[FIN] Hard to Handle

[Suudonym]

He moved his arms to accommodate the Raichu's presence, mindful of the cup in his hands as he listened to Rosie speak. "Me too," he said, watching steam rise from the surface of the tea. "I don't know much about traditional families or anything, but it seems like it would be fun how it is." A family's role was support, after all, regardless of the structure or the members. If Rosie's family, no matter how traditional it was or wasn't, was a source of that support, then he had nothing to dislike about it.

Mieu, tail waving in enthusiasm, responded to the gesture by pushing himself upright and resting his paws at Rosie's shoulders, nuzzling warmly at her neck. Though his overall disposition had changed since returning from Team Rocket's hold, Luke was always glad to see him respond to Rosie just the same as he always had.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Mmmm its so good to see you!" Rosie wrapped her arms around the fluffy Flareon in a hug, giggling playfully when the pokemon nuzzled her neck the gesture adorable but still ticked quite a bit. Rocking back where she sat to scoop the pokemon into her lap and cuddle him. She always loved how fluffy and soft he was, and such a sweet heart.

loosening her grip on him a little she smiled at him "You and Luke are going to stay here tonight." she told him, glancing over at the window where the rain was still poring down "The weather is really bad tonight."  

[Suudonym]

Mieu soaked up the attention happily; Rosie had been one of his favorite people in Kodo from the first day they'd come, and it was always a joy to have time to interact with her. He leaned into her, responding with a pleasant "faaa" to her words. He didn't mind that one bit.

Luke raised the warm mug to drink as he watched, lowering it again from a smile. "Looks like he's happy with that," he observed.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Running her hands over the big mane of fur around his neck, and smoothing back the poof on his forehead she kissed the Falreon's muzzle, hugging the pokemon before lifting her gaze over to Luke when he spoke, smiling at those words. "Well, I am too."

"Raai!" Kiss chimed in, holding a paw out.

"And Kiss is too."  

[Suudonym]

He watched the Flareon return the affection, the fire-type licking the bottom of Rosie's chin with his small tongue. Luke's reply was delayed, and after a short while his attention returned to the Raichu gathered in his lap, wearing a quiet smile in response to the display of enthusiasm. "And me too."  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Heee~" Delighted with the show of affection from Mieu, Rosie cuddled him close, snuggling into his long warm fur.
Though the pause where the sound of rain drops on the roof and window, broken a second later when Luke added in his agreement.
A softer smile crossed her face,It was good to see, that even for a little while he had put on a smile, and seemed to be content.

Before much else could be said, there was the sound of someone on the stares and a knock at Rosie's door.
"Come in." Rosie called, glancing over her shoulder as the door opened and Alex popped her head in "Hey hun, wanna come help set the table? Evan's about done."

"Sure." Rosie agreed, glancing back over to Luke as she opened her arms to let Mieu up so she could stand.

The pokemon hopped to their feet as well, Kiss and Vahy'n taking the lead out of the room past Alex, who laughed and followed after.

Hitting a button on the remote to stop the music she had been playing, Rosie waited for Luke to join before she too started back into the hall and down the stares.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a larger number of people down stares then there had been the last time. Bruce, an older man with a shaved head, very obviously the father glanced up at the two as they joined them in the kitchen, his blue eyes widening when he saw his niece and someone else.
The beer bottle he had been drinking from was quickly lowered.
"I was wondering who the extra place was for."

"You could have just asked you know, I'm sure Evan mentioned it when you walked in." Another young man, holding the six plates in one arm spoke. He also had the dark blond hair like the other men, and blue eyes, though he was considerably smaller built then Evan, with glasses and longer hair, the two looked extremely similar. "That loud music Bruce, its blowing out your hearing."

Evan chuckled.

"You know Luke, Uncle" Rosie said.

"Luke." The older man grunted with a grin, "well s**t, I know Luke." He reached out a hand to the younger red head.
The man's energy made up for his age in a certain way, very lively and charismatic in a fun sort of way.  

[Suudonym]

Luke rose to follow, Mieu trailing dutifully at his side. There were some feelings of apprehension, stemming mostly from the fact that he recognized his absence of skill in greeting and speaking to people he didn't know well, but he was determined to not do amazingly badly with it. He took in the surroundings quickly to keep his bearings, returning names to the individuals he had encountered earlier and taking note of the unfamiliar faces - though a name and identity were shortly connected with one of the two. He moved to return the offered handshake; though his "hello" was on the quiet side, he at least managed proper eye contact.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Bruce took his hand, and shook it once, before letting his elbow fall back on the counter, leaning on it as he addressed Luke, "So I heard you're stranded here with us huh?"

Rosie smiled slipping past them to walk over and help Rodney with the silverware.
"Yup,"

Alex smiled leaning on the counter next to Evan who was moving some of the serving plates, glancing up at Bruce.
"They walked all the way here in the rain."

The man let out a chuckle lifting the beer bottle again "Yeah well, I can understand that. Still! I didn't expect Rosie to be bringing home boys just yet." He pointed out, eying Luke almost critically.
Rosie blinked, looking up from what she was doing her face flushing a bit. "What?"
Alex snorted, reaching over to swat at Bruce lightly "Oh shut up, don't be embarrassing Bruce."

"Hey! Geeze you're dangerous." Bruce arched his eyebrows, looking back over at Luke as he pushed himself away from the counter and over to Luke, eying Alex cautiously. Evan just wearing a wide grin on his face.  

[Suudonym]

Compulsively his gaze averted, unsure of how he was to react. It seemed ill-advised to just stand there silently, though, so he forced words from his thoughts in a manner akin to taking blood from a turnip, "Thank you, for letting me stay. I appreciate it." Somewhere in his head was a disapproving thought: Damn you, just talk like a normal person already!  

[Blood_Goddess]

Bruce just waved it off, "Ah! wasn't going to make you walk out there." He commented.
Well, that he might have been able to do, if just to feed into that ' boys stay away from my little Rosie', if he knew he wasn't going to be getting one of those sad looks from Rosie for it.
Nope, don't upset the niece.

"Hey relax," Bruce laughed "Sorry, everyone looks like they're ready to scold me now. I just thought-" He held his hands up grinning sheepishly, looking back to Luke, he was pretty quickly realizing that he might have made a mistake. "You old enough to drink?"  

[Suudonym]

Relax indeed, an effort he would have liked to pursue were he less preoccupied with beating himself up over being too much of a brat to learn any of that dumb political charisma his father had always beaten over his head. The sudden question drew a mild surprise, and he raised his hand in a negative gesture. "Ah, no; thank you though." Well, there were various reasons more significant than age that put alcohol high on his list of Nos, but that didn't really necessitate elaboration.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Aw, s**t, sorry then,"

Luke certainly looked like he was uncomfortable, being quiet around the others as he had before, or as he did usually. Plus the others had a pretty good idea of how Bruce could get, especially about Rosie.
Rosie smiled a little though a bit apologetically at Luke, though before she could say anything the smaller of the brothers spoke.
Rodney looked up over his glasses at the boy. "Luke, would you mind taking this into the dining room." He asked, a head nodding toward one of the serving bowls, while he himself handled another, making his way into the other room.  

[Suudonym]

Luke would have argued against calling himself uncomfortable and would have then proceeded to describe the concept of discomfort in great detail as if it were something else. He was far from accustomed to this kind of setting, and despite wanting to get to know and converse naturally with the people who were important to Rosie, he couldn't coerce such dialogue to his voice. It was a bit pathetic, and he was more than happy to lend himself to the task requested, uttering a "sure" alongside a nod and moving to comply.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Alex gave Bruce a pointed look, who held his hands up at her in a silent apology, looking over to Rosie too who just seemed to blush a bit more and get on with her work, though she put a smile back on her face.

Well, At least now Bruce was humbled, he was going to be a bit less can did to the new guest and his assumptions... for now. He still intended to watch the boy like a hawk.

Conversation continued as they took their seats, Rosie took the time to make sure the pokemon were fed, Mieu included, before she joined the rest, taking a seat next to Alex and Luke.
Alex and Rodney conversed a lot about school, seeming to be taking the same collage classes, Evan only adding in when the topic shifted to the collage football team.
Rosie sat, and listened, asking questions every now and then that would lead the others into a story or a conversation.

"So Luke," Alex asked, leaning forward where she was sitting to look across Rosie as the red head. "You've got Pokemon too right? That cute fluffy one? Are you a trainer too?"

At this Rodney looked up, his brow furrowing "I though you were from Grant Ile, aren't you? According to my research Grand Ile isn't a large pokemon culture. Have things changed?"  

[Suudonym]

Luke was more than happy to quietly subsist in this very surreal situation, listening actively despite avoiding participation, but he didn't mind the questions posed to him; they were curiosities that were very easily answered. A nod confirmed his status as a trainer, elaboration following with his reply, "No, that's right. Small pokemon like Eevee are popular as household pets, but training isn't the norm. I've had Mieu since I was little, just as a companion, but we never even considered training before coming to Kodo."