Welcome to Gaia! ::

Luke spent his days rested, but it was hard to feel very refreshed in spite of that. Even if had made the resolution to improve as a trainer, it often felt as though he were standing still, stagnating like a summer puddle after a storm. He didn't mind clear skies, but after his bold declaration that they wouldn't stand aside and let the League take care of things for them, he wished he could inspire some sort of feeling of progress.

Evaluating and berating himself wasn't good for anything but extra stress, though. And while there certainly wasn't anything wrong with feeling a little pressure now and again, Luke generally found that he felt much better about things if he took a little time here and there to get out of the city and divert his thoughts to lighter matters. It was this finding that had brought him to the grassy, tree-dappled area that gradated from the city to the forest, a book resting casually in his lap. He'd done a fair bit of reading during the time he was forbidden to leave his house, if only because it was a small feat to disguise the stories as studying materials. There was something oddly pleasant about the feeling of the corner of a page between his fingertips.

What he couldn't have expected, engaged in a story or not, was for someone to come trundling up out of the woods like some kind of zombie. Even less would he have expected to have recognized said zombie-like individual, and he was momentarily lost for a reaction but to stare wide-eyed. Eventually he found a proper response to the situation, and the book went disregarded on the ground as he stood to meet his friend, "What the heck are you doing out there, looking like that?! Are you all right?" He couldn't help but thing of the woman in town telling him about the importance of knowing first aid.

Yeah, that was easy to believe. "Right, the only way you're 'fine' is if I fell asleep and this is a dream." Repede's response to his human's words didn't do a whole lot to validate Yuri's claim either. He murmured a passing "hang on" as he ducked to the small bag on the ground that had accompanied him. Being somewhat knowledgeable in the application of first aid didn't give him the foresight to carry the necessary tools, but he did have one thing that could have been useful. He held it up offeringly, the condensation forming on the surface indicating its cool temperature, "Water?"

Luke remained crouching by the bag, absently observing for a few moments before speaking up, "So I'm guessing that asking what happened is off-limits?" Insisting he was fine while looking like that was a pretty solid indication of not wanting to talk about it. He wasn't going to force an explanation, but he wouldn't pretend he wasn't curious either.

Fair enough, Luke was prepared to respect that. As he came to that decision, though, he caught sight of a stranger appearing slightly behind Yuri. She must have come from within the forest, he determined, to have avoided detection so easily. Before he could draw attention to her, though, she drew attention to herself.

"Wow! Someone could sure use an anti-inflammatory tablet!"

The girl blinked expectantly as she received silence in reply. Tough crowd. "Anti-inflammatoire, oui?" she repeated, as though changing the language would change the response. "Probably a cold compress too, really. And a hairbrush, if we're being honest." She rooted around in a satchel as she spoke, eventually presenting a small bottle labeled as a generic pain-killer. She shook it slightly in her hand to rattle the contents, "I'd lend you my hairbrush too but I don't want a whole bunch of forest caught in the bristles. You understand."

She placed her hands on her hips with a dramatic huff, "So you're already all friendly with the doctor when you visit the clinic or with the pharmacist when you have a prescription filled? I'll have you know I'm a proper nurse, my good man!"

(Sounds legit.)

"Well, I thought I'd be a little nice since I have to be all terrible, but if you're not interested then there's no helping that." The shade of the thicket was pierced by a pair of dimly glowing eyes that indicated the invisible source of the Telekinesis aimed restrictively at Repede.

Luke wasn't really sure what to make of the sudden appearance of the young woman, and, given that she hadn't addressed or even seemed to notice him, he was content to just watch for a while. Repede's sudden levitation, however, was indication enough that the time for watching idly had passed. The boy rose to his feet; Yuri voiced objection enough for both of them so he felt no need to add his own words, but wasn't going to let the situation progress any further without being prepared to react to it.

"What am I?" the woman interjected, a faintly feral glint to her gaze. "In a world where murderers in prison get top-notch medical treatment paid for by the taxes of the families of their victims, I'm a good person." In a sharp, agile motion, she took a swift kick at Yuri's ankles to knock his legs out from under him.