[FIN] Fireman Abel to the rescue!

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Good to see you again too, Zacharie," Abel responded sincerely, his thumbs hooking into his pockets as he thought back on where he'd met the kid before - the wedding, wasn't it? He was fairly sure that's where he'd met him. Not that such thoughts were really important at the moment, so he switched tracks and hummed thoughtfully. "Alright, d'you think you can swing down and just hang from the branch? That way I can reach you and help you down from there," the blond suggested with a slight tilt of his head.

Caleb, alert and morbidly curious about this Absol as he was, easily noticed her glance, turned his full attention on her and demanded with a huff,  

[insidiousEnigma]

"...That's something I can do." Zacharie conceded with a slight nod before squirming and shifting around until his legs were dangling over the side of the branch. "Don't drop me!" He snapped anxiously, slowly scooting until he was hanging from the branch with trembling arms. He was still quite a ways from the ground and he really did not want to fall and break anything. "Can you...can you reach me?" The teen grunted, shifting to get a better hold of the branch.

She asked, making sure to keep one eye on the Growlithe and one eye on her trainer.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I won't, don't worry," the blond said gently, trying to sound soothing or encouraging, and watched as Zacharie slowly made his way from sitting to dangling. He didn't end up quite as low as Abel thought he would, but that was alright. "Yeah, I can reach you. I'll grab your legs and then let you down from there, alright?" He didn't really want to surprise him by suddenly grabbing at him, so explaining it ahead of time would hopefully avoid surprising him. That done, the blond moved forward to wrap his arms around Zacharie's upper legs and lifted up a bit to make sure he could hold him - he was a bit heavier than he'd expected, but that was fine for the short period of time he'd have to hold him up - then said, "Alright, you can let go."

Caleb growled a little.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie braced himself for the incoming physical contact, not wanting to startle and possibly fall out of the tree. That seemed a bit counterproductive. "Ready when you are." He huffed, arms shaking a bit with the effort it took to hold himself up. Thankfully, Abel seemed to be able to get a good grip on him and it didn't seem like he was likely to get dropped. "...Alright." The teen hesitated for a moment before clenching his eyes shut and releasing his death grip on the tree branch.

He didn't move.
Well...Abel did have a good grip on him. That was good.

Without having anything to hold on to, the purple-haired boy wobbled a bit before reaching out to put a steadying hand on the blond's head. He resisted the urge to grip the soft strands too tightly, that would be just rude, and instead gave the others head a slight pat. "Hurry and put me down." It would've sounded harsh if his voice wasn't trembling .

rude! Are you sure you're not a Banette?> Peldes yipped.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When Zacharie let go of the branch and let Abel hold his full weight, the blond realized he did indeed need to hurry and put him down, as the young man had bid. "You can put your hands on my shoulders or something if that helps," he offered in a voice he tried to keep from sounding too strained, then spent a moment or two hastily trying to think from there. "I'm gonna bend down a bit and then let you go, but you'll only be about a foot - maybe two - off the ground by then, so you'll be alright," Abel informed him, then immediately began to do as he'd said. He could feel his legs shaking a bit as he bent down - he wasn't sure if it was because of the extra weight or because he was trying to go slowly, but figured it was both - and once he'd reached a height he deemed sufficiently low, he said, "Alright, I'm gonna let you go now," then waited a couple moments for Zacharie to internalize the information and prepare himself, then he let go.

Caleb countered with a frown, his ears twisting back and forth; he wasn't sure if he should be curious or insulted.  

[insidiousEnigma]

The grunt gave a soft exhalation and a nod as he gingerly placed his hands on Abel's shoulders for balance. He took note of the blond's slight shaking and tried not to move around too much so he wouldn't make things any more difficult. Though he was a bit confused as to how heavy he was, last he had weighed close to 125 pounds...though that had been when he was in the hospital wing after the Keldeo incident so he had probably gained some weight back since then. He had been slowly but surely bulking up with the various training exercises he had been regularly doing.

When he felt Abel let go of his legs, he pushed off the others shoulders and landed easily on the grass. "Finally down..." He sighed happily, carefully dusting himself off. "I appreciate your help, Abel."

Peldes said distractedly before scampering over to her trainer. She jumped up on him, knocking him to the ground, before licking at his face. "Peldes...Peldes!" The teen sputtered, alternating between pushing at the Absol's face and patting her head.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Whew, he needed to work out more. ...or smoke less. Probably both. One was much more likely than the other, but neither were important at the moment. Once Zacharie was on the ground, Abel stepped back and put his hands on his hips as a wry grin spread across his face. "Looks like someone's happy to see you back on solid ground," the blond noted with some amusement. He tilted his head a bit. "How long were you up there, anyway?"

Caleb's ears flicked back and forth again. A 'ghosty'? What in the world was a 'ghosty'? Did she mean a ghost-type? The Growlithe plodded over towards his trainer, and upon arriving, flopped his fluffy behind down with a dissatisfied huff.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie squatted so he'd be at eye level with his pokemon as he ruffled her fur. "I was in the tree for roughly two hours." He said with a slight shrug. Not all of that time had been spent with him trying to get down...but that seemed like a hassle to explain so he decided to let Abel think what he would about the situation. "Peldes is still fairly young...so I think that was possibly the longest we've been ah...apart, since I found her." He gave the squirming Absol a hug around the neck until she eventually calmed and fell still. "She's fine though, and I'm down...thanks to you." He smiled up at Abel before he stood to his full height. "I really do appreciate your efforts." He said, holding his hand out towards the other.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel opened his mouth to respond, thought better of it, and closed it again. "Two hours is quite a while," he noted instead, assuming Zacharie hadn't spent that whole time trying to get down. He'd gone up for a reason, after all, and had probably spent the majority of his time doing whatever it was - getting leaves - though he did wonder just how long he'd actually been stuck. Leaving it at that, the blond similarly smiled down at Zacharie and his no longer distressed pokemon. "Yeah? How young is she?" While he knew what Absol were, he wasn't familiar enough with them to know offhand how large they got or anything like that. Growlithe or Ponyta or Mareeep? No problem. Absol? Problem.

When his company stood and offered his hand, Abel responded in kind. "I'm happy I could help," he said honestly, his smile still present. Caleb still didn't look too sure about this Absol, but he remained sullen and silent for the time being, while Isaac merely looked faintly amused.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Mmn...she's roughly eight months old." Zacharie said, patting Peldes' head as it nudged against his hand. "I found her when she was very young, her mother had been killed." He remembered hearing the soft, snuffling cries from the bushes. He remembered parting the bushes and seeing the small, floral bundle curled between the various branches. It was at that moment that his phone started to ring, "Ah, excuse me for a moment." He turned his back slightly as he withdrew his phone from his pocket. The small screen of his phone lit up displaying Jerome's name. "Ah...that's my friend. He's probably wondering where I am." He gave an awkward laugh as he turned to give Abel a lopsided smile, "I said I'd only be gone for an hour and well...I've been gone much longer."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, okay," the blond replied with a nod, hooking his thumbs into his pockets as his gaze shifted from Zacharie to the young Absol, though his expression turned more somber at the history. "Ah... That's sad. Not for you though, and I guess not so much for her since she seems quite happy with you, but still sad." Death was a sad, unfortunate affair, especially when it took an innocent life. Still, it at least seemed like things turned out all right, so that was something.

The unexpected ring startled him a bit, but he offered a nod and a "sure" when Zacharie excused himself, then nodded once more as a small, wry smile spread over his features. "About twice as long," he pointed out, "so it sounds like you should be on your way to meet up with him, or at least let him know you're okay, yeah?"  

[insidiousEnigma]

Peldes stared up at the blond for a moment before giving a cheerful yip and circling around his legs. "You're right, it's probably for the best that I head home." Zacharie said regretfully as he quickly typed out a message to send to his partner. "I've gotten leaves for my sample drippings and got to chat with a friendly acquaintance...I would say that I have had a productive afternoon." He smiled and gave a slight nod down to his Absol. "I hope we have the chance to meet again...preferably under better circumstances though." He nodded once more before giving a slight wave and taking off down the pathway towards the town, Peldes close behind him.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel smiled down at the Absol as she yipped and circled him, so he knelt down to pet her if she wanted the attention. He offered his company a nod after he stood up a few moments later, hooking his thumbs into his pockets again. "Yeah, probably. Being productive is good," he noted with another smile. "I'm sure we'll see each other around again. Later," he offered along with a parting wave, then turned with his pokemon to head deeper into the park.