[Fin] The customer is always right!

[TawnyAngel]

Did... did Gummy want something? Taavi looked down at him. "Um, are you... still hungry Gummy?" The others seemed to be doing fine helping themselves to Hen's food! "Ah, well, there are lots of and grass types. You also get Poochyena and Mightyena around the edge of town; they can be a problem if they're not getting enough food, upsetting people's bins or... err... harassing them." Harassing as in 'hunting' but Hen probably didn't want to know that. Much as he would rather it wasn't a thing that happened, well, when you were hungry you did what you had to and in turn he and the other rangers had done what they needed to to make sure people stayed safe. It would be different if the people were wandering into the Mightyena's territory not the other way around of course but that hadn't been the situation they were dealing with.

"Zigzagoon and Linoone the same but less harassing people more just litter nuisance and... also sneaking into people's houses to thieve food and shiny things," Taavi continued, "Outside the city you also get Absol sometimes though quite rarely. Oh! Tropius! Outside the city again, to the east mainly, but yeah you sometimes see them. They're amazing, one let me ride it once! We were friends for a little while but then she migrated away deeper into the woods, looking for a mate I think. Heh, honestly I like all pokemon so I'll say 'yes!' to any you care to name. I think they're all really amazing in their different ways."  

[Gwennythe]

"Yeah! Man! Riding a Tropius?! That's so cool! I'd totally love to ride a Tropius! I like all pokémon too! Ooh! How is Valour?! He's so cool! I'd totally love to ride on him one day if you think he'd let me?!"

Gummy was addressed and so Henrietta let Gummy answer.
Gummy's answer was to remain frozen in the position he'd adopted.  

[TawnyAngel]

Well that... was not a lot of help. At all. Taavi turned to Henrietta for help. "Err.... Is he still hungry, do you know? But yeah," he nodded, "Um, I'll ask him but I shouldn't think he'd mind. He'd good! Probably out flying or looking for food at the moment, he likes to be out a lot during the day because it's pretty small in the apartment." He felt bad that he didn't get to spend so much time with his friend now and worse that it would continue to be the case for a while but he had to work, and right now that work wasn't something Valour could participate in. Maybe they could get work as couriers, or fast food delivery or something? Something to look into anyway.  

[Gwennythe]

"Gummy? You still hungry?" Henrietta asked.
Gummy let a trickle of water escape both sides of his mouth.
Henrietta smiled triumphantly, as though that explain everything, failing to elaborate, as though she thought Taavi would understand it.

"Oh cool! Yeah! He's super big! Small apartments aren't good for flying in!"  

[TawnyAngel]

Okay so the water trickle meant something? But what? He felt like he should understand and embarrassed that he didn't, he ought to right? "Um, sorry," Taavi brushed his hand back over his hair, "I... I don't know what Gummy meant. I guess I'm not very good at understanding him yet... sorry. Um, but no, but it's cheap! That's good at least." It was also within sight of the tower that housed The Egg. It was also in a... ah... in a not very nice neighbourhood but he wasn't there all that often and he had a giant killer bird so he didn't feel too unsafe. He still hated hearing the people in the next apartment argue though, it seemed to go on all night sometimes. Why couldn't they just leave one another and have it done with? They weren't doing anyone any favours by sticking together and pretending it was going to work.  

[Gwennythe]

"That's okay! He's kinda odd sometimes!" Henrietta grinned and vastly understated.
"He's saying he finished his steak and no he's not hungry!" He might not have been saying that at all. He might well have not been saying anything.
He was still dribbling water.

"Yeah! Cheap's good! I totally spent so much of my money after I first got here! I won a battle thing and I got paid a lot of prize money! I spent it real quick though!"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Haha," Taavi sort-of laughed and shrugged. "I hate spending money. I guess I'm a bit mean with it. If I had a big chunk of money I'd do something boring with it, probably just save it." He sometimes thought it would be nice to be more spontaneous in that way, but then he thought that it was probably a bad idea. Did he worry too much, or exactly the right amount, or too little? He was trying not to judge at all but did Hen ever worry about anything? How long was she going to get by in life doing... er... whatever she did? "So.... bit of a different question. Um. What sort of plans do you have for the future? Like, what would you like to be doing in five years? Where do you think you'll be living?"

Also he still wasn't sure what Gummy's drooling meant, despite Hen's assurances. She probably did know him best but.... Well he didn't seem to be unhappy and he was clearly much loved, that was what mattered.  

[Gwennythe]

"Saving's cool! My parents save some of mine for me!" Henrietta explained, then widened her eyes at the questions.
"Five years?! Where I'll be living?! Man! I've got no idea! I totally just wanna be a trainer forever! I plan to get really strong and be really cool!"  

[TawnyAngel]

That was probably a good thing; at least she had a backup somewhere, and also backup in the form of her parents but who wanted to go home admitting they'd failed to make it on their own? Not him that was for sure. "I'd like to be a ranger again," Taavi offered in response with a shrug, taking a sip of his water. "Um, but I suppose we'll have to see? I hope you can keep being a trainer though." He couldn't imagine Hen working a job like this... or most entry level jobs if he was honest. No, she was made for something freer and more spontaneous like - well - pokemon training. If she could make a living off that then he was glad for her, it sounded like a pretty good sort of a way to live though the lack of security would worry him.  

[Gwennythe]

"Thanks! And I hope you get to be a ranger again! It's a totally awesome job and you and Valour seem like partners who are totally made for that kinda thing! Man, you really oughta to talk to the KSO though! They're so cool and I bet they could totally help you out with how to go about being a ranger again!" She knew they didn't really deal with poachers, but aside from the police, the KSO was the closest thing to 'ranger' than Henrietta knew.
"Hey! Does this place do dessert?!"  

[TawnyAngel]

Maybe he should, it sounded like they were pretty cool. Maybe he could take a trip up to that northern center when he had a couple of days off in a row?

"Oh, dessert? Yeah." Taavi picked up a menu and indicated the back of it. "There's icecream, sundaes, apple pie, hot chocolate fudge cake, hot chocolate brownies, a lemon cheesecake, or pecan pie. They're all really good! The, um, the non ice-cream stuff gets made at a bakery the other side of the city so it's all pretty local and made on a small scale."  

[Gwennythe]

"Ooh! Brownies! Ice cream! So cool! What you two want?!" She beamed at the Eevees, who were climbing up onto the table to join Gummy and Moldy.
They yipped and wagged their tails. Horizon moved to place her paw on Moldy. Moldy did not look impressed but didn't complain.

"Ooh! Pie?! Good choice!" Apparently 'paw on Moldy' meant pie...

Gummy closed his mouth.  

[TawnyAngel]

O...kay, fine, he'd go with that. Best not question it.

"Hello, are you folks done with your mains?"

This was asked by Gary. Gary, in Taavi's opinion, was Cool. He was twenty two with pale skin, dark brown eyes with vivid orange rings around the outsides, and light orange hair that was shaved on one side. He was also tall, skinny in a fashionable sort of way, and made black jeans with a black top and the red apron look good. He had opinions about music that Taavi would never have dared venture and he was in a band. Also - and this was key - he was confident and seemed genuinely at ease with just about everything. Taavi was determined to go to one of his gigs one day and learn enough about music to make conversation.

"Um, hi Gary," Taavi ventured. "Um. Yeah. I think... did you want a dessert Henrietta?" He was pretty full himself and though the desserts were tempting they weren't tempting enough for him to spend money on them.

Gary looked over at Hen, smiled a bit, and nodded. "Can I get you something then m'am?"  

[Gwennythe]

"My name's not M'am!" Henrietta giggled and shook her head.
"I'm Henrietta! Or Hen! Some people call me Hen! Do you work here with Taavi? Isn't he cool? He was a ranger, did you know!? That's super cool! Oh yeah! I totally wanted some brownies please! And some ice cream! And those two," She gestured to the two Eevees who were thrusting their noses toward Gary "want some pie! Gummy and Moldy can share my ice cream!"

Gummy chose that moment to let another small torrent of water run from his mouth onto the table.  

[TawnyAngel]

Gary kept smiling, if in a slightly puzzled way.

Taavi flailed to wipe up the water.

"Oh, Taavi, right," Gary nodded as understanding dawned, "I forgot that was your name. And yea, he knows a lot about pokemon right Mark?... Taavi. But what flavour icecream can I get you then Henrietta, and would you like the apple pie or the pecan pie? They both come with either cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream."

Taavi flailed internally some more and tried not to show it by focusing on the table. Why had she had to say that to Gary? Ack! Was Gary saying 'yes I know he was a ranger' or 'yes I think he's cool'? Gah! Gary wouldn't think he was cool would he? Would he?