Anxiety Trials is a Pokemon Special sandbox RP. We are a friendly, no-fuss site where you don't have to worry about posting 24/7, but when you've got the muse. We are based loosely around the Pokemon Special/Adventures manga, though set in a slightly alternate universe. If you're looking for a fun place to explore what life with Pokemon would be like, hopefully we're the place for you!
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4th Feb 14
As those of you who have been with us for a while can see, we've done some updating on the site. To our new membes, welcome! We've reverted to our original name and are going to move forward with six month! See all our new, updated summaries in the "Need to Knows" section for a full run-down on what has happened!
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★ Weather ★
Feb, March, April
Snow is starting to melt in most regions, they are beginning to see Spring
ANXIETY TRIALS was created by Fate. The skin which includes the Board Mod, Mini Profile and Sidebar are created by Dorothia @ Adoxography. The tabbed sidebar was created by kimset of RPG D'. Plug ins were made by their respective PB Support member. All other information which includes but is not limited to, Character Plots, Character Applications and more belong to their rightful owner. Pokemon/Pokemon Special is the property of Nintendo.
Hugh can tell this morning is going to be an agonizingly slow one, and he hasn't even opened his eyes yet. The sounds of construction vehicles and moving equipment served as an alarm clock about an hour earlier, but Hugh refused to move from his position in an attempt to sleep. He'd even kept his facade up when his sister came in his room to check on him before she left to help his parents and neighbors rebuild their beloved city. It frustrates him to no end - having to stay indoors and not being able to help out. He's tried, yes, but it quickly resulted in his crumpling to the ground and Tallulah having to carry him home.
Damn...
Hugh finally opens his red eyes, staring at his ceiling. He decides he may as well get on with his day, and forces himself to sit up. He can hear a few of the pokemon downstairs moving around - the noise outside has woken them up as well. They're undoubtedly waiting for someone to spend a morning with. A small smile crosses his lips and Hugh pushes himself up, moving both his arms carefully to see if his range of movement has increased anymore from the day before, as though he expects his healing to accelerate overnight.
He winces and stops, coating his annoyance with a yawn as he pulls on his jacket and zips it up over the bandages. He can wait, the pokemon are of greater importance to him. The teenager turns and leaves his room, treading down the stairs rather quickly to the main sitting area. Standing in the middle is his sister's Liepard. The pokemon looks at him silently, and he squares his shoulders to stare back, approaching it slowly. He has only seen it in passing since he returned it to his sister.
After moments of silence, the cat-like pokemon winds itself around his legs, tail brushing against his hands as if to only begin attempting to make up for the lost time between them.
"I've missed you too," he murmurs to it, looking down. "...how have you been, huh?"
Mei was home. There was nothing more comforting than home - now that it was in the process of being rebuilt after the storm that had torn it apart. Her family had moved back into their homes. Unlike some towns, Aspertia hadn't been flattened, merely flooded. Something still didn't feel right though. Then again, nothing ever felt right nowadayas. She sat to her table in her parents' house, wondering how much time she could spend there before she got bored and had to sprint out the door the way she had so many times before in her need to constantly keep moving.
She had barely shared breakfast with her parents. Spending the night was nothing when you had the urge to keep moving, to do things. And if she stayed still, she would never gain the lost half of her team back.
No sooner had she thought it than the itch had overwhelmed her. It had been a long, long time since she'd seen her friend with the spiky, qwilfish hair and almost as long since she had popped in to see his sister. Though the little girl was a few years younger than she, Mei had always had an attatchment to the girl and she half-wondered if she was coping with the fact that no one had seen her brother in a long time.
It wasn't necessarily unlikely.
Now worried about the poor girl's feelings, Mei tossed her bag over her shoulder and made the familiar bee-line through the houses. It wasn't a long run, to the Castiel's house. Without knocking she flung the door open, her own sweet sing-song voice ringing out as she did so. "Sweeeetie, your favourite sort-of sis..." The end of the chiming call for Hugh's sister was stopped as she looked straight into the face of someone she hadn't seen nearly enough. Someone she had clearly missed.
Pain struck her usually bright features for a few minutes as questions raced through the girl's mind. Blue eyes blinked once and then twice as she stood in the doorway, watching the Liepard wind itself around Hugh. Missing, absent, spiky-haired Hugh.
Moment of stunned silence and inability to move over, Mei practically ran forward and threw her arms around her friend, ignoring the usual necessity for personal space and completely unaware that he was injured. To him, he looked like Hugh. Missing, non-contacting and ever so wonderful Hugh. "Where have you been you crazy lump of manflesh, I've been worried sick and Kyouhei keeps jumping out of the sky and nearly dying and I haven't heard from you and I missed you and when did you get home!?" The quickfire explosion of words spilled from her lips faster than she could stop herself, arms tightening a little as if he would disappear again if she let go.
No, he wasn't allowed to disappear again. She would never let go.
Hugh feels his expression soften the longer he looks at the pokemon that has encircled his legs and slowly walking around and around him, pressing its spotted body against him as though it’s trying to communicate a mass of unspoken, undone actions that had been absent for the years it was missing. ”…it’s alright.” he says quietly, relaxing his arms so his hands fall a bit lower. The pokemon stops and sits up, looking at him for a moment before licking his fingers. A smirk and a satisfied huff escape the teenager. ”Looks like we have lost time to make up.”
The Liepard nods turns to walk away, but stops, suddenly curling back around Hugh’s legs. He notices the change in its posture. Its ears have erected towards the door and it lets out a squeak-like meow. Someone’s coming? Almost right on cue, the door bursts open and Hugh turns instantly to face whomever invited themselves in, only to be shocked by who he sees.
Mei.
His expression relaxes from its usual seriousness for a moment before re-adjusting. He registers the pain in her eyes as she stands silently in the doorway. He swallows stiffly, hands raised slightly before dropping once more. Was he the source of that pain? His lips twitch toward a frown, but he can’t bring himself to say anything to her. Instead, the silence thickens between him until Mei finally moves.
The Liepard darted away faster than Mei got to Hugh, practically jumping upon him to embrace him in a tight hug. Ow ow ow! Her tight squeeze is perfectly level with his injured chest, and she’s wrapped her arms around his so he can’t gently push her off. The words from her mouth beat against him, and he realizes he can’t get a word in edgewise until she finishes. …crazy lump of manflesh? Kyouhei skydiving? Nearly dying? How much had he missed in his absence? He winces silently as her grip tightens and restrains his flinch of pain.
”M-Mei…” he manages to stutter, ”You’re hurting me…” The teenager tries to take a breath, but the burns on his chest scream at him when he does so, complaining for Mei to let go. ”…v-very much.”
She didn't want to move from her spot of attachment to her friend. If she moved then he'd run away again and she'd never ever see him and that would be bad. Her fingers kneaded gently into his back where she stood clutching at him, praying that what she saw before her was real. It felt real. It felt like Hugh was back. But what if he wasn't and she was imagining things again? It wouldn't be the first time she'd seen a head of spiky hair somewhere and nearly pounced on it multiple times.
His wince and his pain were unknown to the girl who had been waiting with bated breath to see her friend, and she was shocked out of her moment as he stuttered her name. Well his voice was much more welcoming to her than his body. She froze and her hands released her hold on him, allowing him freedom from her grasp. She hadn't realised she'd scared the pokemon away, and she felt bad when she noticed that the Liepard had well and truly left their feet.
Realising properly that she had hurt her friend, Mei took a few steps back, though her hand slipped back to clutch at his arm. No, she wasn't going to let go just yet. She couldn't let go. "Sorry!" She cried out loud, apologetic for the fact that she could now see the pain that was lining her lifelong friends' face. She squeezed his arm softly, and looked back up to him, blinking, "I didn't think I could grab that hard.. I must have been working out."
The twin-tailed girl looked him over, as if checking for wounds. Unfortuantely the dark haired boy was always known for covering up. For his high-collared shirt, for his long jacket, for his pants and high boots. All of those things made it very difficult for her to tell whether he'd been injured. You know, other than by her hug, because apparently Mei was now strong enough to crush the bones of young men in her head.
Foot scuffed on the ground as she clung to his arm longingly, staring up at him through bright blue eyes. "You still didn't tell me where you were, Huey." The childish nickname slipped through her lips before she even thought about it -- too used to the name to think that maybe having been gone for so long meant he didn't want her to call him by it anymore.
The brunette couldn't believe that he didn't want to be her friend though, she couldn't fathom the mere thought. It had just been something else. She didn't quite know what, but it had to be something else.
"I didn't mean to hurt you. You're not going to leave again cause I hugged too tight, are you?" The voice was pitiful and a little worried. Just a little.
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]Yeah, she isn't very good at boundaries. And is like a kicked puppy. I'm sorry.
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Last Edit: Dec 21, 2012 7:00:26 GMT 9.5 by ★ FATE ★
Hugh swallows when he feels her fingers curl into his back, as though she were afraid he would evaporate if she released him from her physical contact. Had he really been that missed? Mei… he glances down at her, and stares at the buns on her head, as though they’re more interesting than the girl herself. …didn’t realize – ow. Her sudden release of his body and change in pressure sends a twinge of pain across his chest, but once her grip releases he feels as though he can breathe again, and the constant burning sting of pain slowly begins to fade. He lets out a well-held breath and leans forward, placing a hand on his chest as he inhales again to breathe easier and attempt to ease the pain away.
”Hehe…” he manages to chuckle, straightening a little to face her, and offering a partial smirk to try to ease the worry from her expression. ”Yeah, you really must have. It’s fine.” He keeps his hand still against his chest as though the pain will ease with his palm pressing against the jacket and bandages, partially to avoid feeling more guilt than he already does for taking her unaware statement and turning it into a white lie he can use to his advantage. He doesn’t want her to worry.
He notices her eyes looking him over, and he quickly drops his hand to his pocket. His red eyes dart towards the wall sheepishly while he silently prays vehemently that she doesn’t go as far as to unzip his jacket to attempt to try to make sure he’s truly alright, rather than the bit of skin that she can see visible from his well-clothed body. His jaw sinks into the funnel-collar of his jacket and he allows the fabric to cover past the bridge of his nose as he looks at her – not realizing he’s playing into the habit he developed when he was younger – hiding in his jacket to cover something up.
He turns his head to look at her, as she clings to his arm and stares up at him through her bright eyes. ’Huey’... That’s something he hasn’t heard in a while. ”Don’t worry, Mei…” he tells her, almost panicking slightly because of how terribly pitiful her voice got in the span of a few seconds, ”…I’m not going anywhere for a while. I promise.” He lifts his hand and places it on her head briefly, giving her a smile hidden by his collar before dropping his hand to his side again. ”I’ve been in Sinnoh…I was there until about two weeks ago from the point after I left you and Kyouhei in Victory Road.”
He stares at her, assuming his guess about her worry is correct. ”…I’m sorry for not contacting you…you were worried, right?”
Mei had always been a physical person when it came to relationships. Being able to touch and hold and feel someone's presence was important, particularly when they had been absent for a time. It confirmed to her that they were really there. Hugh had been gone for years. Plural. He would be lucky to get out without being held onto for serveral times that amount, considering the fact that she had missed her other best friend so terribly. His sister was of course one of her favourite people too, but it didn't have quite the same effect on her, loving on her best friend's sister. It just wasn't quite the same. She was confused by the hand on his chest for a few moments, but shook it off.
"Maybe you and Kyouhei are just getting weaker, I think I knocked Kyoukyo off his feet the other day with a hug too, so you guys should probably start to work out a little more," she mused, lifting her unclinging hand to brush over her lip in thought. Yes. Her friends were becoming weak little girls and she was a big tough guy. That was the answer. "I really really didn't mean to hurt you though, I won't pounce on you again, if I'm too strong," And there was that Mei look, the cute little smile that said everything. She had missed him. She was glad he was home. All of the emotions that were piling up within the slightly hyperactive girl were spilling out onto her face.
As if not quite believing him, blue eyes narrowed a little in evaluation as he sank into that ever present too-collared jacket that he could so easily hide in. It had been his saviour his whole life, but now she could never tell if he was just embarrassed or genuinely not wanting to show her how he was feeling. Either way she wanted to know, and tugged on his arm to make certain they were making eyecontact as he spoke.
Wrinkling her nose as she processed what her lifelong friend had been stating, she finally let out a long gush of air - still clinging to his arm even as he patted her on the head - and nodded. "Ok, I believe you. Don't go to Sinnoh for that long again though. You missed lots of things. If you need to go again, take me with you so I don't have to worry every day, okay?" It seemed like such a simple statement. For her there was no real need to question it. She wanted to be with her friends no matter where they went.
As if somewhere subconsciously Mei knew that the answer about Hugh being suddenly weak as a kitten was covering something much worse, Mei's hand tightened around his arm as she tugged him over towards the couch she'd sat on her whole life when visiting, wanting to be close enough without clambering on top of the poor boy. "I did worry." Her voice dropped a little and she tucked her legs up underneath herself as she slumped down on the couch, trying to drag him with her. "With all the storms and all the people who've been killed.. I didn't know where you were, Huey. I didn't want you to be dead or hurt and no one know." She blinked up at him, eyes losing a little of their sparkle as they dropped down to the ground.
"But you're home now for a while.. so I guess I'll be ok.. even if you leave again.. Just call sometimes, okay? I know I'm not super exciting and that I'm not as much fun now we're not having adventures but I missed you and lots of things happened while you were gone. I've been spending time with your little sister.. we have something in common now, other than missing you." She plastered one of her faker smiles on her lips. The smile where the corners of her lips twitched up but you could see that it was genuine unhappiness behind the "positive" facade.
"But don't worry about that!" Mei waved a hand, looking away at something else on purpose. "Tell me what you were doing in Sinnoh."
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]At least this time she didn't crush him. Though she is considering sitting on his lap, just prewarning you. xD .
Hugh laughs lightly after her comment and nods, grinning. ”Well it has been a few years, maybe when we grew – “ because they both clearly have, ” – you grew stronger as well as taller.” He kicks himself mentally, knowing that if – or when, it was Mei after all – she learned he’s been lying to her she won’t be happy. It’s just a white lie! But then again, hiding the truth from her is just about as bad as telling her outright. At least, that’s what Hugh believes. He glances at the door, missing her analytical gaze, before his attention is brought back to her almost immediately when she tugs on his arm. He listens to her and lets a frown jerk his lips downward, and he’s glad he still wears this jacket. ”I will,” he promises ”…that way we can have another adventure like we did with Kyouhei years ago.”
He walks as he’s tugged, and he tries to keeps eye contact with her this time rather than trying to find things to look at around his house. He sits on the couch next to her, dropping down fast enough to create a ‘woosh’ from the couch cushions. He leans back against the couch and turns his head to look at her. Her words and expression are like a fan to send the fog of guilt his way rapidly. He’s a loss for words as she continues speaking, failing in his attempt to stay looking at her eyes, and instead watching the Liepard return into the main room and trot to the front door, nosing it closed before trotting back across the room to hop upon the couch next to Mei, nosing her arm affectionately as she talks to him.
Hugh glances at Mei in time to see a smile. He bites down on his lip and looks down at his lap. He has a feeling it was one of her faux smiles. He doesn’t even need to look into her eyes to see this. Then again, he is partially the reason for it. The spiky-haired teen swallows and looks back up at his friend. ”…Mei…don’t say that about yourself…” He means it, the truth of his statement flashes briefly in his red eyes as he looks at her. ”Because it’s not true. You’re plenty exciting. Heck, look at me.” He raises the hand of the arm she’s holding to point at himself with his thumb, ”Without you and Kyouhei around I probably would have raged at anybody that irritated me. Who wants to be around that?” He asks her with a laugh, ”You probably helped stop me and Kyouhei from beating each other up whenever we didn’t agree…it’s a good thing you were there.”
He pauses for a moment, glad that she was able to find company in his sister, and the reverse of that statement. ”Besides, Mei…” his voice lightens a little, ”I just said we can go on an adventure together again, right?” He nods before thinking to himself, Once the natural disasters are stopped, and the people responsible are brought down.
He doesn’t want to spoil the mood, though, and decides to answer her request. ”In Sinnoh…I mostly trained.” He realizes he’s turned to face her in his more consoling words, and now leans back again, and shoves his free hand in his pocket, staring into the air as though to think about everything he’s done. ”I trained my pokemon…and myself. We all got stronger while I was there. I stayed in that big mountain range smack in the middle of Sinnoh…the Coronet Range. I slowly made my way through each peak, and inside the mountains I could get in.” He chuckles lightly, ”There were some really strong pokemon there. Even we had some trouble. But eventually we got strong enough that they were no sweat.” He can’t imagine his team any other way, now. ”I didn’t want to cheat and fly up each mountain on Zephyr, though, so I climbed. That was always one heck of a workout. I’d start climbing while the sun was still rising, and would get to the top when the sun was setting.” He pulls his jaw out of the funnel collar for once, and his grin at the memory can be seen, ”I always wanted to just pass out and sleep there because I was so exhausted but I’d force myself to eat and train a bit until I could see the moon above me. Then I would sleep.”
He glances at her before losing the grin, ”Of course, since I stayed up there with almost no contact with other people, I didn’t even know about all these natural disasters happening until a month ago.” He sighs slightly, ”Crazy, right? I was so isolated I didn’t even know stuff had torn my home up, so I immediately ran down the mountain to get back to you, Kyouhei, mom, dad, and sis. Finally got back two weeks ago.” He raises his arms out of habit to hang them from the back of the couch by his elbows, but scrunches his eyes in a wince before lowering his arms again. He hopes the expression passed as an awkward blink. ”What have you been doing in these years?” He asks Mei, turning to look at her again.
Mei took a moment to consider that maybe it did have something to do with her growth. She then glanced at each of her biceps in turn in order to decide whether or not that might be the case. Perhaps she was stronger.. but she still couldn't manage to get the lid off a pickle or jam jar, and those were things that indicated someone's strength, if you asked her. She still tended to whack them on benchtops. Clearly distracted by the thought of her strength, her eyes glazed over until she realised that she had completely zoned out of their conversation and his voice pulled her back into reality. She blinked a few times as she shifted on the spot.
He was offering to go on another adventure with her, that was wonderful! That meant the next time he left she wouldn't get left behind. Bad things wouldn't happen. Three of her pokemon wouldn't get stolen again! There would be much more happiness when she was on adventures with her friends, that she knew for sure. Though her grip finally released him as they made it to the couch, Hugh would notice her eyes still intently locked on him, very rarely wavering for fear that if she looked away too long he might disappear. "I really want to go on another adventure, I want to see some more good things happen. I'm sure we'd have lots of fun again," She mumbled, shifting a little closer on the couch as her brain reminded her that he was a boy. Boys could handle being sat on.
The nuzzling from Purrloin made her smile, and she unconsciously reached to stroke the cat-pokemon's head. For a dark type who had been taken by Team Plasma, it had certainly found its place as a pet and affectionate pokemon once more.
And if she was sitting on him, well, he couldn't get up and run away. Another few inches of shuffling and her knee was up against his when he started telling her not to speak negatively about herself, "That just means I managed to stop my best friends killing each other, that doesn't make me very exciting. Kyoukyou jumps out of the sky and you go on trips, that's a lot more than I do here in my little house in Aspertia. I think the most exciting thing I did was challenge the first gym in Sinnoh when I went there for a little while.. I need to get stronger, and I can't take the gym challenge here again, so I have to find other places." She blinked up at him, confused as to why he'd think people didn't want to be around him.
"I want to be around that, that's what it means when I missed you, silly.. I am glad you and Kyou never actually beat each other up though." She breathed out, a more genuine soft laugh escaping afterwards. "Yes. We'll go on another adventure and it'll be just like before. Maybe this time she can come with us, too. I'm sure she'd have fun and we could protect her. All of us." And she meant it. Her encouragement continued straight through to her eyes, which once more sought his red ones in a firm lock.
"That sounds like you had a very big adventure.. it would have been exhausting but very exhilierated. You could probably beat both Kyouhei and I at once now with all that training you'v ebeen doing. The pokemon must have been interesting too, since they'd have been different than the ones we get here." She smiled, nodding quickly.
Mei thought about the idea of not knowing when Aspertia had been hit by the terrible storm, and her smile quickly faded away. She had been glad she could rush home to her family, to help them survive the horrible storms. "You shouldn't run down mountains, it can be dangerous," the brunette stated matter-of-factly, and the wince-blink confused her. Without thinking any longer - and deciding that staring at him to make sure he didn't leave was getting boring - she crawled her way a little closer and sunk onto his lap in order to tell her own tale.
"Well.. I've been training too. I had to, I guess, because--" She struggled, finding the idea of telling him what had happened to three of her precious pokemon too difficult to bear, and she unconsciously leant towards him, seeking another hug before she continued. Yes, a hug would help her be honest with him. Even if he got angry at her for allowing her pokemon to have been taken.
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]Poor Hugh. xD Now he's got a clingy dumb girl on his lap and her need for hugs is going to expose his pain >> She's a bad person. -kicks her-
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Last Edit: Nov 10, 2012 12:52:10 GMT 9.5 by MEI MORIMOTO
”Sometimes I wonder how you can stand me.” He tells her with a laugh, ”You’re so nice and sweet to people, there’s no way you’re unexciting. I’d bet that given the chocie between you and me, people would choose you. You’re way more entertaining than me – you always know how to make others smile.”
Through his words he hasn’t even noticed her slow approach until she moves entirely into his lap. His red eyes widen with surprise and he leans back, and brings his arms closer to his side as he scoots against the couch. He swallows slightly and focuses more on what she’s said. ”Ah...” he manages to pass off his reaction to her comment with a laugh, ”...yeah it can be.” He shrugs slightly, ”I fell down part of the mountain too.” It isn’t exactly a lie, seeing as he had fallen, ”I was more careful afterward I promise.” He glances at her arms as they close around him. He tenses, ready for the slight pain that’s going to come.
He raises his arms slightly to pat her back before letting his hands drop to his sides. He’s glad she can’t see his face and the strained expression upon it. Though it’s more minor compared to the pain from earlier, it’s still like a terrible, burning and stinging pressure descending upon him as she leans against him in her hug. He glances at the Liepard that has remained on the couch, and realizing its tail is twitching as it looks at the pair of them. There’s a light in its eyes – something he hasn’t seen in a while. Is it amusement?
”I’m sure you two...would give me a run for my money.” he tells her, keeping his eyes on the spotted cat and his voice as level as possible, though there’s still hesitation in it as he keeps pain from his voice. ”T-two against one is always challenging.” Hugh looks back at Mei, leaving the Liepard to its own musings, trying to ignore the glint he saw in its eyes. The words he plans on speaking evaporate from his mind when he notices she’s cut off in her speaking.
”M...Mei.” he begins again, ”What’s wrong?” His breath catches slightly, ”S-sit up to tell me, though. Y-you’re crushing me.” His chuckle is strained, but he manages it to keep with the white lie. ”You can stay there, though...my legs are stronger than my chest.” He gives her a grin, and hopes it’s convincing.
"If you wonder that then maybe you really do need to spend more time with me again, silly. You've been my friend for a gazillion years! I more than stand you, I get all sad when you're not around. That's better than standing you, I think." She grinned at him and shook her head, "Nope, you have nicer hair and prettier eyes, people would choose you." She reached her hands out a little, stroking at the Liepard affectionately. "I just like seeing my friends smiling, especially you and Kyouhei."
Tilting her head back to look at the ceiling - and shifting in his lap to make it a little less awkward, and hilariously interesting for the poor boy beneath her - she let out a soft sigh, then flicked her eyes back directly to him as he said he fell down the mountain. "You fell!?" The explanation quickly was replied to with a look of worry, and she moved rather unconsciously to half- straddle his lap and look him over more thoroughly. She didn't realise how easily mistaken the position might have been, instead focused on lifting up one arm at a time to evaluate whether or not he was injured. She was one step off unzipping his jacket when he promised that he was more careful after, and she settled a little to sit more carefully and return to the comfortable position she'd been in before.
Focusing her eyes on something on a wall, she nodded. "We're a pretty good team sometimes, but you and me make a good team too." She mused, breathing slowly and happily where she sat. She was all too content, "We should all take it in turns two-against-one, it'd be fun.. and really good training." She looked down at the cat pokemon and reached out her hand once more to glide her fingers down it's purple coated neck, smiling affectionately but somewhat sadly.
His request was headed a few moments later when she leant forward and away from his chest, so completely unaware that moments prior she had nearly uncovered the source of his squirming. "About six months ago I was in Petalburg City in Hoenn because I wanted to do some training.. A guy wanted to battle, and he won.. But when I tried to just do the regular loss thing.. He.." Breath hitching in her throat, the next few words came out as a quick slur, "He used his Bulbasaur to keep me tied up and said his prize was the pokemon he defeated.. He took Clara, Kema and Giselle.. I haven't found him since, I haven't been able to get my pokemon back since.. I know I should have been stronger but I couldn't. He took them and then used sleep powder.. when I woke up I didn't even know which way he went."
She shifted on his lap, feeling very guilty. Her eyes watched the Liepard. "You got this sweetheart back.. I just wish I could do the same. I need to do the same." She forced her Mei-smile back onto her face, it really lacking her usual oomph. It wasn't full of pizzazz or happiness, it was just the look that said she had to succeed, that she had to get them back. Her Unfezant, her Clefable and her Lilligant were all waiting for her to find them, to add them back to her team. "I caught a Cottonee, a Zorua and a Riolu to make up for them, and they're wonderful.. but I need to keep training, really.. and I need to find him so I can get them back."
Mei was suddenly uncomfortable, not sure about whether or not she should stay on his lap. Would he yell at her for being so weak to have allowed her pokemon to be taken from her? Would he look down on her? What if he didn't want to be around her at all anymore. She clung to her own knees, propping herself up rigidly so she didn't collapse against his chest again, so she didn't do anything to move at all.
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]Awww, he's so sweet. I feel so bad for him having to put up with Mei and her over the top affection and climbiness. xD She's all nervous that he's going to think she's a bad trainer now.
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Last Edit: Nov 10, 2012 17:55:53 GMT 9.5 by MEI MORIMOTO
Hugh saw the Liepard lick her fingers out of the corner of his eye before it laid down as Mei’s hands scratched at its head, content with the attention it had gotten from at least one of the humans on the couch. ”Psh.” he looked back at her, ”I still wonder. Your hair and eyes are way nicer than mine anyway, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface.” Seriously, hair that people mistook for a Qwilfish half the time and red eyes (red, of all colors, demonic-looking)? Long brown hair and clear blue eyes were way more ideal in his mind than the bizarre combination he sported, in his opinion.
Her sudden reaction and worry made the teen want to kick himself for worrying her again. He closed his eyes and sank his jaw back into his collar when she nearly straddled him. Part of the action was to hide the flash of embarassment that overcame him; the other was to hide his jaw tensing as she moved each of his arms. He hadn’t realized that movement of his arms would affect his injury so much. Well I guess skin is attached. He thought as he cracks open one eye to look at her once she’s stopped fidgeting and sat back. Move one thing and you move something else nearby.
He doesn’t respond immediately to her words, instead waiting for the pressure to be lifted from his chest before he feels he can speak again. Seconds later, as though his wish is granted, she leans back and removes her weight from his injury. His breath leaves him in a huff and he curls forward slightly, forgetting entirely he was going to respond beforehand, and instead listening to her coninue speaking. He leans back as her story starts, and watches her carefully as she tells it. Clearly, there is something about this memory that bothers her. But he says nothing, instead choosing to watch his friend and pick up on any subtle signs her body gives of how she truly feels about it. Hugh’s eyes narrow as she reaches her first pause, he doesn’t like where this story is going already.
She hesitates with her words, her breath pausing in her lungs as though it’s sapped away suddenly, and the words she manages to find are run together, as though she wants to get it over with quickly. He listens and finds himself paralyzed for the time, his red eyes widened furiously as he stares at his friend, almost disbelieving that something like that could happen to her. But it can. Rage ignites within him and light up his eyes above the collar of his jacket. It smolders in his gaze, fueled by his anger that Mei was victimized, and further that it seems like something all too familiar to him.
Hugh finds himself a loss for words, the only thoughts he would be able to get out of his mouth would be a muddled mess, incomprehensible for the time until he paused to sort them out. He doesn’t even see her forced smile, instead too furious to notice something his friend is doing to try to keep herself positive.
His angered silence draws out, and finally he manages to calm himself enough – though barely so – to speak without shouting. Instead, his voice comes out slowly, cold and brittle as it was years ago whenever he spoke to or of Team Plasma.
”....Mei...” His arms tremble, making his hands – which have curled into fists unconsciously – shake. ”I’ll get your pokemon back with you.” He draws one hand up and places it over his chest, fingers curved slightly like claws just wanting to tear at the thief’s face. ”We will find that man.” he says with an air of cold confidence, ”I swear it.” He grits his teeth angirly, ”Nobody has the right to do something like that to anybody, especially not my friends.”
He feels the new desire for some form of revenge burning within him, and he silently swears to pay whoever this man was back tenfold for the pain he’s put Mei through. ”I promise, Mei.” He picks his hand up and drops it back against his chest, temporarily forgetting his inury, as though to pound the promise into himself. ”I will help you however I can.” The sting radiating from his chest reminds him, though, that he’s in no condition to go running around now, ”...but I...” his fingers clench into a fist, pulling some of his jacket in with his frustrated grip, ”...I swear it.”
He looks away, not wanting her to see the burning within his eyes once again.
notes nope, now he's just enraged at that guy and wants revenge // he also doesn't realize he's being sweet, he just doesn't want to see her down on herself so he's doing whatever he can XD[/classy]
Over the time Hugh had been gone Mei had started to spend more time in his home - she had bonded over the absense of the spiky haired boy with his sister, as well as the fact that they had both experienced the striking blow of someone taking their precious pokemon. Over that time she had come to appreciate the company of the Liepard and the way it could comfort in different ways. A lick of her fingers with its rough tongue, a nuzzle against her leg when she was draped easily over the couch. Things like that were what had made her comfortable with his family. Perhaps it was a little unusual, but he was one of her best friends. The least she could have done was keep them company and encourage them that he would be home some day soon. An encouragement she appreciated herself for the most part.
He was lucky she wasn't paying enough attention to the fact that he had hidden his face in his collar, for that would have been a dead giveaway to his attempts to throw the now fussing girl off the trail of his injury.
Wondering if perhaps the reason she swore she could hear his breath catch when she leant against him was due to something she had no real idea about - boys were apparently so hormonal (not that she'd even known explicitly which gender he was attracted to, she had never asked in her many years of being inexplicably drawn to Qwilfish Boy) that maybe her being in such close proximity was bothering him. But he hadn't seemed to have minded in their early teens, and she had been just as physical, just as touchy-feely then. No, there was definitely something wrong.
She just needed to figure out what.
Hugh's physical presence beside her - or rather, beneath her - was more of a comfort than she expected. Even though he'd removed her from her hugging state, it was still nice to feel the warmth of someone's body when you were telling them about something that hurt. Fingers curled into her legs and then released them in tension and she managed not to let her breath catch too much as he spoke. It had been such a long time she had almost - okay, not really - almost forgotten how noble he could be. She had not forgotten his temper, or how hard it had been when he had found his sister's purrloin had been evolved by the Shadow Triad.
With a faint squeak, she watched him grip at his chest. She hadn't meant to rile him up, she had only meant to inform but now he was raging in a way similar to how Kyouhei had. More comfortingly, she reached out to him to put a hand carefully on his shoulder. Thumb flattened the material of his jacket in soft strokes. "Thank you. Right now I have to train. I have three pokemon who still need to learn how to work in my team.. but when I find out where he is, I'll come to you and you can help me."
Lips twisted up into a sad smile and she sunk back down against him a litte, shifting in his lap. "Right now I just want to catch up on everything. I've missed you, you know." Her smile grew a little. "I was worried you were going to be mad at me for letting it happen.. Every day I wish I'd seen his Bulbasaur coming but I hadn't and it makes me so.. I felt so powerless. I couldn't believe someone would do that." She muttered, shifting her weight on his lap.
Mei let out a long breath before she smiled properly, relaxing easily to press her face to his shoulder. Yes, this was comfortable. He was not going anywhere.
And soon she'd find out what was bugging him and making him flinch so much. Soon.
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]Yeah, I'm still thinking subconsciously she knows it's his chest that hurts and is just trying to get him to admit it. xD He's so protective and encouraging omg. <3
The squeak from his friend on his lap draws him from the concentrated rage boiling within him, back to look at her. Calm down. he tells himself, inhaling slowly and silently to force a calm upon himself. He swallows with mild difficulty, forcing the breath meant to ease him down into his lungs. Don’t go off on Mei, he can hear his own voice telling himself fiercely. He knew he won’t forgive himself if he snaps at her because of this. He closes his eyes again, attempting to get a handle on his rage. Seconds later, he is jolted from his plight with her touch against his shoulder. He jumps slightly at the contact before relaxing, feeling some of the anger subdue as though her own calm, happier demeanor compared to his has some miraculous effect on his more temperamental one.
He gazes at her silently while she speaks, letting her words force against the bubbling anger within him as he eases himself into the more relaxed state he’d held previously. He swallows once more when she finishes speaking, and opens his mouth to reply when she moves again. Her face is against his shoulder, and he feels his clenched fist pinned between his chest and hers. Oh Arceus… He flushes slightly, looking at the ceiling, sure Mei doesn’t realize that his hand is still between them. Slowly, he unclenches his fist, flattening his hand against his chest in hopes he could stealthily slide it back into his pocket at some point. But for now, he keeps it pinned flat against his own chest as though she’d be able to feel the bandages through his shirt.
”Mei…how could I be mad at you for letting something like that happen?” he asks firmly, though with no attacking edge to his words, ”Pokemon are meant to be our companions and friends, and only a pokemon can stand up to another’s attacks – they outclass humans. You were restrained and couldn’t do anything.” He narrows his eyes, fighting back the tempting urge to rant about just how severely messed up he finds the situation she’s described to him. ”But I said I’ll help you, right? I’ll train with you.” He grins some. ”Not just your pokemon, either…maybe we could find you some self-defense teacher.” His grin falls and he raises his eyebrows. ”I’m no Black Belt or anything, so I’m not much help there, but I’ll do what I can.”
So long as she didn’t move, he would be fine. He knew he could at least handle non-crushing, light pressure from her leaning against him. So long as he kept his hand there, too, that would work as a bit of a cushion between them.
”Just…in a couple of weeks.” He tells her, glancing down to where her head is against his shoulder. ”Does that sound good?”
notes he doesnt try I swear XD // and yeah he's dead-set to stay beating around that bush. lmao. she'll need to take his jacket off I mean unzip his jacket against his will. /eyebrow wiggle.[/classy]
Internally Mei was quite pleased with herself for being a calming influence on Hugh. She was proud of herself most of the time from keeping her two best friends from beating one another up, mostly, but the fact that he seemed to have let some of his rage subside a little with her contact made her quietly content. She would have to remember that. You know, unless he was raging so bad that stepping in would give her a black eye. That wouldn't be quite so much of a good idea.
She smiled a little as he spoke, pleasantly surprised. "I guess I just thought you would have expected me to be able to stand up for myself better and I wasn't as good at is as I should have been," This time she flushed a little, unconsciously wiggling herself ever closer and closing her eyes where she rested, completely oblivious to fact that the more she moved, the more his hand was pressed between them and unconsciously against her chest. Consciously very pleased with the contact. "But I guess you're right, I've just been thinking about the what ifs since it happened."
In joy, she sat up rather suddenly and put her hand over his on his chest, excitement clear in her face as she once more met his eyes - the smile much more real than her others when she gleefully wriggled, "You'll really train with me and help me so I don't get attacked by creepy stalker men who like to attack people down alleyways?! Or by Kyoukyo when he drinks?" She asked brightly, clutching at the hand on his chest affectionately.
"I can wait. It's been six months, a few more weeks won't hurt me." She stated, finally dropping hre gaze from where it was locked on his. "It sounds amazing though, really. I didn't want to hassle you too much to spend time with me since you just got back, but if you're offering I'm definitely not going to say no."
Mei couldn't help herself, her eyes glazed with a few happy tears as she let out another quiet squeak of delight and tossed her arms around his neck in thankful hug, "You really are one of the best friends a girl or a person in general could have, so don't you dare think otherwise ever again."
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]she'll do it as soon as she figures out its his chest that's hurting ;D but she's now like pouncehugging him so poor Hugh. He so doesn't deserve this attackpouncey person as a friend. xD
Hugh shakes his head, only to flush seconds later as she presses herself further against him. He swallows and leans back slightly, simply attmpeting to lessen the amount of contact his hand was coming in with her chest. She doesn't seem to realize it... he thinks, slowly attempting to slide his hand from between her and his own chest. "You have been thinking about the "what ifs" too much." He agrees, sighing with relief as she sits straighter, only to blink moments later when she places her own hand over his.
He glances down at their hands, only to look back up at her as she begins speaking again. The last part of what she says surprises him, but he manages to contain his immediate burst of an answer. "Of course I will...but...what do you mean when Kyouhei drinks?" he demands almost immediately, and further more what did he do to warrent her wanting to learn how to defend herself against him?
He watches her carefully for any suggestion that may answer his question but he finds none, especially when she squeaks happily to the thought of training with him, and moves quickly to throw her arms around him in another hug. "Agh!" he exclaims quietly, flinching as there's a sudden greater pressure on his chest once again, this time combined with that of his own hand.
"I-I'm glad you think so, Mei." he manages to say, desperately trying to pull his hand from between them. "But you're hurting my chest again..."
notes he conveniently forgot/I made him forget to not specify the area of the pain |D ./shot // sorry if this one's more crap than normal >> was distracted while writing[/classy]
Mei thought there was nothing cuter than when a boy went bright red. Which was why she was smiling a little as she glanced up to look at his face. Apparently he wasn't used to her explosions of physical contact again yet. That only meant he'd have to have all the more so that he could be well and truly acclimatised to her affectionate ways. "Maybe, but sometimes I can't help it, I'll make sure to think about those what ifs less and focus on getting them back, I'm sure it'll be better with you helping me." She nodded.
Mei shook her head to move her long twintails back over her shoulder as she spoke, happily keeping Hugh's hand pinned beneath her own. She let out a sigh, however, "He went to a party a little while ago and started drinking beer.. Apparently it makes him better at talking to girls, so he kept doing it. He promised he wouldn't drink anymore, but a few days ago he tried to get me to go back to his house because he wanted me to-- Oh, don't worry too much, really, but he was really strong and didn't want to let me go very much." She looked pondering for another few moments, "It wasn't a very nice night in general.. He has had too much beer lately."
As if that was plenty of explanation, she didn't dwell on the subject, instead shocked by the quiet exclamation. His next request made her incredibly curious. "I'm not hugging you that tightly, Hugh, I've tackled you much harder before. I'm not that strong, so now I know there's something you're not telling me." Mei urged, her mothering 'I know you're hiding things' voice now firmly in place. She wiggled her way back into her previous position, knee on either side of his lap so that she could get good enough leverage to take hold of the zipper at the top of his jacket.
"If your chest is hurting, I should check up on it." The young female trainer stated matter-of-factly as she began her attempts to tug the zipper down before he had time to notice.
Her eyes widened as the red piece of fabric she had been so familiar with fell open to reveal the bandages that he had been hiding beneath it. That explained all the pain and the fact that he was all awkward when she hugged him or leant against him. That explained a lot. It took a moment for it to settle in before the miscoloured bandages registered and Mei threw herself backwards off his lap onto the floor. Splayed out - and rubbing her head where it made contact with the ground - she practically whimpered. "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt like that?!" She managed to squeak out, horrified that he had allowed her to sit on his lap and get so touchy when he must have been in obscene amounts of pain.
Mei's eyes flew up to meet his as she shuffled her way to prop herself back up on her elbows. "If I'd known I wouldn't have been so clingy! Do you need me to get you anything?" Her voice lined with concern, she managed to get her squeakiness at least a little better under control.
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]your posts are never bad they light up my muse like noboooody else. /shot but the post was fine. It was always going to be an awkward scene anyways since she's kind of half-molesting him in a way. >3 Lolol, this is going to get bad. And now she's on the floor. >> xD
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Last Edit: Nov 11, 2012 10:46:29 GMT 9.5 by MEI MORIMOTO
Hugh feels his mind practically numbed by the story spilling from Mei about Kyouhei’s apparently recently-developed-habit. It’s a nasty one, too, one that makes Hugh’s eyes narrow and dart to the side. That kid…he was getting into trouble, it seemed. Though he’s no longer looking at her, Hugh’s paying closer attention to her words now than he was, perhaps beforehand when he was still looking at her. The implications of what she says about Kyouhei’s actions are clear, and it makes Hugh’s fists clench slightly without the spiky-haired teen even needing to think about it. I’ll make a note to punch Kyouhei next time I see him. He promises himself. Though he knows he’s in no position to tell his friend what he should or should not be doing with his free time and interests, putting Mei in some form of danger (in Hugh’s mind) is out of the question.
If she hadn’t managed to ward him off… Hugh finds his thoughts wandering, and his nails beginning to dig slightly into the palms of his hands. As much as Kyouhei is his friend, Hugh feels the responsibility to watch out for Mei from the sidelines is far greater than he feels the responsibility to care about not smacking sense into one of his friends is – especially when that same friend should be watching out for her as well, not being the one she needs to be watching out for. Hugh bites down on his lip. Damn it, Kyouhei. What are you -- !!
His thoughts cut off abruptly when he realizes that her hand is on the zipper of his jacket, and he has no time to move before she zips it down almost entirely, revealing the bandages – now a rusted color from being left in place all night and most of yesterday afternoon – wrapped around his chest that he’d been working to keep hidden from her.
”Mei!” he exclaims when his friend falls backwards to the floor, pushing himself forward immediately, half-raised from his sitting position to a standing one out of concern she’s hurt herself worse than it appears. Her voice is getting squeaky again…oh no. He bites his lip as her voice grows more worried by the second, it seems, and he sighs in defeat, his attempt to keep the knowledge from her having utterly failed.
”Mei I…! I didn’t want you to worry!” He sighs and looks up at his bangs, looking for the words to use that wouldn’t warrant a reaction from her that would threaten to put her voice out of the range understandable to human ears. ”It will heal up, really!” He crouches on the ground in front of her, one knee on the ground and the other raised for him to rest his arm lightly on. ”I’m fine and you don’t need to worry yourself with me.” Okay, so the ‘fine’ part was a lie, but the second half of that statement wasn’t. ”I’m not going to stop you from hugging me just so it doesn’t sting a little.”
A bit more than a little, man.
Shut up.
”Are you alright?” He asks, looking at her carefully, trying to focus the conversation around her again, ”It looked like you hit your head.”
Apparently her story about their shared best friend was enough distraction on Mei's behalf, as Hugh seemed deep in thought even after she'd finished her story as to why she was defending herself from him. Her eyes lock on his now bitten lip in concern of the exact thoughts running through Hugh's brain. The last thing she wanted was the two boys fighting, after all, she just wanted them to get along and not get molested out on a public street. Blue eyes locked on Hugh carefully to evaluate whether or not she would have to be getting in the way of a fist-fight, not keen to see the extent their arguement. It had been an accident after all. Which she reiterated out loud once, with a "He didn't mean to be that way, so he won't be drinking again."
Now on the floor, she looked back up at him as he leant foward, finally getting a better look at the rust-coloured bandages that covered his chest. Normally she would have been quite happy to have a look at one of her male friends' exposed forms, but now all she did was worry. Closing her eyes tightly she mentally cursed herself over and over for continually pouncing and squishing him in her arms. She loved hugs, sure, but not at the expense of pain for one of her friends. A soft groan spilled out of her lips as she dragged her hands down and over her face. "Now I'm really worried because you didn't tell me, it must be bad.. It looks bad. Are you sore? Do you need pain killers? What happened?" More quickfire questions as she propped herself up on her elbows to meet his gaze.
Mei rubbed the back of her head awkwardly as he questioned her well being and she let out a apologetic sigh, "If I'd know I was going to hurt you I still would have held back. I could have hugged your arm or your leg or something," because that wouldn't have been dirty at all, no, but she was still continually getting very worried and dirty would have been better than painful.
She nodded as she met his gaze, "I didn't hit it hard, it just hurts a little." She mumbled, unable to rub it due to the elbows propping herself up. "Are you sure you don't need me to get you anything? The last thing I want to do is hurt you and now I've done that too. I'm a bad friend." The brunette mumbled, flopping back down onto the floor and pouting. "I'm never hugging anyone without warning again!"
Mei reached up and her hand rested on the arm slung over his knee. "I really am so so so so so so so sorry, Hugh!"
Hugh could have smacked his palm against his face hard enough to make his nose bleed. Of course she’s more worried now! he thinks angrily at himself, These damn plans to keep her happy always backfire! He sighs quietly to himself as Mei sighed as well. He feels as though he just can’t win – he tries to not make her worry about him and it blows up in his face, making her worry more, or he can have her worried from the get-go. The universe must hate me. He reasons illogically, only vaguely amused by his own ideology.
The rapid-fire of her questions bounce against him like darts thrown at a board, trying to hit the target for the result they want. ”I’m fine Mei, I promise…or rather, I will be. I just need to heal up.” He places his free hand lightly on the one she’s placed on the back of his arm, tapping his finger lightly against the back of her wrist before dropping his hand back to his side. ”You didn’t know, so you didn’t do anything wrong. You’re still one of my best friends, no matter what you say.” He gives her a small, slightly crooked smile. ”I was just being stubborn and didn’t say anything. You’re not a mind-reader, you know?”
He raises the arm her hand is on slightly as though to try to pull her to her knees rather than her elbows. ”C’mon Mei…” he said, almost as though trying to beg her not to seem so downcast about this situation, especially on herself. ”I’ll undo one of your ponytails if I can’t get you to smile soon.” He hated being the reason she was less-than-happy for any reason, ”I’ll answer your questions if you stop blaming yourself.” He looks down at her, his red eyes reflecting his words, ”Please?”
There was one big problem with Mei and that was that once she got something into her head it was hard to get it out. Even when it was a lie - which she was told quite a few of, considering her gullible nature - she could very rarely get the idea unstuck. Which was why she was now firmly of the belief that he was keeping something far far worse from her than the acid-attack the Arbok had left him with. She was so focused on it that she had to just get everything she had in her brain out, all the questions she had. If she could at least be given an explanation then she would be much less squeaky, that was for certain.
It was probably a good thing that she didn't know he had regular plans to keep her happy otherwise there might have been a rather stern talking to that involved the boys "not protecting her because she's a big girl and can take basic information without freaking out". Her eyes narrowed as they met his and she wanted to tell him to stop trying to keep things from her, silently they pleaded her case to just trust in her the way she unfailingly trusted in him even when he was gone. "You need to heal up.. but you definitely will heal up, right Huey?" This time there was no outburst, her voice had dropped to a low tone, the childish nickname unsure and concerned for her friend.
What if he wasn't alright? What if he was actually seriously injured and was back home for-- no. He wasn't dying. That was far too negative a thought. Mei's positive nature, her unfailing optimism kicked in and she blinked up at him. The hand atop hers was comfort enough for her breathing to regulate and the smile - if somewhat crooked - was enough to satisfy at least a little of her worry. "You really are stubborn. Both of you boys.. very stubborn." She looked up at him and flushed a little as he pulled her forward onto her knees.
For some reason - well, a reason she actually knew very well, but would never state out loud - she felt her heart swell at the use of her name in gentle coaxing, and she sank back onto her feet, kneeling somewhat awkwardly on the ground in front of him. "Okay, I mean.. it must have happened before me, but I'll make sure not to touch it or hurt you again for now, I don't want to squish you with any more super strong hugs. Maybe I should get Morella to teach me to mind read so I know from now on." She smiled more genuinely, reaching her hand out and resting it on his shoulder for a moment, before Mei pulled it back so she could get to her feet.
Unconsciously she rubbed at both her behind and her head - the two points of impact - as she dusted herself off. One of her pigtails was slightly dishevelled from the fall, but she was not particularly worried by her hair. What she wanted to know was to be told by her friend.
His threat to undo one of her tails actually made her laugh out loud, and she shook her head. She was supposed to be mad at him for keeping secrets, not giggling as he attempted to make her smile. "If we sit back on the couch I promise I won't sit on top of you this time. I can't promise I won't cling to your hand though," she stated matter-of-factly, slumping down in one swift movement onto the piece of furniture they had previously been seated on.
"I guess.. what actually happened, would be a good question for you to answer. And nothing like "I cut myself shaving" because I'm not stupid," well, that was a lie. She was gullible as anything and she would believe anything he told her, considering that he had given her a word that he would tell her what she wanted to know, "How did this-" her eyes flicked to the ruddy coloured bandages, "happen? I'm guessing its pretty recent.."
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]Mei shall take advantage of his guilt, cling and then worry some more. and bring some ducklett soup for him. xD BrainMei is like "but I still want to sit on his lap, what if I sit like far away and don't touch it" so I had to tell her off and make her shut up. >>
Hugh’s gaze softens slightly when her narrowed eyes meet his, forcing his usually fiery gaze to submit to hers, not wanting to keep the wall up between them for this issue. ”I will heal up eventually. I promise, Mei.” he reassures her, just wishing he can give a more exact timeframe than that, as he knows it would probably do the best to satisfy her than a promise with no exact date or timestamp on it. He chuckles to himself when she suggested learning how to read minds. Her sense of humor never fails to amuse him, and he leans back to look at her as she stands up. She doesn’t need to learn how to read minds. he thinks, She’s good enough at getting answers or the truth out of people if she tries. His situation now is a prime example, though of course it was his own word-slip that led to his demise. He has a feeling that if she kept at it, she’d be able to get past people’s defenses one way or another.
”I can work with that promise.” he says mildly, glad to finally have gotten her to smile – giggle, actually – at something he’s said, to get her out of the sadness she had been beginning to sink into. He rocks forward to his knees, pushing himself to stand slowly before watching her drop onto the couch they had both been sitting upon only seconds earlier. He stays standing for a short time after she sits, hands in his pockets as he looks down at her. I did promise I would tell her…I kind of have to now.
He follows her brief glancing gaze after her pause to his chest, and swallows slightly, suddenly conscious of the fact that his jacket is still open. He fumbles for his zipper before re-hooking it and pulling it all the way up, over the bridge of his nose. ”You shouldn’t have to see that…” he murmurs, finally sitting back down on the couch next to her. ”…I won’t tell you that I cut myself shaving, no...” he manages to grin a little, ”But remember when I said I fell down the mountain? That was kind of the truth. What actually happened was I learned only about a month ago of the stuff that’s been happening with the natural disasters everywhere. I was pretty shocked to hear it so I started running down the mountain as fast as possible. I didn’t stop to look where I was going so I uh, accidentally stepped on the tail of an Arbok.”
He shudders, closing his eyes momentarily as he remembers it. ”I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pokemon angered that easily. It tripped me when it moved so I fell, and while I was down it pinned me in place with its tail. I managed to use Odin – I caught him in Sinnoh – to ward the Arbok off but not until after it spit acid at me.” He grimaced and glanced down at his chest before looking back up at her. ” I protected my face with the backs of my arms so they got a little too.” He shrugged, ”It was only a bit on them so they healed up in about two weeks. It was almost like a bucket of the acid got splashed over my chest though. It ate through my clothes and my skin too, and the doctors think a bit of muscle.”
He scratches his head, unwilling to admit just how much it had hurt, ”Luckily I was found by a hiker relatively soon after and he got me to a hospital. They treated the acid burns for the two weeks that I could tolerate staying there but then I left to get home.”
He shrugs some, ”If I’d stayed in the hospital I probably would heal faster but it was so boring and I couldn’t sit there knowing that strange things were happening again.” He pauses before adding, ”The burns are slowly starting to heal up, but since the acid melted some of my skin the scabs are all weird and I can’t even move my arms past a certain point without tugging at them. Then it starts to burn and sting all over the place.”
Perhaps that was part of her talent. Somehow managing to make people tell her things when they really didn't want to, regardless of how they tried to avoid it. Things that were concerning were generally what she was best at getting out of people because of her sheer mother levels of worry. She would make a very good mother someday, she'd been told by a select few who knew her ability well enough to comment. "I believe you," she smiled a little, certain now that eventually at least he would heal. She would continue to worry but at least she knew that he would recover with time.
Long, thing fingers trailed circles on the fabric of the couch as she waited, tucking her knees up and resting her chin on them as she did so. Her other arm looped around her legs to keep her in place as her eyes flicked between the piece of furniture and her friend. The smile stayed in place however, merely her need to fiddle while she was sitting still kicking in as she listened. "I've seen it now.. and it more worried me than put me off. I'm not queasy about those things." She replied quickly, moving her fiddling hand around to join the arm looped about her legs. Her eyes lifted as he began to explain properly.
It took a few moments for everything to sink in. His shudder, his grimace, everything was taking place in her head as if she had been there. She could see him on the ground, injured and she squeaked - under her breath as much as she could manage with the high pitched sound - at the thought of him being in pain and with no one to help.
Mentally Mei made a note to find the hiker some day and thank him for helping to save her friend. She owed him a geat debt for getting Hugh back to her mostly in safety. It was horrifying to think that he might never have made it home, and he was here now, so that was all the better. He was home and he said he wasn't leaving again - and she would certainly make sure of that by keeping a better eye on him than any doctor could - while he was healing. That was important, that meant she wouldn't have to say goodbye again so soon.
"Oh, Huey," she let out a breathy sigh as she reached up to touch his upper arm gently and what she hoped was comfortingly. "Stupid Arbok shouldn't have been so mean to you," Mei grumbled a little, wanting to battle the crazy cobra pokemon and show it that it couldn't mess with her friends and get away with it, but knowing the chances of encountering the same Arbok in the wild were highly unlikely. She decided to quietly fume and send it bad karma thoughts, all she could do from her position.
"Well since you're home because it's so boring," Mei flashed him a smile that was full of friendship and a little too much determination, "I'll make sure you heal as fast as you would have in a hospital. I'll take care of you and I'm sure Kalula will too. I'll bring soup and help you reach things if you need to reach them. I can jump if I need to, or stand on things," she encouraged, the donut-haired girl clearly set on her ideas, "The doctors have nothing on me, I'll be keeping you better than any of them ever could and then you'll be good as new. Aspertia can only do good for you, being home is really important to healing, if you ask me. I can fetch you any painkillers and things you might need and you won't want for anything."
There was obviously no arguing with her as she shuffled closer - this time avoiding his lap and leaning her head directly on his shoulder. "Thank you for telling me," she muttered somewhat sheepishly, "I know you don't like telling those sorts of things, but I was worried and now I know how I can help, so that'll make everything better, I promise"
Mentally she started going over lists of things she could do for the spiky haired trainer. One of which was maintaining that poofy, super soft hair. Ooh, she'd get to brush it. that would be fun.
"I don't suppose while you were in the hospital you heard any rumours about what was going on with the storms?" Well, it couldn't hurt to ask.
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]I added the hair thing in just for you. ;D watch out Hugh, Mei's coming for your hair. xD
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Last Edit: Nov 12, 2012 8:41:03 GMT 9.5 by MEI MORIMOTO
He waits in anticipation for Mei to respond, silently hoping that she doesn’t explode with worry after hearing his retelling of the event, despite the fact she seems perfectly calm now. The sigh that left her made Hugh relax, seeing as she generally didn’t sigh before bursting out with some expressive emotion. He glances down at her hand when it’s placed on his arm before looking back up at her. He manages to grin a little when she grumbled, scratching the back of his head almost sheepishly. ”I probably shouldn’t have stepped on its tail, you know.” he states, as though attempting to defend the pokemon that had injured him without a second thought.
”A-and you don’t have to feel obligated to take care of me!” he says quickly, not wanting her to take time out of her likely days just to see to it that he was getting better. ”You can check on me, yeah, but if you have more important things to do you should do those rather than fret over me.” he flushes slightly, suddenly feeling a bit overwhelmed (not to mention embarrassed) by her dedication to him. ”I mean I’m not trying to tell you not to…” he said quickly, in case she got that feeling, ”…but I would have thought you had more important things to give your wholehearted attention to.” His flush turned a darker shade of red when she leaned on his shoulder, and her words quickly made him retreat into the funnel-collar of his jacket, glancing to the side.
It had been difficult for him to tell her about the incident, about a time when he wasn’t strong enough to get away unscathed from something, but a promise had been a promise – and he kept them. ”No problem.” he mumbled, glad he had actually been able to bring himself to admit it.
His mind travels back to his time in the hospital and the few newspapers he’d managed to get his hands on. ”The only things I heard were that storms and other natural disasters have been popping up inexplicably all over the world. I heard that cities in other regions have been damaged, not just Aspertia. I think it would be one heck of a coincidence for disasters to suddenly and randomly be occurring. I don’t need anybody to tell me that it’s not normal.” He bites down on his lip, glancing down to meet Mei’s blue gaze, ”Something of this scale makes me want to think it’s pokemon, and very powerful ones at that. I would dare to say they’re being controlled as well.”
His sheepish attempt to defend the pokemon made Mei chuckle a little, her eyes lighting up for a moment as she thought about the hissing snake-pokemon with a giant boot-print on it's tail - the image made her feel a little better about the whole thing. Not much, considering that just thinking about the injured snake didn't change the fact that it had hurt HUgh - but at least a little. A little was enough to keep the smile on her face however, and she would rest assured knowing that the Arbok would never come near Hugh again. Not on her watch, even if she had to fight it off with her bare hards.
She hoped desperately it never came to that.
At his flustered look and exclamations, Mei's laughter was continuous. The more overwhelmed he looked - and then trying to cover up his half-rejection of her offer - the more she giggled, and she closed her eyes where she half-lay against him. "I don't feel obligated, I want to help you. I don't exactly have very much to do, especially that deserves attention like making you healthy," The brunette looked up at him with a nod, still unmoving, "I want to do it, maybe I won't go quite as overboard as I said though, but I'd like to help you out while I can. And if it means I get to see you then all the better, really. I haven't seen you enough."
Twisting her hair around her fingers, Mei looked up at Hugh and nodded, "I thought it might be the Kami trio.. I read something about them in the books Cheren's been lending me. They're weather pokemon but it seems strange that they're attacking all over the world. And then I've heard more and more things about people stealing pokemon.. It makes me worried that it might be Team Plasma for a third time, but this time they might be in different regions.. It's a scary thought." The young girl had been thinking quite hard about everything. She might not have been the sharpest crayon in the box, but she was certainly still capable of writing.
"When Aspertia got hit it was terrifying. The roofs flying off buildings.. I mean, you've seen the debris.. There's places everywhere that have had these storms. Some people were preaching that it was the end of the world when I was out the other day." As blue eyes met red she gave a reassuring smile. "Whatever happens we'll beat them again, I'm sure. With you training me I might be able to beat them on my own." She attempted to joke a little, shuffling to half-cling to his arm without moving it too much.
"I almost feel like it merits investigating.. like seeing if it is Team Plasma by trying to find someone who might be involved. Getting close to them and then being able to tell people so they can prepare.. I don't know though.. what if it is just some pokemon who have been rampaging.. Maybe someone destroyed their tribute shrine." That was a possibility too. She had been there once before, maybe that would be the first place to check. People went to the shrine to pray for good weather, and if it was broken well, that might enrage the trio enough to cause such terrible storms.
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]When Mei meddles with evil teams that's never a good sign. Never a good sign at all. xD
”Thank you.” he murmurs, keeping eye contact with her for a moment before looking away. He won’t verbally admit to enjoying the close friendship they have, but he acknowledges it mentally. He knows having Mei around will do more for him than give him a friend to be around while he has to stay in his house, and he enjoys that knowledge despite his lack of willingness to show it. He tilts his head back as she begins to speak again, voicing her thoughts and predictions about the strange events that have been occurring. ”The Kami Trio?” he murmurs, almost echoing her. That was his top guess too. His fist clenches at the mention of Team Plasma, and he mutters beneath his breath darkly, ”Team Plasma wouldn’t dare come back after being shut down twice. But I wouldn’t put it past them to use pokemon like they tried to do with Kyurem.”
He glances down at her and nods some. ”Together we’ll stop them. Kyouhei and Cheren as well. They won’t stand a chance against the four of us.” He looks back up, staring at the wall across the room from them before adjusting his position to lie back against the couch, stretching his legs out some in front of him. ”I reckon you’re right about the Kami Trio…they’re most likely of all Legendaries I know of to be behind something such as this. The Weather Trio of Hoenn would seem like possibilities too, but from what I’ve read, their power seems so much more immense than what has been going on – the Region was almost destroyed when only two of them fought.” He pauses, narrowing his eyes to think,
”Theoretically, a powerful psychic-type pokemon could summon storms, but I doubt it would use its time to do something like that…or any Legendary, for that matter, unless something happened like you suggested – disruption of the tribute shrine.” He raises his free hand to his mouth, habitually biting down on the edge of his thumb nail as he thinks, ”Perhaps we should check out the Abundant Shrine?” He glances at her before away again, ”We should look to that first before hunting down the people responsible.” His lip curls and he continues, ”As much as I want Team Plasma to be behind it so I have a reason to fight them, we can’t be sure, and shouldn’t take any action in that direction until we are sure.”
He falls silent and deep in thought after this, his gaze darkening slightly as he loses focus of his surroundings and even Mei clinging to his arm, lost in his musings.
He was quicker than she was. She had been thinking about the storms since they'd started and he'd only herd about them a month prior and was already thinking better than she ever had. The weather trio was a really good idea too.. rain and sun. Though there had yet to be any rain. Then she thought about it, and there had yet to be any earthquakes either, and Landurus was just as vital to the kami trio as Groudon was to the weather trio. Perhaps they had just given the job to Kyogre and were waiting for the right time to send in the others.. But there was no torrential rain. Perhaps not. The winds still seemed more tornadus' work than anything. "You're better at figuring stuff out than me, Hugh. You, Cheren and Kyouhei all would do better at beating 'em. I'll just get a cheering team going."
Mei smiled warmly as she wriggled a little in her spot. She glanced up at him and nodded, "You're right, they'd be more intense than what's been happening.. not that what's been happening isn't bad." She blinked a few times, thinking about it. She slung one arm up and over the back of the couch, leaning her face against said hand so she could watch him and still be fairly close at the same time. "Psychic pokemon would get bored with stuff like that, they wouldn't do it this often."
Her eyes closed in concentration, "Not yet, we can't check it out until you're better. Nope. When you're better we'll go and look in the Abundant Shrine together so that we both get protected.. Or I'll send Kyouhei over to take care of you one day and I'll go look." She smiled, "I can investigate and report back to you like some super secret agent or something, I bet I'd be really good at it. You'd totally be like my boss.. You'd be M and I'd be James Bond." She laughed, shaking her head a little. Her hands fiddled with the fabric of the couch.
"Yeah. I hope it is.. We can beat Team Plasma, we've done it before and we can do it again.. But it might be one of the other teams from before too.. What if it's Team Aqua or something from Hoenn? They were around too, right?" She frowned, "I just want to know what's causing them and whether or not they can be stopped." Letting her head slump a little on her hand, she closed her eyes. It was not exactly a happy subject.
"Have you eaten? Maybe I should go and get you something to eat. Or do something for you. I could make you some tea or some soup or something.. what's the best thing for burns? All I can think of is milk. Maybe I should make you a pasta in a white sauce." Mei burst out all of a sudden, the quickfire continue-on sentence barely stopping for breath. She just suddenly had the urge to mother the heck out of her friend. Maybe she'd even brush his hair.
[style=font-family: arial; font-size: 8px; text-align: justify; letter-spacing: 1px; padding: 5px; width: 126px;]I don't know if you want to continue the thread and she can fuss over him some or he can eject her from the house to get some well deserved rest. xD Her whole "I SHOULD MAKE SOMETHING" has now kicked in though xP
She surprises him enough with her decision to draw him rapidly back from his deep thought.
"What?!" he asks in immediate objection to her standard set for him, "But Mei..." he complained, "You can't honestly expect me to sit and wait to heal up doing nothing for the next couple of weeks?" She knows him well enough he doesn't need to say it - he'd go stir crazy if didn't get out of Aspertia City for more than a few weeks. He was already beginning to fidgit. "Besides," he murmurs, only stopping himself from saying 'who will do that protecting as you just mentioned?' before it's brushed away by the reassuring thought that she's his age - fully capable of taking care of herself. She also had her pokemon to defend her. "...nevermind." He says, looking at her again. Even if she'd had a terrible experience beforehand where she was tricked, he had a feeling she'd be on guard enough to stay out of trouble.
"Even if it's not Team Plasma," he murmurs, almost more to himself than Mei, "we will find a way to bring them down." He has his mind set on this, and he knows he won't allow anything to get in his way. "They can be stopped...nothing is invincible."
His mind threatened to continue on the path of musing over the situation when Mei's cheerful voice sapped his attention away from the thoughts. "Mei I uh..." he's suddenly embarassed by the almost mother-like caring attitude of her, "...havent even had breakfast yet. I guess tea would be good?" He can't believe he's letting her spend so much of her time on him.
Then again, he enjoys her company, especially since he hasn't seen her in so long. An hour or so more with her wouldn't be so bad, would it?
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// he also doesn't realize he's being sweet, he just doesn't want to see her down on herself so he's doing whatever he can XD[/classy]