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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:33 am
"What? No, I-I couldn't ask that!" She regarded him with an expression of mild surprise. Just how nice could a person be? She'd yet to do a thing for him besides cause trouble, and at this rate it seemed that was all she was going to do. She returned her gaze to her hands, one of which fidgeted with the cloth of her blouse. "I mean..." Her features betrayed her conflict: As much as she didn't want to impose, it was true that it would be difficult to manage through the night with her arm out of commission, pokemon or no. Simultaneously, however, she retained her avoidance to relying on others, especially on strangers and especially on people outside of Team Rocket. She stared quietly into her lap as she tried to find the words to refuse.
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:58 pm
"But you didn't ask," he replied as he carefully let go of the damp cloth on her arm finally, hoping it would stay in place. It might need to be soaked again at some point, he'd have Leilani do it again when the time came. No way was he getting near the lake. "I offered. And I think I should, since you don't even sound too sure about it, yourself." Her refusal had been questionable at best, and the silence after her last two words just added to his opinion that she wasn't even sure how she'd manage the night.
After a few moments of deliberation, he decided to speak again. He hadn't been too decisive before, so he felt the need to fix this small error. "I'll stay," he said, and shifted to a more comfortable position as if to accentuate this statement.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:24 pm
"I..." Can't accept that. Don't want you to stay. Ask that you leave immediately. Need you to get out or I'll force you out. "...understand. Thank you." She could at least count on Charmant to protect her if he tried anything untoward, after all. She wasn't the most sociable Growlithe, but she was reliable.
She instinctively raised her hand to support the cloth despite the fact that it showed no signs of falling away. "...I'm sorry, truly. I've done nothing but cause you trouble. I've no place to bother you in this way..."
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:21 pm
If she had demanded that he leave, he would have, though he would have felt bad in doing so and would probably have stayed out in the woods nearby, just in case. Or at the very least he could have come back once in a while to make sure she was alright. His house wasn't too far off, after all. But she didn't, so his expression brightened and a lop-sided grin appeared on his face once again. "You're welcome," he replied, managing not to say it in Spanish this time, and reached out to stroke Leilani's head gently. She had gleaned from their conversation that they would camp too, and was trying (and largely failing) to contain her excitement.
At her apologies, however, his expression morphed into a bit of a confused frown. "You're no trouble," and indeed, how could she be? She was so tiny, in is opinion, but then again he wasn't as tall as he could've been anyway, "and I wouldn't be here if I minded being bothered. It's not every day I meet nice --" he'd nearly slipped and said 'pretty' "-- girls in the forest who actually are interested in my research, anyway. Besides, you need to learn to ask for help when you really need it." Which, so far, she had yet to do. She had yet to ask him for anything, and he was starting to think she was incapable of asking for help from anyone. It was going to get her in trouble eventually, more trouble than she was in now if she kept it up. Of course he had no idea of the lack of feeling in her injured arm, so it was really worse than he knew.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:40 pm
Charmant regarded the excited grass-type warily, its apparent trainer even more so. It seemed the pair would be accompanying them for a while longer, and that meant there would be no relaxing to enjoying the fire's warmth. Vigilance was key.
Even if he'd said 'nice' instead of 'pretty,' it brought a slight warmth to her face nonetheless. How often did someone call a criminal nice? She'd been a nuisance since the day she was born, after all, growing into a genuine threat to the institutions of society and, eventually, into a murderer. And he was calling her nice? The irony was painful. "I'm sorry." Another apology - had she always been so apologetic? "I'm not used to people offering help, so asking for it is rather..." She might as well have been incapable of asking, with the lengths she went to to avoid doing so.
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:07 pm
There, he was right - she seemed practically incapable of asking for help, only refusing. Why? At her mention of not being offered help much, he couldn't help the light chuckle that escaped him. "So I guess that means, by property of association, you're not used to accepting help, either." Which would explain why she had refused every time he offered, despite seeming to realize she needed it because she hadn't decisively, adamantly refused. She had been hesitant, and looked like she was second-guessing herself when she refused. But then again, maybe he was reading too much into things.
"You don't need to apologize so much, either," he said gently, focusing on her eyes. They were pink - how many times had he seen naturally pink eyes before? Never. His gaze drifted to her shoulder briefly before he spoke again. "How does your arm feel?"
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:22 pm
"That's about right," she affirmed with a slight smile of her own. "I know it's silly of me. Horribly stubborn, even. That's my conceit - I don't want to rely on others." Even when she was incapable of doing something herself, she would still do it herself. It might have taken her ages and it might not have been accomplished as perfectly as it could have, but even that was better than depending on someone else to do it for her. She might have been more or less helpless with her injuries, but it didn't mean she was useless.
Her first instinct on being chided for apologizing was, of course, to apologize. Fortunately she managed to beat that urge back with a stick. The small smile she wore quickly faded when the conversation was directed to the state of her arm, specifically how it felt. There was that irony again. She traced a path from her elbow to her fingertip, hoping to detect the touch somewhere along the length of her arm. No such luck. "It doesn't... hurt anymore, I mean." The latter half of her statement was a hasty amendment. She didn't need him pushing her off towards a hospital or something.
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:05 pm
"There's a difference between relying on others for everything, and relying on them when you really need to," he said as his gaze focused on the sky, after she'd finished speaking. The sun was still setting, casting long shadows from the trees as the amount of light slowly diminished. Not that it would be a problem for them, thanks to the fire.
He turned back to her again, and the faded smile wasn't lost on him. If it didn't hurt anymore, why was she upset still? Maybe because she knew better than to try and use it for the rest of the night, and she didn't like relying on help. Yes, that must be it. What else could it be? "Do you need anything?" He asked after a moment, suddenly acutely aware he hadn't been doing anything but sit there for a while. Surely they wouldn't sit there for the rest of the night, and he didn't know what she did before bed but he usually, you know, ate food. Food was good. Very good, even.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:32 pm
She knew that, and one would think she would have learned that after spending so long in the infirmary with no choice but to rely on others. If anything, though, the period of inhibition had caused her to appreciate the feeling of doing things for herself even more. She spared a glance in the direction of the dimly-lit lake, the red glow of the horizon filtering through the forest and dancing in streams across its surface. A small sigh escaped her; her intent in visiting Lake Elemi had been to see the night sky on its waters, and it seemed she wouldn't even be able to enjoy that much properly...
"Hm?" What could she need? She had been planning to camp, after all. "No, I don't think so..." Pink eyes found their way to the bags at her side. "Ah, but, if you'd like... I have some biscuits and things. It's not much but..." She fumbled to pull open one of the nearer bags, a significantly more difficult feat with only a single moveable hand, and drew out a plastic bag containing said biscuits. Biscuits alone weren't much of a meal, though, and so she also retrieved an array of things with which to garnish them, an 'array' consisting of strips of jerky, a can of flaked Magikarp, and honey. An array indeed.
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:14 pm
When she reached for her bags he couldn't help but shift a bit uncomfortably, hoping she wouldn't hurt herself by trying to do too much. "Oh, no, I couldn't," he said quickly, shaking his head when she offered her own food. He could just as easily run to his house, which... he would need to do at some point anyway, since he had absolutely nothing with which he could use to camp. But eating her food? Where did she even live? He had no idea, and eating her food would make him feel a bit guilty. When could she stock up again? He had no idea, so potentially she needed it to last as long as possible.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:24 pm
"That sounds familiar," she said with a growing smile, referencing her own continued refusals to his offers. "If you're going to stay here and insist on helping me, then at least let me try and repay the favor." Not that biscuits were an equal offer, but they were a beginning at least. "If you're worried about eating my food, don't. I have plenty to last me to my next destination." She fought open the bag and drew one forth, holding it in her palm and extending it in Inigo's direction. "There are things you can put on it too. It's... probably rather dry and tasteless on its own." She frowned slightly at her own words. The biscuits were one of the items she had brought from the base, prepared by her own hands in the kitchen the day before she departed. Aila had quickly learned that she was not the best cook.
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:50 pm
"I guess it does," he said with a chuckle and a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck lightly. "And I guess, if you insist.." It still made him feel bad for eating her food, but if it made her feel better for relying on so much help, then it didn't really matter much. Especially if she would restock soon anyway. But still, he wouldn't eat too much, even if he was hungry... Naw, he could just get something to eat really quick when he ran back to his house. Which... he should do before it got too dark. Hm.
"Ah, gracias," he said absently as he gingerly took the biscuit from her. Dry or not he'd eat it and enjoy it. Hopefully. Green eyes drifted over the limited assortment of things with which to eat it with before locking on the honey. Mmm, biscuits and honey.. He hesitantly reached for the bottle, wondering if he should ask first, but she did offer him the biscuit and said there were things to put on it, so it must be alright.. This thought in mind he gently picked up the bottle to pour honey on the biscuit, then set it down before repeating himself with a "Thank you," complete with his typical lop-sided grin. "Dry? I'm sure it's fine." Especially with honey. Mmm...
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:13 pm
She gave a small nod, indicating that she did indeed insist and approving that Inigo accepted the offered biscuit. She certainly wasn't going to sit there and eat in front of him, so all the better for both of them that he conceded.
Inigo selected the honey, leaving Aila mildly disappointed. She had hoped to use a bit of the fish herself, but opening the can was a feat for two hands. Somewhat grudgingly she settled to use the honey herself when it was replaced. She frowned at the little bottle in an attempt to pinpoint the best way to handle the task before reaching with her right hand to position her left palm up and setting her biscuit in the numb fingers, carefully applying a bit of the honey to the bread. This finished, she retrieved the small meal from its temporary perch, raising it slightly and regarding Inigo with a sidelong gaze, waiting to see his reaction to the biscuit. She hadn't had the heart to taste the ones that hadn't been burned beyond salvation for fear of discovering that they were by and large inedible...
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:28 pm
It didn't take long at all for Inigo to devour his biscuit, and indeed it was good with enough honey. Truth be told he'd much rather have slathered on copious amounts on every single bite, but he didn't want to use all of her honey, so he'd settled for a moderate amount, so it was a bit dry... Oh well.
After swallowing his small meal - he didn't want to be rude and talk with his mouth full, because for some reason she made him feel the odd, inexplicable desire to be more polite - and deciding he would refrain from having another because it was her food afterall, not his, he turned to her. She'd used honey, too, which he thought was delicious on biscuits. He gazed at the other two make-shift toppings for a moment before realizing at least one of them would require two hands to open, which made him realize he probably should have offered to open one if she had wanted. What if she didn't even want the honey? Tonto. "Did you want anything I could open for you?" Though he wasn't sure if she wanted to mix honey with anything else... That might be sort of gross.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:46 pm
He ate enthusiastically enough, which meant that the biscuits were indeed edible and not more than mildly poisonous. Aila breathed the tiniest sigh of relief and extracted a bite from her own biscuit, holding it gingerly with the tips of her fingers. It wasn't a luxurious meal by any means, but she had managed on less in the past. Besides, the biscuit wasn't as horrible as she had anticipated, made even better by the sweetness of the honey - never mind that she had originally wanted fish. Food was food, after all, and there were circumstances under which being picky wasn't an option.
"Ah?" Something he could-- Oh, like the fish. Well. A little late for that, though. "No, thank you. The honey is fine." A cordial smile accompanied her words. She didn't have much opportunity for critique and so she wasn't the best actor, but she could at least brush off that much. Her gaze wandered to the lake, and she inclined her head slightly. "Do you know if the stars reflect here at night?" she asked, albeit randomly. She had been banking on an assumption, after all. She'd have no one but herself to blame if it proved wrong, but she would be disappointed no less.
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