[Fin] Home for Christmas

[TawnyAngel]

"Uh-hu," Taavi nodded, "having a cold wet butt is no fun." And also you probably shouldn't sit on any furniture, and jeans took forever to dry. So with all of that it definitely made sense for Abel to go change but why was Joanna sending Alexandra - or could he call her Alex? - after him? It seemed kind of weird and Alex and Abel kind of seemed to as well but they went all the same without complaining. Was there something Joanna wanted to say to him without them there? Some kind of...? He had no idea so he watched in polite confusion as the pair trooped out of the room.

When they were safely out of earshot Joanna turned to him, he'd been right then, but what-

Oh!

Taavi laughed briefly and brought a hand up to his mouth. "Oh! I wondered what was going on. Um! Well what do you want to know?" Like Joanna he kept his voice down, it felt kind of like they were conspiring! He kind of liked it, especially if he'd found somebody to flail at about this and he was kind of suspecting that he had!... Did Abel's Mom think he was straight? Was that going to be an issue? She didn't seem like the type who'd take it badly, but boy you could be shocked sometimes. Maybe he'd better tread carefully then but she did look pretty excited, so if she was thinking that there was something more than friendliness going on she sure didn't seem upset!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Joanna's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, eyes still shining with insatiable curiosity. "Everything. He's got a crush on him, doesn't he? I could see it in his face when we were talking earlier while you were out with Daniel. Tell me about him! What's he like? How long has this been going on?"  

[TawnyAngel]

Rule One was 'don't out people' but Taavi knew he was transparent and Joanna had guessed right and looked really happy so he gave up. "Um, well," he took a sip of cocoa to give himself time to sort his thoughts out. "Well they've been friends since the summer but err... Well he definitely does but I don't really know how long for." Should he be saying this? Ugh, he felt bad, but relieved to tell somebody! And they really did need to date, there was a softness in Zev's expressions when he looked at Abel and Abel was obviously all gooey about Zev.

Also what was he going to say about Zev? He had no idea what the guy actually did for a living, which was still weird but heck if he was ever going to ask. "Zev is uh..." Taavi laughed briefly again. "He's sweet, surprisingly. He doesn't look it but, yeah, he makes sure we eat properly and looks out for us. He's err... I'm not that good at describing people, sorry. He's friendly? Charming, confident." Until you called him adorable anyway. "And ah... He seems to take stuff in his stride I guess? He didn't know anything about pokemon when he arrived on Kodo but he's got a bunch now," including Articuno, "and they're really fond of him... err, mostly, the Skarmory still sometimes snaps but we're working on that! Um. Athletic? Err. Yeah. I like him! But not like that." But Abel did!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Ah, I knew it!" With her suspicions affirmed, Joanna nodded her head firmly as she settled her hands on her hips. "I never would've guessed before this afternoon, honestly, but that's good -- I'm so glad he has someone again," she said, her burning curiosity fading to a warm, pleased and rather relieved smile. "I was getting worried he wouldn't date anyone again after Molly - his last girlfriend - but that was back when he lived in Unova. Far too long for him to stay single, if you ask me," the woman added with a slight huff; staying single was not how she got more grandchildren. But then her expression warmed back up immediately, and she aimed a bright smile at Taavi. "From what I've heard he sounds like a sweetheart. I was so glad when Abel told me that a friend of his was helping out the both of you. I can't be there to make sure he eats properly - or you - so I'm glad someone can, at least."

Joanna paused, adopting a thoughtful expression for a few moments before nodding her head again, "Yes, I'm very glad." Another pause. "You wouldn't happen to have a picture of him, would you? Abel didn't, and I'd love to put a face to the name."  

[TawnyAngel]

Ooooh. Taavi cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, well, they're not exactly dating. In fact they're not dating. I don't know, I think Abel doesn't want to ask? Well, yeah, he sort of said that- I mean he did say that, because he doesn't know if he's interested in dating? If Zev is I mean. Um, but, he might rethink at some point, I think. I hope! They'd be a great couple." Zev did seem like a bit of, um, a free spirit so would he be interested? He seemed to like Abel a lot but would that not be enough? Well why wouldn't it? Now he was just getting anxious on Abel's behalf.

"I do have a picture though yeah, I think so anyway," Taavi continued, hastily digging his pokegear out of his pocket as he spoke. "Uhhh, let's see he was making pancakes the other day and- ah! Here!" Taavi passed the 'gear over to Joanna; it was a battered old thing with a small crack in one corner of the screen but the picture was still clear, Zevran was smirking at the lens with a pan in one hand and a pancake in mid air. "And I guess he likes to show off a bit, but in a fun way," Taavi added with a grin and a shrug. "Um, and if you swipe to your... yeah your right there are some more from breakfast that day of Zev, Abel, and the pokemon. Err, I think there's an awkward selfie of me too but you can pretend that doesn't exist. Ehehe."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Joanna replied with feeling, "Well they should be dating!" But then she fell silent, thoughtful, and pondered the situation for a few more moments while she took a sip of her own hot chocolate. "He's probably hesitant for some reason or another he won't share, though I don't know if it's because he's hesitant himself or if there's some other reason... He's always been considerate of others, so it could go either way I think. Either way they should definitely start dating -- though I may be biased," she added with a small, rueful grin.

And then the pokegear descended into her hands and she took it with all the careful reverence and eagerness one would use when handling something precious and fragile -- which it was, as far as she was concerned. Her expression, her face, her entire demeanor brightened with renewed excitement at the prospect of pictures. "Ohh, perfect! You're such a dear!" Eagerly she swiped through the pictures, pausing at each to study it and its subject(s) carefully, saying 'aww' at appropriate times, giggling a bit, and once or twice - Taavi's selfie was one such time - murmuring 'precious' with a warm, somewhat wistful smile. When she finally finished looking through all of the pictures her pale gaze crept over the pokegear itself for another moment or two before she offered it back. "How long have you had this? It looks well-loved."  

[TawnyAngel]

Taavi grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so." They got worried about one another, they were thoughtful, and they made one another happy... Had he ever had that with Sasha? They'd made him happy, he'd thought, but looking back their concern for him and his actual feelings felt shallow. Maybe it had been doomed from the start even if things hadn't all happened at once and been too much drama. Ugh.

...And he'd just kind of drifted off into gloomy-town there. Taavi shook himself, pushed away his frown with a smile and sipped his cocoa again. "It was a fun morning! I'm glad I remembered to take pictures of it now. Um, and my 'gear? Err... I guess I've had it about four years now? I got it second hand though, so I think it's about four and half years old overall. Well-loved is a kind way to put it! It's really slow but um, it's got all of the essentials. I wouldn't mind a better camera though when I can afford to buy a new 'gear! Then I can take better pictures of breakfasts."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Joanna retracted her hand - and the pokegear she'd offered back - and swiped through to find one of the good pictures of Zevran. Not that that was a difficult thing, given how photogenic he seemed to be. "No, I definitely think so too. But then I'd think so about almost anyone," she added with a small chuckle.

With the picture up, the woman stooped down to Clara's level and presented the pokegear, pointing to the picture's subject, "Look, Clara! This young man is going to be your new trainer!"

To Taavi she said, "I'm glad you took pictures too. Very glad!" She added with a bright, beaming smile. "And that's fairly old! They must be very sturdy things to last so long and take such a beating. But then they'd have to, wouldn't they? If they're designed for rangers."  

[TawnyAngel]

Clara gave a curious 'bwarff?' as she peered and sniffed at the screen; pictures were strange - you got less than half the person from them - but it was good to see what he looked like. Photograph dutifully inspected she looked up at Joanna again and wagged her tail.

"Oh, yep," Taavi grinned. "The ones designed for rangers and very active trainers are practically impossible to break. It makes them a bit heavy but it's good to know that if it gets knocked off your belt half way up a cliff the worst it'll have when you go back for it is a bit of a crack on the screen.... Umm... so do you think I should keep giving Abel a nudge or just leave him to figure stuff out in his own time?" If anyone would know it was Joanna, he though that probably leaving him alone was best but maybe not?  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Once Clara was done Joanna straightened back up and handed the pokegear to Taavi again, though this time she had no intention of changing her mind. "That is very handy," she noted, then a moment or two later she frowned thoughtfully before shaking her head. "No, I don't think he needs any hints. If he really wants to then he'll do it on his own. He can be kind of stubborn at times, though I'm sure you've realized that already," the woman added with a slightly wry, mostly warm smile, "and that doesn't mean you can't tease him about it -- just not in front of Daniel just yet, I'll need to get him used to the idea first."


Several days passed in much the same fashion; Joanna made sure both Abel and Taavi were properly fed at all times, Daniel welcomed any and all help Taavi wanted to give on the ranch or with their pokemon, Abel sneaked pictures and texts to Zev where possible with phone calls some evenings, and Alex visited with the twins every so often. Late one evening, however, Abel tossed and turned far too much. For some reason he couldn't sleep, and after so much restlessness he gave up, dressed in warm clothes, and left the house. A relatively short trudge through the snow brought him to the barn, and after strolling slowly through it, watching the sleeping pokemon all around, he climbed up into the warm hay loft and flopped down on a pile of hay -- making sure to keep his wet snowy boots well away from it, lest it spoil. With a quiet sigh he pulled his phone out of a pocket and then debated on his next course of action. Should he text first, or just call...? What if Zev was asleep and he woke him up? Not wanting to be quite so rude, the blond instead tapped out a brief, curious text: //Still awake?//  

[TawnyAngel]

"Heh, gotcha," Taavi nodded understanding and tucked his pokegear away into its pouch. "And yeah stubborn is right! This one time...." It wasn't an unflattering story just a funny one so he didn't feel at all bad telling it to Abel's mom, and he wouldn't feel bad if she repeated it in company either!

The apartment was full of pokemon and their conversations but he was an outsider to them and so despite the background noise it still seemed too quiet. He went for walks, sat in coffee shops and struck up conversation, went to popular training spots to do the same but it wasn't the same. He missed Abel, he missed him a lot more than he had expected to.

So it was that at an hour when most would be sleeping Zevran was still awake curled around Abel's pillow and staring at the wall, just visible in the darkened room. The buzz of his phone was unexpected to say the least and it made his heart jump but not only out of surprise; he could think of only one person who would contact him at such a strange hour.

Zevran scrabbled to grab the phone and squinted at the brightness of the screen as he pulled the message up, and indeed it was from Abel. Should he wait a moment to reply so that he didn't seem too... too desperate? No, Abel was messaging him late for a reason, this was not the time to play coy.

About a minute after he sent his message Abel would receive a reply; //I am, is something the matter?//  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Zevran's prompt response brought a smile to his face. No, nothing was wrong. Rather than reply with such a text, Abel instead tapped the 'call' button and held the phone to his ear.  

[TawnyAngel]

A call? Well whatever the reason for it it would be good to hear his voice. Zevran swiped across the screen to answer and raised the phone to his ear. "Well good evening to you my friend, or perhaps already morning?"  

[BlackFireKitsune]

As soon as Zevran spoke, a smile curved Abel's lips and a familiar, comfortable warmth bloomed in his chest. Already he was starting to feel himself relax, even if only a fraction. Ohh, he was crushing so hard. What was he going to do? Would it go away on its own?

...did he even want it to?

"Hey man," he replied, the smile on his face nearly manifesting in his voice, "yeah, good evening. I couldn't sleep so I thought I would give you a call and talk for a while... If you wanted to, of course." What if he didn't want to? Well, then... he'd be spending time being restless up in the hay loft instead of being restless in bed.  

[TawnyAngel]

It was good to hear his voice, he could almost convince himself he heard a smile in Abel's tones. If there was a smile was it intended for him? He wanted it to be for him. Perhaps he wanted it more than he should.

Confused and slightly concerned though he was Zevran found himself smiling too, and his was definitely for the person on the other phone. "Ahh, we suffer from the same complaint," he replied with a soft chuckle. "I would welcome conversation, it is nice to receive messages and pictures but it is not the same." Not at all.

As this was perhaps to be a long conversation Zevran squirmed into a comfortable position on his side, his head resting on Abel's pillow.