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 Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 12:01 pm
When Aulus stepped out of the shower Char was waiting with a warm fluffy towel over his arm. Drying off quickly and the wrapping the towel around his waist the grunt made for his dorm room, hoping his roommate wouldn't be in. Fortunately he wasn't, and so as Aulus dressed he spoke aloud to himself.
"Hey Claire, what're you doing tomorrow... No, that's s**t."
"Afternoon Claire, I was wondering if you'd give me a hand with a little problem I have... Definitely not."
"Hi, how are you? I need your help with something... Sounds like I'm only asking her how she is because I want something. Damn."
A huff from across the room announced that somebody was unimpressed by his efforts, and when Aulus' head appeared from the neck of his t-shirt it was scowling. "You got any better ideas, Tortie?" he demanded. "It's all very well for you to huff, you don't have to deal with this kind of thing... Hi Claire, are you free to hang out tomorrow?... Ugh. I give up." Putting on a pair of trainers Aulus left the room with scowl still in place, and both Char and Tortie trailing along beside him, and notably a new pokeball clipped to his belt. Just... just go with it. Act normal, whatever the hell that was these days.
Once outside Claire's room, however, uncertainty took over again and Aulus paused with his fist raised ready to knock. What if she wasn't in? What if she was asleep, or busy? What if she was grumpy and told him to bugger off? What if he ended up coming out with that stupid 'give me a hand with my little problem' thing?
Knock knock.
Aulus looked at his fist - which he hadn't moved an inch - in surprise for a moment before scowling and looking down. Char looked back up with a faintly apologetic expression and stepped back again. Perhaps the Charmeleon was right though, hanging around in the hall wouldn't get him anywhere. Pushing his fingers through his hair, Aulus waited for Claire to answer. It would be fine. Totally. No problem... So long as he didn't mention giving hands.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:05 pm
There was a slight delay after Char's knock - a slight delay filled with much rustling and whuffling beneath the door from an excited puppy, as well as a quiet, "Artemis, move" - before the door opened. It would be exceedingly apparent to the three on the other side of the door that Aulus wasn't the only one who'd had a shower recently, as Claire stood in the doorway with messy wet hair and a brush in one hand. A pale Cyndaquil clung to her shoulder while most of her hair was pushed to the other. Her eyes weren't violet at the moment, probably because she'd just stepped out of the shower just a very few minutes ago. At first she looked curious and slightly hesitant - or perhaps reluctant - when she opened the door, but when she saw who it was the expression immediately relaxed into a smile, and she opened the door wider. "Hey Aulus, Tortie, Char," an excited bark issued from behind the door at the latter name, "come on in."
As she stepped back to let them in, she resumed what she had been doing before Char knocked, which was attempting to brush her hair with a tiny Cyndaquil clinging to her shoulder and staring wide-eyed at these strange things his owner had let into her room.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 2:17 pm
Oh. Wow. Hello Claire... Oh! Hello! "Who's this then?" Aulus asked with a grin, stepping inside and leaving Char to close the door. "She.. He? Uh... It's lovely. When did you get it?" The little fire type looked a bit nervous clinging onto her like that, oh and look she'd swept all her hair out of its way leaving a tumble of way black hair over one shoulder and one side of her neck exposed...
Anyway.
Moving swiftly on.
Sitting down on the edge of Claire's bed Aulus started stroking Tortie, who had come to sit next to him. He was trying to pay more attention to her now than he had when he'd first arrived, especially around Claire; it didn't make sense for the dark type to feel jealous so far as he saw it, but of late he was coming to understand that people - human and pokemon alike - often felt things that didn't make sense, that they couldn't control. Tortie hadn't asked to come here, he needed to remember that and make sure she knew their changed circumstances didn't change his affection for her.
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 2:55 pm
"This is Luc," she said with a happy smile, and the Cyndaquil perked up when he heard his name, snuggling into Claire's shoulder more. "Quii!" She reached a hand up to stroke his flame-less back as she joined Aulus, sitting beside him on the bed. Luc slid down onto her lap, leaving her free to brush the tangles out of her damp hair. "Lucas gave him to me as an egg after the whole cave fiasco," she explained, glad that the time since the event had dulled the feelings of fear that Galactic should recognize her, so her tone was even and didn't waver. "He hatched just a couple of weeks ago. Isn't he adorable? Bit of a scaredy-cat though," the agent finished ruefully, studying the albino pokemon in her lap carefully. He was watching Aulus and Tortie very carefully, as if either of them could lean over and bite his head off at any moment.
Artemis was clearly oblivious to how scary they all were, and she immediately began running in excited circles around Char. Claire watched her a moment before rolling her hazel eyes, which thereafter focused on Aulus. "So what's up?" He had to have some reason for visiting her, after all. The idea that he'd come just to spend time with her was ridiculous - why would he do that? - so he had to have some reason for coming, obviously.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 1:25 pm
"He's cute," Aulus grinned, working his fingers deep into Tortie's mane to give her a really good scratch, "and maybe I just came by to say hello... Ha, right, anyway, I wanted to ask for your help with something." Reaching down Aulus plucked his new pokeball off his belt and held it up between thumb and forefinger. "Pidgeot," he explained, "caught it yesterday. I was wondering if you could give me some tips on training, and maybe some flying lessons?... I'll do something for you in return of course, owe your a favour or whatever." Phew, he'd managed to avoid saying anything to stupid, a minor miracle really... Her hair really did look better when it wasn't straightened.
Tortie was quite pleased with how things were going so far, her trainer was talking to the other human but still paying attention to her. She could live with that. Making a happy 'mrr' noise she dropped her chin onto his knee and closed her eyes. Nice scratches.
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 5:32 am
"Isn't he?" She smiled, stroking his back gently and studying the pink spots where flames supposedly shot out. He'd been curiously and distinctly lacking thus far - except when he sneezed, of course. At the mention of another Pidgeot, her eyes immediately zeroed in on the ball between his fingers. If her love of the birds wasn't obvious before, it was now. "Ooh, where?"
Her attention wasn't the only one to be captivated. Odette, who had been ignoring them all to quietly preen in a corner, suddenly whipped her head towards them and fluffed up indignantly, bright eyes staring intently - perhaps a bit venomously - at the ball that contained another Pidgeot. One word: competition.
Claire ignored her, still petting Luc as she focused on Aulus again. "Sure, I'd love to. Hmm.." But when? "What's tomorrow?" Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall, but for some reason the date escaped her. She didn't think she'd be too busy later on the next day though.. Hopefully not.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:51 am
"Just out in the desert," Aulus shrugged, tossing the pokeball up into the air and catching it again casually. He'd been out getting some pictures of nice dramatic sand dunes when he'd run across the bird, but he wasn't about to volunteer that information. "She wasn't too much of a challenge to subdue," Aulus went on, "and she doesn't seem too pissed about having been caught, or didn't once I gave her something nice to eat anyway... Uh... Tomorrow." Fishing out his 'dex the scarred man pulled up a calender with the current date highlighted and turned it so that Claire could see.
"I can do tomorrow if it's good for you," he said with a nod, "afternoon or evening, I'm only on duty first thing." An afternoon off would be more than welcome actually, his life seemed to have got insanely busy of late. He supposed being asked to do extra duties and trusted with little bits and pieces was a good sign, but that didn't make it any less bloody exhausting.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 11:52 am
"In the desert?" She frowned slightly, brows furrowing a bit. "I haven't seen any wild Pidgeot in the desert before.. interesting." She trailed off a bit when the 'dex was presented to her, but she reached out with one hand to gently hold it steady so she could read it, and a finger briefly - accidentally- brushed a couple of his. She didn't seem to notice it though, too busy frowning at the date. "Huh, the 17th," she said absently, releasing it with a vaguely confused look on her face, as if someone just told her some blatantly obvious and important piece of information that she'd somehow forgotten. "That's my birthday." How could she have forgotten? Well... she had been pretty busy lately - nearly dying while furthering the Team's goal of world domination and all that. It wasn't like it was anything important anyway - not anymore.
The moment passed just as quickly as it had come up, and her expression cleared as she focused on him again. "I have to work in the morning, but I should be free in the afternoon sometime." The fact that it was also her birthday was easily dismissed. It wasn't like she was anywhere near her family to celebrate it anyway, and even if she was, that would be much too dangerous. And then again, what would be the point of celebrating it here, when only a handful of people in the entire base even knew her real name? No, it was pointless and superfluous. Totally unnecessary. Yes, of course it was.
Luc huddled up under Claire's hands, not liking the fact that this strange vicious killer-human was shoving things in his owner's face.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:14 pm
Somebody accidentally brushing your hand with theirs wasn't supposed to give you Butterfree in the stomach. It really was stupid, he really was stupid. Sooner he could just move on and shove her back into the friends-zone the better...
Hu?
"Your birthday?" Aulus blinked, still stroking Tortie to keep her placid. "Oh... Well, right, anyway. I can do the evening or afternoon no problem. I'll probably be down in the gym after lunch if you want to come find me there, or you can message me when you're free and I'll come find you. Either way." Her birthday. What was he going to do about that? He couldn't do anything much or it would look... Well, it would look like he cared too much. Casual friends, that was all... but if she didn't know it was him, he could do whatever he wanted. Of course this still left the problem of working out what he did want to do, but he had at least twelve hours which was absolutely plenty of time! Sod. Why was he no good at this kind of thing? He'd always been terrible at presents.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:52 pm
"Yeah," she affirmed absently, looking down at Luc as she stroked his back. Her tone of voice indicated that her birthday held the same level of importance as the time of day or day of the week - not much at all. "Uhh.. how about after dinner? I'm done about 3pm or so." That would give her time to shower, train herself and her other pokemon a bit, have an early dinner, then meet him-- uh... somewhere. "How about I meet you out front in the desert around 6?" Early dinner or very late dinner. "That way the sun isn't so bright that it's blinding, and it won't be as hot." That sounded good to her, at least.
The Cyndaquil in her lap curled up and made happy noises, forgetting for the time being that there was a scary human-killer sitting next to his owner.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:20 pm
"Sure," Aulus nodded, "sounds good to me..." And having made that arrangement he had no idea what else to say to her. He kind of wanted to ask her more about her Cyndaquil, to find out how her other pokemon were and more about how she was. For some reason - he knew the reason, the stupid stupid reason - he couldn't get the words together in his head to say anything more at all really.
"Well... Uh... I've got a few other things I need to get done today," he said eventually, "sorry to rush off on you but... Well you know how superiors are. Anyway, if I'm hoping to get myself noticed and promoted soon I should go above and beyond or whatever. Sick of sharing my room, I really am." His roommate wasn't awful, the reasonable part of him knew that, but the unreasonable part of him which so far as he could tell accounted for about 99% of the whole bristled at having his personal space invaded. He'd never shared a room with a 'roomie' before coming here, in fact he'd only shared a room whilst on holiday with the family and when... The less he thought about her the better. b***h.
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:30 pm
The sides of her mouth twitched into a smile at his sort-of awkward pause, so she smiled up at him, hazel eyes studying his handsome (where did that come from?) face for a moment or two. "Oh, I know exactly what you mean. So, see you tomorrow?" Oh, she was so looking forward to tomorrow. She did enjoy hanging out with Aulus. She absolutely loved birds, and that's all she was looking forward to. Really. ...well..
---
The next day Claire had finished work and trained a bit, but had only grabbed a sandwich for dinner before heading out to the desert surrounding the base. It was still a few minutes before 6pm, and as she held her half-eaten sandwich in one hand, she plucked a single pokeball from her waist and released a gold and white Pidgeot. Her other pokemon - barring Luc, who was currently clinging to her shoulder and waving one stubby arm hungrily at what was left of her sandwich - were left in her room. "Alright, go stretch," was all the agent said, and the bird happily obliged with a chirrup before swooping into the skies. Hopefully the exercise would take the edge off her energy and in turn decrease the likelihood of Odette trying to maul Aulus' new bird. Hopefully.
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:47 pm
The time between leaving Claire's room and now had been a bit fraught to say the least. The first thing he'd done was hurry down to the garage and argue with some pedantic little blond man with creepy pale eyes about whether or not he could check out a car at that given moment in time. As it had turned out he couldn't, because one Agent had gone off duty ten minutes early and shortie mc robot face had not yet officially started his shift. As such he could not sanction such a thing especially for a young muscle head with no sense of decorum, apparently. Aulus had only narrowly resisted the urge to deck him.
When he eventually got a car signed out and made it to Campheron he spent a few useless hours wandering around various shops looking for a present for Claire. He'd seen plenty of things he liked a lot, but none that he could afford. Gone were the days when he could call his father if he really wanted something (within reason) and ask nicely. He missed being able to do that. He missed his father more. Once he'd finishing ogling things he couldn't afford and moping a bit about his life in general, he'd settled on a bunch of purple flowers and called it the end of a bad day.
The next day, today that was, had involved muddling through his duties as best he could whilst worrying about his plan. It would work, right? It ought to, and he wasn't going to make a fool of himself in front of Claire was he? Well, he was heading out into the desert now with Tortie beside him and Red in her pokeball on his belt so he supposed he was about to find out.
Pushing his fingers through his hair, Aulus tried to find some semblance of casualness from somewhere as he approached Claire. "Evening," he nodded, "sorry I'm a couple of minutes late, caught up in some last minute bits and pieces." Caught up in changing his outfit three times, and giving Char the same lecture three times too. It would work though. It would. It was a good plan... right?
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Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:19 pm
Claire had significantly less stressors to deal with, although she had one thing in common with Aulus' busy day - changing her outfit. Not that she was nervous or anything, it was just.. that... her clothes were all dirty! Nevermind that she hadn't even worn half of them since they were last washed, they were dirty. That was why she changed half a dozen times, no other reason. Of course not. And that was most definitely the reason she'd chosen an outfit she felt she looked rather good in. Coincidence, that's all it was.
"Evening," she echoed with a nod and a smile - why was she nervous? There was no reason to be nervous, none at all. She could trust him, of course - and if she couldn't, Odette would handle things. ...not that she'd need to, of course, Aulus wouldn't do anything he shouldn't. After a pause she realized she wasn't breathing, so she inhaled quickly - quietly - and turned to gaze up at Odette. Her contacts were back in. "Oh, that's okay." She was busy eating anyway - or was, but had obviously given the Cyndaquil who had slid off her shoulder and into her arms the last bite of her sandwich, which he was in the process of savoring. "I already let Odette out for some exercise. I figured it'd be better if she's a bit tired, less likely she'll attack your new Pidgeot. Uh," probably not the best thing to say, but hey, it was the truth. He had to be prepared. "She shouldn't, though."
She raised two fingers to her lips and whistled sharply, and the response she received was a shrill cry before a blur of gold and white landed near the pair, flapping her wings a bit and very obviously desiring compliments for her undeniably amazing flying abilities. "Very good, Odette." The bird visibly deflated. "Right then. Aulus has a new Pidgeot --" Odette bristled immediately. "-- and he wants your help to train her so he can fly on her. Alright?"
The Pidgeot turned narrowed gray eyes to Aulus, her crest raised a bit as if the fact he preferred another bird to her was insulting - probably because it was. But after a moment she flapped her wings a bit and started preening very carefully. Her resignation was met with a small, relieved sigh from her trainer - not too relieved, considering what was about to happen - before Claire turned to Aulus and nodded. "Let her out."
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BlackFireKitsune Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2011 11:37 am
Right then. Hopefully this wouldn't go too badly wrong. Nodding to Claire - and calling Tortie back to her pokeball after giving her a pat - Aulus took the second pokeball from his belt and released the occupant. "This is Red," he nodded to the Pidgeot who was now peering around curiously, "nice one, isn't she?"
Ah! Free again at last! She wasn't sure she liked staying shut away like that, but it was at least fairly restf-
Hello~
As her eyes alighted on Odette, Red practically cooed. Ruffling her feathers so as to show herself off to her best advantage she made more pleasant noises, observing how lovely the other bird looked and that she must be the finest lady in the whole desert if not the whole of the land! What fine care she took of her plumage, and how sleek was she! Up until now Red had been a little conflicted on the issue of being an 'owned' pokemon, but on laying eyes on the lovely companions it seemed she was to have she was thoroughly sold on the whole thing.
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