For a while she didn't reply, instead focusing on taking in his familiar scent. She'd tried to remember it several times over the past few days, but it was hard to find comfort in mere imagination after harsh reality had beaten her about. He was warm, too. His embrace made coming out into the cold more than worth it.
"Thanks," she mumbled at last, gazing up at him as though to reaffirm that he was just as she remembered him. Even if it had only been a few weeks, it felt like being reunited after an eternity. During that time, he hadn't left. He hadn't abandoned her. Yet. She wondered if she could take it when the time came.
"It... Could have gone better." She rested her head against his chest and exhaled slowly. "I basically disowned my family, let someone see me transform, did some soul-searching, and stole a fisherman's clothes and wallet. Everything's a mess. I don't think I ever want to go back to Kanto, but... there are plenty of other regions filled with Pokemon to explore, if you ever want to. Just not right now."
Much like before when she had informed him of the reasons for her departure, Raiden found himself at a loss of words. For her to go through all that, to finally get her brother back only to have him die and then whatever... happened to happen and result in her running away from all that.
He couldn't blame her, he could easily see himself doing the same.
"I'm so sorry."
Let someone see her transform? That's right, that wasn't... commonplace back in Kanto like it was here. Raiden hoped that wouldn't lead to any problems; with any luck maybe the sightings would get dismissed as just crazy were-umbreon stories. That's what he'd do if he didn't know any better.
"We could go do that." The idea of exploring the other regions was kind of exciting but not at the front of his thoughts. He ran his fingers through her hair and rested his chin on the top of her head. "When you're ready for it."
"That'd be nice. Just don't expect me to be much of a tour guide."
It was probably a lot of personal information to dump on him like that, especially after coming home from something that involved having to tell him a bit too. It wasn't like he could change anything that happened. He shouldn't have to worry about it. But at present, he was the only one she could trust with that information. Saying the events that happened in Kanto aloud like that made it seem so unreal she felt more detached about it than she had about her brother's death.
"What about here? Did I miss anything interesting?"
"Not much..." Everything he did in the past few weeks just seemed to shallow in comparison. "I totally showed Brock that video of you and Bob making out at the Halloween party." "Gamera gained like 20lbs from Brock's brownies." Raiden was... not inclined to talk about how his blind date with The King of Evil went. "I went on a blind date with Ganondorf and you are talking to a dead guy oops."
A piece of information came to mind that would probably be very relevant to her interests. "Some more news came up about Kanto. Apparently right after that breach in Silph. Co. there were some explosions in Diglett's cave and... something about blowing up Beedrills in Viridian. A lot of people around here think it's related to Silph. I do too. You didn't hear anything about it while you were there, did you? I was worried..."
"I did." Blacky wasn't surprised the news found its way here, with so many gym leaders around. She was concerned that it supposedly came so much later than the news about the break-in at Silph. "Casca and his trainer were training in the forest just hours before it happened. I--"
She stopped short as she realized that disowning her family meant disowning her blood, too. Not that she'd ever been a good mother, sending the egg off from the start, but... No. She'd get over it. She would have to.
"...I can't believe those bastards would start slaughtering Pokemon again."
Raiden thought it was strange how the news had made it's way to FDC's ears in chunks like that. Maybe they were still logging trying really hard to cover up something else.
"I can't believe they think they can get away with it. It's disgusting." Raiden didn't think any better to ask about Casca, the subject of Poke-slaughter had his attention more. "Why now after so long?"
A pause. "...You don't think it has anything to do with Giovanni being here do you?"
What shocking new developments would be discovered? Only the log time would tell.
"I... I don't know. He's probably rebuilding Team Rocket from afar to make himself seem perfectly innocent. I can't..." She clenched her fists, a simple motion made clumsy by cold-numbed fingers. "I can't deal with him being here. Yet I can't do anything about it. Maybe I shouldn't have come back."
"Don't say that." He could understand the sentiment of not wanting to come back, as much as that would pain the blonde personally. That man, whether he realized it or, or caused it directly or not, was such a blight in her life... and she couldn't do anything about it. Somehow Bob would probably show up out of no where and do her Pokemon god thing or someone would step in and start moral-lecturing Blacky.
Raiden still wasn't sure where he stood... killing a man just because of past wrong-doings seemed too harsh. I mean, it's not like Raiden wasn't brutal, murderous killing machine in the past or anything oh ho ho ho. But it was obvious Giovanni's past efforts were still affecting people today. Tomorrow. Probably for a long, long time after that.
It was sickening. And frustrating. Raiden could do as little as Blacky could. He held one of her hands and ran another through her hair. "You can't blame yourself for any of that though. It's not your fault. You did everything you could to save him."
Did she, though? If she had never orchestrated the false kidnapping with Silver, she would never have seen Golduck again. On the other hand, he would be stuck in a Pokeball, in a permanent stasis. Eternal life. But what nightmares would he have to endure trapped in his own mind for eternity? She couldn't win either way.
"I suppose," she grumbled, not wanting to delve any deeper into the issue. If only she could just put it behind her and forget it. Wasn't Uxie supposed to have the ability to make people forget? She wondered if it would work on a dark type... "I... I couldn't leave you and Gamera, anyway."
Especially now that she had nowhere else to go. She sighed and glanced away. "I'm cold."
Even if he did say or show it, he appreciated that she'd stay for him and Gamera.
"Here." Her being cold was NO GOOD and so he stood, pulling her up with him. The scrubbing brushes and cleaning supplies were quickly dumped into the little bucket he had brought with him and pushed to the half-cleaned wall. He could... finish that later. "Let's get you inside. Nancy stockpiled a lot of hot chocolate in the kitchen."
But could he finish it if the cleaning supplies all ended up frozen!? Okay, maybe it wasn't that cold.
"That sounds nice." She leaned against him as they made their way inside, a small smile coming to her face. "I remember last year, drinking hot chocolate and watching the first snowfall." Being hopelessly shy and getting smacked across the face. Those were some good times.
You liked every second of that smack, Blacky. And then the president got kidnapped by ninjas! He wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked side-by-side.
"It's already snowing up in New York."
The cafeteria was not surprisingly mostly empty. No classes, and a lot of people were probably out shopping or sleeping or doing whatever they wont to do on their day off regardless if they celebrated or not. Raiden left her side only to enter the kitchen area in the back part of the cafeteria and start rummaging through the cabinets for some clean mugs.
And so she made a mental note not to visit New York any time that it might be snowing. And definitely not during the hottest days of summer. Spring? Autumn? In the end, she decided, it would all depend on what was on Broadway at the time.
That and whether or not she could convince Raiden to take her there.
While he went on a search for mugs, she took one of the tables closer to the kitchen. Seeing the school so deserted was a little strange, as one of the people who often left for the holidays herself. Or used to. Maybe she'd get to see it like this again come Christmas.
Without giving it much thought, she fished a cigarette and lighter out of her coat pocket. It wasn't like anyone else was around to get her in trouble. ...It wasn't like she would be in much trouble if she got caught.
If Snake could get away with smoking up a chimney stack outside on campus grounds, fine, but indoors Raiden knew that would just set off fire alarms. About as much as it did set off alarms in his head. Did she, the refined and sophisticated lady Blacky he knew, seriously start picking up smoking? What was she doing?!
He didn't intend for his declaration to come out accusatory but it did. "I thought I smelled cigarette smoke on you."
For a while she didn't reply, instead focusing on taking in his familiar scent. She'd tried to remember it several times over the past few days, but it was hard to find comfort in mere imagination after harsh reality had beaten her about. He was warm, too. His embrace made coming out into the cold more than worth it.
"Thanks," she mumbled at last, gazing up at him as though to reaffirm that he was just as she remembered him. Even if it had only been a few weeks, it felt like being reunited after an eternity. During that time, he hadn't left. He hadn't abandoned her. Yet. She wondered if she could take it when the time came.
"...I missed you."
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He had a feeling it was longer than she expected too. "Everything go okay?"
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"It... Could have gone better." She rested her head against his chest and exhaled slowly. "I basically disowned my family, let someone see me transform, did some soul-searching, and stole a fisherman's clothes and wallet. Everything's a mess. I don't think I ever want to go back to Kanto, but... there are plenty of other regions filled with Pokemon to explore, if you ever want to. Just not right now."
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He couldn't blame her, he could easily see himself doing the same.
"I'm so sorry."
Let someone see her transform? That's right, that wasn't... commonplace back in Kanto like it was here. Raiden hoped that wouldn't lead to any problems; with any luck maybe the sightings would get dismissed as just crazy were-umbreon stories. That's what he'd do if he didn't know any better.
"We could go do that." The idea of exploring the other regions was kind of exciting but not at the front of his thoughts. He ran his fingers through her hair and rested his chin on the top of her head. "When you're ready for it."
Reply
It was probably a lot of personal information to dump on him like that, especially after coming home from something that involved having to tell him a bit too. It wasn't like he could change anything that happened. He shouldn't have to worry about it. But at present, he was the only one she could trust with that information. Saying the events that happened in Kanto aloud like that made it seem so unreal she felt more detached about it than she had about her brother's death.
"What about here? Did I miss anything interesting?"
Reply
A piece of information came to mind that would probably be very relevant to her interests. "Some more news came up about Kanto. Apparently right after that breach in Silph. Co. there were some explosions in Diglett's cave and... something about blowing up Beedrills in Viridian. A lot of people around here think it's related to Silph. I do too. You didn't hear anything about it while you were there, did you? I was worried..."
Reply
"I did." Blacky wasn't surprised the news found its way here, with so many gym leaders around. She was concerned that it supposedly came so much later than the news about the break-in at Silph. "Casca and his trainer were training in the forest just hours before it happened. I--"
She stopped short as she realized that disowning her family meant disowning her blood, too. Not that she'd ever been a good mother, sending the egg off from the start, but... No. She'd get over it. She would have to.
"...I can't believe those bastards would start slaughtering Pokemon again."
Reply
"I can't believe they think they can get away with it. It's disgusting." Raiden didn't think any better to ask about Casca, the subject of Poke-slaughter had his attention more. "Why now after so long?"
A pause. "...You don't think it has anything to do with Giovanni being here do you?"
Reply
What shocking new developments would be discovered? Only the log time would tell.
"I... I don't know. He's probably rebuilding Team Rocket from afar to make himself seem perfectly innocent. I can't..." She clenched her fists, a simple motion made clumsy by cold-numbed fingers. "I can't deal with him being here. Yet I can't do anything about it. Maybe I shouldn't have come back."
Reply
Raiden still wasn't sure where he stood... killing a man just because of past wrong-doings seemed too harsh. I mean, it's not like Raiden wasn't brutal, murderous killing machine in the past or anything oh ho ho ho. But it was obvious Giovanni's past efforts were still affecting people today. Tomorrow. Probably for a long, long time after that.
It was sickening. And frustrating. Raiden could do as little as Blacky could. He held one of her hands and ran another through her hair. "You can't blame yourself for any of that though. It's not your fault. You did everything you could to save him."
Reply
Did she, though? If she had never orchestrated the false kidnapping with Silver, she would never have seen Golduck again. On the other hand, he would be stuck in a Pokeball, in a permanent stasis. Eternal life. But what nightmares would he have to endure trapped in his own mind for eternity? She couldn't win either way.
"I suppose," she grumbled, not wanting to delve any deeper into the issue. If only she could just put it behind her and forget it. Wasn't Uxie supposed to have the ability to make people forget? She wondered if it would work on a dark type... "I... I couldn't leave you and Gamera, anyway."
Especially now that she had nowhere else to go. She sighed and glanced away. "I'm cold."
Reply
"Here." Her being cold was NO GOOD and so he stood, pulling her up with him. The scrubbing brushes and cleaning supplies were quickly dumped into the little bucket he had brought with him and pushed to the half-cleaned wall. He could... finish that later. "Let's get you inside. Nancy stockpiled a lot of hot chocolate in the kitchen."
Reply
But could he finish it if the cleaning supplies all ended up frozen!? Okay, maybe it wasn't that cold.
"That sounds nice." She leaned against him as they made their way inside, a small smile coming to her face. "I remember last year, drinking hot chocolate and watching the first snowfall." Being hopelessly shy and getting smacked across the face. Those were some good times.
Reply
"It's already snowing up in New York."
The cafeteria was not surprisingly mostly empty. No classes, and a lot of people were probably out shopping or sleeping or doing whatever they wont to do on their day off regardless if they celebrated or not. Raiden left her side only to enter the kitchen area in the back part of the cafeteria and start rummaging through the cabinets for some clean mugs.
Reply
And so she made a mental note not to visit New York any time that it might be snowing. And definitely not during the hottest days of summer. Spring? Autumn? In the end, she decided, it would all depend on what was on Broadway at the time.
That and whether or not she could convince Raiden to take her there.
While he went on a search for mugs, she took one of the tables closer to the kitchen. Seeing the school so deserted was a little strange, as one of the people who often left for the holidays herself. Or used to. Maybe she'd get to see it like this again come Christmas.
Without giving it much thought, she fished a cigarette and lighter out of her coat pocket. It wasn't like anyone else was around to get her in trouble. ...It wasn't like she would be in much trouble if she got caught.
Reply
He didn't intend for his declaration to come out accusatory but it did. "I thought I smelled cigarette smoke on you."
Reply
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