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The Calm Before The Storm; In which Julian meets someone... unexpected.
Topic Started: Jul 29 2012, 03:25 PM (464 Views)
Nameless Deuteragonist
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Obsessively Nerdy, Book-standing Shelgon
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, Julian was lost again.

It wasn't his fault, especially; his training at VERSE had never required him to be able to read a map. Besides, even his map was lost now, probably a pile of ashes. It was because he was lost that he found himself in Brevis again.

He would never go back to Brevis; he knew that. He had caused more trouble there than he had liked. The trainer and the non-trainer, whose names were long gone from his memory, might still be around. When the area started looking familiar, however, he was surprised at his own relief.

It wouldn't be surprising to anyone that thought about it, however. Julian was decently fed now (though his stomach had started to complain, which annoyed Julian because it hadn't been a full day since he last ate), and his clothes were decently clean. He was stronger now, and possibly able to run this time before more trouble found him. He had been reunited with his friend, and had even made a new one. Life was getting better for the boy, and a place he knew somewhat was good for him.

He was getting used to eating enough, though he didn't know it; he thought he was getting hungry far too soon. That is how he ended up beneath the window at Le Restaurant Micle again, trying to imagine a taste of what was inside.

The former VERSE electrician had little money, just a 100AD bill, certainly not enough to buy any food from inside. Once in a while, he would glance through the window, wondering how it would feel to be inside, but he stopped this once he realized that someone was looking at him.

He would leave in a few minutes. The non-trainer was probably right; Julian would check to see if the Pokemon center had any food, though it still didn't make sense that he was hungry again.
Sonny: Couldn't we move on to a conversation with less hugs and more stuff blowing up
I write OOC bits in this color.

Lysander
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shadowcat
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"Is that all, sir?" the waitress asked, tilting her head to the left in a way that made the sunlight from the window poured in and splash across her face to make her look like a work of art.

She had called him 'sir'. No one had called him that since he had been important. The corner of his mouth twitched; he'd been smiling too hard and for too long again, something that always happened around other human beings now. He wasn't entirely sure when he had become so awkward. Certainly some time after his Championship and his only friends had left him.

"That's fine, yes," he replied, and he was sorry to see her go. For the first time since he had walked away from his old life, he found himself ... wanting female company again. When he looked back on Kitty he could better see the colder, more soullessly manipulative side of her that he had so dutifully ignored for the entirety of their relationship. Now he found himself really, almost desperately, wanting the fleeting companionship of somebody warm, soft and sweet. Like that waitress.

He found himself wondering what Matthew would have done - he always knew how to get a girl to like him - but before he could really think about it and open his mouth again, she was gone, auburn curls bouncing against her shoulders as she went.

He was left squinting out of the window through which that flattering sunlight had poured, fixed smile located on his lips and there alone. His eyes bored into the window pane, but really he was looking into his past. He had the thought of Matthew in his mind and it was as if his old friend were now stuck between his teeth; he couldn't stop thinking about him.

With a start, he realised that he had inadvertently been staring right into the face of a small boy on the other side of the glass, and perhaps his gaze or the gaze of the disapproving waiting staff had been the cause of the small boy suddenly ducking down out of sight.

Romantic and sensitive as Scott had become in the months he had lived in Aerei - or was it a year now? Arceus, it couldn't be that long. Who could survive that long on their own? - he found himself conjuring up stories behind this young boy. His abusive parents were sitting in that very restaurant, and he had done something naughty so his punishment was to sit outside and watch them eat. No, abusive uncle and aunt. No, he was an orphan, and he was waiting to steal from the pockets of the richer patrons as they exited.

He tilted his head, still staring at the window pane he had been just behind before, and he frowned deeply. Whoever he was, he was almost startlingly thin. He had to have been hungry.

"Uh, excuse me?" he said, calling that beautiful, warm, soft, sweet waitress over to him with an even stronger smile.

"What?"

Abrupt. His illusions of her personality were shattered, but he felt no despair, only relief. Now he wouldn't kick himself when he did nothing to see her again.

"That boy outside. Please send him in and sit him with me."
Credits: 208
Matthew
Kitty
Scott
Elliot and Saxen

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Nameless Deuteragonist
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Julian followed the waitress inside the restaurant, quickly memorizing the restaurant's layout and the quickest escape route. I can run out that way, he summarized before looking to see where he was being led.

The stranger wasn't a particularly scary-looking guy, but nearly everyone frightened Julian in some way, at least at first. "I didn't do it," he mumbled before correcting himself: "I mean, I probably did it, but I shouldn't have done it, or I didn't mean to do it, or I was forced to do it. Or something." The order in which he listed the three possibilities was a clue to how his mind worked. He stood by the table, the waitress still at his side. Upon recognizing the stranger as the face from the window, and the window by the table as his hiding place, he hid his face in his hands in case he was turning redder than he was detecting. "I- I don't know you," Julian realized. "I mean, not that that's important or anything." Especially if I'm in some sort of trouble again.

Though it would seem unfortunate or even mean for Julian to jump to that conclusion, he was used to strangers being upset at him. He hadn't done a lot of good during his life, after all. With that thought, Julian decided to shut up and see what the man wanted. It was then that he noticed the scent of the restaurant, which was even more enticing that he had expected from outside. Julian wiped his mouth with his sleeve, hoping he wasn't noticeably drooling. He was surprised by how clean the sleeve was. Right. The professor washed it. He smiled at the memory of his friend.

"Excuse me, sir?" Julian asked. "Why did you want me here?" He realized that the waitress had pulled out a seat for him, but he continued to stand at the table.

He was not going to assume that this stranger wanted his company.
Edited by Nameless Deuteragonist, Aug 3 2012, 06:12 PM.
Sonny: Couldn't we move on to a conversation with less hugs and more stuff blowing up
I write OOC bits in this color.

Lysander
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shadowcat
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Scott's smile that ordinarily never faltered, faded as he regarded this young boy. Children, he guessed, would be far better equipped to read the falseness in his expression, and he didn't want to frighten the child further by looking like some sort of robot clown. He cleared his throat, quickly realising that he would have to take control of this situation, being the adult, and that meant no being afraid of other people's opinions of him.

So now it was confidence that he faked, instead of happiness. It was easy enough; he'd been one of the most confident people he had ever met, before the changes. He just had to remember what it had felt like to feel comfortable in his own skin, and pretend that he still felt that way. He sat up straighter, revealing to the restaurant the formidable height he had been hiding, and his smile reappeared, but it was calmer and more self-assured.

"Sit, please," he said.

This boy was bordering on the bizarre. To jump to such conclusions so quickly? He must have had a tougher life than Scott had originally guessed. He must have, also, done his fair share of wrong to assume that his punishment would be the first thing a stranger in a restaurant would want.

"I don't know who you are, and you don't know who I am," he said, attempting cool confidence, but his voice cracked a little towards the end and he had to clear his throat again before continuing, putting his hand underneath the tablecloth to hide the strange trembling in his wrist. "I saw you staring into the window, and, well, er...I have a lot of money."

What? He was going off on a tangent again. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily before opening them and continuing, pulse racing with embarrassment. "I have too much money, and-" That wasn't better. "-I just wanted to, well, offer you a meal. No strings attached," he added hastily, holding up a palm. "You won't owe me anything but your company while we eat. I'm Scott, by the way. Please don't be frightened of me."

That last sentence could have been said in a calm, reassuring way, but instead he feared it came out as desperately pleading. He wanted company, more desperately than he had guessed.

Having been hidden up until now, Dakota nosed his way out from under the tablecloth and stared up in confusion at Julian.
Credits: 208
Matthew
Kitty
Scott
Elliot and Saxen

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Nameless Deuteragonist
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Obsessively Nerdy, Book-standing Shelgon
Julian almost stepped backward when the stranger straightened. He looked even taller than the professor! The stranger was smiling again, however, and the smile seemed genuine enough. At VERSE and Galactic, no one smiled, especially at Julian. Even Alexandria rarely smiled, though he made up for that with his words.

"Sit, please."

That was as good as an order to Julian, and orders were to be obeyed. Julian took the seat across from the stranger, sitting as properly as he remembered how. "All right," he agreed. "If you discovered my hiding place, it's fair enough that I follow your orders."

It didn't seem like an order for long, however, as the stranger offered to do something for Julian. A meal? Julian considered himself to have just eaten, but he was hungry again. "You don't have to trip over your words, sir. Just say what you mean. I can handle it." The boy said this rather cheerfully, as it usually worked on Alexandria. He nodded a few times. "I'm Julian. Julian Dissident." It was one of the first times he had introduced himself with that name. He didn't know that it wouldn't be a believable last name; he didn't even know what the word meant. "And you'll know whether I'm afraid of you or not. I've been told that I can't lie to save my life." Julian gave a content smile at those words, though he was afraid that he had mentioned more than was wise.

Julian didn't quite believe Scott when the man mentioned the lack of future debt, but Julian was trained not to question that sort of statement. "And I just ate, but I'm hungry again, so sure."

He had an excellent idea when he saw the quilava: if he let Ohm out of her Pokeball, she would be able to tell whether or not Scott was from the organization called Umbra. "I have a Pokemon, too. I- I'll show you."

The unusually small, camouflage mudkip blinked and glanced around the restaurant, finally settling her gaze on Scott. Julian didn't know how to ask Ohm what she thought of Scott without Scott knowing, but she didn't immediately react in fear.

Perhaps Scott was trustworthy, after all.
Sonny: Couldn't we move on to a conversation with less hugs and more stuff blowing up
I write OOC bits in this color.

Lysander
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shadowcat
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Scott snuffled a little with concealed laughter when the boy promised to follow his orders. The thought of anyone having considered something he had said to be an order was laughab-

Hang on; hadn't he been a relatively famous pokemon trainer for years? A career that involved giving orders. And during the storming of Umbran bases he had definitely given a few orders and expected to be obeyed without question, and that was by his friends.

He shook his head, a quick movement to knock memories out of his mind. The waitress returned and he looked at her; at his full height, even sitting, he was about eye level with the petite woman.

"We'll have some Krabby sticks to start, I think," he began, then looked over at Julian, feeling the beginnings of a blush coming on when he realised he had been presumptuous. "You like seafood, yes?" he confirmed with the boy, before turning back to her. "And then I'll have a - oh, a Payapa smoothie sounds good - a, um, I'll have the Farfetch'd. Thanks. And you get whatever you want, ok?" he addressed Julian.

Dakota tilted his head at the newly appeared Ohm, and as he scampered forwards to excitedly introduce himself, he somehow managed to snag himself on the tablecloth as he went and brought the whole thing crashing loudly to the floor. The waitress rolled her eyes and began to tidy up while Scott sank back down in his chair, flaming with embarrassment.
Credits: 208
Matthew
Kitty
Scott
Elliot and Saxen

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Nameless Deuteragonist
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Obsessively Nerdy, Book-standing Shelgon
"And you get whatever you want, okay?"

"Sure," Julian replied, but he was interrupted by the table's toppings falling quite noisily to the floor. He held out his hand to the quilava, relieved in a way: Julian wasn't the only inelegant one. "I'll help," he offered, kneeling on the floor and gathering many of the dropped items. He returned to his chair and looked at Scott, curious. "Are you all right, sir?" Julian asked, certain that the man was unwell in some way. Had the boy never seen someone look embarrassed before?

Julian picked up the menu from where he had replaced it on the table. He frowned at it. It wasn't that he couldn't read, but he did have trouble reading anything that didn't have to do with electricity or computer programs. Julian glanced at the waitress, except his eyes moved so fast that he had to look at her a few times to fully see where she was. "I'll have what he's having," he requested. "And a glass of water," he added, his eyes probing Scott again. "Or maybe two."

It was strange for Julian to take more of a leadership role, even for a moment, but the boy had the ability to switch between "useful kid" and "useful kid that gets in trouble a lot." He looked at Scott one more time, this time for only a fourth of a second or so. "I'll eat anything," Julian answered to an earlier question. "At least, that's what I've been told."
Sonny: Couldn't we move on to a conversation with less hugs and more stuff blowing up
I write OOC bits in this color.

Lysander
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shadowcat
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"And will that be all-" the waitress began.

"Yes," Scott interrupted, still bright red. He ignored the enquiry to his health, and instead stood up, placing one hand against his damp upper lip and mouth and the other flat on the tablecloth to steady himself. With a strange noise that seemed like he was just too embarrassed to clear his throat loudly, he gave an apologetic smile to Julian, removing the hand from his face as an afterthought.

"I'm going to the bathroom. You stay here, I'll be back in just a little while."

Christ, he was shaking. Everyone in the restaurant was looking at him. This wasn't paranoia. Everyone was looking at him. He thought he might have a panic attack. He bumped hard into a man who attempted to dart past him, recoiling as the other man's hands were pressed against his body to right them both and apologies were breathed onto his face. This was just getting worse. He was worried he would forget how to breathe. His face was so hot he thought his brain might boil.

He made it into the bathroom and leant over the sink, breathing hard, and looked in the mirror. He looked insane. Had he gone insane? He wasn't as red as he thought he'd been; that was impossible, to be honest. His mouth hung open bearing white teeth, and his hairline was glistening. He splashed water onto his warm face, dried it with the towels the attendant offered him, thanked the man, and strolled back to his table with a smile fixed once again to his face.

"Your drinks." The waitress' voice made him jump, shattering the smile, but it only took a moment to fix it back on as the glasses were set before them. At least for the boy's sake, he could try to be a normal human being.
Credits: 208
Matthew
Kitty
Scott
Elliot and Saxen

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As Scott was busy freaking out, Julian was trusting him more by the minute. Everyone that had given Julian an order, everyone that had made Julian hurt a person or a Pokemon or himself, and the ones who had forced him to join Team Galactic were all significantly more confident than Scott looked at the moment. In fact, Scott was reminding the boy of the professor. Julian knew how to calm Alexandria; maybe the same strategy would work.

Julian pushed a glass of water closer to Scott. "Drink all of it," he commanded. "Slowly." Thankfully, Julian's voice was quiet enough not to be heard by most of the surrounding people. Julian sipped his smoothie, making a face at the unexpected flavor. It was somewhere between sweet and bitter, two flavors that Julian barely knew how to identify. It was odd, certainly, but it wasn't exactly bad. "What is this?" Julian asked. "I haven't tasted anything like it."

Julian contentedly continued to drink his smoothie, though he was bothered by a bit of brain freeze after drinking it too fast. He scrunched up his face and held his eye with his right hand. It was almost as if he had never eaten anything cold before. "My face is frozen," he complained. "Is that normal?" He took another sip of smoothie as he wondered this. "It kind of hurts."
Edited by Nameless Deuteragonist, Aug 7 2012, 05:12 PM.
Sonny: Couldn't we move on to a conversation with less hugs and more stuff blowing up
I write OOC bits in this color.

Lysander
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shadowcat
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It was bordering on humiliating for Scott to have to be comforted by a child, but he did what Julian said and he drank his water, all of it. When it was gone he set it gently back onto the table, licked the droplets off of his top lip, and looked up at the younger boy. He felt better already, just from the act of doing something so familiar and easy as drinking water.

When asked what was in the smoothie, Scott took a sip of his own. Cold, sweet and sour all at the same time. "I guess it's a bit of an acquired taste," he acknowledged, and then backtracked, nervous that he wouldn't be understood. "Like, you have to have it a lot before you like it. But I like it," he added, and then sipped some more, refusing to cringe inwardly at the redundancy of that last phrase.

He laughed slightly as Julian pressed his hand against his eye and commented on the pain. "Brain freeze?" he asked. "Drink it slowly."

He was still smiling when he was distracted a little by a rowdy group of young teenagers entering the restaurant, laughing and shoving each other playfully. It seemed harmless enough, but they were very loud and Scott couldn't help but stare with something akin to fright. One was supposed to be safe from unsavoury characters in a place like this. With some effort he turned back to Julian.

"So what's your story, then? What brings you here?" he asked as pleasantly as possible.
Credits: 208
Matthew
Kitty
Scott
Elliot and Saxen

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"Brain freeze?" Julian inquired. He didn't know what it was, but it sounded unsafe. Julian shrugged and took another sip of smoothie. "I've never had anything like this before," he mentioned again. "But it's all right."

Julian eyed the loud group of trainers that entered the restaurant. When Scott asked about Julian, he answered, "I was lost. I was here before. I made an electrical trap and got into a huge fight. Then, I ended up at a power plant, but it caught on fire. So I met a bunch of fighting Pokemon! And then I rode a huge Pokemon with wings for a long time, and I got lost, and now I'm here." Glancing at that group again, Julian wondered if they were the same people he saw before. Now, however, there was no one to help him. Too bad the professor and my other friend aren't here. Julian shook his head. "Those might be the same people," he mentioned. "I'm worried. But I met the professor again, so I'll be okay."

The boy seemed not to have a linear way of thinking. Ohm, noticing this, blinked at the boy before looking back to Scott. She had less doubt in him than Julian did; she let the boy know this by turning to him and giving him a nod. Julian, who had already forgotten to be careful, continued to speak. "I used to be an electrician. Then, I built machines, but now I'm a Pokemon trainer. I have two Pokemon. The other one is right here!" Without thinking about the tattoo, Julian pulled down his jacket sleeve and lifted the sleeve of Kuzumi's shirt to show the small piece of machinery with the three wires wrapped around it. The wires covered part of his skin, but not enough of it to hide the magenta insignia. Julian, still not remembering the mark on his shoulder, smiled and pulled his sleeves back over the rotom.

The waitress reappeared then, carrying a basket of krabby sticks. Glancing at Ohm, who stood on the table, she placed the basket between the two humans, but not before Julian eagerly snatched a stick and brought it to his mouth. He stopped suddenly, his mouth open, wondering if he was allowed to eat yet. He looked at Scott, at his hands, at Ohm, at the waitress, and then back at Scott several times before speaking. "Can I eat now?" he asked, timidly lowering the piece of food to the table. "I'm sorry. I get excited when I see food."

Unknown to Julian, someone had found his hiding place beneath the window. Looking in at the pair of humans, they watched Julian's mudkip with a knowing eye. This kid must have connections with Umbra, they concluded.

It was time for revenge.
Sonny: Couldn't we move on to a conversation with less hugs and more stuff blowing up
I write OOC bits in this color.

Lysander
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