route_1065 | I Like to Move Slowly, Because I Think So Fast

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I Like to Move Slowly, Because I Think So Fast

Who: L Lawliet

dead_black_eyes and Belphegor of Sloth

makesagoodwife
Where: The Goldenrod pokecenter
When: This evening
Summary: They've spoken a lot over the Pokegear communicator and Belphe's helped L out a lot. Now she's offering him a valuable guidebook on Team Rocket.
Rating: PG-ish for grown-up conversatoin?
Log:

L was, in short, a clever bastard. If there was a way to cheat the system, he was likely to find it, and as he rode into Goldenrod days before he was supposed to on the back of an Onix that was not Cartographer, he couldn't help feeling just a little bit smug. Just because he'd already had one of the rock-snake pokemon hadn't meant that he'd wasted his time in Union Cave. As soon as Cartographer was worn out, "Anneal" got the duty of carrying him around on his huge, stone back, with Slightly drifting along behind.

And so he rolled into Goldenrod ahead of schedule, and in style.

However, once they were in the large city's pokemon center, his Gastly started glowing. L's face fell in dismay, his good mood dampening immediately.]

"Oh, no, please don't...!"

"Gaaaastly!"

Not like Slightly ever listened to him outside of battles. The pokemon's round form became a lot spikier, and he seemed absolutely delighted to find out that he had middle fingers now. L got both of them proudly shown to him.

"Haunter!"

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Unaware of L's plight and inside of the pokemon center, Belphe was currently standing by as she allowed one of the Joys to examine Azrael. The houndoom seemed intact for the mostpart, though he'd taken on a pallor, eyelids drooped and tongue poking out from between his jaws.

"It looks like he was poisoned during battle." the nurse said at least, running a hand over the canine's head. "Nothing we can't handle. We'll just need to borrow him for the evening."

"That will be fine." the brunette said with a single nod, recalling her pokemon to it's ball and setting it on the counter as an in-patient clipboard was pushed in her direction to fill out.

Slightly, newly and happily a Haunter, was not lowering those middle fingers. People were giving them odd (and occasionally offended) glares as they passed the pokemon center, so L sighed and made his way indoors as quickly as he could.

Once there, he noticed someone... familiar. That was Belphegor, wasn't it? They'd communicated often over their Pokegear. He crept up behind her (the man moved like a spider), tapping her on the shoulder sharply and abruptly.

It was his idea of gently getting her attention.

Her shoulders instantly tensed, the pen stopping mid-scratch as she peered over her shoulder for the source of the interruption.

"Yes...?" she asked, even as recognition dawned. It was hard for it NOT to, really. He was very distinctive in appearance with dark features that were cruelly accentuated by a pale complexion and eyes that looked like they belonged to a dead man. She had wondered if it was a trick of the light over the pokegear's screen, though finding herself in his midst now, could see clearly that it wasn't.

'Unnerving' wasn't exactly the term she wanted for seeing him in person. He didn't intimidate her...'surreal' was, perhaps, a bit better.

"Ryuzaki." The form momentarily forgotten, she turned to face him properly. "I hadn't expected to hear from you for a few more days yet."

L wasn't particularly lucky; appearance-wise, at least, genetics had dealt him kind of a shitty hand. He had pale skin the likes of which only seemed to show up in Britain, and straight black hair that definitely belonged to someone Asian, and round, dark eyes that looked more French or Italian than anything, and a prominent nose that looked... Russian? It was difficult to tell, but his heritage was mixed up, and he had gotten an unfortunate mix of features that indeed contributed to a "surreal" appearance. More than that, though, it was the way he treated his earthly vessel. Clearly, he had little respect for the limitations of the human frame. Even if he didn't seem ill or injured, L abused himself by depriving his body of essential nutrients and sleep. The results was an appearance that was, indeed, distinctive.

He was something of a contrast to Belphegor. Despite the fact that she had somewhat unnerving red eyes, her hair was long and shiny, her skin smooth and clear. L supposed that she was attractive... or would, if he was interested in such things.

That dress could totally pass for a long shirt. How does she walk without everyone getting a good look at her ass? What if there's a stiff breeze?

"I'm sorry?" he apologized, realizing that she had spoken and he'd been distracted. He came off as spacey relatively often, but he felt rather ridiculous about this genuine, absurd failure to take in any of what she'd said.

Belphe had never had reason to be concerned about her uniform before coming to Johto. It was something only a select few people had been given the chance to see on Rokkenjima, and those who WOULD gawp at it, either were in firm denial of her existence or were too busy fighting to stay alive.

The idea she and her sisters might be giving the people of the towns they stopped in a free show hadn't entered into her mind.

Which was why she attributed his distraction to the haunter gnatting around him, showing off what it could do with it's newly-acquired fingers.

"It's nothing to apologize for. At least nothing compared to the reasons your companion might give you..."

L had never really had reason not to stare at someone before, either. It wasn't something he'd ever been told not to do. Usually, when he'd seen women in skimpy clothes or their undergarments, security cameras had been involved, and it had been completely without their knowledge. He wasn't ashamed; after all, even in his world, he might as well have not existed, more often than not.

Indeed, the Haunter was pumping its twin middle fingers up and down enthusiastically at whoever he could get to look at him. Noticing that Belphe seemed to have L's attention for the moment, he drifted between them and showed her his bird-flipping prowess, his long tongue sticking all the way out.

Oh yeah. Color her impressed. Red eyes that had been alight with intrigue now dropped to a half-lidded state as the pokemon continued it's display directly for her benefit. It was the same sort of look she often found herself wearing while trying to play mediator in an argument between her sisters that did not look like it was getting resolved anytime soon.

...and, really, what was one even to say in response?

Her hand crept to her belt, unholstering one of the pokeballs from it's slot and tossing it to the center's floor before Slightly where he might find a brown fox-like creature staring up at him with large, innocent, brown eyes.

"Eev?" Nox inquired, canting his head to the side curiously at the Haunter's obscenities.

Edited 2011-04-27 05:23 (UTC)

Oh, terrific. A sweet, innocent Eevee, just ripe for L's predatory Haunter to pounce on it. And indeed, Slightly seized the opportunity, sinking closer to the floor and giving the little creature a wide, wicked grin.

"Haaaunter."

The distraction worked, for the moment, leaving L and Belphegor to awkwardly pick up where they'd left off. Introductions, right...

"It's good to finally meet you, after everything you've done to help me. I apologize for my pokemon's behavior."

"Vee...? Eevee!" Nox chirped, hopping to all fours and wagging his bushy tail in greeting. Was this a new friend to play with?

"If I've learned anything with Ankou, it's that trainers can't always be held responsible for their pokemon's behavior." she assured him, returning her attention to the conversation after keeping an eye on the interaction a moment to ensure the large purple ghost wasn't going to try and make a snack out of the smaller pokemon.

"It's good to meet you as well, Ryuzaki."

A beat of pause, which seemed to expand itself much longer than it had actually lasted, and then she unshouldered her backpack, setting it on the counter to unzip it. "You came here for the book." she murmured, shifting through it's contents.

It was a new something, for sure. Haunter leered at the Eevee almost hungrily, to the point that it actually made L somewhat nervous to observe their interaction. Belphe seemed confident, though, and if she trusted that her Eevee could handle his intimidating and obscene Haunter, he would trust that by proxy.

"That's part of the reason I came," he admitted. "I'm getting bored here. It would be very interesting, to try to infiltrate a known crime syndicate." indeed, he seems energetic and eager, an odd turnaround from his normally somewhat languid appearance.

Her fingers closed on the little black book, drawing it into the open, though having the sense to keep her backpack as an obstruction between it, and the nurses behind the desk. She wasn't sure what their opinion of Team Rocket was, but wasn't particularly in the mood for dramatics.

"Boredom is a dangerous thing." she agreed, offering the book out to him. "And almost as toxic as being denied. I hope it provides you some entertainment."

L deeply appreciated the discretion. So often, clandestine deals went awry because one person (never him) wasn't careful enough.

"I am certain that it will. I can't thank you enough." He pocketed it quickly, and then seemed to be at a loss for words. With business taken care of, what else was there to say?

"Where are you going? I'm somewhat hungry..."

"Huu...? I was just admitting Azrael for treatment. I had no particular place to go otherwise..."

Well, back to her sisters, of course. Though the stakes were still fairly lively this time of the day with their own affairs to tend to (while sometimes getting into one another's) and wouldn't start to gravitate back together for the evening for a while yet.

"This town has a fairly big shopping district compared to the others. There are plenty of restaurants..."

Another pause, her eyes briefly shifted to the incomplete form on the counter and then back to the dark-eyed young man before her. "I'll show you if you like." she added quickly.

Edited 2011-04-28 00:54 (UTC)

L considered this for a moment.

"I could certainly restock on pokeballs and potions..." he said thoughtfully. "I'm also entertaining the notion of picking up a few vitamins, so... that sounds fine. After a meal, of course."

And just like that, he monopolized the next few hours of Belphe's time. Hopefully, she wouldn't mind too much (not that he considered that possibility.)

"Have you been here long enough to have acquired a favorite? I rather like pastries..."

His on-the-spot planning of the evening got little more than a blink in response. Belphegor, not particularly a take-charge sort, was well-used to going along for the ride as both her master and her sisters dragged her in haphazard directions.

...and cutting him loose in a city this big didn't particularly sit well with her when she'd assisted him in getting this far.

"Not as of yet." The pen was picked up again as she resumed filling out the form to properly check Az in before they left. "Having to eat is new to me, so I pick up anything that's easily carried along." She'd eaten a wide variety of trail mix, and various other "energy bars" that they offered in the travelers' section of the pokemart, needless to say. None of them had been particularly thrilling, but they weren't disagreeable either.

She signed her name at the bottom of the form, pushing it back to the nurse who had been awaiting it as she accepted both the clipboard and Azrael's pokeball.

That kind of planning was pretty typical for L, actually. He tended to want to be seven or eight steps ahead, whether it was an opponent in question or even just something relatively casual.

"If that's the case, you probably haven't tried too many foods..." if L sounded excited, it was because there were very few things that he was really, genuinely enthusiastic about. Sweets could be considered one of them. He seldom got the chance to introduce someone to an activity he found enjoyable. "I could certainly recommend some things, once we've located a reputable establishment."

"Provided Rocket agents aren't still crawling all over everything, most all of the shops here are reputable." she assured him, picking up her backpack to sling over her shoulder. "Or at least I haven't run across any yet that were--"

Her sentence abruptly derailed somewhere between turning to make proper eye contact during conversation and finding herself practically face-to-face with him instead.

Even though he wasn't expecting the sudden close encounter, his reaction time was incredible. When it came to skittishness, L tended to rank up there with foxes and abused children. He jumped about a foot backward, almost overbalancing, being saved from falling only by his surprisingly helpful Haunter.

Seemed that those arms were good for something other than flipping people off.

The Haunter didn't share L's relief, though. Instead, Slightly was glaring daggers over L's shoulder at Belphe.

"That was... sorry. Something of an overreaction. Reflex, I... you're not repulsive," he said bluntly.

No one was there to do the same for her, but thankfully the counter was still at her back and served just as well as a pair of hands.

"....I would hope not." she said at last when she'd recollected her wits and her balance. She was easygoing, surely, but her tolerance didn't extend so far as putting up with melodramatics about whether she was attractive or not.

...even if she'd reacted in much the same way.

"Eev...?" Nox inquired, having approached his trainer to paw at her leg worriedly. Dropping to one knee, she ignored the Haunter's withering glare and scooped up her pokemon, petting him reassuringly until he'd begun to wag his tail again, convinced nothing was amiss after all.

OH! And he had something to SHOW her! The eevee proudly opened its jaws and belched loudly. While she'd been talking, he'd been learning a new trick. The middle sister's eye twitched, thinking even Beatrice herself would be proud of how everything here had gone from calmly in-control a minute ago to utter chaos in the blink of an eye.

Edited 2011-04-28 02:51 (UTC)

Yeah... the fact that Belphe was still so close to the counter pretty much said everything that needed to be said about L's tendency to stand way. Too. Freaking. Close. He knew it was his fault, and hoped that it would suffice to just not mention it again.

Not to be outdone, Slightly held its breath until it was a paler shade of purple... and then let out a huge, nasty belch that made L jump again. The Haunter preened proudly as people gave it disgusted looks.

"We should probably... go..."

"Yes. Yes we should." Before they were ejected for disturbing the peace, preferably. In a flash of white, Nox was recalled to his ball and placed back on her belt as, without further ado, she headed for the door.

Outside, she hoped, would be less stifling.

L followed suit with his Haunter; hopefully, the disruptive pokemon would stay in its ball long enough to give him and Belphegor time for some grown-up conversation. Maybe not having pokemon in the way would make it... somehow less awkward.

If that silence was any indication? It would likely take a little more than that.

Outside was, indeed, less stifling. It was a big city, filled with people and pokemon. A bike bell rang nearby, and a radio tower loomed in the distance.

Nearby, though... that department store seemed like the place to be, judging by all th people going in and out. L shuffled nervously; he didn't tend to do well with crowds.

It wasn't to the department store she was leading him, but past it, and to a plaza behind it where the crowds thinned out somewhat. It was late enough that the dinner rush had dispersed, though not so late that everything was deserted. The smells of various things cooking hung in the air, seeming of far greater variety than one would find in the smaller towns as she paused in her gait to allow him to look them over.

"There are smaller restaurants throughout the city, but this is where most of them are." The agitation had smoothed out of her expression for the moment with Slightly no longer a factor as red eyes settled on him expectantly. Clearly, she was waiting for him to pick one.

Edited 2011-04-28 15:02 (UTC)

L was, of course, more than happy to rise to the occasion. His eyes scanned the buildings, looking for the kind of place he'd be comfortable enough to enjoy a meal. Or, at least, what qualified as a meal for him. They settled on a small brick building, what appeared to be a quiet cafe that served mostly soups and sandwiches.

And pastries. Naturally. He nodded once, briskly, to demonstrate that he'd reached a decision, before starting toward the building.

Belphe trailed in after him, the bustle of the outside being shut away once they passed through the front door. Inside, the restaurant saw only three patrons - a burly man with the remnants of a bowl of chili in front of him as he currently sat reading that day's newspaper, and an older woman in one of the corner booths speaking candidly to the younger woman sitting across from her, both with their hands folded around their respective coffee mugs.

It did, indeed, seem like the place to go if one was interested in people minding their own business.

"You two can have a seat wherever you like, I'll be with you shortly." a hostess in a checkered apron said cheerily from the register where she was counting out receipts, motioning them toward the tables.

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