[FIN] Walk With Me

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah, me too," Sera said with a different sort of frown. "Mother always babied Jasmine and spoiled her rotten." She took another sip of her cocoa. "I don't know if she treated her like a child though." A pause, coupled with a thoughtful frown as she changed topics. "Anastasia wasn't so much like a pet or a sibling, she was more like... like a best friend."

Her pale eyes shifted to the different lights in turn, tracing their outlines, their different shapes and paths. It was actually pretty intricate and well-done - she could at least see how much effort was put into lighting the garden. It definitely spoke of quality, even if she had no prior experience with lighted gardens before. Too bad she couldn't give it the attention it probably deserved. Maybe the fireworks later would help...

Her gaze slid back to Luke as he spoke of faults and similar things, and her eyes drifted over the lights again as she considered his words. What good could come, for them, of having one of their precious pokemon stolen? Although... "I guess that's true.. I've been trying to get better with training but it's hard," she said as she frowned softly at the lights around them. "And I can't say I've ever had to fight anybody." She paused in her comments to take another sip of her cocoa. Mmmm, cocoa... "Why do you blame yourself, if Mieu was stolen by a criminal? That's being kind of a hypocrite, isn't it?" She asked, peering back up at him again.  

[Suudonym]

Luke nodded knowingly. Maybe that was the feeling he had been trying to pin down - that of having suddenly lost a dear friend.

He raised his free hand to pull idly at the zipper on his jacket as he considered his question. Well, 'consider' had implications of trying to find an answer, and he certainly already knew why he felt that way. "The person who stole Mieu," he explained, "was a woman, and she was pretty agile I guess, but she didn't seem all that strong. I got a grip on her, and I could have knocked her out, but instead I tried to talk to her - like I could appeal to her sense of reason or something." A shrug. "Turned out she was crazy, so that didn't go too well. Looking back on it, it seems pretty obvious what I should have done, and what I did do was just… stupid."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera had been an only child, so comparing a lost pokemon to a lost sibling was something she was unable to wrap her head around. She had no point of comparison with which to do so - and either way, Anastasia had been a great friend to her, especially before she met Rosie.

As Luke considered how to answer her question, she finished off the rest of her cocoa and frowned down at the empty cup. Not too long ago, if she'd finished something and a receptacle wasn't readily available immediately, she would've just tossed it on the ground somewhere. After she got Mordecai, she'd pass it off to him - but he wasn't here right now. And, on top of that, she was having some sort of strange feeling that if she didn't throw it away properly, Luke might possibly say something. And that would be embarrassing - yes, that was it. She just didn't want to be embarrassed.

Luckily as they continued - and he began to explain - they passed a trash can on the side of the path and Sera dropped her empty cup in it. There, now no one could say anything. "I guess... I mean, they are people. I guess," she said with a bitter sort of shrug. "Although they don't all act like it. Speaking of," she added after a moment or two, her lips pursed, "I met your brother the other day."  

[Suudonym]

The trash can was convenient, but Luke realized as they passed it that he hadn't been nearly as attentive to his beverage as Seraphine had. Despite the fact that the contents were now lukewarm, he decided to carry the cup a ways further regardless of whether or not he intended to eventually consume it. It just seemed like a waste to throw it away when it was still a third full. (So yes, he very likely would have said something at least in passing if Seraphine had openly tossed her cup on the ground.)

A slight nod. "I think it's kind of easy to forget that they're just people. Anyone you meet on the street could be a Rocket. Anyone here right now could be a Rocket." He smiled insincerely. "It's a little hard to trust people these days."

Speaking of indeed. He shrugged with a bitter humor, "And let me guess: He was a huge jerk and said a lot of rude or insensitive things."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The thought that there were Rockets there right then - all around them perhaps - sent a pang of fear through her, and she folded her arms across her chest. "I don't want to think about that," she said a bit too quickly, frowning at the lights around them. It was still a very disconcerting thought, that anyone around them could be part of Team Rocket. Anyone - or all of them. And she only brought a couple of her pokemon with her. Not like any of her pokemon were very well trained anyway, but still.

"He did," she said, her tone and expression suddenly heated. "He told me that she was gone and, and -- that I should just get over it," the brunette finished as she kicked an unfortunate piece of gravel that had dared be in the way of her boot. It skipped across the path a few times before disappearing harmlessly into a lighted bush.  

[Suudonym]

Indeed, it wasn't exactly a comforting thought to know that there were probably at least as many Rockets as there were visitors in the garden, but sometimes it was good to bear such reminders in mind - a lowered guard was an invitation to criminals, after all. However, "I don't think you need to worry about something like that." It was unlikely, certainly, but more than that, they were capable of defending themselves. At least, Luke wasn't about to watch someone lose a pokemon in front of him any time soon.

"Ahh…" He raised his unoccupied hand briefly to the back of his head, running it through his hair. "Yeah, that sounds like something he would say." A pause. "It's harsh to phrase it that way, but it kind of makes sense if you think about it, you know? Like, you don't have to forget about your Umbreon or stop trying to get her back or anything, but it's kind of like… Eventually you just get tired of being sad, right? 'Cause it doesn't accomplish anything." The quiet smile in his features was sorrowful, despite his words. "It can be really satisfying to be upset, because it's definitely justified, but sooner or later it just doesn't do anything for anyone." The voice that conveyed his thoughts was heavy with the weight of personal experience.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera opened her mouth to comment, but thought better of it and closed it again and merely looked at the lights silently. Oh yes, she did have a need to worry. Luke trained his pokemon more - and better - than she trained hers. That and she was almost certain he'd brought all of his with him, or at least as many as he could carry. He could protect himself quite well, but she certainly couldn't.

It obviously didn't occur to her that if she were attacked, Luke would probably help her out.

Instead she looked at him sharply when he sounded like he agreed with the awful things his brother said, and she was ready to angrily deny any such statements, but when he elaborated the anger faded slightly and she pulled her gaze to the lights again. "Yeah, I guess..." She finally ceded with a soft sigh, but then added, "But how am I supposed to not be sad? I can't just not be upset about it," the brunette said with a frown. How could she not be sad about her most favorite pokemon being stolen? The concept seemed a foreign one to her.  

[Suudonym]

That was the question, wasn't it? Luke wasn't really sure there was a single, concise answer he could give, but he would try nonetheless, "If you can stay optimistic, even if only about everything else, that helps a lot. Listening to music you like and not staying at home all day every day - I guess that might get a little harder, though, with winter coming on, since it'll be too cold to spend a lot of time outside…" He was counting off the points carefully on his fingers, as if bulletin them would help him think of more. "The most important thing for me is to find something productive to do. I… guess it might be more of an avoidance tactic than anything else, but training pokemon or practicing with my sword feels like I'm achieving something, and then I can be proud over the progress I made."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The suggestion of optimism was met with, unsurprisingly, complete skepticism on Seraphine's part. It was still a foreign concept to try to be happy and positive about things despite such horrible circumstances and past events, favorite music or not. That was something Rosie was good at, not her. Luke was kind of good at it, but not as much as Rosie. That girl could probably be positive about anything.

"Well, I do like going out," she said with a shrug, although didn't elaborate that she liked going out a lot more since moving into an, ugh, apartment. "Winter doesn't really matter too much. That's what coats and boots are for." Especially ones that matched.

Mention of progress and achieving goals made her frown and kick another stray pebble into the bushes. "I've been trying to train my pokemon more, but it's hard," she insisted. "It's just not my thing. I'm good at fashion, not pokemon."  

[Suudonym]

"That's true," he said, grudgingly parting with his by now ice cold cider as they passed another trash can. "And there are plenty of heated public buildings, too. Restaurants and stores and stuff." How come practically every public area wanted its patrons to buy something? In order to pay those heating bills was the reasonable answer, but the indignant answer was something like 'central heating should be free to public access!' Not likely.

"It's hard to make much progress on your own," Luke agreed, remembering how little he had advanced prior to having battle experience against other trainers. "If you ever want to try fighting against someone else, I'm never all that busy."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When he obviously wasn't going to finish his drink, Sera watched him very carefully to make sure he also threw his in the trash. If he hadn't, she'd never use a trash can in his presence again. If he wasn't going to throw things away, why should she be expected to? But he did, so either way it was a moot point. A point she noted, but still moot.

"Malls are heated," she added brightly, although she couldn't exactly buy things like she used to, which was one of those depressing thoughts that made it hard to be positive about things. The indirect offer to help her train her pokemon made her eyebrows raise a bit, and she gave him a sidelong glance. "Really?" She was silent for a couple moments as she considered this. "Well, I'm never all that busy anymore either, so I guess--"

A sudden explosion coupled with soft Christmas music that didn't seem at all to fit the preceeding noise made Sera jump - as did the fact that almost all of the lights had gone out at once, save for small ones set along the pathway itself. They glowed softly so as not to detract from the fireworks that began, the fireworks that Sera had all but forgotten about. Arceus, had it been so long already?

Despite the height of the fireworks, their current position behind some rather tall trees made it difficult to see the show. "Oh--" s**t, "come on!" She said breathlessly as she grabbed Luke's arm and rushed down the path, turned the last corner and up the middle pathway. They didn't have to go far - indeed they couldn't - for the central plaza was full of other spectators endeavoring to watch the fireworks as well. It looked as though all the chairs that had been set out in preparation had been filled, and quite a lot of people were standing, listening to the music that attempted to match the particular fireworks that were going off.  

[Suudonym]

"Sure," he confirmed at her apparent incredulity. He had recently returned to training on his own again, so it wasn't as though partnering with Seraphine wouldn't be a mutually beneficial arrangement. Not that his offer was born from a completely selfish motive either, but still. Her assent, before he could offer a reply to the unfinished sentence, was interrupted by the unexpected and booming bursts of sounds and color inherent to fireworks displays. "Lost track of time," he muttered inconsequentially before being suddenly jerked forward by the tug on his arm. And then he was running, apparently, following Seraphine along the garden's path towards the central plaza, the sensations of the blooming lights gaining clarity as they approached their destination.

"This kind of thing is awfully popular, huh?" he concluded with a breathless laugh as he noted the population of the area. The explosion-like bursts of noise from the fireworks combined with the dull din of the crowd dimmed his words as he attempted to give them sound. "Can't say I dislike it myself." Though it might have been a bit nicer with just the trainer team and a small collection of personal pyrotechnics. Maybe when summer came around again.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera vaguely noted that he reaffirmed his offer of help, and mentally filed it away for later thought or consideration when she wanted to train her pokemon more. Right now, though, there were fireworks to watch, and she didn't want to think about training while fireworks were happening.

"That's cuz fireworks are so infrequent," she said, leaning closer to Luke and standing on her toes, and even turned her face closer to better aim her words at his ear so he could hear her easier, although her pale eyes remained riveted on the sky. "They don't happen very often in Kodo."

Indeed, it seemed like their rarity only encouraged the garden - perhaps even the city - to spend more money on them. While the majority of the pyrotechnics were standard bursts of various colors and noises, they had included a number of fireworks throughout the show that, when they exploded, did so in the shape of silver-colored stars. Such fireworks elicited even more pleased-sounding "ooh"'s from the audience beneath.  

[Suudonym]

"Yeah," he said, accepting the explanation with a single word that was largely silenced by the din of the explosions - not that it was of much consequence anyway. He surrendered any further voice to the noise of the lights as they erupted in the sky, flowering out with a brightness that challenged the garden's own splendor as they reached their finale. The last glimmers soon faded, leaving a normalcy that was somehow darker than Luke recalled and a pervading, idle murmur through which cut an announcement that the fireworks display had ended. Gradually the amassed onlookers began to dissipate, parents toting sleepy children on their shoulders as they started on their way home and lovers clasping hands to explore the quiet glow of the garden for just a while more.

Suddenly weary from all the activity, Luke turned to Seraphine, his hands in his pockets, "Ready to head back? Or do you wanna hang around a little longer?"