Mear
“Are you... sure?” I asked feeling somewhat worried that I should tell Shupple to rest instead. However, she seemed to nod and kept a smile on her face anyways. There was still something strange that I couldn’t quite….
“Okay then...” I answered feeling myself nod a bit trying to make myself adhere to what I had just said. Indeed, it was harder than I could have anticipated. However, I rose and held out my hand for a moment starting a half smile. Shupple took it, and we both moved out onto the dance floor. The song was slow, but I found that it worked well for the mood that was slowly developing in me. A part of me was starting to move into the longing to draw some of the scenes that were now coming to mind, and yet another part wanted to finish the dance correctly. It was a strange predicament, and yet it was a limbo I could honestly deal with.
I looked down and found that Shupple was half smiling up at me, and I gave a reassured smile back trying to convince her through unsaid words that things would be alright. However, even as I looked at Shupple, I found that she appeared to look somewhat distracted as if away from the thoughts of the dance. Almost internally, I began to worry again.
The song ended on a last note, and we headed back to a table. It appeared as though the dance was beginning to wind down for the most part. I put my hands in my pockets yet again and realized that the necklace was still in my pocket..... would… Shupple want it… perhaps? I felt my eyes move away, and Shupple seemed to notice this as well.
“What?” Shupple asked with a note of worry in her own voice. In that moment, I realized that she was probably worried that I had started to consider evolution to be a bad thing and to do something to avert dealing with the situation. However, that was not my intention at all, and I found my eyes returning to her face.
“It’s… nothing,” I answered after a moment finding myself internally fighting about what I was going to do next. Should I give her the necklace? Or should I just lock it away as a probably false experiment of reverse sketch? I felt my hands twitch in my pockets.
However, Shupple seemed to take this in a completely different manner and looked away as well. “Oh…” she answered quietly as if to confirm her own beliefs in something that I was only partially aware of. Realizing that Shupple was diving further into internal thought, I found my hand moving out of my pocket with the necklace in hand.
“S…Shupple?” I asked feeling a sudden nerve inside threatening to put my hand back in my pocket and ignore the situation all together. In that moment, I wished that I had my sketchbook to shield myself from my own nerves, and yet it wouldn’t work, and I knew it.
Shupple didn’t answer quickly but seemed to look back at me with a half plain expression. I felt my eye threaten to drop, and yet I forced them menacingly to stay up at Shupple’s face. She turned her head to one side as if weighing that I was either going to say something right or something wrong. In that moment, I hoped that I was going to say something right.
“I…” I said still holding the necklace tight in my hand to the point that all that was visible was my closed fist. “Uh…” I started to release my hand’s tension and relieved the necklace. “I… made this earlier…”
Shupple seemed to look from me to the necklace now sprawled out in my hand and then back to me. There was a look of shock that was starting to run through her face, and I found myself turning red. Like wild Rapidash, my eyes moved away from Shupple as I continued to hold the necklace out my arm shaking a bit. I found that I was staring off back onto the dance floor where other dancers were continuing their last few dances of the night. After a few breaths, I forced myself to look back at Shupple who still had a bewildered look on her face.
“Is…. Is it for me?” Shupple managed to say as her voice trembled a bit. I realized that I had caused both of us to become nervous and unsure of ourselves in that split second, and once again I wished that I had said nothing. Yet it was too late for that.
“Y….yes… if … you I mean… if …. You want it….” I said feeling my face grow a bit redder.
Shupple’s face went from the nervous look to a state of startled surprise as though she had half expected me to say that it was for someone else and for her to look at it and judge it. However, neither of those were the case, and both of us knew it. Shupple gave a half nervous laugh that seemed to spark in me a sudden let down feeling. I had never been one to be affected by criticism of anything I did. I knew that my drawing skills were perfect, and even as critics seemed to flock to my drawings and chew them like pokenip, I was unaffected by their words. However, in that half second, I felt as though the world had sudden smacked my across the face. My hand twitched, and I dropped the necklace. My eyes darted away, and I felt my heart beating fully in my neck.
“S…sorry….” I said unsure of even why I was saying it. It might have been my version of an apology for something else, and yet that something else remained elusive from me.
I could hear Shupple still standing there, and as I allowed my eyes to move back to where she was standing, I found that she was looking at the ground extremely red. I let my eyes drop as well, and neither of us said anything for a full moment. Finally, Shupple bent down and picked up the necklace.
“I… didn’t mean to laugh….” Shupple said in a half serious pained tone. “I… was… just… Mear….”
In that moment, I realized that I had overreacted yet again, and a breath escaped me. Shupple had not laughed directly at me it was just a forced notion that had happened to come. Shupple stood up fully again and seemed to be looking down at her hands as she looked at the necklace coupled between her fingers.
“It’s… beautiful…” Shupple said quietly to herself.
A surprised joy ran through my skin in that second, and I had to hold down a sudden laugh that was threatening to be released from my throat. She liked it! Shupple liked the necklace. I found my eyes dart away, and an embarrassed laugh came through my throat despite all that I was trying to reprieve myself of.
“I… just…” I said unsure of what to say or do anymore.
Lee
“That was weird to say the least,” Kat muttered to herself as the area was cleaned up by Heal Bell. “Not something you would normally see at a forma dance.”
I had to hold back a chuckle as I remembered once formal dance that the Master had instructed all of his students to participate in. In the end, it had ruptured into a fight that nearly burnt down the entire dojo due to a Blazenken, and a Lounder had instructed us all in the way of Carl Douglas’s Kung Fu Fighting song and dance. Shaking my head, I found that the mud fight did prove to be far more peaceful than the prior one.
As Kat and I continued to stand, we found that the dance was starting to come to a moderate close at best. The Gijinka that had participated in the mud fight as well as those that had continued to dance proved to proved to look tired indeed. Another thought of asking a few of them to join my dojo back in Dewford came to mind, and I made note of it with a half smile on my face.
My eyes moved about the room, and I found that there was a Lopony Gijinka appearing to chew out Lux, and I felt my eye brows raise for a moment before they returned back down. A few songs continued, and I found that there was also a hum escaping from Kat as the songs continued. Kat and I moved a bit back towards the tables and stood by the wall where there were still a few Gijinka congregating. Kat took a few bites of lemon square, and we both continued to just stand peaceful.
After a few songs played, I was about to ask Kat whether or not she wanted to continue the dance, but before I said anything, I found that she was half leaning on me tiredly. I relaxed a bit and decided to wait until Kat noticed for herself. It was probably an unintentional motion that happened to everyone at least once in a while. Suddenly, Kat seemed to realize what she was doing and stood back up quickly. I repressed a laugh at her startled nervous motion and just kept a smile on my face. There was no reason to embarrass a young lady.
"Well, uh, maybe we should get going..." Kat said somewhat trying to laugh off her own actions. I let myself nod a bit. "If we want to save your friends, we'll need a plan, a good night’s rest, and a Ghost type pokemon." Kat finished. In truth, I had expected Kat to continue with her enjoyment of the dance, and as I was left with a surprised notion at her own courtesy at remembering my predicament, I felt honored by the notion. Kat seemed to look as though she had someone in mind for the Ghost pokemon already, and just as I was anticipating this, she started talking again.
“I have a friend that we could talk to,” Kat continued. “She said she was headed this way last we talked, and I think she’s around now.”
“Oh really?” I asked keeping my surprise to a minimum.
“Yep,” Kat answered. “But I really think we should get back to the quieter quarters of the mansion first.” Kat gave a forced half yawn, and I nodded a bit to myself.
“Alright,” I answered nodding.
We both stood and walked back up to the actual bedroom section of the mansion and came back to Kat’s room. Every once in a while as we walked, I noticed that Kat would look off as if there was something next to her that she was acknowledging. For a moment, I wondered if she was just delusional from fatigue, but after a moment, I noticed that there was indeed something standing not too far off from Kat. I could only see the outline of it, and I realized it was probably a Ghost pokemon in spirit form.
After we were standing in Kat’s room, Kat turned to me and then pointed to the thing I could only see the edges of.
“This is my old friend Sable,” Kat said pleasantly. “She’s a Sableye.”
“Ah…” I said aloud. “A ghost pokemon indeed.”
“Yep!” Kat said with a positive gesture. “And she’ll help us find the rest of your family.”
I gave a nod and looked to the space where I could still see only an outline of something.
“I would be honored if you would assist me in searching for the remnants of my family. They consist of a Hitmonchan, Hitmontop, and Tyrogue.”
“Oh wait Sable why don’t you get your body and come into the house first,” Kat said cutting off my speech. I retracted my words and gave a nod.
“That would be for the best indeed,” I answered back.
Suddenly, I noticed that the thing had moved and was suddenly gone.
“We need to go and let her in,” Kat said turning again and heading out of her room towards the front door. I let out a breath before I started following again. It was starting to become even later than before, and yet I could still hear music from the ballroom.
We came to the front door, and Kat opened it pleasantly right as a Sableye Gijinka stepped in. “Well it’s good to speak to you body to body now, Kat,” the Sableye smiled lightly. “How have you been?”
“Pretty good,” Kat answered back lightly turning to me as I stood behind her. “We were just at a Ball.”
“Ah and who is this?” the Sableye asked making a general motion at me.
“Oh this is Lee the Hitmonlee,” Kat said seeming to rub the back of her head as though it had not come to her to introduce us correctly. “And Lee, this is Sable the Sabeye Gijinka.”
“A pleasure,” I said nodding and stepping forwards keeping my smile level and controlled.
“Indeed, hello,” the Sabeye answered back.
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Lack of inspiration + writer's block + too much school work = D8 I can't post!
Mear
Lee
KC
