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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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 Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 1:06 pm
"Well," the blond started somewhat haltingly as he tried to figure out how best to phrase something mere moments before saying it because he opened his big mouth too fast, "it's not like you always talk about bad stuff going on, yeah? I'm guessing usually you guys talk about normal or fun stuff or whatever else. Uh.." Where had he been going with that...? "I guess what I mean is, it's still totally fine for you to talk about bad stuff once in a while because that's not the only thing you ever talk about. And shitty things happen to everybody once in a while, so it would be unrealistic for him to expect you to only ever talk about good things and never bad things. I'm sure he's had shitty things happen to him before, too," Abel suggested with a light shrug. "I can understand not wanting to dump shitty stuff on someone right when you start dating them - might be a bit too soon - but after a couple months that's more than fine. Actually I think it's kind of expected," he added thoughtfully, "because if you don't ever talk about bad stuff then they might start thinking nothing bad ever goes wrong in your life or something, which is weird. Not everyone's life is perfect," he finished lamely. Man, that was a lot of words. Had all of them even made sense? What about half? Damn he hoped so.
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 1:57 pm
"Heh, see, it makes so much sense when you say it like that." Taavi smiled wryly and shrugged his wiry shoulders. "Um, I don't know. I guess I'm just... kind of paranoid about that kind of thing? Which is dumb I guess but I'm just a natural worrier I guess, like, I always seem to think of the worst thing that somebody could think of me when I open my mouth? Uh. Like-" Taavi's brow wrinkled; "I am saying like and I guess a lot. Heh. I just want to please people I guess."
He really did need to mention Alyssa again too but he wasn't sure how to bring it up or if he even should actually. In the meantime he picked up his pizza again and took another bite, food was important and feeling hungry wasn't going to make him feel any better about the rest.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 3:58 pm
Abel took another bite of his pizza - mm, delicious, cold pizza - and nodded at Taavi once he'd finished chewing. "Yeah, I know what you mean," which he figured was a better thing to say than 'yeah I noticed' or similar, "but you shouldn't worry too much about everything. That s**t's gotta get tiring after a while. And," he said as he stood up and pointed his pizza crust at his friend emphatically, "wanting to please people is all well and good, just as long as you take care of yourself, too. If you're too focused on pleasing people, then all that you'll ever get is walked all over like a doormat, and that's no way to live." So saying, the blond took a bite of his pizza crust - he wasn't about to waste perfectly good food, not with how little disposable income he had - as he moved towards his bedroom. After passing through into his room and leaving the door open, the blond disappeared inside to change. From within, however, he said loud enough for Taavi to hear, as well as to continue the conversation, "Don't be a doormat."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 12:42 pm
Don't be a doormat. He knew it was good advice but he didn't know if he could follow it, though that didn't mean he wouldn't try of course. Taavi gave a brief laugh as Abel disappeared into his room and responded; "But how else will everyone I know wipe their feet, right? You're right though, I'll do my best. Um. Feel free to shout 'doormat' at me if you notice me doing it, I don't notice myself most of the time unless I think about it later." And he usually didn't because he didn't really like being such a pushover- like he liked pleasing people, and he loved avoiding conflict but... Well, he just felt kind of spineless in the face of his friends sometimes, that was all.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:21 pm
Abel gave a quiet snort from within his room. 'How else' indeed. "Yeah? Well if that's the case," he responded loudly as he rummaged around in his dresser, "then I'll happily do that for you. No take backs," the blond warned a moment or two later, as an afterthought, a hint of amusement in his voice. Ohh yes, he looked forward to randomly shouting 'doormat' whenever necessary - though he doubted he would actually shout it.
A moment or two later he emerged from his room in a different shirt and jeans than before, then crossed through the living room towards the front door. "Alright," Abel said as he stopped in front of the closet, "I've gotta head out for a bit. I should be back in... probably about two hours, maybe a little less," he hazarded a guess as he retrieved his jacket and slipped it on. "You think you'll be alright for that long? Won't burn the apartment down, yeah?" He asked in jest, aiming a wry grin to Taavi as Isaac trotted over to join him by the door.
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:29 pm
"Oh no," Taavi grinned, "I'm not sure I can be trusted! Um, you know like in the sims where they don't know how to cook? And then they get trapped and die because there's a plate in front of the door. Seriously though, I'm good. Err, have fun?" He didn't actually know where Abel was going and as Abel hadn't volunteered to tell him he probably shouldn't... oh, that was doormat thinking right? "Err, if you're going somewhere fun that is," he added a little lamely, it wasn't much he guessed but it was a token effort? Or was this actually not not being a doormat, but was more being nosey? Argh! He was probably worrying too much though, again, it was probably fine.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 2:45 pm
"Damn, I didn't think so," the blond replied with a short laugh and a grin, "oh well. I'll just have to leave you here anyway and hope for the best. Maybe not all my stuff will have been set on fire by the time I get back." The sims..? Wasn't that some sort of computer game...? Probably was, which was why he couldn't really bring any solid images to mind. Not wanting to make his friend feel bad, he endeavored to think of a response regardless, "Heh. I hope you won't get trapped by any plates in front of doors - not that you would, anyway. You're a better cook than that." Or, at least, from what he'd seen, anyway.
Isaac huffed and pawed meaningfully at his friend's leg. Expression softening to a smile, Abel stooped down. "You wanna come too, bud? You sure about that?" He asked, tilting his head at the Espeon. He was almost positive Isaac wouldn't want to once he found out he was going to see Alyssa - or maybe he would - but the psychic-type nudged his nose into his hands regardless. Well, that was that, then; Abel obliged his friend and picked him up. "Isaac's coming with me," he announced as he carefully and with practiced ease zipped the Espeon up into his coat to keep him warm, "just so you're not wondering where he is or anything. And, thanks," the blond gave Taavi a somewhat rueful smile. If only he knew how much fun he was absolutely not about to have... Ugh. Setting the thought aside, he grabbed his essentials - keys, wallet, cigarettes and lighter - and stuffed them into pockets. Once assured he also had his phone, he pulled open the door and stepped through it, but before closing it behind him he said, "Okay, see you in a couple hours."
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 3:59 pm
It was a bit more than three hours later and Taavi hadn't, seen able in a couple of hours that was.
He'd idled away the first two hours with the various pokemon in the apartment, surfed the web a bit, and exchanged a couple of texts with Abel about a hilarious thing he'd found. He hadn't been that worried for the first fifteen minutes after the two hours gone by but two and a half he kept glancing at the time on his pokegear. He sent Abel a text, another five minutes later, and by fifteen minutes to hour three since Abel had gone out there was still no answer. Maybe Abel had gone out to meet Alyssa and have moved on to somewhere private with with her and that was why he wasn't replying? But why wouldn't he have texted to let him know, so that he could let the pokemon know too? At the three hour mark Taavi tried a phone call but nobody picked up, and that was as much as he could stand. Maybe he was being paranoid again but he would rather be paranoid and look silly when Abel turned up fine and rumpled than....
Taavi stood up abruptly and headed across the apartment to get his shoes and coat. "I'm going out to look for Abel," he announced to the pokemon in general as he slipped on his sneakers and laced them up. "It's probably nothing but he's been longer than he said he would be.... Perhaps he was going somewhere a bit far out and he missed a bus back or something? If he has then Valour and I - well, Valour - can give him a lift home. It's no time of year to be stuck outside at night." He hoped that was all it was, and it probably was something innocent like that, but a cold feeling of dread had settled into his stomach and he couldn't shake it off. What if it wasn't something innocent.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2016 4:24 pm
((The interim))
As more and more time passed without Abel returning home, Sonia could only grow more and more restless. It hadn't bothered her until after the two hour mark, after Taavi started becoming anxious. He should've been back by now, why wasn't he back? True, Isaac had gone with him so he wasn't technically alone but given the fact the Espeon didn't really train and was completely domesticated did nothing to ease her worries. She could hardly stand the waiting, and eventually took to pacing restlessly around the apartment. Had Taavi not abruptly stood and announced his intentions when he did, the Zoroark very well might have exploded from all the pent-up nervous energy.
As it was, however, she did not, and instead she turned and trotted to the door with him. She barked out, and as the Growlithe immediately loped over to her side, she huffed out a frustrated sigh before barking out, The bewildered and curious Charmeleon approached and Sonia rubbed at her nose with a paw, unable to believe what she was about to say. important, so don't mess it up,> she growled, emphasizing both points in the hopes it would help get her point through the fire-type's thick skull.
In return for her efforts, Elizabeth merely grinned, made a rude noise at Sonia, and trundled off into the depths of the apartment again.
Sonia threw her head back with an aggravated groan, but she had no time to deal with her, so instead she gestured for Caleb to keep pace with her - undoubtedly she would be the one trying to keep pace with him soon - and the pair of pokemon anxiously awaited Taavi's lead.
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 2:59 pm
On the way down to the street Taavi tried not to think about all of the awful things that could have happened to his friend in the three hours since he'd gone out, three hours was a long time in situations like this and it was freezing outside and-
Taavi firmly pushed down the panicky thoughts as he stepped outside into a flurry of snow, this was just like any other search and rescue situation, this was something he'd been trained to handle. It was different when you knew the person you were looking for though and this was a city and he didn't know- What if somebody had taken him... somewhere? He couldn't think of any reason why they would but- Maybe Abel really was just late, haha, maybe he'd run into him just coming back and look like an idiot, that would be great!... But Sonia and Caleb were worried too, it couldn't be like him to be late home then so something must have- might have-
Okay. Okay! "Okay." Taavi muttered aloud as he tied his hair back, pushed back the rush of thoughts again along with it. As he pulled on his hat and placed his flying goggles on his head ready Valour spiralled down from wherever he'd been roosting; Taavi gave his friend a quick update on the situation before turning his mind back to the actual task of finding Abel before- What? He didn't know and he didn't want to think about it any more so it was time to go.
Abel's car was still here - Sonia pointed it out - so it was unlikely Abel had gotten too far, he didn't have the money to spend on a cab and Taavi doubted that he'd taken a bus or anything. "Okay," he repeated, turning to Caleb and Sonia, "Valour and I will search from above, um, we'll keep an eye on your progress. If you guys spot anything then could you shoot a little signal flare Caleb? We'll be right down."
With that Taavi pulled down his flying goggles, climbed onto Valour's back, and held tight as the Braviary launched them into the cold night air. These were not ideal flying conditions and the visibility was s**t but they'd flown through worse! And even if it was dark, and the snow was blowing everywhere, he trusted Valour's eyes. If Abel was out here tonight they'd find him.
A few minutes later they did find him.
Valour gave a sharp cry and dropped into a sudden dive that caught Taavi off guard, forcing him to grab onto his friend's feathers pretty hard to avoid being thrown off. They landed in a jarring skid that was so unlike the Braviary that even without seeing what Valour had he knew what it had to be, that it had to be his missing friend and-
Heart racing and blood turned as icy cold as the night around them Taavi slid to the ground and-
"Abel!"
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:03 pm
Slow, slow, slow. Far too slow, Sonia thought anxiously, even as they descended to the main floor as quickly as they could. The pair of canines burst out of the front doorway the second they opened, and the Zoroark immediately barked an order to the Growlithe. With a gruff bark of acknowledgement, the latter immediately set his nose to the snowy sidewalk and trotted in slowly widening circles, trying to catch his trainer's scent, while the dark-type darted off around the side of the building to check the parking area. If he'd taken his car, then there was no telling how far he'd gone... A quick check showed it still sat in its place and had for some time, judging by the pristine sheet of snow covering it.
Taavi would search in the air, and they would search on the ground. Both pokemon barked in response before the pair set out, Caleb huffing and grumbling with his nose to the pavement and Sonia trotting along behind him, her focus on their surroundings while his remained on catching his trainer's scent. While vehicles slowly passed them by, leaving tracks in the streets, luckily they passed hardly anyone on the sidewalks, which meant there was a better chance of Caleb picking up the right scent. She worried if he'd be able to in the snow, however, and whined a bit as she followed her companion up and down sidewalks, combining his sense of smell with her knowledge of a few places their trainer frequented; perhaps he went to one of those and Caleb would be able to pick up a scent from there?
One of them - a restaurant - got a reaction from the Growlithe, and he paused to sniff more carefully as he slowly padded in circles a few times while trying to determine a direction. Once he decided on one, he turned and darted off, following both a scent and two specific pairs of footprints in the snow that branched away from others. Sonia hastened after the fire-type, anxious to find their trainer, but Valour's cry caught her attention in time to see him dive down below the tops of the buildings nearby. A scant few seconds passed before the pair of canines rounded the corner to an alley - one that Taavi and Valour had found - and though Caleb paused in his surprise, Sonia didn't hesitate to dart past him, her heart in her throat, to the figure lying on the ground.
While the sidewalks and streets they'd passed had a decent amount of snow settled peacefully along the pavement, the snow in the alley was not nearly so pristine, and painted a picture of what had occurred: Four pairs of footprints - two approaching from each end of the alley - had converged in the middle at different times, and the snow there had been kicked up and displaced so much that only a thin, dirty layer remained in spots. Small flecks of something dark had splattered onto the snow in spots, and upon closer inspection they'd find it to be blood.
More of it had frozen in a line down Abel's chin as he lay in a disheveled heap against one wall, though he'd maneuvered one arm beneath his head while he set his other hand onto the ground to try and push himself up. He didn't move too much if at all before he tensed and started coughing a bit; it sounded wetter than it should've, a fact which may have had something to do with the bit of fresh blood that splattered onto the snow and trickled down his cheek. Someone had said his name - someone had, hadn't they? - but at the moment his head swam far too much for him to be aware of much more than pain.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 10:59 am
Taavi reached Abel's side without much actual thought going though his mind and definitely without doing the danger assessment you were meant to when you were going to help somebody who was injured. He realised this as he dropped to his knees beside his friend but- Arceus - whatever had happened here had happened a while ago, the blood on Abel's face was frozen.
"Abel!" Taavi repeated urgently reaching down to touch his friend's shoulder; he was moving, that was a good start, he- Had to be freezing! "Can you hear me?" Taavi asked as he wrestled out of his coat and draped it over Abel's shoulders. "Say something, anything'll do, I just need to know you can hear me okay?" There was fresh blood on the snow, s**t, was that just from injuries to his face or was something wrong with his lungs? There was no obvious heavy bleeding so any injuries were internal, not that that made them any better in fact did it make it worse? Because he couldn't even try to stop the bleeding. He was trying really hard not to panic, panicking wouldn't do Abel any good, just- just keep following the steps until you reached a conclusion and then do whatever needed doing next; the less he actually thought the better.
Who had done this, and, s**t where was Isaac?
These questions were also occupying Valour's mind; leaving the others to look after Abel he studied the sets of footprints. A man and a woman had walked in from that direction, and two men from that one. Three sets of prints walked away again, no further signs of a struggle. This had been... planned? Was that too much to take away from what he was seeing? The large bird narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced around suspiciously, making sure they really were alone. Two pairs of people walk in, Abel gets beaten up, three people walk away and no sign of Isaac. To make a massive understatement, this was not good. <> Valour squawked, turning to the fire type. <> The Espeon could have gone for help he guessed but he couldn't see any pawprints going out of the alley, though it was possible they'd already been covered by snow.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:07 pm
Flinching instinctively at the touch to his shoulder, the blond found himself awaiting more pain. When the only thing to follow was something that rested more or less gently across his shoulders and back, Abel blinked and tried to process what was going on. Everything hurt and his head ached terribly; that and the fogginess of his mind made it difficult to concentrate. Words, someone was saying words. Taavi? "Ngh," he groaned in reply to his friend eventually - he didn't trust himself to try and form actual words just yet - and he raised a hand to gingerly touch his head, though his fingers flinched away as they brushed against a bump that had swelled up there. A word bubbled up from his lips regardless of his decision not to speak yet, mumbled and strained, "s**t."
Sonia whined, ears slicked back as she hunkered down on the ground beside Taavi and her trainer. She didn't like this one bit, but at the very least they'd found him. But why wasn't Isaac there?
While Caleb approached the blond as well, his ears back and feeling anxious, he didn't share the Zoroark's strong emotions, nor did he move as close as she did. He hadn't been with his trainer even half as long as she had, and while it surprised him and made him uneasy to see his trainer in this state, he couldn't feel as pained as she obviously did.
Valour's questioning squawk drew the fire-type's attention and he turned his attention to him briefly. Ah, scent investigation; he could do that. Dutifully he turned his nose to the ground and sniffed as he weaved back and forth further down the alley. Mid-weave he swerved to one side and trotted straight to a spot nearby to assess what he could. While there had to have been multiple paw prints from their friend, the fire-type could only pick out one among the mixture of human and pokemon prints that had overlapped Isaac's. he noted aloud, his nose low to the ground and hovering over that spot for a moment before he followed the scent a couple feet away. Luckily he had little difficulty picking it out among the others, even if the prints had more or less been obliterated by big human feet. He paused, bewildered. He lifted his head, sniffed, lowered it, sniffed again, lifted if halfway and sniffed more, then followed the trail to the end of the alley.
Once out of the alley he followed it down the sidewalk a bit, circled once, then returned to the alley with his nose low again. he said as he stared hard at one spot in the snow, he elaborated a bit as he swept his gaze - and his nose - across the disturbed snow. he begrudgingly admitted, huffing in mild annoyance as he flopped his fluffy rump down on the snow. With his investigation complete, he focused on Valour to await his thoughts.
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 4:34 pm
s**t was okay, s**t was a start. "You're safe," Taavi assured his friend firmly, sounding more confident than he felt as he reached out to tilt Abel's jaw gently towards him. "Can you look at me Abel?" He'd obviously hit his head - had it hit - but how hard? If his pupils were different sizes that was a bad sign. "And can you tell me what happened?" Other than the obvious, but actually even hearing the obvious would be good.
Valour strutted along after Caleb, listening intently to the canine's interpretation of what he was picking up and trying to process it. <> he said, thinking aloud as he reached the unpleasant but inevitable conclusion. <> Valour cocked his head at Caleb. <> And left with the people who'd hurt him. <>
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:05 pm
Instinct kicked in again and he pulled his face away from Taavi's hand. A few seconds later he held his breath and planted his hand on the ground again to try once more to push himself up to a sitting position. He didn't like laying on the ground and had no desire to continue doing so, especially as he slowly became more aware of himself and his surroundings, including how damn cold it was. Unfortunately that required movement, and all that accomplished was moving the injuries he'd sustained and rekindling all the pain they brought without any of the adrenaline to dampen it. A sharp stab of pain shot through his abdomen and his breath hitched as he stiffened considerably; his slow progress towards a sitting position was hindered by one or two more similar pauses until, with Sonia's help as something soft to lean on when necessary, he finally succeeded in struggling to a more or less 'upright' position on his hands and knees, though his head hung down and he'd yet to look at Taavi as requested.
In an attempt to ignore the pain for now - not that he knew how successful he'd be - Abel tried to focus on Taavi's request. "Uhh," he began, his brow furrowing a bit as he tried to recall the events that led up to his waking up on the ground in the alley. "Met up with Alyssa--" the blond paused to cough again and grimace from the pain. He took a moment to lean back on his knees and gingerly wrap one arm around his midsection before he spat out a bit of blood to one side. Ugh... "We were just walking back," he went on, his words strained and slurred just a tad due to the dense fog of pain clouding his mind, "stopped to talk for a minute, but," he frowned, eyebrows knitting together as he tried to think while he slowly started leaning to one side, "got jumped by... two guys? S'too fast, I don't really..." Abel trailed off, his frown still present and brows still furrowed as he tried to recall the events in better clarity, but Arceus, his head hurt. Not just his head though; everything hurt.
Caleb affirmed, the fire-type affirmed once again, though after Abel's words he felt confirming it himself a was a little unnecessary. Oh well. he said as he trotted over to the trail and pointed out the confused, overlapping footprints that may or may not have made sense to anyone else, he pointed out more overlapping footprints that, once again, may or may not have made any sense, the Growlithe admitted as he wrinkled his nose in obvious distaste. They were fun to ride in, though, especially with the window rolled down so he could stick his head out.
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