pokebox | LOCKED TO preybeforemeals

LOCKED TO preybeforemeals

[Today was supposed to be just another, normal day in which Naki terrorizes some poor waiter with his awful manners and rude demeanor while Tsukiyama attempts to place nice, all the while probably being disgusted by the sheer amount of sweets Naki will undoubtedly consume.

But no. Not today, apparently. Not today, because Naki's been sitting here at this café, waiting for over an hour for Tsukiyama to show up.

Eventually he calls out five of his Pokémon. It should be of no surprise to anyone who knows this man that they're all Inkays. Naki gives one order "Search party: go!" and points in a random direction and the five squids immediately start floating away as quickly as they can go. Naki leans back in his seat and messes with his 'Gear, waiting for them to return. Apparently they've been trained to respond to that stupid command and they know that it means "find Tsukiyama". Somehow. Naki also releases his last Pokémon, a Malamar, who is presumably one of the two responsible for this set of Inkays (unless Naki kept a third Malamar, which honestly wouldn't be surprising).

It doesn't take long for the Malamar to catch Naki's attention with her frantic tentacle-waving. After relaying her message to Naki, the ghoul goes stiff.]

What-- Are you... You're sure!?

[The Malamar bobs up and down as best she can in a nod. Naki takes off immediately, only pausing to return the Malamar. Unsurprisingly, he forgot - or didn't bother - to pay for the coffee he was drinking.

The forest closest to the northern end of town is still too far away, in Naki's opinion. It takes him much longer to get there than he would have liked, and he seriously misses the speed and stamina being a ghoul had offered. Sure, eating tons of cake probably hasn't helped him with this, but by the time he arrives to where the Inkays have gathered, he's holding his side and wincing.]

Move-- Get out of the goddamn way!

[The Inkays part and let Naki through. He drops to his knees, ignoring the fact that his pants are going to be grass-stained horribly. All that matters right now is Tsukiyama.]

Shit, fuck, are you alright!?

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Right, and then I should be there shortly after. We can catch up in person then, if you'd like.

Yeah! That'd be great! I'll go catch an Abra right now, so hopefully it'll get to you soon!!

[AND THERE GOES THE FEED apparently he is really pumped.

It takes a little bit longer than expected, but eventually a Honchkrow shows up with a Pokéball. Well, actually it's an Ultra Ball, because apparently Naki was tired of the Abras just Teleporting away from him, so he went all out. Either way, congratulations! You're now in possession of one (1) Abra capable of Teleporting back to Goldenrod!]

[...You know, the last time he did this it ended in the Abra being made of rage and more or less thriving off of blood and screaming, because he used an overpowered snake to suplex it into submission before forcing Banjou to capture it. At the very least the Ultra Ball means he can take some comfort from the notion that this one probably won't hate him.

...He's apprehensive as hell about letting it out of the ball, though.

That said, he'll be putting it to good use eventually, once he's recalled Alessia; it's going to take him a moment to get his bearings - here's hoping Naki isn't, you know, standing around waiting at the damn Center.]

[Do you really think he won't be waiting in front of the Center? Admittedly he looks sort of out of place pacing around not too far from the Center's entrance and glancing over there far more frequently than anyone really should. It looks less like he's waiting for someone and more like he's trying to find a way to blow up the Center or something.

Naki's dressed differently today; it seems the white suit has made a reappearance, but the shirt underneath is a dark purple which isn't quite as different as the red suit. He also doesn't have any of the Inkays out, probably because that would be at least five of them floating around uselessly after him in the middle of town.

Tsukiyama finally appears though and Naki's irritated look immediately changes to pure joy. He approaches quickly, but he stops short and immediately begins fidgeting.

Somehow he didn't think about what he'd say when he came face-to-face with Tsukiyama.]

You're here in one piece, good!

[He thinks about what he just said and remembering the last time Tsukiyama was supposed to show up in a Pokémon Center, he winces. That... came out wrong. Oops.]

[...Ah. He ought to have expected that the guy would be pacing around looking like some sort of walking bomb threat, shouldn't he; somehow, he finds that he was expecting the awkwardness, however - he would have been more surprised if Naki had actually considered what he was going to say rather than just showing up without a second thought toward it.

Although if Tsukiyama is at all bothered by what does eventually shoot out of Naki's mouth, he doesn't seem it; actually, he laughs a bit, the sound light as he rakes a hand through the front of his hair.]

As tactful as ever, I see.

[And the words are as gentle as the laugh, as opposed to anything chiding or backhanded; it's fine, Naki, don't stress about it.

He hadn't missed this at all back home, simply because he hadn't remembered that there was anything to miss; here, though...this is comfortable, and he's pleased by it, whatever "this" may happen to be.]

Where are we going today, monsieur?

[Tsukiyama's words go a long way to helping him relax, and Naki grins after a moment.]

Wherever you want to go! It's been a long time since you were last here, after all!

...We'll find something, then.

[He tips his head a bit while he says it; come on, sir, let's not stand around in front of the Center, people probably think you're here to set it on fire and he's here to help you do it.

That said, he doesn't have a particular destination in mind; he's content to just wander around and see if anything's changed in his absence.]

It seems someone finally convinced you to put some color in your wardrobe, if the last few days are anything to judge by; it looks nice, you know.

[Naki glances down at his shirt like he can't remember which one he's wearing and then awkwardly messes with his jacket for a moment.]

Y-Yeah well, I guess it was time for a change.

[It's not something he gave much thought to before and he's not really sure he wants to start thinking about it now.]

So uh, how were things back home?

[He notices the awkwardness, though he doesn't try to comment on it; if Naki doesn't want to dwell on it, he's not going to make him - it's not so much due to Tsukiyama actually having tact as it is realizing exactly whose advice Naki may have been taking.

He brightens at the question, however; clearly that was an A+ topic change, sir.]]

Ah, tres bien - they were very good, actually! It seems things are finally going well for us for once - the group I'm with has made a few changes, but they seem to ultimately be for the better.

It looks...very promising, after seven months of things not going in our favor; I'm pleased with it.

That's good! I'm glad to hear that you had a good time back home!

[Of course if things were going well for them that probably means they weren't going well for Aogiri, but Naki doesn't care about any of that anymore.]

I did, yes - granted, we didn't come across you again, but that may have been because we're not looking.

[He's rather aware that Naki isn't as thoroughly supportive of Aogiri anymore - that sort of thing had been made clear even when he was here last. But just the same...]

We're not on good terms by any means, but we're technically not enemies anymore, either; my master has decided to let things lie for the time being.

I guess that's good. I mean that we aren't enemies.

[It's definitely not as good as things are here, but that goes without saying.]

You didn't remember anything about this place when you were back home, right?

[It's really surreal to think about that.]

[Oh.]

Nothing at all - coming back here was a little strange, because my memories weren't matching up and it took me a while to realize why. It was very surreal, actually.

Yeah, that doesn't sound fun. You do remember everything now though, right?

...I haven't forgotten anything about you, if that's what you're worried about.

I wasn't worried!!

[...Okay, maybe he was, but that's not important!!]

But it's good that you remember everything. It'd be a pain to have to try to remind you of all the shit that happened here!

As though I'd do that to you...?

[You tried, Naki...]

Tell me how things have been for you here - I'm curious, regarding what you've been up to.

[He smirks at that, but the expression fades for a more thoughtful look at Tsukiyama's statement.]

Well... I've been working on breeding Inkays. They can't get very many egg moves, so I've just slapped a bunch of TMs on the parents and dealt with that. Sometimes I can evolve 'em and get rid of them, but most are just too cute so I don't end up evolving them and now I've got too many. They're all one big extended family which would probably be cute if it wasn't so stupid.

[At least he can acknowledge that this is very dumb. But that's all Naki says, so either he's done nothing but breed Inkays for over a year or he's not really interested in talking about what else has happened.]

[Something about that seems to strike him strangely, his expression flickering quite a bit at that before he settles.]

While I'm sure you have, you'll have to forgive me for asking anyway - have you found others to spend time with?

[He figured this was going to come up eventually, but Naki still can't look at Tsukiyama when he responds. Instead he shoves his hands into his pockets and glares down at the sidewalk.]

Greed's still here.

[It's the only answer he gives. He's pretty sure Tsukiyama can figure out the rest.]

[And that actually gets him to stop, to reach out and lay a hand on Naki's shoulder and draw him to a halt as well; for a good long moment, he's obviously not sure what to say to that, what the appropriate response even is to something like that. He just knows that it's one of those things where he feels like he should be doing something, even if he isn't entirely sure what.]

You...are all right...?

[Despite his wording, it's a question, not an assertion.]

[Naki's eyes widen at that and he actually does look at Tsukiyama, but he looks more like a kid caught doing something wrong than anything else. He doesn't know how to respond to that and he fumbles with words for longer than anyone really should.]

I-- I don't... I mean I'm... It's not that bad...?

[Then after that's out there, Naki's shoulders begin to shake. It's obvious that he's tearing up again, but boy is he trying to not start sobbing.]

...I-I... it's... not okay...

...I know it's not.

[He hadn't lied when he said he remembered everything, but it still comes as a dull, vague surprise when he finds that he remembers this, too - knowing that he has to mitigate this as best he can to avoid drawing too much attention to them in the street, needing to calm Naki down in general and keep him steady, hating the sense of responsibility but, if he's going to be entirely honest, knowing that he can't possibly mind it that much or else he wouldn't bother.

He keeps his grip on Naki's shoulder, letting his fingers knead lightly into the fabric of his jacket; caring about other people is really hideous sometimes.]

Let's find somewhere quiet, where we can be alone; we can get a room or something. You can let it out then, all right? You can tell me about it.

Y-Yeah, okay.

[Naki can't really relax very well, but hearing that helps somehow. He finally turns to head toward the hotel. He'll pay for it, don't worry, but he seems sort of out of it and just going through the motions. Once they're in the room, Naki sits on the bed, hands on his knees. He doesn't know what to say or even what to do.]

[Tsukiyama doesn't hesitate before joining him; he doesn't move to touch him, though he's certainly close enough to should either of them decide to do that, and while he isn't making much eye contact it's not through being unable to look - it's closer to the sort of vague lack of focus that he tends to offer when he's making a point of not staring someone down.]

You always used to tell me that I didn't have to keep insisting that everything was fine when it isn't - you remember that, n'est-ce pas? You said that to me all the time.

You know the same is true for you as well, right?

LOCKED TO preybeforemeals

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