[FIN] Smoke Signals of Distress

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ah, yep, that was it. Of course. Even when he had company to distract himself with, he still couldn't avoid thinking of his Espeon for very long. Absently the blond gently ran his thumb over her fur as he thought of what to say. He was at a loss for how to respond. Obviously Distance wanted to know where Isaac was and he couldn't really lie about it, but the truth was so horrible - so final. "Isaac, my Espeon," he said to Tymiko instead while he tried to think. His eyes slid from the Umbreon to a darkened window across the street, to a fire escape near the ground floor, to a car that passed by... Anywhere but at Distance or her trainer. He opened his mouth to say something, reconsidered, shut his mouth, and then lifted his cigarette to his lips again with a frown. His stomach twisted itself into painful knots the more he thought about his best friend.  

[Tymiko]

"Oh." Tymiko thought back to when she had met Abel. The colorful Espeon with him certainly had made an impression even on her terrible memory. She opened her mouth to ask what about him, but caught herself. There must have been a reason he wasn't going into any more elaboration on his own.

Not wanting to make the man uncomfortable as she watched him turn away, Ty gathered her Umbreon up in her arms once more. If Isaac had anything to do with why Abel seemed so down, he probably didn't want to be reminded of his pokemon right now, much less talk about him.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized. "Distance and I should have never come up here and disturbed you. I know I said sometimes talking to people can help, but I also know there're times when you just want to be alone." Adjusting Distance in her arms, she got to her feet.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Even as Tymiko scooped up Distance and stood, Abel's gaze remained firmly averted. His hand fell away and he dropped it into his lap; he flicked some ash away and dropped that hand into his lap too, though he was careful not to touch the smouldering end of the cigarette to his clothes. "No, it's okay," he said finally, quietly; smoke swirled out in puffy clouds with each word he spoke, almost akin to someone speaking while outside in the cold. "Like I said, it's good to have company to talk to, even if I'm not..." Not too eager to talk about certain things.

Like Isaac.

The blond took another drag from his cigarette as if he could inhale some form of stability, or inhale something that wouldn't make his heart hurt so much. No such luck. He opened his mouth but shut it again with a frown, and exhaled smoke through his nose while his brows knitted together. "Someone stole him a few weeks ago," he admitted finally, once he was certain he could speak without his voice quavering.  

[Tymiko]

The young lady hesitated when Abel spoke up. She thought she knew where he was coming from. There was a difference between not wanting to talk and not wanting company. She sat herself down next to the other trainer, her back against the railings and her legs criss-crossed.

"...Stole him?" she repeated softly, looking up with a sudden seriousness. "...Was it Team Rocket?" She couldn't even imagine having a pokemon of her own stolen. Yes, she'd been separated from Fathom and Distance before, but she had had confidence that they would have been able to care for and fend for themselves. Having a pokemon forcibly taken from you was an entirely different matter. She found herself getting angry just thinking of it.

Distance looked up at Abel when he uttered the news. Then, delicately stepping over Tymiko's arms and legs, she went to press against Abel's side. It was if she thought that by trying to support him physically, she could somehow also do so emotionally.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Was it Team Rocket? "I don't... know?" He replied, brows furrowed as he tried to think back, to remember the details of that night, but the memory was fuzzy at best. Probably from the concussion... "I don't think so," he said, vaguely aware of Distance's presence at his side, "but I don't really--"

And then she leaned against his side. Even if she'd meant to be gentle, the effect was the same: Abel inhaled sharply and jerked away from the touch as he hastily maneuvered his arm to cover that side, to shield his still-broken ribs from further agitation. After a moment or two of holding his breath - it wasn't as bad as it could've been, and thankfully it didn't hurt too terribly - he hazarded to speak again. "Please don't do that," he said, trying to keep his vaguely strained tones gentle lest either of them think him angry.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Didn't know? Ty really had to restrain herself from asking the thousands of questions that began to come to mind. These were briefly scattered by the alarm caused by Abel's reaction to Distance trying to lean against him. Distance seemed just as startled and flinched back, inquiring with a tentative, "Eon?"

"C'mere, Dis," the black-haired girl said, pulling the Umbreon back into her lap. "Are you hurt or healing?" she asked, this time addressing Abel as she glanced at him out the corner of her eye.

Distance was looking very concerned and guilty. She hadn't wanted to hurt Isaac's trainer, but she seemed to be continuously doing so in more ways than one.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah," Abel affirmed, though he wasn't nearly so hesitant to admit that as he was to admit Isaac's fate. He lifted his cigarette to his lips again and held it there to free up both hands, then gingerly, almost experimentally, pressed them to the side Distance had put pressure on and winced a bit. "Both, I guess," he added, his words barely affected by the presence of the cigarette. No, that hadn't been bad at all, but his ribs still ached. They would do so for months too, he was sure... His non-dominant hand reached up for the cigarette while his other hand remained on his side, and he exhaled smoke in a slow sigh. "I got jumped by two guys," he began to explain, his focus still on his side. "I didn't see them until it was too late, so it was pretty bad... They gave me a nice concussion, so my memories from that evening are kind of fuzzy, sorry," Abel finished, figuring that was as good an explanation as any. That was what had happened, after all, just... not everything that happened.  

[Tymiko]

"Ouch," Ty sympathized, wincing. "Man...would have been bad enough being jumped, but to not be able to remember so you couldn't find the ones responsible..." She shook her head. "Do you...was that when Isaac was stolen, do you think? By the guys who attacked you?" She absently stroked Distance and held her close, scratching her lightly behind the ears every now and then.

The Umbreon's fur stood up a little and a soft growl issued from her throat. How dare those men gang up on Abel! That hardly sounded like a fair fight at all! It would have made sense if they'd taken Isaac then, though, because that way Abel wouldn't have had the Espeon to help defend him against those jerks.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Didn't help that it was dark too," he added, speaking somewhat absently as he tentatively removed his hand from his side. When it didn't hurt terribly once he'd done so, he tried to relax against the wall again as he switched what was left of his cigarette back to his right hand before he took another drag. While he would've nodded to her question, at the moment he was hesitant to really respond physically to much, lest he further agitate his ribs. "Definitely was," he responded, his words coming out as smoke again, "I know it was then. I just.. don't know who they were," the blond finished with a sigh, unable to help the dejection slowly seeping into his demeanor. Trying to ignore it for the moment, he extinguished what little remained of his cigarette in the cash tray beside him, and debated another. Maybe... in a few minutes. Not yet.  

[Tymiko]

Tymiko tried to think. "Well you know it was two men. If you can pin-point the area that they attacked you at or at least near there, then you already have some leads to give the police, right?" She looked at him. "Did you file a report yet? Maybe their police Growlithe could get Isaac's scent and follow that. How long ago was this?"

She knew she was asking a lot of questions now, but her desire to help won out over her inhibitions to remain discreet or sensitive to Abel's situation. While it was obviously difficult for him to talk about this, at least some parts, she felt there was a very possible solution to fixing the whole problem if one had the will to dig deep enough.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah I did," Abel replied, though his brow furrowed a bit as a hint of distaste drifted into his face. He had little faith in the police, if any, and on top of that he'd all but given up on Isaac being found. It had been weeks, and usually kidnapping victims didn't last that long. "A couple weeks ago," he reiterated as he withdrew a small box from his pocket and pulled another cigarette from it as well as his lighter. "Scents don't last that long, and Caleb couldn't find much of a track at the time, so there really isn't much they can do at this point." Once he finished speaking, he lifted the cigarette to his lips, lit it, then put the lighter and box away into his pocket once more.  

[Tymiko]

The girl watched Abel as he pulled out another cigarette, but her mind was elsewhere. "There has to be something that can be done. Isaac seems like he'd be pretty easy to identify if someone even caught a glimpse of him, so that's a good thing. Maybe I can ask around. Um...do you have a picture or something I can copy?"

Distance whimpered again and drooped in Tymiko's lap. She just couldn't believe that Isaac was gone just like that. Maybe it was because he was injured still, but it bothered her that Abel already seemed to have given up on the idea that he might ever get his Espeon back. She didn't think that was fair to Isaac, especially since, if she knew that pokemon, he was probably trying to do everything in his power wherever he was to try to get back to Abel.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As Tymiko spoke, the blond inhaled from his cigarette before lowering it first to exhale smoke, then to speak. "Yeah, but as far as I know, no one has," he sighed, lifting a hand to rub at his eyes tiredly. No one had seen him that he knew of, the police hadn't found him yet, he hadn't turned up at a pokemon center or anything... He'd just vanished without a trace, and it was difficult not to think the worst. "I do, yeah," Abel affirmed, finally turning to look at Tymiko once more, "d'you have a phone or something I could send it to?"  

[Tymiko]

"Well, something like flyers might not be a bad place to start if you haven't made those already," Ty thought aloud. She doubted even Isaac's abductors would have done anything to harm the Espeon.

Uniquely colored as he was, those seeking to use or sell him wouldn't be able to profit if their merchandise was damaged or otherwise not in top condition.

She took out her Pokegear. "Yeah, I think you can send it to this number, right? Let me give it to you."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I guess," Abel ceded as his gaze shifted to the building across from his, mulling it over. Really, it wouldn't hurt anything to try... Ah, but making them would cost money that he didn't have, so maybe he wouldn't be able to make any after all...

"Oh, yeah," he replied when she produced her pokegear, effectively distracting him from his thoughts. The blond in turn pulled out his phone and brought up his contacts list and, once he received her number, he took a moment to look through his pictures to find one of Isaac. A sad, quiet frown slipped into his expression as he searched, and a moment or two later he picked one - Isaac was sitting on a couch with a contented smile on his face - to send to her. "There. Did you get it?"