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Kenley:
It had taken a bit of effort, but Kenley was finally able to move past the complete and utter irritation he felt every time he spotted the destruction that cut through the forest. There had been very little progress made in cleaning up the wreckage, and it would likely have to stay in such disarray. With the toppling of trees and carved ground floors, there wasn't much the silcoon could really do to fix what had been broken. Except get angry, but even that didn't seem to help this time. Not that it ever really did... but habit was difficult to break, and he was prone to associating the temperament with his stake on authority around here. He couldn't lose the forest, it was the only thing he had

However, irritation was getting Kenley nowhere. Nothing really was, but this time, he didn't even have anyone to take such anger out on anyway. Nobody came around these parts very often, and... and that was how he preferred it. Just a mite discouraging that he had to keep reminding himself of that...

He held his post in the lower canopy of his choice tree, still large enough to hold the weight of a grown teenager in its limbs. Not that he looked much older than a child, height considering, but then he never really compared himself to others in that way. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Frank had destroyed part of the forest... it might even deter others from wandering blindly in, for fear of what had caused it. The fallen trees could be used as benches, maybe. Sure, it was still a sore spot, but if he kept thinking this way, maybe Kenley's mind would change to reflect those points. He was stubborn enough, surely he could manage that much insistence.

Fidgeting with the silk wrappings about his arms, Kenley sighed and repositioned himself, as if it would help him give better assessment of the situation. At least things seemed alright in the area of the forest that he frequented most.

Lyla:
Lyla had been taking care of Aatami and nursing him back to health for a short time now, and today he’d seemed stronger and mentioned something about fishing since they were near a river. That seemed like a wonderful plan to her, because she was running low on higher quantities of meat and wanted to go and hunt, but didn’t want to leave the Eevee boy alone when he was still so weak. Promising him she’d be back as soon as she could (and she would be seeing as her tent and things were there with him!), she’d slung her weapons over her shoulders and at her sides and taken off at a quick jog away from the river area to find a quiet, uninhabited area she could take down a small animal.

As she walked she picked various plants and berries stuffing them into pouches that hung from her belt, all of which would be helpful in teas, or even as snacks as the day progressed. Chewing on the stem of a yellow flower she tasted the bitter juices flowing into her mouth, focusing on it a moment, and wondering why she’d enjoyed the things so much in pokemon form! Spitting the flower out she refocused her attention on the surrounding area, her hackles raising at all she saw.

Something had some through here and caused some serious damage….and whatever it was looked like it was rather large! That was enough for Lyla to bring the bow she carried up an arrow held loosely and ready to fire at the smallest movement or sudden loud crashing noise. She doubted that whatever had carved up the forest like this was very quiet. Though it did make her worry about the boy she’d left at the river. Was he safe there on his own? Were they safe there camped out like they’d been? The idea was actually momentarily frightening, and she fought that fear down, stamping fierce determination over top it. She couldn’t afford fear!

As her eyes scanned the area she heard a rustle, saw the tip of a tail and let her arrow go, taking down the small bird that she’d spotted rooting around the bushes. Moving towards it she picked it up and wrung its neck to ensure it was fully dead and stuffed it into her game bag after getting her arrow out and checking the tip. Still good. A grin at this good sign for the day was on her lips as she heard another sound overheard this time, a strange rustling sound it seemed!

The arrow was knocked and she aimed upwards swiftly, aiming at the sound and releasing her shot before she was jumping back in case whatever she’d aimed at wasn’t dead, and was instead mad and looking for a fight. Another arrow was held to the taut string, her third hand holding onto a knife, her fourth holding yet another arrow. She had become quite adept at using all her hands independently, and efficiently.

Kenley
It was perhaps the first time that any jirachi-touched pokémon had opted to be stealthy with the way they entered Kenley's neck of the woods, and due in part to that, he was slow at taking the initiative with his... 'proper welcome.' Thoughts scattered by trifle annoyances added to the mixture of relenting in his daytime vigil. Of course it was always when he least expected it, or there never would be any repeated incidents of trespassers around here! At least, that would have been the case, if it wasn't for the fact that Kenley had been trying to secure an expanse much too large for him to handle such upkeep; he lived life too much on a whim.

However, the sound of Lyla's arrow striking something blunt caught his spined ears, wrenching him from whatever distraction his consciousness had been supplying with a mild flinch. He didn't recognized the means such a sound would have occurred, and stayed his position for a moment longer to try to decipher from imagination alone. Maybe something just gave way, for there was certainly enough wreckage... but it sounded too clean, nearly organic a reaction. His eyes narrowed through the spaces in the sparce covering the lower canopy provided, until something in the distance came into sight -- something that stood on two feet.

The silcoon's eyes flashed, his nerves tensed, and he made a hasty judgment to try moving into sight and scare this individual off. "What are y--" the words came as impulse, but they barely had the chance to rise in volume before they were cut off by shock. He had only been shot at once before as an introduction, and that was only because he had shot first; this was entirely new, and the horror of it ripped his voice clean from his throat. The arrow came to land square to the trunk of the tree, embedded in the bark where he had been but a second before. Out of surprise, he didn't notice as the point sliced its way past his shoulder -- he had slightly more pressing matters to attend to.

Matters such as trying not to crash to the ground floor below. In his haste to avoid the deadly projectile, much too slow a reaction time outside of his quick jump to snap at the girl instead, Kenley forgot to focus on balance. He flailed a bit to stay upright, but that was about the extent of his ability as he slipped off the branch and into the bushes lining the base. At least he managed to land on his feet, but after the system jolt, it was only for a couple of seconds before he stumbled back, fully against the tree.

Wide-eyed, he stared at the young girl, disbelief at what had just occurred. In fact, it was almost as though he didn't realize how crucial a moment it was that had just transpired, as though death was not an option. Repression. He grabbed firmly back onto the anger that he had been toying with before, redirecting it more venomously at the ledyba across from him, "What do you think you're doing!?" Outside of snapping, Kenley couldn't shake free of the numbness that seemed to be affecting his body. Fear, of course, but he was all about attributing it to the rage.

Lyla:
Of course one of the few times she opted to shoot before looking, it would come to this. She hadn’t seen Kenley up in the tree branches, had merely heard the movement with her sharp hearing and had assumed – incorrectly – that it was something she could turn into food lurking up there. She had at least been correct on her assumption of her target coming out of the tree, and being mad. It was too bad she’d not caught the start of his indignant yells before aiming at him!

What surprised her was the fact her target, was another one like her and Aatami! It stunned her a moment and her stance wavered as the arrow was lowered towards the ground, before she simply stuck it back into her quiver along with her bow, the knife momentarily slipped back into its sheath as she brushed hair back from her eyes, realizing she was being yelled at. How dare he!?

“Now listen here pipsqueak! I didn’t realize you were up there! I thought you were something that was dangerous and I was shooting at you, under the assumption that you were food and I could take you back to camp. I didn’t expect to be shooting at another pokemon geez! Lay off with the attitude already would ya?” she rolled her eyes in irritation of the older boy, not at all intimidated by his very obviously aggressive personality, hers was just as bad usually to be honest. She was still of the opinion boys were – generally- rather stupid. She had no time for their games, and their egos. Girls were just squeamish and even stupider than boys.

Lyla opened her mouth to say something else, but momentarily thought better of it, closed her mouth, took a deep breath and counted to five before opening her mouth again. “You okay? That wasn’t the most graceful fall I’ve ever seen.” And she wasn’t the politest of girls. Then again any girl that tramped through the forest laden down with weapons, and hunting, obviously wasn’t your typical girl…and he…was not your typical boy she was noticing suddenly.

Her eyes narrowed some as her brain went down some weird and twisted path for a second and she resisted the urge to smack herself upside the head to jar that thought process loose. Why was she looking at him suddenly, and with such interest? Bah. Boys.

Kenley
Kenley's attention drifted briefly, tapping a foot at the ground in order to jog the feeling back into his nerves as he leaned further against the tree. The numbness, instigated by the shock, was already loosening its grip on him, much to his relief; once it did, maybe he could stop looking as ridiculous as he felt he looked...

However, Lyla's retort startled a different kind of unprepared surprise to the surface. While Kenley may have been quick to label her with terrible manners merely out of spite for the launched arrow, her defensive words solidified the assumptions to be more justified. He bristled at her tone, but once the term 'pipsqueak' burrowed into comprehension, he couldn't hold back the reactionary argument, "Like you're one to talk! Do you shoot at anything that moves? Anything that gives you a funny look?" Master of name-calling, he was not. It also didn't help that, once he said it, he realized he was chastising her for the very same thing that Calliope had -- shooting first and asking later. This was different, though, because, "You don't come barging into someone's home like that and raining down a torrent of artillery!"

His temperament was obviously getting the better of him, for any injection of a voice of reason was lost. That is, until he caught the notion that she assumed he was food... ohh the bad memories that dug up. He should have been grateful that, with his recent evolution came a paler pallor, for he felt the blood drain from his face. Or maybe that was the dizziness, he couldn't be sure, but it had been one too many times he was chased by a hungry bird as a wurmple. Kenley fought the urge to slump further to the ground, growling with an uninformed and blunted, "I'm fine! Worry about yourself -- do yourself a favor and beat it before I have to force you out myself!" Sure, he lost the height advantage, but... yeah, no, there was no way he could take her on if she had that bow. Maybe if he got a well-placed Poison Sting off before she had a chance to reload...

Lyla:
“Not always but with evidence of something large having torn through here, I wasn’t taking any chances!” her arm was swept to encompass all the surrounding destruction to emphasize her point on the matter. She threw her hands up in aggravation. “How would I have known someone lived here? Who in their right minds lives in a tree!? Honestly.”

This was her first prolonged argument she’d had since she’d woken up that morning to her trainer angry at her. This though was different. She didn’t feel as if she were in any immediate danger, though she was sure the Silcoon could cause her some serious damage if he was of the mind to do so. She was going with her gut, which was telling her that his bark was bigger than his bite. For the moment at any rate.

His blustering wasn’t lost on her, but instead of listening to his words and taking off, she came closer and merely brushed past him and climbed up the tree. She wasn’t about to abandon her arrow after all! Once up in the tree she found it embedded in part of the trunk and yanked it out with some effort, her eyes focusing momentarily on her birds eye view of the damage caused to the forest. In fact she was so distracted that one particularly hard yank freed her arrow and caught her by surprise, which resulted in her tumbling from the tree unceremoniously…and barely managing to avoid landing on Kenley.

Laying there flat on her back, one foot up on the tree and the other bent under her, she swore the sky was dark save for a few stars. There was a wince and a groan as she pulled herself upright, realizing she’d landed on her weapons and she actually dreaded the idea of checking them over for damage. With another winded groan she leaned against the tree gingerly and pulled her quiver around and looked it over. Slightly smushed…a broken arrow…and of course her bow was busted.

This brought a defeated sort of sigh from her as she realized her hunting trip was cut short, and she had to make – or steal – a new one. She rubbed one hand over her face as she settled things on her properly before pulling herself up to her feet, two of her hands rubbing lightly at one of her arms since it was stinging some.

Kenley:
He flinched, his shoulders still tensed and obviously flustered; the disorientation wasn't helping his mood any, either. "You shouldn't have been here in the first place!" Kenley snapped. It didn't matter to him that it wasn't fully understood to the outside world that this patch of forest was claimed by a severely territorial silcoon, or that her reactions, as impressive as they were, were entirely reasonable under the circumstances. No, he almost got hit, and that was what mattered most! If she hadn't been here... well, she wouldn't have reacted so negatively to the results of Frank's tantrum. Despite himself, his attention followed where Lyla indicated, mostly to gain the time to collect his own thoughts a little, but there was a visible wince when the teen spotted the damage. Wow, he hadn't realized it was so apparent from down here, at this angle...

Whipping his head back around to face the ledyba, Kenley was about to say something in his defense about his living arrangements. That is, until he realized he didn't know what to say to that effect. He tipped a little to the side, the quick momentum messing with his head, but he offered a stern, "...I don't have to answer that." Brilliant counterattack, genius.

He knew he was in trouble, though. Now that the numbness was ceasing, he recognized this pain, and there was no way he was going to let someone stick around when he was experiencing another migraine. All the stress and anger, it was bound to happen, but it always seemed to happen at the most inopportune of times... not that any time was good, mind. However, Lyla's silent assessments of Kenley's behavioral traits were spot-on; even if he did manage to fire off a Poison Sting, he wouldn't be aiming to hit her. Even if her complete disregard of his forceful instructions made him want to reconsider.

As the girl pushed past him, he could only stumble around in bewilderment at her actions. She wasn't intimidated in the least bit, was she? But why the heck did she think she could just waltz up into the central station of his fortress without resistance!? "Hey, wait!" he called to her, but she was fairly nimble in scaling up the tree. Little resistance indeed, this was immensely disconcerting. He was going to have one hell of a time getting her to leave before all his senses were back fully... "What do you think you're doing!? Get out of th--!" he continued to holler to her, cut short when she managed to... do the exact same thing that happened to him, moments before. With a sharp gasp, he took a swift step back, but she was at little risk of hitting him with her weight. Herself, on the other hand...

Ignoring the increasing pounding of his head, he cautiously stepped back toward her, leaning over slightly to gauge the damage. He was terrible at assessing it unless someone outright told him they were hurt, but even then there was no guarantee he would always have the mind to hear it. It seemed he had been surprised back into full attention to the situation this time, and tried not to offer a snide smirk at what had just transpired, "It appears you're not the most graceful at falling, either." He doubted that would earn him any respect, but one could only hope.

She was making an awful fuss about it, though, and it made the teen wonder if she was actually hurt from the landing, or if she had merely been disappointed of the state of her weaponry. At least Kenley was now safe from being shot at with an arrow again... He fidgeted slightly, realizing he was about to ask if she needed help up until she got to her feet on her own. Idly, he wondered how dizzy such a fall made a normal individual in comparison. With a knit of the eyebrows, he watched her, but he had taken a few more steps away from her before being tempted into speaking, "...You alright?" Could she even walk out of here, or was he going to have to tie her up and evict her later?

Lyla:
“Hey a girl’s gotta eat, and I don’t see any signs anywhere saying Keep Out, so I’m sorry but you’re just going to have to deal with me being here. Not like you can own the forest anyhow genius. It’s nature. Open space.” Seriously who in their right mind thought they could own nature?

His comeback, as lacking as it was actually made her smirk a little and shake her head. “Wow, what a comeback. Take you long to think that one up?” she was on edge, this guy was making her nervous in ways she didn’t recognize, or like. It was making her snappier than usual. Stupid boy!

“Oh shut up.” She growled on her way up the tree. Honestly, he was so full of hot air! It was her own hot air knocked out of her in that fall, and it had taken her a few moments to realize he was looking down over her in concern, which she brushed away almost literally.

“Stupid arrow pulled loose when I was looking around from up there. Great view…and boy whatever did all this had to have been huge.” She rubbed at her arm a little more before dropping the others down as well. It was bothering her, but it didn’t seem to be broken. She’d probably just sprained it or something. At least she had three others to help her out still.

Still his question caught her off guard and she looked up at him, surprise written in her eyes. He hadn’t struck her as the type to care about anyone else but himself, so for him to ask… “My arm hurts a little, but I think it’s just sprained. I’m more worried about my bow. If it was just me I was hunting for I could get by with my knife, but I found another boy not long ago who was half drowned and I’m helping him get stronger and teaching him to hunt and stuff so he can survive on his own.”

She looked away from his eyes, her own sliding over his shoulder and away only to jerk back to his shoulder. “Whoa…hey! Are you okay!? You’re bleeding!” She was more alert, her own pain forgotten as she moved towards him again, arms reaching for him. “Here you need to sit down somewhere before you fall over, and let me take a look at it and get you bandaged up a little or something okay?”

Kenley:
Kenley flinched, deterred by Lyla's aggressive verbal counterattacks. It had been a while since anyone fought him back so fiercely, and he was quickly reminded as to why he tended to hate encounters with others outside the metaphorical bubble he created with this expanse of forest. Why couldn't she just shut it and leave? "Of course you don't see any signs," he snapped, "I can't say I've heard of many wild pokémon doing that with their territories. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only ones that would be so arrogant to do such a thing would be the humans. I don't think I need to tell you what I'm not." His disdain for the thought was plainly evident.

He sighed and rocked back a little, closing his eyes in a partial attempt to will the pounding of his head to desist. His counter, however, was little more than a shrug and laced sarcasm, "I'm sorry. I just don't really feel like divulging my life's story to explain something to you. So you're going to have to deal with the lackluster response." Not that he would have really felt like telling her had she been more congenial from the start anyway, but that was beside the point.

The teenaged silcoon grumbled incomprehensibly at Lyla's response to his request that she vamoose from his favorite tree. Was she going to listen to anything he had to say? True, that was never anything out of the ordinary, but even the knowledge that this sort of reaction was commonplace wasn't going to make him feel any better about it. The stress was already wearing him thin; he didn't want anyone to see him in such a state. Why couldn't she just get fed up with him and storm out!?
It didn't help matters that she seemed to think he genuinely cared about her well-being after her fall. While he felt it was a little over-the-top in explanation, at least he could appreciate the fact that she seemed to be less volatile. Interesting... was that because Kenley asked her about how she felt, or because she fell in the first place and knocked a screw loose? Regardless, maybe it was better to get on her good side. Maybe then she'd leave sooner. "That arrow seems to be causing a lot of problems," he stated, attention following to the destruction the girl indicated once again, "Yeah... that's a long story, and one I'm not sure I fully understand anyway." Deterred her from asking anything else personal of him yet? Kenley briefly wondered if she was pointing this stuff out just to prolong her stay...

He frowned at her deduction of her own physical condition, mirroring her words with pointed emphasis, "...Just sprained. Ahuh. That sort of thing not faze you?" Sounded painful, but he had no idea how to take care of such a thing aside from refraining from using it for a bit. Strange, he thought, that she was taking care of someone else along with her: she just didn't seem the type to really get along with others. Or maybe that was just the way Kenley rubbed off on people; it's not like he had the best of luck with successfully being friendly, so that was entirely possible... did he just bring out the worst in everyone else? The concept was actually kind of amusing.

"Eh?" the sound came more out of surprise than anything else, but he didn't realize what Lyla was referring to at first. Did he really look as bad as he felt? Oh... no wait... Glancing over to where the ledyba-girl's sight was locked, Kenley found himself taken just as off-guard. He pulled at the bloody sleeve quizzically, "...When did--?" The way the cut went, it was apparent it was more of a slashing injury than something caused by sliding off the bark of the tree. Luckily it didn't hurt him at the moment, but that was likely because his headache was so much worse; adding water might reverse such roles, though. Turning back around, he saw the concern that Lyla was suddenly exhibiting toward him, and he stumbled back a few paces, unnerved but scowling to mask it, "H-Hey, I'm not that fragile. I'm fine! It's just a little cut!" It didn't help his argument that it appeared he was going to fall over just by backing up, but that was due to an entirely different affliction.

Lyla:
It was likely a good thing Lyla was sticking to being verbal rather than taking any sort of physical action, she was a lot stronger than she looked especially given her height but she’d been on her own long enough to start toughening up and developing muscles that did her quite a bit of good when she had to use them. Though there was a disbelieving snort at his words and she shook her head. “You do realize that you’re no longer a wild pokemon right? We look closer to the humans than pokemon, so really its your own fault that people keep…what was that? Coming into your territory?” she rolled her eyes at the teen. He was something else!

His refusal to explain anything didn’t deter her, she honestly didn’t care. She was just poking at him to get reactions from him. It was proving to be an interesting tactic, seeing what irked him more than other things she said or did!

Still rubbing lightly at her arm, she gave a wry smile at the comment on the arrow, and slung it all back into the quiver with a sigh. This was going to take some time to get it fixed up and all, or a new one found. She wasn’t looking forward to it. Glancing down at her arm she was glad to see it wasn’t bleeding, but it still ached more than it should have. She’d keep an eye on it.

It was his insistence he wasn’t fragile, when he looked ready to keel over that drew her attention back to him and sighed in exasperation. “Just a little cut? Your sleeve is soaked! That’s more than a little. C’mon let me take a look. You need to sit down before you pass out from getting too lightheaded from that. Really, you don’t look like you’re feeling so good.”

She moved closer, her own sore arm pretty much forgotten as she reached out a hand and rested it lightly on the forearm of his uninjured arm. “Please. Let me help you.” There was genuine concern in her voice as she looked up at him, though she was fully expecting him to push her away in anger or annoyance and she couldn’t blame him, it was her fault she was hurt. “I’m really sorry I hurt you, it wasn’t my intention to hit another person.” Of course not!

Kenley:
Kenley knew full well that he -- that most of the pokémon he ran into nowadays -- resembled the humans more than their original-born species. Anybody would be hard-pressed to say they were pokémon any longer, or admit that any of the others were, but Kenley was willing to push the envelope, if only out of stubbornness and hatred. Very obvious hatred, with the way he scowled at Lyla's statements, a building anger. "I'm a pokémon and I'm wild, so of course it's still an accurate description!" he snapped back, "I can't just suddenly not be one!" Never mind that he wasn't always wild, and that evolution was all part of the game. He didn't know what was up with that star he found, but that wasn't his fault, either! And neither was the concussion that caused him to temporarily forget his better judgment against touching the thing in the first place... He reeled a little, bracing himself at the sudden thought, "Wait, you wouldn't happen to think you're one of them now..?" How disgusting.

Her carefree attitude after falling from the tree caught him a little off-guard, mostly due to the smile she feigned. He wasn't even aware she could even try faking that expression... interesting. She also wasn't looking for attention for any injury inflicted, despite it sounding rather painful. In fact, she seemed to drop the subject altogether. It was about that time, between everything else that had occurred, that Kenley realized that he really, really didn't understand this girl. What was she out to prove? Or was he putting too much weight on a chance encounter?

The concern that Lyla was showing probably put him more on-edge than her abrasive personality had before. At least with arguments, he was used to those. This was bordering on kindness, albeit a gruff sort, and he backed up a little further in reaction. "Yeah, it's just a nick. Those things are bleeders, you know..." he tried to justify, voice quieter in his hesitance, especially once she pointed out that he didn't look like he was feeling well. He still didn't want to explain that one, for the migraines had quickly grown to being one of his bigger weaknesses since shot with the affliction and he didn't want it to be exploited.

Stubbornness to such ignorant degree, however, wasn't always the wisest of choices. This was something that Kenley was aware of but oftentimes didn't like acknowledging. He didn't back up any further when she neared, mostly because he felt he might actually fall this time should he try it. It was weird, having someone else touch him like that without it being an attempt to punch him or something. Before the last of her words fully registered to him, his head still fuzzy and broken from the pain, his eyes narrowed and he replied with a sharp, "...Why should I let you?" Of course, he wasn't above blaming her for all of it -- the less blame on himself, the better -- but he wasn't sure it was such a good idea. He was too vulnerable at the moment, what if she saw past that? What if she tried to take over? Incapacitate him further? He had almost convinced himself her concern was all an act, but her tone left residual doubt.

But... she apologized, didn't she? Did he hear that right? He almost fell over at that, catching himself on the tree to his back. "...What?" he blinked. Lyla was such a willful girl, he didn't think she'd cave and admit to that, regardless of fault. He was utterly confused, plain and simple. He didn't want to trust her.

Lyla:
“If you insist on saying so, then sure, whatever.” There was a shrug from Lyla. She wasn’t about to argue semantics and technicalities with this guy, it seemed like a lost cause and she had better things to do with her time. Like notice he’s kind of cute… a waspish little voice whispered in the back of her head, which she dismissed immediately, and somewhat angrily. Boys! UGH!

If Lyla had realized she’d confused the teen she might have laughed some, instead her lips though smiling were slightly white from the tightness of them. Her arm was starting to hurt a little more, but she was putting it out of her mind, she could help herself later, she wasn’t the one bleeding after all!

Why should I let you? the question buzzed in her ears and she let out a soft sigh. “You don’t have to…but I wish you would…it’s my fault you’re hurt after all…I’d like to make it up to you, and make sure you’re okay. It’s an awkward location to tend to by yourself, even if you have multiple arms like me.” Her words were still soft, but seeing as it seemed like he was going to continue disagreeing with her asking to help, her hand fell away and she took a small step backwards, a slightly frustrated sigh coming from her, though the concern on her face showed clearly. She wasn’t mad. At least not at him, in any case. She understood his reluctance to let her help.

Taking another small step backwards, her shoulders seemed to slump a little. He was hurt, and wouldn’t let her help. She was hurt, but wasn’t concerned with herself. Giving him a quick glance then looking away again she let out another deep sigh, trying to wrap her head around why it bothered her so much he wouldn’t allow her to help him. “I said I was sorry…and I am…but I understand why you don’t want my help…I…” she paused a moment and shook her head almost imperceptibly. “I’ll go…” there wasn’t much else she could say, or do in this instance was there? He didn’t want her help, she wasn’t going to force him to accept her help.

She turned her back on him then, and started to walk away then, gently cradling her sore arm in the process. “I hope you heal up okay….” Leaving seemed the best…and really her only option just now. She was worried about the guy though, he looked pale and she didn’t know if it was from her shooting him with the arrow or what but it concerned her, but it wasn’t her place to worry or care…or even help. Still, she hoped he’d be okay. Carefully she skirted the fallen tree, about to vanish into the bushes and such she’d pushed through not long before.

Kenley:
Kenley gave a bit of a crooked frown as Lyla dropped the subject, instigating some confusion as to where she really stood on the subject. Had he... won that argument, then? He wasn't entirely sure, but then he wasn't all that convinced he would have been happy knowing, especially if she held some fondness for the humans at all. The pain seemed to be the main driver at this point, for the both of them, so maybe that was the reason instead. Well... so much for that.

Lyla seemed to drop the stubbornness in favor of offering a bit of humility, which Kenley would have been more than happy about had the subject matter been a bit different. He liked being in control of a situation, to direct it the way he wanted it to go, to know exactly how it was going to go... When so many variables were on the table, it was difficult to feel completely secure that those ideals would come to fruition. Sure, he liked the attention, but he'd never actually admit to something so shallow, trivial in the face of perceived upheaval.

Due to the confliction, when Lyla backed off after being so forceful before, it left the silcoon partially stunned for the moment. He hadn't expected her to concede so quickly after having been so adamant, especially when he had not outright refused her offer. She knew that's what he had meant by it all, of course... that had to be what he meant, otherwise he would have said something else to counteract the assumption, right? Despite the fact she made many truthful observations, how he probably couldn't treat the injury himself... He would have argued with a brick wall about the fact that he could take care of himself on his own just fine, thankyouverymuch, but it would not have been the whitest of lies, that much was obvious. He would have argued it, that is, if he hadn't been tensed enough for his vocal chords to lock, waiting for Lyla to back up further before attempting to relax.

Her frustration was plain, her guilt... and Kenley may have felt a tinge of remorse of his own had it not been working exactly as he wanted it to. There was no room for backpedaling so late in the game; if he really wanted to, he could do that later. He seemed to be good at that anyway. In fact, it was almost guaranteed, considering how quickly she retreated from the scene in the wake of apology. She seemed very upset she had hurt him at all... but this was the wild, pokémon hurt one another out here all the time! He couldn't say as much, though, not with the hesitation mounting up. Her words were sincere, and they were trying not to anger him any further, so why break that with some sarcastic remark about the whole thing?

No, he waited until she was out of sight before attempting that one, "Good--" The key word being 'attempt,' dropping it before finishing the nearly-whispered retort. With the perceived threat to exposed weakness out of sight, his mind decided now would be the perfect time to remind itself that it was still there. And still very much in pain. He intook a sharp breath through clenched teeth, eyes shutting tightly as he sat roughly back down into the grass, no bracing for that fall at all; any outside pain he would have felt would have paled in comparison anyway. With a hand to his forehead and over a single eye, partially blotting out more of the light, he leaned his head back into the trunk at his back.

Lyla:
Lyla wasn't trying to be confusing, and she might have felt bad if she realized thats how she was coming across. Maybe. Though this guy was annoying her, so she might have been amused in some way.

She wasn't looking to fight with anyone, especially not a guy who was injured and looked like he might fall over if a slight breeze popped up suddenly. So of course she'd backed off, not wanting to make him feel worse than he was already and it was obvious to her he did. It seemed the better course of action, to back down and assume he could actually take care of the wound himself, no matter how much she was doubting this fact.

Back through the bushes and out of sight...she hadn't left. Oh no. She was crouched and watching silently, ready to dart out of sight if he looked to be coming near her current "hiding" spot. So when he didn't that made her relax slightly...only to tense up as he less than gracefully fell to the ground. Oh no! He's really hurt!

Recalling the river nearby she ran that way keeping low so she couldn't possibly be seen, and tore part of her shirt, and dipped it into the river getting it soaked, before she was dashing back, and through the bushes, coming to a crouch beside Kenley, the chilly bit of cloth carefully squeezed off to one side, and there she went, carefully laying it out over what bit of his eyes and forehead she could. "Here...this will help you feel less faint..."

Her words were soft, but full of concern, her eyes studied him closely, almost certain he'd lash out again, but determined to stand her ground this time. He wasn't well. At all! No, she was going to stay put and help him, even if she had to hog tie him to get him to accept her help!

Kenley:
Before Lyla even pretended to leave, the concern she was showing Kenley was not overlooked, it was merely not understood. Due to this, it was easier to disregard her feelings on the matter, to ignore them in favor of his own preferences. Why would someone be worried about another person they just met, after all? It didn't make sense to him, especially when it wasn't even the injury she inflicted that was giving him issues, it was secondary. It was caused by the scare, of course, but she wouldn't have known that.

Not that he cared much to dwell on that subject, at least at the moment. There was plenty of time later to deliberate on what seemed to be a lack of self-preservation instincts from Lyla, and likewise, to regret his own decisions. Initial reactionary responses weren't always for the best... but they were always present in these situations. There was always time to second-guess everything that went down, but never the time, never the chance, to do anything about it.

Especially during instances like the present. His head couldn't wrap thought around anything substantial. With eyes closed, Kenley merely focused on trying to dampen the migraine, will it away. He didn't hear as Lyla circled around the back, or even when she snuck back, less careful about the volume of her steps. Kenley was not in tune with his surroundings, but not all his senses had been dulled and closed off.

He flinched slightly as the cloth was placed over his eyes, lightly grabbing the edge of it to secure it in place. He held his breath; he didn't want to look, but he knew someone was next to him... and was pretty sure he knew who it was, even before she explained what it was she was trying to do. Even if he had wanted to snap at her about her actions, berate her for assuming things that were admittedly obviously true... he didn't have the energy. It forced him to listen -- really listen. She wasn't patronizing... she didn't sound irritated... there wasn't even a hint of spite in her voice.

He wanted to hide. He didn't know how to handle this! Nobody was supposed to see him in such a state, and so far, he had been successful in that endeavor. Kenley let his own silence drag on more than he had planned to, but he wasn't familiar to the effects of nervousness, to situations where there was absolutely no way he could be in control. "You are... the worst kind of person..." he hesitated with a grumble. He couldn't fight her.

Lyla:
Of course Lyla didn’t live in that same deluded world as Kenley, and she wasn’t the type to wonder about being concerned for those she just met. As was obvious what with Aatami back at camp and all.

That was why she went back, and helped him. Why she braved any possible wrath from him, because he obviously needed the help, no matter how he might protest to the contrary.

His words though, they made her rock back on her heels in surprise. What in the world was that supposed to mean? ‘You are the worst kind of person’ really? What in the world did that mean!?

“Be that as it may, you’re in some sort of distress and need help. It’s a good thing I came back, because you’d have bled to death with your luck.” Her words were still gentle as she tore part of her top again, and reached out to touch his shoulder near the wound. “I’m going to tie this over the wound, try to stop the bleeding. Then I’ll search and find something that will help you with the pain you’re feeling okay?” still no derision to her words, she just wanted to make sure he was okay before she left. It would worry her if she left now!

The cloth was wrapped around his arm, and tied into a knot then for the time being, and she got to her feet. “I’ll be back, try not to move around too much okay? If you insist on going back into the tree, at least wait till I’m done helping you please. It’ll be too hard to help you up there.”

With that she was moving away and could be heard moving through the bushes, and off a bit. It didn’t take her long till she was back, and kneeling by him again some leaves pushed to his hand. “These are leaves, they’ll help with the pain. You need to chew on them till they become all mushy and swallow the juices along with your spit okay? Then I can look at your arm better.” Pain first, then healing.

Kenley:
It hadn't been the fact that Kenley didn't want Lyla around that caused such confusion, but the fact that this sort of thing just never happened. The silcoon was under the firm belief that everyone, despite what they may insist, was only looking out for themselves. It wasn't a very difficult assumption to make, all things considered, for what was the point of helping someone out that one barely knew? That one would likely never see again? For some karmic points? But more specifically... why him!?

As much as he would have loved to ask for clarification on any of his current, swarming cynicism, it was all he could do to say what little he had, and even that only added to the befuddling situation. He didn't see her reaction, eyes still hidden beneath the makeshift towel at his head, but he knew it would likely only work to annoy or confuse her, if she payed any heed to it at all. It's all the bite he had, but words tended to be his only means of offensive action that he tended to take, regardless of health. He sighed at it, but other than the silent grumble, didn't further his complaint about her. It about summed up his thoughts on the matter as it was, even if it was entirely too vague.

It wasn't helping his aggravation much that Lyla was focused on getting his shoulder to stop bleeding. Kenley was sure that it had only been a scratch, nothing that would be a problem once it clotted enough to stop bleeding. No, it was his head that was killing him, not the stupid cut! The content of her words were enough for him to want to retort back something snide about it, but her tone confused him into thinking twice on it. She was so confusing... the boy couldn't tell if she was trying to make a jab at him or if she genuinely thought he couldn't take care of himself. Lyla was actually following through with her words, though, so it was enough to let it slide... but no less confounding. What was in it for her? Was she going to blackmail him later for this?

Was the injury really that bad? It was only at that point that he thought to consider that, perhaps, it was a much worse injury than he had initially thought. Despite her age, Lyla seemed to know what she was doing, which was more than Kenley could say at the moment. Reluctantly, he slowly slid an edge of the cloth from one of his eyes, tipping a little to see what had her so concerned. The silk wrappings around his shoulder, at this angle, still obscured most of the injury, but there was more blood dying the gold strings than he had anticipated.

He watched as she stood and instructed him not to climb the tree while she disappeared for a bit. In retort, he slid the cloth back over his eyes and leaned back against the tree with another sigh, "Not like I could if I tried..." He was way too dizzy, and the pain was enough to make his muscles feel like gelatin. The cold snap running down his spine wasn't helping the nerves either, but it was at least helping the head. The last time this happened, he had to stay on the ground floor, too, despite the upper tree feeling much more secure. Well... at the very least, Lyla could handle herself; in a very roundabout way, maybe that made him more safe down here, too... He rose a hand to mess with the tie she wrapped around his arm, tugging light enough to get a feel for how tight it was wrapped but not enough to yank anything loose. Man, she was really going all out, wasn't she..?

Kenley listened for her steps in the forest undergrowth; it beat keeping attention on his own current physical limitations. As Lyla neared again, Kenley slid the cloth away from his eyes, past the tiara and small horn on his head, to keep it from slipping as he took what was offered. His hands were a bit shaky from the pain, but it wasn't entirely obvious. He frowned slightly at the leaves before sifting one out singularly, attention rising back up to meet the ledyba, "The arm doesn't hurt, you know?" He supposed it couldn't hurt the head any further, though... and there was always the distinct possibility he just wasn't feeling the shoulder wound at present. Too much energy to argue, or explain any further unless prompted, so he wasn't inclined to hold much else back on cooperation. There was a slight cringe at the initial bitter flavor, but past that, it wasn't a flavor Kenley was entirely unaccustomed to. Despite that, it still took some effort to swallow; it wasn't the most palatable, and his expression said as much!

Lyla:
If Lyla could read minds, and know just what was on the Silcoon teen’s mind she might have cuffed him upside the back of the head lightly and called him an idiot….but it would have been in an affectionate sort of way, no real malice behind the action, just sort of generally exasperated with that archaic thought process of his. She was of the opinion you helped people that needed help, regardless of anything. If someone needed the help and you could help, you should do so. It was the way the world should work in her mind.

His grumbles were easily ignored as she continued to flit around him quietly, and carefully checking that wound and all. No amount of complaining was going to deter her at this point. She was a bug on a mission, and her mission was fixing Kenley up a bit.

The cloth being lifted had one hand reaching out and gently swatting at his hand. “Keep it dark, it will help with headaches. Sun adds to the pain at times I found out. My old trainer would wear sunglasses all the time because the light hurt his eyes a lot, plus it made his head hurt less he once said.” She spoke idly as she worked, making sure the bleeding was slowly.

“I’m glad you don’t feel the pain there. It’ll still help you out though. I have some things here to make a paste for your arm. Let me mix it all up, and then I’ll apply it to your arm, and see about rinsing out that bandage and putting it back on.” She had all she needed at her disposal. She’d found a rock that would work well enough and set the items into it, and began to mash it together. A little water from her canister was added to help thicken it up and before long she had a very oddly colored pulp sitting there waiting to be applied. “Okay…let me untie this from your arm and get this on.”

There was no qualms about invading his personal space. Any earlier odd thoughts she’d had about him being kind of cute was forgotten as she worked on tending to the wound she’d caused him. As she worked though she couldn’t help but sneaking little peeks at him from the corner of her eye. Finally though, she smiled. “I really like your crown….it’s a crown right? I saw a picture of one once. It’s pretty, and it suits you.” Well then, that had to be as unexpected as everything else! She got the bloody cloth undone, and carefully applied the mash of berries and leaves and such the sound. “This should numb any pain…keep it from getting infected, as well as encourage it to heal up quickly. Let me wash this a bit, and I’ll wrap it up again.” More water from her canister was used and she rinsed the cloth as best she could…but wasn’t satisfied, and instead tore another portion of her shirt off, the lid placed back on her empty water once that was done, and turned back to him. “This might sting, I’m going to make it tighter than before.”

Kenley
While Kenley had no real reason to suspect any of Lyla's actions as being anything less than sincere, much like the words that were coming from her mouth being purely instructional and straight to the point, it was conditioned through experience as being the only logical explanation. If there was nothing that she could benefit from, then it wasn't logical at all! Such thought processes likely would have been much more apparent had he the capacity to state so, but at present he didn't feel he could make such a strong case and point, or at least be coherent about it. So until he could string such arguments together, the only thing he seemed to be really good at, he'd complain in other ways about it. Maybe she'd think twice about helping him... and giving him the detriment of having to pay her back somehow.

Unfortunately, it seemed that what he did to try to get her to leave only had her pushing him back all the more forcibly. Man, she was bossy... It aggravated him that he couldn't argue. Why did she have to be right!? He didn't know how to deal with this, and in such confusion, did something he thought he'd never have to do again... and obeyed her instruction without question. He probably put more pressure on the cloth across his eyes than he should have, but with it there it was a constant reminder that his skull had a hammer to it, and putting an uncomfortable amount of force somewhere else on his head seemed like the better course of action.

That, and despite what he might have wanted to admit, Lyla's relayed experience in this area was... fairly fascinating, and the slight twitching of his spined ears alerted to the fact that he was paying attention. So the sun was bothering him more? He just thought his sight was playing tricks on him when the sun was out, not the other way around. His focus drifted slightly, considering whether he would be able to snag a pair of sunglasses anywhere around here. He wasn't about to leave his forest in the search, though.

"Yeah..." Kenley managed to say, an unclear agreement to what Lyla had told him that she would be doing next. Ugh, it was so difficult to say what he meant to say, and he knew that he wasn't making a whole lot of sense with simplistic, one-word replies that could mean any number of things! Regardless, he hoped she'd just keep talking. He'd never hoped for someone to talk so much, but it was a much more comforting sound than the pulsing in his head, steadily decreasing but nonetheless very evidently there. Once her words stopped coming from the area, the silcoon strained to focus on the sounds of her actions instead, attempting to decipher what exactly was happening.

As Lyla moved to untie the bandage she had tied on his arm, Kenley loosened the weight he was placing on the arm to keep it steady so the girl could get a better hold on it. He almost didn't, and the bitter leaves she had given him earlier worked enough for him to have been tempted to try a snide remark at it. However, it was at that point that Lyla had offered a compliment on his tiara, and he staggered, his hand slipping from the cloth over his eyes and causing it to fall. She... did she really just..? He fumbled for the cloth, replacing it back on his head and wishing he could do the same for the words that seemed to have gone missing as well. "I... N-No, it's a tiara..." well, there went the remainder of his irritation, at least as far as it was directed at the young ledyba. He slid the wet cloth lower on his face to hide any blush that might have threatened at that, a combination of frustration and... he wasn't quite sure. Gratification, maybe?

In fact, he was so distracted by the confliction that Lyla's warning words only registered to Kenley after the fact, but before he could say anything reprimanding. His body stiffened after the initial flinch, but relaxed as he realized what it was she was doing. Yikes, that injury really did hurt! He could only imagine what that arrow would have done had he not accidentally moved in time... His hand came up to the bandage reflexively, air pulled in from clenched teeth from the sudden sharp sting, "Jeez, you really did have good aim!"

Lyla:
It was good Lyla wasn’t a psychic type and able to read his thoughts. She might have had a few words to say…along the lines of ‘You’re such an idiot. Not everyone is in it for themselves!’ so, for peace’s sake, it was very good she was oblivious! She merely continued with her simple explanations of everything, so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed. Or likely to forget given everything else that had gone on.

She could see he was paying attention, even if he didn’t look to be, so she continued on in her even, though concerned tone. It was just one of those things she’d seen first hand, seen how it debilitated the guy who had been her trainer until recently. It was amazing the realizations…the leaps and bounds her mind could make now that it was more human like. She could empathize with Kenley having seen it, even if she herself had never experienced the pain first hand. One didn’t need to know the pain themselves, to feel bad for someone who did.

“I imagine finding sunglasses in the forest isn’t very easy…” words murmured thoughtfully at one point, seemingly in line with his thoughts. She’d started trading with people recently. So maybe… that and a new shirt for him since this one was pretty messed up. It was a passing thought she filed away for later since now she couldn’t do anything about that, but give it a few days and she might be able to help out in some way. Possibly.

“I’d only ever seen them in pictures before, it’s really very nice looking. I think it looks good on you. It matches your shirt a little too I think.” She noticed him pulling the cloth down, but not before she caught the reddening of his cheeks. She had embarrassed him? How? She bit at her lip a little. Boys! they were so dang confusing…and stupid sometimes! Still…the blush…it looked nice…

Her hands paused in surprise as he reached up….and grabbed her hand! That, mixed with the previous thoughts, made it so that for a moment she couldn’t think, she was more than a little confused by the reaction the touch of his hand on hers had caused, and it took all her will power not to yank her hand away from his shoulder just then. Though she was blushing deeply at that point.

Mentally she dragged her thoughts away from there and refocused on what she was doing, so she could finish tending the wound. In fact, she’d just finished when he spoke…and it caused her blush to return, her head ducking a little. “I’m just glad it wasn’t worse for you. Just imagine how bad it could have been if I had been aiming for you.” She cleaned up her things she had around, and a small tied cloth pouch was set in his lap. “More leaves. You shouldn’t need anymore for awhile I don’t think, but when you do just chew a few and they’ll work again. Should help you be able to sleep too.” She looked up at the tree a moment. “You going to be okay to get up there with that shoulder? I can give you a hand getting settled If you want. The shade up there might help with your head too.” She sounded thoughtful as she peered up at the leafy branches. Oh yes. Much better for his head.

Kenley:
Regardless of any residual confusion Kenley felt about the situation he currently found himself in, and Lyla's own reaction to it, the silcoon-boy didn't really have the energy at the moment to try to untangle the mess of logistics he had wound to try to explain it to himself. He was still pessimistic about it, but he couldn't currently comprehend why... on either end of the argument he still was convinced was going on. It was too much thinking, and right now he knew he had to just shut all that activity in his head down. The leaves that Lyla had given to him to help with the pain were working with the thought processes, too, and he was kind of glad about that, even if it was giving him a bit of a sense of vertigo.

It also made it easier to concentrate on what was around him, outside his own inquiries and onto the world around him. Lyla's mild tone made it easier for Kenley to listen to her and relax, something that was bound to help recovery in the long run when tenseness no longer proved to be a large benefactor to his migraine. With his eyes still covered by the damp cloth, a wry smirk appeared on his face as the ledyba spoke the words that were on his mind, evaluations of what they had at their disposal reaching the same ends. As nice as sunglasses might be, there were few people that traveled so far away from town into the middle of the forest, and those that went camping often tried to pack as little as they thought necessary. Sunglasses never seemed to be a high priority, from the looks of it.

It was rare that Kenley seemed to feel any sort of awkward embarrassment, and at a time like this, even more so. Truth was, the teen really did like the compliments, but actually receiving them sincerely was something that happened maybe once in a blue moon these days. As much as he liked to think he expected them more often, he didn't. He chased people away, he didn't earn any favor. So while the faint trace of a blush was still tinting his face under a partial washcloth mask, he couldn't help but start thinking that this was just another trick, a mind game. She... she was so transparent; she was just trying to corner him, wasn't she? He'd drop his defenses just in time for her to backstab him. After all, she was more intelligent than he had initially pegged her for! So then why was it she sounded so sincere..?
Kenley's motion to grab for the bandage at his shoulder left him gripping something he hadn't intended, impeded by Lyla's own hands still at the knot. His hand jerked away, but the action was slowed some. Man, he was getting groggy... "Sorry," he said, another statement out of reaction, before moving his hand a little closer to himself to actually grab for the bandage he had originally been aiming for. Sliding the washcloth further up again, Lyla's blush wasn't registering fully, seeing that she was still intently working on finishing up her medical practice. His expression flashed a very brief and mild frown before he responded to the girl's observations on her aim, his voice instead hinting at both confusion and amusement, "Are you reading my mind or something?" Oh right, that blush... was she actually feeling regret? No, that wouldn't have made sense...

He grabbed the top of the small pouch as it was handed to him in an effort to make sure it wasn't misplaced if he moved. With a shake of his head, he leaned back against the tree again, "No, I think I'm just going to stay down here. The first time this sort of thing happened, I just hid in a bush anyway. I'm not really bothered very much when I'm on the ground." Even if he preferred the trees considerably more, he didn't really care about a whole lot at the moment, including insecurity. Besides, he was fairly sure he would have needed the help back up, and like hell his pride was going to stand for that! Replacing the cloth back over his eyes, he left his hand holding it in place while he pointed to the canopy above his head with the other, "There's enough shade here, I'll go back up later." Never mind that there was less shade where he was, and the breeze scattered the sunlight closer to the ground, but at least the cloth helped where eyelids alone wouldn't.

Lyla
“What? No. This is not worth so little. If you want the food, you’ll have to give me more than that.” Lyla was haggling. Profusely. She’d been doing this bartering thing a lot lately, and had gotten some luck with it! With her bow and arrow out of working order, she’d turned to fishing and gathering berries and such for the time being, she’d get her hands on a new bow eventually.

As she spoke, the hands holding the items in question were jerked away, scolding with a third, the fourth arm was in a sling against her body. It still hurt from her fall out of a tree, and she’d come to the conclusion it was badly sprained. She had done all she could for it, and didn’t think about it anymore.

There was a triumphant smile as the guy she was dealing with finally sighed and offered another item to what he was trading for. This was perfect, and in her glee, she added a few extra fish. “As a thank you for being so generous, good luck camping.” The man muttered and continued on his way, and Lyla pleased with her haul for the day got to her feet. Two things were very carefully placed into a bag so they wouldn’t get messed up, the rest, she swept hastily into a few more, and shouldered everything. Her brown eyes shone as she took off at a steady jog, she had a ways to go to get where she wanted.

It’d been a week since her encounter with the Silcoon teen and she was honestly concerned about him. He’d seemed pretty out of it when she’d left him, between the injury she’d given him, and then that other pain he was in. Checking her bags she beamed a moment at the small pile of things sitting there. She had been very busy in her bartering lately. Very insistent, and specific on what she wanted. Though, a voice nagged at her, wondering why she was worried about a “stupid boy”. She ignored that voice.

“Lets see…I went this way last time….” She was speaking quietly to herself, looking around as she went. It was the big rend in the earth that made her realize she was going in the right direction and so it was that way she continued. Though as she got closer a thought hit her. I don’t know his name. I never asked it…damn. how best to get his attention? She thought back on the last meeting with him. The only “name” that jumped out was pipsqueak…and she didn’t want to start things off badly, not when she had a reason to be here. Well…she could be directly indirect then.

“HEY! Helllooo? Anyone home?” she figured if he were around her voice would carry well enough, and he’d start yelling at her soon enough. Instead of storming the tree she was pretty sure she recognized as the one he’d been at before, she paused and stood a distance away looking around. This time she had no bow and arrows, only a couple of knives in their sheaths, plus an arm in a sling. A definite difference from the last time she’d been here.


Kenley
The passing of time had been a little difficult to gauge over the past week. During the first few days since Kenley's run-in with the trigger-happy ledyba, he had been more or less incapacitated, sleeping off the migraine he had developed during the encounter. How many days was that, before he felt okay enough to start patrolling the area again? They all seemed to bleed into one another, even more so when he used the leaves that she had left him to use for pain. While they didn't make him sleepy in and of themselves, the removal of pain when it was so overpowering before always left him drained. The lingering after effects left Kenley deciding that telling how many days had passed was meaningless in the grand scheme of things, as long as time kept moving toward recovery.

As it was, he had managed to yank off the bandage in his sleep that the young ledyba-girl had tied to his arm to stem the flow of bleeding, partway through that whole endeavor. He must have had a bad dream or something... did he normally do things like that in his sleep? Regardless, he had no idea where that strip of her shirt ended up, but she had done a pretty good job of patching it up. There was little left of a mark, now covered once more in the silk threads of his cocoon and out of sight. That was a good thing, considering the sleeve on that arm did little to help block it from view now.

The event hadn't faded from memory, but as the week went by, things started falling back into their normal pace. The forest was back to being entirely uneventful, Kenley went back to patrolling the perimeter (and coming up empty), the destruction caused from before was still quite trashed despite efforts to roll some of the logs over to the side... Yep, things were pretty much as secure as they were going to be. Fun times...

It was about that point that Kenley was torn from anything else he had been considering at that moment, by a combination of the most unexpected elements he could come up with. Everything froze up on him, a mixture of confusion, disbelief, and momentary terror as he tried to fight his way to gaining a hold back on his senses. He couldn't move. The only person that would be yelling into this forest like that would have to have known someone was out here, so either it was some stupid kid playing hide-and-seek with another stupid kid... or it was someone he had met before. If it was someone he had met before, they likely wanted to settle some sort of score with him. Well crap!

His first instinct was to pin himself to the tree, but none of his limbs wanted to work. With a quick scan of the area, he spotted a strangely familiar four-armed child, standing none too far from the tree Kenley tended to park himself in... kind of like what he was doing at the moment. Lyla was probably the single most dangerous person he had encountered -- not only was she a decent fighter, with excellent aim, but she had a temper to boot. He should have stayed terrified of her... but he felt his muscles relax as soon as his mind matched recognition. Someone had... actually come back willingly..? He pulled back, trying to shake it off. Remember, all she wants to do is blackmail you, he prodded himself mentally, eyes falling on the sling around her injured arm from that day, ...or get revenge.

"Came back, did you? A glutton for punishment?" he called from his perch in the tree. He tried to push for the same sort of commanding emphasis in his voice that he used for all trespassers, but it was considerably more difficult this time around, and the razzing couldn't be completely masked. She actually came back, even after everything that happened the first time around. Even if this was a mission of vengeance, or manipulation, no matter how hard he tried to bury it in these notions of venomous cynicism, the fact that she took the effort to return... His usual overriding territorial aggression stepped aside in favor of mere caution for the moment.


Lyla
What if he wasn’t here? What if he’d opted to move on and out of the area…away from this area which seemed to be full of all sorts of danger. Herself for one, then what ever caused that great mess of torn up earth. If he was smart he’d leave. Of course another small voice went ‘Well he’s a stupid boy. He hasn’t left.’

It was that tone that had her turning around to face the tree fully, a mock smile of sorts on her face at his tone. Of course he wasn’t happy to see her, she’d shot him last time after all! Holding up the two hands that weren’t busy holding something, or in a sling her smile turned a little friendly. “I come in peace. No bow and arrows this time.” Of course her knives were easy to see, but her hands were no where near them.

“I wanted to check on you, make sure you were okay. I’m glad to see you didn’t manage to die over the last week. “ moving toward the tree, she looked up at him, but made no move to climb it herself. “How’s the shoulder? And your head for that matter?” and there it was, the genuine concern that had brought her back out here, to deal with this bratty Silcoon boy. Of course, that same snarky voice was vindicated and being loud in the back of her head going ‘See? See? Stupid boy is here…’ she mentally growled at the voice to shut it up, though her expression stayed placid.

Remembering the bag she was carrying she held it up. “I not only come in peace, I come bearing gifts, if you have any interest.” Why yes, leaving it up to him if he saw what she had with her, for him. Maybe the temptation for gifts would prove stronger than being a jerk-face. She could hope, but she didn’t have much of it. He seemed pretty good at that whole jerk thing she’d discovered. Maybe he wouldn’t be so bad this time around since she hadn’t…you know…shot him.


Kenley
Kenley watched as Lyla's expression contorted into a fake smile. His initial instinct was to take it as though she were trying to cover up her motives, which wouldn't have been too far-fetched a scenario in the given circumstance, but something about it almost looked... pained? There was no denying that she was definitely a weird one, but as much as she tried to play the amicable sort, the underlying threat level was much too high, and Kenley just didn't understand motives at all unless they were blanketed by dark intentions.

This psychology usually worked fine and all, but the uncertainty of it all -- aside from assumption -- left the boy confused not only at her actions, but his own as well. There was no doubt he felt threatened, but his reaction times weren't hypersensitive like they normally were. He saw the knives as plain as day, glinting in the sunlight, as she held her hands up to indicate that her usual artillery was missing from her person.

With a slight frown, the silcoon recognized what it was that was bothering him, or insomuch that he had gathered. He wasn't afraid of her weaponry, he was afraid of her wordplay, her influence. He leaned over the edge of the branch slightly as the girl neared his tree, but that was all the further he tempted to move, "You really think something like that could kill me? Puh-lease, I'm fine. I told you that before you even left that day." He fidgeted slightly, knowing full well it was obvious he hadn't been okay. Admitting a fault like that wasn't as easy as some people made it look... so playing the teasing card felt like his only option. Why did she care, anyway?

However, when she offered the bag to him was when Kenley finally rediscovered the ability to move, quickly jumping to his feet within the arms of the canopy. He didn't come any closer. "W-What's that all about?" he stumbled unsteadily on his words before they gained proper footing. With a quick shake of the head, he growled, "What kind of game are you playing at?" He wanted to believe her, he wanted to believe she was working solely through benevolence, but he couldn't accept that blindly. She was smart, she had proven as much before. She had to be thinking over all angles, to what would benefit her the most over the long run... nobody was just nice for the heck of it! "...What does this get you?" he tried to elaborate after a pause. Maybe he'd finally get some semblance of an answer, instead of trying to decode her himself.


Lyla
“I would hope that something like that wouldn’t kill you, or that an infection wouldn’t set in and cause trouble. I wanted to come back sooner to check on you and your shoulder but I had to get some stuff before that and it took longer than I would have liked.” Her eyes searched his arm, and didn’t see the bandage. “It’s okay then?” she was relieved!

“Game?” her eyes widened in surprise at him, at the growl and his apparent anger with her. “What game?” she sounded totally lost at his accusation. “Get me? I…I don’t understand. What in the world are you talking about?” there was no doubt that she was utterly confused by his words, her brows furrowed…and you could have thought someone had said ‘The grass is purple, not green’ for as confused as she looked then!

With an exasperated sigh she found a branch that was perfect for holding the bag and merely hung the loop on it. “Whatever. You can decide to come down for that when you want. Apparently you’re fine, so you don’t need the stuff I got to fix your shoulder if you needed it. Do what you want with it.” It…and the new shirt…and the sunglasses. She threw her three unhurt arms in the air in defeat, and spun on her heel. “Hope that stuff is helpful at any rate.” Oh yes, very annoyed with this dumb boy.


Kenley
Instinctively, his arm came up to the shoulder that had been struck the first time the both of them had met once it was indicated. He hadn't really bothered to look at it much, considering it had stopped hurting. That meant it was more or less better, right? As quick as Kenley might have been to assure such a thing, his expression showed a hint otherwise. "You don't give me enough credit," he countered quietly.

Why was she taking his words so literal, though? He scowled at her confusion, but it was more out of frustration that disbelief. She might not actually know what he was talking about, or she was playing dumb, and he didn't like how the options were so divided along the scale. He bristled, "Don't take me for a fool!" Kenley was already fairly certain that she looked down on him in some manner or the other, but this was too much. She either didn't want to listen to reason, or he was teetering on the edge of falling into her carefully-laid trap.

He didn't even have time to find the words to explain in more base terms what he meant before Lyla's irritation resurfaced. Kenley could feel his tenseness return as the argument flared and she stormed off. Funny, he was kind of wishing he could have run off as well, but that wasn't going to happen. He peered down at the hanging bag for a second before his eyes flicked back up to her exasperated back. "...Just like that? Really?" he scoffed, trying to stop himself from cringing at her harsh reaction. She was really going to leave? It was such a difference from last time... and he didn't want that to happen. He always pushed people away, but that was to ensure they never returned again. He glowered, but he found himself more or less locked in place again in the anticipation of his next words before he called them out, "You're honestly going to throw a tantrum and storm out? How childish!"


Lyla
Well if he was having to reach up to it, maybe his shoulder really was that much better, which was a good thing really. She’d pegged him pretty good, and she’d been worried it wouldn’t heal right, or quick. Apparently she’d been worried for nothing though. His words caught her ears though, that quiet comment and she frowned. Maybe she was under estimating him. She’d caught him by surprise last time and injured him to boot. Maybe he was a fully capable of handling things when he wasn’t dealing with all that pain. It did make her feel guilty though!

“I’m not taking you for anything, but you’re certainly acting like one.” Her words were muttered just loud enough to be heard by him. If she knew of Kenley’s assumptions, she’d have likely quipped that he was right, because most boys tended to be stupid idiots she’d learned. Not all, but most. The jury was still out on him right now. Though the way he was behaving…

SHE was acting childish? That was rich coming from him! She paused in mid stride, and turned around, stomping back through the bushes and looked up at him glaring. “Would you kindly make up your mind already? Either you’re going to continue being an antagonistic jerk, and I’ll go, or you’re going to settle down and be nice and I’ll stay. I’m already tired of the personality changes with you! You’re so confusing!” her good arms crossed over her chest. “Also, I refuse to stay if you’re going to insist on standing up there talking down to me like you’re better than me. I didn’t just spend a week getting the stuff in this bag to have you treat me as if I’m nothing more than an annoyance to be endured. That’s pretty crappy.” Annoyed? Oh yes.


Kenley
Kenley watched as Lyla moved further from the tree, her words caught on attuned ears, his distrust catching more weight. How was he acting like a fool? It was a very logical conclusion to draw from all this! As much as he would have liked to argue that point, though, it wasn't his main objective at the moment. If she felt that he was acting like an idiot at the moment, then he was just going to have to let her unless it proved detriment to pinning the ledyba's motives down -- maybe she'd continue to underestimate him, who knew?

One of his feet made a move to back up a bit as Lyla caught his taunt and came storming back over until he caught himself, focusing more on the scowl he had trained on the girl. "I could say the same to you!" he hissed, though really only meant the part about being confusing, not so much on being outwardly mean... yet. "You asked me what I meant, but refused to stick around to find out. I don't know, if you just think the worst of me automatically, maybe you should go. I'm sick of these mind games! You're just trying to get me to feel pity for you so you can box me in a corner and blackmail me, for all I know!" he said through his exasperation, sitting himself back onto the branch.

He did not making a move to get closer than that, however, despite the request. People tended to be violent when they got angry enough, and he wanted to steer clear of that sort of conflict, if possible. "I'll come down when I'm sure you're not just going to literally bite my head off," he huffed, leaning back into the trunk of the tree and pulling his legs up. He didn't see him staying where he was at as a show of superiority, however. With arms wrapped around his chest, fingernails tightening their hold at each upper arm, he felt it was merely a matter of security; he felt more comfortable with his feet off the floor.


Lyla
Of course she took his hissed out words the wrong way, misunderstanding where he was coming from and her hostility started to vanish. He thought she was mean? That was a new one! “You were making it pretty clear you really didn’t want me here, so I thought I would…what? What in the world is black mail? Why would I want you to feel pity for me?” she stared at him so thoroughly puzzled she’d been rendered silent for several moments.

“I couldn’t begin to bite your head off, even if I wanted to. Which I don’t.” words spoken in a quiet voice, a shake of her head as she dismissed that absurd statement, and went back to his last one, trying to make sense of things. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Mail that is black? Why?” no, she really didn’t understand what he was getting at.

She found a spot a few steps away and took a seat on a portion of a rock, staring up at the tree, at Kenley’s still form and merely waited. She needed to be calm, and patient. Maybe then he would explain, and this confusion would go away. Or so she really, truly hoped anyhow. What was he going on about?


Kenley
He flinched a bit as Lyla stated that she felt driven out of the place, his eyes darting away from her at that point. That wasn't what he was trying to do, that was the exact opposite! Kenley knew that he just didn't understand how to get along with someone, especially when all he kept thinking he was seeing were threats to his livelihood. It was an internal conflict he was very much aware of, but not so much something he would readily admit to, let alone aware how to alter to be more beneficial. As it was, it was fairly obvious that it harmed more than it did good... even if it concluded with the outcome he had convinced himself he was seeking. People couldn't hurt him if they weren't here.

Lyla's confusion as she vocalized the specifics, however, were not something he had expected. He faltered a bit at her befuddlement, blinking until he considered... maybe she just hadn't heard the specific phrase before? Was she a wild pokémon, then? His own uncertainty softened the words that were otherwise strained with frustration, "No, no... stop taking things so literal! Blackmail. It's a term used when one person knows something about someone else that they might not--" He hesitated again, wondering if she really even knew that he didn't want word spreading around, but she knew he was prideful, and didn't want this place discovered, Kenley was sure of it, "--might not want others to know about. Then they use that information against them as a safeguard for their own benefit, to make sure they do or do not do anything you want them to. Best way to go about it would be to befriend them, to gather more information about them without having to dig so much, and then stabbing them in the back, I'd wager." His expression darkened, but he found himself unable to look at her again. Prove me wrong... the voice in his head growled, sounding oddly melancholic.

When his attention came back to the girl, she was already seated on a rock a little further away. She didn't try to force him out, even though he deliberately ignored her command. His grip on his own arms slackened at the realization, pulling his fingers to rest more relaxed, leaving a dull sting behind where they threatened to press through. He wanted to pull away, but he didn't want her to leave either... he just didn't like exposing what little of himself he currently was, by explaining the mechanics of a single cog in his paranoia.


Lyla
Lyla listened intently to Kenley’s explanation of what blackmail was, and why someone would use it and she continued to stare up at him, still looking completely puzzled. “But that’s not right for people to do that! You shouldn’t become friends with someone to use what you learn against them, that’s just….no….!” she shook her head in stunned disbelief trying to wrap her head around that bit of news. “Anyone who would do that is just scum.” She frowned a moment. “You thought I would do that? But…why? I don’t even know your name for one, or have anyone to tell about you or…ohhh this makes my head hurt. It’s not a nice thing regardless!” she held her head in her hands a moment. How confusing!

Looking up at him again, she watched as he started to relax, but remained silent for a few more minutes. “I’ll go, if that’s what you want. I didn’t bring the stuff in that bag because I wanted anything from you now, or in the future. I brought it because I was worried about you, and wanted to help you for the future was all. Not because I was after anything. I can understand not trusting me though. I’m just a strange girl who last time you ran across her, shot you with an arrow.” She gave a wry smile as she said that. “And don’t worry, I don’t throw my knives. They’re for when I clean fish, or need to cut something I’m working on, or skinning animals to eat. Not to use on a bratty boy in a tree.” Those last words though weren’t said meanly, no she was teasing as she called him bratty.

She waited, to find out if he did indeed want her to go or not. No sense in assuming this time, he was vocal enough he’d tell her to get lost…and if she needed to…well then she would no questions asked. Though she could hope he wouldn’t. She did sort of want to see his reaction to the things she’d brought!


Kenley
Kenley thought it kind of strange, to have Lyla listening to his every word in the manner that she was, not so much that he held such little disbelief for the girl but because, well... he was the one that was talking. He could probably count the times on one hand that he truly felt like his words were being taken in, and weren't just spat out the other ear. With a huff, Kenley shrugged as she stated her opinions on how wrong it was to blackmail a person, as though it were obvious. "Of course it's not right, but that doesn't stop people from doing it anyway," he grumbled, irritated at the concept. It's not like he enjoyed assuming the worst of people, it was just easier to do so in the effort to keep himself and his home safe!

However, Lyla's continued reaction to the idea had the silcoon quirking an eyebrow, a bit confused. Was she putting on a ploy, or did she honestly..? He blinked, and his arms dropped from his shoulders, "Wait... you mean to tell me you've never heard of such a thing happening before?" With a quick shake of his head, he continued, "I didn't... completely think that you'd do something like that, no, but a guy can't be too careful out here. One wrong move and you're... well, you're dead... you know." Awkwaaard. It's not that he liked bringing up the fact she hit him with an arrow the last time she was here, but it was a turning point of an event...

He seemed to sink a little in his seat on the tree branch as the girl's calm voice tried to explain her motives. While they managed to make some sense, Kenley was too calloused against the world to be able to understand the purpose completely. If the world only were so simple... but it was too full of corruption, and those looking out for their own benefits, that it spoiled it for the rest of them. It had spoiled it for Kenley, and now he couldn't shake his hypervigilance for that sort of behavior. Not that he could say any of this, that left him too exposed. He was guarded, but not unreachable. Tentatively, he climbed further out the branch, closer to where Lyla was seated but remaining within the tree. She seemed to understand his hesitation, at least... that wasn't something he had put too much faith in, but the softening of his expression conveyed his relief that it did pan out in such a manner. "Now you know where I'm coming from..." he regarded aloud, trying to hide the smirk that tugged at his features as she called him a 'bratty boy' -- now that was more familiar! "And that's another thing, why would you try to help such an annoying kid anyway?" he verbally prodded. That was the point, after all: to chase people away by making himself out to be the one they didn't want to have to deal with.

He let the idea of her being asked to leave linger in the air, as though considering the option. No, he didn't want her to leave... especially now that he was starting to possibly figure her out a little. She didn't seem malicious, and now that he was able to really study her without being blinded by anger or frustration, it didn't seem like she was hiding any ill intent. There was always the possibility that she was just a master of masking it, but in such a new form as the humanoid child, he highly doubted it. Then again, he didn't want to underestimate her cunning... but at this point, even if she was just using him, did he really want her to leave?


Lyla
She herself, found nothing strange in listening to him talking to her, in explaining. It was only polite to listen after all. She recalled certain things from her days as just a pokemon, her trainer ranting about how people wouldn’t listen at times and how it was important to listen. So, she sat quietly, and did that. “Well they should be stopped, how I don’t know but they should.” She was scowling slightly at the idea of people behaving like that, it was unacceptable!

“Not that I can remember. I was just a normal Ledyba up until a few months ago, so if I ever saw or heard of it happening, I can’t remember. I spent a lot of time in a pokeball, so if my ex-trainer did that, or had it done I never saw it. It doesn’t sound familiar to me in any way though.” She flinched as he mentioned the whole ‘One wrong move and you’re dead’ thing, of course remembering shooting him last time, and her head ducked in embarrassment. “I’m sorry about that really I am.”

She watched him ease out on the branch, but didn’t move from her spot, no it was easier to stay put and not make a move. “Why help you? Because it’s just how I am. I saw you needed help, and I wanted to help you. I hurt you, I wanted to fix you. Then of course check and make sure you were okay. It was my fault you were bleeding and everything after all. I wanted to try setting it right in some small way, even if it wasn’t perfect. I’d want someone to help me if I was in that same position of needing help when I was bleeding, or something.” Her words were spoken calmly, trying to explain her “motives” as it were. “It just…it’s the right thing to do, helping out. I’d have felt guilty if I didn’t do something to help since I had the ability to.”

Lyla waited patiently, letting him decide if he actually wanted her to stay or to go, but she did tense up, preparing to push herself up to a stand to go. Everything she’d seen from him screamed ‘leave me alone!’ so, why had she come back knowing that? The answer wasn’t terribly clear to her, other than she had been worried, but he was obviously okay and not in need of her concern. So she waited for the words that would send her back on her way. They felt inevitable at this point.


Kenley
Kenley seemed to flinch a little at Lyla's stance that people that used friendships against their friends for their own benefits needed to be taken care of, a reaction both confused and curious. She... really meant that, didn't she? He may have been able to hold back the laugh at that verbal notion, but his grin was another story, "If you ever find out a way, let me know and I'll help out!" There was no denying that the silcoon-boy thought those were the worst kind of people, even more than those individuals that would overthrow another from their home with no warning. Lyla's naivete on the whole thing was actually pretty cute; it was only because her ability to be formidable left her stance with more grounds to be something more than the normal irritation to Kenley.

As Lyla began addressing her time with a trainer, Kenley visibly froze for a moment. Ex-trainer at that. "You... were a tamed pokémon?" he hesitated, his expression turning into a slow frown, "What happened?" Kenley himself would have avoided answering the question if he had been asked, but Lyla seemed to be a little more open about her past than he was, so he gave it a shot. It wasn't sounding good, though. It did, however, explain her lack of comprehension in the area of blackmail surprisingly well.

With a shake of the head, Kenley brushed off the apology, feeling it wasn't really needed -- after all, that's not exactly what he had been trying to get at anyway. "You're really weird, you know that?" the teen concluded, "And here I would have thought you would have been glad to shut me up." It was apparent that annoying her had been his aim to a certain extent, even if the reasonings were still a little cloudy. His eyes diverted direction from her as she continued, his face turning slightly red; he wasn't sure if anyone else he had met so far would have felt the same way as Lyla, in similar instances, and it made him feel a bit awkward. His words were grumbled under his breath, "You're too nice for your own good..." How long would she be able to last in this pokémon-eat-pokémon world with ideals like that?

He glanced back at the girl, and could see her fidget a little while Kenley deliberated how to tell her to stay. It probably didn't help that he was still in the tree above, and her on the ground. After a moment of silence, he gave an aggravated sigh and moved back towards the trunk of the tree, away from her. However, instead of dismissing her, he waved a hand as though to pull her in, "Hey, can you climb up with your arm like that?" He didn't normally offer this, but... he figured Lyla had been through enough. Even Kenley was able to see he really didn't have any more justification to hold a grudge, or keep her so far at bay... he just hoped he wasn't making a mistake by offering her the trust he normally kept bolted up; he didn't want to be hurt again.


Lyla
His grin set her momentarily on the defensive, was he getting ready to make fun of her for something? When he instead made the quip of helping, the defensiveness that had started to rise up melted away again and she gave him a smile. “Sure thing. I’m sure it’s not as easy as I wish, but seriously… someone who would do that to a friend…” she shook her head again letting that thought trail off unfinished.

“Tamed. Do I seem tame?” she chuckled softly, but gave a little smile of…..bitterness mixed with amusement. “Yes…I was caught, and I had a trainer. He wasn’t a bad trainer, just….unprepared. When my older brother…well okay not really my brother…he’s a Butterfree…but felt like a brother to me…” she thought that needed explained, really! “…Anyhow, Llyr…he was a Butterfree…and one day we woke up and he wasn’t himself anymore. He looked like a kid with wings. Our trainer flipped out and told him to get lost, he didn’t want to raise a kid…and threw a huge fit because Llyr was one of his main ones for his team… we traveled for awhile…and Llyr used to follow around to a point…he didn’t know what to do. Then one day he changed again…and he looked more like an older human…and he left.”
She looked thoughtful for a moment, recalling the day he’d stopped following them. “I’ve been worried about him ever since. Didn’t help that the other Butterfree our trainer had…she shunned him…I remember him telling her how he liked her…and she said she needed to think about it or something…anyhow next day was when he looked like a human and she was really mean to him…and she…” Lyla swallowed hard. “Well….we didn’t have any potions…or pokemon centers close by and she got hurt in a battle..and she died.” that had been bad, and it had changed her brother in ways that scared her. Which was why she worried about him, and wanted to find him. “So Penelope died…and Llyr changed, and our trainer…Bobby got really mad about all that…and I became one of the ones he used as more than backup….but the entire time I’m worried about Llyr….especially after he stopped following us. I was worried sick.”

Lyla took a deep breath, her voice growing soft. “I wished I could find him…to make sure he was okay…my brother can be stupid sometimes…and I wanted to make sure he was taking care of himself…and…I woke up like this.” A hand was waved at herself. “Bobby threw a fit…tried to hurt me. I took care of him long enough to get some supplies gathered and I ran. I’ve been on my own ever since.”

She stopped talking for a few moments, only to crack a grim smile. “I can handle weird. As for being too nice…I’d prefer being too nice, than being like Bobby was. I know how bad it hurt Llyr and me both to be turned on like that. To be sent away like that just because of a change we had no say over, treated like freaks. No…if I had to choose between being too nice, and being like him…I’ll go with to nice every time. But…I had to learn to take care of myself…and fast so I wouldn’t get hurt….well too hurt anyhow…” her eyes glanced to her arm then. “…or starve, or anything else.”

His question about being able to climb caught her by surprise but she eased to her feet and moved to the edge of the tree, the bag she’d brought looped over her shoulders, and she tilted her head back to peer up, wings fluttering some to help give some lift. “Not sure, all I can do it try though, right?” and with her three strong arms, she did start to pull herself up but by bit, wings giving her a little help as she went. That wasn’t to say she didn’t have a bit of a struggle with only three arms, it was awkward for her, but the real issue didn’t happen till she was almost up to the top, and her foot slipped from where she had stuck it, two of her hands being ripped free, leaving her dangling, barely…from her last one, eyes opening wide with a slight gasp of shock as she raised one of the arms that lost its hold, and began grasping wildly at thin air trying to grasp something.


Kenley
"Well, obviously they don't think much of friendship if they go and pull something like that on a person they call as much," Kenley shrugged, "Or they don't think much of their friend in general." And considering he really wasn't sure anyone thought much of him, it was best to be on his toes, even if another was quick to pass the label onto him, for some weird reason. Despite how impossible it sounded, Kenley decided to hover around the more positive end of the spectrum, if only for a moment, "It might not be easy, but maybe it can be something worth fighting for. It'd at least cure some boredom..." Funny, if he didn't know any better, he'd think she was actually trying to befriend him. Ha.

The range of emotions that danced across Lyla's expression before she settled to illustrating her... quite eventful and lengthy history. Huh, sounded like she needed to vent. Kenley knew that she might have divulged a bit, but the level of detail left him feeling a little uncomfortable, and the awkward silence throughout most of the retelling underlined his social deficiencies in sympathy. Sure, he felt it, but actually saying something to reflect so? And regardless, would that be seen as a sign of weakness, to show that sort of soft spot? He fidgeted a little where he sat, but some comments were easier to stifle than others.

Lyla didn't have the same sort of history as Kenley had, but it was similar enough to find more similarities between the two to make the teen feel uneasy. Lyla seemed to have been able to take it all in stride, despite the worry she seemed to harbor for someone she deemed a sibling. "Well, was he captured when he became part of the team, or was he always with the humans?" Kenley nudged slightly, seeing if he couldn't put some of that worry to rest, "I mean, if he was wild before... he'd just be going back to where he started from. We did alright." Not that he really cared if that helped to say, but still... no use treating the guy like he couldn't handle himself, right? Kenley already had experienced that much, and his pride wasn't too fond of it.

He flinched, tensing up when Lyla explained what happened to Penelope, but he was more at a loss on what to say than ever. Kenley hadn't ever actually experienced the death of someone he knew before. He couldn't imagine the impact that would have caused, or what one could say in regards to it as an outsider. So he kept his mouth shut... but it did answer a few questions he may have had as to Lyla's insistence on being worried. To grow so attached to someone... he couldn't fathom it, having locked that part of himself up ages ago, but there was a slight hint of deja vu. Even that slight touch was painful, to never be able to see someone again...
Kenley had to forcibly wrench his mind from the thought, burying it back inside with a wave of a dismissive hand, one that may have appeared harsher than he meant it to. He hated people, and that's how it should stay; this ping pong match of emotional attachment was getting really old. "I'm sure you'll find him eventually, he can't have gotten far," he said quickly. People tended to stick around the parts they were most familiar with, after all -- that's where Kenley had wanted to be. Not that he got so far, but that was beside the point. Instead he pointed out to a different section of Lyla's story, "But that's exactly what I meant, what happened with your trainer. Maybe you weren't on good terms with him, being in a pokéball all the time, but he was kind of like family, too, wasn't he? At least if he wasn't a friend." He frowned, crossing his arms and glancing away; he really didn't want to explain so much, for he didn't know how much of himself he exposed by doing so, "He backstabbed you and your brother, for no viable reason. Don't you think blackmail is similar, in a way? It just uses different tactics..." Oh he was so bitter about it, but at least it was apparent he felt something relatable in Lyla's history, even if he wasn't prone to saying as much in so many words.

The silcoon was fairly convinced that Lyla was more than a little idealistic. At what point did a person become more like Bobby than they were 'too nice?' Where would the start of their first meeting had fallen on that spectrum? He wasn't going to ask, though, that was just nitpicking... but the cynicism just kept trying to stay afloat, no matter how much he tried to give it a rest.

As the girl accepted the offer to try to climb the tree, Kenley scooted back a little but kept close watch on her. He didn't think she would do anything rash, but rather, he was a little concerned about her hesitation in knowing whether she could climb the tree or not. The slow climb was tense but the wait turned valuable in the end: as soon as he heard her foot scuff on the rough bark, he was at the ready, and he grabbed for the hand that appeared over the edge of the branch as it waved in front of him. Before pulling her up, he steadied himself with his other hand wrapped partially around the trunk of the tree, so as not to just go careening off the back end of the branch. Yanking her up, he readjusted his grasp on Lyla to steady her better, arm grabbing her about the shoulders and pulling her closer to the middle of the branch's width. Kenley didn't loosen his grip until he felt neither of them were in danger of toppling over, stance coming to a steady standstill. "Well..." he managed after a moment, glancing over the edge to make sure nothing fell during that mishap, "...apparently that was a bad idea."


Lyla
“You’re right, it’s very obvious that’s the case. Though it could be said that if they did that to someone, they weren’t really friends in the first place. Everyone is different though I know.” How sad a thought that was though! She gave him a wry smile at his words, a quiet laugh. “That could well be. Something to keep in mind, anyhow if I ever have that come up.” She hoped not!

Fortunately, she saw nothing amiss by the silence meeting her words. Just thought he was being polite and listening to her. She hadn’t told anyone the whole story, not even Aatami. He’d had enough to worry about without her own problems being added onto it. She felt sheepish once she was done talking, blushing some. “Uhm…sorry about that. I didn’t mean to talk so much.” She hadn’t! The question made her shrug some. “I don’t really know. He was there before I was, and he didn’t talk about anything before being a part of Bobby’s team.” There was a hopeful smile at his words. “Well, that’s what I’m hoping…but I’ve been searching all over and haven’t found him. I’m thinking I’ll need to start searching farther off, like into the city.” The idea didn’t thrill her, but maybe she’d find him there. She sure wasn’t finding him in the wild!

“Is that back stabbing? He sounded angry and disappointed we weren’t us anymore…I don’t see how that gave him anything, sending us away like he did. It just left him two pokemon short.” This whole backstabbing thing, was confusing her to no end! “I..don’t know. I guess? I really don’t understand either concept very well.”

Lyla focused on the tree, the branches, on up not where the Silcoon teen was in proximity to her. Nope, she had to focus, this was tricky with only the three arms! So to suddenly start falling had been a scary surprise, wanting desperately to grab onto something…and then there was something grabbing her!. Her hand curled tightly around the one that had grabbed hers and within moments she found herself suddenly up against the teen, his arm around her shoulder to keep her from falling, and suddenly she was blushing.

He…saved me? He saved me!...? up close like this, she realized the color of his eyes, and couldn’t help but stare at them for a moment, at him for a few moments, blushing more, before she was pulling away from him carefully, even as her mind was going Wow he’s cute…. Clearing her throat in embarrassment, she gave a nod. “It looks like it…but uhm…well thank you…for you know…saving me just now. That was…pretty heroic of you, since you could have fallen too you know.”


Kenley
"They might not have truly considered the other their friend, but oftentimes the other person doesn't see things quite the same way..." Kenley explained, trying to shrug it off. He was only saying all this for informative purposes anyway, so it was easier for him to distance himself from the meaning of the words. After all, as self-proclaimed guardian of this patch of trees, it was no wonder that he would know about this sort of thing to protect the place, right? It didn't have to mean it hit that close to home... Her laugh at the idea of carrying on with her power trip of justice was enough distraction for Kenley not to dwell on the smaller, more bothersome indications, keeping the conversation more light-hearted than it would have otherwise ventured down.

In any other instance, Kenley likely would have said something a little more reprimanding in regards to Lyla's apology for the length of her recollection, but he had... kind of asked for that one. He shook his head and let her continue, refraining from interrupting any more than he really felt like he had to. Besides, when she was talking, he wasn't have to explain anything; he didn't seem to be the best at explaining, he was learning very quickly. His reactions to her storytelling weren't lacking, though, and he shuddered a bit at the thought of having to head into town to search for anyone; that was one place that he would be all too happy to never see again!

Kenley rocked back a little, thinking of how best to go about explaining what he meant. To be honest, he wasn't sure Lyla would ever truly 'get' the fundamentals of such evil deeds, if only because they were outside her own ideals; not everyone, it appeared, could think outside the box in that manner. Then again, she didn't seem to hold anything against her previous trainer, for some reason... "Well he practically exiled you from your home, and for what? Because you looked a little different? Isn't that what happens with pokémon all the time? We change, we grow, we evolve... and we can still kick butt in this body!" he grumbled, "So yes, that's not blackmail but it seems like backstabbing to me. You trusted him, and he turned on you."

Lyla's surprise at being saved from injury after a long fall down was momentarily missed by the teen as he made sure that no other bad luck was threatening to make an appearance. He had reacted on instinct, and for once, it wasn't about saving his own hide against injury: that fact had not dug into his mind yet, either. No, it wasn't until Lyla had pulled away that he even realized he still had a grasp on her at all. He took a step or two back to give her some breathing space, for that must have been quite the scare, but paused once he saw the reddening of her cheeks. With a frown, he started inquiring about it before ultimately cutting himself off. "Are you..." actually blushing..? He flinched, tensed; what had he done wrong this time!? Her reactions had hit him swifter than his own examination of what just happened, and he backed up a little more. The vicinity...

Kenley jolted once Lyla found her voice, probably having expected the polar opposite of what she had said to come out of her moth instead. His expression cut into a very sharp frown as he turned away from her, obviously more than a little flustered at the comment without knowledge of a rhyme or reason. "Don't... d-don't say such stupid things!" he hissed; he was way, way to used to being likened more to an antagonist. Irritated with his own reaction, he took a slow breath and turned back to face her. He was still frowning, but it was considerably dulled, "Well anyway... you alright?"

Kenley
Kenley flinched a little as Lyla indicated that having people to talk to could be a good thing every once in a while. "I guess so..." he stated, trying to remain sounding indifferent, "I wouldn't really know." It wasn't like he lived all that close to civilization out here, so the most traffic that ever came through these parts were from those just passing through, or on a vacation, or something else Kenley didn't quite understand fully, as the metaphorical bird caught in his own birdcage. Most meetings didn't really end up being conversations anyway. It was nice talking to Lyla, though... even if she didn't always make a whole lot of sense.

At the reiteration of trading for a bow instead of stealing it, Kenley nodded, feeling that that sounded more like what he had expected from the young ledyba. She didn't really seem the type to be jumping to break any laws set down by the humans, but maybe that was just the bias he placed on her, considering she used to have a trainer. "What would you trade for something like that?" the boy asked, honestly curious. Trying to determine equivalency in terms of value seemed a bit strange to him, even if he was aware of the concept.

While Kenley was fairly certain that Lyla was merely joking about him 'bringing his score up' on the annoyance scale, after he even joked about it as much as well, the idea seemed to rub him the wrong way. He was glad to see the follow-up smile from it, confirming the tease, but he may have tried too hard to keep the trail of thought going, "Well that wasn't too difficult. Should be a snap to beat his old score!"

With a sharp nod for clarification, he continued to tug slightly on the wrappings around his forearm. Yeah, he thought it was kind of weird as well, even if it was more normal than the aftereffects of finding that cursed star. "Yep, since I'm a silcoon. I kind of forgot not all bug-types go through a stage like this," he admitted a little absently. He didn't really understand this stage fully as it was, only that it was to be expected; it wasn't like he grew up around others of his own kind, after all! Let alone any other pokémon, as a matter of fact.

He almost seemed to silently decline Lyla's offer to check his previous injury in favor of helping her out, if she really had wanted to leave. No use keeping her here over a whim like that, after all, even if it was disconcerting... on both injury and abrupt departure alike. It was probably due to such way of thinking that, when Lyla opted not to leave instead, the irritated glare he flashed her way out of her indecisiveness was strangely lacking in true frustration. Sure, it was a pain to have known he jumped down for no reason, but all things considered... he was kind of glad that was the case. "Will you make up your mind already? Yeesh..." he grumbled, moving to the base of the tree.

It was quick work to scale the tree, but the number of times Kenley had done so in the past were too numerous to count. As he reached the top, he spotted the girl, further withdrawn into the tree than she had been previously. What, did she think he was going to yell at her again, and was trying to hide? He attempted to toss a scowl her way at the action, but he couldn't manage it. She kind of looked sort of... pathetic like that. Was she really okay? Maybe he shouldn't ask her to look at his injury after all, she seemed to have enough problems to deal with at the moment than some stupid apprehension that Kenley had arbitrary felt. Grabbing the leaves he had stuffed into his pocket, he offered them to Lyla as he settled himself back onto the tree limb, "Here. You don't look like you're feeling so well." Was her arm really hurting her that bad? Was it something else that was bothering her? Maybe having her climb up here aggravated the injury, he wasn't really sure.

Lyla
“I didn’t realize how much I missed being around people till I ran into Aatami, and I’m sure he’ll be strong enough to continue on his search for his sister soon. So it’ll be pretty quiet for me again.” How thoughtful she sounded. It was…actually sort of bothersome to realize she was soon to be on her own again with no one to talk to. How did Kenley do it?

His question snapped her out of her momentary funk on the idea of being on her own again and she gave a careful shrug. “I really don’t have any idea. I’d have to trade a lot of my things to get one I imagine. Still, if I traded away my tent, and blanket and a few other things I could probably make new things once I had the ability to hunt again, and plenty of places I can find to stay until that point. But I may not get lucky and find anyone willing to do trading for a bow for my things.” She could only hope someone would, else she’d just do the stealing thing. “Wouldn’t be the first time I stole a bow. It’s how I got one the first time. Made a better one since the one I took was in bad shape to begin with.”

“Let’s hope you don’t, I might have to kick you or something if you started beating Bobby in terms of being a jerk and knowing one jerk is enough for a life time.” She was glad to know he was just joking, but still the idea was one that made her cringe a little mentally. Two jerks? Nooo thanks!

“I know ledyba don’t. We just sort of…change. Get a little bigger and all. Not sure how that works now that I’m not…well you know battling or anything like that to be evolved. It’s sort of weird.” The concept was baffling honestly. “The wrappings are kind of neat though. I had thought they were part of your shirt, or bandages at first.”

His telling her to make her mind up had her sticking her tongue out slightly. “I didn’t tell you to go down there. I said I was going to go, but I changed my mind. I think I panicked and thought you’d get mad at me for touching you.” Hey he acted strangely sometimes, he might have! She watched him climb back up the tree with his graceful ease and she felt a small twinge of jealousy, knowing she’d looked nothing like that.

His observations made her eyes go wide and she looked up at him in surprise. “I…I don’t? I feel sort of funny to be honest. I don’t know what’s wrong, but I feel kind of hot, and my stomach is being weird, and my heart keeps racing. Maybe I should go. I don’t want to get you sick.” She took the offered leaves however and absently began to chew on them. Her arm ached, but only a little. Still might as well since he was offering them to her. “Oh! The shirt…and sunglasses…do they work okay?”

Kenly
It probably wasn't until Lyla had mentioned it just then that Kenley suspected that he could... actually probably relate to her sentiments about not realizing that socialization was kind of nice to have. It wasn't far-fetched as much as it just seemed like it carried with it a sense of nostalgia. "Mn, you get used to it," he responded, an attempted brushing off of the sensation, "As wild pokémon, it's not all that rare to be by yourself." They were adaptable creatures, after all! However, if the option arose, he supposed that most people would choose the route that guaranteed more encounters with others that they might get along with...

While Kenley was aware that a bow would likely come at a bit of a high price, it also seemed kind of counterproductive for Lyla to be offering her tent as payment. He was about to say as much, but as she continued he realized that she had already thought of the consequences of doing such a thing and, likewise, how best to go about rectifying the effects of the choice. "Jack-of-all-trades, huh?" the silcoon gauged, "That could work, as long as it's something you think you could replace in a reasonable enough time." This whole hunting thing was beyond him, to be honest, but then again he wasn't the best at roughing it, despite what it may have sounded like. He seemed surprised that she was able to craft a bow herself, though, and pursued that line of thought, "So the one you broke was the one you made? Are they that hard to make?" Why bother trading for one if she could just make another?

"So violent..." he teased at her threat to kick him for acting more like a jerk. He let a bit of a snicker escape, but cut it short with a shake of the head. He wanted to tell her that he wasn't that bad, that he would allow himself to be regarded as such, but something told him that that was a bad idea. Was it even fully truthful? There was no telling how badly anyone else considered his actions, after all, and he didn't always think it a bad idea... at the time. So he hesitated and, ultimately, found himself dropping the subject to avoid getting too emotionally invested in it.

"How long have you been... like that?" he asked curiously. He considered the idea of battling and, while he knew that other poké-kids still did as much, Kenley hadn't and could still progress in level, albeit slowly. How else was he gaining new abilities and evolving? "I don't think we need to battle to be able to get stronger. I don't really fight, but I was still able to evolve, and I learned Poison Sting after I found my star," he relayed, cringing slightly at the thought -- he hated that move! The compliment, though, he could deal with that better, even if he was tempted to shy away from it. "To be honest, they can get kind of annoying, but I'm glad they look alright," he admitted with a slight grin. Considering how much he placed on his image, he was more than just a little glad! He hadn't had the chance to really check, after all.

It was at the girl's reply that Kenley was able to finally get that glare to work, if for just a moment. "Well it was either that or I let you injure yourself, like you just said you'd likely end up doing if you tried to jump!" he snapped, quickly biting his tongue as her continued explanation worked its way into his conscious. Well... crap, so it really was his fault, in a way, wasn't it? He sighed, but the anger displayed in his expression had all but dissolved from there, "No, I'm not mad. You still confuse me, but I guess that's to be expected." Sure, he probably would have gotten angry if anyone else had touched him, but that was because he felt her actions were always calculated ones, whether she'd admit to it or not. She'd already proven herself one to think about consequences like that... and apparently apologize when it didn't go the way she, or others, had wanted. He winced as that thought progression led him to a surprising conclusion, "...You'd really have tried to break your leg to avoid possibly being near me when angry?"

His frown was more apparent now, but as much as he didn't want to show it, it was also more apparent that he was getting a bit worried. He was, in no way, a medic, after all. Perhaps it would be wise to learn some tricks one of these days, but this was probably not the best time to test the limits out. The symptoms she listed seemed a bit... weird... but he wasn't about to question it; for all he knew, it could have been the flu. "Yeah, you're looking kind of red," he pointed out, scooting a little closer and, cautiously, placing the back of his hand to her forehead, "...You feel pretty warm, too." And there we go: in a nutshell, about all of Kenley's medical wisdom at work; what he was supposed to do after that was beyond him. With a shake of his head, he tried once more to get Lyla to reconsider leaving so abruptly, "Wouldn't you have already gotten me sick by this point if you were going to? I don't think it really matters when you leave, at this point."

As Lyla asked about the sunglasses and shirt, Kenley really wished it was the sunglasses that fit just fine and the shirt that... didn't. The top seemed so small, it was made obvious he probably couldn't fit into anything above a junior size. He tugged at the shoulders a bit, trying to get them to feel tighter, but they wouldn't. In fact, the shirt was a little big on him. Maybe if he wasn't so underweight... Silently, he nodded in response; now wasn't the best time to be feeling self-conscious!


Lyla
“Yeah you’re right.. you do. Though after having someone around for so long it’ll be awful lonely. Still…like you said you get used to it.” There was a quiet sadness there for a moment, a faint smile given. “Still, even wild pokemon tend to eventually find another one to spend time with and all. They might be alone for awhile, but it doesn’t mean forever, does it? Though you probably see it more than I do..so I’m probably wrong.”

“Probably not, but I took it anyhow when I was told to leave. I think I’d be able to get along okay without one for awhile. At least while it’s still so warm out and the weather is decent.” Or as decent as things could be with all the weird things happening lately. One never knew when some freak storm might kick up, or wind or earthquakes it seemed. But before all this weird weather stuff had started, she’d have been fine minus that stuff until closer to winter. “They’re not easy. Wood has to be shaped and bent just right, and a strong string used to wrap the ends, but is springy…I only figured it out through a lot of trial, and even more error.” A lot of trial and error.

“Awhile...I sort of lose track of time…but it’s been…close to eight months I’ve looked more like a person than a normal ledyba. I’m starting to think I’m stuck like this.” Which would be sort of horrifying for her if that was the case! “You think? I wonder…I only learned a new move thanks to my trading. I got a TM from someone and I learned brick break…but that’s really all I’ve learned.” She wondered what was wrong with her now! “They look just fine on you, and I imagine it’s sort of extra protection too which is good, right?”

There was a slight silence at his words and she gave him something of a sheepish smile. “I’m glad you’re not mad at me Kenley, and sorry for confusing you, again. Not trying to. At least not that time. “there was a quiet tone of teasing to those words. His surprise though had her nodding her head. “Honestly…I don’t like anger. It’s scary, especially if there’s no good reason for it. Being angry happens I know…but to be the cause of the anger…it’s very….very frightening.” She was thinking back to that morning her former trainer had gotten angry. As mad as she’d been at his actions a part of her had been really scared of the guy!

Him scooting closer to feel her forehead made her blink and look up at him curiously, staring at him a few moments before something completely opposite of what she was trying to say came tumbling past her lips before she could take it back. “Your eyes are so blue…they’re amazing.” A hand came up and clapped over her mouth in mute horror at her words, when she’d meant to answer his question. Her hand dropped and she cleared her throat looking at the ground as she spoke now, watching some leaves dancing in the wind. “I suppose I have…and if so I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t know I was getting sick. If I had, I would have stayed away till I was better.”

Her eyes lifted as she watched him fussing with the shirt a little and she moved just a little, looking it over. “I could…maybe…fix it so it fits better? I wish I had string, or laces or something…I could sort of make holes here on the sides…and kind of lace it tighter for you maybe…” she was thinking as she spoke, trying to visualize it.

Kenley
Kenley didn't know how to respond to what Lyla said of getting used to the silence and being alone. On one hand she understood and accepted that that was what tended to happen, but on the other hand... Kenley understood that 'getting used to it' wasn't necessarily a good thing, either. The awkward silence that proceeded was rather stifling, so once she began speaking again, he was eager to listen. It was just that... that wasn't what he was expecting to hear as follow-up, and faltered a bit in reaction. Another pause emerged before he remembered that it was probably best to verbally respond, even if it came off sounding like a rather pathetic defense, "I... H-How am I supposed to know? I chase everyone out of here, I don't know what anyone does after that!" He didn't want her to feel upset for something like that, but he couldn't honestly give her an affirmative either way without potentially lying to her; he honestly didn't know.

The boy was actually quite amused by the fact that Lyla had taken her supplies from her previous trainer before she went on her way, instead of panicking and leaving with nothing to her name -- that'd show that human! "If you stick to the forests, I think you should be fine," he replied. Then again, maybe he was just biased to the forests... he'd done relatively alright-ish without a tent and hunting gear here, after all! It didn't help matters any that the strangely destructive weather patterns hadn't seemed to have reached as far as his forest, so there was no correlation to such happenstance either, at least for now. However, he did seem to realize right away that shaping a bow seemed like it would have been a difficult task, "Can't imagine it would be very easy to find a branch that was both strong and flexible enough, either... But hey, if you remember what you learned from before, maybe it'll be easier to do this time?" It was worth a shot, at least, and would save a trip into human civilization!

"Yeah, I think we're more or less stuck looking like this for the time being," Kenley agreed with a sigh. He didn't like the implications of appearing more human than pokémon, but it wasn't all bad. In a way, he was able to leave his old life behind that much easier, but did it really have to be like this? He supposed there was some solace in the fact that he wasn't alone, but that didn't entirely erase the irritation. He blinked as Lyla explained that she had learned a move from a TM, unaware that that was still a viable option but more than glad to run with it, "You see? We're still more pokémon than anything else. We can still evolve, and learn moves like any other pokémon. We could even still battle if we really wanted!" Not that he ever really wanted to do that, but the option was at least there. Fidgeting a little with the wrappings around his wrist some more as they were indicated, he gave an off-handed shrug, "Yeah, I suppose. At least after I learned Harden, it was helpful. Before that, it wasn't much for armor." Maybe there was some sort of use for it after all, instead of just looking like some sort of weird... mummy wrappings or something.
It was very rare that Kenley found himself at a loss for words, especially so often within the span of minutes. Lyla was pushing that record with him as, once again, he was unsure how to approach her admittance of fear. From him of all people, the scrawny kid that had a big mouth and not much else going for him. Who would probably faint in a battle after a couple of minutes, at the longest. While it may have been nice to know he could invoke that strong of a reaction out of someone to get them to leave, this particular case was different... and it kind of hurt to hear it. Was he really that bad? Or was she just that hypersensitive, when this near to the person that was angry? Regardless of whether she wanted to confuse him or not, he was obviously still very confused... and more worried than he really wanted to show, "Did... he do anything except yell at you for it? Or are you just afraid of the yelling?" Was there anything else he was going to have to be careful of when he spoke with her? It was one thing to scare a person away, quite another for them to willingly injure themselves over it!

It was awkward for him to ever willingly touch another person, but for one reason or another, he wanted to help. Maybe he could chock it up to getting her back for helping him out... repeatedly... or something to similar effect. He was already pulling his hand away when Lyla spoke again, but it wasn't anywhere near what he was expecting to hear, and because of that, his arm was retrieved with a quicker start than he had intended. "W-What did you say..?" he stumbled on his words, his face turning back to that increasingly-familiar red. At Lyla's reaction, he was positive he hadn't misheard it, either! But then, there was something else that was bothering him about that as well... His eyes went wide, focusing more on the surprise than the compliment, "Wait... blue!? They're supposed to be gold!" How much had he changed, that he was so unaware of? Regardless of how much he had attempted to divert the conversation, though, the situation had most assuredly taken on a much more uneasy air. He flinched at her apology and backed off, his voice a growl but more conscious of not trying to scare her, "I really wish you'd stop apologizing..." He really didn't know how to deal with that much humility!

"What... size did you say this was?" Kenley asked about the shirt, considering just how self-conscious he was going to have to feel about this offer. Did it really look that big on him? This was getting embarrassing... It didn't help matters any, in that regard, when reaction took root at Lyla's wish, shooting a quick String Shot at the trunk of the tree to the side of her and twisting the thread around, effectively creating something that could be worked with. "I could make that a bit tougher, if you need, too," he indicated before he had the chance to stop himself. To catch that mistake, he quickly followed up with a swift shake of his head, "...But no, you've already done more than enough." Let yourself recover already! She'd just keep going and going if she wasn't told to stop, wouldn't she?

Lyla
“Oh. I didn’t know if you’d noticed or something.” A wry smile was given at his words, relaying her sheepishness at the assumption, but she let the subject drop at that point. There was nothing she’d be able to do to combat the solitude she faced, save to find Llyr, which she planned to start on in the next few days now that she’d checked on Kenley and determined he was alive and well.

“That’s what I figured, easy enough to find shelter in the woods which is pretty helpful, especially with the weather so nice. As for the bow, that’s just not something I can do till my arm is better, it’s too awkward for me to try doing it with only three hands. I’ve already tried and it didn’t work out very well for me. I’ll try again once I can. I guess I’m just so used to using all my hands for things, though I’m sure if I’d always had three I’d have done just fine.” It was an interesting concept anyhow!

“I guess I’m just a little on the slow side for that, still it gives me hope that eventually I’ll grow up and won’t be stuck as a kid forever.” That would have made life a lot more difficult than need be if that was the case! “Oh, I can see that being helpful, especially if it actually reacts. That’s a good defense!” she sounded very impressed by his ability and she truly was! It was a great way to stay safe!

“Oh…well he…” she actually fidgeted a little, nervously almost as she recalled that morning. “Well there was a lot of yelling…and he kicked me…a few times. I’m pretty sure some things were thrown, though I don’t think at me specifically. The kick to my back hurt a lot though.” She actually had a small scar in the middle of her back from where he’d broken the skin when he kicked her. A fact she was unaware of.

Her eyes went wide at his surprise, and she shook her head. “No..they’re the bluest blue I’ve ever seen before. Sort of like the sky on a very clear day or something. Not gold at all. The only gold would be your hair…well yellowy-gold with bits of light green at the ends…they almost blend in with your skin , the green is so pale it’s almost white, like you…” her voice trailed off a little. “I so…uhm…I’ll try.” The apology died on her lips and she gave a little smile then. She would definitely try to stop apologizing so much, especially when she really didn’t need to most of the time. She figured it was nerves. Why was she so nervous around him suddenly? Honestly!

“I don’t know…I can’t read to tell you. I thought it would fit though…and it doesn’t look like it’s too big. But probably big enough it would be annoying. It wouldn’t take much to…..how did you do that!?” the awe in her voice at seeing the String Shot made her beam at him, eyes lighting up. “That’s amazing Kenley! I…” she paused at his sudden outburst and frowned some. “Well…okay. You could probably do it yourself anyhow. Or just leave it as is, for a little extra room.”


Kenley
Kenley fidgeted some to Lyla's question as to whether he knew or not if most loners stayed loners or not. He wished he knew the answer to that one, a question that he had felt a bit in the past, but not one that he was really able to answer. If they all had the same sort of mindset that he had, maybe some of them would actually venture out and locate others they could be with, as long as they didn't have the emotional baggage attached... However, the conversation didn't progress any further, to which he was glad about. Many a train of thought this afternoon was leading towards some rather uneasy feelings, and it was becoming harder to hide it as the willpower waned with the energy levels.

At least she didn't seem as defenseless out in the wild as Kenley was starting to wonder, at least when it came to shelter -- he knew she was probably plenty fine on foraging for food. Though the injured arm was still problematic... hopefully there were some large, branching trees she could stay at the base of, if the weather turned sour? "You know, I was going to ask how having four arms really worked... seems like you could get yourself tangled up pretty easy," he interjected, holding out his hands a bit for indication, "I don't know, most people seem to do just fine with two arms, I'm sure you could as well. Less convenient that way if you want to multitask, though." He really couldn't imagine what it was like, however, and the more he tried to, the more he realized he was staring.

"You said eight months?" Kenley repeated, considering it a moment, "I don't think that's really all that slow... unless I'm more on the slow side as well?" Did she normally talk down about herself so often? He hadn't noticed before... but he didn't want her feeling depressed on top of everything else! "It seems like we kind of grow at a rate between pokémon and the humans now. It's still abrupt by human standards, but it's a little slower by our standards," he tried to explain, "You should be fine." Pulling his forearm up for demonstration, he strengthened the silk strands one level and tugged a bit at them, "It can be useful, though it could probably be improved. I mean, either way, it's still just thread." Stronger thread, but thread nonetheless, at least as far as he was concerned; he didn't really understand the mechanics fully, nor had he the chance to really test the limits of it out yet.

Kenley couldn't seem to tell if he was glad to hear it wasn't just yelling that Lyla was afraid of or not. On the one hand, raised voices didn't affect Lyla so much as what she expected to have come next... but on the other hand, having something like that happen to her at all was awful! "I wouldn't be surprised if someone like that grew up to be a sociopath," he snorted, his resentment apparent. How could anyone treat a kid so horribly? As the momentary wave of indignation subsided, he figured he should... probably say something more comforting than that, even if it wasn't necessarily his strong suit, "I'm... sorry. I'll try not to raise my voice or anything, if it makes you feel any better. I'm not mad, I'm just..." he sighed, "...easily irritated, I guess." And a whole squadron of other things, but he was content to leave it at that for now...

Lyla was... very clear on how she explained aspects of Kenley that he might not have been aware of since his recent change. It was pretty flattering, to say the least; she actually ended up making it sound like he looked better than it had been before. He wasn't sure why it made him feel so nervous to hear about it from her. "Ah... you see, I haven't really had the chance to look myself," he admitted apprehensively; it was teetering on blatant that his growth spurt and evolution had been none too long ago. However, as Lyla made a scholarly effort to refrain from apologizing, he flashed a slight smile in return, convinced that in doing so, she's make things less awkward for the both of them. That was the theory, at least.

The teen practically released a sigh of relief as Lyla explained that she hadn't read the shirt to discover its size, even if the look of it alone could sometimes tell that much more about it. With an impish grin, Kenley tugged at the thread still attached to the tree trunk, "That was a String Shot! I can strengthen it like I do the stuff that's wrapped around me, if it's necessary." Perhaps it was the way she had said his name seconds prior to that sudden souring of disposition, but he really, really didn't want her to sound so disappointed so soon after. With a flinch, he barked back at her, "Oh come on, don't pout! Jeez, if you want to help that badly, it's not like I can really stop you." Not to mention he didn't know how to really mend clothes... otherwise he probably would have fixed the gash through his other shirt by now. Heck, if he had to take the shirt off again, maybe she could make sure his shoulder was still okay. Kill two birds, so to speak.


Lyla
She didn’t mind letting the subject drop, especially as he asked her about the four arms and she gave a laugh. “It’s not so hard. Probably as easy for me as it is for you with two. You’re right I can do multiple things at once, which is helpful, and I feel off balance not being able to use the last one right now really. But here let me sort of show you.” And she did reach out with a good hand, and began to do a few different things at once…then worked with the three in a more “together” action. Though it looked weird with two doing one thing, and one another, since it was lopsided.

“At least…and I was with him for about five or so months. I guess that’s the main reason I’m sort of worried about being broken or something.” She was smiling as she said that, not meaning it…and she certainly seemed less worried about the whole lack of growth and change thing now which was even better. And paid attention instead to him messing with the wraps around himself a smile given at his words. “Still kind of neat though it does what you want and its not super bulky and in the way of your movements.”

“Not sure what a sociopath is, so I’ll have to take your word on it.” She gave a slight shrug. It wasn’t terribly important to learn what exactly one of those was. His apology surprised her though and her jaw dropped slightly, and briefly, before she was shaking her head slightly. “Don’t need to apologize…but thank you…and I’ll remember you’re easily irritated, but not actually mad.” That was a good thing, really!

“Oh really? I guess you changed recently then. You might be able to see your reflection in the sunglasses. I’d suggest the river but it’s not still enough to see clearly.” It was the only things she could think of for him to be able to get a look at himself in any way, really!

She continued to listen to his explanation of String Shot, an impressed look on her face as he spoke. His getting annoyed at her made her merely stick her tongue out at him. “You need to make up your mind! Either you want me to take it easy and rest my arm, or you want my help. So which is it?” she was still chewing on the leaves though they’d mostly done their job and so finally she shifted a little and plucked a leaf off the tree and discreetly spit the wad into it and wrapped it up and stuffed it in her pocket so it wasn’t something he’d accidentally step on later. “Look uhm…take off your shirt…and I’ll see what can be done, and I’ll tell you how to do it, and you can fix it then, okay?”


Kenley
It was easily understood that Lyla's deftness with four arms would have come as naturally as anyone else with the two they had. It didn't, however, make it any easier for Kenley to imagine what it would be like with so many at one's disposal. In fact, it seemed like kind of a pain to have productivity cut so drastically when only one was out of commission... but then again, he was likely just thinking quantity over quality in that respect. He was visibly impressed as his eyes followed along with her demonstration, "So you don't just use your arms to do more of something than normal, you can actually divide your attention up into separate tasks?" Considering that was four different ways with just the arms, that was surprising!

Lyla's use of the term 'broken' had hit Kenley more than he thought a word could have, and he flinched in reaction to it, unable to really voice anything in regards to what she had just described. It didn't feel like a joke at all; even with her smile, it felt more like she was admitting something that was really bothering her, but playing it off like it was a silly, stupid thing to worry about. It wasn't, though! He couldn't accept that smile, it was just way too awkward, and that feeling made him fidget with the wrappings all the more before he realized it, releasing his fingers from the threads and dropping his arms back down. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," he reluctantly agreed after a momentary pause, "It's not all that easy to find light armor like this, is it?" Still didn't feel like much armor, but now he sort of had the itch to test out the limitations. Or maybe that was just his reaction to avoiding the awkwardness speaking.

Kenley was highly tempted to define 'sociopath' as 'Bobby,' but that was merely idle speculation. He brushed Lyla's lack of knowledge off, realizing it had potential to upset her even more; luckily, she didn't seem to want to pry into that matter as it was, so there was really no harm done. Her reaction to his apology, though... that definitely made him have to stave off the squirming. Yes, he realized an apology was just slightly weird coming from him, but still! But she did understand, she really did... Kenley had almost forgotten he'd even said as much earlier, but for Lyla to have recollected the memory was a huge relief all on its own. "Hey yeah, that's right! Heh, so you remembered," he grinned, "So then no more trying to jump off the tree, okay? At least until you're healed, so you feel less lopsided." It seemed counterproductive that teasing would help tension find a different outlet, but one had to work with where they found progress.

It wasn't too obvious that he hadn't grown that long ago, was it? The boy supposed it wasn't too big of a deal one way or the other, but it still made the situation feel a bit more uncomfortable. No, he was looking at it wrong... that was a good thing, wasn't it? That way, what he said could relate more to Lyla and have more of an impact in pertaining to her, considering he knew what he was talking about -- he had gone through similar recently! It must have been because he wasn't used to relating to another person so much, it just felt strange to have that sort of connection. Tilting the sunglasses forward a bit more, he took Lyla's advice and attempted to see the color of his eyes through his reflection. "It's... kind of dark. All I can tell is that they're bright," he examined, closing an eye as though it could help him discern further detail, "Well, and probably not gold." He reached a hand up to his horn, surprised that it was still there but glad that it was, even if he had felt it in place beforehand. That was a wurmple feature... but it made Kenley feel a little more at ease.

As irritated as Kenley may have been at Lyla's lack of decision-making, her own teasing reply knocked a cough of a laugh out of him, if only because of the absurd coincidence. "Like you're one to talk!" he quipped back, "I want you to rest and take it easy, but I know you'll only do so much as you want to!" It had, after all, been one of the reasons why he had called her the worst type of person, in their first encounter. However, he was grateful for her help, even if he had a hard time of showing it. If this was just basically a follow-up visit from the first one, as a doctor might have done, then he likely wouldn't be getting such help again... might as well take advantage of what he could now, just so long as it didn't make things any worse for Lyla, since he sure couldn't fix this shirt. With a silent nod, he quickly slipped the shirt back off and handed it over to the ledyba, this time refraining from tossing it at her. "Think you can really do something about it?" he sounded skeptical. Would it look worse for wear if either of them tried to do anything to it? Instead of the shirt, though, his attention passed more to Lyla, making sure she didn't look like she wasn't feeling well enough to be instructing him on this.


Lyla
“It’s not too hard to use one independently of one another. Makes it helpful when say I want to brush my hair, I can use the upper two, and I can use the other two to make sure the buttons or laces or whatever on my shirt and stuff are done. I’ve gotten into a routine of things and it’s just throwing me off slightly not being able to do certain things with the arm and hand I’d normally use but I’m getting used to it. I have more control when I use them all together. Such as making a bow.”

It was fortunate she was staring off at that point and didn’t notice his reaction to her choice of words. No, she’d turned and smiled at him after the wince from him, so that negative reaction had been entirely missed. The talk of his wrappings made her smile. “I wonder how strong they are…what all they can repel before damage is taken and all.” She reached out again, a fingertip brushing over the bandage of the arm nearest her. “They feel so soft…sometime maybe you’ll let me feel what it feels like hard, and we can make some guesses as to how strong it is? I wouldn’t want to test it and accidentally hurt you. I’d feel bad about that.”

“Alright, alright. No more trying to jump out of the tree.” Though she laughed suddenly. “So you expect me to be around once my arm heals up so I can give it a try? Alright then!” she readily agreed to coming around more than just this time, though that likely hadn’t been what he was implying, and she was grinning some as she watched him waiting for the outrage at her presumption, a soft snicker coming from her already.

Lyla looked around a moment, and a bird landed not too far off from them chirping. She tilted her head towards it. “Your eyes are about the same color blue as that bird if it helps…and the green in your hair…” she reached for another leaf and held it up. “Hm..this is still a bit darker than your hair, but close. The yellow part, reminds me of those yellow flowers down there.” She pointed with the toe of her shoe of all things.

“Oh good. So that’s established then.” She was grinning again as he admitted he knew that she would do what she wanted. But still she wasn’t pushing matters any. There was a simple ‘thank you’ as he handed her his shirt, though her eyes lingered slightly on his bandaged up chest area, before her head ducked down to study the shirt and hide the fact her face was getting warm again. “I’m honestly not sure, but I think I can. I’ve made some things with the animals skins after I skin them so I can eat…this isn’t too much different.” She was holding the shirt up now with two hands, and fussing with the third.


Kenley
Kenley nodded as Lyla explained her ability to use each of her arms for separate tasks all at the same time, but his imagination as far as what that would be like was still not up to par. Sure, he could do the same... with two hands, but twice as many? If nothing else, it must be nice to be able to get that much accomplished, if there was that much to do! He pulled his attention back once he realized that he was staring again, "It makes sense that it would be easier. You probably don't even really have to ask anyone's help to hold something for you, huh?" Unless maybe something was too heavy, but it really did make it easier to be self-sufficient. "You have wings, too, don't you?" he asked; he had never actually seen them out of their shell casing, "Can you fly with them?" Yet another aspect of other bug-types that he couldn't quite grasp adequate imagination for, other than it must be pretty neat.

Perhaps Kenley should have been glad that Lyla had missed his harsh reaction to her joke, and for all intents and purposes, he was. However, there was some part of him that really wanted to say something about it, regardless of how much it would have helped anything to talk about. Her smile was more sincere when the subject matter had passed, though, which made it a bit easier to let things slide. Especially when she gingerly reached out for his arm, pulling that weird nervousness back to the surface. Flustered, the words came about partially as a means to push past that uneasiness, faltered as they were in their attempt, "I-It doesn't have to be later, if you want, I don't care. When we're testing that out, we can see how much it can put up with from an attack. I'd want to do that at some point anyway." He was trying to sound more aloof, but that stupid blush wouldn't go away! Was it wrong of him to think that, if she did hurt him again... she'd stay longer?

It was because of that line of thinking that Lyla's teasing about coming back took him by surprise, thinking she was serious. Her expectant grin was taken completely out of context to what she was truly waiting for out of him, and he flinched with a start at the misunderstanding, "...Really? Yeah, I can try to help you out with that." She really wanted to come back? There was an odd clenching in his chest at that; he wasn't just being hopeful?

Turning to where Lyla indicated the bird, Kenley jumped suddenly at the avian's appearance, his heart instinctively racing. The sudden movements caused the bird to fly away, but the retreat didn't seem to have come soon enough -- he was already terrified. Of course, he tried to play it off like he hadn't just done what he just did, but his movements were stiff and he was having a hard time focusing on Lyla's explanations, as clear as they were. Nervously, he tugged at a lock of his hair, as though he were trying to see what the young ledyba was getting at with the coloration but also partially to try to redirect his attentions back with the sharp feeling. It took the words a moment to register, and he gave a sheepish grin, "Doesn't sound like I'm very good with the camouflage, does it?" Of course he was referring to the coloration, but it felt like his emotions were sliding into similar categorization.

Of all the awkwardness that seemed to be threading in and out of the air throughout this encounter, somehow Kenley didn't seem to think there was anything unusual about taking off his shirt. There were some things that the silcoon was much more aware of when it came to proper social behavior... and some that he obviously had missed a lesson or two on. Crossing his legs, he leaned in to show that he was paying attention, even if said attention was divided between her instruction and her well-being. It was only because of this conscious effort that he noticed her face turn a bit more red again, and he wondered if the task was a bit too much for her at present. Glancing at the shirt, he looked to where she was indicating, "You're pretty versatile." There was no way he'd ever have it in himself to actually go hunting... but he didn't really look down on those that did, not unless they were birds. As she held the shirt aloft, Kenley watched on with a bit of anxiety, deliberating whether he should tell her to stop trying so hard. He was ready with a String Shot should she ask for one, but he started absently biting at the threads around his fingers.


Lyla
“Not usually no, and I normally don’t have anything too heavy or big to carry myself so that helps!” The question of her wings had her shifting a little so he could see the back of her, and there she went, letting her wings come out of their casing, they buzzing as they fluttered. “I can sort of…hover a little. I haven’t tried to really fly with them since changing. I think I’m worried about crashing.” There was a sheepish laugh as she said that! “They whip up a nice breeze though!”

Lyla looked up at him with the suggestion of the two of them testing that out and she looked intrigued. “Really? What if I accidentally hurt you again though? I mean I’m not about to throw my knives at you, or try cutting your wraps that’d just be crazy! Maybe throw a rock? See if it bounces off your leg?” she sounded thoughtful, trying to think of a non-lethal way to test the wrappings strength! She noticed he was blushing and so tried to aim the wind from her wings at him thinking he was over heating a little. Maybe they were both getting sick!

“Good! You’re the expert after all, so who better to help me out with this than you?” no one, was what her tone implied really. “I’m sure you’ll do a great job teaching me how to do that Kenley!” she said his name with such conviction it would have been hard for anyone to doubt his ability to do just as she said and thought he would!

She noticed him jump and gave a sympathetic smile. “Birds. Yeah those are a hard one to get over aren’t they? I had the same problem for awhile myself. Somewhat therapeutic shooting them with an arrow. Once I get a new bow, I can show you how to use it and you can shoot some too.” How completely understanding she was there! But it was true, she’d dealt with a similar fear for awhile herself both as a pokemon and after her change. There was a laugh from her as she shook her head. “Not really. Your hair almost looks like sunlight on leaves…but the rest of you is a bright enough white you’d stand out but that’s okay. I think you look nice, and the tiara matches your colors so nicely.”

“Had to be to be able to survive. I’d have starved or something by now other wise. It’s not like when I was just a pokemon. Things seemed easier…more instinctual then. Now though…some things feel a lot harder than they should. “ she was facing him now, the shirt being held up to his chest with two of her hands, the third smoothing it out over him without thought, though after a moment she realized she was more or less pawing at him (innocently!), but turned red none the less. “Oh..uhh....let me see….could you do that string shot thing again, and make it a little harder? I wish I had something for a needle…” she was talking thoughtfully then though at seeing him chewing on the threads around his fingers she reached out with a hand and gently pulled his hand away from his mouth. “What good does that do you for defense if you chew it all off?” a soft, teasing laugh from her could be heard as she laid the shirt down then, one hand resting lightly on her hurt arm as she moved again, checking it one would think, and she was. It was nice and numb. That was…well…nice!

Kenley
Kenley fidgeted again, finding the movement to be increasingly common when conversations took on such an awkward route. How often had he run across contact like this, where he didn't feel like he had more control over the direction than the one on the receiving end? The idea that anyone would have considered their meeting with Kenley to be anything more than a bane... it seemed surreal. Especially when it, as it turned out, was considered the polar opposite! Any other emotion he may have been showing, whether apparent or oblique, was systematically wiped to make way for the surprise. "I..." he started, but vocabulary seemed to fall away from him. Instead, he offered a timid nod in return, as though it would help mask the fact that this was entirely new ground for him. He wasn't kidding when he said he thought she was weird!

He supposed it made sense that the people that Lyla normally bartered with wouldn't randomly travel through the forests with a library in tow, but as something so relevant to the wilderness, it was possible. "Maybe if nobody has one to trade..." he considered reluctantly; how could she stand going into town? It was a logical decision, of course, but not one that Kenley could fully comprehend through the stubbornness. He observed how Lyla safely wrapped the stinger, finding the quick, almost effortless, security measures fascinating. "Alright, well... good," he accepted the adapted wrappings, even if her own cheery assent still fell under the category of being awkwardly unfamiliar. Then again, considering the concern all around, this whole day could likely be classified as much.

While a mite disappointed at the nearing departure, Kenley could recognize when such a thing was a good idea... even if it might have been dangerous to let her walk that distance alone. Well that was an uncomfortable thought, but pride and fear kept it from becoming more than a minor irritant on his mind, especially when there were other things distracting him from dwelling on it. She wasn't pulling away, either... "It's not like there was that much space between us. If I couldn't catch you, sitting right next to you, that'd be pretty pathetic!" he asserted with a grumble, forcing the inexplicable nervousness as far from the front of his mind as possible, "And will you quit thanking me?" It's embarrassing! Never mind that, to counter a question of why, he could only think to repeat what Lyla had said prior. No no, there was no way he was going to own up to doing anything out of goodwill!

Any momentum he earned himself by grabbing hold of that familiar detachment of emotion was subsequently shoved to the sidelines as Lyla repositioned herself... in the most uncomfortable way she could have. It was obvious that she didn't see anything wrong with it, but that only helped to ease the distress to a small degree: just because the feeling wasn't mutual did not make it the easiest thing to overcome, especially when he didn't understand it. He tensed up again, finding himself once more unable to move as he tried to concentrate on not looking so bewildered, and fighting back the starkly-contrasted scarlet that threatened to return with a vengeance.

Again he found himself holding his breath, relieved to note that she was turning attention away from where uneasiness was most prevalent. Once she finished her examination and pulled away from his arm, his other hand quickly rose up to grab at the shoulder. With her indication that it looked good, he was able to finally get a look at it, simultaneously distracting himself from the girl with the effort, at least for a moment. Her apology pulled him back to attention, shooting her a slightly exasperated look for feeling badly about what happened last time, "Of course I'm okay. You can't take me down with some flimsy twig." His confidence was shaky at best and, nervously, he tried to back up a little without moving Lyla from where she was seated, "Come on... we should get you down from here before it gets much later." As much as he hoped she'd say that it was probably a bad idea for her to leave, he wanted her to agree just as much; he hated being so unsure of himself.

Lyla
He was surprised by what she said, and that was very, very obvious and easy to see. Yet, she once again opted not to point it out considering it to be counter-productive to everything else that had happened since she’d shown up! There was a smile as he accepted the way she had wrapped the stinger and stored it glad he wasn’t going to argue with her on it at all.

“You have a point, you’re not pathetic. Still I didn’t think to try catching myself.” Mostly due to the surprise of continue forward when she’d expected to make contact with him. Just not in the way she wound up doing so! “Nope. I’m going to thank you, when you deserve it. So there.” She grinned at him as she said that, amused actually by his discomfort this time.

Lyla had been about to make some retort only to have him point out she did still need to get out of that tree, and she slid off his lap and back onto the branch carefully, giving him back the personal space she had so utterly invaded moments before. “Right…down.” She looked down then gauging the distance, perfectly ready to jump –again- and deal with whatever consequences that came with. Though she didn’t, and looked back up to him with a smile. “You said you’d make sure I didn’t land like a rock on the ground right? Would it be easier if I go down facing out, or toward the tree? Or does it not matter for you, for catching?” yes, she was trying to make this easy!


Kenley
Considering Lyla hadn't brought up the connections she had made with the way he reacted to being called a friend, Kenley had an easier time convincing himself that she must have missed it. It made things more simplistic for the teen to shake off the uncertainty, at least as far as that was concerned, and move on. This little conversation was nearing its end as it was, there was no use leaving it on a note like that.

He huffed a bit when the ledyba agreed with his sentiments that not being able to catch her would have been, for lack of a better term, 'pathetic,' as though he were saying, "Well d'uh!" However, she instead tried to shift the blame to herself again, which only caused Kenley's frown to sharpen, "It's not like you could have anticipated me to move, when you even told me what you were doing..." Oh crap, no. Uhh... I meant... His mind scrambled to try to come up with some way to stop sounding like he was trying to make her feel better, and he came up from the effort with an amused -- if forced -- snort, "Ha, I sure got you that time! Didn't expect it, did you?" Yeah... yeah, he totally planned having that panic set in from the start. Sure.

Her insistence to keep thanking him where she deemed it necessary goaded him into showing the irritation, but for fear of showing any emotion outside of that again, he kept his trap shut and waved her off; it's not like he could do much to change her mind, if she was going to be like that, but he didn't have to show that he... actually liked it.

As Lyla slid off of him, he had to consciously try not to pull himself too quickly away. Good gods did he want to put that extra distance between him and his emotions, but physically trying to do so wouldn't have done any good. It helped to keep him rooted in place when Lyla had joked about jumping down again, startling him enough to react on instinct to a much more premature level. Grabbing her shoulder again, he pulled her back, "Jeez! Don't--! J-Just stop doing that, will you!?" Already embarrassed without even gathering a counter from the girl, he quickly slid off the branch himself, as though escaping the repercussions his actions would have caused. It gave him a brief time-out period to catch his breath and, by the time he landed, the scowl was back on his face, turning to look up at her. "Whichever's easiest on your arm; I'll manage," he responded unhelpfully. It didn't help that facing him would have been easiest... but at least, at this distance, it was easier for him to regain his usual indifferent approach. He waved a hand, making a pulling motion to let her know she could drop at any time. This would just be for a moment anyway.

Lyla
While Lyla didn’t fully understand, or even partially understand why he was reacting the way he was to certain things, she understood enough to instinctually know when to press on a subject, and when to let it drop. She’d gotten good at reading body language and facial expressions due to her trading, and so to see his discomfort…nope easier to let it go.

She frowned at his words, brows knitting together with some consternation. He had pulled a prank on her, to make her fall like that? He’d wanted to catch her? Is that what he was saying? It was definitely confusing her at this point and her frown became slightly more pronounced as s full “realization” hit her. He’d been making fun of her in a way, mocking her. It sent a wave of…some undefinable emotion through her. Sadness…but worse rejection though she couldn’t pin down that second emotion, never having felt it before. It was there and it left a sour taste in her mouth, and her feeling like she might throw up. Good thing I’m leaving…. her thought was a sad one.

Seeing him scooting away so quickly it brought another round of that same feeling, and she really began to feel ill, and attributed it to feeling warm earlier. She had to have been coming down with something to feel like this now, that was it. Finding herself jerked back after glancing down was surprising, and she blinked and gave a nod. “Alright…” no apology tacked on. Just that one single word, spoken in a meek voice at this point. Watching him jump down so easily, she couldn’t help the small twitch of a smile that happened. Seeing he was ready she scooted to the edge of the branch, took a breath, and pushed away from it, eyes closing as she fell, stomach rising up in her throat at the sensation of falling. She’d never fallen from quite so high before, especially on purpose! It wouldn’t be until she felt a thud…be it the ground or his arms that her eyes would come open again. Seeing he had caught her thought….a smile crossed her face. “Thank you for catching me and everything. I’ll see you later Kenley.” She moved without thinking, and taking advantage of the fact she was so close to him thanks to still being in his arms, pressed a kiss to his cheek before she was deftly twisting from his grasp and already putting distance between them. “A week or so, and I should be better, and I’ll come back.” She raised a hand in farewell as she headed for the bushes. Leaving was good.


Kenley
With his own attentions turned more inward, toward fortifying his own emotional barriers, Kenley cut himself off from being able to recognize how much he had inadvertently hurt Lyla with his teasing. They had been bantering before that, so it was only natural that he figured she'd take it in the same manner... even if he had come off a little stronger with the withdrawal than he meant to. Her timid response to the panic that had jumped from him should have been a decent clue-in to her mental state, having been quite energetic before that, but any notion would have easily been contributed to her physical state instead, if only because he was still concerned of as much.

As Lyla hung her legs from her perch, Kenley tried to quickly gauge how she was going to be falling. The ledyba pushed off, and he took a calculative step-and-a-half forward to snatch her out of the air. No, Kenley was not a very strong person, something that became immediately noticeable to him once more as Lyla's weight pulled them both down a bit. He was stubborn enough not to let gravity get the better of him, but it was difficult, and until he was sure he wasn't going to accidentally drop Lyla, his grip tightened and pulled her in close -- plenty enough for Lyla to easily reach him. While his hold on her loosened as soon as he wasn't feeling any false sense of greater gravity bearing down, it wasn't fast enough for Lyla to drop outside of her own volition.

Her actions were quick enough that, after a grumble and a cut off, "Will you cut it--" there was little time for a proper response. If anything could be said, Lyla was good at shutting the loud-mouthed silcoon up. Blinking, he could only watch as her deliberate movements registered to a mind still trying -- and failing -- to properly negate emotion. Internal conflict was difficult to ignore when such reactionary heat insisted on growing in strength, his face once more threatening to turn a nice, warm shade. As she disappeared into the bushes, the sudden lack of her proximity caused a surge of negativity to boil forth, and he called after her in the most childish way, "...You brat!" Well that was delayed... and it fled his system as quickly as it had appeared. With a sigh, he slowly turned around. A week, huh? So... she really was coming back... Despite the irritation he was convinced that he should be feeling in this instance, the tug of a smile couldn't be erased.