Extremely lame title, but I suck at titles lol
In this post: Arc, Shupple, Lux, Hoom, Raine
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It's time to play, doggy!
I'm dreaming again, aren't I?
Go fetch!
I'm tired of playing fetch..
She started crying those fake tears that she always did when I tried to refuse her requests..orders; she never could fool me with those tears but everyone else.. everyone else was just naive..
And I really..really hated everyone else like her after that..
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Snoozing by a tree. The perfect place for a dog like me to sleep, dog houses were overrated.. I'm being completely sarcastic by the way.
All I knew was that I was still starving after that little trip to find those berries for Roselyn. Ironic, huh? I could have eaten some of those berries.. She seemed fine now, so I may as well go out and get some food. Something tongue roasting, spicy! That would make my day actually.. Or maybe just some mochi. Looking up at the sky, I noticed that it was still pretty early or at least not dark, I knew that much.
I pulled myself up, however reluctant I was too. Another stretch, and then I grabbed my jacket and started walking into town. There were groups of kids huddling around corners, playing tag, or punching their brains out for fun.
Good times..for those whose brains remained in their skulls of course.
"Can I help you?" A young woman asked me, as I entered one of the town's restaurants, giving me a bit of an odd look. Must have been my ears..and tail.. Guess not every human is fond of Gijinkas. Or maybe it wasn't that at all. Maybe my facial markings and overall look made me look like some street punk? Got to stop over-analyzing..
"One mochi please," I said politely, smiling. One of us had to be the better person at least. The waitress just pretended to scribble something on a pad and walked away.
"Thanks," I said at her back, in a mocking tone, though I hid it pretty well behind my usual smile.
Suddenly, I heard my name called. It was so familiar but I couldn't quite place it.
When I turned around, I saw her. Taller than when we last met, but still the same Shuppet. Instinctively, I hugged her. It wasn't even a thought really, just sort of happened and I did like it. She hugged me back and it brought me back to the old days again, even though I really wanted to stay out of the past. It always seemed to haunt me though..
"I can't believe I found you!" She said, hugging me tightly.
"I can't believe it either," I said, smiling my usual smile then I let her down and looked over at the table where she had been sitting with friends, then back at her. "How are you, Shupple?"
"I could be better.." She said with a sigh. "Still haven't had luck. I gave up after a while."
I felt terrible after that but none of that disappointment showed on my face. "Sorry to hear that," I smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure you'll find them. They'll turn up eventually." I honestly wasn't sure whether to believe my own words but who am I to tell someone something that may not be true? At least if it could keep a smile on her face, then I didn't care. I was just surprised that she could still look at me with such warmth after I practically ditched her. If I had it in me, I would have kept traveling with her, but I could never stay in one place, doing the same thing for too long. She knew that, at least.
"Shupple?", a Houndoom called from their table. She was sitting besides another young Gijinka who was blushing madly. Most likely a very shy, young woman around new people. She didn't seem very comfortable around the girls either, but it looked like she was trying her best to adjust. "Who's this?" The Houndoom asked, smiling.
"This is Arc, obviously an Arcanine and he's an old friend of mine. I haven't seen him for about three years now," Shupple answered her. I smiled after hearing that. So she remembered how long too..
"Is it alright if I sit with you ladies?" I asked politely. They agreed to it, but it seemed that Shupple and I ended up talking to each other more than with the others. Every time I looked at her, all I could feel was guilt.. but I only smiled the whole time.
All I could really think about was our first encounter..
Flashback: Age 17
It's so cold... My jacket isn't enough to keep my from shivering. Damn my sensitive body..
"Hey, let's stop by that hot spring for a while~" Some guy said as he passed me with his girlfriend. Or at least that's what it looked like. From what I could still see, she had shoved him and recalled his lack of sensitivity to her feelings, whatever that meant.
Hots spring? That could help me..
There were a few signs for a hot spring nearby and after following them, I found myself at the gate of one of the springs with no money in my pockets. Oh, how I could forget that I was completely broke..
All I knew was that I needed to warm up fast.
Inconspicuously, I managed to sneek in from the back, already tempted by a warm mist flowing from the damp, wooden gate surrounding each individual bath. I chose the one farthest to the side, close to a few trees. It was a bit darker on this side too, giving me a little more of an advantage. I used one of the trees as leverage and jumped over the gate, landing swiftly and silently. From where I stood, I was basically in shadows. Taking a victorious step towards the heart-warming water I realized that I wasn't alone. There was a girl in this bath. Did I honestly not think before jumping that fence?
If I could make it back to the shadows, it would be easy to jump back over the fence before she could notice I'm there. I'm already technically a pervert now, I thought, sighing to myself. Just a few more steps to freedom!
SNAP! Oh god.. I broke a twig.
"W-who's there?" I heard the girl ask me. I'm not a pervert, I just want some warmth! Wow, I'm glad that stayed in my head..
"Um..I jumped the fence to warm up but I entered the wrong place and well, sorry to interrupt you," I smiled sheepishly then made my way to leave over the fence again, but heard a guard on the other side. Damn it.. I looked back over at the girl and chuckled nervously. "Guard.." I said. She sighed and shifted uncomfortably, then after what seemed like a moment of thought, she looked back up at me and told me to get in. I looked at her dumbfounded. Did she really just ask me that?
"Are you sure?" I asked her. Surely she wasn't telling me to get in with her.. What a way to meet someone, huh? I wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste since I was still freezing my ass off. So I shrugged and got in with my boxers still on. The rest of my clothes were neatly folded on a large, dry rock beside me. There was a bit of an awkward silence before I decided to ask her what her name was. If I didn't, this would seem like some odd one-night stand..
"S-Shupple...Shupple the Shuppet," she told me then asked me for my name. She knew I was an Arcanine already, which made me chuckle lightly.
"Tail gave it away, huh? It's Arc," I answered and after that we just talked. Talked about anything really. She told me about her parents, and I offered to help her, but I wasn't going to stay long. Long enough to pay her back for her help, but that was all I could do.
When I heard her play the piano the next morning, I knew I wasn't going to forget her. And the harder I would try to, the harder it would be to forget. I guess that's okay though..part of me doesn't want to forget her anyway..
I helped her for a while, then I left.
End Flashback
After a while of just chatting, she told her friends she would catch up with them later, then she and I went for a stroll. I had my hands in my pocket the whole time, feeling a bit uneasy for some reason. But I wasn't unhappy or anything.. just odd. Distracted is a better word.
"How are you, Arc?" She suddenly asked me. Her voice shook me from my thoughts.
"I'm doing fine," I told her, smiling gently. I don't know why I was keeping more to myself but the years have changed me, I suppose. We joked a bit about mochi. I remember when I got her to try it for the first time. Looks like she never forgot about it either; that made me smile more.
"It seems," she said, looking down at her feet, then up at the constellations. Could she tell? Was I that readable? I knew I wasn't.. she just knew me a little more than I thought she did. "Are you staying at the mansion in the woods?"
"Yes, I am," I told her, then added, "I don't know for how long though.. Are you staying there?"
She nodded and said, "I've been staying there for about a year now. Do you think you'll stay longer than a week there, Arc?"
I didn't even want to stay that long, to be honest. But I could tell she was going to try and talk me into staying a bit longer. I wasn't sure though.. how it would be if I did stay. I didn't even have my own room yet.
"Wherever my mind takes me," I said with a light grin then it faded as I looked at her again. "What's wrong, Shupple? I know it's been three years but something just seems wrong.."
"One of my guy friends is in the hospital and I've been worried about him. So we were taking a break. I think you would like him. He's actually pretty stable in the hospital right now," she said, smiling up at me. That threw me off a bit. There was something different about that smile..
"Let's go see him then. He's your friend so he should be a pretty good guy, right?" I said, with my own smile. She seemed happy to hear that and quickly took my hand, leading me to the hospital. When we got there but the room was empty except for the Raine, as I was earlier told, resting in the corner of the room.
"Wait here, okay?" She told me and I just smiled and stayed put. She came back and sat by me, suddenly scratching behind my ears. My eyes widened slightly. How did she know my ears were my weak spot?? I couldn't hold it in. My tail started wagging fervently. "Keep scratching~" I said playfully but whispered so I wouldn't make any unwanted noise, fully content with what she was doing. I'm such a dog..
My ears perked up suddenly when I heard the bathroom door open. A tall Luxray stepped out, half dressed. Shupple smiled wide at him. So this must be her friend. He had pulled a shirt on and walked to the middle of the room.
"This is Lux, the guy I told you about," she said. I just blinked up at him from my spot on the couch and he did the same in my direction. Cat.. No, I wasn't going to fall into my dog like instincts and growl like an idiot. I was raised better than that. All I did was smile and he did the same back. Good guy, I guess. I had befriended a lot of cat-like gijinka in the past, though I wasn't as good as they were at falling of off things..
"Nice to meet ya, man. I'm Lux," He said with a wide grin and held out his hand. I smiled back and shook it politely. He had a firm grip, no doubt a pretty powerful guy.
"It's nice to meet you as well, Lux" I replied. I wondered if we would become good friends, but I shouldn't think about those things for too long.
He put an arm around Shupple teasingly, some cupcake frosting on his cheek beside his mouth. "I concur this guy is your boyfriend, eh Shupple?" He grinned, teasing her. She elbowed him lightly, making him pout, but he still chuckled slightly. Then she wiped the little bit of frosting on his cheek and called him an idiot. It wasn't in a harsh way, though. I just smiled with amusement at their performance.
"He's not my boyfriend," Shupple then said. "He's a good friend of mine that I caught up with after three years." I could've sworn I saw a pink tint on her cheeks but it quickly faded. Maybe my eyes need to be checked.
"We met in a hot spring," I added. After I said that though, I realized it probably wasn't the best choice of words.
"A hot spring!? Damn, Ghosty, I didn't know you went down that way!" He said, grinning wide with red tinted cheeks. I didn't bother to imagine what it was he was thinking just then.
She shot him a death glare, one that from my view was not visible. To Lux, however, I could tell she had done something, since he instantly shut up about the subject and looked at her like a fearful kitty. I thought about laughing at the reaction, but I kept that thought and action to myself.
I let Lux and Shupple talk for a bit and looked around for a place to sit. I noticed the cough in the corner, but the sleeping Raine was no longer sleeping. The noise in the room must have woken her up. She was twiddling her fingers and hanging her head low, trying not to interrupt or be a bother in any way. She kept herself quite and contained, but she seemed to be very nervous also, afraid that if someone saw her, possibly, they would instantly make her blush like mad.
"Hi," I said, in a soft voice, and smiled as I took a seat beside her; not too close, considering she seemed nervous when people got too close. Or maybe I'm just over-analyzing things again. Her head shot up and she looked at me, blushing nervously.
"I- Uh- h-hello!" She seemed to squeak. I thought it was pretty cute actually. She kept twiddling her fingers, and decided to keep her eye contact on them.
"You're one of Shupple's friends from the restaurant, right?" I asked politely, not looking at her since it seemed to make her a little more nervous.
She nodded fervently and tried smiling.
"Sorry, if I seem scary to you.." I said, chuckling nervously as I scratched the back of my neck. "Trust me, my bark and bite are pathetic. So you have no need to worry at all," I tried to reassure her.
I think I saw her shoulders shake slightly at one point: a possible giggle maybe. But I didn't see much of it, since she was still pretty nervous and she seemed to be thinking about something or someone else.
It seemed like she was going to say something back, but she was suddenly caught in a light bear hug by Lux. "RAINE, BABY!~" He said, playfully as she went completely red in the face. It almost looked like she would faint, but he let her go before she could.
"Ease up on her, Blue-kitty," Shupple chided, nudging him lightly.
Time seemed to fly by after that and I always seemed a bit lost in my own thoughts. It was probably the fact that we were in a hospital. I really hated places like this. They always brought back some rough memories. I kept on the usual smile though..
It always seemed to work for me.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND DONE!
Took me a while, since I got distracted with school work, and commission stuff xD
Anyhoo, that little intro in the beginning, yeah, that's just a little insight on Arc's memories. >:) Only a little bit for now~ I hope this was good and I hope I got everyone's characters right! *_* If there is anything missing or anything OOC with any of the chars used, just tell me and I'll fix it up! I wanted to get this done before I start my testing.. ^^;; So it's a little rushed, but hey, I managed to get around six pages, even though it may not look it.. >_>;;
Time: It's still the same night after they return to the hospital, so it would continue in the next post a little more with the rest of this night until they go to sleep, and then the morning lol I think..
Hope y'all enjoyed!
Peace~
