[FIN] When Paths Cross

[TawnyAngel]

"That... that's true," Taavi stammered, wiping his eyes on his sleeve and trying - failing - to take a steady breath. "He'd want me to keep looking, and I know he would for me." He still knew it had happened, it was a horrible sick weight in his stomach but even if he didn't believe there was any hope he had to try. "And yeah, I, I radioed for backup and some officers came out to meet us. They took us to hospital and... and took care of Jacques and made sure we both got home. Gave them a description of the Rocket and his pokemon so they'll be looking and they'll share the information. I... I didn't even notice he was gone. How could I not notice?" It felt like a betrayal.

Swift curled one of his tails around Isaac's and closed his eyes. <> he murmured quietly. <>

Having retrieved a bottle of brandy intended to go into sangria and to be used to cook dessert Zevran searched out a trio of glasses too and poured a generous splash into each. "Here," he offered simply, setting two of them down on the coffee table within Abel and Taavi's reach; if in doubt get drunk, it had always worked for him.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Good; that was progress, even if only a little. The rest of it sounded good - there would be plenty of eyes keeping watch for him, at least - but he frowned at the last parts. "It sounds like it was a pretty messy fight," he noted quietly as he accepted one of the glasses Zevran had brought and looked down at it. "It sounds like there were, what, three of you? And at least," he paused a moment to count, "six pokemon out? Probably more. I'd think it'd be pretty hard to keep track of everything that happened that whole time with that much going on."

Right through him? Isaac murmured as he curled tighter around the fire-type, ears flattening against his head. Were the rest of them safe, at least? One death was bad enough, but he didn't want to hear that they'd sustained further injury on top of that.

Abel withdrew his arm from Taavi so he could pick up the second drink with a quiet word of thanks to Zev, then offered it to Taavi. "Here, a drink would probably be good right about now." He knew at least he wanted one.  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Swift replied. <>

"Yeah, um, thanks." Taavi sniffed and glanced up at Zev before taking one of the glasses. He then inspected the contents for a few moments before downing the lot in one swallow, a move which left the inexperienced drinker coughing and gasping. "Is there any more?" he managed after a moment, holding his empty glass out expectantly. When Zevran took it from him he turned back to Abel nad nodded vaguely, trying to count. "There were... there were... s**t, I'm not sure. He had, what, four? And Sera had four out and Valour, Swift, and Sky were with me. I had Aurelia along too but I didn't let her out, she's not ready for a fight like that yet."

With all of the coughing Zevran assumed that Taavi wasn't used to drinking heavily and so while he refilled the glass as requested he didn't put in so much this time. "Sip now, alright?" he instructed as he passed it back. "If they gave you anything with opioides - ah, how do you say it? Drugs like morphine - for your arm then you shouldn't go wild." Or you might stop breathing, but no need to mention that unless he didn't listen this time.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Isaac exhaled a long breath. Isabella was safe then, but at what cost? he agreed with a sigh,

"s**t," Abel said with a frown, "that's a lot more than six then - almost double that - plus the three of you.. No, I think it's understandable to lose track of at least a few things in that mess." Not that that would change or fix anything, of course, but it sounded like there was far too much going on. How could any of them have hoped to keep track of everything? If they had, then he was sure Valour wouldn't have been stolen and - what was his name? - Jacques wouldn't have died. Maybe. Sometimes even when you were keeping tabs on everything, it all still went to s**t regardless. Not that he wanted to mention that at the moment, of course. Instead he mimicked Taavi and downed the contents of his glass at once, but unlike his friend he was well practiced in the consumption of alcohol; he set his empty glass down on the table without issue. While he agreed with Zev, he didn't see the need to comment on it - or rather repeat the comment Zev already made - so he opted for another. "It's probably for the best you didn't let her out then, I don't think her inexperience would've done her any favors in a situation like that."  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Swift curled up a bit tighter. <> He trailed off, unable to express the horrors he'd seen in the Scyther's eyes.

"No, no it's best she stayed safe," Taavi agreed, nodding numbly and wiping his streaming eyes again. "She couldn't have helped, she'd just have been hurt or worse. I... I... If I hadn't taken them hunting when I did...." What would have happened to Sera and her pokemon? More dead? One of them taken? "...Valour wouldn't've wanted not to be there to help though. He... Dad's friends named him well."

Ah, s**t, this was very emotional and he had no idea what to do about it all. In lieu of anything like a helpful human response Zevran refilled Abel's glass and perched on the arm of the sofa to sip at his own drink.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The Espeon didn't know what to say either, so instead he laid his head over Swift's shoulders.

Abel's arm returned to Taavi's shoulders. He didn't know Taavi's dad or his dad's friends even remotely, he just knew Taavi himself and Valour. "No, I think you're right; he would've wanted to be there. I'm sure she appreciated the help, too," he added, though he didn't know the girl himself to know for sure. He could only assume she did.

When Zevran refilled his glass, Abel looked at it for a few moments with a soft frown; he wasn't going to drink more, but now that it was sitting in front of him... He picked it up and took a sip of it. "This is my last one," he said mostly for Zevran, since he was the one wielding the bottle.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeah. He would." With nothing else to say right away Taavi sipped at his drink and looked down at the floor.

Zevran nodded acknowledgement to Abel; it was probably best and best too not to give Taavi anymore refills, he'd get Amigo to keep a sucker on the bottle. "Perhaps you should rest when you have had your drink Taavi," he suggested in what he hoped were appropriate tones, soft and gentle. "Tomorrow maybe your friends in the KSO will have leads to follow?" As he spoke he glanced over at Abel for support, or if not support then a better suggestion.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

He didn't have anything to say either, at least right away, so Abel opted to finish off the rest of his drink before setting the empty glass down on the table. After Zevran spoke, the taller blond nodded his head. "Yeah, that's a good idea. You can give them a call tomorrow and see, though that might be a bit too soon; they might not have found anything by then. You should try to rest though, like he said," the blond agreed with a small nod and a gentle squeeze of Taavi's shoulder, "though I know it'll be hard." It always was after terrible things like this. They never got easier to handle, and relaxing afterwards always seemed impossible.  

[TawnyAngel]

Rest? How was he supposed to rest? They were probably right but Abel was very right, he couldn't imagine lying down and letting himself sleep when Valour might be.... He knew how Abel felt when Isaac had disappeared now. He wished he didn't.

"Yeah," Taavi agreed hollowly after a heavy silence, "I guess you're right, I should." Tomorrow he'd have to explain to the others what had happened too but not tonight, not tonight. The amber liquid in his glass drew his attention again then and despite Zevran's suggestion he finished it in one gulp again and ended up coughing and gasping again too; maybe the alcohol along with the painkillers would at least knock him out for tonight, he hoped they would.

Zevran relieved Taavi of his empty glass without comment and took it over to the kitchen counter, something to deal with tomorrow. If Taavi was going to sleep now then perhaps he probably ought to leave but he found himself hesitant to do so with both Abel and Taavi injured, what if they needed...? Something? Something none of the pokemon could do like.... Something involving proper fingers? Unaccustomed to the feeling of worry gnawing at his insides and unsure of what to do about it Zevran found himself turning to Abel, perhaps his friend would give him some indication.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yeah," Abel agreed as he gave Taavi's shoulder a gentle squeeze. At a loss for what else to say at the moment, the taller blond stood with some difficulty, grabbed his own empty glass and brought it into the kitchen to place with the others Zevran had brought in. Once he was sure the former wouldn't see, he passed a hand over his face that continued up into his hair. Arceus, what a mess this was... "Thanks for sticking around," he said with a wan smile to his shorter blond friend, though the expression didn't reach his eyes, "and sorry dinner didn't really work out tonight. We can do it another night though, yeah?"

While the pair of humans were in the kitchen, Vanessa crept out over, her blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and clambered up onto the couch without using her arms. Once she'd twisted around and got comfortable, she curled up next to Taavi and carefully spread part of her blanket over his legs.  

[TawnyAngel]

Vanessa's blanket. Taavi stopped staring at an unremarkable point on the wall opposite him and turned to the Lopunny. "Thank you," he managed to mumble as he curled his fingers into the soft material and then, after a moment, lent slightly against her for the comfort of a friend's presence.

Well at least it sounded as though remaining had been the right decision. Zevran gave an unhappy smile of his own and reached out to give Abel's arm a squeeze. "De nada, and yes another time.... Ah.... I do not wish to intrude but I feel," he frowned as he tried to articulate what he wanted to, "I feel as though I should stay? Neither of you are in good shape, if you should need something?..." He trailed off again and shrugged, offering another weak smile. "I am at your service should you need it, gladly... Perhaps gladly is the wrong word tonight but you follow my meaning? If I can be of any help at all I would like to be."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Vanessa curled up more comfortably on the couch and adjusted her blanket, giving Taavi a bit more of it, before she nuzzled her small nose into his upper arm.

The hand in his hair slid down to the back of his neck and his arm hung from it as he glanced back into the living room where Taavi sat. After a moment or two of thought he turned the same smile to Zevran. "I think we'll be okay for tonight. Thank you though," he added, sincerity creeping into his tones, "I appreciate the thought."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Well..." Zevran glanced towards the living room for a moment before looking back to Abel and nodding. "If you are sure then I will take my leave." He then gave another unsmiling-smile and added; "You are most welcome for the thought, and if you do need anything you know I am only a message away at any time of the day or night?" He owed Abel... But no that wasn't it, it wasn't about a tally of who had done what for who it was just... Well it was just what it was, he didn't need to be able to put it perfectly into words of even into thoughts. "If I hear nothing I will come by tomorrow, you should both be eating well to heal from your injuries." The pair of them were skinny as sticks, hardly a surprise given their apparent diet of noodles, coffee, and in Abel's case cigarettes.


Back on the couch Taavi had gone back to staring at the wall as he played the whole of the battle over in his mind again, trying to work out how he could have made it end differently. It was obvious really wasn't it? He should have had six pokemon with him, and he needed to train all of them harder than ever and to train himself harder too. They'd start tomorrow, it was too late for Valour but they couldn't start sooner. Arceus have mercy, he wished they had started sooner.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I know," he affirmed with a brief nod, though his expression turned rather sheepish a moment later. Even though Zevran had noticed their poor diets, their poor figures, their poor cabinets, their poor - well, everything - he never really asked or commented on it. He'd had every opportunity to do so, but instead of bringing it up directly, he'd simply taken it upon himself to fix it instead. Why else would he bring so many ingredients, insist on making dinner so often now? Not only did he care about them both enough to make sure they had enough food to eat - and did, in fact, eat - but he cared enough not to ask why. Surely he'd been curious, surely he had his suspicions - because obviously he'd noticed - but he didn't voice or ask anything on the subject, and for both of those Abel was immensely grateful.

"Yeah, we should," the taller blond agreed as he stepped forward to wrap Zevran in a brief hug, holding him lightly lest he inadvertently hurt his chest, and for a moment just took solace in the fact that someone else actually cared about them and their shitty lives -- their shitty lives that only seemed to get shittier by the day. "Thanks." A few seconds later he drew back and aimed a tired smile that held a bit more warmth than the previous one at his friend. "So I guess we'll see you tomorrow sometime?" Morning, probably; he had a sneaking suspicion Zevran was going to turn into some kind of mother hen of sorts.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran returned the gentle embrace for as long as Abel wanted to hold it, and as they parted again he slid his hand down Abel's arm to catch hold of his fingers and squeeze them for a moment. "Yes, tomorrow, perhaps for a late breakfast? I will make pancakes." He wished one of them would tell him what was going on but it seemed to be a tight secret between the roommates. That it all had something to do with Alyssa he was almost certain but that was all he felt able to even hazard a guess on; until one or other wished to confide he would simply have to remain curious and patch over the cracks in their lives when he noticed them, especially in Abel's.

"Until tomorrow then," Zevran continued with another brief flash of a wan smile. "And message me sooner if you wish, promise? Good." With this said and done Zevran moved quietly to the door, picked up his boots and slipped out holding them so as not to make more of a disturbance than he had to.

On the other side the blond's smile faded and his warm eyes hardened. Team Rocket, eh? How much could he find out about them without risking his neck? Only one way to find out.