you and we can teach you how to walk." she smiled brightly and secured the towel tightly around her friend, and carefully lifted him again. "Wrap your arms around my neck if you think you might fall....and it's okay you didn't bring me a present. You're a good present!"
"Teach me to walk?" Eliot echoed, blinking. He allowed himself to be lifted, and wrapped his arms around his friend's neck. "I'm a good present?" he blinked again. "...I suppose. But I wanted to get you something special. Something as shiny as you are. How can I teach you to swim if I'm like this?"
"Uh-huh. With legs you'll have to walk...and you're already a bit taller than me...so carrying you all the time won't be easy." so said she as she carted him with relative ease. More than she should have had! "You are! Brenny might be a little sad...but I think he'll be a little happy too. He went from calling me his pet, to his sister. So I bet you'll be his brother now." she blushed however at his sweet words. "You taught me well Eliot, I jumped in and swam to you, and swam back. I saved you! Now Brenny and I will have to teach you to swim like this."
"Brenny will be sad?" Eliot repeated, frowning slightly. "I don't want him to be sad... Last night, I was watching the stars. I wished I could live with all of you. And then... I found that shiny star under the sand." Was it concidence that this had happened? Or was this a way for the stars to grant his wish? "I want him happy... He wanted me to live with all of you, didn't he? Do you want me to?" The magikarp boy paused, and then beamed. "You did?" he asked, enthusiastically. "You swam to the middle of the lake and back? That's great!"
"A little sad, but he'll be okay. He was okay after a bit when I changed too." she listened to him thoughtfully. "It sounds like you got your wish then Eliot." she had a happy tone to her voice. "He does yes, and I do too!" though she did worry how this would make Connie feel having one more mouth to feed. She'd really have to come up with a way to help! "Yup! I jumped in and swam to you and swam back and here we are." and she was tired'er than she realized after all that. But she was almost there.
Don’t Boss Me Around! (Mei gets fed up with Brenny's bossy attitude and is convinced by Eliot to talk to him about it.)
Mei...was frustrated. Exceedingly so. Brenny had been extremely bossy lately and it was becoming....well unbearable though she was doing her best to bear it. Though at the moment she was very much trying to keep her calm...and had walked away from the Celebi boy to keep from snapping at him. She was patient...as a pokemon. But this childs body made it hard on her at times to maintain that patience. She swore it had a mind of it's own!
Eliot had followed Mei, shaking his head. "I don't think he means to be mean," he said. He too, had been bossed around. Brenny loved them, he knew that. But sometimes he wondered if the boy forgot that they were no longer pokemon. "I think someone has to tell him that he can't always have his way," he said. Brenny was young, even by pokemon standards. The boy didn't hide the fact that he had hatched last fall. "And he certainly can't tell you what to do."
Mei gave Eliot a wry smile over her shoulder. "I don't think he means to be mean either...and I've been trying my best not to get upset with him..." she turned fully instead of looking over her shoulder at him, and leaned against the wall next to the window she'd been looking out of. "I guess that someone should be since I am technically the oldest one here currently hm?" a wry smile given. This wasn't exactly a conversation she was looking forward to.
"Yes," Eliot said. "I think you should be. You're the oldest--but that's not the reason why," he said, shaking his head. "You've known him the longest. I think the two of you are close enough that he'll listen to you and want to fix this. I don't think he's aware that he's upsetting you, Mei. If he was, I don't think he'd be doing it."
"I haven't known him that much longer than you...but okay I'll go talk to him." she took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. "I don't like how upset I get...I used to be so patient as a Pokemon... I swear I get upset easier now." a wry look crossed her lips then.
The magikarp boy paused, studying Mei for a moment. "Maybe your emotions are confused," he said. "You've spent some time as a little boy's pets. You've been subjected to his whims and dealt with his emotions. I don't know how to fix that. You'll have to control your own emotions. Remember that you're an adult."
Brenny was playing in the living room with a set of toy cars he'd purchased earlier. "Mei!" he exclaimed when he spotted her. "Want to play with me? You can be this car if you like!" he held up his red car. "Or if you want, you can be the blue one." He hadn't been able to find a green car. That one, of course, would've been his favorite.
Mei shook her head and instead sat down with him and gave him a smile. "No thank you Brenny, but thank you for asking." she was trying to figure out the best way to bring up the subject that needed discussed. How to phrase things so she didn't upset of confuse him in the long run.
"Okay," Brenny agreed with a small smile. He set the cars down on the coffee table and turned to face her. "What do you want to do?" he asked. "Want to play tag? But it's kind of cloudy and I think it might rain..." he looked out the window, sighing. "We can play something else, if you want. Want to play house? Eliot can be our baby."
Well so far so good...he wasn't being bossy which was a change from lately. Though Mei shook her head. "Not right now. Actually Brenny, I need to talk to you a little. You know how earlier you got upset because I didn't want to watch that movie with you?"
"Yeah," Brenny frowned at her slightly. "I don't know why you wouldn't. I think you'd like it." She was his little sister now, it was his job to take care of her, and by extension, find things he thought she might like. Things that would make her happy. He couldn't pick her up and carry her around now, she was too heavy. He wished he could, though. That would've made things easier.
"Because you didn't ask me if I wanted to watch it Brenny. You said I was going to watch it. You were forcing me to do something without finding out if it was what I wanted to do. If you had asked me politely 'Mei do you want to watch this with me?' or even 'Hey! Can we watch a movie together?' not your 'Sit down you're going to watch this now!' that you did my answer would have been different. It's not nice to boss people around."
Brenny crossed his arms. He looked away from Mei. "I just thought you'd like it," he said. "But you got all mad about it and I didn't know why. I don't think I was being too bossy." Maybe a little. He was still adjusting to Mei's sudden change. It had been so much easier when she'd been a pokemon. He was quiet for a long moment, before saying, "I'm sorry I bossed you, Mei. I just thought you'd like it."
"I might have. I've enjoyed other things you've had me watch with you. But you demand, not ask. You want to have it your way, continually." she smiled gently. "You forget, I'm not a pokemon anymore, and despite being in a childs body I am still older than you."
Though Brenny would never have said it, he thought Mei had been much more fun as a pokemon. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, though, so he forced a smile. "Right," he said. "Habit, I guess. I'm sorry I've been bossy. You don't have to do anything you don't want to."
Mei could see he wasn't happy, and shifted to hug him a soft smile given. "Sorry...I don't mean to upset you any..." she got to her feet with a low sigh. "I'm going to go outside for a little bit." she brushed her hand over his hair and opened the door to step outside and get fresh air. She hated being trapped in this childs body really. And the forced smile on Brenny's face made her stomach twist guiltily.
Brenny followed her outside. He took her hand in his, frowning slightly. "You didn't upset me," he said. "I'm just... upset at myself. I didn't realize the way I was acting upset you. I'm sorry, Mei." It was a lie. He had been acting out ever since Mei had changed. He had lost a pet, and gained a sister. But there were things, Brenny was learning, that you could do with pets, and not with sisters.
She hadn't expected to be followed. She had expected to be alone and she'd planned to just settle in the shade somewhere and meditate. However Brenny grabbing her hand had her turning, and she knelt down hugging him tightly. "I know you've been unhappy since I changed...and more since Eliot changed and came...it's a lot to have happen. You need a pet...a humans pet...not a pokemon...then it can't change on you. If I get you a pet will you be happy again?"
Brenny hesitated, returning the hug. "That's not it," he muttered. "I just--you've--you've changed, Mei. In more ways than the obvious." He ran a hand through her hair. "I know you're not a pet. And I love having you as my sister. My real sister." He paused, blinking at her words. "I don't need one," he said. "Not really. Daddy can't afford another pet."
"I feel confused sometimes Brenny." she hugged him back and sat down with a sigh. "I think one thing...this body does another...or can't do what I want...I guess I'm having a hard time adjusting from being as old as Connie...but in a child's body." it was rough! "I'm sorry I'm different." in so many ways.
Brenny sat down next to Mei. "I never had to deal with that," he admitted. "I was really young when I transformed, so I didn't have to adjust much. It took me some time before my legs would support me for long. Or that's what it felt like. But I think Daddy had to adjust. And I know Eliot did. Maybe you should ask them how to fix it."
"And I'm about Connie's age...so this is really weird for me. I'll have to ask him what it was like for him if he had to adjust...and Eliot...well he's still younger than me...I don't think its been as hard for him. The walking thing yes..but he's good at it now. Just like you."
"I don't think so either," Brenny said, with a shake of his head. "He seems pretty well adjusted. I think he's adoptable. I mean adaptable! Yeah. When I caught him, he didn't mind me calling him Karpi!"
Mei couldn't help but giggle at Eliot being called adoptable. "Eliot's really nice. He's the one that told me I should talk to you instead of keeping quiet about it longer." it had been bugging her for awhile after all. She leaned against Brenny lightly. "I think we'll be okay...just need to work some things out huh?" a light smile given to him. "I forget sometimes you're really young still."
"He's really wise." Brenny said, smiling. "I don't know how he got so wise, when he's lived in a lake all his life, but he is. I'm glad you talked to me, Mei. I wouldn't have known I was upsetting you." He pulled her against him. "Sometimes I forget too," he said. "You know, when I first found you I thought I could take care of you. But you take care of me instead."
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 12:47 am
Cruel Intentions? (What happens when Mei thinks Brenny is cruel...and gets mad?)
"So, how do you think I should try to get Cecily's attention?" Brenny asked aloud, glancing hopefully at Mei. He'd gone days, saying he would attempt to cut Cecily from his life--but today, he seemed to have a different idea. "Maybe I could catch her in a pokeball. She'd have a family then." He gave a smile. "Then she'd be happy and she wouldn't be scared of me!"
Mei had been sitting and meditating a little, just trying to clear her mind and relax as it were when Brenny asked his rather surprising question. One eye came open and she raised the brow curiously. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with her now....and suddenly you think catching her in a pokeball is the way to get her to be happy?" she shook her head. "Sounds like a bad idea."
Brenny blinked at her, frowning. "I know that's what I said," he said. "But I can't help it, Mei. I keep thinking about her even though I don't want to. I love her and I worry about her and I want to take care of her. Lots of pokemon have trainers, and they're always happy... So why wouldn't she be? She'd remember she loves me."
"So you think capturing her in a pokeball, and forcing your own sister to be your pokemon, and you her trainer is the right thing to do? For one...thats just not right. She's your sister for Arceus' sake...and two she's scared of humans...and pokehumans from what you told me...so how would forcing her to be around a houseful of people she'd be terrified of make things better? She'd probably die of fright! You need to think of something that isn't so cruel."
Brenny hesitated, eyes widening in horror at Mei's description of his thought. "I uh..." he began, awkwardly. "I didn't think of it that way," he admitted. "I thought maybe if I caught her she wouldn't be so afraid. Because she'd remember me and remember she loves me. But... You really think it'd kill her?
"Brenny...she was scared of you at the beach...do you really think capturing her in a pokeball and taking her from her home, and all she knows to somewhere she'd be terrified is good for her? Would you want someone you were scared of to come along and trap you in something small and dark...and take you away to a new house with new people to live?" Mei frowned some and opened both eyes. "I understand you want her here, but thats not the way to go about it."
"But she shouldn't be scared of me!" Breny protested. "I'm her brother! It's her own fault she's afraid of everyone and everything. She's never given anyone different from us a chance!" He crossed his arms. "But if I caught her, she could be my sister again. I could take care of her and she wouldn't have to be scared."
"She shouldn't but she is Brenny. I realize you're her brother but sometimes people are afraid of silly things, for silly reasons." she was on her feet then, and blinked at the Celebi boy. "Oh, so now you magically know if she has, or hasn't given people a chance? Funny given you were looking for her when we met! How do you know she hasn't tried? I think you're being selfish and cruel. I didn't know you were cruel Brenny." there was a disgusted sigh from her then. "I'm done talking to you. I don't want to talk to you when you're acting like a spoiled brat, and willing to risk someone's health and well being for your own happiness. You can't always get what you want Brenny, and the sooner you learn that, the better!" mad? Oh yes...
Brenny frowned. He stood up, turning away from Mei. "I'm just saying, because I know her, Mei. She never gave anyone a chance while I was with her. Never. She was afraid of humans even before we'd ever seen one. And when we did see one, she hated everything that human had with her." Why didn't Mei understand? He didn't want to hurt his sister! He wanted to help her. If being caught made Cecily remember who he was, and remember that she loved him--he could help her. He could teach her that there were good humans. Yes, there were bad ones, Connie had told him about them. "Fine," He said. "I don't want to talk to you either." He'd never been called cruel before. Bossy, yes. Cute, sweet, adorable, friendly--yes. What was wrong with Mei?
"Fine." Mei threw her hands in the air and stomped into the shared bedroom and ripped her pillow and blanket off the bed and threw them into a corner of the room, and she very simply laid down on the floor, blanket pulled up to her chin and faced the wall. Not many places she could go to be away from Brenny, and she didn't feel like a walk. So while he insisted on being a cruel, selfish jerk, she'd stay right here and face the wall, and sleep here and ignore Brenny. Why couldn't he realize he was thinking stupidly? Ugh!
Brenny turned to face Mei, blinkiing down at her. "Mei?" he asked. He'd apparently forgotten the desire to ignore his sister in surprise; he was being ignored! "Why do you think catching her is so cruel?" he asked. "I thought it'd be a good thing."
Mei continued to ignore him. After all she'd said, and he'd said they didn't want to talk to the other. So why was he talking to her? She wasn't going to talk to him! This went on for exactly five heart beats before she sighed, still staring at the wall. "Because you're talking about forcing her into a situation that scares her. I'd hate you forever if you did something like that to me." well then.
"But sometimes you have to face your fears before becoming a better person," Brenny protested. "I saw it in movies. It's true. If you face your fears, you can realize you were wrong about them and realize they're really something you like! Like yesterday, I didn't like pickles! But I like pickles today, because I tried them. They're not bad." The celebi paused, seemingly thinking of a way to explain his thought process to Mei. "It's like... I'd caitch her, but I'd let her go. And she'd be your sister too, Mei. We could take care of her and teach her that we aren't scary. We'd love her and protect her and make sure she was happy. Just like I always do for you, Mei."
Movies are fake Brenny. Nothing in them is real. They tell you to face your fears. So what, because I'm terrified of lightning, you'd lock me outside in the middle of a storm and leave me there to face my fear? Real nice. Good to know. Remind me to stay away from the doors and windows so you don't shove me outside and leave me there." she huffed and pulled the blanket over her head. "And when you open the pokeball she'd be there...dead of fright because you were selfish. Just like I'd be dead of fright if you locked me outside with lightning. You're cruel. Go away. I don't want to talk to you right now." the words were muffled thanks to the blanket but not badly so.
That wasn't quite what Brenny had meant, but instead of protesting his point further, the celebi's lip began to tremble. He would never stick Mei out in a lightening storm! He protected Mei, he always had. Ever since he'd brought her home, he'd taken care of her. Didn't she remember? Had she forgotten how much he loved her? How he had worried about her when she'd run away at the beach after Urban had dropped her?
Didn't she know he'd protect and take care of Cecily the same way he had always protected her? Why did she act as if he wanted to kill her? "You're..." he began, sniffling. She'd changed! What had happened to his patient, understanding pet? She'd turned into a mean sister!
Mei didn't know what he meant she just knew how she was taking it. She huddled under the blanket with a soft mutter, not really saying anything, just grumbling. His talking though, that made her speak up. "I'm trying to take a nap. Please be quiet." she wasn't in the mood to argue anymore. So a nap was good as far as she was concerned
"Okay." Brenny said, leaving the room. He wiped at his eyes. He briefly wondered if Mei could be turned back into the pokemon she had been. She had been so much nicer then... And so much easier to talk to. But, then, he figured, that was selfish too. Jirachi must have sent the star to her for a reason.
Mei laid there so long she did fall asleep. but when she woke up she was still grumpy...and stayed laying there silently....and fell asleep again for a little longer. Not that it improved her mood any really. So, whatever. If Brenny was going to be stupid and try to force his sister into a situation she wouldn't be happy in, that was on him. If it killed his sister, well she'd warned him. She kicked at her blanket a little, feeling more than a little frustrated. Why was he so stubborn?! Why couldn't he realize he couldn't have his way all the time? Honestly!
If only Brenny had known her thoughts. Then he might have pointed out that he very rarely got his way. If he had had his way he and his sister wouldn't have been separated he wouldn't have had to search for her for months. He wouldn't have lost his best friend, mother figure and sister to this--new person who seemed to think he was the bad guy.
