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Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:14 pm
It was a chilly day, though the sun was bright and cheery. It failed to warn those venturing outdoors to the chill in the air, and the snow that had been predicted for later that night. Tristan was out looking for the perfect gift for his usual companion, Fluff. The boy wasn't with him, Tristan had made sure to go out on a day Fluff couldn't. What would he like, the teen wondered. A stuffed animal? Maybe a friend for his stuffed dog? Christmas shopping for his brother was harder than he'd imagined it to be. Oh well! At least this way, he could find a gift without worrying about Fluff seeing it too soon. It felt strange, being out on his own. He was used to having a companion to chat with. Somehow, it made the air feel colder.
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:21 pm
Solange as bundled up tighter than most children on their first trip sledding. Her spirit had never agreed with cold weather, and now that she was grown she'd grown a fondness for long, thick trench coats with furred collars and boots with the fur. It wasn't often that she went out shopping during the day, since she was usually sleeping after a shift at the bar, but with the approaching holidays she knew she only had a limited amount of time to shop for her family without having said family around.
She sidestepped around a few chatting kids to lean back against the edifice of a nearby pawn shop to remove her gloves. A little burst of ember quickly warmed her dark hands, even if it did nothing for her other pieces of exposed skin. That was part of the trip as well - she needed new scarves, hats, gloves, the works!
If only it wasn't so cold!
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:52 pm
Tristan's attention was drawn to the pawn shop, and he hesitated. His eyes widened. He stared. It couldn't be! Jayme had implied that something must have happened to Sol, when the minun had called pleading with him to have Urban come rescue him. But there she was! Forgetting his intent to purchase gifts for his brother, the minun teen took off at a sprint. He wrapped his arms around her. "Momma!" He greeted her. He'd worried over her, he'd missed their outings. And here she was. She was here! She was okay!
"Its me! Tristan! I've finally found you!" He'd found her! She was okay, and she was here. "I've missed you," he added. "You're okay now? I know something happened and Dad came home..." his expression darkened at the memory, but only briefly. "Its so great to see you!"
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:00 pm
Solange couldn't help it; she growled and started to push him off. "What in the hell?!" She pulled him off her, but kept her hands on his shoulders, more confused than ever to have this teenager call her...momma...
She scrunched her face up and gave him a long look before he spot again. It seemed she hadn't been the only one to grow up, and she hadn't expected to see him again, let alone older..."Yeah, yeah, I'm okay now." Solange said in a kind of disbelieved whisper. She grabbed him back up in her arms and gave him a tighter hug. "Are you okay? You're someplace safe, right? And Tania?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:11 pm
"I'm okay." Ish. Tristan wasn't sure, he was still having trouble adjusting to Dea's large family. It was daunting. He'd adjusted well enough to Fluff, and he'd never thought that would happen. Maybe it would just take time. "I'm living with Uncle Timmy and his mother. I don't know about Tania. A friend of mine said hed found her fainted in front of his place, but that he couldn't keep her. He said he took her somewhere nice, but I dont know where. I looked for her, but I couldn't find her. I'm sure I will, though! I looked for you, and I found you!" He was so glad to have found her, at last. He felt like he hadn't smiled this much in weeks. Maybe he hadn't. "Are you shopping for presents?" He asked. "Hey! I know! I haven't gotten you anything yet! I'll buy you something nice."
He glanced around at the stores, releasing his hold on Sol, only to reach for her hand. "I'm really glad you're okay, Momma. I was worried. Jayme told me something bad happend."
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:27 pm
The news was disturbing, but not unexpected. She hadn't expected the kids to have an easy time adjusting, but at least they had a roof over their head and someone to care for them. Solange wanted to ask about Timmy, after the incident with Cam, but that was a discussion for another day.
"I'm glad. Not about Tania passing out, but that you guys are okay. You've grown up pretty snazzy, squirt." She gave a tight half-grin. Comforting and making up after things hadn't ever been her strong suit, but she'd never planned on becoming estranged from Tristan or Tania. It had just taken longer to find him than she thought. "Just...just seeing you is a present enough for me. Besides, shouldn't you be buying things for Timmy and his family?" Or rather, Tristan's new family.
She took his hand, but gave a little grimace all the same. "You're old enough for me to tell you the truth. I was jumped, Tristan, on my way home from work, and I was in the hospital for a while. What happened after that, with Urban..." She scratched back of her head with an exasperated sigh. How was she supposed to say this? "I'm sorry. I know that's no where near going to cut it, but I am. I'm not your mom anymore, I wasn't really your mom to begin with, so you should probably call me Sol. But I want to help you, be there for you if you need me, got it? I'm just a phone call away."
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:47 pm
"I always said I'd end up as tall as you or dad. I'm not yet, but one day!" He was sure of it. He frowned slightly, shaking his head at her. "I want to get you a present, Momma," he said. "I have enough money to. You're my family as much as they are." More, really. She and Urban had raised him from the time he'd been a Pokemon. Draven had only taken him in days before his sudden growth spurt had taken place. "I've missed you. And I wasn't able to get you a get well card..." he hesitated. "It'll count for that too! I'll get you two presents!"
He paused, recognizing the serious tone the conversation was taking. His eyes widened in horror. "Jumped?" He echoed. He couldn't believe it. Why would anyone want to hurt her? "Its okay," he said, "Dad snapped. Maybe he didn't want us to see you hurt so badly. Maybe he was protecting us. For a long time I thought he'd change his mind and come for me. I asked Jayme to have him come get me." He'd waited. He'd refused Dea's offers to adopt him. "I kind of figured," he said. That'd take some adjusting, calling her by her name, "We're still family, though," he said. He pulled a tablet out of his pocket and quickly wrote down his phone number. He handed it to her. "Same goes for you. If anything happens, I want to know."
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:56 pm
"You're getting pretty close already." How could this teenager be the little boy from her memories? It hadn't been that long ago, had it? How long had she been in the hospital? No one had ever given her a definite timeline, but now it bugged the s**t out of her.
"Urban cares, same as me, but neither one of us were ready to be parents and he was scared with everything that was going on. It's the concept that everything's fine until s**t hits the fan and you see where the cracks are." She took the proffered paper, and slipped it into her pocket after giving it a once over. "We'll always be family as far as I'm concerned, even if titles get changed around."
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 8:06 pm
Tristan was silent. Urban still cared? He wondered if that were true. He had been angry when it had first happened. He had been bitter towards Tania. He'd blamed her; and after, he had been angry at everyone in Dea's household. He had been bursting with emotion that entire time, until he seemed to grow into it. "But you were good parents," he insisted. They had done the best they could, and they had loved him. "I'm okay, see? And everything I am is because of you two. You inspired me to paint and chase dreams. You took care of me. And Tania. I'm sure she feels the same way."
He paused, and gave her hand a squeeze. "Mom--er. Sol, arceus, that's going to be hard. Let's go find you something, huh? And I'll tell you how boring Uncle Timmy is."
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 8:35 pm
Solange didn't have the gall to argue the point with him. She was too tired of thinking self-depreciating thoughts that she had no desire to vocalize them. No matter what, as long as Tristan was okay with how things ended up, she needed to be that way too. You couldn't change the past.
"Don't ever stop painting, just, you know, don't do that on walls anymore unless it's professionally." Oh Arceus, he wasn't into graffiti, was he? Somehow that fit in her mind, the act anyway, she couldn't really imagine him breaking the law. Solange squeezed his hand back, and started to walk toward the actual shops and away from the pawn area.
"How boring is Timmy?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 9:34 pm
"Don't worry," he assured her, teasingly, "I haven't found a canvas as nice as your apartment wall." He hadn't painted on walls since he'd come to live with Dea. "I've found paper canvas works quite nicely. I'll send you some! Maybe I'll paint something special for you."
Tristan grinned. "He's so boring! Yesterday, I was telling him that he should come on an adventure with Fluff and me--that's his brother, and he said he'd rather read a book! We were going to go on an interplanetary mission to rescue Eilam, and he'd rather read a book? He never does anything fun! I told him about Uncle Cam, you know... and he won't go see him. He does housework all the time!" The minun clearly thought this was a tradegy, albeit an interesting one. Blech, housework!
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Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 6:05 pm
"Oh, haha, that's so reassuring." Solange teased, chuckling despite her nerves. She'd remembered cleaning the walls with an odd sense of loss. She hadn't missed it then, but now..."Why don't you paint a picture for me, then? Something nice to hang in the living room. That sounds like a better Christmas present than something store bought, anyway."
She bypassed a pack of Christmas carolers with a snarling frown. The songs weren't so bad, but those pitches! Solange couldn't stand how they made her ears ache. "Well, who knows, maybe that's his thing? Given what he's been through, staying at home doesn't sound so bad to me." Solange gave him a pointed look. "You have been helping with chores, right?
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Posted: Tue Dec 10, 2013 12:08 am
"Ooh, I can do that!" Tristan beamed at the suggestion. "I've missed painting for you. I'll make something really special." She thought a painting would be better than anything he could buy? That was high praise! "Is there something you'd like a picture of?" He asked.
He grimaced at the carolers. He too, was sensitive to the pitches. "I guess. He used to be a lot more fun before all this happened." He hesitated, before grinning brightly at Sol. "Of course, Mom," he said. "You know how helpful I am."
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 3:22 pm
"Something warm?" Solange joked, giving into a little laugh. A sharp burst of air escaped with it, looking like steam in the frigid wind. Being a fire type in winter had some interesting effects.
"Sol, Tristan." She reminded him, trying to be as kind about it as she could. "You just keep helping him out, and see how he turns out. I'm sure he'll perk back up after some time has passed.
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Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 8:24 pm
"You?" Tristan teased. "Hmm. A beach? Maybe somewhere tropical." He watched the burst of steam, grinning. Yes, Sol certainly counted as something warm, but he doubted she'd hang a picture of herself up in the livingroom. "I'll figure something out," he promised.
"I told you I was going to have trouble with that. I'm so used to calling you, you know, mom. I'll try to remember." It was hard, losing a habit he'd taken up so long ago. "I haven't been helping much. I sulked most of the time," he confessed.
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