[FIN] Relaxing Day Trips

[TawnyAngel]

"Oh, sure," Taavi nodded his agreement, "but generations for pokemon are way shorter than for us! I mean a lot of pokemon reach breeding age in just a few months, so if you have one clutch of three eggs in the wild with strange colours and all of them have a clutch a year later...." Taavi gestured expansively. "So in a small place like this? It could happen pretty quickly. More slowly in Kodo and even more slowly in a bigger region. But uhh, I guess I'm being a bit infair to the league?" Taavi shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "A bit. They respect pokemon a lot! And everyone loves them and wants to look after them but... but they still... I don't know, I just don't think most league officials and I see them quite the same you know? The casual talk about owing and trading," Taavi's disgust was obvious in his expression, "I mean, basically that's slavery. That is slavery. But it's so, uh, ingrained that I don't know if it can really be changed? I just... I don't know. I don't know what I'd do instead, this culture of going out and catching pokemon and then them getting used to you is all we grow up with right? It's hard to think of how else it could work. I think though with us learning to communicate with pokemon we could move forward!" Taavi beamed at Abel and gestured at their surroundings. "I mean we can actually ask their opinions word for word! Give them voices, right? Like, legally. They could speak for themselves and say they don't want to be with their trainer if they're not good to them, or if they just plain want something different for their life! How great would that be? A court where pokemon can get like, custody of themselves and either decide to find a new human partner or to go live wild.... Oh s**t, sorry." Taavi laughed and grinned apologetically. "I have just talked at you, a lot. Sorry! I just, I'm thinking about this stuff a lot now I'm in the KSO, you know? Working with pokemon again is so great, and you know I never would have done it if you hadn't encouraged me." Sasha had encouraged him too, sort of, but screw Sasha.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Man, Taavi really could go on, couldn't he? And his displeasure with certain things was painfully obvious. "Tell me how you really feel!" He teased good-naturedly, aiming a bright grin at his friend. "And that's true, but there'd also be some normal clutches in there too, yeah? They wouldn't just stop happening altogether, and plus the normal pokemon would still be around -- unless they were hunted, or died or were caught or something. A lot of pokemon do live a long time, and can have plenty of clutches in that time, so it can go both ways I'd think. But I do agree, there'd end up being a lot more different pokemon than normal pokemon."

Abel reached over to give his friend a fond pat on the shoulder along with the grin, "And don't worry about it. I'm really glad you're working there now, it's good to see you have a job you really like doing. Lot better than Meat Palace, yeah?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi's dark skin darkened further with a flush and he laughed apologetically. "Sorry. Shall I get off my soapbox? Um, yeah though there would be and pokemon can live long lives! If they don't become part of the food chain." That was definitely a thing that happened and a lot of people thought it ought to be stopped but then what were the obligate carnivores supposed to do?

"Anyway," Taavi grinned again and nodded, "yes, so very much better. I'm glad I did work there for a while though, if I hadn't I wouldn't have met Sasha! And then I wouldn't have learned important lessons of the kind of person not to date. Ever."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Heh, there's no need for you to get on a soapbox with me anyway," the blond reminded him with a shrug and a smile, "though if we were with people who thought differently then sure."

Oh, he was glad? Huh... Abel made a thoughtful frown and noise before replying, "Well, all experiences are important; they shape you into the person you are today, and teach you things you didn't know. And yeah, learning not to mess around with people like that is a very important lesson," he agreed with a wry smile. "But it could've been worse, all things considered, and luckily for you it wasn't -- doubly lucky for you that you learned from it, so you can steer clear of relationships like that in the future that very well could've been worse."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeah," Taavi nodded, "I mean I'm not happy that I wasted all of that time. And emotional energy. And made them thoughtful gifts. And... okay, I could go on but I mean... Yeah, what you said?" He shrugged. "Like, I thought it was all perfect and stuff but I was stressed and worried about making them happy so much. Next time I'll know that's not a good thing, and I won't be a doormat... or I'll try not to be anyway." Taavi scowled slightly and huffed. "What pisses me off is that I never even meant anything to them you know? The rest wouldn't feel like such a waste if there had been something there, from them I mean." Uuuugh. Well, at least one of the two of them had a good relationship going! Maybe they could make it two of them, in a while when he felt up to the idea of dating again.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Well no, I wouldn't be happy about that either - I'm not happy, actually, because it's still shitty for you - but I know what you mean." With a frown and a soft sigh, he reached over to offer a companionable pat to Taavi's shoulder. Normally he didn't talk about Sasha since he never had anything good to say about Sasha, but he felt a little less bad talking about the subject when Taavi was the one to bring it up. While he was probably mostly over it by now - both the asshat and the terrible breakup - he still didn't like to bring it up just in case. "And no, you shouldn't be a doormat if you can help it. But it's okay to want to make the other person happy whenever you can, there's nothing wrong with that -- it's when they don't care to try and make you happy that's the issue. From what you've told me, it sounds like he never really tried to make you happy. It sounds like the relationship was a lot more one-sided than that on all fronts." That was a tough one too; the only one who could say for sure whether or not Sasha had ever had feelings for Taavi was Sasha himself - for once Abel remembered the more neutral pronoun after thinking the more masculine one, but then in the next moment he remembered that he didn't particularly care to respect a person who had no respect for his best friend - but judging all of the things Taavi had ever told him, it sounded very much like Sasha had only ever particularly cared for Sasha. Having a good time seemed to be the main priority rather than actually dating someone he liked and wanted to spend a part of his life with.  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi smiled over at Abel warm and appreciative as he clapped him on the shoulder. "Thanks. Uh, and yeah I guess... well I've thought about it quite a lot lately since - you know, life got less complicated - and I really don't think they did care. Best I can say is they thought they did, but they didn't have the empathy or the - maybe the maturity? - to realise they liked the idea of having a cute boyfriend, not really me. They didn't really know me that well, I mean they thought I'd be cool with a threesome with your boyfriend!" Taavi laughed and shook his head at the memory, it could have remained a creepy and unpleasant one his whole life but having got to know Zev made it pretty funny. "Y'know, the more I think about it the more I think something... something a bit weird was going on in general," Taavi added as an afterthought. The strange reactions, how he'd been kept from knowing where Sasha lived, that he'd never got to actually see them at work or anything.... He didn't know what conclusion to draw from that but the more he thought about it with some distance from the relationship the weirder it seemed.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel returned the warm smile with his own as he stuck his thumbs into his pockets and continued walking along the winding valley path. "Honestly it's much easier to look back on things more objectively when you're not in the middle of it anymore, and I'm glad that you're thinking about it more now. It's good to think back on things and figure out why things ended the way they did so you know better how things should be in the future." A lot of people - his brother included - sometimes preferred never to think about a relationship again after it ended, especially if it had ended poorly, but that didn't really help. How could you grow if you didn't look back and think critically about things like that? You didn't.

"I kind of got that impression, actually," he added with a thoughtful frown, "that he wasn't really... that mature for his age. Isn't he older than I am? And you dated for - what, over a year? - and he still asked you about a threesome after all that time when he should've known damn well by then that that'd never be something you'd ever consider. Hell, I never dated you and we never would've considered doing that sort of thing and I still knew you never would be interested in that. Ever. I knew he wasn't good for you since he sounded so, just..." He trailed off and held his hands palm up as he tried to gesture, tried to think of some way to describe his thoughts, but ultimately he gave up and shrugged after dropping his arms again, "selfish is the only way I can think to put it. From what you told me, it sounded more like he only ever thought of himself and not you - not really, or not much, or some other third thing, I don't know - but yeah I agree, something sketchy was definitely going on. I don't know what kinds of illegal things he was doing, but there's no way anyone could ever convince me that he wasn't doing something illegal. Did you ever even find out where he lived? Or at least the city or town -- anything?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeah, I guess it is," Taavi agreed thoughtfully, rubbing the back of his neck and shrugging as he spoke. "I guess I was caught up in trying to make it work so I didn't think about stuff like that much." Sasha was... well they were cool, different, and just so darn confident. He'd wanted to be with them and to be like them but in hindsight... yeah, not so much. He'd take a bit of a confidence issue over not being good at considering other people's feelings.

"They... uh... I guess they're a bit of a free spirit," Taavi continued slowly. After a moment he smiled wryly and added; "And also immature, they're thirty so... yeah I would have expected them to be a bit better at recognising other people's feelings and motivations? They always seemed to expect me to deal with things like they would or want the things they want, like to not worry about losing my apartment and to have a threesome with a hot stranger."

Honestly Abel's question made him feel like a bit of an idiot, and he had been a bit of an idiot so it was probably only fair. Taavi shook his head. "No I never did, they could have lived in an airship circling Kodo for all I know! I just... well I hope it's nothing bad bad you know?" He would've known if Sasha had the capacity for vicious crimes, for real cruelty right?... He'd never found out where they lived even, so maybe not.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Mmh, that's fair," he agreed with a nod, "it's easy to get caught up in things like that, especially when you really like the other person. And you're too nice," the blond added, chuckling and a shaking his head as he spoke, "because 'free spirit' is definitely not the word I would use. Immature? Yes. Free spirit? Not really, no. It sounds more like they were terrible at reading people, but then again I think people that are that focused on themselves usually are; it's hard to focus outwardly when you're so focused inward, or something like that." Abel shrugged, stretched his arms out, then raised them to lace his fingers behind his head as he walked. It was actually kind of awesome that he'd been walking for a while now and talking and he wasn't feeling super winded just yet, though given the nature of the conversation he decided against voicing the observation.

...man the guy really was an immature t**t. "Not worry about getting evicted? Seriously? And I don't think I'll ever get over him assuming you'd be okay with a threesome. Arceus... it's like he didn't even know you or something." And they'd been dating for a year at that point -- or close to a year, at any rate, if he remembered right. What had Sasha been doing that whole year to just... not even know that much about his boyfriend? "Ah.. hopefully it wasn't anything that bad but... I dunno, he definitely had a reason for not letting you find out where he lived, though I don't know if he had to come up with such a dumb lie for it. I mean living with a really young attractive landlord for super cheap but he can't have any visitors, plus he gets - what was it again? - cooking lessons? Yeah, no, but like hell I was about to believe any of that s**t." ...just what was Sasha doing that Taavi couldn't know where he lived?  

[TawnyAngel]

He still found it difficult to think really badly of Sasha for long periods of time, maybe Abel was right and he was too nice. "Ah, yeah, maybe," Taavi replied with a shrug and a slightly awkward smile. "I still feel stupid but.... I guess we just weren't cut out for one another yeah? Maybe they need somebody like them so go and be wild and, um, whimsical with?" And what did he need? He wasn't really sure, he just wanted somebody... nice. Somebody nice, and fun. Preferably somebody who liked camping.

"But uh... Yeah. I guess they've had a pretty unusual life? I don't know if anything they actually told me was true now, it all sounded normal enough but maybe it was just a bunch of lies." What kind of people sent their son/brother's new boyfriend expensive presents, and a note vaguely threatening him? Had Sasha bought the presents, written the note? Taavi frowned as this possibility seeped through his mind. "I believed them, but now I'm wondering if they told me the truth about anything at all. I mean, is their name even Sasha?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Weren't cut out for one another... Well that was a... nice way to put it, he supposed. Not how he would've put it - not even remotely - but he wasn't about to tell Taavi how to feel about his ex-boyfriend. "I guess so," he ceded with a shrug, dropping his hands back to his sides so he could stick his thumbs back into his pockets. "I'm sure he'll find someone that also has their head stuck up in the clouds as much as he does." To put it politely.

Whether or not to believe anything he said was another matter though, and Abel frowned and made a thoughtful humming noise as he debated. "Well honestly if he didn't want to tell you where he lived or anything, then it could go either way... I'd hope he was as honest with you as he could be, but..." He trailed off with another shrug. At this point it was impossible to tell if he'd been honest or not, and while he leaned heavily towards 'not' he wasn't about to - again - tell Taavi to feel the same, but he also didn't want to tell him that no, of course not, Sasha couldn't possibly have lied about that too! The only one that could tell them now was Sasha, and Abel doubted he would do so even if they ever saw him again. He kind of hoped they didn't. ...was that even his real name?  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeeeah," Taavi agreed slowly, "I guess... no, I know you're right. Maybe the name was true but the rest?" He shrugged, there wasn't much else he could say. "I hope I never see them again to find out anyway. Given they left me a note," yeah okay he was still angry about that bit, a lot, "I doubt they'll be in a rush to see me either. Maybe they left Kodo, that'd be for the best for all of us. Anyway though!" Taavi brightened and gestured around at the crisp wintery scenery. "I'm much happier now than I was when I was with them; stuff's been fixed, I've got a job I love again, and while it still kind of sucks... Well I'm happy things worked out like this not some other way you know?" Better without both Sasha and Alyssa in his life than with both of them in it!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Aaand yep, there it was; Taavi was still pissed about the note, and for damn good reason. It was a note. He'd left him a note to break up with him. Cowardly worthless sack of...

Anyway.

"Anyway!" Abel agreed cheerily as he clapped a hand on Taavi's shoulder. "I'm glad. Things're a lot better now than they have been. A lot better. Things could've always been worse, so I'm really glad everything worked out the way they did." It still boggled his mind at times; he'd lived when he was so certain he was going to die, and not only that but he'd somehow befriended someone so incredible and adorable that wanted to be his boyfriend. How had that happened?  

[TawnyAngel]

They spent the rest of the day talking about more fun things. Taavi was pretty sure he rambled too much about the wild pokemon they saw; their habits, the niches they'd found or made for themselves on this little island, and so on but Abel hadn't seemed to mind. Their picnic lunch had been great too, it was only sandwiches but food eaten outside always tasted better to him.

Now they were making their leisurely way back towards the boat along the valley and though he could happily have stayed overnight and spent a bit more time everywhere Taavi was still feeling very content. Anyway, wanting to explore more was just an excuse to come back! "Oh! And yeah, I ah... I'm going to see an apartment in a couple of days," Taavi said, he'd been meaning to mention it for a day or two but somehow he'd never got around to it. After living with Abel for more than a year it was kind of a weird idea he guessed, having his own place again.