route_1065 | Even through the darkest phase, be it thick or thin,

Even through the darkest phase, be it thick or thin,

Who: Yoko [

star_tits] and Litchi [

boobie_lady]
Where: New Bark Town
When: Late evening
Summary: Litchi gives Yoko the words she needs to hear.
Rating: G...for (woman)GAR
Log:

As the sun begins to approach the horizon, Yoko's found herself a comfortable spot at the base of a tree. Not for shade--the weather hardly dictated the need for that--no, it was for moping. To most people, it would appear that she's upset about showing up in this world without any warning, but those a little more empathic could tell there's something a little more than that going on in her head.

Her Larvitar is still munching away on dirt, now next to the tree.

"You're going to uproot this thing if you keep on doing that..." Yoko chastises, even though her her vision is completely spaced out, focused at nothing in particular in the distance.

Larvitar stops eating to glance at Yoko curiously, then continues eating.

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Completely undeterred from exploring by the sun setting, Litchi is still out and about as night is quickly approaching. Her Grimer, long since worn out by all the walking, has been called back into his Pokeball for the night. Just as she's beginning to wonder if maybe she should start looking for somewhere to settle down for the night, she spots the other woman beneath the tree.

There's that little spiky-looking one that eats dirt again. It certainly makes recognition go a lot faster, seeing something so odd twice in one day.

Litchi starts over towards her, the warm smile of greeting fading a little when she spots the look on the other woman's face. That can't be good.

"Yoko, wasn't it?" she asks gently once she's gotten close enough. "Feeling a little homesick?"

Yoko looks up at Litchi. Normally, if she were anyone else, she would have been bothered by the fact that she's getting spoken to when it's pretty obvious she's got something on her mind...but all the members of Dai-Gurren are used to this kind of thing.

"No, not exactly. I probably will be in the morning. It's been a while since I last slept in a sleeping bag."

Yoko's not bothering to try to put on a strong face right now.

"To be honest, I can't remember if I ever have," Litchi replies with a soft laugh. She's not entirely sure if she should bother this woman, given that she definitely isn't looking up for much company... but that nagging urge to do her best to help others is getting the better of her.

Still, she may as well ask.

"Do you mind if I sit?"

Yoko narrows her eyes at Litchi for a split second. This whole town, and she wants to sit next to Yoko? The expression fades, however, once she realizes that Litchi must be looking for company--any kind of company. Yoko sighs and rests her head against the tree.

"Yeah, go ahead. Watch out for the holes."

Carefully avoiding a Larvitar-made hole, Litchi eases down to sit a comfortable distance away. Probably not best to be too overly friendly just yet.

She sighs. A seithr-free sunset. She never thought she'd see the day. "...All this really is rather overwhelming, isn't it?"

Yoko brings up her hands to her face, in an act of exasperation. "You have no idea."

Her arms drop limply to her side, and she gives Litchi a scrutinizing kind of look, trying to determine if Litchi was the trustworthy type. Listening to her gut, Yoko decides that she is. Looking up at the branches above her, she says, "I began the day raging war against an entire species who thought they were God...lost several friends in the process...and just when I thought we'd won, I show up in some weird bed on a completely different planet than the one I'm used to. And then--and then..." Yoko glances at her pokégear, then shakes her head. "I must have been awake for much too long, because I think I'm starting to hallucinate."

Well, then. Litchi was expecting a problem and that... was a little more than expected. There's so many questions that popped into her head over that outburst, but the important one will have to go first.

Not that she's got her usual medicinal arsenal on hand, but health comes first.

"Hallucinations? It could certainly be a lack of sleep, but... have you been drinking enough water since you got here? There aren't any other symptoms, are there?"

Yoko blinks at Litchi in curiosity. Some kind of nurse, maybe even a doctor? What luck. Maybe she can diagnose her with losing her mind. "Nah, I'm--well, a little tired, that's all."

"Please be sure to get as much rest as you can tonight, then." Doctor mode is a little hard to push aside sometimes. This is one of those times. "And if there's anything I can do to help, please, let me know. I'm afraid I'm not much without my clinic, but I'll still do my best to help."

"Good to know," Yoko says with a nod. "You seem like a good friend to have around."

Normally she would have said that line with a much cheerier note, but Yoko's somber, distant mood is souring anything else she might be doing at the moment. "I've got too much on my mind right now to fall asleep. Just gotta wait until my body decides that sleeping takes a priority."

"Well... I can still do my best to help with that." Litchi's expression softens as she shifts to face Yoko a little better.

"If you just need someone to listen, I can certainly do that."

Yoko gives her an acknowledging hum. For the longest time, it doesn't seem like Yoko is going to say anything more on the matter.

Then, finally, "There was a man I fell in love with a couple of years ago." Silence, and she clears her throat. "Probably the most incredible man I knew in my life, even to this day. But the night we finally confessed to each other how we felt...the very next day, he died in battle. A sneak attack that none of us saw coming."

Yoko falls back into silence for a while.

"He's here," she says, with a croaked voice. "I mean...someone who looks like him, who talks and sounds like him...but it can't be him. He's been dead."

As Yoko talks, Litchi's gaze slowly lowers to the ground, the words sinking in and striking a painfully familiar chord. Died in battle unexpectedly... losing him had been the hardest thing she'd ever gone through, but to not even have the chance of seeing him again? She's tasted that fear before herself, but...

But this place... it doesn't seem to have any limits, does it? She spoke to a boy earlier from England, and that country hasn't existed ever since the Black Beast and the seithr made it unlivable.

After a stretch of silence, Litchi blows out a low sigh and raises her eyes to Yoko's again.

"I'm sure it must seem like some kind of a cruel joke, but are you sure it's not possible that it's him? If there's even the slightest chance... wouldn't you want to know for certain?"

She heaves a shrug. "Considering what I experienced just before my arrival here, I don't know what's possible and what's not anymore."

Her hand comes up to her chest, her palm just above her heart. "I'm not sure what I want to do. I don't want to be strung along, just to find that someone just wanted to make me feel horrible. Maybe it's some kind of punishment for never really getting over it and moving on with someone else. Or maybe it's a reward for the same exact reason. I don't know."

Litchi shakes her head. Not moving on is pretty much a punishment in and of itself, and she knows this from experience.

"I doubt it's a punishment. Why not go and see, at least? It's better than living the rest of your life wondering if you missed out on your second chance."

Yoko suddenly shakes her head in protest, pulling up her knees to her chest. Larvitar takes a break in its voracious eating to gently touch Yoko on the thigh out of concern.

"I don't...I don't want to experience pain like that again..."

Oh, boy. Litchi shakes her head as well, her tone gentle.

"I know how painful it is, but... you can't give up just because you're afraid of it hurting more. Just making excuses like this is hurting as well, right?"

"I mourned for months, at least! You don't mourn someone you can see later in your life! I can't just--push it away like it never happened!" Yoko bows her head down. "...And even if it really is him...every day is going to feel like some wonderful dream that will inevitably end, and I'll wake up in my bed, lonely as usual."

"I'm not telling you to push it away like it never happened." Despite her tone still being calm, there's a dangerous undercurrent to it -- a silent warning not to assume that she knows nothing about that pain. "But you should at least enjoy it while you can."

"And lose myself in self-indulgence? Tch..."

Larvitar and Yoko proceed to have a little bit of a staring contest before Larvitar puts on a silly smiling face. The unexpected response makes Yoko lightly chuckle, and she pets Larvitar on the snout.

"Ah, maybe that doesn't sound so bad after all. But I'm still scared...I guess that's just because it seems way too good to be true."

"That may be, but..." Litchi shakes her head. "If I were in your shoes, I don't think I could pass up such an opportunity, even if it was only temporary. It may be a little hard to do, but just making excuses for yourself won't solve anything."

Her gaze dropping down to the ball containing her own new partner, she falls silent for a moment. So many familiar things in a completely unfamiliar place... maybe this really was meant to happen.

She gives a weak laugh. "I have to admit, I'd give anything just to see the face of the one I lost one more time."

"Even if it might be a trap?" Yoko scratches behind Larvitar's...horn...Odd skin texture, but she can roll with it. "You're right, though. Not knowing would drive me crazy. At least I could have a justifiable reaction..."

Yoko turns to look at Litchi's expression, her voice becoming a little softer. "Yeah? I used to say that all the time...but "anything" doesn't bring them back." She pauses, then mumbles "...except for completely impossible, unbelievable circumstances, in which people are taken from their homes to have free reign in a completely different world for no apparent reason..."

"Even if it was a trap... I still couldn't go on without knowing for sure."

But still, she can't help a light laugh over that description. "I suppose anything really is possible. Especially here."

Yoko gives her a nod and an acknowledging hum as she reaches for her bag, rustling around inside it until she finds her sleeping bag. By now, the sky is starting to get dark, and she figures she might as well set up "camp" before she can't see anymore.

"I guess I've got a long hike to start tomorrow."

"Which way were you headed?" Litchi asks, tone brightening. "I was going to go out toward Violet City, but I can come along for support if you'd like."

She smiles wryly. "I certainly haven't got any better leads on what to do for now."

Yoko grins at Litchi right after she lays out her sleeping bag. "That just happens to be the same exact town he told me he's in. Didn't sound like he was planning to move from there any time soon."

"Is that so? Small world, I suppose." Litchi, chuckling quietly, leans back against her own backpack. What are the odds that both of them have a reason to head towards the same town?

"If you don't mind, I think I'd like to tag along, then. It's probably best for both of us not to go alone, after all."

"Oh, don't tell me that! I'd hate to think that the world I'm trapped in is small."

Yoko nods. "I have no idea what lies beyond the town line. It's best to stick together in situations like that."

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Even through the darkest phase, be it thick or thin,

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