Fair in the big city. :O

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

Who: Zack Fair, Roxas, OPEN.
Where: Goldenrod City; Cafe
When: December 23rd.
Summary: Zack is finally in Goldenrod. He needs both nourishment and information, so... he... opts to hang out with the first person who responds to him on the 'Gear. But anyone can hop in.
Rating: G? G.


Sidewinder, come to find out, was not a Pokemon of the city.
The Kingler had always stayed on task pretty well when they were romping through featureless countryside and small, sleepy towns (provided that no one went out of their way to distract him), but... the crab absolutely couldn't keep his claws to himself when he was surrounded by so many dynamic, shiny, metallic doodads and flashing Christmas decorations.

There was always a trailing scarf to snip, a glowing tree to snap at, or some poor passerby sap who wasn't paying attention to startle with a Bubble attempt. All of the behavior training Zack had worked so very hard on with his most mischievous Pokemon had been forgotten, evidently, in an instant, and it didn't take very long for him to make the decision to put the big, orange dope back into his Pokeball. He walked the rest of the way to the Cafe alone.

Comments

[seasalttwilight.livejournal.com]

Things were often quiet on the fourth floor, even during the holidays. Roxas announced that he was going on his break, and then headed down to the cafe. It was weird. He barely knew Zack, but still the guy had casually asked him to hang out. Roxas hadn't experienced that in quite a while.

He walked briskly there, glad that the streets were now clean and walkable. Once he made it to the cafe, he stopped and waited for Zack.

LATENESS. LATENESSSSSS. Dx;;; I'm sorryyyy

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

Zack wasn't too far behind, having taken up running the last few strides in anticipation of getting to his warm destination. All but bursting into the cafe, he sighed over-dramatically with a swing of his arms, stomping away any excess, lingering snow there at the entrance.

All passerby's were awarded with a public service announcement via Zack Fair at that moment.

"DANG. It's freezin' out there."

... Please. Hold your applause. The young man glanced about, rubbing his hands together with an attempt to squirm body heat back to his limbs.

... Only ... now that he was inside, he realized that he had zoomed past his coffee-pal in his mad, derpish rush to get out of the cold. Yeah... oops.

No worries

[seasalttwilight.livejournal.com]

Roxas blinked. It took him a moment to realize that Zack had just passed him and was now in the coffee shop. Roxas couldn't really blame him. It was cold out.

Rather than make Zack come out again, he walked inside. And wasn't really sure what to do next. He stood awkwardly for a moment, before offering a small, "Hey".

/beeeeegs for forgiveness *A*

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

Despite a natural, obvious instinct to stay put where it was warm, he managed to meet Roxas halfway at the door, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Um... Hey."

Sorta edging closer inside, he offered an... awkward wave and a lopsided grin. "I'm Zack. Can't remember if I mentioned that already. You, uh... You wanna grab a table? I'll get the drinks."

Rambling time is go? Rambling time is go.

"I mean -- y'wanted cocoa, right? You don't look like a coffee drinker. Or tea. Tea's pretty gross."

/forgives

[seasalttwilight.livejournal.com]

"I'm Roxas," the blond boy replied. They'd only talked a few times, so Roxas wouldn't be surprised if he'd forgotten to mention his name. Observing social niceties was something he needed to work on.

"I-I can do that. Cocoa's fine, to." He dug in his pockets to pull out some pokedollars. He could pay for his own drink.

/feels 203948230948034957908745 times better <333

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

"No worries, pal! I got this!"

HE SURE DID... for once. He must've whipped 10 trainers at least on the way to Goldenrod. And... evidently, in Johto, wiping out young children in violet pet battles was a perfectly honorable way to make a living. He'd been just poor enough to play along without holding back.

Digging through his own pockets, he veered off toward the counter without another word.

[seasalttwilight.livejournal.com]

Since Zack had left, Roxas could really only stand there awkwardly and accept the other man's generosity. Something that Roxas really wasn't good at. He sighed, wandering over to a table by the window, trying to think of some way that he could repay Zack.

He sat down and took off his gloves and headband. The cafe was warm, warmer than the department store. He liked it.

pfff. I hate the holidays. ~__~

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

It didn't take long for Zack to return with the drinks, which, as it turned out, he wasn't very good at carrying smoothly. The dip in the caps were practically full of the rich cocoa (designed especially for careless idiots such as himself) by the time he slid into the seat across from Roxas with a sharp exhale.

... Now that he'd begun to sit still, it might have become a bit more obvious just how exhausted he looked. The cold had a funny way of sapping one's strength regardless of previous training. And he had charged on at full pelt to make it to Goldenrod without lagging behind.

Setting one of the steaming drinks in front of Roxas, he took the to-go top off of his own and sat back, giving it a minute or two to cool.

"So... How're ya likin' Goldenrod, Roxas? I guess there hasn't been much trouble since the department store was attacked, huh?"

[seasalttwilight.livejournal.com]

Roxas glanced down at the drink, and then followed Zack's lead. Things like this were all new to him.

"I like it," he said, quietly. "It reminds me of where I was before. I prefer cities." Twilight Town hadn't been as big, and The World that Never was not as busy, but both locations had set Roxas up for prefering an urban environment.

"It's been busy because of the holidays though. Lots of people."

[usedninjathief.livejournal.com]

Yuffie was out and about exploring the town. This Christmas holiday was pretty cool, not quite like anything they had back at home. There were so many shiny things to look at and shops were advertising like crazy. Her fingers itched. She'd have to check them out at some point. Without Aerith or Leon around becase they would totally ruin her mojo.

She was eyeing the Department store when a familiar black spikey head walked by.

Oh hey!

She crept up sneakily behind him and threw her hands over his eyes, quite a feat, considering his height compared to hers.

"Guess whoooo~!"

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

Having been caught in mid-grumble, he barked in surprise from this... BRUTAL blitz attack, hands flailing free of his pockets.

His usual, immediate reaction would have probably been a little violent, but... He'd spent enough time on Johto to quell reactions like those. Luckily.

After his slightly embarrassing reaction, he settled down... and gave an exaggerated shrug.

"Uhhh." A girl, obviously. A girl who wasn't Aerith or Heather or Rise, as far as he could tell. Someone short who obviously enjoys sneaking up on people and--

W-Wince.

"I give up."

[usedninjathief.livejournal.com]

"Well you're no fun."

She lets go anyway, slipping around in front of him with the kind of smirking grin she usually wears. The hood of her jacket is down, so her face isn't obscured at the moment.

"Hey there pal! I see ya really did finally make it. Heh."

She punches him playfully in the arm.

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

With an exhasperated sigh, he shrugged helplessly... deciding that she was a whole lot easier to deal with when she was nine years old. Then again, it was no surprise that she grew up to be the way she was. Yuffie never did strike him as the type that ... changed a whole bunch.

"Yeah... I made it." Barely.

"I gotta get somethin' warm in my system, though. I'm freezin' my..."

A strained look. ... No, we won't go there today.

"... Uh. Want some coffee or whatever?"

[usedninjathief.livejournal.com]

Like she hasn't heard worse out of Cid. She totally misses whatever he was about to say, though, as well as the helpless gesture. People make those around her all the time. It must have something to do with her awesomeness.

"Well if you must know, we only got in, like, a couple of days ago. Something warm sounds awesome though. Never did take to coffee, but I'll bet I can find something I like."

She's about to start walking off ahead of him, but stops and turns suddenly suspicious. "You are buying, right?"

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, yeah..."

Shooting her a grouchy, burdensome look, Zack grunted... and reluctantly nodded. He guessed he would buy... Someone once told him it was kind of a dick move to invite someone out and then make 'em pay their own way. Angeal, was it? He can't even remember. Even if it was just coffee. Even if it was just Yuffie.

But she had better not expect him to hold the door open for her! That was an Aerith-exclusive gesture.

Luckily for the both of them, her ambush hadn't caught him too far away from his destination. They had about half a block of walking to do before they got there... so... he walked fast.

"So. How's your trainin' coming along? Gonna challenge any gyms?"

[usedninjathief.livejournal.com]

If he wasn't buying Yuffie was dining and ditching, so it was probably a good thing that he agreed. And she certainly didn't expect him to hold open the door. Sheesh, she wasn't some sort of delicate flower.

She was easily able to keep up with his fast pace on the way the cafe, and shrugged at his question. "I guess it's... coming. I'm no where near challenging any gyms though." She rolls her eyes as she quotes her line-faced traveling buddy, " 'I still have a lot of work ahead me.' "

"How 'bout you? What kind of Poekee's you got, eh?"

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

It's always been one of those things with Zack. Girls are generally always delicate flowers -- except for Cissnei. Cissnei was definitely not a delicate flower.

Zack did, however, give her a funny glance at the comment she made before her question before shrugging a shoulder.

"Got a couple dragons, an owl, and a giant crab." Who really needed to get over his hair-cutting fascination.

"Still got your purple mouse?"

lol, I have a cissnei muse who appreciates that

[usedninjathief.livejournal.com]

You'd have to put Yuffie in that category of girls for that to apply, and many wouldn't.

She didn't really take notice of the funny look. She's pretty good at missing things like that.

"A couple of dragons! How awesome! And a giant crab? Sounds kinda freaky to me. Regular crabs are kinda freaky."

She rolls her eyes again at the mention of Ratman. Her most troublesome Poekee. "Yeeeaaahhh I still got 'im. ... Her. I've still got her."

derp @-@

[honor-first.livejournal.com]

Ooh. He knew that tone. Kinda like when he found out his beautiful Butterfree named Honey was a dude. ... That thing was probably scarred for life.

"Eh... Your first catch will grow on ya. Trust me. Y'know... now that you mention it..."

He thumbed the Pokeball in his pocket.

"... You and Sidewinder would probably get along." He really likes girls.