The Heights of Londo [IC 4: Turnabout Trainers]

[Comissar]

Leah finds herself awkwardly rubbing behind her neck at Juno's reaction. She shakes her head, then gives an uncomfortable shrug, "I, uh, I don't know if they all were but, uh, but it seemed like a lot of them were. A-and, yeah, I'm ok. I was a bit shaken after, but Alyssa and Bibi... Umm, Bibi's our guide, uh they helped me get over it. I was, uh, I was fine by the time we got here." She gives a nervous smile, "H-honestly, u-uh, I, uh, I didn't think to try and tell anyone. Umm..." Her thoughts go to Rana and Misru, "There were... Still are..? People there with them who wanted to stay that I, uh, that I know. Some, uh, some friends..." She hesitates, then lapses into silence, recalling Misru's indifference to her ejection, as well as Rana's rejection of their company for a band of thieves, "..."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa nods. "Okay Maggie, this way." Slowly, she stands up, still holding Maggie in a hug, and reaches down to pick up the bowl. Once everything is in hand, she makes her way over to the kitchen area, moving slowly to make sure she doesn't drop anything. Once at the washing station she sets the bowl down before placing Maggie nearby. "Maggie, would you mind helping me a bit?" Mainly using gestures and actions, she tries to teach Maggie how to watch the dishes to the best of her ability.

[Hazuki]

Leah

"Seriously? What kind of friends just think oh yeah, I'll stay with thieves?" Juno asks, shaking her head. "I mean, I don't know if we're friends yet or anything, but I guarantee you that I won't ever abandon you to hang out with some creepy elementals who live in the woods. That's a Juno promise."

~

Alyssa

Maggie gives a sceptical look at the basin when Alyssa starts, but soon starts to help her out with washing what few bowls there are, until each of them are squeaky clean and Utha gives Maggie an approving nod for her efforts.

"Thank you, both of you. That was very kind."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa bows slightly. "You were nice to me. It's only fair I be nice to you, too." She takes out her Pokegear, checking the time. "Oh, it's pretty late, isn't it? I should probably let you rest for the night. But, um, thanks for seeing me and letting me spend some time here. You've been really nice to me and Maggie and I appreciate it."

[Comissar]

Feeling flat over her discussion of the last time she saw Rana and Misru, Leah breaks back into a smile at Juno's sympathising and promise. "Thanks." She looks over to her fellow Kantoan, giving a small laugh, "I, uh, I doubt I'll be trying to run into them again, but thanks. And thanks for, uh, for listening to me talk. And, uh, and just for hanging out, too." She brushes her hair back behind her ear, "It's, uh, it's been good. Even if it's not all, uh, all been cheerful conversation."

[Hazuki]

Alyssa

"Oh, yes...well..." Utha nods, a smile fixed on her face. "You're both quite welcome and are welcome to come back any time, as long as I'm here, of course. Which I am frightfully likely to be," she says with a brief glance at her slinged arm.

Maggie gives a wave to the still-sat girl, apparently just as ready to head back now that she's full of yummy human food.

~

Leah

"You've seen my job; being cheerful all the time? Not all it's cracked up to be," Juno replies, apparently noting the path Leah's words seem to be taking. "And I should be thanking you for hanging out with me. If you ever wanna do it again, bring your girlfriend, your Pokemon, whatever, just let me know."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa picks up her sketchbook and then goes back to Maggie, picking her up for the trip back to their room. With everything ready to go, she gives Utha another small bow. "Perhaps I'll have to come back and take care of you or something, if you're still stuck here. Or at least bring you some food or somethin." Smiling, Alyssa waves herself. "It's been good to see you again, really. And, um, thanks."

[Comissar]

Leah grins again at Juno's comments, "True. And, uh, yeah. Sounds good. I'd, uh, I'd like to get you to meet Alyssa properly at some point but, uh, but honestly just another evening of arcade games sounds like, uh, like it'd be good."

Pushing herself up to her feet, she returns her glass to Juno's humble kitchen before turning back to look at her with a smile, "And, uh, and let me know if you want to go out looking for a, uh, a Petilil some time, too."

[Hazuki]

Alyssa

"Oh, that won't be necessary, I'm sure," Utha says with a laugh that's a little too carefree. "Farewell, Alyssa."

~

Leah

"I'll do that. Flag down a courier and hope they're cheap or something," Juno replie. "Have a nice night."

~

Both

As luck would have it, both girls return to their quarters at around the same time, passing through the quiet reception area without being bothered. Maggie seems quite eager to get into bed, in that she immediately starts pointing to it once Alyssa walks in through the door.

Spoiler: OOC

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I figure I'll write a transition to the morning after a couple of "Oh this is how my evening went" posts?

[Comissar]

Leah nods as she toes back into her shoes near the door, "Sounds good, I, uh, I look forward to it." Shouldering her bag, Leah gives Juno a brief bow as she gets ready to leave, "Thankyou for, uh, for the evening. I hope, uh, I hope work isn't too taxing for you tomorrow. Goodnight!"

Farewells given, Leah heads away and back toward the inn. She takes her time walking back, enjoying the stillness of the night and the quiet of her own company. When she gets back to the room, she finds it empty save for Saura, the Bulbasaur dozing at the foot of the bed. Smiling, she lets her bag down to the side of the door and slips her shoes off. Digging out her pyjamas, she smiles as Saura stirs at the small noises, reaching over to give her a scratch behind the neck.

"Hey. Looks like you've had a quiet evening. Hope you enjoyed it."

Spoiler: OoC

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That works for me

[tgva8889]

Alyssa is a bit inside her own head as she walks back, her brain thinking about the evening she experienced. She's almost surprised when she reaches their inn. Smiling as Maggie prods her forward, she pats her head. "Yeah, let's get you to bed."

Quickly moving through the lobby, Alyssa arrives to find Leah has beaten her back. "Oh, um, hi Leah. How was your night? Is, um, Nya-chan doing well?" She sets Maggie down where she sleeps and smiles. "Did you do anything fun?"

[Comissar]

Leah glances up, giving Alyssa a smile as she came in. Noting the sleepy Maggie, she keeps her voice low to avoid disturbing the two pokémon too much, "Hey! It was good thanks." She stands up straight again, leaving Saura to rest more freely, "We, uh, we played some games then, uh, then went back to her place to talk for a bit. It was fun to do. Oh, she, uh, she said you're welcome to visit as well in future."

Leah feels a small twinge of guilt at not mentioning the arcade, but Juno had seemed fairly insistent on keeping it to being a Kantoan space.

"How was your evening..? Did you end up meeting up with, uh, with Nika..?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa looks at Leah, her head tilted slightly, and smiles. "No, I, um, went to talk to Utha. It was good, Maggie had a lot of food so she's a bit tired." She yawns, then laughs slightly. "I guess I'm a bit tired too." Noting the sleeping Saura, Alyssa points at Leah's collected pyjamas. "Do you wanna change first or should I?"

[Comissar]

"Oh!" Leah looks briefly surprised, then smiles, "I'm glad you had a good time!" She glances down at the pyjamas in her arms, then back up with an embarrassed grin, "Ah, uh, yeah. I was just about to. If you don't mind I'll go first..?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa nods. "I'm glad you and Nya-chan had a good time too."

She sits down on the edge of the bed, facing the wall to give Leah plenty of time and space to change without her watching. She decides to work on some of her sketches, cleaning up a few of the sketched Maggies to be a bit less rough.

[Comissar]

Leah stands and moves over to the other side of the bed and, after shooting Alyssa a glance to ensure she was facing the other way, starts changing with a slightly reddened face. Speaking up again as she does, she comments, "Uh, her name's Juno as it turns out. And yeah... It was nice to just, uh, just talk about Kanto for a bit. Umm, did, uh, did you do much with Utha..?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa shakes her head before remembering that wouldn't actually help in this situation. "Um, we just talked a bit about what Utha's doing here and what I'm doing here and such. I, um, I might want to actually learn how to be a better trainer? I have made a bunch of friends but I don't really take care of them all as well as I should." She looks down at her sketch. "Do you still miss home?"

[Comissar]

Leah finishes changing, pulling her hair free of her pyjama top, as she answers, "Oh yes..? I guess, uh, I guess it's a good way for you to see more pokémon moves in action. Has, uh, has Utha offered to help with that, then..?" She moves to sit beside Alyssa on the bed, her curiosity at what she might be sketching interrupted by Alyssa's next question. She abruptly finds herself feeling awkward, rubbing behind her neck as she answers, "Ah, uh, yeah. Not, uh, not all the time, but there's a lot I miss. That doesn't mean it's bad here, it's just... Different..?" She gives a shrug, offering Alyssa an uncertain smile, "It's, uh, it's nice to talk about that kind've thing with, uh, with someone else that's experiencing it..."

[tgva8889]

"Yeah, um, she said her sponsor might be able to help with it a bit. I dunno if I'm going to take up that offer but it is a nice thing for her to do." She wrings her hands, looking over her sketch of Maggie eating a big bowl of food. "I, um, to be honest I haven't thought a lot about that. I do still want to see more moves, but there's also a lot of other things that are important that I want to do and I don't know what I want more and less." When Leah comes over, Alyssa shifts a bit closer to her as the bed moves to accomodate her. Her response causes Alyssa to look up from her artwork, the words bringing a sad smile from her. "Yeah, I, um, I understand what you mean. I do miss home a bit. Some parts of it anyways." She meets Leah's eyes and pauses for a moment, then she smiles geninue. "Um, I should get changed too."

[Comissar]

Leah nudges Alyssa with her elbow, "You should. If, uh, if she's offering to help and it's something you want to do, take her up on it. I know you'll be a great trainer." She doesn't make much comment as Alyssa talks about missing her hometown, just giving a complicated shrug and saying "We'll be going there soon enough, and, uh, and then you can show me round." Leah nods and returns Alyssa's smile, leaning over to give her a peck on the cheek, "Alright, let me know when you're done."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles as Leah kisses her cheek. "I'll think about talking to Utha about it." She gets up to change. Realizing she had not actually organized her clothes very well, she pokes through her piles of clothes until she finds a suitable set of sleeping clothes. As she's changing, she asks, "So, um, what did you and Nya-chan do? Or, um, Juno."

[Comissar]

Leah hesitates as Alyssa asks again about what she'd done with Juno. "So..." She gives a shrug as she turns away once Alyssa begins changing, opting to give a partial version this time, "Uh, we, uh went to a place she knows with some, uh, some Kantoan games. It was, uh, it was fun to get to play them again." She leans backward a little, resting her hands further back behind her on the bed to prop herself up, "And, uh, yeah, after that we went back to her place to talk for a bit. Just, uh, just about all sorts of things."

[tgva8889]

"Kantoan games?" Not having any understanding of what Leah might be talking about, Alyssa imagines some kind of board game and shrugs. She puts on a simple shirt and pants and moves over to the bed as Leah is explaining. "Sounds like you had a fun time. I hope you helped Nya-chan, er, Juno feel better." Stealthily, she sneaks over behind Leah and wraps her arms around her shoulders, kissing her on the cheek.

[Comissar]

Leah nods at Alyssa's question, not elaborating so much as just confirming. "It was good, yeah. I'd like to try and meet up with her a few more times while we're here, I think we both got a, uh, a lot out of it."

She breaks into a grin as Alyssa's arms snake down and hug around her, leaning her head slightly to make for a better angle as Alyssa plants her kiss. She reaches up with one hand and squeezes at one of Alyssa's arms, rubbing her head against Alyssa's as she gives a contented hum. "Mmm... Did, uh, did you have any plans for tomorrow..?"

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles as Leah returns her affection. She considers her question for a moment, then replies, "Hmm. Besides my meeting, I don't think so. Did you have something you wanted to do? I'm sure I could find time to do something with you."

[Comissar]

Leah gives a one shouldered shrug, "I, uh, I didn't have anything specific in mind. Maybe, uh, maybe we could scout out some places for, uh, for catching pokémon..? Umm, it's, uh, it's something I was hoping to give Juno a hand with at some point while, uh, while we're here."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles. "Yeah, that sounds fun. I haven't done a lot of that in a while." She lets Leah go briefly so she can move around the bed to sit at her side, and wraps around Leah's arm instead, resting her head on her shoulder. "What sort of Pokemon were you looking for?"

[Comissar]

Leah shifts a little to allow Alyssa to reposition herself. "We'd, uh, we'd be looking for small grass types. Umm, probably Petilil's, but if we manage to find other small grass-types then that's a, uh, a bonus."

[tgva8889]

Alyssa smiles. "Grass-type Pokemon, huh? Not what I would have guessed for Nya-Chan, but I guess it makes sense." After a second, she then corrects herself. "Oh, uh, for Juno, I mean." She hums a bit, very quietly, a random smattering of tones that don't really add up to anything.

[Comissar]

"It was, uh, it was my suggestion." Leah gives a little shrug, "They can photosynthesise, so it makes it easier for feeding them." She glances down to Saura, gesturing toward her with her free arm, "Larger Grass-types still need some food, but not as much as other pokémon of similar size. Smaller ones can almost entirely get by on just sunlight."