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Post by Atticus on Mar 30, 2013 18:55:55 GMT -5
"Charlie?" Mr. Fuji raised his brows but said no more regarding her name. He shook her hand, which clearly did not belong to a man. "It's nice to meet you. So what is it you two need? Came to pay your respects to Celeste?" The elderly man asked, gesturing towards a grave towards the center. Max swallowed but shook his head. "No, we're here for another reason. We're broke and wondering if you had anything you could... loan us."
Mr. Fuji looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded. "I don't know what you two are up to but I suppose I can give you some items. You have no money, yes? People do not usually travel and not bring any supplies with them..." he mused aloud, casting glances at the duo. "Unless, of course, their journey was... not expected."
Max tugged at the ends of the jacket he had stolen a little bit, uncomfortable with what the old man was saying. He followed him, however, as he went through a flap in the wall and returned with some items. "Here you go. 500 dollars for both of you was all I could spare, I'm afraid. Pokéballs and potions as well." Max opened his back pack and Mr. Fuji spilled the items into it.
"Thanks, Old Man. We'll, uh, repay you for this one day," Max said, putting on his backpack again. "Don't worry about it-- Ah, one more thing, boy." Mr. Fuji disappeared into the flap and returned again with a roll of bandages. He put them straight into Max's hands, flashing a glance to his bloodied elbow. "Now get out of here before whatever caused this meeting catches up to you," he warned, raising his bushy eyebrows.
Max exchanged a glance at Charlie and began out the door without a sound.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 30, 2013 19:08:27 GMT -5
Charlie could only stare in wonder at the man's generosity. It was more than she could ever expect, and she was overwhelmed by the gesture. Upon his warning her eyes shot from the filled bag to him, and she nodded quickly before turning to follow Max out the door.
"Nice guy," she murmured as they headed out, rubbing her arm absently. Such generosity was alien to her; she couldn't feel comfortable with it completely because she felt that she had to make it up, and she couldn't imagine how she could. But he was obviously familiar with Max... that obviously had something to do with it. That would aid in making it up to him...
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Post by Atticus on Mar 30, 2013 19:27:16 GMT -5
Once outside of the house, Max looked at the bandages in his hand and then to his elbow. He had never tended a wound before, except maybe when Codie got a splinter as a newborn, and that wasn't really a wound as it was pulling a paper-thin piece of wood out of his Rattata.
He itched the back of his head, pulling off his bandanna and goggles and ruffling his dark brunet hair. Their trip to Saffron was on the back of his mind.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 30, 2013 19:32:55 GMT -5
Charlie glanced at his bleeding elbow and the bandages in-hand. "You want some help?" she asked, pointing to the bandages. She wouldn't say she was good at a lot of things, but she had learned to tend a bandage, though only out of necessity.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 30, 2013 19:43:31 GMT -5
Max furrowed his brows, not sure if he wanted help from the kid he was still sure had a penis. But, apparently Charlie knew what she was doing, offering to help, and Max did not. He grudgingly nodded, embarrassed, clearly, and handed her the bandages.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 30, 2013 19:45:00 GMT -5
She took the bandages from him, cleaned the wound as best she could with a piece she pulled off, and then wrapped it slowly, careful to cover the whole area without making it too tight. "There," she said, handing him the leftover bandage. "How's that?"
Penny's tail swished enthusiastically, and she let out a long contented trill. Charlie made a face and patted the feline, who was still perched on top of her head. This Meowth had so much personality she didn't know what to do with it.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 30, 2013 19:53:21 GMT -5
Max resisted eye contact with Charlie while she bandaged up his scrape. "Thanks," he mumbled, testing her wrapping once she was done by just trying to feel the cut through the bandage. It hurt a little bit, naturally, but she had done a good job.
Codie had made himself a nest inside Max's pocket, entwining himself in the red bandanna Max had only just taken off. "[Cozy,]" he said to himself quietly as he snuggled himself in.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 30, 2013 20:00:25 GMT -5
"No problem," she replied nonchalantly. "So... where are we going now?"
Penny glanced at the Rattata and smiled. "" she mewed, as if she was mulling over an intricate idea in her head.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 30, 2013 20:13:34 GMT -5
It was on the tip of his tongue, but Max had to reach back and pull out his map anyway. "Well, I had thought Saffron, but... probably to Fuchsia City so we can get to the ferry. We'll have to take Route 12 through 15 to get there," he informed her, putting the map away.
Codie ignored the cat and turned over in Max's pocket, sinking out of sight.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 30, 2013 20:22:24 GMT -5
Charlie moved a little closer to peer at the map, careful not to get in his face. She nodded. "That doesn't seem too hard," she muttered. It was long, but it didn't look like it would take them through any dangerous caverns or tall grass. She also noticed, with a bit of relief, that they were near water. She really needed to take a dip.
"Hey, do you think somewhere along this part of the route," she said, pointing to 12 and 13, "we can stop somewhere and take a dip. I'm sweating bullets."
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Post by Atticus on Mar 30, 2013 20:32:42 GMT -5
"I guess," Max sighed. He guessed he was no better than her. They really needed to get to some department store. Max was far from wealthy, but he still liked to smell decent. He crackled his knuckles as he walked and rolled his shoulders; an old habit he could never break.
He was thankful to be getting out of the rough ground of Lavender Town and to where there was more grass and water. It reminded him of Cerulean City and he suddenly felt himself longing the park he used to go to as a kid, or the weird cave he would swim to and explore around in. He took a step onto the boarded walkway above the ocean and began to jog. He knew that further down, there would be a patch of grass amongst the undergrowth with a guarded station that led to Vermillion City. Of course, that was not their destination, but a good place to throw his stuff before getting into the water.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 30, 2013 20:38:46 GMT -5
Charlie heaved a sigh of relief and jogged after him. She winced and slowed, however, as Penny, startled by the sudden water all around them and jostled by her jogging, dug her claws into the side of her head. "Ow, Penny!" she muttered, slowing and putting her hand on the Meowth's back. "Sorry, Max. I'll catch up."
The Meowth let out an uneasy gurgle and her tail ticked like a metronome. Charlie stopped and pulled off the hat, letting her sweaty, messy hair fall to her shoulders and peeling the feline off her head. Penny fell to the dock, her fur prickling and back arched, and Charlie rubbed her head, wincing. Her scalp was stinging, but it was so sweaty that she couldn't tell if she was bleeding or not.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 30, 2013 20:46:45 GMT -5
"Nice," Max called back as he saw the cat glued to Charlie's head, moments before she would take off her hat. Reaching the grassy area, he put down his backpack and took off his sleeves first, stacking them in a pile. Next, he peeled his white beater off and put it on top of his blue bag. He proceeded to remove everything then, but his necklace and his boxers. He felt kind of weird being so close to naked in the presence of someone he still simply assumed was another boy, but he wasn't going to get his jeans wet for the rest of their walk to Fuchsia City.
Where on any other occasion, he would have dived or cannon balled because of his love for water, he was finding it hard to find any "fun" in this situation. This was the closest he could get to showering, which when he thought about it, was pretty depressing. He sat down on the dock and slid into the water, which he was relieved to find was nice and cool.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 30, 2013 20:52:15 GMT -5
"I think she broke the skin," Charlie muttered contemptly, one hand still scanning her scalp and the other gripping her baseball cap. She started jogging again and stopped by the water's edge. She kicked off her shoes as she peered into the water. "How deep is it?"
Penny hurried after her, but she kept as far from the water as she could. She finally placed herself next to Max's things, curling into a tight loaf to watch the scene unfold.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 30, 2013 21:07:25 GMT -5
"I'm not a big cat person," Max responded simply before bobbing under water and shaking out his hair. The salty water began to creep through his bandage and into his scrape, which hurt like hell, but he did is best to ignore it.
He sprung up and shook out his hair, pieces of it sticking to his face. His light eyes looked up at Charlie as she loomed over him and he cocked his head to the side, his fingers gently grabbing the boardwalk. "Pretty deep, my feet barely touched the ground when I went under."
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