Brennan & Thaliawen's Journal

[Thaliawen]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=24394247  

[Thaliawen]

MoogerMint

Thaliawen
Brenny was wandering through the woods with a basket of cookies and a thermos of hot chocolate. It was probably warm, more than it was hot at this point, but the celebi was sure the person it was for wouldn't mind! He had ventured out here in hopes of finding a certain eevee boy. He hadn't even gotten his name, though he had asked for it. Some of the more friendly folk near where Brenny had met the boy directed him out here. He wondered if he would catch sight of Arashi. Or convince the eevee boy to take the cookies. He'd said he didn't want things to change, didn't he? He hadn't wanted to come home with Brenny: so Brenny had brought home to him! Well, at least some of the comforts of home. Warm food and drink would cheer him up, maybe! Oh, Brenny hoped so. He had wanted to make the boy smile: but their first meeting had ended badly.

MoogerMint
"So... tell me again why we're out here?" Arashi asked skeptically from his seat on a raised tree root. It was not unusual to find the eevee outside his domain of the back streets of the city, but Trace on the other hand... If it wasn't for the fact Arashi had been more on his toes about everything, more overly concerned about the well-being of his gang, he might not have played the question off with so serious an air.

Trace, on the other hand, was more or less back to acting his usual self, despite the damage. "I never get to come out here!" he exclaimed, as though it should have been obvious, "I was always curious what it was like. Concrete and brick can't really compare. I know you've told me a bit about it, but there's a difference between being told and actually experiencing things like this, you know." His grin was carefree and happy, a stark contrast to the needling, almost glowering stare Arashi was offering in return.

However, despite all protests he could offer in return, it was an easy enough battle for Arashi to lose. He doubted many of the other gang members outside their own circle really ever thought of venturing past their turf, content to guard it like it could be stolen at any moment. It was silly, to be honest, for Arashi was never looking to expand the places he frequented. That was beside the point, though; truth be told, Trace and Arashi both were probably safer out here than if they were in their own current living spaces. Or rather, that's what he had been thinking before Trace made an observation, "Hey, there's someone headed over here. You know him?"

Curiously, Arashi peered back, only to nearly fall off the root he was perched upon, "Oh not him..." He didn't want his arm to be grabbed again! What did Brenny want to make him do THIS time? Seeing the eevee-boy's exasperation caused the poochyena to attempt to stifle the quiet cackle that hopped forth, waving to the celebi-child instead.

Thaliawen
Brenny spotted the wave, beaming. He hurried over to Trace and Arashi, holding up the basket he'd so carefully packed. "Hey! I brought cookies!" He exclaimed, looking to Arashi. "You didn't want to come to my place for cookies, but everyone likes cookies so I brought them to you instead!" He grinned. He was clearly pleased with himself for finding Arashi. "I was looking for you," he added, "it was hard work and it took a while so the hot chocolate might just be warm chocolate, but it'll taste just as good! Anyway its your fault. You could've avoided this by just giving me your name, you know. Like anyone else. And the cookies are still warm! Maybe still gooey too! Chocolate chip cookies!" He glanced at Trace, studying the other boy before smiling. "Hi! I'm Brenny! Are you his friend? Oooh, do you like cookies? I brought enough for him to share with his friends! Twenty! There were twenty four but I saved four for Daddy, Mei and Eliot. ...Do you have more than twenty friends?"

MoogerMint
Both boys seemed to be quite taken aback by Brenny's ecstatic generosity, seeming to come out of the blue. After a brief pause, Trace's eyes slowly moved to take a glance at Arashi's silent surprise, a sly smirk on his face at that. "Afraid of the cookie delivery boy?" he jabbed, causing the eevee's expression to twist more into aggravation, a solid defiance that he was intimidated by anything, thankyouverymuch. However, it was apparent that Arashi wasn't going to be taking what was offered so kindly, so Trace held his arms out instead and flashed Brenny a grin, "Well thanks a lot, that was really nice of you! You went so far out of your way, though. Was there any particular reason why?" He still appreciated the gesture, that couldn't be argued, but it was just so... unusual.

Arashi's ears were pulled back, as though he were irritated by the generosity. "You didn't need to, nobody made you do it. You did it because you had nothing better to do with your time," he growled, "I can still give you my name, if that's all it takes to get you to leave me alone!"

"Arashi, manners..." Trace warned flatly. It was enough to get the blonde to attempt to redirect some of that unmarked and uncalled-for hostility, displayed with a nod and the sidestep of his eyes. Trace decided to steer the conversation back towards a more positive atmosphere while his friend chilled out some, "Hi Brenny, my name's Trace, and I am his friend! W-Wow, twenty? Umm..." He glanced briefly at Arashi before a grin split across his face; he couldn't stop the laugh this time, "I think you're giving Arashi too much credit! Ehh, he's got maybe three, if you count the gang and myself. Unless you've got more friends you're in touch with that I'm not familiar with, Arashi?" The eevee stared daggers, but Trace seemed to hardly flinch, tapering off his laughter instead.

Thaliawen
Brenny handed Trace the basket with a bright smile. "Well," he began, "I met him and I thought he must be cold and hungry but he didn't want to come to my house for hot chocolate and cookies to warm up, and since its been colder lately I brought the cookies here. I thought they might make him smile." That didn't seem to be the case, though, the celebi realized. He frowned slightly, looking at Arashi in concern. "Of course no one made me make it! I wanted to. I wanted to show you that I'm nice. Like you said to, instead of just saying I'm nice." He crossed his arms. "That's not very nice," he said, frowning. "I thought you'd be happy. I learned something from our meeting. Hi Trace! Nice to meet you!" Brenny's frown disappeared and he beamed at the other boy. "Ooh, then they might last a while!"

MoogerMint
Ahh, that would explain things a bit... Brenny seemed like a fairly generous fellow whose hobbies included helping people out, that much Trace could decipher from their brief meeting time already -- especially considering he had homed in on Arashi, despite the eevee's abrasive attitude. However, he also knew some things about Arashi that the eevee wasn't apt to share with a total stranger as well. "Well, you're on the right track, I think..." he concluded with a sheepish grin. His next comment, however, came much quieter, "It's hard to make him smile, even when he's actually happy." It was difficult to explain, though, since both Brenny and Arashi had... completely contrasting personalities, to put it lightly.

Arashi was already put on his guard, and as such was about to launch a verbal counterattack at the celebi -- at least, if he hadn't pointed out that he had actually been listening to the eevee last they met. His mouth snapped shut as he considered this, ears still pulled back as he glanced up from his seat, "Well I'm glad you actually heard me through all the arguing, I suppose." It was as close to a thank you as Brenny was going to get, at least at the moment. He still didn't think someone would just give a gift like this unless they expected something in return, even if it was merely an I.O.U. for the time being.

Trace snickered at Brenny's response, giving a nod, "They should last a while indeed, thanks so much! So you made these yourself?" He picked one up and turned it over: he'd never had one so fresh before! He was tempted to let Brenny know about Arashi's sour demeanor, to look for the smaller cues in the eevee that would offer more indication than his words might, but he didn't think now was the right time to do so.

Thaliawen
"Really?" Brenny asked, perplexed. It was hard to get Arashi to smile, even when he was happy? But then, how would anyone know if he was happy or not? Was that the way the eevee boy preferred it? He seemed to like being left alone--but if no one could tell if he was happy, what if that was all an act? "I told you I was listening," he said, attention veering back to Arashi. "If you really don't like peoply things, I won't make you come to my house. See? I'll bring you stuff. Its just going to get colder. And it'll be harder to find food." Brenny knew from experience. "I don't want you or your friends to starve or freeze. So I'll keep bringing stuff, even though you didn't ask! Or won't ask. I imagine you won't, because you didn't. But even though you don't! You'll still have something warm to drink whenever I can find you." He paused, glancing back at Trace. "Good," he smiled, "I hoped they would. I don't like thinking about people going hungry. It reminds me of how hungry I was last winter, before my Daddy, Connie found me. Yup, I made them myself! I can get you the recipe! Oooh, maybe you could come over and I'll teach you to bake! Its fun!"

MoogerMint
Trace responded to Brenny's baffled query with a nod. He wasn't sure how much he should explain that wouldn't fall short of understanding. Brenny seemed fairly friendly, so it was likely he'd never run into someone that had Arashi's style of personality. They existed out in the world, and weren't rare, but the boy could see how it might be difficult to locate one when a person wasn't actively looking. He thought he'd give a stab at it anyway, "You kind of play it by ear, so to speak. I tried explaining this sort of thing recently, heh, it's not easy." Especially when the person you were talking about was right there... Trace was trying to be sneaky about it!

Arashi shrugged at Brenny's defiance, "Well it was hard to tell when you seemed so dead-set on making me do things. You weren't acknowledging that maybe those were things I didn't like doing. It's not my fault." He blinked at what seemed like sudden knowledge of what it was like on one's own and offered a quizzical glance in return, but nothing beyond that line of doubt. "Well we've done it before. We always manage, and we'll do it again, so of course I won't ask for hand-outs. Like I said, I'm not a bum," he scoffed, tail flicking in mild agitation. He knew what he was doing, and he didn't need the charity!

"Aww look, he's thanking you," Trace snickered; he knew that even if Arashi didn't need it, and was much too proud for his own good, he still appreciated it. Even so, he figured he'd try to get his friend to loosen up a bit more, "Heck, even if you won't touch this stuff, I will. All the more for me if you don't, and you can't tell me not to." To make a point, he took a bite of one of the cookies before Arashi had the chance to argue, "Oh wow these are good. Recipe or not, you make one mean cookie." He flashed a grin before it melted down, making way for the curiosity that ensued as he took another bite, "You were on your own, too, huh? It's not so bad, necessarily, but this was really thoughtful. Heh, I wouldn't mind learning to bake. Always up for a bit of a challenge! Though..." His attention wandered; he didn't really want to undermine Arashi. Even though the eevee never established himself as the leader, there was no mistaking that he was looked up to as such. Trace's expression turned more apologetic, "Maybe at some point..."

Thaliawen
"Well, if you'd been nicer I wouldn't have thought you were so sad!" Brenny blurted out, frowning at Arashi. "You go around looking angry all the time and saying you're happy the way things are. But if you were happy, you wouldn't be upset. So I figured you must be sad. And that you must've been hungry and cold and lonely like I've been before. I pretended to be happy. I pretended to be happy whenever I met anyone. But I wasn't. I assumed you were the same way, but pretending to be angry. You're not a bum, but that doesn't mean you don't get cold and you don't get hungry!" He glanced at Trace, blinking. Arashi had thanked him? Huh. That didn't sound like a thank you. "You like them?" He asked with a smile. It seemed to dim slightly at the question. "For a few months," he said. "I had a sister when I hatched. But she left me after a little while. I was still to-- everything. It was cold and snowy. There wasn't anything to eat. Or anywhere warm. I didn't know enough to know there was a world outside the forest. But Daddy brought me to the city! He helped me when I needed it. That's why I like helping people when they need it. Even if they don't want it."

MoogerMint
Arashi hissed at Brenny's outburst, gritting his teeth and taking a few breaths before saying anything in return. It helped to cut back on reactionary comments, and to hear the celebi-boy all the way through, before bringing forth any sort of retort on the matter. "I didn't want to talk with you. I just wanted to be left alone, so of course I wasn't going to act happy about seeing you. That only invites conversation!" he tried to explain without adding flames to the fire, but seemed to be sorely lacking in the ability to do so, "Feh, obviously I'd have had the same conclusion no matter how I responded to you. I already told you, back then, that I wasn't a liar if I could help it. That includes my actions."

Trace's eye swiveled its attention away at Arashi's comment, noting that it seemed to be difficult for Arashi to express when he was happy... so that wasn't exactly entirely true, he was just bad at it. Why was it, whenever he met someone while he was with Arashi, they always, invariably, got into the argument? It didn't matter who knew who first... it was the same way with Chayyim, too. Once he realized Brenny's attention was back on the poochyena, he offered back as much of a smile as he could muster. No, Arashi hadn't really thanked Brenny per se, but he wasn't outright denying the help, either. "I do like them! They're really sweet and crumbly and..." he insisted with a wag of his tail, taking another bite and indicating them to Arashi, "You should really have one, I'm serious. I've never had any that weren't already half-rotten before. This far exceeds that." It was meant to be a compliment! His ears slowly lowered as Brenny recounted his days as an abandoned pokémon, disliking seeing the other child so upset in the face of recollection. He knew life was hard, but Trace was similar in that putting on a brave face seemed second-nature. "Well I'm glad you were able to find some help so soon after that happened," he offered a smile, more easily this time. To be honest, Trace didn't think he could make it in the wild on his own, either, so he completely understood that pack mentality!

And in a way, it seemed Arashi understood it to an extent as well. After a brief moment, the eevee-boy sighed and stood up from his perch on the tree root. He honestly hadn't thought Brenny had a lick of sense when it came to surviving in the wild without the aid of human contact, but he was kind of glad he was mistaken, at least to a certain extent. That still wasn't a very long time to be on one's own, but it was long enough to not be COMPLETELY ignorant of survival on one's own. "Makes sense to me," he stated, albeit still had a lingering taste of irritation on his voice. At least he wasn't looking for anything in return for the things he offered; Brenny's quest seemed more about self-fulfillment than anything else. That still didn't change the fact that he tried to force it on the eevee, but at least Arashi was able to see things better from the celebi's perspective now.

Thaliawen
"Well, still. Its nicer to act nice. That way you'll get more friends! And if you'd just said you wanted to be left alone, I would've! But you were all unfriendly and lonely looking and sad like. Do you pretend to be angry all the time so people leave you alone?" Didn't Arashi ever feel the need for companionship? Brenny wondered at that. He studied Trace, listening to the poochyena's words with a slight frown. "Half rotten?" He asked with concern. They ate half rotten foods? Yuck! "I can bring berries and things," he offered. "They'd be fresh. I can travel through time and get the ripest, juiciest berries from Summer. I can bring them here for you, any time!" No one should be forced to eat rotten food! Especially not when fresh food could be provided! "I was lucky!" He agreed. "Finding Daddy helped me find my star. And if I hadn't been lost in the first place, I never would have found either of them." He offered a cookie to Arashi. "Try it, okay? If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it. But I think you will like it."

MoogerMint
Arashi frowned at Brenny's response, his nose wrinkling in confused irritation, "It's nicer to act nice and happy? Wasn't it you who said people shouldn't lie? I was being true to myself is all, and I am pretty sure I did tell you to leave me alone." He sighed, but he was merely annoyed by this point. What was past was past, so there wasn't really any point on dwelling over it. Was it so strange for him to always be on his guard? Brenny really had no idea how much of a terrible place the world could be...

The strained atmosphere was working its way to wearing on Trace, but he maintained his characteristic carefree appearances; it was just more tiring to do so. "You don't need to bring anything to us, it's okay. We're careful about the things we eat. Like... we don't eat the rotten parts, no. You'd be surprised, the things some people throw out... a lot of it is still perfectly good! Though I suppose it helps to be so close to restaurants. They can't very well re-serve something, even if it wasn't touched," he explained with a touch of a snicker. As long as one wasn't a germophobe, it was all good! "Besides," he continued, "you'd be going obnoxiously out of your way to do that. I'm sure there are plenty of others that need the help more than we do, but thank you for the offer; it was really thoughtful!" Trace flinched slightly at the mention of the found star, a few memories he would have rather stayed in the past, "Well... hn, I'm glad that worked out so well, then!"

The eevee-boy had comfortably crossed his arms through the conversation as he stood stationary. He leaned back a little as Brenny neared, a partially held back reactionary response to avoiding being grabbed again. However, the celebi's movements didn't hint that that was what he had been planning to do, which allowed Arashi to merely displace his own weight a bit. He studied the offered cookie for a moment before actually looking at Brenny, holding his hand out to take it, "Alright, but only because you came all this way to do so." Quite honestly, Arashi didn't think he was worth such random favors to begin with, but if Brenny wanted to waste his time on someone who didn't deserve it then who was he to say 'no?'

Thaliawen
"But I don't want you getting sick," Brenny protested, focused on Trace. "I can bring you food. It won't take any time at all. I can go back and forth through time so I can come back the same minute I left. Berries are much better for you, really!" He wanted to help. Eating something someone had thrown away didn't seem very safe. What if they caught something bad? The flu or worse? "I don't know anyone who needs my help more than you guys. But you can do something for me in return, if it bothers you too much! Um. If you meet a girl who looks kind of like me--" he assumed his sister had found a star by now, "and she needs help, help her? Don't tell her you saw me or that you're my friends or anything. Just help her. See? That way I can get you berries and you can help someone else! Yay!" He handed Arashi the proffered cookie with a smile. "Okay. Just because I brought it."

MoogerMint
Trace offered a toothy grin at Brenny's concern for their health in the event they ate bad food, smacking his own chest for emphasis on his case, "Naw, haven't you heard the saying 'Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger'?" He snorted, indicating it was just a joke, before reiterating what he had wanted to say instead, "It builds up the immune system against getting sick from the common things like that. Really, rarely is any of us sick with that stuff, it's okay!" Of course, that only held water if there were enough nutrients gathered to be able to combat said illnesses, but that was how it was with normal people, too, right?

It wasn't just Trace that had paid attention when Brennen had mentioned a favor that they could possibly accomplish in return for the celebi's generosity. At first, Arashi mentally scoffed -- of course there was a catch! -- but the thought was short-lived, and he felt a bit badly about the assumption once he had heard the request fully through. "Of course, we'd be happy to do that for you," Trace cut in, "You don't want us to tell her that we know you, but do you want us to let you know if we do run into her at all?" He was tempted to ask why Brenny didn't want the association attached, but felt it was probably none of his business to ask, and would likely be a little painful to tell, from the way the green-haired child was acting about it. Arashi gave a stiff nod to accept the terms as well, despite the fact he remained seemingly perpetually perturbed.

Reeling the cookie back in, Arashi half-studied it for a moment. Didn't things like this cost money? He didn't get why someone would spend something so valuable on someone they didn't even really know, considering currency was so hard to come by. Unless Brenny stole it, too... but he seemed so adverse to the thought that it hardly crossed the eevee's head. He took a bite idly, still in thought before he noticed that Brenny was still there. "Um... thanks, by the way," he managed. Arashi still wasn't sure how much he liked Brenny at all, but it was still a nice gesture, in the end.

Thaliawen
"But you need food and vitamins to keep you from getting sick," Brenny protested, not at all reassured by Trace's explanation. "And if you do get sick you'll need water and vitamins and soup and medicine." He fretted, handing Trace another cookie. Cookies didn't have vitamins or calcium like the body needed, but they had to be better for them than someone else's throwaways. "That'd be nice. Just don't tell her you know me or anything. I think she's scared of me. Last time I saw her..." he hesitated, and then shook his head, smile in place. "Well, that doesn't matter. I just want to know if she's safe and happy, where ever she is." He watched Arashi take a bite and smiled. "You're welcome!"

MoogerMint
Trace fully agreed with Brenny there, of course, but just because they had to scrounge for their nutrients didn't mean they weren't getting any of them! "Well the non-rotting parts still have all that. Those vitamins are still there, they've just grown a little stale is all!" he assured with a small laugh, "We're surprisingly resourceful. Even if we don't do things in the same manner as the humans, we can still accomplish the same things in different ways." Hey, he wasn't ashamed of the way he lived; they'd gotten by just fine so far, for the most part! Regardless, he wasn't going to pass up another cookie -- those things were too good to! He wagged his tail, "Oh, thanks! I should bring some back for Chayy and Havoc..." Instead of biting into it, he pocketed the treat to share later.

The poochyena nodded in understanding, whereas the eevee took the information without any visible confirmation on the matter. Regardless, because Brenny offered a hint at more information on the matter, Trace's curiosity inevitability got the better of him, "Scared of you? Why?" If they looked the same, were siblings and all, what would be scaring her? His head tilted marginally to the side, but he didn't press the issue further than that, "Well, you don't have to tell me. I'll let you know if I ever run into her, but I won't tell her about you. You've got my word. And Arashi's..."

Trace's statement was tentative, but Arashi wasn't denying it, "Least we could do. It doesn't sound like it'd be a chore to do or anything." As long as said sister didn't live with the humans, he really hadn't a whole lot to gripe about. He'd tried to help Trace's friend when he was in a similar situation, after all, and that hadn't been... ENTIRELY unsuccessful. Arashi thought it over a bit longer, taking another bite of the cookie as he considered something, "You know, as long as you don't try to force me to go anywhere, and don't touch me... I don't think I'd have a problem with you." Blunt, of course, but truthful.

Thaliawen
"Still. I want to help, okay?" Brenny said, studying Trace. "If not with food, I can do other things for you. Bring you hot chocolate, anything you want. Blankets and anything!" He hesitated, "I guess because I looked human. She was always afraid of them. But I told her I was me, and I told her I could introduce her to my friends and family and that she could live with us, but I'm kind of glad she didn't come now. It hurt how she reacted towards me. But that doesn't mean I don't want to help her. So maybe if she--if she comes to you or you see her, you can help her." He paused, glancing gratefully at Arashi. "Thank you!" He said. "Really, you think we can be friends?"

MoogerMint
"Well you could..." Trace considered, rocking a little uneasily, "I mean, if you really want to. Just don't go out of your way with it. You said you could time travel, right? But doesn't time kind of keep moving for you? You're a living being, too, you gotta have your own limits! Fatigue and all that, you know?" Really, they weren't helpless at all, and the gang members helped one another out! He didn't want Brenny to feel like he had to do something, and he knew that Arashi didn't like accepting things like that anyway. Heck, he barely accepted a hiding place offered by someone when he needed it...

Trace's ears reeled back at Brenny's explanation. He could tell it was difficult for him to talk about... "Well, maybe she thought your friends and family would also be too human, and that scared her. Either way, we'll help out if we can. There's no need to worry about that," the poochyena assured.

And was thusly cut off, "What, so then she's scared of herself, too, or something? You're no more human than she. Hell, I hate the humans, too, but I'm far from calling another one of us out on being a human. Maybe too FRIENDLY with the humans, but that's a different matter." Well it seemed that was enough to get the eevee talking, though he was hardly any amiable with it, "And wouldn't she just react the same to us, if that were the case? I mean, sure, we can help as much as we are able, but that might not be much if she's just going to run." Arashi merely wanted all the facts straight, and for Brenny to understand where he was getting at, despite already taking on the responsibility. He blinked at the mention of 'friends,' a term he never used lightly, "Um... I suppose eventually, maybe?" He really couldn't say, so early on, but as long as Brenny continued to listen instead of assume, he could see the possibility...

Thaliawen
Brenny wasn't sure how to answer Trace's question. "I don't know. I think time stops for me while I travel, and starts again when I come back. I've never felt like it was a very long time... but maybe I just don't notice the passage of time. Sometimes when I'm playing, it seems like its only been a few minutes but really its been hours!" He paused, hesitating slightly, before shaking his head. "If she was so scared of humans, I could've just reassured her that Daddy isn't human. He's a Pokemon just like you and me and Arashi. I did tell her that. I'm still me, even after finding my star. I'm still her brother! I looked for her for months, you know. And then I saw her at the beach. I thought she'd be happy to come be with me again. We could be a family again! And I don't know if she's changed or not I'm just guessing. I assume she has... Its been a long time. I think she must have." He looked over to Arashi. "I suppose she must be. She was scared of anything related to humans. And that meant me, too. I don't know if she would. I hope not. I hope she's learned to be more accepting and welcome friends into her heart. I don't know if she'll freeze or starve, or if she's better equipped to living on her own than me, but I worry about her."

MoogerMint
While the subject matter confused him, Trace wasn't about to pretend he knew about time travel any more than the one that had done it so oft before. "I just figured since it takes energy to accomplish tasks and all... that it would get tiring. And time traveling itself, I thought it was used kind of like most regular pokémon would use a move. Heh, got me curious how that would really work, then!" he laughed. He was always more the studious type, so it really was interesting to hypothesize! Either way, it was still going out of his way, even if it didn't necessarily tire the celebi out like it might anyone else...

Trace side-stepped slightly, for it seemed Arashi had more to say about this particular subject than the poochyena did. Nevertheless, the scruffy dark-type canine kept an eye on things, making sure they didn't get out of control. "Well if she thought even you were still 'too human,' despite actually knowing you for longer than anyone else, then of course I wouldn't think reassuring her that the others you stay with were the same way would have really helped any," he grumbled, but then shrugged it off, "City life isn't for everyone, though. It'd probably have been pretty claustrophobic for her, to be surrounded by what she feared the most. You've got fears, too, don't you? What if you were surrounded by them, day-in and day-out? It doesn't sound very appealing... but I don't think it means she was necessarily unhappy to see you."

It was surprising, to see both Brenny and Arashi being so talkative about such a touchy subject manner. Trace agreed with a nod, "And either way, we'll find out for you if we run across her and let you know, it's a sure bet." Hopefully she had found some place, and some friends, as well. The world could be a fairly unforgiving place...

Thaliawen
"I don't know, I don't think its a move. Its something I don't have to think too hard about. Like... like breathing! Only different, because I have to want to, to do it. Er... Like playing! Oooh, I could take you sometime and you can see!" He froze, feeling himself stiffen at Arashi's words. He heard the truth in them, but at the time he hadn't understood that. He'd been upset. He'd struggled to find her for months, and when he had, she'd cowered from him. "You're right," he said. "City life isn't for everyone. I didn't understand then. I thought we should be together because we're siblings. But I think now that its better we're apart."

MoogerMint
Trace snickered at the correlations Brenny was trying to make between time travel and something more relatable, but it seemed they still fell into the same section of requiring energy reserves to perform the task. In the end, though, it didn't really matter too much -- it didn't seem like Brenny took so long with the time traveling for fatigue to really set in, which was the main source of worry in the first place. As long as that reassurance was there, Trace couldn't really argue! "You don't have to take me, I believe you! I was just curious how it worked is all. Not every day you meet someone who can travel forwards and backwards through time as easily as it were a game, you know," he pointed out with a grin; it WAS pretty interesting! However, he wasn't sure how eager he really should be traveling through it himself... it seemed dangerous, to a differing extent than living in a gang on the streets.

Brennen's visible reactions and soft admittance caused Arashi to reel in his temperament a bit, especially considering how melancholy it seemed to make the other kid. He honestly hadn't meant to hurt his feelings, at least this time... even if it was more the accepting of his words by extention that was causing the reaction. "Maybe someday you can check up on her yourself," he suggested after a moment, "Even if you are more comfortable in two separate worlds, that doesn't mean that people can't visit every once in a while. I've met plenty of others that prefer it in the wild, after all!" Maybe it was optimism, but he didn't see why the siblings had to stay separate for the rest of time if they themselves didn't want it that way.

 

[Thaliawen]

Moogermint

Title: About Time (messenger RP)

Brenny felt as if he had waited all year for this day! And he had--well, part of the year! An entire month! For a young celebi, it was almost a lifetime. He'd made a deal with his favorite scientist and adopted uncle, Grayson. One hotwheels car for a trip back in time! It was a fair trade, he was sure of it. He didn't understand that time had always been something the human face had striven to manipilate, or that there were several books on the very subject. He knew that he could do it-- and that Grayson seemed interested in that fact. And that he hadn't been able to purchase Grayson a gift. So he made his way to the lab, knocking on the door. He let himself in. "Uncle Grayson, Karma, Tania! I'm here!"

MoogerMint
"Oh, oh, Doctor! Doctor, um... ah, Brenny's here!" Karma chirped, a quick scamper toward the front door a ways and a bright smile upon zher face.

Running with scissors was never the best of ideas, but that thought didn't seem to enter the young ditto's fractured mind during the spent distance from zher spot on the floor to the front. They were safety scissors, sure, but a lesson was a lesson nonetheless! Grayson made his way over more slowly, coming up behind the pink-marked child and snatching the scissors from zher hand with a narrowed stare. He waved them slightly as though they were an extension of a finger used to scold, "What have I told you about doing that?" Turning back to Brennen, his stern expression immediately evaporated into a much more cheerful grin, "Merry Christmas, Brenny! I hope it wasn't too far out of the way for you!" It didn't seem to be snowing, at least.

Thaliawen
Tania hadn't been far away from the scissors escapade, but instead of scolding her sister, she gave Karma a thumbs up when she thought Grayson wouldn't notice. "Don't worry!" She assured Karma with a whisper, "He hasn't consfiscated mine yet!" Brenny beamed. "Merry Christmas, Uncle Grayson! I came to give you your present! You still want it, right? I can take you to any when you want,and it'll be like we were never gone when we get back."

MoogerMint
There was a brief time where Karma decided to wear a pout. It didn't last long, with Tania's encouragement, and the ditto soon found zhimself giggling at the plot. However, zhe shook zher chalky blue head and responded at the same volume, "Still shouldn't run, that was my fault. Maybe he'll be nice and give them back later..." Karma wanted to finish the santa hat zhe had been cutting out of the construction paper! Even though it was green... Zhe kept unmatched eyes focused on the plastic scissors in the scientist's hand, and maybe keep glaring until such a time where they were given back.

It took a moment to remember what it was that Brennen was referring to about a gift, precisely, if only because it was no traditional holiday gift. "Oh! Most definitely, Brenny!" he hastily responded, ushering the boy to come in further and make himself more comfortable, "I've got your gift all ready to go as well, but I'm not sure... was that all you really wanted?" It didn't seem very fair a trade, but what else could he really offer up?

Thaliawen
"You can borrow mine to finish your hat," Tania offered, handing Karma her pair of safety scissors. Even if the ditto had decided against running with them, the shadow mew thought that the possession of the object Daddy had taken was still amusing. "You can make me one too, if you like! I like blue best." Brenny followed Grayson inside, beaming. He paused, then shook his head. "No, there's one more thing I want from you, Uncle Grayson." He said, wrapping his arms around the scientist's waist. "This!"

MoogerMint
Karma gleefully took the offered scissors from Tania, but not so obnoxiously as to alert the retrieval to zher trainer. There was a chipper smile offered in return, and a giddy nod, "Oh sure, I can make you one, too! I'd be happy to!" The ditto-child got started on the project almost immediately, doodling a pattern of a hat on one piece of dark blue construction paper before adding a second onto the back, carefully snipping through both at once. See? No running! Karma could behave! Sort of...

Grayson had moved closer to the nearest counter, trying to think as to where he had stored Brennen's gift. While distracted, the celebi's grip around his waist met with no resistance. He snickered as the boy latched on, bending his torso slightly as an awkward way to return the hug then, "It still doesn't seem like enough, but it works for now. Should I give you your gift before or after we test this ride out?"

Karma glanced up from the slow-cutting job zhe had tasked zhimself with, removing the safety scissors from the paper so as not to accidentally cut somewhere unwanted. "Are you going somewhere?" the child asked curiously. Were they just going to leave zher and Tania behind?

Thaliawen
Tania beamed, watching Karma closely. She scooted closer to her sister. "You're the best hat maker ever!" She informed her, cheerfully. "Can you show me how to later?" Maybe hat making was even more exciting than it looked! "After, we can work on your shifting ability if you want," she said. Her own ability had become a much slower process since growing, but that didn't seem to to bother the mew much. Any more, anyway.

"After!" Brenny said, after a moment of thought. "If you give it to me now, I might lose it and I'll never find it again. Someone else in that time will, and the course of history will be completely altered! They'll have hot wheels millions of years before they should." He paused, and added, "you know Uncle Grayson, there is something we could do with my ability to go through time. I'll remind you when I'm bigger! But that would be a good present, yay!"

MoogerMint
With the safety scissors still lowered, Karma peered over the edge of the hat that was taking shape, half-popped from the construction paper body, attention locking on Tania. While still concerned where the others were headed off to during a time that was supposed to be a celebration, and spent with family, a distracted grin was easily upon the ditto-child's face at the shadow mew's eagerness, "Sure I can! Then you can be the best hat maker, too! I can show you now, if you want!" Zhe flipped the pages over to show the dark purple crayon guidelines that zhe had previously doodled on the surface, only to have zher face melt slowly back into caution, "Well... yeah, maybe later. And later for the shifting, too! And the reading! Oh, and cocoa! Cocoa sounds nice!" Rambling was just one of many side-effects of an anxious mind.

Grayson nodded, agreeing with Brenny's deductions, "That's precisely what I was thinking, though I wasn't sure if you still wanted to open it first and leave it. Best to do it all at once, huh?" He chuckled at the basis for time-alterations, finding it both amusing as much as it was interesting to hear coming from a child that appeared so young. There was no reason to complain there, that much was certain! At the indication that there was something else that Brenny could do, Grayson's eyebrow quirked in interest, "When you're bigger? Who would this be a present to?" A proposal that definitely got his curiosity piqued.

Turning to Karma and the question posed, the doctor frowned, wondering what they were supposed to do. He remembered that Brenny had said they could hop through time, and then back where they started from as though nothing had happened. He wasn't sure how accurate a projection that was, though... how close to the designated time they left would it be? Or place? Regardless, Grayson made an educated guess, "Stay put, we won't be gone long. You probably won't even notice we've left." Turning back to Brenny, he started, "So how accurate are you able to move through time? Would we be landing in the same place we left, just in a different time period? Have any good suggestions on where to go first?"

Thaliawen
"Really you could?" Tania beamed. She scooted her chair closer to Karma's and hugged her. "You're not just the best hat maker ever," she decided, "You're the best sister too! Okay, show me how to make a hat! We can make one for Daddy even! And he'll have to wear it, because its a present." She paused, taking Karma's free hand. "Don't worry. Daddy won't be gone long. And next time we can shift into things he'd need to take! He'd never know we stowed away!"

"Yup! There's lots of fun in opening a present!" Brenny decreed, before hesitating. "But you can't open yours, Uncle Grayson. Doesn't that make you sad?" He looked up at the scientist, concerned. "Oh. It'd be a present to both of us! You and me, and even my Daddy. When I'm bigger, I'm going to look for a job. And maybe.. Maybe if I'm really good at it, and you like it, I could take you back in time regularly?" He asked hopefully. "You could study ancient Pokemon in their natural habitat any time you wanted." He paused, listening to Grayson answer Karma's question. "We'll just be gone a second," he said, glancing towards the ditto. "Very. If that's where you want to go! Do you have a time you'd like to visit? Its your present, after all."

MoogerMint
"Ah-huh, of course I'll teach you! We're supposed to be teaching each other all sorts of things, aren't we?" Karma exclaimed, excited to be able to teach anything of importance, even if it was only to make a silly construction paper hat. Pondering a moment on which colors to grab for Tania to use in an effort to make the scientist a hat, the ditto-child leaned over to partially whisper, "We should make it as obnoxious as possible, if he HAS to wear it..." An impish grin appeared after the suggestion, pulling two different colors out of the pile and handing them to Tania, and then sliding the box of crayons over, "First you need to draw the body of the hat, but just on one of the pages! It doesn't matter which one you pick." With a giggle, Karma kicked at the empty space in front of zher gleefully at the idea, "Oooh, what should we transform into so that he wouldn't notice? A clipboard? Labcoat? Briefcase? Oh, not wait, the doctor doesn't use one of those... Safety goggles?" Could they even go transparent? Or that small, for that matter?

Grayson thought on the subject for a moment before shaking his head, "No, I get to unwrap it. It's a portal we're traveling through, right? That will be like unwrapping it, because we'd be unwrapping the past." Poetic, but that was beside the point. He seemed surprised that Brenny would be bringing something up like a job, especially when he still looked and acted under a full decade old. After the momentary blind-sided shock, there was little that needed to be assessed to deduce that it was probably a really good idea... "When you're older, I could see that being a possibility, yes. We'd be helping each other out that way, that's for sure... I don't really see a downside to it, as long as you were able to take your job seriously," he commented, a slow smile creeping onto his face to let Brenny know that he didn't think the celebi would be a troublemaker about it. "What time..." the man thought on the hanging question, but shook his head, at a loss, "I was merely wanting to see how it worked, so I hadn't exactly decided on a time. Do you have any suggestions?" He flinched a little, the hint of a frown on his face, "Just as long as we go somewhere I'd be unfamiliar with. Something that doesn't have to do with the city's history..."

Thaliawen
"Oooh!" Tania hadn't thought about that, grinning. She did so love conspiring with her sister. "Maybe purple!" She exclaimed, looking over the colors. "I don't think Daddy should wear pink. That color only looks good on you." She beamed at the ditto child. Before the shadow mew had met Karma, she had claimed to have a strong dislike of the color. "I could transform into a book, or something..." She considered, thoughtfully. "I don't think Daddy would notice. And after we got to where he was going we could turn back and surprise him!"

Brenny beamed. So Grayson did get to unwrap his present after all! Just not physically! "You're right!" He agreed, smiling up at the scientist. "You'll get to see the colors of time, too. That will be like the wrapping paper! When you move through time, images blur together and make a sight truly beautiful. You'll be the first human to ever see it! Well, at least with me. I've never taken anyone through it." He paused, listening to Grayson's response to his question. "Really?" He asked with a smile. "Having a job would help Daddy! He could be home more and we could get a bigger place to stay and--" he stopped, beaming at Grayson. He wrapped his arms around the scientist. "I will! I promise!" He considered the man's question thoughtfully before brightening. "I know when we can go!" He announced, "We can go to when ancient Pokemon lived here! But we'll have to be careful. Some of them are dangerous."

MoogerMint
Taking careful consideration of the sheets of paper that were grabbed, Karma placed a purple-colored piece in one hand while the other gripped onto an orange sheet, offering them for Tania to use for Grayson's hat. Taking a crayon in hand, Karma demonstrated the proper hat-doodling technique by going over the dark blue zhe was using to make Tania's, "Just like this, on one piece. If you try to draw it on both pieces, they don't usually line up so well when you try to put them together." It was a trial-and-error that the colorful child was all too familiar with. At the suggestion of transforming into carry-on luggage, the ditto-child flexed the fingers of a hand, offering the appendage a frown. "I can really only do stuff like this so far..." zhe sighed, holding the palm out and blinking an eye through the creases of patchy skin, "I used to be able to do so much more before! Now I can only do small transformations..." Not only that, but they tended to creep the other scientists out even more than when Karma had attempted to mimic their own likenesses, with varying degrees of success.

Grayson snickered at Brenny's exuberance, glad the kid was getting so excited about the whole advent. "Ahh, is that what you mean when you say 'the colors of time'? Sounds disorienting; did it take you long to get used to traveling in such a manner?" the man asked, wanting to know before he had to wrestle with the same. With Brenny's future job secured, it didn't come as too big a surprise when the celebi hugged the scientist, especially with the excitement he had been exibiting throughout the day. Chuckling, he leaned over slightly and rubbed the child on the back as substitute for a hug, since he couldn't reach enough not to make it awkward, "I don't doubt that promise, Brenny." It was about that time he decided that it would probably be safer to test this new form of traveling while OUTSIDE, to prevent any sort of mishap... and indicated that by pointing toward the door and moving in the same direction, small steps until he was sure that Brenny was following. "I think that is a terrific idea of a place to start. Do you know some of the more dangerous ancient pokemon are, so we can be extra cautious if we run into them?" Grayson concurred. He wasn't particularly concerned that they would run into any, but then that may have just been his reckless eagerness talking.

Thaliawen
Tania followed Karma's instructions, beaming at the ditto child. "It'll be the best hat ever!" She announced. She took a crayon and drew a hat shape, grinning. "Thank you for teaching me," she said gratefully. "I'll teach you to shift, don't worry! Before I learned to, I couldn't shift at all! You're doing much better then I did!" She beamed at her. "And you know when I first came here. I couldn't shift then either. But now I can again. You just need motivation and encouragement! And I'll give you both! I promise! I'll show you how to shift and you can teach me things you know and we'll both learn so much!" The shadow mew was thrilled, and continued to draw the hat shape she'd started. "Want to cut it out for me?" She asked, hopefully.

"Well, there's lots of colors," Brenny said, almost defensively. It was hard to explain the sight time travel provided. "I don't know," he admitted, "I've only gone back in time a few times. But I don't think it bothers me. Just like it doesn't bother you to study. That's your ability," the celebi boy flashed Grayson a bright smile. "But if it disorients you, don't worry. I'll take care of you, Uncle Grayson. And I'm sure you'll get used to it." He followed Grayson outside cheerfully. "Well, I know Tyrunts and kabutops are dangerous. And those scary big ones with the big heads.... Last time, I ended up in between two of them while they were fighting and..." The celebi's eyes widened in memory. That had been scary! "Let's avoid being seen by the ones with the big heads." He took Grayson's hand. "Are you ready, uncle Grayson? I have the time clearly pictured in my head. We won't get lost!" He took a glance around, studying their surroundings. "Hold on tight, Uncle Grayson. Don't get scared, and don't let go." There was a flash of light where they had been, and suddenly, the two were in a vortex of color. "You're seeing all the times gone past," Brenny confided, "But we're moving so fast, all we see is color."

MoogerMint
Karma surveyed as Tania drew the outline of the hat on the construction paper. "I don't mind teaching you how to do things. I don't get to do it very often, so it's pretty fun!" the child grinned, excited with the opportunity, "We've got plenty of time to teach each other things, though, so there's no big rush! We're just gonna have fun with it, 'kay?" Karma didn't like stressful things, and while living with Grayson, the ditto had learned that many things had the potential to stress a person out -- some of them pretty strange! However, if it was supposed to be fun, stress shouldn't play a factor at all. The ditto blinked, disbelieving that Tania ever had a problem shifting, "Really? It never seemed like you had a problem at all! How'd you relearn it so fast?" Was Karma just that dense that zhe couldn't figure it out on zher own, or just that broken of an individual? Hmm. Grabbing the safety scissors from beside the child, Karma brushed the thoughts to the side, "Sure, I can cut it out, just don't tell the doctor I did." After all, zhe wasn't even supposed to have these back in possession! The blue-haired child raised both sheets of paper, back-to-back, up to zher eyes and carefully began demonstrating, "The trick is that you need to also cut out little tabs, so you can attach the pieces together, otherwise the hat will be smaller than you drew it."

Grayson snickered at Brenny's reflexive response, "Yeah, that's what I meant. So many colors whizzing past!" Though it didn't hurt things if he had to close his eyes for a bit to keep from getting dizzy, as long as he experienced a bit of it. "Hmm..." he thought about Brenny's correlations to a human's innate abilities, skills, and it clicked just as easily, "That does seem to make sense. It's a skill you're born with, and you merely fine-tune it. Though if you were never sure how that skill came to pass, that would indicate a genius level. Most people remember where they started out." Simply liking something didn't mean one was good at it from the start -- Grayson, at least, had to learn to read first! When the celebi offered to keep a look out for the man, he gave an amused smirk as they exited the building, responding to Brenny's grip, "Here, just take hold of my hand when I'm not writing anything down and we won't get separated, alright? I'm sure together, we can take even those pokémon on no problem! But yes, it would probably be best to avoid them if at all possible, for now. Unless we can observe their behavior without being seen." He'd hate to have something happen to the little guy on his behalf... With a stern nod, Grayson responded in affirmative that he was ready for the trip, tightening his hand hold on the celebi a little tighter in assurance and tucking his clipboard securely under his other arm. As they entered the timestream, the scientist winced in reaction to the light, slowly opening his eyes as Brenny began explaining what was going on before they shot open. His head turned in every direction, but his hold on the child's hand remained strong, "Wow... this is amazing, Brenny!" He was silent for a few moments longer, trying to spot the moments hidden within the whirling flashes of color to no avail, "There are no words to describe how incredible this is..." How was he even supposed to make a report? Never mind that, for now, for once he was much too distracted to attempt writing any of it down.

Thaliawen
"I just had to stop being sad," Tania explained, "When Brenny brought me here, I was really sad and afraid you guys wouldn't want me. Like my first family. They didn't. They kicked me out... But now I have you! And Daddy! And that made me happy again. Really, really happy. I couldn't shift very well. It was a slow process every time. But I think the happier I got, the faster it got. So maybe if I make you really, really happy, you'll be able to shift again!" The mew child beamed. She would help Karma with shifting. Then they would both be happy. She drew tabs on the hat as instructed. "I think Daddy will look very pretty in this."

"There's words," Brenny mused, "But I don't know them yet. I think I like calling them colors of time, though. You can't really see anything but color." He beamed up at the man, delighted that Grayson was enjoying his gift already! And this was just the beginning-- just the wrapping paper! He was even more pleased when he noticed that the scientist seemed too busy watching to write. "They change all the time," he added. "We're almost there, Uncle Grayson. Be ready to hide behind something."

MoogerMint
Ah, that was right, Tania had mentioned that her first family wasn't there for her anymore. Karma fidgeted a bit, wanting to ask but not wanting to upset the mew-girl anymore. It was in the past, where it should stay. Besides, it already felt like Tania had always been here! "I can't remember when you weren't living here, too, but... that sounds like it'd be a lot more sad," the ditto considered, "Why would I have any reason to be sad now?" Shaking the hesitation off, Karma gave the other girl a quick hug despite hands being full of various materials, "I'm glad we were able to make you happy again! Don't worry, you don't need to be sad anymore." With a bright grin, Karma followed the marked tabs as the raven-haired girl drew them on, cutting the pages until they were two slices of a very colorful hat, "Yaay, this should work very well! It's definitely turning out very pretty. Now we just gotta glue it, or..." Karma blinked, realizing that neither Brenny nor Grayson were there any longer. There was a bit of nervousness, but zhe tried to reuse the energy towards being more productive, "Well, they're not here. Maybe we can use the stapler instead." Grayson didn't like them using sharp or otherwise dangerous materials, but they were careful enough!

The scientist was still fairly distracted, at least to turn in the celebi's direction, but he held on to every word. "I think... I think I understand why you call it that now," he agreed, "That might just be the most appropriate description of it, though it seems to fall short on really emphasizing the beauty." Or maybe he was overestimating what others might think; regardless, it seemed that Grayson and Brenny were on the same page, at least. It was only when Brennen had indicated that they were nearly to their destination that his attention turned back to the child's figure, hand still clutched. "Ah, we should be on the same page with that. Do you think we should try to duck left or right, since we're... well, attached at the moment?" he chuckled.

Thaliawen
"I wish I couldn't remember when I wasn't living here too," Tania said, enviously. It would've been so much easier to live in the moment like Karma. Her whole life seemed like the phrase hakuna matata. But then, she forgot the good things, too... "You always make me happy, Karma. You're my sister." She smiled at her. "I'll never be sad, with you! Hey, I bet I count as enough supervision to use the stapler!"

They were there. There was not a cloud in the sky, it was a vibrant blue. The sun beat down on Brenny, so he had to shade his eyes with a hand. "I guess its midsummer," he muttered. He gestured to a tree with an incline of his head. "This isn't what grows in my forest," he mused. "Hey look! A tyrunt! I wonder if its friendly!" He had forgotten his plan to hide upon meeting one. "Hi, I'm Brenny!" The tyrunt responded, growling. "No, I'm not trading with you. Sorry. I don't eat meat." Brenny glanced at Grayson. "He wants you for supper. Let's run."

MoogerMint
Karma fidgeted slightly at the words, "Don't say that... I heard that even when bad things happen, they help us become who we are. We learn from the good and the bad, and can become better people for it." This slight understanding didn't come from experience, though, and the idea that the truth possibly contradicted this was not ignored. However, Karma sure hoped it was true! At least then there would be something good to come from suffering, "And that way you know how to deal with it in the future, or help someone out if they are in a similar situation. Like... like not being able to transform!" Less touchy subject, but along the same lines! The ditto grinned, "I'm glad I'm good for something! You make me happy, too, Tania. You're so much fun to hang out with!" With a quick glance about the laboratory room, Karma nearly stumbled out of zher seat to grab the stapler once it was spotted on another counter top, hopping back with it safely enclosed in the child's hands, "I agree! So the stapler it is. That way, it can hold together better, too!" Once seated back down, Karma slid the stapler toward the shadow mew, "You wanna try stapling the tabs together? I bet you could line them up!"

Grayson found himself wincing and closing his eyes once more as soon as they stepped from the whirlwind of color the foray through time brought. He had thought the transportation would have been disorienting, but no, it wasn't until it was abruptly halted that the man became dizzy. He staggered slightly as Brenny wandered, his hand still held tightly despite the fact he was distracted trying to block some of the sun from his eyes. Maybe he should have brought sunglasses! "Brenny, what..." he managed, eyes peering down after a moment of having them mostly shut, "...What are you doing? Didn't you just say we should avoid these at all costs?" Either Brenny was explicitly trying to get him killed, or he was carrying on with a prank...

Thaliawen
"But I don't like bad things," Tania said. She didn't want to be whatever things made her to be. She wanted to stay the way she was! "I suppose. But the good things make us who we are, too. Without good things, I wouldn't be your sister!" The mew girl beamed at this. "I like making you happy, Karma. You and Daddy." She took the stapler carefully. Despite her love of trouble, she didn't particularly want to make Grayson upset. "I think I can," she said, lining the paper up. "And I staple them like--this?"

"Well, I just remembered I met a tyrunt that was friendly. But he's in our time, not this one. He really likes popcorn and movies. I had him at my house!" Brenny thought it was quite exciting, having had a dinosaur in his apartment. He doubted Connie would have approved--but Kyllian hadn't eaten anyone, so it was alright! "Don't worry," he said, "All my moves are strong against these Pokemon. And if you're in danger, I'll get mad. Then they just happen. I didn't mean to hurt anyone the first time, but they tried to take Mei and I got mad." He demonstrated by letting a sharp stream of colorful glowing leaves towards the tyrunt. "I'll protect you, Uncle Grayson."

MoogerMint
Karma shook zher head, an agreement and disagreement both, "I don't think anyone really likes bad things unless they're, um... spiteful?" Yeah, that was the word. The ditto knew that bad things had had to happen for Tania to come to live in the laboratory, as a sibling, too... but zhe couldn't recall what negative occurrences had happened in order to lead to that point, and was afraid to ask. How often had zhe asked in the past? Had zhe ever asked at all? Eyes monitored the shadow mew as she took hold of the stapler, arms resting atop the tabletop and elbows holding up Karma's torso as zhe tipped forward slightly out of restlessness. "Yeah, just like that!" the ditto chirped, "Just be careful not to get your fingers. It's looking great already! Now we just gotta decorate it!" Once more, the child slid from the seat in order to gather materials that might work. There was never a lack of markers, there were some gel pens... but those didn't always show up the nicest on construction paper! With a bit of an exasperated huff, the vibrant child asked, "Tania, do you remember where the glitter pens are?" Maybe they could even use some of that tinsel...

The surprise on Grayson's face wasn't hidden, blinking back slight confusion at the sudden memory lapse, from terror to amiability in a matter of minutes. He toyed with the idea that Brennen might have ADD, but that would have to be a test for another time... "You know, Brenny, wild pokemon often act... differently than tamed pokemon," he warned. Sure, he was curious too, but this was just obnoxiously irrational behavior! He hesitated, trying to pull the boy back, his hand still latched onto the celebi's, "Let's just back up slowly. I'd rather avoid provoking anything, if I can help it. L-Let's just... observe from a distance, like I had suggested." He couldn't learn very much if either one of them was knocked out!

Thaliawen
Tania beamed, making sure to be careful of her fingers. "The glitter pens?" She echoed, blinking. She thought about the question. Mm... Where had she last seen them? "They're not with the markers?" She asked. She moved to look, blinking. "Hey, I think Daddy will be back soon. Maybe he knows, if we can't find them!"

"Good point," Brenny muttered, taking a step back. He sent another round of magical leaf in the tyrunt's direction, following Grayson's lead and backing up slowly. "But I protected you, see?" The celebi protested, once they were at a safe distance. "I protected you. You're safe, Uncle Grayson." He hesitated, turning to his left. He stiffened. "There," he said, pointing. There was a kabuto lurking in the bushes. That was strange, Brenny didn't think they normally came out of their caves. Ah well!

MoogerMint
Karma peered around the vacant countertops in the laboratory, but most of them were spotless, considering many of the employees were out on holiday. "No, they're not with the other pens, I checked there first. I don't think anyone would have taken them... but someone might have put them in the wrong spot if they were left out," the ditto explained, blinking once and then grinning, "I suppose we're going to have to go out on a scavenger hunt! The other pens don't show up very well on construction paper. Well, except some of the gel pens, but... the doctor would look fabulous in glitter." Oh yes, the idea had the child almost cackling at the thought.

"Ah!" Grayson flinched as Brenny launched a barrage of leaves at the carnivorous pokémon, quickly following the retreat while the tyrunt was distracted, "Was that really such a good idea?" Despite the inflections he may have placed on the question, it was an honest one -- Brennen seemed to know when others were serious or merely making a darkly-colored joke. The man glanced back toward the direction they escaped from nervously, but he didn't hear it rampaging after the two of them... He reacted just the same when Brennen's worried voice reached his ears, half-expecting the tyrunt to be hidden within the foliage the celebi was indicating. Instead, his curiosity almost immediately kicked the fear to the side, "Hello, what have we here?" He inched closer to the kabuto, but not close enough for sudden attack to be feasible, "Is there a beach around here, in this time?" Had the ocean of their time moved outward over the eons?

Thaliawen
A hunt for glitter pens? Tania liked that idea. She smiled brightly, going to a drawer to study its contents. "I think Daddy looks best in blue glitter," she decided. "Maybe pink though. I don't like pink, but Daddy might look good in it..." Unable to find the glitter pens in that drawer, she moved to another.

"The beach is just over that hill," Brenny said, by way of explanation. He pointed. "There's all sorts of sand dunes. You have to be careful around the coves though. There's an aerodactyl that has a nest in one of them. Its not very friendly. I only just got away last time, I don't think if it grabbed you and flew off, I could save you. Its weak to grass type and water type moves though..."

MoogerMint
Karma shuffled through the drawers on the opposing side of the room from where Tania was searching in order to cover as much ground between the two of them with a lessened likelihood of accidental overlap. "You think so?" Karma snickered, attention still almost fully on their conversation and less on the hunt itself, cumulating in less productivity altogether on locating the lost items. Karma had no qualms about color choices, but it was still amusing to think about the clashing colors when Grayson always seemed at a loss with Karma's own vibrant color choices. "Well I trust your judgment. Blue and possibly pink it is!" the child stated matter-of-factly, almost tearing a drawer right out of its alcove on accident if it hadn't been firmly latched onto its rails. With a slight pout, Karma pushed it back in, "Any luck yet?"

Grayson tried to adjust his position to see the beach beyond the thick foliage that currently blocked the view, but it was too extensive to see over from where they stood. "Fascinating..." he murmured in thought, eyes turning back to the kabuto that hadn't tried moving, "And this is where the city will be built in a few thousand years?" It was amazing how much the world around them changed over the course of time -- Grayson didn't recognize the landscape at all! "So Brenny, do you frequent this time in history?" he continued with the questions, detracting Brenny's nervousness with thought-provoking conversation... and just a little reassurance, "Don't worry, I won't go anywhere you don't think is safe." Though an aerodactyl nest... oh how he would have loved studying something like that! Maybe on a ledge, from afar, for now could work.

Thaliawen
"I can't find them anywhere!" Tania crossed her arms, leaning against the counter. "Do you think Daddy somehow knew we would want to decorate him with glitter and hid them?" She frowned at the thought. Daddy was certainly smart enough--but was he sneaky enough to hide something from her?

"Things change in a few thousand years, Uncle Grayson," Brenny informed him, matter of factly. "I think the ocean must have mostly dried out, or maybe it moved to where it is in our time. Do you think it likes it there better?" He paused at the second question, beaming up at his favorite scientist, "I frequent all times, Uncle Grayson! But this time is a good time for getting away from the city. Even though there's lots of dangerous Pokemon in this time, there's a lot of peaceful ones too. They haven't seen humans before though, most of them. So I don't know what they'd do to you if they did. Do you want to go to the beach? There's lots of lapras there. They're friendly. I talk to them."

MoogerMint
Karma's attention seemed to divert to a corner of the laboratory for a moment, pulling at the shelves in zher mind for an answer. "I don't think he would have done that. He only takes things away if I've been misbehaving with them or something, and I don't remember doing anything with the glitter pens that he didn't like..." the ditto relayed, glancing up to the cupboards. With a little bounce, zhe hopped onto the counter, seating zhimself back down before pulling the doors open, "Maybe they were hidden in one of these..." They had to be around here somewhere! Maybe they were in the closet? Did anyone leave them in a coat pocket or something?

Grayson grinned, glad to know that Brenny knew that the world changed and evolved, much as any living being would over the course of time. "This is true, but I was referring to how drastic a change it was. I knew the oceans receded, but was unaware to how much of an extent they had," he explained, examining the area as he spoke; it almost seemed as though it were a different part of the country altogether! He nodded at Brennen's explanation of what happened, but chuckled at the following question, "As far as I know, the ocean doesn't have a mind of its own." It also sounded as though the volatile nature of the pokémon in this time weren't unlike those that were found in their own time, though the appearance of two unknown creatures such as the two of them might pose problems if they weren't careful. Humans existed in this time, sure, but likely not anywhere near here if it was so populated by the wilds. "Are we able to bypass the sand dunes with the aerodactyl well enough to reach the beach, then?" he asked, wanting to confirm before they did anything that could put either one of their lives in danger.

Thaliawen
"Maybe!" Tania agreed. Instead, she climbed up onto the counter, feeling she might get a better view of the lab from up there. Hm. If the glitter pens weren't hidden away, and they weren't in the drawers--had Daddy taken them home on accident? What would they do if he had? They would have to scold him somehow. Mm... Maybe make him go out and buy more. Tania would make sure he got just the right colors! And maybe he'd let her pick out a dress! With that in mind, the shadow mew continued her search, but at a slower pace. Hmm. They could take advantage of this situation!

"Once, the whole world was covered in just water. So the ocean didn't really move that far at all, comparatively!" Brenny beamed. "The city we live in is an awful small place, if you look at the whole world, and the ocean only moved to the beach." He paused, frowning slightly, "Sure it does, Uncle Grayson. If anything has a mind of its own, its water. It shaped the world. It makes craters and glaciers and valleys. It doesn't listen to anyone. Not rocks or plants or anything. It can tear all of that apart."

He gave Grayson's hand a reassuring squeeze. "We'll be fine. Just don't go anywhere near its cave! Its not very friendly, but it doesn't come out unless its hunting, and it isn't hunting time or the other Pokemon wouldn't be out."

MoogerMint
"I don't think there's anything in here that we can use..." the ditto mumbled after a few moments of digging through the cupboards, "They mostly just keep the equipment up here." Out of the reach of children's hands, most likely, but Karma had always been a bit of a monkey. After a moment of thought, the ditto-child blinked and slid zhimself around to face Tania on an opposing countertop, "Hey, wasn't the doctor helping us out earlier, getting everything set up? I'm sure we had grabbed the glitter pens then..." Zher expression turned into a mild frown, "I bet he put them in his pocket when we were carrying everything over and forgot to take them out!" It sounded like something he'd do! Sighing, Karma hung zher legs over the edge of the counter and swung them a bit, "So... what do you think we should use instead?"

Grayson almost countered Brenny's explanation by saying that the whole idea of the world being completely covered in ocean was mere speculation until he remembered where he was and who he was speaking to. Brenny, of course, would know for certain one way or the other, if he had curiosity enough for it! "Brenny, you make it sound like I don't do my research," Grayson laughed. A person couldn't call themselves a scientist if they only looked at the small picture! He had merely been amazed at being witness to it -- it was one thing to be told something, but quite a different matter to see it for oneself. With such an imaginative kid on his hands, though, he didn't think he could explain everything that he meant by his words, of tectonic shifts, polarity, and gravitational effects. Instead, he merely snickered at Brenny's grasp on the ocean.

"Ahh, so the cave has the dunes in it? Well that should be easy enough to avoid," Grayson agreed, readjusting his hold on Brenny's hand, "Well then I think we shouldn't have anything to worry about. I'm ready when you are!" He took one last look at the kabuto in the bushes, but it hadn't moved; there was a good chance the two of them would only disturb its slumber if they stuck around.

Thaliawen
Tania paused, the thought had never occured to her. "I think you're right!" She declared, frowning slightly. Accidentally taking the glitter pen did seem like something Grayon would do! He was getting old after all! She sat next to the ditto child, swinging her legs playfully. "Hmmm! I bet there's other things we can use to make it pretty. Is there any shiny paper?"

"Come on then!" Brenny exclaimed, leading Grayson to the beach. There weren't any people there: there'd be plenty of Pokemon for Grayson to see, and perhaps to befriend! Maybe one of the ancient Pokemon would be friendly! He led the scientist towards the water. "Uncle Grayson, what would people do if you caught a Pokemon from this time and brought it to ours? Would they hurt it?" He frowned in concern. "You wouldn't. I don't think you would, you're too nice. But don't catch any, alright? You can make friends with them."

MoogerMint
It was yet another nail in the coffin, the doctor shouldn't have gone off on that little time-traveling trip! It didn't matter that part of that determination came from a touch of jealousy, Karma would chock it up to worry. With an irritated huff, the ditto swung zher legs in order to better initiate a launch from the countertop, landing gracefully on feet a few inches down. "I bet we could find some other paper; we have the glue for it already..." zhe contemplated, pointing to some drawers near to Tania, "Check in there! If it's not there, then there still might be something in there we can use!" Meanwhile, Karma checked in a few drawers zhimself, readjusting a stapler to one hand to see past it.

As he was being tugged along by the small celebi, Grayson kept his eyes on the scenery about them, taking mental note of the pokémon that inhabited this particular area. He stumbled slightly as they neared the water, sand grabbing at his shoes in the moisture, but maintained upright status. He offered a reassuring smile at Brenny's request, "No, I'm not going to capture anyone here. The scientists wouldn't hurt them, but it would be cruel to take them from their lives here. It would be too jarring an experience; they know this time and this place!" Being thrust into a place so much more advanced than what they had grown to know, forcibly, and then having to stay there... it seemed rather cruel! He pulled his clipboard back out in front of him with his free hand, crouching down to place it on his lap as he faced the wild pokémon in the field, "I'm just seeing how they all interact together, in this time. I want to see if there are any differences to what is common in our time. It already seems there is a larger population of a few of them... and a smaller population with a couple others. Perhaps that is because of the extinct pokémon's hunting habits..." He bit at the end of his pen thoughtfully, already assessing the research material in front of him before he had adequately finished his reassurance of Brennen's fears.

Thaliawen
Tania hopped off of the counter, moving to the drawers indicated. "Here's some paper," she said, holding up a sheet victoriously. "Its not shiny, but I bet we could make it look nice all the same. Daddy should be home soon. Then we can make him wear this hat!" Determined as ever, Tania formed a fist with one hand. Daddy would dress up with them! He needed a make over, anyway!

"They're very different from when we're from," Brenny observed, "Did you know people say an arceus created the world? I can't go that far back in time, not yet. Maybe never. But I think it would be terribly exciting to see the world being made. The Pokemon that created all Pokemon." The celebi boy smiled wistfully. Oh, to have that kind of power! Then he could have formed just the right Pokemon to make Connie happy. "I agree with you," he added, "Taking someone from the things they know and love is wrong. Uncle Grayson, do you think there's a celebi in this time?"

MoogerMint
Karma pulled out some ribbon crammed in the back of the chosen drawer as Tania located some decorative paper. With a grin, the ditto-child cheered at the mew's proclamation and, in response, held up zher own discovery, "I think we shouldn't have any problems making the hat pretty. He'll wear it because we made it for him! With love and care and... we can always threaten to throw a fit if he doesn't. But he would." It was more of a tease than anything, for Karma didn't throw trivial tantrums and Grayson wasn't so full of himself to turn down a gift from a family member based only on the fact it was... extremely gaudy. Karma's grin grew, imagining it on his head as zhe brought some materials back over to the work counter, "Now let's get back to work!"

Grayson nodded in agreement at Brenny's assessment of the pokémon, taking notes between the chatter. He grinned at the thought of the arceus creating all of pokémonkind, but there was certain scepticism on the matter, "I know what they say, but I still suspect the stories were embelished. Maybe you can draw your own conclusions if you met Eilam, but he seems like any other pokémon would, if a bit wise beyond his years. I think the problem is that we don't have all the puzzle pieces yet, but that's what I'm here for." Blinking, the scientist looked around for a forest, but they were still much too far displaced from one, even in this time, "There is supposed to be a celebi in every time, isn't there? Well... you weren't born yet, so it's very probable." He flinched at the thought, then turned to look at Brenny, "Did you want to try to find it?"

Thaliawen
Tania beamed at Karma's statement: yes, they could make the hat pretty easily! Especially with Karma's love for colors and her own fashion sense! "Maybe he'll wear it forever!" She exclaimed, excitedly. Everyday wear! "I'm good at throwing fits," she mused. She sat next to her sister. "We'll make this the best hat in the world!"

"Maybe there's more than one arceus, and together they made the world. Maybe each one of them made just one part. Just like there's more than one celebi or more than one mew. Tania isn't the only one, she told me. There's pink ones, she said, and blue ones. I think she's jealous of the blue ones but she's pretty the way she is." Brenny's expression was thoughtful. He'd met Eilam: the older legendary had seemed quiet and modest. Not at all like he, himself was! Why, if he'd had the power to create an entire world, he would've told someone. "Arashi told me legendaries are gods. He said I was the god of the forest. I don't think so, though. I think I just take care of it." He hesitated at the question, before shaking his head. "No, I just wondered. Legendaries don't have parents, do they? They just appear."

MoogerMint
"Hmm..." Karma scanned over the glue, wondering if they could find any rubber cement, "...Maybe we can make it so that he HAS to wear it forever?" A giggle erupted from the child, indicating that it was a joke but amusing to thing about nonetheless. "I don't think we'll have to throw a fit if he sees how much work we put into it, though," the vibrant child concluded with a nod, unrolling a length of ribbon, "We'll make it look great! Now where do we start?" Ohh, Karma was so eager!

Grayson tapped the end of the pen against his chin thoughtfully, "You know... it's very possible there could be more than one. Most people assume there is but one of the majority of legendaries, but just because we haven't seen them doesn't mean there aren't more. You've really put a lot of thought into it, haven't you?" Well it was really no wonder; if Grayson were a legendary, chances are he'd be thinking about the mysteries surrounding his own kind, too. He smiled at Brennen's compliment of Tania, "You know... I'd say that you should tell her that sometime, but she might end up teasing you about it. I think it would mean a lot for her to hear that, though." Despite not knowing who Arashi was, the question had adequate grounds to cover, "It depends on your definition of what a god is. To some people, it can be a unique individual with an immensely abnormal amount of power. Do you know anyone else that can travel time but a celebi? I don't know where they come from, though, no. If you're right about there being more than one of each legendary, then I suppose it's possible they have parents... but to my knowledge, most of them are classified as being genderless and therefore unable to have children..." He really didn't know the answer to that one, but wanted to know the same!

 

[Thaliawen]

Thaliawen

MoogerMint

( Cont'd )

Thaliawen
"No, I don't think that be nice," Tania made a face, wrinkling her nose. If Daddy had to wear the hat forever--and ever, and ever, she would miss the chance to play with his hair. Or tap on his head! "He might get angry." Gluing a hat to somebody's head was certainly grounds to kick someone out!

"Not too much," Brenny said. It was one of those things; soon after losing Cecily he had wondered if there were anymore like him. He'd eventually learned, from others' surprise at his having a sibling, that it was an uncommon thing. "I think I will," he smiled at the scientist, "Karma liked hearing she was pretty. I think Tania needs to hear it too. She's even more rare than one of those blue mews!" He hesitated; maybe he was a god, according to that definition. "I don't," he said, with a shake of his head. "I think there must be someone causing legendaries to appear. Maybe its the same Pokemon who makes the stars appear. If there are eggs, though, there should be parents..." The celebi boy knew he'd come from an egg: but where had that egg come from?

MoogerMint
Karma struggled to hold the laugh in for a moment, as it seemed that Tania took the joke seriously -- that just made the idea that much more funny! "No, I was just joking! That would be more like a practical joke, but we want him to actually like it. Or at least be forced to wear something crazy for a few hours because we made it out of the goodness of our hearts," the ditto stated with a knowing nod, hand over heart to emphasize the preposterous point. To be honest, Karma just wanted the doctor to look ridiculous for the rest of the evening; zhe didn't mind if he never wore it again after tonight, just as long as they got to see it on him! That's why they picked such clashing colors, wasn't it?

Grayson grinned, nodding his head, "I think you should, too. Tania has seemed to be pretty down lately. That might cheer her up." Despite being potentially teased for the compliment, Brenny seemed unfazed by the possible outcome; how brave! He wasn't sure he fully understood his comment about Tania's rarity, however, but decided not to pursue the answer -- Tania was a gem in her own right as it was. "I don't know anyone else who can do what you can, either," the man agreed, "Though nowadays, I don't know anyone that can do anything you kids can, that used to be pokémon." He pondered the idea of where the eggs came from, but there were too many unknown variables at play. "I think it might depend on the pokémon... I always thought your parents were the forest you came from. Maybe there's some alternate reality where everyone comes from..." he guessed, though the last one was merely a jab at science fiction, to indicate the futility of guessing.

Thaliawen
"Oh, good!" Tania was pleased with this explanation. She liked the concept of gluing someone's hat to their head, but not Daddy's. "I think he will like it. It'll be very pretty and it comes from us. He loves everything we make him!" She was sure of it!

"Maybe you don't hug her enough," Brenny suggested. He knew he'd feel down if Connie didn't hug him regularly! "Or maybe she misses her brother. Tristan, you know. Maybe I could bring him over for her to see. He's staying with Dea. Like Timmy and Krissy!" He paused, considering Grayson's words, "You're right, Uncle Grayson! There's no one who can do what we can do. But you can learn all the things I can do, when I learn them. I can't do much yet, just magical leaf and time traveling. Daddy can't do either of those, but he can do other things." The celebi boy made a face. His parents were the forest? He supposed that made sense, sort of. "Maybe. I think its more like a time stream."

MoogerMint
Karma wasn't so sure Grayson would really like the hat all that much -- he seemed to have an aversion to the bright colors Karma liked to pick for zher own clothing all the time, after all -- but zhe decided not to voice this opinion. It seemed like Tania's mood was much too fragile lately for such things, as if she was afraid of something bad happening at the first sign of discrepancy. Not to mention Karma didn't want her to take it wrong, as an attack on color choice! Despite first thinking that Tania was a prankster, it seemed that that might not have been the case, for she didn't seem to understand sarcasm. Karma was going to have to be more careful with word choice! "Mm... more ribbon?" Karma asked nervously, scraping a fingernail against the underside of the ribbon in order to make it curlier.

Grayson stifled a laugh and shook his head, "No I hug her plenty." Well really, it was more that Tania hugged HIM plenty, but he always hugged her back -- he'd never had such an attention-craving kid around before! More solemnly, he nodded his head at Brenny's next option, "That's very possiible. I've thought about that as well, but it seems to be a sore spot to her to speak of her previous living arrangements. I wouldn't want her to have a panic attack..." ...again. She was happy right now, but he had his attention on the things she said she needed, or hinted at. She was still confused and needed the time to heal, but if having her 'brother' over helped with that, then maybe it should be brought up again? As he scribbled some more notes down in observation of the surroundings' pokémon interactions, but snickered in reaction to the celebi at his side, "This is true. And you will let me know whenever you learn something new, won't you? Speaking of which, I've ever seen you use that move... will you show it to me? I'd like to see how it compares in your current form." Even in the past, he wasn't above studying his time-traveling compatriot! "Ah, but I was thinking about the fairy tales I used to read to my daughters. Sometimes something would be born from the area they were meant to protect, as a kind of defense mechanism if you will. While yes, they were fairy tales and therefore not real, such stories often have a little truth to them, but how much of it is false is not always obvious. I thought, perhaps, there was a little more truth to them," he explained, even if he didn't truly believe it. Part of being a good researcher was leaving these possibilities open, even if they were unlikely.

Thaliawen
"Blue!" Tania decided, holding up a length of blue ribbon. She beamed at Karma. "Do you think he'd like blue? Oooh! I know, we can glue a hat to Brenny's head later! Let's make him one too!" While Tania was cautious about pranking Grayson, she wouldn't have been around Brenny or any stranger who might pass through. Ha, gluing a hat to Brenny's head would be priceless!

"Are you sure?" Brenny playfully rose an eyebrow, studying Grayson. "Hugs are healthy, you know, Uncle Grayson." He demonstrated by wrapping his arms around the man. "I can arrange it," he promised. "I'll have Tania see Tristan and see if that helps any. Then she might be happier, and people being happier is always good!" He paused at the man's question, considering it. Finally, the celebi smiled. "Stand back, then," he said. He took a step forward, eager to show off. He always was around Grayson: being observed was fun! He shot a flurry of leaves glowing in multicolored light forward. He turned to glance at the scientist. "Stories? I'll have to read them. Maybe there really is some truth in them."

MoogerMint
Karma's smile returned more readily the more Tania's excitement clung to the air. At least she was having fun now! The ditto-child offered a quick nod, finding blue to be adequate even if zhe was still unsure as to what colors the scientist prefered, let alone when paired together with other colors. There was some mild hesitation when the mew considered pranking Brenny. While Karma was sure that Grayson wouldn't hate them if he was pranked, zhe didn't want to lose the friendship of someone who wasn't here as often! "Do you think... he wouldn't get mad if we did that?" the child asked tentatively, "He'd know we were just playing around, right?"

Grayson shrugged at the question, but patted Brenny on the shoulder with a chuckle as the boy hugged him, "Who knows if it's enough, but I figure if she needs more then she will tell me. I'd be happy to oblige if it helps her feel better. I know she's been through a lot." Of course, he would keep his eyes open for points in time that it looked like she needed a hug and wouldn't say anything, too, but that could oftentimes be missed... especially when one was a workaholic. "I think we should get her opinion on whether or not seeing her brother might help. I wouldn't want to assume, or make her feel worse for it. Maybe we can ask in a way that doesn't tip her off as to what we're going to do, so it can still be a bit of a surprise..." he considered, tapping his scruffy chin thoughtfully. At the posed instruction, Grayson scooted back, still held in a crouch as Brenny shot off a Magical Leaf move. He watched for a few moments before scribbling some notes down. After a moment, his eyes lifted from the clipboard and he reached for one of the conjured leaves to clip it onto the page, "It doesn't look like it's much different, all-in-all, but it still looks like there are different movements required to use it. Not too surprising when you take into consideration that you are built differently as well, and may use different parts of your body to get it to work just as effectively. Do you notice anything different with the move than you might have before your change?" The scientist scribbled a bit more text down, offering a bit of a pause before he nodded, "I'm sure we've still got the books stored somewhere. I'll have to dig them up and let you borrow them next time!" Who knew, maybe Brenny would really enjoy the fairytales, and might be able to find something that the man had missed!

Thaliawen
"I don't think Brenny can get mad," Tania said, shaking her head. "But it'll be a nice prank! Brenny won't get mad at us!" She took Karma's hand and squeezed it. "I promise. Want to prank me instead?"

"You can never have too many hugs, Uncle Grayson! They're a special gift that comes from your heart, and you know what makes them even better? They're free! You never have to pay for hugs, because everyone has an unending supply. I'll never run out of hugs for you. Or Daddy." He paused, nodding. "We can ask if she misses him. Then, if she says yes, we can take her to see him! She'll be so surprised!" The celebi beamed at the idea. Reuniting a pair of siblings was important to him. Tania needed her brother, and he needed her. "I could never do it as a pokemon. I leveled up as I grew and learned, i think. When I first used it, it was an accident. I was just angry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone." He wrapped his arms around Grayson. "Yay! Me and Daddy can read them!"

MoogerMint
Karma paused briefly to think on whether or not Brenny had the capacity for anger, but without the past memoties to back up such assumptions, zhe wasn't so sure zhe wanted to try testing such luck. They were friends with Brenny, sure, but he seemed even more touchy, and easily-upset... was this a good idea after all? However, reconsideration came quickly enough when Tania asked if Karma wanted to prank her. Wide-eyed, the ditto shook zher head, "No, we work better as a team!" Well... that answered that little dilemma. If Tania was so sure that Brenny wouldn't get mad, Karma didn't have the grounds to doubt her. "Okay, we'll prank Brenny. What do you think we should do?" zhe considered. Maybe something with the gift that Grayson was going to give him when they both got back?

Grayson chuckled at Brenny's obvious naivete, but in this case, the scientist knew the young celebi to at least be partially correct on the matter. He'd never really dealt with a traumatized child so much before, but over the course of the past couple months, he had found himself in charge of not one but TWO of them. It was almost overwhelming, or would be if he wasn't so stubborn about doing things right. "Just remember that not everyone likes hugs..." he warned, a slight cringe at the thought of Brenny randomly hugging any of the more... antisocial of their clients, "But in Tania's case, it's possible. Giving too many, unwarranted, may devalue it some, though, you know? I don't want to smother her; that could do the opposite of what we'd want. May even spoil her." There came another laugh at that, for that was something that could very well be unavoidable. He nodded to Brenny, finding his idea to be a good way to still surprise the young mew while also reuniting her with that who she once called 'brother.' However, verbal responses were pushed to the back of his mind for the moment as he wrote more notes down on Brenny's use of Magical Leaf, attention retrained, "That's fascinating... that means you can still learn and grow like a pokémon in your current form." Never mind the hurt that the celebi seemed to be feeling about harming another, but that all seemed to be the normal outcome of using any pokémon move. He was caught by surprise by the sudden hug, but smiled and pat the pixie-boy lightly on the back of the head, "It's no problem. You just ask whenever you want to borrow anything from me, I'm sure something can always be worked out!"

Thaliawen
"I think it should be a hide behind the door and shout boo prank. Brenny doesn't seem very tough. I think it'll scare him." The mew girl wrapped the ditto in a hug. "Not a mean prank, he'd probably cry, and that might make Daddy mad. But shouting boo is fun!" She beamed, releasing her hold on the ditto child to demonstrate. She stretched out her arms over her head to appear taller, then cried, "BOO! See? It's fun!"

"I know, Arashi doesn't like hugs!" Brenny made a face at the memory of that meeting. "He says I'm a god, you know. He didn't like me much, I think. But mostly I think he was scared. I don't think he'd ever been hugged before." Arashi certainly hadn't seemed to understand Brenny: anymore than Brenny had understood him! "I dont think hugs can be devalued..." He considered this thoughtfully. "Maybe if I gave them to everyone, instead of just the special people I become friends with..." Huh! That was something to consider. Would Daddy's hugs ever be less special? Don't worry about that," he assured Grayson with a grin. "She was already spoiled, before I brought her to you." He paused, beaming at Grayson's words. "I think so. Eliot learned bounce after I caught him. He's my magikarp. I bet he'd like the stories too!"

MoogerMint
Oh, so they weren't going to try to glue a hat on Brenny's head, should they choose to prank their mutual friend? That was a relief! Karma's grin was quickly replaced at the suggestion, "Mmn, you're right! I think that would be a fun prank, and not one that would make Brenny get mad!" The ditto returned the hug that Tania offered and giggled at the displayed instruction, "Ooh, you're good! So where do you think we should hide, to scare him best?" Blinking, Karma scanned the laboratory room, feet stationary as zhe twisted, "Maybe one of the cabinets... but they're a bit far from where they disappeared into the past..." How were they to jump out at the two of them in a scare attempt when they would probably be reappearing in the middle of the room? From behind a counter?

Grayson gave a smile and a slow nod when Brennen had relayed that he knew that not everyone liked hugs, happy to hear that he was learning such things out of experiencing them for himself -- a much better teacher, at times! "You might be on the right track there, with him. Sometimes it can be difficult to observe and do nothing, but time gives people the ability to reflect easier on times past," he concluded, blinking once in surprise before chuckling, "Though I'm sure you'd know that better than most, hm?" The explanation about how people viewed hugs, however, was a bit more difficult when it came to the value... "You are absolutely right. I think, for some people, hugs couldn't be devalued. I think it depends more on how a person views them. I do know, though, that if someone likes getting hugs, but isn't subjected to them very often, they feel like something more precious than they would to someone who gets them all the time. It's just like with many other things that are taken for granted by someone... Or, say, like certain food. If you don't like something like... like green beans, you're not going to want them." It was a... semi-decent analogy, at least, but he probably could have done better if not speaking on the fly. His concentration on that advent was broken when Brenny had stated that Tania had long since been spoiled, laughter tearing through the thought process, "Maybe you're right, maybe you're right... I'll see what I can't do about hugging her more often, then. I'll see how she takes that." That didn't mean that the man wasn't going to discipline her where necessary, but he didn't have to be cold about it. With a nod, he made another note about other poké-kids (he was sure that's who this Eliot was!) learning moves past their star-induced evolutions, though he shook his head in amusement as he wrote it. Brenny caught another pokémon? Now that had to be one of the most bizarre things he had heard yet!

Thaliawen
"Let's hide behind the counter!" Tania beamed, she was good at being scary, wasn't she? The shadow mew was pleased that Karma had noticed. "You hide on that side, and I'll hide on this one." She moved to the left side of the counter and hunched down. She giggled, and put a finger to her lips. "They should be back soon."

"Sometimes its easier to be in the past than to reflect on my own experiences," Brenny mused. "I don't have to worry about my sister, or whether Connie's happy and not overworking. I think sometimes he forgets how to have fun. I worry sometimes..." he hesitated, looking away from Grayson for a moment, "That's why I'm going to look for a job as soon as I can. So I can earn money and he doesn't have to worry about it. He tells me he's happy, though..." Brenny trailed off, a note of doubt in his tone. "It's easier to go some when where all that stuff doesn't matter. Maybe I'll bring him sometime, and see if he likes it." He paused, nodding in approval. "Good. I think she'll like that, Uncle Grayson," he seemed to be glad to end his thought process, studying the scientist before smiling brightly. "Did you know there's an Archen over there with eggs? In the tree there!"

MoogerMint
To either side of the counter, in order to spook Brenny? That was an idea that Karma hadn't considered. "You sure they won't see either of us, if we do that?" the ditto asked, moving over to the spot indicated and slowly lowering into a crouch, arms wrapping around hovering, folded knees. Zhe didn't doubt Tania's evaluation, but zhe wanted to know the specifics before anything actually happened!

Grayson thought about the elaborated train of psychology a moment, letting his attention drift. "To live without worries... I think everyone wishes they could do as much. Alas, if you want to get anywhere, it's not going to be so easy... and taking shortcuts isn't always right. I like to think that life was meant to be hard. Everyone has it hard, after all, it's just a different kind of 'hard' for each individual," the scientist considered aloud, ending his words on a sigh. It at least made things a little easier to think of them in such a manner. With a smile, he directed his attention back to the small celebi, his voice sounding with a hint of a tease, "Well, it seems to me you've already got a job secured... going to be looking for another one?" He scribbled a few more notes down before continuing on with the conversation, "You know, some people just have difficulty opening up, or admitting certain things. You might be correct in thinking that he's not telling the whole truth, but that doesn't mean he's lying, either. You just have to be perceptive. Be a scientist, Brenny!" Well, at least in a way. With a minor jolt, Grayson processed the information that Brenny had suddenly seen. He was already murmuring a comment before he even moved to crane his head, "An archen? Those are unusual to see on their own, but with a nest..?" And he was off again, mindset of the studious researcher back in place as he inched closer, glancing up every so often from the pages on the clipboard as his pen etched black marks across the grainy papers.

Thaliawen
"Nah, he won't see us. I think when they come back they will both be busy talking." She beamed at the concept of possibly startling Grayson and Brenny. "It'll be fun! And if we scare Brenny too much, we can hug him! Daddy too."

"I don't think getting away from things that make you sad is bad," Brenny considered, "If you never did, you'd always be sad. Everyone would be. It'd be a terrible world." Brenny shook his head. "I think Connie is trying too hard, and that makes him unhappy. But he won't admit it." They'd promised, a while back, that all they needed to be happy was each other. To see the other smiling. Brenny wasn't sure that was entirely true; of either of them. "I think that might be it, Uncle Grayson. I don't think he'd lie. Not to me. But I don't--" he worried about Connie. He wanted to help more, to grow and take some of the weight off Connie's shoulders. "Do you think, when I grow, that I can be his Daddy and he can come visit you? That'd fix things! I know it would." He paused, beaming up at the scientist, "Really? The job's really mine?" He wrapped his arms around Grayson's waist. "Good! I'm the best there is at that job!" He pointed up at the archen, incase the scientist hadn't seen it. "Her eggs won't hatch today," he added, thoughtfully, "But maybe they will next time."

MoogerMint
Karma considered Tania's response for a bit, but it didn't take anyone of high IQ to realize where the truth was in that assumption. Knowing Grayson, it was all too certain; knowing Brenny, it was all too likely. As the mew-girl relayed the ability to make good of the situation in the event things turned south, Karma grinned broadly, "Oh I like that idea! Yeah, let's do it! I can't see anything wrong with that idea!" They both liked hugs, after all, and Tania and Karma weren't meaning any harm! Giggling, Karma hugged zher knees tighter in excited anticipation.

Grayson gave a soft sort of smile for Brennen's sentiment, but couldn't urge himself to say anything on the matter. If only sadness were that easy to avoid... They said it built character, that it made a person stronger, but the man only felt weaker for it in the end, for he could do nothing to prevent it but wonder what he could have done differently. "Most people can't focus on a single part of life and be happy with everything because of it, as much as that would be helpful," the man stated, "but having something there that always makes you happy, that really helps." Therefore, it wasn't so much a lie that Brenny and his parental figure were struggling with as it was a want for that to be the only thing that really mattered. He was startled by Brenny's bizarre question, though, and after a moment, attempted to contain the snicker, "He can visit, but the roles in a family aren't... they can't be reversed like that!" Oh he was amused... but he also didn't fully comprehend the kind of relationship the two had. With a swift nod, he responded to the posed question about his acceptance, returning Brenny's hug, "I don't see why I shouldn't hire you. I think this about sums up the benefits of having you on the team, don't you?" Following where it was that the celebi indicated, Grayson took a closer look at the nest, perhaps a little too close for the archen's comfort in his intrigue. "Next time..." he mused at the word usage, scribbling more notes down as the child explained.

Thaliawen
Tania beamed. Good, so Karma liked the idea! That made it a good idea, as far as the shadow mew was concerned. "Maybe after Brenny has gone, Daddy will tell us about what the past is really like." She'd heard stories of course: but it was different, hearing it from someone who'd experienced it first hand! "I bet there's no one as good at pranks as us, even back then!" She boasted, grinning at her sibling. "We're the best pranksters the world's ever seen!"

"I think that's because most people don't have that one thing that makes them happy," Brenny mused, aloud. He studied Grayson, then smiled. "You have your science. That makes you happy. It keeps you busy and interested, and when you find something interesting, like an archen nest, you can't help but write about it, no matter what else has bothered you. You have that, Uncle Grayson. But you also have me, Karma and Tania. If science ever failed you, we'd be here to help and make you happy again. I promised Daddy I'd always be happy if he was, no matter what else has bothered me. Sometimes the bad things go away when I'm around him. Sometimes they don't, and I pretend. Cecily never really goes away. But nightmares do. Sometimes, its easier to pretend all there is in the world is Daddy. Sometimes its easiest to pretend I don't have a sister at all. And it's even easier--" he paused, lowering his voice, "Pretending that I'm the only celebi, and that I was sent here to help Connie, and everyone else I've met. So I do help them. I want to make sure everyone's happier than they were before I met them." Saying this, he paused, glancing up at the scientist. "Why not?" He asked, baffled. "He's been my Daddy for a long time. I could make a good one and take care of him for a while!" He did hesitate, before looking away from Grayson and up at the archen in her nest. "I am the best at what I can do," he said, a smile crossing his features. "You'd never find another time traveler!"

MoogerMint
Karma nodded to Tania's wonder as to whether the scientist would tell them what would happen once things settled down, "I'm sure he would if we asked about it. It can't be that big of a secret, if it's all in books! I wonder how far into the future Brenny can go..?" Maybe Karma could ask if zhe ever got better in the future... and if zhe did, what caused memory to behave as it should. With a smile, the ditto considered Tania's bet, "You think so? I haven't really pranked much before..." That wasn't to say that Karma didn't want to learn to be better, but to already be at the top was stretching it a little! Unless there was perhaps an excellent prank that Karma was a part of and just... didn't remember?

Grayson watched Brenny curiously, wondering if the celebi had something in mind with his train of thought. "Well, when you get yourself a job, you need to make sure it's one that you can fully enjoy. Science is a hobby, so to be able to integrate it into a way to earn a living as well makes it all the better. I wouldn't say it was the thing that makes me the happiest, but it does keep everyday moods uplifted," he explained with a nod in understanding. However, when it came to excaping that which was more pressing... such as a death... sometimes it only helped him dwell on things, and made the job less enjoyable. It was what had caused him to miss out on so much else, that which he held more dear, and for that he couldn't truly be as happy as he would have otherwise wanted. It seemed, though, that Brenny had a loose grasp on the concept, even if he might not have fully understood it at the moment. The celebi was young, though, and as full of curiosity as he might have been, it didn't help him understand things that a more mature mind with a backing of experience could comprehend more adeptly. "Sometimes pretending is the only way we can move past that which bothers us. It's nothing to be ashamed of, plenty of people do it. As long as you can acknowledge that it is not the truth when you really need to, I don't see that being a problem," he explained. Pretending how things have always been this way or that, it made it easier to adapt to. At Brennen's confused question on why he couldn't switch roles on Connie, Grayson chuckled, "You seem to have missed the fundamentals behind what makes a parent a parent... You'll understand in time, I'm sure." He didn't think he could explain it in a way that the celebi-boy could agree with at this point, for it was not the simplest subjects to explain to a child of adoption! As he scribbled down a few more notes, inching around the archen to get a different view, he snickered and bobbed his head, agreeing with Brenny's sentiments, "I can't say I could find another, let alone as willing!"

Thaliawen
"Dunno. But he's a celebi, and time travel is their special ability. So probably as far as he likes. I wonder if he'd tell us anything about the future, or if he'd seen us there! Maybe he's met our grandchildren or something!" While Tania wasn't sure she approved of having grandchildren, the idea that Brenny could have met them was an interesting one! "This will be your first prank then!" Tania beamed. "It'll be great!"

"There are lots of things I enjoy," Brenny mused. He pondered the thought for a moment, seeming to mentally list his favorite activities. "But there's only one, I think, that I could fully enjoy. I like it better than any other thing in the world." More, even, than spending time with Connie. More, even, than playing with others. "Is there a job where I can make other people happy, Uncle Grayson? Any type of person. I really like art, and I like cooking, but those things only make the people who experience them happy, and that doesn't last long." He paused, glancing at their surroundings. "No," he agreed, "I think your family makes you happiest, like mine for me. Karma and Tania make you happy, and so do Dea and Fluff and everyone. You have a big family, Uncle Grayson! I'm part of it too." He listened to Grayson's explanation, only frowning when the scientist said he'd missed what made a parent. "I don't know. Maybe he's more like a big brother, like Karpi. But I didn't catch him, he caught me!"

MoogerMint
"Maybe we should ask him, after we scare him, about time traveling into the future," Karma suggested curiously. Despite the hidden agenda more readily on zher mind, the overall thought was still intriguing. A face was made at the mention of grandkids, but it melted into consideration, even if it seemed to bring up many more questions than what would ever be vocalized on the matter. Karma's grin quickly enveloped zher face as Tania more or less accepted the efforts to walk the ditto through full pranking this time around. "Okay! This should be really fun!" the child agreed, anticipating the chance even more with every passing moment.

Grayson listened as Brenny went on with what made him happy, splitting his time and attention between his observations on the archen and the conversation that was being carried out with the celebi-boy. However, he had to pause in his writing to think up a proper idea to respond to the child with. "Most jobs have the chance of making others happy, depending on how you carry them out. The majority of jobs deal with customer service, where you would be interacting with clients on some level. However, the jobs that might make people the happiest... most of those would likely fall under categories of volunteer work," he thought aloud, shaking his head after a momentary pause, "However, when you speak of affecting more people than those who experience it firsthand... I suppose you need to be more creative. Perhaps writing a book, or creating some architecture. It really all depends on what way you would want to make people happy." People could be rather finicky, after all! With a smile, Grayson nodded, fully agreeing with Brenny's assessments that family was what made the scientist the happiest: this, he would not deny, for it was as plain as day. Even a family friend could be placed into the encompassing label of 'family.' "Oh he caught you, did he? Are you sure you didn't catch him first?" he teased. Either way, they were both playing off a more abstract description of the term!

Thaliawen
"Yeah, let's ask him!" Tania agreed. "I wonder if hes ever been to the future! Oooh, if he hasn't, maybe we can ask him to take us the first time! I bet it's exciting! I wonder if they'll have better pranks in the future..." she paused to think about it before shaking her head. "Nah, they couldn't. Our pranks are the best! What would you like to do in the future, Karma?" She asked, curiously. "Is there something you'd like to see?"

"I make you happy by taking you back in time," Brenny mused, "And I could make other people by volunteering! I help Dea sometimes, that makes her happy! And I like giving things away. I could make things for people who really need them!" Like the eevee girl he had met, and Arashi, too. He could give them food and things they needed to survive. Truffles had certainly been happy when he'd bought her that sandwich! "I don't think I could write a book," he mused. "Not a good one, anyway. Daddy told me we were writing a book together, and that we decide the endings. But that's our lives, not a real book. And I can't build anything," he added, considering the thought. "Well, I suppose I haven't tried. But I can draw, and I can cook. I'm really good at making friends, too!" He beamed at the teasing, "We caught each other!" He decided. "Like Karma and I caught you!"

MoogerMint
Karma laughed at the idea, more out of excitement than finding it preposterous, "Yeah, that could be fun! I wonder if he can take more than one person? I hope he can!" It sounded like it'd be the most exciting outing that they'd have ever gone on, even without the lack of a memory to back such assumption up. "I dunno... what could we do in the future that wouldn't mess it up? Or is that only something that happens in the past?" the ditto asked. Just looking around the future seemed like it would be fun enough, but doing something more than that, zhe wouldn't be against it if it was possible!

Grayson nodded as Brenny continued to make his verbal lists, this time in response to what he could do to make more people happy. "If you can think of a way to do things like that for more people, then maybe you'll find exactly what it is you're looking to do. You know what different people like, depending on how they live, and what they tend to appreciate. Now you just need to apply that knowledge to a broader view to find the answer you seek," he explained, "It doesn't have to be anything I've suggested, either. Those are all ideas that others have implemented to do similar to what you're looking to do. You don't have to follow them, you can carve your own path." With a snicker at Brenny's assertion that he and Connie had caught each other simultaneously, and the supporting metaphor, he couldn't help but ask, "So you caught one another in pokéballs at the same time?" Made of rubber?

Thaliawen
"I bet he can!" Tania assured Karma, beaming. She paused and thought. "I think that's only in the past. You can't really mess up the future, because its already happened. Maybe you could mess up the future's future, but only because it'd be the past to the other future..." She pondered this a moment before giggling, shaking her head. "I think we can explore it! Maybe we'll make a friend or two. Or find someone to prank."

Brenny wasn't really listening, and his gaze had drifted from Grayson's face to the ground. He was blinking slowly. He rubbed at his eyes stubbornly, with one hand. "I think I know how to make people happy, Uncle Grayson," his voice had lost some of that endless enthusiasm, "I'll be myself and do what I can to make them happy." He rubbed at his eyes again, frowning. Stupid time travel. He supposed with great power, came great need to sleep, but he didn't want this to end! He was having fun, and Uncle Grayson was so excited to be studying ancient Pokemon in their natural habitat. Surely he could hold out a bit longer. "Not in pokeballs," he muttered. "I caught Daddy in my heart. And he caught me in his."

MoogerMint
Karma giggled, also thinking that Brenny could but wanting to be extra sure before assuming such things. This was going to be so fun! Once Tania started explaining why she didn't think they could mess anything up by fooling around in the future, Karma's confusion seemed to multiply. For a few moments after the mew had concluded, the ditto was still mouthing things out and counting on fingers to try to unweave the knot. Ohhh... FURTHER in the future! "Yeah, exactly, that's what I meant!" Karma exclaimed suddenly, "I dunno if it would do that!" Time travel sounded like risky business! "It'd be sad to make a friend and not be able to see them much again, though..." zhe considered, for they wouldn't probably see that friend for a good few years... and then, they wouldn't even know each other, "But pranks could be fun!" Apparently making enemies was different...

"That's what I said," Grayson commented from his scrawlings on the page, confused until Brenny's tone registered. Ahh... understandable. He finished up making some quick notes and clipped the pen to the top, inching away from the archen before trying to stand up fully again, to keep from scaring the prehistoric bird. With a chuckle, he commended, "Maybe you should be a poet, when you refer to it in such a manner." He reached his hand out to the celebi-child again, "Okay, it sounds like we should be headed back. Come on, we'll get some apple cider at the lab, that should recharge you." It wasn't alcoholic, after all, so it should work! "We'll come back some other time. Can't have you passing out before you open your present and get youself home, now can we?" he chided with a wink.

Thaliawen
"We'd see them again, as long as we don't go too far into the future," Tania was sure of it! The shadow mew scooted closer to Karma and took zher hand. "You know, my past was not so good. But I think my future is. I have you, and Daddy, and you light things up for me. I think your future must be good, too. And if its not, I can fix it for you. That's what sisters do!"

Brenny looked up, taking Grayson's hand. "Maybe," he said, "I caught you in my heart, too, Uncle Grayson. And Karma. Pokeballs can catch Pokemon, but hearts catch everyone--" he stifled a yawn behind his hand. Oh, he'd been caught. "Back?" He echoed, shaking his head. "No! There's more for you to see! There's this weird plant Pokemon and--" another yawn escaped him. "And we can see it next time," he decided. He'd almost forgotten about the present! He beamed, nodding. "Let's go home."

MoogerMint
"True..." Karma considered, "But I wonder how far into the future Brenny can go?" The pink-marked child hadn't been expecting Tania to come closer, and was surprised when she took hold of zher hand, even if zhe didn't jump about it -- there was nothing currently dangerous in here, after all! Karma's smile glowed at the sentiment, "I'm not worried about the future. Even if I can't remember other things, I can't forget you or the doctor. We can make all the rest of the days good!" Neither one of them started out their lives on the best of notes, but it didn't have to stay that way! Karma prodded back to Tania's hiding place suddenly, determination and mischievousness once more restored with a giggle, "Hurry, get back to your hiding place before they see you!"

Grayson's comment about Brenny being a poet wasn't unfounded, but he was amused to consider the possibility he might only be so openly romantic about it when he was half-awake. "You're right, they catch something different altogether," he agreed, "Pokéballs only trap the body, but hearts keep hold of the soul, right?" It was an interesting thought, at least. Grayson had managed to grab hold of one of Brenny's flailing arms, particularly the one that wasn't trying to mask a persistent yawn, ready to get going. "Yeah, there's always next time. Plenty of next times!" the man nodded, "But we can only take things one step at a time." And currently, that step was ending, leading into the next.

Thaliawen
"Dunno," Tania said, hurrying back to her hiding place. She was quiet for a moment, and then smiled. "Maybe he doesn't even know," she said. "The future goes on forever, its much larger than the past. Maybe he can only go as far into the future as the past allows." It was a strange thing, she decided, time travel. Strange, and fascinating. "They won't see us!" She declared, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle. This would be the best prank ever!

There was a flash of color: almost identical to the one before their journey had begun. This time, however, they seemed to be racing forward. Colors blurred together as they went. The celebi boy had his eyes shut firmly, but opened them once they hit solid ground. "We're here!" He announced, glancing about the lab. He wondered if he'd overshot the day. He didn't see Tania or Karma. Had they been taken away when Grayson hadn't come to care for them?

MoogerMint
Karma watched as Tania scurried back over to where she had been hiding previously, curiously considering. "If he doesn't know, then maybe we can help test how far into the future he can go!" the child suggested, fascinated with the prospect, "I wonder what it's like, a million years in the future?" Of course, Karma's estimation on how long the world had been around was immensely off, but the idea of it all still had the same sort of fire lit under it. With a mischievous grin still in place, Karma crouched down further on the balls of zher feet, hands propped on knees for balance, trying to become a smaller target to see. They wouldn't see what hit them!

Despite the dizzying effects, Grayson couldn't keep his eyes closed through their journey back home, to their own time. He considered how difficult it must have been to time it to the right point on the timeline, but thought it best to ask later, when Brenny would be less fatigued. In the meantime, he was fully capable of enjoying the view. With a chuckle at Brenny's exclamation upon arrival, he grinned, "We are! Thank you for that, Brenny! Now let's just get you some--"

Karma winked at Tania, indicating that now was the perfect time to jump out, before the two of them started looking too hard for the two children. Jumping out from behind the counter, the ditto mimed what zhe had seen Tania do before, arms outstretched, "BOO!" No wonder the mew-girl liked doing this, it was exhilarating!

Thaliawen
Brenny hid behind Grayson at Karma's sudden appearance. There was a long moment, and then his head emerged. He blew a raspberry at zher. "Hey, no trying to scare me!" He protested.

Tania chose to spring then, but a giggle had given her position away. "BOO!" She shouted, throwing her arms up into the air. She raced to Grayson. "Did I scare you? Huh? I did, didn't I?" She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I thought that wouldn't take long," she complained, "But it took forever!"

 

[Thaliawen]

Thaliawen

Moogermint

MoogerMint
Karma laughed at Brenny's reaction to the prank, steadying zhimself on solid ground from the bounce. With a grin, the ditto scooted around to be in better view, so that the scaring wouldn't continue. "Gotch'ya! We got you good!" Karma exclaimed, but the grin told of the good-natured attempt... or as good-natured as a prank could be, "We made hats!" They weren't up to no good, really!

Grayson jumped at the sudden sound and appearance of the two kids, his hand wrenched to the side as Brenny hid with it still holding grasp. "C-Careful!" he stuttered as Tania tackled him, worried she might accidentally smack Brenny on the other side. He ruffled her hair after he caught his breath, smiling, "You little rascals, you did!" He pulled her into a hug about her shoulders, "I'm sorry, it's kind of hard to judge time when you can flit around to any point on the line. We weren't gone too long, were we?" He was kind of worried, by an outside view, that they had been missing for a couple hours; that wasn't his intention at all!

Thaliawen
Brenny released his hold on Grayson to go up to Karma. He pouted. "You cheated," he complained. He pulled zher into a hug. "Don't worry. Scaring me doesn't turn you into a monster. Yay! You made hats? I want to see!" His lack of energy seemed to have disappeared. "Are they nice hats? Ooh, I want to make one too!"

"Not long," Tania admitted, having not yet released her hold on Grayson. "Long enough though, for us to make hats and plan to prank you! We did a good job, too!" The shadow mew beamed. "I saw you jump. You really were scared, weren't you? Next time you go, Karma and I want to go too! We do. We want to visit the future and see everything! Karma wants to meet her grandkids. Oooh, they'd be your great grandkids!" Tania made a face, "That makes you really old in the future, Daddy. Nevermind, I don't think it'd be fun, if you're that old."

MoogerMint
Karma's mismatched eyes grew wide at Brenny's harsh conviction, hands raised quickly and shaking zher head, "No no no, it was a prank! You're supposed to catch people off-guard!" Was there some other rule to this game that the ditto was unaware of? Once the celebi assured that he didn't think of Karma any differently than before, the momentary shock was almost immediately replaced with a grin, "Oh, good!" Zhe motioned to the hats that were spoken of, pointing eagerly with rose-disted fingers, "Yeah, awesome hats! Out of construction paper and ribbon! We couldn't find the glitter glue, though. And we kind of ran out of material to make many more..." It sucked, because Karma would have been happy to decorate the entire laboratory with festive hats...

Grayson chuckled at Tania's enthusiastic, honest reply, more relieved than anything else; there was no telling if they had really overshot their destination, but Brenny seemed to be quite adept at locating the correct spot on the timeline. "Yeah, it looks like you both have been pretty busy while we were out! Were you practicing?" he grinned, indicating how well they seemed to be able to scare the two time travelers. "We'll see about taking you some time, but you would need to go through rigorous testing. Brenny would have to be the one to deem whether you are fit to travel or not yet," he stated firmly, teasing. In all honesty, he didn't know if the young celebi would be able to handle them all at once like that, or whether Tania and Karma wouldn't get into dangerous situations without constant supervision... so it was best not to promise anything of the sort, even if the questions the two seemed to harbor would be quite interesting to investigate, "This is for research, not play. I don't think I'd want to see myself that old, either, honestly... Now, I'm going to go get some apple cider for everyone. Tania, can you go grab Brenny's present? It should be in the closet, wrapped in a coat."

Thaliawen
Brenny considered this for a moment, before pouting. Not enough materials? Lame! "They are pretty," he complimented the ditto child with a smile. "Make me one after you get more!" Maybe making one was out of the question, but taking one home was something entirely different! He looked around the lab, pausing. "Maybe we can do an experiment sometime," he mused. He doubted Grayson would allow it: but science wasn't that much different than cooking, was it? You were following a recipe, weren't you? "I saw a recipe on how to make slime once! Cornstarch, water and food coloring! We could make it all sorts of pretty colors, like you!"

"A little," Tania admitted, "Karma needed to practice some. But I showed her how to scare you properly! And we did!" The mew girl beamed. The smile faded as Grayson mentioned testing. It had the intended effect: if his intention had been to cause Tania to make a face and shake her head. Maybe this time traveling thing wasn't worth it! Rigorous testing? Hm. No, definitely not worth it. She didn't want to waste time being tested, when time could be spent pranking! "Maybe we could visit the past instead?" She asked hopefully. "Sure!" The mew girl obediently left to go to the closet. She picked up the bundle at the bottom of the closet, returning with it. "Make sure to put extra cinnamon in mine!"

MoogerMint
Noting Brenny's pout upon realization that there was not enough supplies for him to make his own hat, Karma wasted little time in deliberation before snatching one up and offering it gleefully to him, "Here, have this one!" Maybe it would make up for the fact he couldn't create one, at least for now. Upon hearing of the celebi-boy's desire to run experiments, the ditto looked dubiously at him, curious. "Slime? What does that do?" zhe asked; regardless of its purpose, it did sound like Brenny knew what he was talking about... and it sounded like it could be a lot of fun, too! Clapping hands together, the androgynous child cheered, "Oooh, tie dye?" Never mind that a combination like that could turn the nastiest shade of grey...

Grayson grinned, happy to hear how well Tania seemed to be adjusting to living in such a different arrangement than before, already sounding at ease. "Well aren't you the most supportive sister you could be?" he complimented, giving her another squeeze, "Ever thought of being a teacher?" While the fading enthusiasm the mew-girl had to the idea of going through a testing phase for time traveling amused him, he tried not to let it show beyond the smile that had already been present on his face as he moved toward the break area for the glasses and cider, "It's possible, but either way it's still time travel, and Brenny has authority on who he thinks he can bring." He wouldn't have minded taking them along, if Brenny was capable of it, at some point... just as long as Tania and Karma behaved themselves a little more than they were currently willing to elicit. He heard Tania's request, grabbing the cinnamon shaker and setting it onto the tray with the mugs as he brought them out for everyone. He set it on the closest counter so that everyone would be within reach, indicating with a tilt of his head that Brenny should open the present, now that he was back.

Thaliawen
Brenny beamed, immediately placing the hat upon his head. "Thank you!" He said, wrapping his arms around the ditto child. He released her after a moment, seeming to pause in order to consider her question. "It doesn't do anything. It's just slime. It's fun to touch, though! The book I read with the recipe said so! And it said you can put food coloring in it to make it pretty!" He grinned. Tie dye slime would be fun! He noticed Grayson was back: with mugs of hot cider! He would have to make some for Connie later, the scent alone was wonderful! He hesitated, glancing to Tania. He took the coat wrapped bundle and started to open it. Yay, a present! He'd been looking forward to this: but was it really a fair exchange? A physical present was better than having a brief glimpse into the past!

"I'm the best sister," Tania boasted, immediately. Teacher? The mew girl made a face. Weren't teachers people who made up a whole lot of rules that were no fun? She stuck out her tongue at the idea. "No, I'm going to be a prankster scientist! That's the best job for me. I'm going to make things explode and it'll scare people. It'll be fun!" She allowed Brenny to take the bundle, reaching for a mug. She took the cinnamon shaker and shook it twice over her mug before setting it down, then sampling the cider. "It's good!" She announced. Even if Brenny couldn't take her back in time, at least she had Grayson and Karma in this time. That was more than she'd had in the past, anyway! She took Grayson's hand with her free hand. "We don't need to go," she said. As long as they had each other!

MoogerMint
Karma gleefully returned the hug, glad that Brenny liked the hat, "You're welcome!" The idea of making slime, even if it wasn't for something altogether useful, was definitely an intriguing idea, though. Perhaps Tania and zher could use it in some pranks, even! At that thought, Karma was all the more eager to try it, "Okay, then yeah, we should do that! It sounds like it could be fun to try! Maybe we can make a bunch, of all different colors." The colorful child giggled at the thought, moving closer to the counter to grab a mug of cider and watch as Brenny opened his gift.

Grayson snickered and shook his head at Tania's declaration of her preferred job. He'd never seen her all that interested in many things science-related, though she had pretended to be interested a few times in order to get him away from his research. Or, rather, to get his research away from him. He wasn't about to doubt her, though; maybe she just needed the right incentives, and perhaps she was actively looking! "Don't drink it too fast, we don't want any tummy aches now," he instructed, taking a mug for himself as he sat down on a stool at the counter. He grinned at Tania as she assured the man that she didn't have to go time traveling, but shook his head, "I'm not saying you can't, I just think it's too early to tell. Besides, they are Brenny's abilities; he'd be able to say better than I could." Even if he was nervous about her and Karma taking a trip to some other time... Turning attention back to Brenny's unwrapping, he prodded, "Well?" He knew the celebi had been waiting long enough.

Thaliawen
Tania sipped at her cider, heeding Grayson's warning. Yes, a tummy ache would be terrible after such a great day! She hesitated, before studying Grayson for a long moment. Hm... He wasn't saying she couldn't go, but he wasn't saying she could. She sat on the counter closest to him, and releasing his hand, shook a finger at him. "No," she said. "This time is the best time. All of us are together and happy. Other times would be fun to visit. But none of them will be as good as this one!"

Brenny opened his gift and held it up triumphantly. "A car!" He exclaimed, perhaps having forgotten that he'd requested one. "Thank you, Uncle Grayson!" Delighted, he started to open the package. After admiring the toy for a long, silent moment, he carefully tucked it into his pocket. He wasn't willing to risk losing such a treasure!

 

[Thaliawen]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=1&t=24414441#367278771  

[Thaliawen]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=1&t=24463409#367393865  

[Thaliawen]

Look what Erina drew! It's Brenny!  

[Thaliawen]

Insert finished rp  

[Thaliawen]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=24549747  

[Thaliawen]

On his way to Grayson's lab, Brenny found something decidedly strange. For one thing, there were several sandwich wrappings on the ground. And someone had discarded the crusts. Huh. He knew Karma wasn't allowed out without supervision--so it must have been--ah! Speak of the devil! His eyes had landed on Tania. She was standing near the shed, and seemed to be arguing with it. This was strange, even for the shadow mew (she'd once attempted to force Brenny into playing tea party, so he didn't have very high standards for her behavior). He wandered over.

"Hey Kitty!" The nickname had stuck, from when he'd first found her and delivered her to Grayson. "What are you doing?"

"Declan, you know you're not supposed to come out! You could be seen!" The shadow mew froze, stiffening and going pale upon hearing Brenny's voice. "Nothing!" Was her response. "Just talking to my... invisible friend!" It was a brilliant cover, she decided: well, maybe not. But it was the best she had. Thankfully, the celebi seemed to believe her. Declan was their secret, hers and Karma's. Tania didn't want to be the one to give it away. It was too important, and Declan needed them.

"You have one, too?" He beamed. "Mine never had a name. They disappeared ages ago, though." Around the time he'd found Connie, he figured.

"Yes, well. It's time for his nap!" Tania invented, hoping to deter the boy's interest. "Did you come to see Daddy?" It wasn't uncommon for the celebi to pop by. She was surprised when he shook his head solomnly.

"I came to see you!" He announced. "Tristan asked me to ask you to come visit him. He misses you, you know. And he's not really that far away! Anyway, he says if you come that he's got a surprise for you and that you'll really, really like it." He smiled at her. "He says he has a cell phone and you can call him. Here's his number." He handed her a piece of paper. It had seven numbers scrawled on it. "I bet Uncle Grayson has a phone you can use!"

"Er. Thank you," Tania wasn't sure how she felt about contacting Tristan. They'd been parted by unhappy circumstances; and though they'd met up afterward, it was awkward. "I'll call him tonight," she promised. "Hey, Brenny, thanks." She gave his hand a squeeze, taking the piece of paper. "I'll wish him a happy new year." A good time for new starts, wasn't it? Maybe this year, she'd be able to become closer to him.

She'd have to make that call.  

[Thaliawen]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=24593937  

[Thaliawen]

All missing roleplays / reserved posts have been updated filled with the roleplays previously indicated.  

[Thaliawen]

Reserved for finished roleplay! Summary: Aoife, Brenny and Niall play Storycubes, but something's got Niall wound up. What is it?  

[Thaliawen]

http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php/?t=24602411&page=last