[FIN] I'd feel a lot better if my mom weren't dead.

[Suudonym]

If so, he couldn't help but think that someone or something had a cruel sense of humor, but he refrained from voicing those thoughts. For now, it was enough of a challenge just to survive.

He stirred the soup idly, not especially put off at all by the scent or appearance but not really hungry enough to eat thoughtlessly. "There's a regular examination scheduled in a couple weeks," he said, "but apparently the cardiologist recently retired, so I think I'm supposed to go in and meet the new one." Made sense enough, he supposed, given how frequently he visited the hospital's cardiology department.  

[Tori Honoo]

"I'm sure it'll be fine...so long as you don't go rescuing anyone again any time soon," she told him, hoping to be encouraging.

She watched him stirr his soup, then let her eyes fall to her own as she thought of what to say next. "So, what type of Pokemon do you have? If I remember correctly, you had a flying type..." she blinked, then laughed at herself. "Obviously," she corrected herself. Otherwise, how would he have been able to fly...?  

[Suudonym]

He laughed weakly at the response, "Yeah, not really something I'm thinking about penciling into my schedule any time soon." As long as the people he encountered weren't penciling a need to be rescued into their own schedules, of course.

A nod as he took a few small bites from the bowl. "A Pidgeot," he clarified, "and an Aggron, an Umbreon, an Eevee… There's a Mew that follows me around a lot because it likes this song I know, but I haven't really tried catching it or anything." The gentle expression became slightly strained. "I had a Flareon before too." It felt outright cruel to speak of his pokemon without mention of the fire-type.  

[Tori Honoo]

"A mew?!" she asked excitedly, eyes twinkling with interest. "I'd give anything to have a mew!" She tilted her head at him, trying her best to contain herself. "That's funny that it follows you because you sing," she giggled, assuming that's what the boy had meant by its liking a 'song he knew.' {color=purple] "You must have a beautiful voice for a pokemon like that to follow you around."

At his change in expression, however, her face fell. Though she was hesitant to do so, she had to ask. "'had'?"  

[Suudonym]

"It's nothing like that," he said defensively, though the expression he wore was more embarrassed than offended. "He just likes the melody I guess…" He cleared his throat lightly. In the first place, he wasn't knowledgable enough about pokemon to understand what made a Mew so desirable anyway. He recalled something about them being particularly elusive; perhaps the rarity was what appealed so greatly.

As far as Luke was concerned, he didn't really have any right to be particularly upset about story of his lost Flareon, and so he exhaled lightly when he realized he was holding his breath he had drawn in. "He was stolen during the summer, by someone in Team Rocket."  

[Tori Honoo]

She smiled lightly at his embarrassment; Luke really was cute. "I'll have to keep that in mind next time I'm out and about on my own..."

When the conversations was sobered however, she tucked her hair behind her ear, watching him. "I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to bring up..."

She fell quiet a moment, then spoke again. "I keep hearing about this 'Team Rocket'..."  

[Suudonym]

He shook his head, "It's okay. It was my own fault it happened in the first place."

The question of Team Rocket and everything they represented and implied was a broad one, and Luke was quietly thoughtful about it for a few moments. "They were already pretty firmly rooted before I got here. Basically, it's an organization that steals and exploits pokemon. The first major problem I ever witnessed with them was during a contest being held in Sandalwood - they showed up and stole a bunch of pokemon, and hurt a bunch of people too." He raised his eyes with an expression bordering on apology, "My brother is involved with them too, so…" He wasn't particularly sure of what Asch's intentions were, though. As far as he knew, the only pokemon his brother had stolen had eventually been returned under no conditions or pretense.  

[Tori Honoo]

The girl kept her eyes low, listening as he told her of the criminals, making mental note of almost every detail he offered. It 'steals and exploits' pokemon...? A contest.... hurting people.....A brother?

She let the silence linger between them a few moments more, processing everything. "That sounds horrible. Thank you for telling me, though. At least I know what to look out for, now..." The fact they had ransacked a contest hit home with the girl-- security had always been so tight at the contests back home... If this organization had been able to break their ranks, what would stop them from stealing Lovey or Sparky from her? And poor Luke, his Flareon taken...

Changing the subject--though not by much-- she asked simply, "Your brother? I didn't know you had a brother..."

Honestly, she didn't know much about him at all, though she was more than willing to know more. He seemed like a good person, and it wouldn't hurt to make closer friends.  

[Suudonym]

A nod acknowledging the words. Team Rocket's influence had been one of the first things he learned about when he arrived in the region, and though he had underestimated the implications, it had still given him some sense of expectation and preparation for his first encounter with the villain; that was all anyone could really hope for. Unpreparedness and naivety were just invitations for attack.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "a twin brother actually. He works with Team Rocket, but he doesn't really seem like a bad person most of the time." The words were a bit impersonal coming from someone who was supposedly talking about his own brother.  

[Tori Honoo]

At the boy's description of his brother, she offered a serial smile. "Well... Not everyone is black and white, you know. I'm sure if he's anything like you, he's got his reasons for being a part of...Team Rocket..."

Eating a few more notes of her soup, she sat the bowl aside, setting her hands on her folded knee, deciding again to change the subject to something lighter...at least for Luke. "It's neat that you're a twin, though. My best friends from him are twins. They've got red hair, too, actually..."

She'd look more into this team rocket business later.  

[Suudonym]

"I don't know if you could call us much alike," he said with a slight laugh. "Though I guess I don't actually know him very well. I've only met him a few times, and before I came to Kodo I didn't even know he existed." Most of what he had seen from his brother was anger or annoyance directed towards his general existence, so as far as an impression of Asch's personality went… there wasn't much to go on.

Being regions away from one's closest friends, he mused, sounded like an awfully lonely thing - well, rather than sound like, Luke knew it from experience to be true. "Do they get along well?" he asked, curious about what kind relationship twins normally had. Obviously his with his brother was quite out of the ordinary.  

[Tori Honoo]

She blinked. "Well...they're certainly close..." she told him, in mention of her friends. "Basically inseparable, attached at the hip. The other girls in school called them 'little devils' because of their charm and tricks..." after they had broken most of their hearts, she added mentally. "They actually used to be so close that they were just flat out rude to other people, but that was while I was abroad, really working on my career..." She shrugged a little. "They finally branchednout and made new friends after middle school, though. They're really great guys... A little entitled and spoiled, but they'd always been good friends to me. I miss them a lot."

She regarded him a moment. "That must have been...an experience," she said, meaning meeting his brother for the first time. "How did you find out about him...?"  

[Suudonym]

Luke listened with all interest, confused and amazed that two people could be so impossibly close. "Kind of sounds like the other extreme," he commented, "but I guess it works out, huh? Better than hating each other, at least." Ahh, he really missed his own best friend, though. But he didn't want to bother him while he was off training…

"First I only heard of him, that someone who looked just like me stole Rosie's Vaporeon," he explained. "I thought Guy was exaggerating about our similarity, and then I met him myself. I'd always been told I was an only child, so it was… more than a little disconcerting." And then he'd had his a** kicked in battle by the stranger who had the exact same face as his own. Those had been strange days.  

[Tori Honoo]

She nodded, smiling faintly. "Extreme is a pretty good description of them, that's for sure," she said, though her smile faded quickly as she realized just how much she missed them.

Instead of voicing her troubles, she listened closely as he again spoke of his brother. "That must have been...wow. That's just.."

She found herself unable to voice her opinion on the matter--it was just that odd. Instead, she asked "Did Rosie ever get it back? Her Vaporeon?" Surely he had seen his brother since then, especially if his mother had just passed away so recently. How could you go through life without knowing of your other self? A sibling would have been strange enough, but a twin...  

[Suudonym]

A nod, "He actually gave it back himself, for some reason. Didn't really say why…" That one was just a total mystery. What had inspired Asch to return the water-type? Surely it wasn't out of pure compassion for Rosie, whom he had met maybe twice before and been quite unkind to both times.