route_1065 | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who:

junebugfuji
Where: Streets of Goldenrod
When: just after this conversation
Summary: Aya needs to clarify some things
Rating: PG?
Log:

[The meeting with Aya had gone much better than Mamoru had feared. More steadied now in his place as well as holding his agreement with the decision to tell Tot of their identities, the next item on Mamoru's list is to track down Ken and get similar approval from him. Already having Ran's consent will make that task easier.

Besides... he needs to pick up Shiro.]

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[ She really couldn't keep with this distance. Something needed to be said, or she was afraid that all their progress would really be gone for good, and for what, because she felt awkward? That isn't going to stop her. No. So she decided to set out to find Mamoru.

It doesn't take long to find him, well, she was waiting at the hotel keeping an eye out when he happened to be heading her way. She straightened from where she'd been leaning against the wall outside the hotel entrance. ] Hello, Mamoru-kun. [ She offers up a small smile, a little nervous, admittedly, but still determined to try to ask what she'd come to ask. ] Can we talk...?

[It's a discredit to his background that Aya takes him by surprise. And he almost backs away, because for all the matter of stay-or-go is settled, being around her is still uncomfortable. The worst part, of course, was that it wasn't the slightest bit her fault that he felt that way either. She was just a sweet, warm, charming girl. One who knew what she wanted and who wasn't afraid to go after it. Really, Mamoru respected that-- a lot.

His eyes remain averted, although no reluctance lines his voice.]

Yeah... Where do you want to go?

Is my room alright? [ She's not at all oblivious to his surprise or the avoidance of eye contact. Surprisingly-- or not --it just hardens her resolve to say what she's planned. She hates that things have become so awkward. She misses him, as a friend if nothing else. ]

[Just enough of a pause it might seem he's wondering if he should voice protest to that idea.]

That will work. After you.

[ She's glad when he says yes, just because she'd rather be indoors, with some privacy for this talk. Even if others didn't overhear they might still pick up on body language, and Aya didn't want to broadcast their business to others.

She leads the way back up to their floor and her room at the hotel, pulling her thoughts together one final time. The silence is somewhere between comfortable and not, and she knows it. Finally she opens the door to let them in. As she moves to sit on one end of the couch she notices that the Pokemon seem to be resting nearly out of sight on the other side of the bed. She can just make out Mamoru's Luxray's fur.

She gestures for him to make himself comfortable. ]

[Mamoru also sees the small hint of Kellie on the bed, although he is not about to join any of them on it. He makes himself comfortable standing near the opposite wall, hands in his pockets.]

What did you want to talk about?

Well... It's just, I know what you said, about us. I just don't want it to become a reason for us to stop being friends or to stop being together. Even if nothing else comes from it I really want to keep getting to know you better. [ She should have just gone with him when he went to Azalea. What if he decided that permanent distance was for the better? She stares down at her hands, balled into gentle fists atop her knees. ] So... please, if you do decide to leave the group again, just let me come with you. I'm sorry, if that's selfish.

[It was selfish, but he wouldn't call her out on it. Honestly, he was starting to worry about her. How desperate she seemed just to keep herself near him, even just for company.

But that wasn't entirely fair, was it? He had missed her too, and the necessity to shut down any ideas of deeper feelings had upset him as well. He was just better at accepting that pain as part of life.

Even so...]

What about your brother?

[ From as unbiased a standpoint as she could muster she herself was aware that her behavior, her wants must have seemed... well, a bit desperate, but it wasn't just her feelings she worried about here. Mamoru seemed to be pulling away. He'd turned her down for dates before and there was never any awkwardness afterwards. It seemed like ever since that talk before the group split up, though, he'd been withdrawing. Was she just using that as an excuse to justify wanting to stay close to him? She couldn't help it, though, and the idea of things remaining so tense was unbearable. Eventually something would give and they'd either stop talking or worse, depression, resentment, a lot was possible really.

Still... she didn't want to wake up one day and realize that Mamoru was gone from her life in any sense of the word. It had happened with her parents. It had happened with Ran, to an extent, and Johto seemed to be the one place where that didn't have to be true. Was it wrong to look for happiness in what she had, instead of wanting what she didn't have? So they couldn't be together, nothing could come of it.

She still cared about him.

But what she was about to say, what she'd wrestled with for the last week, was she horrible for even considering it? ]

I've been really happy getting to spend time with onii-chan again, I wouldn't have had this chance back home... but I'd still choose to follow you, if I could. [ She loves her brother dearly, and if he needed her then she'd always do everything in her power to help him. She also thought that he'd probably understand if she were to decide to follow Mamoru. How to tell Mamoru, though, that she worried he'd pull away from her the same way that Ran had back home?

She managed a small smile, maybe a little sad, but then shakes her head. She should just tell him the truth, keep it simple. ] Maybe that sounds crazy... but not to me. He's not you, and I'm afraid that if you go you might not come back. It isn't the same when you aren't here, when we're not talking.

Edited 2011-11-29 08:04 (UTC)

[The concept honestly baffled Mamoru. Why would anyone prefer his company to Aya's? Especially her, the sister whose only chance to see him at all lay here? Mamoru simply could not fathom it. But he could, as much as it unsettled him to, see a parallel.

"One of my sailors would follow me into Hell and I'd rather lead him to Heaven."

How funny was it that she saw the same looming possibility as her brother? She was a perceptive girl-- surprisingly so for not having known him nearly as long. And as prepared to follow him into Hell as Ken was for Aya, if he were careless enough to lead him there.

Surely, he couldn't allow a fate such as that for her.

He looked up, meeting her eyes for the first time with a small smile.]

Thank you, Aya-san. I can't promise that I'll take you with me everywhere. If someone I know from home arrives, it may be someone best greeted alone. Our goals may lead us down different paths at times...

But I do promise that I won't sever myself permanently from this group... or from you... without extending a chance for you to come with me.

[ Should she make a list, Mamoru? Because she will ~~and I know your mun knows a thing or two about her work ethic for personal projects~~. ]

[ Must be a family trait, really. It wasn't the first time she'd demonstrated this, and it was the one trait that she played to her advantage whenever she could, even when she didn't realize she was doing it.

She certainly didn't miss the change in his expression, catching the movement from the corner of her eye and looking up in time to catch his gaze. She felt a weight lifting from her shoulders with his promise, trusting his word and awarding his promise with a relieved smile. ]

Thank you, Mamoru-kun... [ She shuts her eyes with that smile for a moment and exhales softly, then opens them again. It already feels much more relaxed to...

uh...

Well.

SOMEONE has just gotten quite a show. Do you see Kenji's head poked up over the side of the bed, Mamoru? He's STARING.

INTO YOUR SOUL.

HE KNOWS.

And that's when Aya notices him, too, cutting herself off. Choked noise. Eyes wide. She gets up very quickly. GUESS WHAT SHE JUST NOTICED? ] K-Kenji?!

[Yes. Yes, Mamoru sees him. He is not making Mamoru more comfortable. It's highly unnerving to be stared at like that, and Mamoru has to wonder what's behind it. It takes him a few moments to remember that Pokémon is empathic. Then it takes him several more to understand the reason for the stare, because why would there be so much of it from confusion and incredulity? Or from simple low self-image?

Simple: there wouldn't be. It was about something much deeper than that.

He averts his eyes from the Pokémon, glad that Kenji can't talk even if he can know how he really feels. Aya's sudden jump from the bed steals his attention.]

What's wrong?

[ Oh don't worry, even if he could, he doesn't roll like that. Aya needs to figure it out for herself.

But he knows.

Just so YOU know.

He just goes back to checking over to make sure none of the eggs have... magically rolled off or something. ]

Um... [ And she just lifts a hand and points to the large cluster of eggs between the two Pokemon, who were spooning, apparently.

... I think we technically just became grandparents. ] You remember how Kellie and Kenji seemed to be getting along better than the others...?

[It's a damn good thing Mamoru isn't holding anything fragile because it would have just shattered on the floor.

Eggs. Eggs that, unless he were sorely mistaken, belonged to one of his Pokémon. Of all the--

Kenji, Mamoru especially does not appreciate that stare in light of this new development. It comes off far too much as expectant.]

...What do we do?

Well... if they aren't too attached to them then we can give the eggs to friends, or sell them to good homes. [ She goes to stoop down in front of the two Pokemon, picking up one of the Riolu eggs, and smiles over at Mamoru, recovered her brain that fast she did. ] We could split the profits down the middle in that case, but this is likely to happen again. I think they've bonded.

[Mamoru is not prepared to deal with eggs-- not a batch like this. He looks from Aya to Kellie and back.]

Aya-san...

[HELP. The boy is lost. And the idea of being in charge of a breeding Pokémon and all of her eggs is well out of his comfort zone.]

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