[PRP] willnamesoon

[Gwennythe]

"Followed you." Tambrey's response was bluntly truthful; that was why she was here; she'd followed and now was here.
The friendliness didn't go away but she looked apologetic and kind of shrugged.
"I'm going to guess you probably haven't used this often." Tambrey continued to offer it. "I'd also hazard a guess that you probably don't have a criminal record? So maybe it's not so bad if you've left any prints on this- I haven't, I'm sure- but it still wasn't a good idea to leave it dropped where you did."
The woman shrugged slightly.
"I don't really know why you've broken into a house, but what I gathered about you so far, and I might be wrong but y've not really given me that impression even now we're both in here," Tambrey tried carefully to explain without frightening- she hoped- Riley too much further than she probably already had "and so I kind 'f assume you must be doing this out of some kind of need." It was said in a tone that Tambrey hoped might convey an 'I can relate' suggestion, or at the least, it would sound sympathetic.
She continued to offer out the glass cutter.  

[Tori Honoo]

The casual nature of the conversation still baffled her, and as she spoke, Riley listened carefully, even as the glass cutter was extended to her. The question received a shake of her head, a shame passing through her features as she realized what it meant. "Thank you..." she said, reaching forward to accept it, though she no longer had any use for it.

When further observation was given, the girl only looked more nervous. "They.... They took my Leafeon, and I just wanted to get her back... A-Are you a policewoman?" she asked carefully, still unsure about this woman. She seemed nice enough, if a little strange...Who followed strangers into criminal activities?  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey just smiled and dipped her head slightly as she got a 'thank you', but stayed silent for the moment waiting for the answer... That soon came attached to a question.

She quickly shook her head.
"No, definitely not a policewoman." It seemed important to quell Riley's fears regarding that, but with that admission, she realised it would now probably also be as important to allay a different set of fears.
"Yes. I would be considered a criminal." She pre-empted, perhaps without cause, but thought it safe. "However, only on technicalities." She was pretty sure her actual identity had never been 'made' after all.
"So. They took your Leafeon? What's it's name? What kind of pokéball?" Now she had the story- and she was fairly confident of the truth unless this woman was an extremely good liar (possible, she supposed) than she may as well help. The sooner that Riley was done in here, the sooner she'd be able to leave and the less chance she'd have of getting caught- well, shared risk now, but it seemed right. There was something familiar in the way this had gone, and in the person she'd just met; she definitely related to seeing things leading to only one, 'morally unacceptable' path, so helping out seemed... right.
She'd have to use a different excuse if Team Rocket ever found out about this kind of thing, though. Potential recruitment, perhaps?
It was only in her head for a second, and initially dismissed, but somewhere at the back of her brain, the idea settled; it was something to keep in mind- something that might help further- if this girl turned out to be in any worse a situation than the limited fact she'd let on so far...  

[Tori Honoo]

A look of relief-- this person wasn't an officer-- until she admitted to being a criminal. The idea was shocking, that this stranger would be so openly accepting of the title, even going so far as to introduce herself as one. 'Only on technicalities'? What was that supposed to mean...?

The string of questions went unanswered for a moment, before she realized that the woman seemed to want to help her. "Y-Yes ma'am... Her name is Molly, and she's in a heal ball... the little pink one, you know?" she clarified. In a pokeball she had sworn never to use, until she had met her companion. The ball had been a gift from her ailing mother, meant only for a time when absolutely necessary... After her mother's passing, the girl had sunk into something she couldn't identify as herself, until the grass type's appearance. Molly had helped her through things she never would escaped alone, and there was absolutely no chance she was leaving this house without her, even if it meant calling for help from a complete stranger... a possibly dangerous stranger. "I don't know where she's keeping her."  

[Gwennythe]

"Uh. Tabitha. Not Ma'am, please." Tambrey requested- the fake name was for safety for the moment, but 'Ma'am'... "Ma'am kinda makes me feel... old, or something." She admitted, then nodded, making a note of what- and who- they were looking for.
"So, what's your name? I know Heal Balls; hopefully it'll be easy to find; the place isn't really all that big, after all. I don't have any gloves, I'm afraid, but I'm goin' to do this," She held up her hands, tucked inside her sleeves "whenever I touch something or move anything." She didn't /really/ need to say it, but it was a good reminder to anyone about fingerprints if they hadn't thought about it. There was little she could do about DNA, but house burglaries didn't usually get that much of a resource put into it and she didn't plan on murdering anybody.
The grunt narrowed her eyes and began stalking around the room, looking out for the flash of pink and white that she knew would mark the ball.
"I guess Molly's your only pokémon?" She hadn't seen any other pokéballs, and the girl hadn't used another pokémon to aid her break-in, but that didn't necessarily mean she didn't have another.
Plus, despite deciding Riley wasn't going to end up dangerous to her, this allowed Tambrey to engage in some, hopefully, anxiety-easing 'chit-chat', while making further assessments about true risks, assuming Riley didn't decide to start lying. Even so, lies usually had some kind of half-truth for an anchor if they were convincing; it would be useful either way, she was sure.  

[Tori Honoo]

"Oh. Tabitha, yes... okay," the girl stuttered, moving as the woman did in her own effort to locate her taken pokemon. The suggestion to cover her hands was accepted with an enthusiastic nod and she moved about the home searching as well. "I'm.... Riley," she told her, shaking her head as she realized that likely wasn't the best of ideas. A stranger and a criminal to boot... At least she was kind and helping. "Yeah, Molly's my only one. It's hard to feed them and stuff when you're already struggling to get by, you know?"

The ball didn't appear to be in the main living area, and the girl sighed, looking toward one of the offsetting bedrooms. Maybe the girl was keeping it in her own. If she could only just figure out which was hers...  

[Gwennythe]

'Tabitha' gave a couple of short nods then smiled sympathetically.
"Student?" She questioned, reassessing the girl; she hadn't really -seemed- homeless or struggling in that manner, but then that was hard to tell from looks alone in this region.
The theft of her only pokémon- named as well, proving a sentimental attachment that Tambrey was already expecting- was enough motive for the break-in, though she was curious now as to how the pokémon was taken in the first place.

It struck her that, if she was careful, she might have a way to speed up the search.
"So... How'd they get Molly?" Tambrey asked, casually, but with some hidden concern, as she reached for a pokéball.
A moment later, a pink Golbat, about as big as herself, appeared in the room.
"Lasi. You be -very- careful, okay. Do not knock anything over, but have little search 'round with your echoes and see if you can spot any pokéballs." She pointed at his own ball.
"Any kind, not just exactly like this, but -anything- like this."
She was relieved when Lasi seemed to take the request seriously- he could be weird, could be clumsy, but he was one of her best pokémon, and she regretted that his colouration sometimes made him impossible to lose in public situations.
The bat began to awkwardly waddle around, emitting soundwaves to 'look' in more detail for pokéballs and spherical objects as he moved from room to room.  

[Tori Honoo]

Riley paused a moment, jumping a little bit at the appearance of the larger bat, then chose to answer the questions as she continued to look around, but only after asking a question of her own. "That Golbat... is it from Pinkan Island?!" How surprising to see one here, though, of course, maybe she should have expected it, given the identity the woman had chosen to enlighten her to. Wasn't it a reservation of sorts? Maybe Tabitha had taken it anyway...

She nodded, looking to the other woman briefly, before turning back to her searching. "Yes... I was a student at the University last semester, and that girl--the one who took Molly-- was my roommate... She said I didn't have time to take care of myself, let alone a pokemon so pretty..." the girl explained, getting a bit quieter toward the end. She didn't have much time, and she did suppose it was fair to assume, given her three jobs and schoolwork, that Molly might be neglected... except to anyone who had seen the Leafeon and her owner together.  

[Gwennythe]

Tambrey blinked.
Well, that was interesting.
A good student, then. Or was Pinkan that famous? She wasn't sure but she didn't think she, herself, had heard of it until university...
The grunt looked apologetic and shrugged "Well... I did say I wasn't exactly on the right side of the law." Then, as though she considered it important. "I didn't personally take him from Pinkan though. He was given to me. His name is Lasi."

Lasi grinned at Riley and waggled his wings, his tongue flapping out in a silly manner with the expression. He resumed his search, though, after 'greeting' the girl- he was a proud and useful pokémon after all! He would find every spherical object in the room, he was confident! He found an apple and alerted Tambrey to his find with a proud grunt, but didn't look very downfallen at all to see the shake of his trainer's head. So it wasn't right; keep looking.

"Aha. I see. The university isn't always a very friendly place." Tambrey agreed, though her experiences had been a little different. "Do you believe she was right?" The grunt asked, a little concerned to hear the quiet leaning toward the end. "Do you think Molly would have thought she was right?" She weighed up what she knew about Leafeons, and found herself doubtful that such a creature would need -too- much more than attention and water; and with pokémon being allowed out of balls in most places, and the girl willing to break into somewhere to get her back... Well, Tambrey doubted that Molly hadn't been getting all she needed. She did want to hear how Riley responded to the questions, though.  

[Tori Honoo]

The apologetic look was only half expected, but she smiled a little and nodded in response to the woman's claim that she had been given the Golbat, then actually laughed a little at the pokemon's greeting. "It... seems happy, so I suppose it's not...bad..." Oh, yes, good... "Sorry, that was supposed to be a compliment..." A mental slap of her face. This was weird. She had half a mind to ask where she had gotten it, but decided against it, unsure if she wanted to know... for now.

At the other's negative remark on the university, the girl turned again, more curious. "Did you go there? It's... not everything I thought it would be..." she admitted, wondering why, suddenly, she was so able to speak freely with this woman. Perhaps it was the feeling of a similar spirit, or perhaps because she was helping her look for her companion...

The question was met with a sad look of sorts, then a shake of her head. "Of course not..." she told her, clearly downhearted. "I love Molly... she's... all I have left, really." It was a bit painful to think about, but all the same drove her determination to find her. "She's always seemed happy, and I know she'd do anything for me if I asked... in fact, she helps out a lot when I can't do things on my own, and she's actually part of my studies, though, the department wouldn't even look at them when I was there..." A pause. "She's a leafeon, so... it's not too hard to take care of her, so long as she gets affection..." Which wasn't hard at all, on either end. The leafeon had kept her company and had helped her through many hard times... and Riley had been sure to give her as much attention as possible in return.  

[Gwennythe]

"Don't worry about it." Tambrey responded automatically. "I try to keep him happy but he doesn't always get to come out in public as much as he used to be able to. People are little wiser to things lately." Tambrey responded, frowning at a decorative pine cone she'd found. Not some kind of pokéball, certainly not the ball they were looking for, she moved on.

"Yes. I know exactly what you mean." Tambrey confirmed, apparently without too much concern about giving out so much information at that moment, that she'd attended the university too. "They're not as appreciative as they could be and forget 'initiative'..." The grunt grumbled, remembering the place. 'Forget credit too, probably' she added, mentally.

Lasi grinned as he discovered an orange. It was round! But it wasn't a pokéball. The bat retrieved it anyway, then swallowed it. Eating stuff was the opposite of leaving stuff around, and leaving stuff around was how messes were made, after all... He resumed his own search.

Tambrey nodded slowly as Riley described Molly. She smiled as the girl mentioned the ease of species.
"Photosynthesis." She agreed. "Makes them very interesting and pretty easy to take good care of. What were your studies?"  

[Tori Honoo]

Riley was grateful when Tabitha accepted her compliment and explained the bat's situation. "I guess you'd probably get more attention than you'd want, huh?" It couldn't be good for a criminal to have such an obviously colored pokemon...

A small crooked smile pulled at the girl's lips when the woman elaborated on her experience with the university. "Yes, and they're very limited on what they'll allow... I didn't get further than general first year courses, but... still."

Another pause as Lasi ate the orange, pulling a giggle from the girl before she moved into another bedroom, then out, closing the door. That didn't look like her ex-roommate's room, and why on earth would she put it in her parent's room? To search might be a waste of time.

When asked about her studies, she looked to the woman again, surprised she was so interested, but somehow understanding all the same. "Biology, both human and pokemon, though I had pretty much decided on studying pokemon, even before I got there..." She moved across the room, pulling her sleeves over her hands just in case. "I, um... I'm from Kanto, but I'd heard that Kodo has weird anomalies when it comes to pokemon DNA... I mean, until I got here, I didn't realize how many different colors pokemon could be. Most of the ones back in Kanto are at least the same shade, you know...?" Another few minutes pause as she looked through drawers. "I love eevee and their evolutions, because of the unstable genetics, and Mew-Two of course..." Her brows furrowed. "I'd also heard that there have been more legendary sightings here, so... given the location of the university and my mom's decision to move here when I was younger, it just... worked out, I guess...."

Until the past year had come and gone. She had struggled to put herself through school, but to no avail. Hopefully a semester off would allow her enough time and resource to put herself back into her formal studies in the spring...

"School is just expensive, and since mom passed away, I haven't been able to keep up with everything on my own..." she explained more quietly, reaching to open the door to the next room.

On the center of the bed, a lean liepard lay sprawled across the bed, one that Riley immediately recognized as the one who had taken up her bed half of the time she had spent in the university dorms. With a hesitant motion, the girl stepped back, then looked around the room, her eyes widening as she finally spotted the ball she was looking for sitting on the bedside table, under a pile of papers and magazine clippings. Saying nothing for fear of waking up the sleeping pokemon, she waved to Tabitha, then shook her head and drew a finger to her lips before pointing into the room. 'I found it!' is what she tried to tell her.  

[Gwennythe]

"Something like that." Tambrey agreed. She hadn't /always/ been so cautious- there were some other excuses she could give for Lasi's colouration, but recent events had just made her more and more wary... And here this girl had identified his pedigree right away...

"Very limited." Tambrey agreed again, though it sounded a lot more 'experienced' than a simple complaint; as though she'd experienced less limitations since.

Lasi got curious as the searched from room to room and found himself staring into a bathroom. There were round things inside, but they didn't seem to be pokéballs. Experimentally, he ate one... and discovered that bath bombs didn't taste as good as they smelled.
"Bleh-Geh!" He grumbled and toddled back out of the bathroom.

"Huh. That sounds familiar." Tambrey couldn't help but grin a little; the subject that Riley described was very close, and even overlapping, to a lot of her own studies and interests. "Kodo is a pretty... diverse region."
Though a lot of that, she knew, was down to Team Rocket. Still, the unusual colourations had certainly leaked into the wild, just as some rather unusual pokémon had 'leaked' into the wild too...
"Ah. Sorry." Tambrey followed the conversation and felt sympathy as she learned of the death of a parent- it reminded her to touch base, soon, with her own mother again- but piqued her curiosity further.
"What about your father? Or any other family?" She'd asked it before she looked over to see Riley's gesturing... The message of 'being quiet' got through easily, and clearly Riley was indicating something else about the room... So, something or someone was in there... but so was the ball.
She nodded, then glanced to Lasi and made a signal for him to come over to where he could be ready to battle if needed.  

[Tori Honoo]

Riley accepted the answer with no struggle, asking for no further explanation, and nodded as Tabitha agreed. The university had been slightly disappointing, though she supposed it was better than nothing...

Lasi's reappearance and reaction to whatever he had eaten drew a somewhat blank look from the girl before she looked back over to Tabitha again with another nod. "Odd, since it's so much smaller..." Maybe there was a reason that she had yet to discover...Hopefully with more research, she would be able to figure it all out.

The sympathy, too, was accepted and she offered a slightly embarrassed, half sad smile and a little shrug, choosing not to answer the question about her father with any more than just a shake of her head. He had never been part of the picture and aside from him, wherever he was, she didn't have family left that she knew of, which she would be fine explaining, were she not staring at a sleeping guard pokemon.

When Lasi came closer, the girl steeled herself, then took a soft step into the room, careful not to touch anything at all or make any sound. The room, thankfully, was carpeted, but one creaky floorboard below would mean little short of chaos, a scramble for the ball, and perhaps even a battle involving a pokemon belonging to someone helpful that she barely knew. She didn't want that for Tabitha or Lasi, especially since they had been so helpful.

Carefully, she crossed through the room, able to make it to the bedside table, her eyes never leaving the pokemon at the center of the bed. The papers over the ball posed a threat and after a moment of hesitation, she moved them without the bulky sleeve of her sweater over her hand. Better to be found out later, if ever, than to wake up the dark type.

Successfully moving the papers, the girl snatched up the ball, turning it over to look at the base before sighing silently in relief--the scratched-in words at the bottom proved it was the right one, and she held it tightly as she again laid the papers down where they had been, then turned to cross the room again. Unfortunately, in her excitement in achieving her goal, she was less careful about where she stepped, and a loud creak broke the silence of the room, just as she reached the door.

The liepard's eyes cracked open, and immediately upon noticing Riley, it growled, rising to its feet, it's eyes narrowed at the small group in the doorway. When Riley did nothing but narrow her eyes back, it gave a cry and leapt toward them, sending her stepping backward in her haste to get out of its way.