[FIN] Back in our day...?

[Gwennythe]

So... Braviary were just bulky birds...
Cars, though, were far more interesting; she heard what was said and turned 'weigh 21 or 22 of you' to mean 'worth 21 or 22 of you in a fight'... She bet she could prove that wrong. Entirely wrong.
<< I want to fight a car.>>

Tambrey watched, and listened, taking in what was being discussed and shown through understanding one side of the conversation. She smirked, repressing a chuckle, as Aulus looked up information on his arm; that thing was ridiculously useful... and so it should be. It had cost a lot, and not monetarily though probably that too...

Treestar frowned at it. He didn't really understand how a human got a metal limb, nor why it did all this stuff.  

[TawnyAngel]

<>

Aulus blinked and looked at Millicent, then at Tam. "Millicent wants to fight a car," he reported dutifully.  

[Gwennythe]

Oh.
Good...
It was Neph all over again...
"Millicent... wants to fight a car? Um... Milli', you realise cars aren't pokémon or, um, anything like that? They don't really, uh, fight." Tambrey tried to explain, then thought of something. "But we've got training rooms that could, uh, match what a car could do... Probably..." And be a lot safer.

<>  

[TawnyAngel]

"She wants to fight the training rooms." Well that was a vast improvement, he doubted TR would appreciate having their cars dented by a determined fossil. "We could all do some training together sometime soon?" he suggested. "Fight the training room and one another, to grow stronger? What do you think?"

<> Borealis nodded, <>  

[Gwennythe]

<< Yes. Who is Strongarm? I will fight Strongarm.>> The dinosaur asked, before stopping and stooping to regard a fern-like weed in the ground. Apparently, unlike most of the plants they'd passed so far, she was interested in trying to eat this one, and gave a good tug on it.

"That sounds good. I know Ella's keen to, um, help train the others. Being able to, uh, do the whole... Mega-thing... It's gone to her head just a little bit, I think. Franklin says she wanted to get everyone possible in the training room and have a go at fighting them all to, um, find her weaknesses and strengths, and theirs compared to each other... It's nice that she's, uh, enthusiastic? A little bit 'drill-sergeant-y sounding to me though..."

<< I can fight Ella.>>  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Borealis explained, she hadn't got Lex's name as he hadn't been the most interesting thing in the room by a long shot.

Aulus gave a brief laugh, eyebrows raised. "Really? Well, yes, I can see how that would be...." He looked for the right words. "Good that she cares and is enthused, but intense. Maybe she can work off some steam with some of mine, I'd like to train more with you anyway." With luck they might be on some missions together again soon. "We can work on our group teamwork too maybe? Offensive and defensive strategies and stuff."  

[Gwennythe]

<< I can fight the chair guy.>>

<>

<< ... I can fight Neph.>>

"That sounds good," Tambrey agreed "and I'm, uh, pretty sure she wants a match against Char already. She knows she has a fire weakness and, um, seems to think that with Char being able to mega evolve and being fire, facing him is the best way to, well, learn how to deal with it... Franklin also said she's already been pestering her to ask me to look at TMs and moves that would help her... It does sound like she's getting a bit, um, intense. Combined training would help a lot..." She knew, really, this was just Ella's 'protective' thought process coming up with 'train everyone = more protection' or 'good defense = good offense', but Ella'd always been more 'motherly' than military until recently.  

[TawnyAngel]

Aulus nodded. "We'll do that then and we can sit down and look at TMs with her, might get her to calm down a bit?" Perhaps the recent mission had shaken Ella up too, knowing another Rocket had died could well have made her more worried about Tam and thus driven to grow stronger. "Maybe team working more will show her that she doesn't have to cover all of her weaknesses all by herself too."

<> Borealis asked. <>  

[Gwennythe]

"I hope so... and, thank you. That would be good. She's," Tambrey paused, trying to think of how to word what she wanted to say without seeming too ridiculous "probably the strongest she's ever been now but um, she also seems more fragile than before? I don't know if that makes sense..."

<< Fighting proves you are strong. Strength keeps the herd alive and enemies at bay.>>  

[TawnyAngel]

That made a lot of sense, more than he was really comfortable with admitting. Aulus nodded. "It does. Being physically tough doesn't mean you don't have other vulnerabilities." There had been a point in time when he'd been in pretty much peak condition but had been very fragile indeed. Things were better now, a lot better, but he knew he still had cracks in the armour that he hadn't had years ago when he hadn't been so efficient at beating the s**t out of stuff.

<> Borealis replied with a frown, <just fight. Right Treestar?>>  

[Gwennythe]

"Hm." Well, that way of putting it /did/ make sense. "Most of it, um, well, most of what I'm worried about with it, is that she really is determined to," Tambrey absent minded-y, gently, touched the area of her midriff where her burn was healing "take on so much just on her own. She definitely understands team work, and working with me, and the others, but she's... Well, quite honestly she's the strongest of my lot now and yet she doesn't seem to think it's enough. I think."

<>

<>  

[TawnyAngel]

Yep. Aulus kicked vaguely at a rock on the path. Nothing ever did feel like enough, did it? You trained, you trained as hard as you could but you always feared that you wouldn't be strong enough to protect the people you cared about. "She takes a lot on herself. She's set herself up as a protector, and she's seen horrible stuff happen to you and to other people, and all she can think about is stopping it from happening again." Aulus looked at the ground as he spoke, his voice gone soft and quiet. He knew how Ella felt but he didn't know how to help her. It was all very well to say 'trust in your friends', you did but it didn't help.

<> Juno said with a nod to Millicent, drawing her attention away from the humans' conversation because hell knew what she could add to that s**t.

<> Borealis nodded, <>  

[Gwennythe]

"... I hope we can find some way to help her out with that, um, mindset." Tambrey frowned, considering- should she start wearing armour or something just to help Ella stop worrying? "It sounds really, um, hard to try and put up with in her head. Tiring." She offered quietly, and was somewhat aware of the difference in reaction Aulus had had to the other stuff they'd talked of.

<< When can we do that?>> Millicent replied to Juno, then looked a little bemused at Borealis, and then more so when Treestar nodded in agreement with her.
<< Work together. Stronger together. Family.>> The therapod agreed, but didn't comment on 'have fun' or 'be company'.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeah, I guess it must be," Aulus replied in more normal tones, giving himself a bit of a mental shake; this was no time to go mopy and introspective. "We'll do our best anyway, guess that's all we can do."

<> Juno looked over at Aulus. <>

"Oh, yeah," Aulus nodded. "Juno's asking if we can train soon. You got any free time tomorrow, or the day after? We can get Ella down with Char, and the fossils, and whoever else needs work. Enjee? I'll need to check my rota to see which of mine are due for a session."  

[Gwennythe]

"Um. Day after. I, uh, have some stuff to get done before the day after tomorrow, but I'll be free then. Oh, hm." Tambrey considered Enjee. "Yes, um, that'll be a good point for meetings and seeing, uh, just what he can do... Uh. Milli', Ella, Enjee... Um. Franklin could use some training. So could Linnaeus and Pahket..."