[FIN] Stages of Grieving

[insidiousEnigma]

Boy and Pokemon continued to bicker back and forth as they continued on towards their destination. Something about the dangers of eating with strangers. Who really knew when the conversation could only be understood from one side.

"Hm?" Zacharie looked back at Rosie with a vacant expression before he managed to catch up. "Oh, yes. I'm surprisingly hungry, all things considered." His stomach gave a low growl as if agreeing with him. "...A lot hungrier than I thought, apparently." He muttered, lightly poking at his stomach with a sheepish smile before swatting at a cackling Jabari. "Why are you laughing? You're always hungry!"

[I'm leaving my apartment now, send me the address.]
Came the rather short message soon after before another message appeared a few moments later, almost as an after thought.
[Please, and thank you, Rosie.]  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Me too." though it was with a bit of amusement at the rumble of the boy's stomach, "Well, maybe not as much as you."
Stepping up next to the boy, delightedl watching him and the shupper interacting as they made their way to the deli.
Responding to Andre's text with the address of where they were going, along with a "I'm happy to have been able to help <3 see you soon Andre"

"So do you have any other pokemon besides Jabari?"  

[insidiousEnigma]

Trees, grass, and open walking spaces soon made way to crowded sidewalks and cramped buildings as they came into town.

"To be honest...food hasn't been particularly appealing these past couple of days." He admitted, clutching the strap of his bag as he stepped a bit closer to Rosie to let someone bustle past him. "But it seems this trip has improved my appetite." Who knew that talking to a headstone could improve one's mood? Jabari, in response to Rosie's question gave an annoyed grunt and nodded. "Oh, yes. I have five other pokemon, but none of them are particularly good in public...besides Virus but it's a bit too big to be wandering around in a crowd." He prattled on. "It's a Porygon, you see. I know there are bigger pokemon but it's a bit bulky and not really great for crowds."  

[Blood_Goddess]

The blond gave the younger boy a sympathetic smile, though not taking lightly the sense of peace he might have gained since his trip to the the grave site.
"Well then- we'll have to get something super tasty for you!" She agreed with a light laugh. "good food is a great way to help cheer someone up too, I think."

The response from Jabari brought an amused brightness to Rosie's features, though she returned her attention to Zacharie as he told her about his other pokemon. Her mouth opening a little at the mention of a Porygon "I've never seen one of those in person, I've read up on them, Are they really made by people?"  

[insidiousEnigma]

The teen considered this. He'd also heard that food could have an effect on a person's mood, whether it be good or bad depended on the quality of the food. "I'm afraid I don't know all that much about their origins...but I'd be happy to let you see Virus when we get to the deli." Zacharie offered with a bright smile. "It's very friendly and enjoys meeting new people...I just hope there's enough room." He gingerly patted his bag, taking a bit of comfort in the solid feeling of the pokeballs he had safely inside.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Oh, I didn't know they were that big. I've only ever seen pictures." Rosie admitted with a bit of surprise. "How big are they usually?"
She had no reason to believe that the Cafe wouldn't be big enough, then again, for all she knew Porygon were as big as horses... though she doubted it.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"They can get up to 2 feet tall, I believe." He said thoughtfully. "Which is strange because Virus seems so much bigger...perhaps I'm just biased though. Seeing as I raised it since it was a baby. Ah, here we are." He looked up to see the familiar, worn sign of the deli just above them. He moved forward and opened the door before motioning Rosie inside. He was pretty eager to get off of the crowded street. "Anyway, I suppose they're not all that large in the grand scheme of things."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie's eyes seem to light up as she suddenly drew herself up higher with a delightful gasp "Since it was a baby? Really? How tiny do they start out?" she asked excitedly.
"Also, if the Cafe is too small inside, we can always take something outside to eat. Its always nicer to share a meal with your pokemon anyway." The blond offered with another grin.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie was more than a little pleased with Rosie's enthusiasm. "Well I believe that I got it when it was a couple of weeks old but it was about the size of my head, if I'm remembering correctly." Virus spent a lot of time inside his RocketDex or in a computer so its actual size was a bit hard to remember, but he could hardly forget the first time that he saw his Porygon. "Perhaps a bit smaller." He added thoughtfully as they approached the counter where they could order. "Oh, eating outside sounds very nice actually." It was a bit too cramped in the little shop for his liking.

After quickly scanning the menu the teen ordered and looked at Rosie expectantly. "You can order whatever you'd like...I'll pay." He murmured shyly.  

[Blood_Goddess]

At the explanation of how small the Porygon has been when he got it, Rosie held her hands up to give her more of an image. giving the spacing to approximately how big she thought Zacharie's head was, the result earned another smile along with a light giggle. "I wish I could have seen that. how did you get him? Did you find a breeder for them?"

At his offer to pay for her meal, blue eyes widened in surprise, but a kind smile replaced it. "Are you sure?" She asked, though didn't miss the shy way he offered. "How about this~ you get this time, and next time- I'll pay." She offered.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Sometimes I wish I had taken pictures of it when it was smaller...actually, I wish I took pictures of all of my pokemon when I first met them. I have a few of Jabari somewhere in my-" He cut himself off sharply when he thought of all of the old apartment's belongings now sitting in some storage facility, waiting for him to go through and decide what he wanted to keep and what he wanted to get rid of. "Well...I have some things that I need to go through...but I definitely want to retrieve those photographs." He finished quietly. He was thankful that his things hadn't just been carelessly thrown out, but he really wasn't sure when he'd be ready to go through everything.

Rosie's question quickly brought him out of his little reverie. "Oh well, about that..." What in the world was he supposed to say?! He had a feeling that, 'I received it from an Agent of Team Rocket' would go over too well. "...I got Virus from a friend." The teen said after a moment of awkward silence. It wasn't a lie...per say. He considered Agent Faleen a friend...of sorts. "She was very kind and gave it to me since I'm not particularly gifted with technology." Not lying, just leaving out some of the facts. Oh thank goodness, a new topic. "Yes." He said immediately, eager to leave his awkward fumbling behind. "Your plan sounds very agree- wait...n-next time?"  

[Blood_Goddess]

"It gets addicting" Rosie admitted leaning forward slightly. "If you have a gear, it has a pretty nice camera on it, some of my pokemon still won't sit still whenever i take pictures though." She said with a giggle.
She understood what he meant by things he had to go through, she remembered that being something her sister had discussed with her uncle when her mother passed away, and Luke having to go through the things that Asch had left behind in his passing.
"I would love to see what Jabari was like when he was little. I know having to search for things can be pretty rough though, so when you do find them, I would love to see them~"

A friend, that was the nicest way to get a pokemon, it gave such a beautiful meaning to the pokemon and gave a new way to bond with them. "Your friend sounds like a very caring person, to be so thoughtful." She commented, The pokemon seemed to be a good match, if he said he was that bad at computers.

Rosie couldn't help but grin and nod firmly when he had caught what she had offered. "Yup~ Well, I mean, even if it turns out that you're not Andre's brother, I would still think it would be cool to hang out sometime again. I'm having a lot of fun talking to you. You're a nice person. And if you are Andre's brother, well then, we'll definitely be seeing more of each other."  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie wasn't entirely sure he'd ever get around to going through all of the belongings that had been left to him, but if he did....he wouldn't mind going through it with Rosie. "Jabari looked like..." He glanced up at his pokemon who was trying to look uninterested but was very obviously paying attention. "Jabari...except smaller." He shrugged helplessly. It was hard to explain. "...I wouldn't mind showing you, though. Maybe the next time that we ah...hang out?" He added shyly.

Was Faleen a caring person? He didn't know too much about the robotics engineer, but he certainly thought she was pretty nice. "Well...I don't know her too well, but the times that I have talked to her she has been very kind to me." He'd like to get to know her more. She was interesting to talk to and didn't seem like one for needless chatter.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Of course today would be the day.
In the middle of coming down hard, after having just leaving another seedy motel, after having a rough night....of course Zacharie would show up on the day that he was the least prepared.
Of course.

Though his head was pounding and his body was exhausted, Andre couldn't help but feel a bit light. This couldn't be a coincidence, it just couldn't. And that was why he was practically sprinting down through the lower parts of Camphoreon. Hair pulled into a messy bun even though he still loathed the shaved undersides that he had done on a whim while not in a clear state of mind and Doc Martins unlaced, he looked rather the opposite from his usual self.

But then again, he wasn't his usual self.
None of that mattered though because he had finally found Zacharie.
He glanced repeatedly from his dex to the passing buildings, his heart beating wildly against his ribs as he grew closer and closer to his destination and then....there he was.

The information broker knew immediately. Even with his back turned and his hair haphazardly cut, there was no way that Andre could mistake him for anyone else. He came to an abrupt halt not to far from the door Rosie and Zacharie had come out of, suddenly unable to get his legs to move. His feet simply would not listen to his brain, though really...all that he could think of was the small, perfect being that was within his reach.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie grinned brightly, delighting herself with the mental image of a Shuppet, who were already pretty small being even smaller. "Baby pokemon are so cute, they grow so quickly though. In its own way I think that that's a good thing though." She admitted.

Having ordered and collected the food that they would be eating, Rosie and Zacharie took their conversation out to the patio just outside the front door.
Rosie was in the middle of saying something to her lunch companion when her words stopped in sudden surprise when she opened the door and was faced with a familiar man in a rather unfamiliar state.
"Oh- Andre" Rosie spoke with a hint of surprise in her voice.
He looked like he had run all the way here if the way he was breathing was any indication, it also looked like he had not been prepared at all, as the state he was in was not one she had ever seen from the usually well dressed clean and refined man she had gotten to know.
She could only assume he had rushed out in a hurry at the news that his brother might have been found... that in itself was really touching.

Rosie glanced over to Zacharie quickly, half holding her breath to see if they were in fact, long lost siblings, and so hoping that they were.