[FIN] Wilted Emotions

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh!" Shoot, he'd forgotten all about it. He bent his head down slightly while a hand reached up to touch the faded bruise very gently once he remembered. "Oh, ah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it," he added as he raised his gaze, lowered his hand and gave her another smile. It wasn't anything she needed to worry about, especially with all of the troubles she'd been having lately.  

[Tori Honoo]

Her brows furrowed a little in worry. "Y-You listened to my problems... I won't ask, but if you need to talk, I...I'm more than glad to listen..."

She really would be more than willing to listen to his problems--if he had any. For all she knew, the bruise could have been the result of a silly accident. However, her subconscious quietly begged for a way to make herself useful to someone, in anything, to make up for her follies.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah," he hesitated, reaching his hand up to run it through his hair and avoiding her gaze, "nah, I don't want to add anything else to your plate. You've got more than enough to worry about as it is."  

[Tori Honoo]

She again curled in on herself a little, looking away as he did, unable to block out his uneasy body language. Again, she wouldn't push him, but she did want him to know she cared. "What happened...? That looks like it hurts..."

Sparky sighed a soft huff, then glanced over to the other Pokemon as if absently checking on Lovey.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Still he averted his gaze, this time looking down at the grass in front of him. "Ah, well... I just... went home for a short visit," he vaguely explained with a half shrug. "It didn't really end well." He didn't want to worry her, but at the same time he wasn't in the habit of keeping inconsequential information from people if they really wanted to know.

Nerius blinked up at the Typhlosion, and flicked the tip of his tail idly.  

[Tori Honoo]

Her face grew more concerned, and she sat her chin on her knees, her arms again wrapping around her legs as she drew them up to her chest. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Inigo..." she said sincerely, looking back up to him. "Is everything...okay...?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Nah, it's okay, don't worry about it. Really," he added, green eyes sliding to meet hers briefly as he offered her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but there was hesitance and a bit of uncertainty in it. "And..." He definitely couldn't tell her the circumstances of his running away and therefore the source of his father's anger, but he had to say something, "pretty much, yeah. It was nice to see my mom and sister again," he finished, hoping to guide it to something more positive.  

[Tori Honoo]

Her heart sank as he again waived the topic, realizing he likely didn't trust her well enough to share his burden with. They barely knew each other, after all, and her record so far in the region for helping others was terrible. Who could blame him? Her attempts just made things worse...

She did offer a weak smile, however, when he mentioned his sister and mother, latching on to the positive ideas his words offered. "I'm sure that was nice...They're doing well, then?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

If Inigo could read her thoughts, he would've told her his reasons were nothing like that, but as it stood, he couldn't, so he didn't. Instead he latched onto it too and smiled more brightly. "Yeah, really well. My little sister was all excited to show me how they redecorated her bedroom and all the new stuff she got since I left home." It was quite a lot.  

[Tori Honoo]

A weak, teary smile crossed the girl's face. Finally, something good. "How old is she...?" she asked quietly, still not trusting her voice at full volume.

Her brows furrowed a little. "How long has it been...?"

Lovey continued to watch the girl, then rose to her paws to make her way over to the girl, unable to contain her desire to comfort the girl, even though she seemed to be doing much better than she had before. She bopped her nose to Dove's arm, then nosed her chin affectionately when Dove scooped her up and tucked her close to her chest.

Sparky's eyes flitted to the Vaporeon.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Just turned 10 in February," he said with a small grin. "Was really proud of herself for it, too. Ah," his brow furrowed at the question of how long it was, though, and he cast his mind back to just when he was expelled from the University and left to join Team Rocket immediately after breaking into said university. "I think it's been... almost two years now. I didn't exactly leave on the, uh, best of terms," he added a little sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Nerius blinked his dark eyes up at the Typhlosion, watching him for a few moments before he tilted his head curiously. He felt no need to repeat his name, given the fire-type had very obviously heard it when he'd given it to Lovey.  

[Tori Honoo]

"She sounds great..." she told him, still not fully distracted from her sorrows. "It must have been hard, being gone so long from her..." She could relate. Her own brother was older, and she hasn't seen him in what felt like decades. She nuzzled her nose along the tiny heart on Lovey's head, her body still trembling softly from the adrenaline crash and lack of sleep over the past few nights.

Sparky watched Dove's interaction with Lovey, his gaze approving before it turned to Nerius. he told the water type, smirking wearily at the name.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"She is," he affirmed with a light sigh and a downturned face. "And a little, yeah... I feel really bad for going away so long, and I don't know when I'll see her again, but..." He rubbed the back of his neck again with a soft frown. "It was good to see her recently, anyway."

A smirk formed on the Vaporeon's face. Because that seemed like a name a kid would give to an electric-type, not a fire-type. How odd.  

[Tori Honoo]

She kept her head low, taking deep breaths in attempt to keep herself from lapsing into anything but awareness of the conversation at hand. "That's good... It's always good to see those you love, I guess..." Not that she would know. She knew very few people here well enough to consider them friends, she wasn't planning on returning home any time soon, and one of the few people she had so long waited to see that she had run into in Kodo made her head want to implode. It was nice to at least see a few familiar faces every so often... most times.

Sparky stayed calm, allowing a soft huff. he told the vaporeon dryly.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Mm," he frowned, reaching a hand up to cover his still bruised eye, "usually is, yeah.." Not always. Not when they punched you in the face and pretty much disowned you.

Nerius flicked one of the fins on his head a bit. he replied, although he didn't feel the need to speak nearly as much.