[FIN] Down Time

[BlackPidgeot]

With a sigh, Yuri got to his feet and moved to the kitchen. "You don't need to apologize," he told her gently. Though she seemed to not want to talk about judging by her lack of details. "Bad news, huh?" He said while peering into the trash can. He then bent over carefully to take it out.  

[Tori Honoo]

She stayed careful around him, opening packages and mixing ingredients as she began to cook, holding back everything she could have said. "It definitely wasn't a wish for a Merry Christmas," she said almost too quietly, moving to retrieve her cell phone from the sink after putting a pot on the stove.  

[BlackPidgeot]

When she didn't object to him picking out the box, he couldn't help his curiosity. Making note of what she sad he then opened the package.  

[Tori Honoo]

Still refusing to look at him directly, she dried her phone off with a kitchen towel, then moved to stir the food, offering Tobi a berry from the bowl in the fridge.

Inside the box, Yuri would find obviously expensive tissue paper, below it, a stack of lace, silk, and satin swatches, and a photo below them in a simple gold frame, the glass now shattered, of Dove and two young men, both red heads and identical, all three laughing and dressed to the nines. A sealed note stayed taped inside the top of the box, her name, again, scrawled in swirling letters across the envelope.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri gave a puzzled look as he beheld the contents of the box. Pulling out the picture he looked at it and idly wondered why the world loved putting out red headed twins so much. "You must really hate these guys," he said before putting the broken frame aside.

"The hell are these?" He then asked as he pulled out a piece of lace. What could anyone even do with such small pieces of fabric?  

[Tori Honoo]

Confused, the girl turned her attention to Yuri again, then gasped, dropping the long spoon she was using to go over to him and take the box from his hold, horror filling her expression as she looked over the fabrics. Panic filled her as she looked over at the photo now set aside, and she ripped the note from the lid of the box opening it, skimming it, then crushing it and putting it in her pocket.

"They were my best friends before I left Sinnoh. They're designers," she choked, the color gone from her face.  

[BlackPidgeot]

"Oh..." Yuri said with a single blink. Because that clearly explained everything.

"And they're sending you scraps?"  

[Tori Honoo]

Taking the box and frame across the kitchen, she stared at the photo in silence, internally fighting herself. Slipping them into a drawer, including the note, she shook her head, terrified to turn and face Yuri. Keeping her head low, she returned to cooking her food, shaking her head in response to his question. "They're... um... swatches. They're asking my opinion."  

[BlackPidgeot]

"Got it." Girly stuff obviously, so there was no need to question further.

Thus Yuri went back to the couch and sat down. She seemed a little less upset now so maybe it would pass.  

[Tori Honoo]

As he left, she curled in on herself, the weight crushing her from within. She couldn't tell him, and yet the guilt of not being one hundred percent honest almost hurt worse than thinking of how he would react when she did finally work up the courage to tell him.

Resolving herself to think of it no more for the evening, she concentrated all of her efforts on making their dinner as quietly as she could so he could rest, and when it was ready, brought it to him on the couch, switching out the lights and relying on the fire, the strings of smaller lights, and the Christmas tree for illumination.

Stirring the contents of her bowl as she waited for it to cool, she kept her eyes low, keeping her voice soft. "You're bored, being stuck here like this, aren't you...?"  

[BlackPidgeot]

Resting and waiting on the sofa, he looked up as the lights went out. Leaving them in the glow of the fire and the Christmas lights. It was kind of surreal really.

"Thanks," he told her as she brought him a bowl. Looking at it's steaming contents before she sat down next to him.

Her question though brought a thoughtful silence before he replied. "A little... But not like at the hospital." There he had been really bored, just laying around and sometimes all alone without anything to do or anyone to talk.

"It's just frustrating not being able to do things for myself." He was getting better, granted, just not where he wanted to be and it was taking too long.  

[Tori Honoo]

She nodded, stirring her food and looking up as Byakko silently but curiously made her way over to the and laid her head on her knee. Shifting closer to Yuri, the girl brushed her hand along the espeon's ears, then patted the couch next to her. Gracefully, the white Pokemon hopped up into the couch and curled up beside the woman, offering her quiet affection.

"I thought so...I'm sorry. At least you don't have to be totally alone though, right?" She remembered not being able to do anything for herself. She still ached from her time spent recovering from the attack on Rocket. "And you're getting better. Slowly." A small smile. There was that at least.  

[BlackPidgeot]

"Yeah," Yuri agreed, because it was better not to be alone actually. Having someone around and to talk to kept him from going completely stir crazy.

Quietly Yuri ate the food she had made. It had been generous of her to help him out, and he was grateful. Though he wondered if there was another reason she wanted him around.  

[Tori Honoo]

There wasn't much to say, and after his short confirmation, she said no more, searching for anything in the room to concentrate on other than her current thoughts.

She looked around her apartment,,a small smile tugging at her lips as she watched Diana and Lovey cuddle by the fire, a tilt of her head at Tobi and Trill's soft 'singing'. It was calm and warm, and she wasn't alone. I much better than last year, and yet...

"Hey, um... Would you like to go with me to cook Christmas dinner for the people downtown? I'm sure the children would be really excited to see you, even if you weren't dressed like Santa this year," she asked, a slight embarrassment in her voice. He had introduced her to them in the first place, and it felt a little odd to admit, even indirectly, that she had returned regularly without him.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Her question drew him out of his thoughts and he looked at her slightly puzzled at the embarrassment in her voice.

"Yeah sure," he replied. It's kinda been awhile since I went down there." That added with a small smile before he finished off the food.

Yeah, getting out and doing something sounded great to him.