[PRP] Something Evil is Afoot

[Venti Mico]

The weather was only just starting to cool down, which to Aija was perfect weather for adventuring out of the base. Being stuck underground day and night, even with the lessons she'd been taking with Aulus didn't quite get out the energy the same way frolicking in the wilderness did. Or... frolicking in a park, where there happened to many trees, many trees that were excellent for climbing. Aija had dressed herself in some black shorts and a blue jacket over a tank top and set out for her day of adventuring.

Her adventures mostly consisted of her hopping around the park like she hadn't been outside in a month(not entirely untrue) with her grey and blue Joltik, Zeus. Zeus attached himself to the bun she'd put (most of) her hair in, admiring the world from the safe nest of pink hair while Aija found yet another tree, prime for climbing. Childish? Whatever, maybe. It was a great vantage point. How else would she have noticed that frozen yogurt stand off at the edge of the park?! So, in a hurry to get down, Aija didn't bother looking at the ground before she leaped. She landed with one foot on a thick root curling out of the ground, said foot slipping at a nasty angle off the root. The whole debacle ended with Aija on the ground, after yelling a few expletives in Russian.

"Should have named you after a different god," Aija grumbled, blinking her watering eyes as she tried to twist around and see her ankle. Even the slight movement hurt, and she ended up cringing and staying put. Zeus, for all his worth, detached himself from her hair and crawled onto her back, looking at her foot himself. He found sitting on Aija's back was comfy too, and settled himself down there. "You are useless..." She grouched, flopping forward and planting her face in the ground.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As per usual when he went to the park, Abel had brought his guitar along to play on one of the park benches. For some reason he preferred playing it outside as opposed to cooped up in his apartment - maybe it was the fact that he was outside and not inside - and thus he'd had every intention of doing so today, especially when it was so nice out. Plus his pokemon liked to get outside, as well.

What was not so usual, however, was a sudden thump and a string of foreign words, and Abel paused midstep to look around for the source of the noise. It didn't take him more than a moment or two to spot the girl laying face-down in the grass under a tree and, since no one else looked more like they had been the source of the noise than she, the blonde jogged over to her with a couple of his pokemon in tow, namely his Espeon, Charmeleon, and Growlithe. "Hey, you okay?" He asked once he got close enough and stopped, readjusting the strap of his guitar case on his back so he could crouch down next to her.  

[Venti Mico]

Aija hadn't been stuck on the ground for long when someone came over, asking if she was okay. Irritated, mostly at herself, she almost snapped at him that no, she was obviously not okay! But Aija kept her head in the grass for a second longer before she spoke, not wanting to take her frustration out on someone else.

"I am in rather uncomfortable position," she said quietly, face still down. She slowly pushed herself up, lifting her face off the ground and pushing her upper body up, otherwise leaving her legs still. "This tree, I believe it tried to kill me. Oh-" Aija stopped, seeing Zeus had slid off her back and was now angrily chittering at Abel and his pokemon. "You, stop that!" She chastised, and Zeus gave Abel one last angry look before he scampered off and hid under Aija. "Er- sorry! He is territorial! Kind of rude! B-but, um... if it is not trouble, could you perhaps look at my ankle? Does it look like it is... not right?" she asked, trying to mask her worry with sounding cheerful. Said ankle was bent at a slightly wrong angle, not dramatic, but not something she'd be standing on soon. "It stings a bit, is all!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

An uncomfortable position? He wouldn't be surprised if she was currently eating grass like that. "Yeah, it looks like it," he said sympathetically, wondering what she'd been doing. Had she fallen out of a tree? It certainly seemed that way, given she was directly under one, but the exposed root nearby suggested that perhaps she simply tripped. Either way, the end result was the same, and he--

"Hm?" There was a very tiny pokemon making angry noises at him, and his eyebrows rose in surprise before the little creature scurried away to hide under its trainer. The Espeon gave the Joltik a reproachful look. "Nah, don't worry about it," Abel assured her as he shrugged the guitar case off his back and handed it to his Charmeleon with a stern "don't drop it" because he wasn't fully sure if she would or not. He trusted his Zoroark with it - and with lots of other things - without any hesitation, but he'd had her for a few years now, unlike his still newish Charmeleon. Oh well. As requested, he shifted to lean on one knee so he could study her ankle. It didn't take much to see it was bent slightly awkwardly - he was pretty sure they didn't bend that direction - and he winced a little. Ohh, that looked like it hurt. "Ah, it looks like you may've sprained it," the blonde said apologetically. "It doesn't look that bad though; I don't think it's broken, at any rate." Though, to be honest, he'd never seen a broken ankle before. "D'you need any help?"  

[Venti Mico]

Aija took a deep breath, hearing that it might be sprained. She stayed quiet for a moment, trying to calm herself before she started turning herself over. She was slowest with her injured foot- the left one- as she twisted over, cringing and biting her lip as she did. "I have broken ankle once before, I do not think it is broken either. Er..." Aija wiggled her foot, wincing at the movement. "It... it might be okay, perhaps I just need to be still for now?" she said, unsure of herself. She wasn't sure she'd be able to stand on it yet, and wasn't eager to try so soon after moving it once.

Zeus started up his angry chatter again and Aija huffed at him, lifting him up and tucking him into her hair until he was secure and hiding behind a few long locks. From above, Zeus glared at the blond trainer. Aija gave him an apologetic smile and laughed quietly, "Do you think you could direct me to nearest, er... doctor? Or maybe, if you see any very big sticks, I could use this to walk? With that, I think I would be okay!"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He hovered over her as she turned over, holding his breath once or twice because it looked like it really hurt - plus what if she needed help? - but relaxed a little when she stilled. "I've never broken an ankle myself," he said with a soft frown, noticing her foreign accent and connecting it to the previous string of words he'd heard before that he didn't understand. "Yeah, try not to move it too much," the blonde advised as he leaned back and shifted to rest on his knees, which was a lot more comfortable than the sort of half-crouch thing he'd been doing this whole time.

The little pokemon started being angry again but this time Abel ignored it in favor of watching her instead. Man, he did not envy her right now. "Doctor?" Uhh. "Well, the nearest hospital isn't too far from here, but d'you think you can really walk?" Even with a stick - supposing they could find one - he sort of doubted that'd be helpful enough to get her to the hospital. "Here, I can carry you if you want," he found himself offering before he realized he had offered it.  

[Venti Mico]

Aija looked up at him with a raised brow. Was he really that nice, or...? Well, he didn't seem like a weirdo, or like he was up to anything. Maybe he really was just plain nice; people in Kodo had been pretty great like that. Still, she didn't want to be so quick to rely on a stranger. "I think, um, I will try to stand first, thank you very much for offer-" She started, grabbing onto the tree to pull herself off the ground. She slowly got up, lifting her left foot and holding it above ground and balancing on the other foot. Once she managed to get into a standing position, she slowly lowered her foot with just a small wince. "It is not too ba-" As soon as she tried to step forward, Aija yelped and fell back to her knees, careful not to fall on her injured foot.

Biting her lip, she looked away, half pouting, half biting back tears(she refused to cry, she wasn't some cry baby!), "...Y-you would not mind carrying me?" She asked, pride hurt, but her ankle hurting worse.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

For some reason he kept forgetting that not everyone just accepted offers of help right off the bat, especially when they came from a complete stranger, which should have been obvious given his own mistrust of people he didn't know. Either way he watched her a little anxiously as she attempted to stand, and when it seemed like she had it, he exhaled the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and stood up himself--

And then she was on the ground again, and he was in no position to react quick enough to catch her. Well crap. He knelt down again, feeling bad for not having caught her. "'Course I wouldn't mind," he answered gently, not wanting to hurt her feelings when she sounded like she already wanted to cry - and he couldn't blame her, given the state of her ankle. He hummed a little in thought as he glanced around - there weren't any benches nearby - so he frowned a bit before asking, "D'you think you could stand up again? Or at least partially, so you can get on my back and I'll give you a piggyback ride to the hospital." If she could even get up, that was. If not, he'd have to think of some way to get her up and then get her on his back, because he couldn't just carry her in his arms the whole way there, that would not end well.  

[Venti Mico]

"I... I can stand again, um- give me moment, please?" she asked, glancing at him before wiping at her eyes quickly. She had to brace herself, taking a few deep breaths, and then grabbed onto the tree to pull herself up. Her ankle freshly throbbing and hurting, she found the tree wasn't as helpful as it had the first time... and sighed, sucking up her pride and leaning against him to get herself up. Aija was glad this guy wasn't rude, or snarky, or... anything like that. She could appreciate that, even if she wasn't happy she had to rely on someone for help over such a stupid mistake. All over frozen yogurt, too. Maybe if she got her foot fixed up, she'd get him frozen yogurt as thanks for being nice.

Once she'd gotten herself up, Aija held her breath and leaned against Abel's back. She put one arm around his neck, the other holding onto his shoulder anxiously. "Okay, I am here, so- do not be throwing me around like sack of potatoes, please?" she asked, biting her lip and worrying that something might go horribly wrong.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Sure," he said gently with a nod, patiently waiting while she stood back up, and braced himself for when she leaned on him so he wouldn't move or anything and thereby cause her to fall or something. That was the last thing he wanted. He exhaled a breath of a laugh at her comment about sacks of potatoes. "Nah, don't worry, I don't throw you around like anything - as long as you don't choke me or anything," he added, reaching a hand up to gently reposition her arm to emphasize that. He couldn't very well give anyone a piggyback ride if he couldn't breathe. "It'll help if you put both arms around my neck though, puts more weight further forward and that'll make it easier," he explained, and waited for her to do so.

Once she did, he slipped an arm around her left leg, being careful to keep her foot above the ground and away from anything that would nudge or bump it or otherwise further aggravate her sprained ankle, then used his free hand to gesture to his Charmeleon. "Elizabeth, help me out a minute," he requested, and she obliged by setting his guitar case down and holding her paws out so he could push off of them. While he probably could've stood up unaided, he didn't really feel like risking falling face-first into the grass with an already injured passenger. With that done, Elizabeth grabbed the case again as Abel hooked his other arm around her other leg, and took a minute to assess the situation. Not too bad, really, but, "You okay up there, or do you wanna scoot up more or something?" As of yet he couldn't tell if she was too far down his back or anything, which would definitely impact his ability to carry her pretty quickly, and if it needed to be fixed he would prefer to fix it sooner rather than later.  

[Venti Mico]

"Thank you, I appreciate the no throwing," she said gratefully, shifting around to hold onto him better. She closed her eyes as he started getting up, with help from a seemingly obedient pokemon- a very cool looking one at that, but she'd comment later. Once they were up and felt stable, she peeked open her eyes. "Um... I think, more up. Yes, more up," she nodded, shifting around until she felt like she was positioned right, careful not to bump her foot on anything. And then she noticed... wow. This guy was tall! "You are tall, mister. How do you tall people get all the way up here? It seems like, the gravity should tell you no, and make you shorter." She let out a nervous laugh, holding onto him tighter. She wasn't afraid of heights- not when she could catch herself if she fell, at least. "You are sure you can carry me? If you back starts to break, please tell me, I will get down. Would be bad to meet someone, then break them... Oh! Um, I am Aija, by the way. Is now good time for introduction?" She was more cheerful now, perking up now that her foot had calmed down and didn't feel like death.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As she repositioned herself, he leaned forward to be at a more horizontal angle to make it easier to scoot up if she so needed - which it seemed like she did - before he straightened back up (as much as he could with a small person on his back) and readjusted his arms around her legs. Yeah, this would do - he was certain he wouldn't drop her now. He was about to speak, but her comments on his height interrupted his train of thought and made him laugh a bit. "I dunno how I got all the way up here," he retorted with a wry grin, "I guess I just didn't wanna do what gravity told me."

With that, he took a moment to ascertain which direction the hospital was in before he set off at an easy walk, making sure not to jostle her unduly or cause her ankle to bump into his leg or something like that. "Oh," man, had he completely forgotten to introduce himself? That was starting to become a bad habit, it seemed. "I'm Abel," he offered in response, and would've nodded except he kind of had arms around his neck and a person on his back, "nice to meet you, Aija. And nah, you're not gonna break my back or anything, don't worry. My brother couldn't do it and he was trying to, I'm sure, so don't worry."  

[Venti Mico]

"Gravity was much nicer to you, I bet... is not fair, none at all. But, I will be nice to you even though you are tall, because you are like knight in shimmering armour for me right now!" She laughed, getting comfortable to lean her chin on his shoulder. She noticed he was being pretty gentle, too, not walking to fast and knocking her foot about; what a nice guy! She'd definitely get him a yogurt later. Or ice cream, if he didn't like frozen yogurt, or something... if, that was, she still would have time to get back to base by the time she got her foot patched up.

"Abel? That is cute name, is like apfel, which is apple. Hm..." Aija paused, then giggled quietly. "Apple! This is good nickname for you!" Hey, apples were good! And he was nice, so it was a completely justified comparison. "Your brother tried to break you back? What? This is very rude! Did you punch him? If my brother did this to me, I would punch him in face!" She was completely offended; kind of. As offended as she could be for a nice stranger with an appley name.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Her words elicited an amused chuckle as he continued on. "You should have a serious talk with gravity then," he suggested, "and maybe it'll be more fair." Though he had no idea if she had stopped growing already or not - she did look fairly young, after all, so maybe she would grow more? Or maybe she wouldn't; he didn't know. "Shimmering armor, huh? Does that mean I should get a sequin shirt or something then? Though, I think that'd be too literal..." Plus he would never wear one.

"Apfel?" He echoed uncertainly, wondering what language that was in. Was it the same language she'd used before? Maybe he'd ask sometime. "People generally don't give me nicknames since my name is so short as it is, but if you want to call me that you can," the blonde said with another chuckle. Apple, huh? That was kinda weird, but whatever. It was also kind of cute. "Oh I did punch him, don't worry," Abel reassured her with a laugh. "We liked to wrestle when he was younger, but he always thought it would be fun to play rough after he'd had his growth spurt. I guess he thought he could beat me up then or something," he added with a slight shrug, though only a tiny one since she was kind of on his shoulders, and shrugging with someone on your shoulders was rather difficult.  

[Venti Mico]

"I should! I should sue. I thought perhaps I would get growth spurt before I become 18, but it is not to be so... I need gravity lawyers, perhaps!" And she was getting used to being carried. Sure, he was tall, which meant a part of Aija was required to dislike him because tall people were cheaters, and her pride still didn't like the fact someone else had to take care of her... but he was nice. And kind of funny. So, even though he was rudely tall, Aija decided he was cool enough to be her friend anyway. "Sequin? Yes, yes! I believe you should do this! I will find you perfect shirt," she chuckled lowly, and hoped he wouldn't regret making that joke. Because now she had to get him one.

"Apfel, yes! I mean, is not exactly same as Abel, but is close. Kind of. I am not German though, but Abel makes my ears think of German. Abel-apfel-apple!" She snorted, pleased. He was okay with the nickname! That was a true success. Some people just couldn't appreciate a good nickname. Some people, like ones that didn't like being called Sea Cucumber. "I am glad you punched him, yes. A lot of punching! My brother, he got growth spurt too, but he is giant baby. I punch him once and he looks at me like I have killed his prize chicken!" Aija scoffed, kicking her legs out in exasperation- immediately regretting that decision and trailing off into a mumbled string of
'ow, ow, ow, ow...' with her head down.