[PRP] Past Catching Up

[Sao Kasai]

"Nice to see you again, Bro." Izumi smiled sweetly at the ghost as he went past. "T-thanks... I-its not very big, but... um... Its a place to sleep." Her voice lilted with what optimism she could muster about her new living space.

The Beldum's eye shifted away from the screen and over to the two guests. He clicked and whirred with mild irritation.

"Um... c-can I get you something to drink? Or--Um--We don't have to stay here, I just--I thought it'd be polite to..." Izumi ran her real hand through her hair, which was hanging loose around her shoulders, nervously. Her face flushed with a mix of frustration and embarrassment; She was so awful at socializing, even with someone who she considered to be probably her best friend.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Bro cackles, reaching a hand out to pat the top of the Beldum's head.

Jerome watched Bro for a couple of seconds before glancing down down at Izumi when she spoke. "Naw, M'alright." He reassured her, holding a hand up.
"Gatta admit." Jerome started "Was pretty sure I wouldn't be seein' ya again, 'spesially not back in Kodo. took me by surprise."  

[Sao Kasai]

"Yeah..." Izumi giggled a bit. "But we have a way of bumping into each other, huh?" She said with a soft smile.

The beldum grumbled and rolled his eye at being pat by the ghost.

"I'm... um..." She shut the door behind her and moved further into the tiny apartment. "Glad that we did." There was a sad tinge to her otherwise sweet, upbeat voice. She'd had a hard few years and she'd really missed her friend.  

[Blood_Goddess]

It was the same Izumi that he had always remembered, that he had always known, the shy, kind little thing that he had met back in Camphoreon, the kind of person he admired, though right now the kind of person he was most scared for.
He had met a lot of different people in the last few years, life had taken a lot of hard turns, but he managed to find himself in a better place. But she still had the kind of light that he couldn't manage to reach.

Reaching a hand out he put it on her head in a gesture of affection.
"Ain't saying it ain't good t'see ya, I have, lots happened over the years S'nice to see something that ain't changed for the worse but... Why'd ya come back t'this s**t hole?"  

[Sao Kasai]

"I-it isn't that bad here..." She said half believing it herself. "The league is here now, and I have a couple of friends here in Kodo." She smiled a little at Jerome when she mentioned the last bit, though it was brief and replaced quickly with a look of mild melancholy.

"A-and I couldn't afford to move everything back to Hoenn. I-I've still got to pay some fees for my old shop until the city can take it and resell it..."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Jerome thought about that for a few seconds, before shifting his weight and furrowing his brow "Naw.. S'pretty bad here." ESPECIALLY Sagestone!
He folded his arms over his chest glancing down at the ground once more. She explained her reasoning and he understood... basically she was stuck back here, and in more dept then she could get herself out of.

He kinda knew the feeling, he had been stuck here his whole life.
"Y'got friends in this town?" He asked, feeling a little better if she at least had someone close by.  

[Sao Kasai]

Silvery eyes dropped to the floor, she shook her head. "N-no... A-and I... haven't really spoken to Rosie for a while." Izumi felt guilty about that. Things had just been so hectic, and it had been easier to hide from everything for a while. "I-I try to--To make friends... I'm just... well..." Shy, cowardly, uncomfortable with people?

"B-but... I ran into you again. A-and I keep my door locked!" She smiled sheepishly at Jerome and took a seat on her couch.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Jerome hug by the door for a few seconds, watching her with a gruff concern on his features.
"... Call em up what y'can." Jerome said, slowly making his way over toward where she sat down. "I ain't wantin' t'scare ya r'nothin' but things ain't that great here. never really have been."

At this point Bro had stopped floating around, hovering close by and watching Jerome and Izumi talk with an uncharacteristic silence.  

[Sao Kasai]

Izumi sighed, shrinking into herself a bit. "Y-you're not gonna scare me; I'm a-already always scared... and I keep ending up in bad places..."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Jerome fell into silence after that, his form remaining perfectly still where he stood.
Eventually he took in a silent breath, taking a few slow steps forward and just as slowly sank down on the couch next to Izumi, hands folding together as he rest his elbows on his knees.  

[Sao Kasai]

They sat in silence for a bit before Izumi felt more uncomfortable being quiet than not. She wiped her cheek with her metal hand and put effort into showing Jerome her best smile.

"B-but! I'm gonna make the best of things. I-I have a job at a mechanic's shop in town... a-and maybe I can make enough money to move into a b-better part of town... O-or maybe... one day have my own shop again?" She really was trying to stay hopeful. Things could only get so bad before they had to get better.

"A-anyway... um... I d-didn't mean to just talk about me... H-how have you been?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Pulling his eyes away from his hands to tilt his head so he can look over at her.
"S' a good thing t'work towards." He admited, giving her a light nod "where y'workin' now?" He asked, he wondered if she was still working with mechanical things. She was very good at that kind of thing.

"... Hey ya got a trainer license?" He asked after a pause.

When asked about himself he tilted his head "Ain't been bad... been pretty good." He said after giving it some thought. "Had a rough go a few years back, but S'been... I've been happy."  

[Sao Kasai]

"I-its a place called Klinklang Auto Repairs, here in town... We fix a lot of the mining equipment too..." She answered.

"Y-yeah... I have to, for Wheatley and them... B-but I'm not very good..." In response to his question about the trainer's license.

"G-good. I'm glad." She was legitimately happy that her friend was having a better time with his life than she was. Jerome used to be injured almost every time she saw him in the past, so it was about time that things went his way.  

[Blood_Goddess]

He knew he wouldn't be able to commit the name of the place to memory, but at least he had an idea of where she was working now.
"Y'like it?"

Nodding lightly, letting his eyes drift over Wheatley. "They got these places called Trainer centers." He continued "Y'should think bout goin' t'them when y'can. get some trainin' in. S'supposed to be safe."  

[Sao Kasai]

"Umm..." She didn't--Not really. "I-its... different. I... Miss my shop..." Izumi shrugged.

"O-okay... I'll try to go... next day off I get... But, I'm really, really bad at doing anything with pokemon, except being friends." She gave him a half smile. "Glados only evolved all the way because she worked for it." Izumi looked at one of the pokeballs sitting on the small table where the laptop was, the pokeball that Glados was in because she was too big to fit in the apartment. "I wish I was like her. She's strong. And brave. And made of metal."