[Fin] Songs around the campfire

[TawnyAngel]

It was a fine evening all in all; warm, dry, not too windy but with a gentle breeze to stir the air in the little woodland he'd constructed his camp in. Taavi knelt by the carefully constructed campfire to add a few more twigs before straitening up to look around. He was quite pleased with the shelter he'd managed to make for himself; after meeting Hen he'd plucked up the courage to ask around the Trainers' Center for anyone who had Cut and had struck lucky. With Valour's new ability he had more options for sleeping arrangements that didn't cost money; the shelter would last some time - so long as nobody came upon it and decided to destroy it - and stand up to rain and wind short of a storm.

With a place to sleep sorted out Taavi turned his attention to the next priority on his list, namely making dinner. There was nothing quite like going into shops just before they closed to get a bargain, though it did mean that you ended up with some slightly odd combinations. Odd it might be but he was rather looking forward to his dinner of bread rolls, cheese, sausages, and baby carrots. And hot sauce of course. He'd have to cook all of the sausages now, he'd have some for dinner and the rest for breakfast along with whatever remained of the other food.

While Taavi dug in his bag for his food Valour was circling high above on the look out for his own dinner, and for trouble of course. He wasn't especially hungry at the moment however so his focus tended towards the latter, they didn't know this place well yet and so he wasn't sure exactly what to expect.  

[Gwennythe]

Moriko sniffed the air and gave a quiet grunting noise at the scents she found wafting through the trees.
People. Or... At least a person. And a campfire.

That was the kind of thing that Lin found interesting.
She stamped her hoof, and glanced toward her human friend.

Said human was having a bit of a snooze, a large leaf over his eyes, against a tree.
Jeeve's sprawled on a root nearby, while Acorn sprawled across Lin's lap.

She knew the others were happy in the balls Lin carried, and likely wouldn't want to come out, unless they were really needed.
Gregson was lazy, Loro would be uninterested... and Lin wouldn't force her to care. Personally, Moriko felt Lin spoiled the Chikorita a little; she should have evolved by now... She would soon, of course, but, she should have already, as far as the deer pokémon was concerned...

She stomped her hoof again to rouse the trio.

It took a few minutes, but soon Lin was alert and on her back, along with the two smaller grass types; she set off as quietly, but quickly, as she dared.
They knew the forest well, though admittedly they weren't paying attention to the skies, as they approached Taavi's camp, intending to spy at it for a few moments through the bush.  

[TawnyAngel]

Having retrieved the food and his cooking equipment Taavi started cooking i.e. he put the pan on the small barbecue grill tray, which hung down over the fire from four chains which were in turn attached to an arrangements of four long sticks stuck in the ground. It was perhaps a bit complicated but it meant he didn't have to hold the pan the whole time. While he waited for it to heat up enough to put the sausages in he started to nibble on the carrots, he was way too hungry to wait until everything was ready and there was nobody around so he didn't have to pretend to be civilized or anything.

Up above Valour's keen eyes spotted movement in the bushes near the the camp; focusing intently he made out the forms of a human mounted on a Sawsbuck, and accompanied by a Snivey and another pokemon he didn't recall the name of. The group could be harmless but could also not be, and they did seem to be watching his friend quite intently. As a precaution the Braviary swooped down to spiral lower over the trees so as to be close enough to intervene if the group behind the bush turned out to be unfriendly.  

[Gwennythe]

Lin and co remained oblivious to the large bird overhead; Moriko and Acorn, perhaps, might have remembered to be more vigilant, being species that could become prey to such things, had they not been comfortable that they were in tree cover, and near undergrowth to dart into, and weren't so intent on watching Taavi with Lin and Jeeves...

Taavi who happened to be preparing a meal and nibbling carrots.
Lin's stomach rumbled loudly.
Then, as if cued by Lin's, so did Acorn's.

Moriko would have face-palmed if she could, her eyes widening as the doe flicked her ears at the noisy boy and chipmunk-mon upon her back.

Jeeves did facepalm with a leaf, rubbing his snout with a sigh.

"Sorry..." Lin half-whispered, half mouthed for his companions.
Acorn just looked bashful.  

[TawnyAngel]

Perhaps it was the noisy stomach rumbles half-heard, perhaps it was just coincidence, or perhaps it was habitual cautious, but whatever the reason Taavi chose that moment to peer around the edges of his little campsite. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary thanks to that obscuring bush but next he looked up and saw Valour circling low; he wasn't hunting, he would be higher for that, so he must have seen something he felt he needed to take a closer look at.

Taavi peered around again, his brows raising in a question which went unspoken for a few moments before being voiced as; "Um, hello? Is somebody there?"  

[Gwennythe]

Lin freezed, then sighed, and adopted an easy looking grin, before tapping Moriko's side, urging her forward.

"Hallo!" He called out, waving one hand, then the other; better to show, when approaching someone's campsite out in the wild, that he wasn't armed.

He didn't dismount Moriko, however, who decided to halt herself not too close to the stranger; she tilted her head and snorted her own greeting.

Jeeves stood on Lin's shoulder, watching Taavi carefully, while Acorn happily hopped down from Moriko and took a few steps forward to cheerfully wave her chubby paw at the man.  

[TawnyAngel]

So that was what, or rather who, Valour had spotted! Taavi smiled and waved in response; "Hi!" The man on the Sawsbuck looked perhaps his own age and was dressed practically; at this time of the evening he was either another camper, running late heading for home, or lost. Taavi however had had a lot of experience with people who were lost or late out in the wilds during his time as a ranger and lost or late people were usually some combination of angry, anxious, and frustrated; the strangers didn't look any of those.

"Um, would you like to join us? I'm Taavi and that's Valour," he gestured upwards at the Braviary who was now descending towards them in lazy spirals.  

[Gwennythe]

Lin didn't really get a chance to respond right away, as Taavi had pointed upwards.

Well now. His eyes widened at the large bird.
"Oh. Huh. Did /not/ see him up there..."

Moriko, Jeeves, and Acorn all turned their heads upward at the same time...
There was a beat, and then Acorn turned tail on Taavi and scampered as fast as she could to take shelter underneath Moriko.
Nope! Big bird! Scared rodent!  

[TawnyAngel]

Valour - aware of the affect he had on small delicious pokemon - landed behind Taavi, a polite distance and on the opposite side of the fire to the strangers.

"Heh, he's not hunting I promise, but I know that doesn't necessarily help," Taavi said with a smile, tucking a rogue strand of hair out of his face and behind his ear and then turning to give Valour's ruff a scratch. "I've got carrots if anyone would like some?" he offered after a moment, suspecting that this might make the poor Chespin feel a bit better.  

[Gwennythe]

This man didn't strike Lin as a rocket... Didn't seem like one.
Didn't seem to be -doing- anything but camping out, and had reacted in a perfectly sensible, but reasonable, way to his own appearance...

He was being a bit 'nice' to someone who could probably have worked out was watching his camp, but Lin felt that it might stem from how 'at home' the man seemed in the wild.
He had a nice shelter set up, too.

"Ooh, carrots!" Lin perked up; unlike the bird, he was a forager rather than a hunter, though he understood the need from some to eat meat, and he -had- eaten fish once or twice.
The diet and lifestyle probably showed rather. As well as the fact he hadn't washed except in a stream the day before.
"Oh. Don't worry, my friend, she'll come around! I'd offer to put her in a ball except that she doesn't actually have a ball... I'm Lin. She's Acorn. Jeeves is on my shoulder," The Snivy offered the rotation of a leafy arm as a wave "and this girl is Moriko." Moriko snorted, keeping a wary eye on Valour while Acorn shyly peeked from under her, nose twitching at the offer of carrots.  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi liked carrots but he felt that that was a bit of an enthusiastic reaction to them. Had Lin under-catered for their trip? Actually by the looks of it Lin often under-catered, for himself anyway if not for his pokemon companions, they all looked perfectly healthy. The fact that one of them - Acorn - didn't have a pokeball piqued his interest, for a moment Taavi wondered if Lin might be a former member of Plasma... but no, not out here surely? That would be too much of a coincidence.

Taavi headed over to Lin, offering out the bag of carrots with a smile. "Nice to meet you all, ah, here; carrots!" Oh dear, was he being awkward? Probably. "Um, there's sausages and cheese and rolls too. If... you didn't have dinner. Err." He smoothed his hand over his hair and tried to push down the sudden wave of nervousness. "So, what brings all of you out here? Camping trip? On a pokemon journey together?" Those were not so common here as in the regions he was used to he gathered but apparently they were gaining popularity and small wonder with the Egg of Arceus on the shores of Kodo!  

[Gwennythe]

"Oh, cheese and rolls too? Er. Jeeves and Acorn might like the sausages... They're meat, right?" He didn't specify anything regarding Moriko, as he dismounted to let her wander. Her food was, of course, all around her really; she'd happy graze, but she seemed to be watching, maybe even admiring now, the large form that was Valour.

Acorn scampered out as Lin dismounted, and clung to the back of his legs to peer around him; she was very interested in the carrots but this man was friends with a giant predatory bird...
"Nice to meet you too... Thanks!" Lin took a few carrots, offering one to Jeeves, then crouching to offer one to the shy Chespin, and finally offering one out to Moriko- who took it and went right back to keeping an eye on Valour- before finally munching on one himself.

Perhaps it was Taavi's willingness to introduce himself and the... vibe he got, but even noting some nerves (well, Lin got nervous all the time after all, though admittedly mostly around girls) Lin found himself quite willing to pretty much tell the truth.

"Nah. Neither. We live out here." Of course, he was referring to 'out here' as the entire forested landscape rather than the general area.
"What about you two?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Really? All the time?" Taavi's eyes widened a little with surprise and he looked around them. After a few moments he gave a little laugh and rubbed the back of his neck, looking back at Lin. "You know that actually sounds kind of nice just, um, I've never met anyone who does before." Who said he had to get a job and an apartment... with electricity, hot showers, money to buy things.... Well everything had its pros and cons.

"Us, we're new to Kodo," Taavi continued with a nod and a gesture towards Camphoreon. "We arrived about a week ago from Hoenn, we're looking to settle somewhere in the area. Not sure where yet, so we've been staying at the league trainers' center buuut they don't like you to stay there too long. I didn't want to outstay my welcome, so I thought camping for a little while would be a good idea.

"Oh! And yes, meat sausages." Taavi pressed the bag of carrots into Lin's hands and turned to go back to the fire. "They're going out of date tomorrow, so they do all need eating," he'd worry about breakfast tomorrow, "and the rolls and cheese are here." Taavi fetched the packages out of his bag and set them on a convenient flat rock he'd given a cursory clean and set out for the purpose.

Valour bobbed his head in acknowledgement to Moriko and settled down to preen. Even if he had been hungry he couldn't eat any of these now, he'd always thought it a bit distasteful to eat somebody when you knew their name.  

[Gwennythe]

"All the time." Lin confirmed and then thought about his answer; that wasn't -technically- true... He had the shack near Sandalwood, the shelter and work when Ray needed him... "Well. Most of the time. Nearly all the time."

That was a much truer statement, he thought, satisfied, but tilted his head at Taavi.
"Really? Never? I know, like, another two." Lin commented, surprised himself.
All the way from Hoenn... Was that far? ... and he'd never met people who just... lived outside...
Lin knew he led an odd existence, especially considering his relationship with the league, but he'd found a little bit of kinship and similarity in Ray, so he'd come to wonder that perhaps what he did, what he was, might /not/ be /as/ rare as he'd suspected... This, once more, seemed to suggest he'd had a closer idea to the truth before...

"Did you fly all the way from Hoenn?" He did /not/ know how far away Hoenn was...

He gripped the bag with a blink, but he'd already said 'thanks' so it would be awkward to say it again.
He followed after Taavi, with Acorn still clinging to his leg.
Jeeves darted down and scampered rather effortless ahead of him, following right on Taavi's heels. He wanted to try a sausage.

Moriko, satisfied the large bird wasn't about to snap and just eat everyone, dipped her head to graze. Her sense of hearing would tell her if she needed to flee, she felt.  

[TawnyAngel]

"No, never." Taavi shook his head but then paused in the action of putting the sausages into the pan and amended to; "Well at least not so far as I know. Maybe I did but never found out? But, um, I mean a lot of the people I knew in Hoenn spent practically all their time outside, but they all went back to apartments or houses to sleep... most of the time anyway, we camped out quite a lot I guess but that sort of goes with the territory."

At last the sausages went into the pan with a satisfying spit and sizzle; Taavi gave the pan a quick shake to make sure they didn't stick initially and then turned back to Lin with a shake of his head. "No, it's too far to fly really.... Well not for Valour but for me, heh, I would have fallen asleep and fallen off." And needed to pee really really badly. He'd never tried to pee mid flight and didn't plan to start any time soon. "We came by boat to Camphoreon," he elaborated, seen as he realised he really hadn't made himself clear. "Oh, and, um, so did you ever see the Egg of Arceus?" Lin seemed close to his pokemon companions - one was with him without needing a pokeball, that still said a lot to Taavi - so perhaps he thought it was important too?