[FIN] High Tea

[Blood_Goddess]

"Thank you." Rosie reached out to take the offered slip with her registration receipt. folding it up neatly as the women on the counter gesture down the hall, to where the tea rooms were.

"This way miss." The women behind the counter tapped her pen gently. "And it says here there are two on your reservation?"

The blond nodded to the women "One more, He should be here soon. If you see him, he has bright red hair."
She smiled when the women said she would direct him there, and with Vahy'n at her heels, Rosie made her way down the hall to find the room she would be having Tea in.

It was a beautiful old style room, decorated in an older period that just fit so well with tea.
A table with a lace cloth draped over it sat in the middle of the room, with a set of chairs and even a small corner with a couch.
Looking down at the time on her Dex, Rosie tilted her head, closing the door behind her and with Vahy'n made her way over to one of the seats.  

[Suudonym]

Luke plainly recalled a time when he hadn't allowed his Flareon a place at his side because he found the fire-type's near constant state of energy tiring and annoying, but now he welcomed his companion to walk with him in all willingness. Of course, Mieu seemed to have changed over those several months of his absence and he was no longer quite as prone to suddenly run off in pursuit of something interesting, so that made things a bit easier as well. Days earlier Luke might have felt more comfortable declining Rosie's invitation, but Mieu had expressed enthusiasm over the thought of seeing the girl - and Luke wasn't feeling quite as reluctant anymore himself.

The woman at the entrance recognized Luke's distinct appearance from the description she had earlier been given, and he and his Flareon were directed to the appropriate room. He opened the door and, with a cursory glance inside to make sure he indeed had the right room, raised a hand in greeting and offered a hello and a smile. Mieu lifted his ears with an expression as though he wanted to run ahead, but he restrained himself, looking to his trainer. Luke encouraged the fire-type forward - "Go on, don't worry about me." - and he cast off some of his reluctance and proceeded to Rosie's side, voicing a greeting with a waving tail.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie had been quietly petting Vahy'n's fins when the door opening drew both her's and the Vaporeon's gaze.
Rosie smiled back at the familiar face, starting to get up, when her attention was drawn downward to a pokemon that Luke had with him.

Rosie gasped suddenly, her hands flying up to cover her mouth when she saw the Flareon.
"Mieu! Oh my gosh!" Rosie dropped to her knees at the Flareon's level, opening her arms to give the fire type a warm, and tight hug.
"Oh my gosh oh my gosh you're back!" her whimper was muffled from within the Flareon's coat

Vahy'n had stepped forward, her own eyes were large as she looked from the other Eeveelution, to Luke.  

[Suudonym]

Mieu waved his tail excitedly, nuzzling against Rosie with an affectionate "faa" in reply.

Luke watched with a pleasant smile, stepping the rest of the way into the room, closing the door behind him, and advancing to join Rosie and the pokemon. "He was all excited to see you," he said. He met Vahyn's expression of incredulity and added quietly, "Kinda hard to believe he's back."  

[Blood_Goddess]

"oohhh" Rosie cooed, pulling back around to run her hands over his coat, looking at him with a look that was mixture of both excitement and sadness.
"we missed you so much Mieu" She leaned back, cupping the Flareon's face in her hands "So much, I'm so glad you came home safe."

Kissing his forehead she sniffed, hugging him again, and looking up to Luke with a smile. "How did... how did he come home?"

Vahy'n blinked softly, a small smile spreading over her own lips as she sat down between the other three.  

[Suudonym]

Mieu, much as he was enjoying the attention, couldn't help an anxious peek back at his human. Luke, who noticed the look, shrugged mentally and moved to kneel with the others. "Asch brought him back, if you believe that," he replied. "Which is kind of weird, since Asch wasn't the one who took him, but I'm not complaining."  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie blinked once, but didn't say anything for a couple of seconds after Luke told her who had returned Mieu.
She shared a glance at her Vaporeon, who has a crease growing on her brow.

"Your brother did? He gave Vahy'n back to me too.. did he say anything?"

Vahy'n pushed herself to her feet, looking from Rosie to Luke, before she stepped over to Mieu,
she asked, gently.  

[Suudonym]

"He said not to get used to it," Luke answered with a half shrug and a resigned smile. "I tried to get him to say more, but he's more stubborn than me." And that was saying something.

Mieu regarded Vahy'n with bright eyes, nodding, Otherwise, the Flareon assumed, he probably would have been very not fine, given his countless and often vicious attempts at escape.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Her brow furrowed, lowering her gaze back down to the pokemon in her arms, clearly not sure what to think about it.
With one last pat on the Flareon's head, she gently moved him over closer to Vahy'n so that she could return to her feet.
"This is the second time Asch has done something like that... I wish we could just talk to him."
He was a part of Team Rocket, and didn't seem like he wanted to leave anytime soon, but something told her it wasn't that easy...
She rubber her thumb into her palm, looking over at Luke "Then again, we did try that already, he didn't really want to talk did he... It is just good to have our Pokemon back."
She smiled gently "Ah, anyway, its good to see you again Luke, I'm glad we could get together." She gestured to one of the seats.

Vahy'n nodded knowingly.  

[Suudonym]

A nod. "I don't think it'll do any good to keep trying. He's not going to tell us anything he doesn't want to." They'd tried on multiple occasions now to get his brother to voice his thoughts and motives, but each attempt ended with Asch getting defensive or dodging the question. "He's not a bad person, though," Luke added quietly. "He doesn't need to tell us much to be able to know that." He moved towards the seat at Rosie's indication, the mild confusion leaving his expression, "Yeah. I guess the hot spring visit wasn't too long ago, but I was kind of…" Not in a very conversational mood. Mieu's return had considerably improved his disposition, though.

Mieu nodded, distracted briefly as he watched Luke move. He wasn't going far, though, so the Flareon quickly returned his attention,  

[Blood_Goddess]

"Your right... Even if I wish it didn't have to be this way." She supposed only time would tell, but it made things seem to complicated.
She tilted her head as she reached out to pore tea into the cups on the table.

"Quiet?" She finished for him. "The hot springs seemed like something everyone needed, but wasn't quite what they needed." She recalled. "I'm glad you accepted my invitation today though, Its been too long since we got to hang out. I miss it."

Vahy'n spoke quietly, sitting herself back down.  

[Suudonym]

He hummed briefly in agreement with her evaluation. The hot springs occasion had seemed a bit tense for more than just himself. "Yeah," he said in response to her next words, gaze watching the warm tea as it filled the cups, "me too. Finally feels like I've caught a breather for once." It was certainly one of the first days in a while that he had actually been willing to pull himself out of bed in the morning without talking himself into it.

Mieu tilted his head curiously. In fact the Flareon had been quite surprised when his next experience outside of the pokeball had been in front of his dear trainer.  

[Blood_Goddess]

Rosie smiled at Luke, before reaching out to pick up the tea pot, and pore out the liquid into two cups.
"I'm glad to hear that. I got the impression its been a rough few months."
Glancing down at the sugar cubes for a second as she placed the pot back down.
"You look tired." she added, though kindly, concerned. glancing back up at him.
It was clear that she wanted to ask, and was trying to find a more polite way of bringing him up.

Vahy'n shook her head softly She looked back up at him  

[Suudonym]

"Yeah," he confirmed with a half laugh, doing his best to fight the urge to leave it at something vague. No good had ever come out of hiding his problems from his friends. Besides, it was a bit easier to talk about with the re-addition of Mieu to his company; it finally felt like some good would come of the situation. "I've, uh… been sick for a while. Heart problems. I'm going to look into treatment soon." Not to mention everything else that had been going on. He realized that his green eyes had fallen to the cup, steaming with the poured tea, and willed them to raise if only momentarily.

Mieu replied, thinking about grudgingly on his time in captivity. the first time he had bitten her, and the second he had almost gotten away,  

[Blood_Goddess]

The spoon mixing the sugar cube into her tea stopped, blue eyes turning up to look across the table at her friend. repeating what he had said in her mind.
"Heart problems?" She repeated, "but- wh-" she tried to wrap this around her head, "Have you already been to the doctors? What kind of treatments are they thinking of? its not serious is it?" Her string of questions relayed her concern. She knew of many things that could be treated, but when it came to the heart, that was rarely something little.

The Vaporeon seemed a little relived to hear that, glad to know that he had not been put in the labs, or used for other horrible reasons... She could never forget the Growlith that she had met in the labs... she wondered sometimes if he was even still alive... sometimes finding herself praying that he wasn't... so he wouldn't have to live this while time through what they were doing to the pokemon there. That was one thing she owed Asch... she did not have to go through any of that because of him.