[Fin] Digging up the Past

[TawnyAngel]

Dith had been about to speak when Julietta returned with their drinks and took their food orders - Dith was having mushrooms stuffed with ricotta and spinach followed by a seafood tagliatelle, a decision made in a split second because he hadn't really looked at the menu that much. Once Julietta had departed again he sipped at his wine and frowned some more as he tried to remember the conversation.

"Let me.... Ahh.... We talked a little bit about ourselves? You know, who are you where do you come from and so on. I asked about her career that she said was over and then...." It was hard to remember, it had been a while ago and he hadn't really been in the frame of mind to remember stuff well. Also, as he'd said, drugs. "Oh yes, then she started talking about going to Sandalwood Uni to get a medical degree? I don't think she really understood what was involved but we resolved that.... Ah! That was it!" Dith sat up a bit straighter; yes, he did remember because it had been weird. "She started telling me about her ah, her family issues? About what was expected of people of her rank, told me her father was sort of equivalent in rank to Luke's? Anyway she talked about that for a while and then she said that she needed to repair relations with her family and also with all of you. Ah, something about meeting you all at hard times and her making it worse? She lamented not being able to get close to anyone, and that it was hard to be as alone as she was having been used to always being surrounded by people. She never actually explained what had happened though so I'm afraid I don't actually know what the falling out was."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

When Julietta returned, Sera used Dith's few moments of indecision to her advantage - mostly so she could actually read the menu instead of just glare at it - and so she had a little more time to think of her own order, which happened to be pasta in light sauce topped with shrimp. Dith seemed like he had to think quite a bit before speaking after Julietta left - not that Sera could blame him, given how long ago this all felt - so while he spoke she took two small plates, set one in front of herself and one in front of Anastasia, plucked two breadsticks from the little basket of them and placed on each of their plates. The dark-type happily turned in her chair and began trying to politely take bites of the treat without waving the whole thing about in the process. She mostly succeeded.

Sera's brows rose a bit when Dith straightened and exclaimed after remembering, and she took a bite of her own breadstick and chewed thoughtfully. "That's kind of funny, given as far as I know where she used to live didn't have a Parliament or whatever like Grande Ile does, so I don't know how she could make that comparison," the brunette said with a derisive snort, "so I kind of doubt her father was any kind of 'rank' like that, unless she means in some sort of business..." Hmm. Repair relations? Meeting all of them at hard times and needing to repair things... "The only thing I can think of like that," she started slowly, her brows knitting together as she thought, "was all the s**t that happened after Luke's brother died, and Dove was a useless idiot with him in the hospital and an even bigger useless idiot after that, so I had to set her straight after that." Sera took a vicious bite of her breadstick as she slowly recalled the events around that time. "I don't remember if she did anything to upset Rosie around then though, besides the dumb s**t she did to Luke."  

[TawnyAngel]

As Sera spoke Dith looked increasingly displeased; he picked up a breadstick of his own but put it down on his side plate before taking a bite and drank more wine instead. "She lied to me then. She's from Sinnoh, I remember she told me that, and she said that her father was a high ranking politician equivalent to Luke's father." She'd lied to him? Why? What reason had he given her for.... No, it wasn't about anything he was or had done was it?

Dith harrumphed and sat back in his chair, his massive shoulders shifting as he tried to release the tension building in them. "I can... imagine her not being the best in such circumstances. But I can tell that a lot more happened after that that I must have missed? She never mentioned such things to me again that I recall, but it is interesting I suppose that she only ever met me away from the rest of you. Other than the desert and the boat party I don't think I ever saw her and you or Roise or Luke at the same time."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"From the little bits and pieces I know, Luke's father was one of probably a dozen or so politicians that were in charge of running the entire country. I find it hard to believe that Dove's father was in a similar position - especially since the League runs pretty much everything in all of the League-populated regions. Unless of course she meant he was some hotshot politician within the League, but I've heard her pokemon training was complete and utter s**t initially and for a while after that so I can't imagine that's the case," the brunette ended with an excessive shrug. Maybe her father was some high-ranking League person who had a piss poor trainer for a daughter? That would've been pretty funny, actually, but she had a hard time imagining that as what was really true.

Not mentioning them again? "She was good at that," Sera went on darkly, absentmindedly squishing the end of the breadstick between her fingers. "Half-truths, lying by omission, not telling the whole story, conveniently leaving things out that made her look bad - oh yes, she was very good at that, if I recall. She did that to Rosie after the bullshit with Luke - everything she said and did to him, and then she only told Rosie part of it, probably left out all the parts she thought would make her look bad, so Rosie didn't know the whole story until I.. Actually, do you know all of the s**t that happened around then? Not all of it," she waved the breadstick dismissively; he was asking her to tell him about the things Dove said and did, so of course he didn't know all of it, "I mean, how much do you know? We'd probably be here all day if I combed through literally everything she did."  

[TawnyAngel]

Lies and damn lies hu. Dith broke his breadstick, wishing it was something rather more substantial so he'd get some satisfaction out of it. He felt like an idiot, he'd just trusted everything she'd said and-

"сука," he muttered under his breath, he'd trusted her and helped her and he baked for her and welcome her into his home and she'd been lying the whole time? "I never knew a lot about how league regions were operated so I didn't question her," Dith replied eventually, breaking one of the halves of his breadstick in half again. "It seems to me that I really know nothing at all about anything relating to her in relation to other people. I was away at first, when she arrived I guess and then... I was a bit preoccupied I suppose. Mmh, and alright then, could you give me the highlights? I feel as though I should be properly informed should she pop up in my life again."

It was quite possible that Sera was biased of course but he didn't think for a moment she'd lie to him, and that was different to his mistaken belief that Dove had been truthful; he had known Sera for several years and through various forms of crap. He trusted her.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I didn't either before, but I've picked up bits and pieces here and there over time," she said with another shrug, then finished off her breadstick while she considered how to continue. He was away for a time and had missed a lot, it seemed, but she couldn't quite remember when he'd left or when he'd come back. He was certainly there for the thing in the desert, but he must've come back at some point before then, right? "Well, I think it mostly all started around when Luke's brother died. How much do you know about that whole thing?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Mmh." Dith frowned and shook his head slightly. "I know the outcome but that's all, not what led to it or the ah..." He trailed off, looking for the right words in the right language through his growing anger at Dove. "The things that happened around the time?" he added eventually, lips pressing together in displeasure at the inadequate phrasing. "If you follow me. I thought... eh, I never thought it was right to sit down and go 'so this painful thing that happened, tell me all about it for my curiosity please Luke?'"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera nodded as she reached for another breadstick to place on Anya's plate to replace the first, then picked up her glass of wine to take a sip. Mm, wine. "Well, long story short, his brother committed suicide," only a partial explanation but she didn't really feel like going into the full story when it wasn't hers to tell, "while Luke was in the hospital. There's a lot more to it, of course, but that's the really short version. His first visitor when he woke up - Dove - realized his brother had left a suicide note, so she decided it would be in his best interest for her to just pick it up and read it aloud for him, so she did. Obviously that didn't end well," the brunette went on with a glower at the table, "as he got so upset and she didn't know what to do, so I guess she panicked because she called a nurse who came in and sedated him, and then she left," she ended as she viciously tore off a piece of breadstick with her teeth and chewed it aggressively, glaring at a corner of the table the whole time. "So that's that ******** up." One of many -- far too many, though even one was too many in her book where her best friends were concerned.  

[TawnyAngel]

....

"She did that?" Dith's incredulity could only have been rivalled by somebody from the 5th century being told about the moon landing; it sounded just as out of this world. "How- why- who the hell did she think she was to pick that up and read it?" What? What?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Isn't that the question of the century?" Sera countered with a scowl, though the expression smoothed out and she shrugged excessively, "I really don't know. Maybe she was just really curious? I know for a fact she didn't ask him if she could read it, she just picked it up and read it to him. She told me later some bullshit about thinking he shouldn't have to be alone when he read it, but that's the thing," she jabbed the jagged end of her breadstick at the air, "he probably shouldn't have been alone when reading it, which would be fine. He could've had a nurse there or better yet Rosie or me or someone else, someone who actually would try to help and let him read it when he was ready instead of deciding he should know its contents right then and reading it for him and then not handling the consequences," she finished with another scowl. Ugh. Ugh. The whole ordeal made her blood boil all over again.  

[TawnyAngel]

"She read it," Dith repeated, and yet incredulity was giving way to- "...It makes sense. She thought everything was her business, didn't she?" Me me me. "Yes, you're right, there should have been somebody close to him there to be there for him when he chose to read it! Or even asked to have it read, Блядь, what did she think gave her the right?" How dare she? And this girl he had comforted about her stupid imagined problems, had welcomed to his home, would have done pretty well any favour for and this was what she did to his real friends? The ones who gave a crap about him beyond his existence as a- a- as a prop? Maybe a nice mirror to lament her own oh so hard life in? What hardship had she ever known? Oh no! A few scars! Poor precious dear! He should have trusted his first thoughts, the ones the had muttered she seemed superficial, but no he had insisted on 'looking deeper' and what had that done? Ugh!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yep," Sera affirmed without hesitation, then snorted. "She probably did. I know she got on my case about 'why is it any of your business' when I chewed her out for it later, as if she was one to talk.. But as I said, I think that was the one that started it. I know she saw him in the park sometime after that and from what I heard, it sounds like she was trying to be too helpful and too nice and too supportive - probably to make up for how she pretty much didn't do s**t in the hospital, as if that's how that works - and she basically made everything ten times worse. I think she kept hugging him or something and wouldn't stop and it made him really uncomfortable, and from what I remember from Luke, basically she made him go over everything that happened and by the end of this shittiest of therapy sessions, he was asking her to kill him," she ended as she viciously squished her breadstick between her fingers and glared at it. "The kicker was she didn't even realize how much she wasn't helping, so she didn't stop until Yuri happened to walk by and made her stop and told her to leave."  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith muttered under his breath to himself briefly in his native tongue; anyone close enough to hear who could understand him would have heard a vague self recrimination about placing trust where it didn't belong, a quote from somebody other than himself phrased in clipped hard words. Maybe if he'd known from the moment he got into the jeep what a Mew was he would have been a bit reserved but he hadn't, he'd just seen a young girl who seemed alone. Kindness was a virtue he guessed but you left yourself open to royally screwing up if you failed to fact check with other people.

After a few moments Dith sighed, took a deep drink of his wine and said; "Well, I officially misjudged her. By a lot it seems. I thought," he made a small gesture with his glass, "she was just maybe a little spoiled and awkward. But I never saw her around anyone else much, and when I did... I suppose I gave her too much of the benefit of the doubt of what I saw. And that was just the start of it? There was more afterwards?" Sometimes... sometimes you just trusted the wrong people, and sometimes in a big way. It wasn't Dove that came to mind with that thought, it was Jack. He needed to tell somebody. They'd been the best of friends once upon a time but... but that had been once upon a time. He had different friends now and if Jack was what he thought he was then he was quite sure that the small man wouldn't hesitate to harm them. He should tell Sera, here, now, before he chickened out... After they finished speaking about Dove perhaps.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"A little?" The brunette scoffed and took a sip of her own wine. "She wasn't just spoiled, she practically oozed money and all the stupidity that comes with it." A pause, a frown, and a quick, self-deprecating laugh later, "I should know." While she hadn't originally, Sera had become acutely aware over the past few years of just how spoiled and ignorant she'd been. She certainly hadn't become a know-it-all since then or become a well-rounded individual, but she had at least realized those flaws and had worked on them somewhat. Dove, on the other hand, had never seemed to realize them like she had.

"Mm," she swallowed another sip of wine and carefully set the glass down, "the thing with Luke in the hospital was the start of it pretty much, I think. After that was the thing in the park, and then after that was her talking to Rosie about Luke in the hospital - or maybe that happened before she saw Luke in the park? I don't know which of the two happened first, but that was when she told Rosie all about what happened, while of course leaving out a few important details like how she read the note without even asking and called a nurse who sedated him and things like that. Rosie was really upset when I told her about it," the girl ended with a frown. Understandably, of course - Sera herself had been rather pissed off over it. "I think I talked to Luke about it before I talked to Rosie," she made a thoughtful face as she tried to recall the events in the proper order, "but either way, after that I called Dove out to give her a good dressing down for that bullshit behavior. She didn't really take it well - mostly just sat there, which was kind of odd, and took turns crying over it or just looking uncomfortable."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, well, there is that," Dith replied with a faint smile for Sera's self-awareness, she'd sure changed a lot since he'd first met her. Given everything that had happened that was hardly surprising though, and not to mention the fact that she was no longer a teenager; most teenagers were pretty dumb in one way or another.

"Mmh, but yes." Dith started to frown again as he rolled the rest of what Sera had said around in his mind. "So she lied by omission and completely failed to apologise for what she did, and also had the nerve to go on at somebody else about it not being their business." That just made no sense. "How did she figure it was her's but not yours?... Mmh, and things didn't improve from there I take it? At the new years party on the boat I don't think I saw her speak to any of you, she was with Yuri." He remembered her dress, partially because it had been very sparkly but mainly because he remembered what Kirk had said about it; he'd told him not to be so unkind at the time, to which the redhead had scoffed and said something like if she wanted attention she should be prepared for not all of it to be good. But anyway the point was that he really hadn't seen her interact with Luke, Rosie, or Sera at all all night. That was a pretty long time to avoid people you knew on a party boat.