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Post by Atticus on Mar 22, 2014 0:29:04 GMT -5
It was the morning after the trio's rendezvous as the lake, and Chris was pretending that it all never happened. She wasn't about to own up to being jealous at the prospect of Austin having another friend -- another female friend, but she could still be bitter about Chance calling her a baby. She wasn't a baby... no, she would show him somehow, someday. Stupid Espeon.
She was practicing her fighting today with Blitzkrieg. It had been a while since she last sparred, or even really hung out with, her Growlithe friend. He was around when she was born, and they had been close -- close enough that she considered him her brother. But he was more independent than even she was, and when he needed her space when she was just a hot-headed toddler, she had stuck herself to Austin.
After the match was over, the two idled under the sycamore tree that her mother was always resting by. It was nice to catch up with him, but she left out the part about last night, and instead focused on how nice it felt to hang out with someone who didn't degrade her like Chance. In fact, the Growlithe even mentioned his appeal to her evolved form. It was a nice change from Austin's stupid brother.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 24, 2014 8:25:22 GMT -5
Austin did not manage to get a lot of sleep; and after waking up and being chastised by Chance because he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, he wasn't feeling up for much of anything. The idea of talking to Chris was a little offputting, as he still didn't know what he was going to say to her or how she was going to react.
Making his way toward his friend he saw that she was with Blitz, and it made him slow his pace. It didn't feel right to just intrude on them; it was probably supposed to be a sign to him to stay away. Chris obviously didn't want to see him. But, several yards away, he found himself unable to simply turn around and walk away. Instead he ended up awkwardly standing there, staring at them as if there was something physically dividing them that he could not overcome.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 24, 2014 22:46:22 GMT -5
Chris noted movement from her peripheral vision, and turned her head towards Austin. She blinked at him with half-lidded eyes, brows raised. Blitz' ear twitched beside her, but there was nothing more hostile looking about her than usual. In fact, the dusk-coloured canine smirked. "What's up, Aussie?"
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 25, 2014 8:39:41 GMT -5
The casual welcome was more than Austin expected, and encouragement enough to approach. "Hi, Chris," he greeted shyly, sitting down in front of her. "You're not too busy to talk?"
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Post by Atticus on Mar 25, 2014 19:46:47 GMT -5
She glanced back at Blitz, who merely shrugged at her.
"No, I'm not busy." The canine pushed herself to her paws, transitioning from her lax position into something more attentive - something she would only do for her family, Blitz, or Austin. Everyone else's gab was beyond her radar of giving a damn.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 26, 2014 8:43:13 GMT -5
Austin smiled, relief washing over him. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as he had initially feared. "I just wanted to apologize for last night... I didn't mean to be rude or anything. My friend was just really shy, that's all. I thought seeing more Pokémon than just me would scare her. It was nothing personal."
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Post by Atticus on Mar 28, 2014 21:08:05 GMT -5
Chris' eyes narrowed fleetingly, before the canine lightly shook her fur to distract herself. His apology made her feel a little better to be honest, but she wasn't super glad that he had noticed her hurt... or, maybe she was. Damn, what the hell.
Blitz' ears perked, the action so slight that it was almost unnoticeable. What happened last night? He glanced between the duo quizzically.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 28, 2014 21:48:48 GMT -5
Chance smiled hopefully. "So... you're not mad?" he asked. Blitz' twitch didn't even register to him; he was paying no attention to the canine beside his best friend. His only focus was making sure that Chris was not mad at him.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 28, 2014 22:07:20 GMT -5
"Of course not," she responded, sticking her nose up slightly. It wasn't rare for Chris to be angry - everyone in the ranch was aware of her temper - but it wasn't usually over feelings like this. "Rejected" wasn't quite the word, since that was something she had been suffering and dealing with since birth, but... it was definitely something similar. She was adamant to not let it show.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 28, 2014 22:15:00 GMT -5
"Okay... good," He shuffled on his paws a bit; though he was slightly assuaged, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Chris that he did plan on going back. There was a chance that she could catch him sneaking out again, and he just didn't know if it was better to take his chances getting caught or let her know.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 28, 2014 22:48:50 GMT -5
A month later:
Things had become less stressful. Overtime, it seemed that Austin had stopped seeing his friend. Maybe they had gotten into an argument, maybe they had gotten bored; whatever it was, Chris was glad to have her friend back.
This morning, to celebrate the returning "peace" (something Chris had never entirely welcomed), she went on a jog around the ranch to work her legs. She was still adjusting to the new length of her legs, but they were much better than the stubs she was working with pre-evolution.
After a few more bounds, she ended up in front of the barn, looking in and wondering where her friends might be.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 29, 2014 21:37:04 GMT -5
In the last month, Chance had gone from getting no sleep and being a walking grenade to getting plenty, and being half as grumpy and twice as active. When Austin had stopped bothering him at night, however, the Umbreon had seemed to begin to be preoccupied with other things. But he was cheerful, attentive, and not bothering anybody, so he rarely worried about it, and had been spending time with other Pokémon around the ranch, majorly Note's team and some of the other Pokémon his age with whom he could train.
So while neither of the boys were mulling around the barn looking for Chris, someone else was. Kimberly and her brother had been flitting between Chris and Chance for the last couple weeks, though they rarely aid anything. Chance had simply blown them off, writing off anything they said or did as little kid antics and hoping to keep them out of the way while he trained. But now they were near the barn.
While Kimberly had always been the leader of the trio action-wise, she had a habit of telling Benjamin where she wanted to go, grabbing the tip of his tail, and letting him take the guess work out of her blind tottering. She was aware that she tended to grip his tail too hard if she held it for too long, however, so once they were where she wanted them to be, she usually released it. After Benjamin had told her that they were near Chris, she had released his tail, and after taking a moment to sense where the Houndyena was- the canine's ashy smell was unmistakable once she knew to look for it -she started a seemingly clumsy advance. "Hi, Chris!" she trilled, stumbling forward until it seemed she would run into the female, but then tottering back a respectable distance and coming to a stop.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 29, 2014 22:35:01 GMT -5
Chris stepped back when she heard a greeting set in her direction. She turned her head towards the source of the noise, furrowing her brow when she realised it was no one she was interested in talking to. But, while Austin, Chance, and Blitz were no where to be found, she supposed she could humour them. "Hello," she responded gruffly, sitting down with a grunt.
Benjamin sat around his sister, staring up at the lithe canine dauntlessly. She scared him silly, but at the same time, not at all. He was a headstrong little cub, much like the Houndyena, but not nearly as aggressive. He ignred the roughness of her greeting and bobbed his lightly from side to side. "Why do you run so much?"
The mutant merely huffed.
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Post by subtleAssiduities on Mar 29, 2014 22:41:19 GMT -5
Kimberly smiled; she, too, decided to ignore the Houndyena's gruffness. "How are you? You and and Chris and Austin sure are doing a lot of different things lately, huh?" She batted her nearly invisible lashes at the canine, artlessly insinuating that she knew more than she ought to.
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Post by Atticus on Mar 29, 2014 22:46:57 GMT -5
She narrowed her eyes. "Are we," she pressed, craning her neck towards the duo. "I'm afraid I don't know what the hell you're talking about."
Ben could feel his heart beating a little faster, but he held his ground. He wasn't used to dealing with aggressive Pokémon - his mother and father were always gentle and coddling. Even if he'd been observing Chris and her friends for the past month, he wasn't too used to dealing with her attitude upfront.
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