[FIN] Learning a Little

[Suudonym]

Luke had awakened surprisingly later than usual and had been immediately assaulted by a pervasive and universal soreness of such intensity that he severely regretted arranging to meet with Rosie and Nicolette at noon - or at all that day, really. After several long moments of groaning and grumbling, he had finally extricated from the bed and went about his morning routine, though slowly and uncomfortably. He was bruised at the side of his face from one of the various punches he'd received, at his shoulder from another blow, and at his elbow and hip from breaking his fall after being unbalanced, moving around without limping was difficult from kicking in doors, there was a general stiffness from the overall exertion, and the stitching on either side of his right arm was still angry enough to warrant covering with gauze bandages. He looked every bit as though he had been in a fight - because frankly, he had - and he didn't even have his favorite jacket anymore to cover up some of the evidence.

It was worth it, though.

As the designated time approached, Luke alighted from Leste at the park, scanning the area to see if Rosie or Nicolette had yet arrived. For a moment he feared that maybe his directions would be inadequate for her…  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Nicolette rose a little later than usual (read: 8am instead of 6am) due to how little sleep she'd gotten the night before, especially since what sleep she'd had had been plagued with nightmares. Still, regardless of her long journey and her awful experience the evening prior, she'd changed as fast as she could and immediately began baking.

It was a little after the appointed time when a brown, hornless Rapidash entered the park and walked along its path with a smooth gait, even going so far as to move more carefully so as not to jostle her rider and her rider's burden. Said rider was holding a covered tray, in which sat a dozen freshly made cupcakes intended as a gift to Luke and his friend. The young noble was very excited to be meeting this girl, especially after Luke had spoken so highly of her and her love of training and that she had not one, but two Rapidash -- and she was also excited to have a better look around town with a proper guide. Guides, perhaps; ones who intended her no ill will whatsoever.

"Bonjour! J'espère que vous n'avez pas attendu longtemps," Nicolette called at first, then greeted Luke properly as Epona halted near the other young noble. She wasn't quite sure if they were to wait for Rosie here, or if they had to go meet her somewhere, but she couldn't help a quick glance around. Maybe... The girl turned a curious, mildly uncertain look at Luke, "Est-ce qu'elle va venir ici, ou allons-nous rencontrer quelque part?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Rrrrai!" shortly after Nicolette and Luke had met up, a Raichu with pink heart cheeks seemed to slip up out of no where and push herself up onto her hind legs next to Luke, a paw reaching up to grab his pants and tug on them as she smiled up at the human. "Rai Rai Chuuu!"

Rosie wasn't far behind, though she had not seen the others yet, she strode with several of her team out, letting them enjoy the park.
The girl was dressed in summer casual and seeming to be talking gently to her gray Rapidash with a bit of a sheepish blush, while her hands lifted to her head, straightening out the wide cloth headband holding her hair back out of her face.

She had been told to take it easy until the staples could be removed by the doctor, thankfully that day was coming up really soon, and she could not be more thankful for that.
Her poor Pokemon in the meantime, had to deal with her not being allowed to be very active, as well as not being entirely inclined to be very active, She did her best, to keep them in shape. And when she got an invite from Luke, saying there was a girl he wanted her to meet and talk about pokemon training with, Rosie did not decline.  

[Suudonym]

That was a Rapidash all right, though the absence of the horn was temporarily confusing - not that it should have been, given the appearance of, for instance, his Pidgeot or Umbreon. At Nicolette's greeting, Luke reflexively responded in a language to match, "Peu de temps du tout. Elle devrait bientôt être là." As if on cue, there was a light tug at his leg, and he inclined his attention downward with an immediate recognition. "Salut, Kiss Kiss," he greeted, reaching a hand to pet the Raichu's head and raising his eyes to Rosie as she approached. He offered a mild smile that conveyed a number of things, among them a gladness to see her still in good health as well as a gladness to see her at all. Not that he had been making a point of avoiding her or anything but… it was always good to see Rosie. "Rosie," he said, indicating her identity for Nicolette's sake, "c'est-- ah." He was still speaking French. "This is Nicolette," he gestured to her.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Très bon," Nicolette replied brightly, and with quite a bit of balancing and maneuvering, managed to slip off Epona's back without jostling her box of cupcakes, and moved to stand beside her Rapidash. She was about to ask another question of Luke when an adorable Raichu appeared - Nicolette especially loved its heart-shaped cheeks - and the appearance of a girl with a beautiful Rapidash could only be Rosie. The young noble raised a hand in a small wave of greeting, "Bonjour!"

Oh, but Luke switched to English. It was almost a visible switch as Nicolette continued, "It's wonderful to meet you, Rosie." If Luke had not already given her name immediately before, she would have given it herself. She suddenly remembered something, the realization plainly making itself evident on her expression as she readjusted her grip on the tray in her small hands, and held it out a little to reference it, "I made cupcakes for you both!" That was okay, right? She hoped so. It was perhaps presumptuous to assume they both liked or wanted said cupcakes, but such a thought hadn't even crossed her mind.

Epona, meanwhile, nickered a soft greeting to the two pokemon, and continued to stand beside her young mistress.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Looking quite pleased at the attention the Raichu closed her eyes with a quiet "Chuuu" When Luke pet her.
the approach of another person though caused the electric type to blink, opening her eyes and looking over at the other girl with twitching ears and wide eyes.
Aahhhh this girl was so cute! Who was this adorable person? And oh my gosh she was holding something that smelled so good.
Kiss Kiss smiled at the new person with her tail swaying back and forth, holding a paw up in greeting to the Girl and the Rapidash.

A low nicker of greeting was returned to the other Rapidash, as Pastin's attention moved from Rosie over to his fellow equine. Though he noticed there was something a bit different about her, it took him a few moments to realize that she had no horn. that was interesting.

Her hands lowered back down to her side when she heard her name, Glancing away from Pastin to see a familiar head of red hair, a bright smile spread over her face and she took a skip forward to hurry over to Luke, Drawing up by him and the girl that was standing with.
Right away the two were introduced, and Rosie swept a hand back in a light curtsey "Nicolette, That's a beautiful name! Is nice to meet you." smiling from Nicolette over to Luke as soon as she got a good look at him though Rosie's expression flashed suddenly startled. "Oh my gosh, Luke! what happened?"  

[Suudonym]

The sudden proclamation of cupcakes was unexpected and mildly confusing, given that she had made no mention of planning to bring such a thing - not that he didn't like cupcakes as much as the next person, but it was a little odd. "This isn't because of yesterday, is it?" he ventured, failing to reach the conclusion that maybe she just liked baking and wanted to make a good impression or something.

Rosie's exclamation drew his attention from the matter, though, and it took him a short moment to realize what exactly she was referring to. Instinctively he raised his hand to his forearm, though he felt short of concealing much of anything. "There was a fight," he said with a sheepish shrug. "It's nothing serious."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Um," Nicolette was briefly uncertain, "sort of? And also for Rosie. I like to make cupcakes from scratch for people," she explained, one thumb running along one side of the box. "..should I not have brought them?"

The girl's attention shifted to Rosie, her face flushing first because of the compliment to her name, and then out of embarrassment at the blonde's reaction to Luke's condition. "That was my fault," she admitted without hesitation, despite Luke's arguments the evening before. Nicolette dropped her gaze to the box in her hands, understanding the concern the girl had and not exactly liking how Luke explained absolutely nothing of what happened. "I had just arrived yesterday evening, and I trusted someone that I shouldn't have. Luke saved me though, but was injured in the process." And it was something she would regret for some time, she was sure - but not something she would ever forget. Honey-colored eyes shifted to Luke, "How are you feeling?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Luke's reply seemed to be surprising to the girl as well, and only raised more questions. Though Nicolette seemed to take it from there to answer at least the situation.
Rosie's eyes widened a little more, and she looked back to Luke, at the arm with the bandage on it, and the bruising on his face. She opened her mouth so say something, but nothing came out. Probably becasue she didn't know what to say. Though she had turned back to Nicolette, it was easy to see that the girl was young, and had just said she was put in a dangerous and probably very scary situation.

With a worried but calmer glance back at Luke, in a silent nod and reassurance that she would not push it from here, she stepped over to Nicolette holding her hand out,
"You don't look like you were hurt, That's good, and Luke does train for this kind of thing you know~. I'm sorry, I was just surprised."  

[Suudonym]

"Oh." Huh. He had never thought of baking as something people just… did on a whim, let alone for people they'd only just met. "No, it's fine," he assured, "I just… well… Sorry. Never mind; it's fine." If it wasn't something she was doing out of feelings of obligation, then he really couldn't say anything. Way to jump to conclusions, boy.

Luke's features were purely apologetic. He had been so exhausted and relieved the previous evening that it hadn't even occurred to him to explain the events that had transpired. He would have to explain in full later, if only to put his own mind at ease. He shifted into a quiet smile at Nicolette's question. "A little sore, but I'll live," he answered, approaching honesty in his response. "More importantly, you wanted to learn about training right?" His attention returned to Rosie with a shrug, "I tried to explain the idea of it, but for some reason it was much harder than I was expecting…"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Nicolette quickly shook her head, expression brightening a bit, "No, I wasn't hurt, thanks to Luke." He had been so brave, running into a situation such as that for someone he didn't even know. Before she could impart such thoughts on her company, though, the topic switched, and she blushed a bit at his uncertainties about the cupcakes. Should she not have brought them? Should she have asked first? Were either of them allergic -- or both?

Thankfully she was distracted from such thoughts at Luke's answer to her question, to which she replied with a nod and a smile. "I hope you feel better soon." At his mention of training, though, she turned to nod eagerly at Rosie. "Oh, yes! Luke said you have two Rapidash and that you're very passionate about training," she explained quickly, talking a little faster in her excitement and subsequently making her accent a little more prominent, "and how pokemon training is important and also different than training a pokemon for riding, and I was wondering if you would be kind enough to explain it to me."  

[Blood_Goddess]

A more gentle, calm smile took over Rosie's features when Nicolette seemed to cheer up more.
It was amazing what Luke did for her, there was no question about that, though she wasn't surprised, Luke was always that kind of person.
"I'm glad~"

As the conversation moved, Luke bringing up training, Rosie tilted her head, looking at him with a puzzled but interested expression before Nicolette started talking.
"Oh, yes" She rounded her shoulders a little with a smile when she mentioned what Luke had told her, and nodded "Yes, this is one of them his name is Pastin." she introduced, holding a hand out to the Rapidash who was standing next to her.

The fire type held his head up high, with a low nicker to the others.

Rosie giggled, then listened to the rest of the girls question. "Ohh, Yes, I would love to explain it to you, if you like. Are you interested in training? I see you have a Rapidash of your own, She's very beautiful~"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When introduced, Nicolette's mouth formed a small circle before she smiled brightly. "Pastin," she repeated softly, testing it for herself. "He's beautiful. Or handsome, I should say," the girl amended with a giggle. She gestured to her own fire-type with an elbow to complete the introductions. "This is Epona." The named offered another soft nicker in response, and her ears swiveled towards the other Rapidash.

"Ohh, yes please!" The young noble exclaimed eagerly, and would have clasped her hands together were they not busy holding the tray of cupcakes still, but hesitated briefly at her question. "Uhh, maybe? I hadn't really known much of anything about pokemon training until last night; it isn't prevalent in Grande Ile, so I'd never considered it before. But Luke's pokemon were so amazing, and just as brave," she added, brightening, then continued, "I didn't know he had so many, and he did say that they're useful, especially in dangerous areas. I would absolutely love anything you can explain to me."

The compliment to her Rapidash caused the named to lift her head higher, and Nicolette flushed with a bit of pride. "Ohh, thank you, that's very kind of you to say," she said, then turned to Kiss Kiss with an apologetic look. She didn't want to leave her out, but... "You are absolutely gorgeous, though I apologize that I don't know what type of pokemon you are."  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Epona." Rosie repeated, smiling at the other Rapidash. "Its really nice to meet you too," she told the Rapidash.
"I think its a very good idea, more then just helping them become stronger as a pokemon it helps strengthen your bond with your pokemon as well."
Rosie smiled brightly "I'm honored you would ask me, I would love to help in any way I can."

when Kiss Kiss was complimented the Raichu perked up and with an excited "Chuuuu`" put her paws to her cheeks and wiggled where she sat."
Rosie giggled "Kiss Kiss is a Raichu." She explained, crouching down and placing a hand on Kiss' head "she's an electric type."
tilting her head a little curious, "So, Nicolette, Are you from grand Ile too?" She asked noticing the accent, as well as the clothing of course.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The girl's face flushed a bit as she grinned happily. "Oh, that's so kind of you! And so modest." Luke had said she was passionate about training, which must've meant she was very knowledgeable on the subject. "I would greatly appreciate any help you could give me, and I apologize for my ignorance on the subject. I'm afraid I don't know much about them at all," she admitted, her cheeks pink as her gaze dropped a bit.

When Rosie knelt down beside her pokemon, Nicolette listened with rapt attention. "A Raichu?" She repeated, then, "Electric type? There's different types?" Well, that made sense, in a way... Epona had a fiery mane and tail, so that meant she was a fire-type, yes? Yes, probably.

"Oh! Sorry; yes, I am. My family lives in Devoirue," she offered with a smile, her cheeks still pink. "Are you from Kodo?"