[FIN] Give and Take

[TawnyAngel]

<> Swift agreed sleepily, and the rhythmic stroking along with the comfort of being home soon sent him off to sleep.

"Yeah, a nice Italian place," Taavi confirmed with a grin and a nod. "Isaac had soup, and I ate all of the breadsticks forever plus some salad...." He didn't know whether or not to raise the fact that Alyssa would know Isaac was here by now probably. Would she come and try to take him away?

Taavi rubbed the back of his neck, trying to loosen up the stiffness in his muscles that was probably contributing to his headache. "Um, and I got her number in case you want to talk to her or anything. Seems like she's not nearly as awful as I thought." Though she was... kind of abrasive was perhaps the word she was obviously a basically good person.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"So she did spoil you," Abel said as if the fact had been confirmed, a bright grin on his face. Isaac snorted lightly and headbutted his arm in response, but the blond merely started stroking his side too. He couldn't help but notice all the ribs he could feel under his fingertips as he did so, but the Espeon looked much better now than compared to the last picture Alyssa had shown him. "I'll have to call her and thank her later," he said as he looked up at Taavi, and his expression turned wry. "Salad and all the breadsticks forever? Sounds like she spoiled you too."

That Houndoom though... "You're sure that Houndoom was Alyssa's?" The blond asked as he looked up at Taavi, but Isaac's ears flattened and he growled quietly for a moment. "Ah, okay - so it was hers," Abel replied, his expression morphing into a frown. "So either she already knows you're back, or she will soon..." He was quiet for a few moments before he removed his hand from the sleeping Swift and held it out to his Zoroark. "Sonia," and there she was, standing at the ready and awaiting his next words, "what're you gonna do when - not if - Alyssa comes and tries to take Isaac away again?" Sonia's ears immediately slicked back so far they nearly disappeared into her thick mane; her lips curled back to bare her fangs and her lengthy claws flexed, ready to tear the woman to shreds if she were there. She wasn't though, and Sonia's threatening display was quite close to Abel's face instead. Not that he looked even remotely perturbed by it. Instead, he grinned and reached his hand out to her lower jaw to pull her closer before he planted a kiss on her forehead. "That's my girl," he said approvingly, and the Zoroark's hostile demeanor melted away completely. Abel leaned back again and aimed a more serious look at her. "I'm counting on you to help keep him safe - keep everyone safe, yeah?"

"Zor," Sonia replied with a quick nod; now that Isaac was back, there was no way she or anyone else would just let that female take him away again. Or take anyone away, for that matter.

"Good girl," the blond said and nodded as well, giving her a fond chin scratch before he turned to Taavi with a lighter expression, though one with a hint of concern as he watched him rub the back of his neck; he wouldn't have thought too much of it, if not for the knowledge that they had had 'issues' with Alyssa's Houndoom earlier. "You sure you're okay? Her Houndoom didn't get you, did it?"  

[TawnyAngel]

The display for claws and teeth was all very well but what if it was 'hand him over or I give away your secrets'? Maybe it wouldn't come to that, maybe she wouldn't push just in case she pushed her meal ticket too far? He hoped she wouldn't.

"Hu?" Taavi blinked as he realised Abel was talking to him and took a moment to work out what he'd actually said. "Oh no, I'm fine," he replied with a small smile and a shake of his head. "I've just got a bit of a headache is all, guess I've been kind of tense waiting to get back here safe. And yeah, heh, I told her I'd already had lunch because - well - it kinda seemed like a bad idea to tell her the truth. Just a slightly bad idea. But it's awkward to just sit around when somebody else is eating right? That was my excuse anyway, along with being a bottomless pit for food."

<> Scully observed, <>

The Chingling jingled, but chose not to demonstrate her new vocabulary at this point.

"Oh, and Valour's just doing a bit of a sweep around the building," Taavi added as it occurred to him to update Abel. "Just checking for anything or anyone out of the ordinary paying too much attention to the area." If there was anything he knew he could count on his friend to spot it, not a lot got past a Braviary's eyes.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, yeah," Abel replied with a nod, feeling a little bad about it. He'd only gotten into that situation because he was trying to bring Isaac home, nothing more - and yet he'd been hassled by Alyssa's Houndoom. She was just a big bundle of joy and rainbows. "Neck, shoulders?" He queried, eyebrows lifting a little. "I can rub it for you if you want to get rid of some of the tension."

Ha; slightly bad idea, indeed. The blond gave a rueful smile. "Yeah, just a little bit. I don't ever tell anyone because it's just," he made a vague hand gesture, "kind of not really something I'd ever want to have to explain, or want other people to know about. Plus there's always the chance it'd get back to Alyssa and then it wouldn't end well." Salad, breadsticks, food - he tried not to think about them too much. He hadn't eaten since that morning, and food would've been wonderful. Oh well... "Ah? That's good - I hadn't thought of doing something like that," he noted thoughtfully. A sweep of the building was probably a good idea, he could give them a heads-up if he saw Alyssa coming or something. Arceus he hoped she wasn't coming...

Elizabeth plodded over to give the jingling pokemon an experimental prod with her claw.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh!" Taavi appeared to give the offer a few moments' thought. "Yeah, thanks," he nodded, "that'd be great." It might well help, the offer was just a little bit unexpected. "And yeah, that would not end well at all, or be a fun conversation," Taavi continued with a rueful smile as he crossed the room to sit down on the couch next to Abel and Isaac. "I mean, 'hello person I've met twice, please listen to my tale of sadness now?' totally appropriate and would not at all weird anyone out right?"

As the claw prodded her Melody gave a little jingle and prodded Elizabeth's finger in return with one stubby little hand. <<********!>> she announced cheerfully.

Scully sighed and shook her head, her little fins set back slightly in exasperation. <> she muttered, <> the Dratini squirmed and rubbed the coils over her body over one another. <> Itchy. <> she smiled over at Isaac, <>  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When Taavi approached to sit on the couch, Abel instead scooted back - while being careful of Swift, of course - and gestured to the floor in front of him for Taavi to sit down. Given their similar heights, it'd work much better if he sat at a lower spot. "Yeah, not really," he agreed with a half-smile and a brief chuckle as he helped Isaac hop up onto his shoulders to curl up around his neck. "Totally not weird at all, of course not. Yeah, no, even people I know - I still don't tell 'em. It's better not to," the blond finished with a shrug. Once Taavi was sitting in a good spot for him to do so, he started rubbing the back of his neck and his shoulders - hesitantly, almost experimentally for the first few moments, before the movements grew more confident. He'd done the same thing countless times for the few girlfriends he'd had over the years, a fact Alyssa had taken full advantage of over the past year.

The Charmeleon jerked her head back a bit, then grinned broadly. "Chaarrr!" She replied just as cheerfully, and gave the bell pokemon another poke - this one not nearly as gentle.

Isaac gave Scully a sleepy, rueful smile. He noted aloud, politely refraining from commenting on her rude word choice, though his expression warmed considerably.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh, right sure," Taavi nodded and moved to sit on the floor in front of Abel. "Mmmh, right?" Taavi gave a contented sigh and closed his eyes; Abel was pretty good at neck rubs. "There's really no good way to explain it, and even if you could what's anyone supposed to say to that?" He'd told Sasha because he'd had no choice and... well it hadn't gone badly at all really but the helpful suggestions his boyfriend had provided had been considerably less than helpful. He was still kind of amazed by how calmly Sasha had taken it all though, not just forgiving the mistake of a stupid teenager but the whole blackmail thing and 'yeah just don't let her, go to prison, it's chill'. Sometimes he really didn't understand how Sasha's mind worked, though that didn't mean he loved him any less of course it just meant that he was sometimes kinda baffled by the things Fluff came out with.

This time Melody wobbled and fell over backwards with a jingle-thump. The jingling continued as she attempted to roll back to her feet. <> she whined plaintively.

Scully gave a brief laugh and nodded agreement. <> she said, twisting and knotting around on herself as she tried to ease the itching in her skin; it didn't usually come on this quickly or this intensely! Blasted skin.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"There really isn't," the blond agreed, his fingers moving to massage the base of his neck. "I don't even know what someone could say to that. 'Oh man, that sucks, sorry,' maybe, or 'well that's too bad' or something, though there's probably a few who'd try to take matters into their own hands, like 'don't worry I'll take care of it for you' as if they could solve it themselves." Yeah, right. Occasionally he'd wonder how his mother would react to the knowledge, and he always assumed it would be like summoning the wrath of an angry god down on someone's head. She never did handle it well when someone threatened or was messing with her children. After a moment the blond asked, "Is it helping any?"

Elizabeth stooped over Melody with a gleeful expression. "Char!" She said as she reached down to pick up the bell and set her on her feet, then paused to look at her thoughtfully.... Then picked her up again to shake her a little to see if she'd jingle more.

Isaac offered Scully a sympathetic look, but as he wasn't a serpent of any kind and was also quite tired and comfortable on Abel's shoulders, he couldn't really help her at all with what seemed to be a rather vexing problem.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeah, thanks, that's great," Taavi replied, "my neck's not stiff anymore, so I expect the headache will go soon too." It wasn't unbearable or anything, just a bit unpleasant and easily enough ignored now they had something to celebrate! "I should make us some wine or something," Taavi said aloud, continuing his celebratory train of thought. "We'd have to wait a few days before we had anything to drink but, still, it might be nice! If I can find something to make it with anyway." There were plentiful berry bushes in Sandalwood forest, if he could find the time to get out there and a little bit of money for yeast and sugar.... Though the money thing was an issue. It would be really nice to have a drink though. "And yea," he added with a huff and a shake of his head, "not a lot you can say or do really is there?" They just had to live with it for now... for now? Yeah, for now. Even after the Houndoom screwing up what could have been a perfectish day he couldn't help but believe that things had turned a corner. Perhaps Arceus had heard his prayers, or had heard them all along and now judged that he'd done his time? Or nearly done is time anyway.

Taavi chose jingling and intermittent vocalisations from Melody, she didn't sound distressed at all so if shaking her around was keeping both Elizabeth and the Chingling herself entertained it was all to the good.

Scully gave up on making the itching any better and flopped full length on the floor. Looking up at Isaac with a rueful little smile she said; <>  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"That's good," Abel said earnestly, and though the pressure lessened, he kept rubbing the back of Taavi's neck a bit. "I can keep going if you want, either way," he stated with a shrug he forgot Taavi wouldn't see.

Wine, though... Damn, he could go for something to drink. He'd barely touched alcohol since Alyssa waltzed into his life and slammed the door shut, cutting him off from practically everything else. It didn't seem like as big a deal today though, not now that Isaac was home and curled comfortably around his neck. Somehow it almost didn't seem real, like he was just having a particularly good dream or something. "We can try to find something," the blond supplied helpfully, although in reality he had no idea what. Something.... Something. They could find something. And no, there really wasn't a lot they could do - but he didn't really care to keep thinking about that at the moment.

When Melody continued to jingle, the Charmeleon made a pleased noise in the back of her throat and held the bell pokemon above her head to shake her some more.

A tad more sympathy crept into the look Isaac gave Scully. he said, though as he looked at the pair nearby his expression morphed into one of amusement.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, yeah, thanks," Taavi smiled and dipped his head forward a little. "It's really relaxing," he added, feeling that maybe further explanation/compliments of Abel's skill was in order. Something like that anyway, maybe it was actually a silly thing to say but he wasn't worried about that right now. "I can find some berries I'm sure, one day I'm not working or after work. All we need other than that is yeast, some sugar or honey or something, and bottles or jars or something. It'll be a bit, um, rough drinking it after just a few days but hey! Alcohol right?"

Melody appeared to be enjoying herself, judging by the ringing and the tone of her foul cussing.

<> Scully trailed off and blinked. <> Abruptly the Dratini fell silent; a shiver ran down the length of her serpentine form and a bright white light began to emanate from her body.

Taavi stared. "Oh. Um. Err... Elizabeth you miiiight want to stand back a bit?" Sweet Arceus!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"All right," the blond said amicably, continuing the massage of his neck and shoulders with renewed vigor. "Yeah, massages help loosen up the tension and get rid of any knots in the muscles so you feel more relaxed - or so I've been told, anyway," he finished with a shrug. Abel hummed lightly under his breath as he pondered on alcohol-making supplies and how to get them, though he still wasn't sure how to do so with their limited means. "That doesn't sound like a lot of stuff, I'm sure we can figure something out. Alcohol's always good," he finished with a wry grin.

Elizabeth was thoroughly enjoying herself too, and either failed to hear Taavi or just chose not to, so she continued to play around with Melody.

Sonia did hear him, though, and she quickly trotted over to retrieve Abel's guitar from the floor, lest it get squashed or stepped on either from Elizabeth or Scully.  

[TawnyAngel]

The light grew brighter and under the glow Scully's form lengthened. When the light faded she was about twice the length she had been to begin with, but fortunately she had coiled up somewhat as she grew so she didn't take out any of the furniture or observers. <> the Dragonair murmured, twisting her head around this way and that to take in her new form. <>

"Wow, congratulations Scully!" Taavi beamed. "Look at you, you look amazing! I bet you can't wait to show Mulder and Kielo." Today just kept getting better and better! Other than the blip with the Houndoom that was but really, overall, amazing day!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

While he'd seen a number of pokemon evolve over the years, it always was a wonderful sight. "Yeah, congrats," Abel offered as well, a wide grin on his face as his hands stopped and hovered over Taavi's shoulders for the moment instead. "How's it feel?"

Isaac, thinking along lines similar to his friend, smiled brightly at the newly evolved Dragonair. he noted with a hint of amusement. Or, if it not only continued, but got worse.  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Scully replied happily, twisting around experimentally and flapping the little wings that had replaced the fins on the sides of her head. <> If she did she'd probably break the light fittings or something. <> she added with a chuckle to Isaac.

"Homecomings, evolutions; we definitely need some alcohol now!" Taavi said with a little laugh. "I'm only scheduled until two tomorrow, after that Valour and I can head to the forest? It'll be a good chance for him to hunt too, so's we can make you some good soups Isaac." Maybe he'd even find some fallen wood that was suitable for carving, if he could then he'd have stuff to sell! And if Alyssa didn't find out - there was no reason why she should - maybe he could quietly buy some supplies for booze making.