[PRP] Friends in High Places

[Tori Honoo]

It had been a long day of riding, and by the time Dove finally stopped, in the same place in the forest she had paused in at least twice by now, she was ready to just give in and set up camp, using only the light jacket she had brought as shelter. However, as tempting as it was, the girl hated being alone, especially now, when she was so vulnerable and in desperate need of a Pokemon Center, or at least somewhere to let her team finally relax-- they definitely needed it after the run in with the newest addition to the team. While delighted--more beside herself, really-- to have caught the pokemon she had, she wished her strongest fighter could have been spared.

With a look to the eevee at her side, she sighed, and pressed her back against a nearby tree, lifting her pokegear from her pocket to search through the maps installed on it, hoping it might tell them where on earth they were. Somewhere close to Sandalwood, she hoped. Lovey, tired now that her trainer was no longer letting her ride along in her bag, settled down into the grass at the base of the tree, setting her head down. It might take a while for the young woman to figure things out. She was terrible with directions when not in the city...and sometimes even then.  

[Gwennythe]

It had been a long day of.. well, no, it really hadn't.
Lin had rolled out of bed around noon, or maybe later, he didn't have a watch or any means of timekeeping, and most of the time, the sun was up past the canopy for him.
He and Jeeves had spent the day in the usual fashion; they'd swiped a quick, late lunch from a baker's stall on a market walkway, pickpocketed a little, before the pair, like a couple of jungle orphans, had climbed and jumped their way back out to the outskirts of the treetop-city, for an afternoon of training and relaxing.
Training often broke down into the two of them messing around and 'playing' before they settled down to laze about and, playing hard, it meant that lazing around became a favourite way to wind for a while, the pair of them lounging on different branches today.
They'd been just idly relaxing up there for quite a while when they first heard someone go past. Someone who clearly didn't know where they were going; a good target, perhaps, but they'd eaten today and pickpocket a few coins... Lin was prepared to let the traveler go on, un-stolen from, until it seemed like the same girl passed by a little while later, heading in the same direction.
"Guess she's really lost, huh?" The boy pointed her out to the Snivy, who used Vine Whip to pull himself up and get a better look.
Well groomed, bag of trainer stuff, probably quite valuable; Jeeves looked from the girl below to his trainer, raising one eyebrow. That was a perfect target for a snatch and grab and yet Lin hadn't pointed her out until now.
"I know, buddy, I know. C'mon though; she's already lost and it's not like we don't have a haul from today."
The Snivy seemed to give a slow nod, before they both went back to reclining and enjoying the remnants of the afternoon, letting Dove go on her way until...
"Well now. She's back again." Lin muttered, sitting up to look down. "I... think we should be... y'know... 'neighbour-ly'" He grinned at Jeeves, who hopped over onto his shoulder.
With an acrobatic tumble, and a flip from the pair of them, Jeeves assisting, again with Vine Whip, the boy and his Snivy descended from the trees, landing a little way in front of the lost trainer.

"Howdy!" Lin began, as he straightened up; a friendly, but somewhat dopey-looking smile across his face. "Now, there are all sorts of legends about beautiful fairies and woodland spirits around here but, let me tell you, I've lived here all my long life," he was clearly no more than 18, if even that "and I've never come across one until today!"

Jeeves looked rather exasperated, then proceeded to size up the Eevee with somewhat haughty glance.  

[Tori Honoo]

Snapping her pokegear shut with a deep draw of breath, shaking her head as her shoulders fell. It was hot, and she was exhausted as was half her team, and being stuck in the woods challenged by bug pokemon again and again was clearly not the model's idea of a good day. She had only wanted to visit the city, in search of specific local herbs and to get a good look into the university's library. And now she was stuck. In the woods. Exhausted. With two baby pokemon, an eevee that didn't fight, a Rapidash, tired from being ridden all day, and two pokemon that had battled it out too hard, one newly caught, the other worn down and surely as frustrated as she was getting.

Dove pushed a hand through her hair, looking around again, speaking to the eevee with a sigh. "Well, Lovey, looks like we're going to be trying another--ah!"

She stepped back with a start, bumping against the tree when a boy appeared out of nowhere, introducing himself with a pick up line so out of the blue that it earned only a deer like look, eyes wide and lips parted in pure surprise. Shortly after, a laugh escaped her, filled with incredulity. This young man couldn't have been her age; he had to at least be a few years younger, and yet his way of making his presence known was... amusing. Where had he even come from!? Though it took a moment for her to find her voice, during which she looked between the stranger and his Snivy, she did finally speak up, her head tilted and her brow lifted in confusion. "I'm sure that's because they've got a much better sense of direction than I seem to have," she replied, still frustrated, but unwilling to take it out on this boy, even if he had startled her. Maybe he would even be able to help her find the city...

Lovey only blinked, and offered an innocent smile and to the other pokemon, slightly confused with the way it appraised her.  

[Gwennythe]

Jeeves assessed the tone of the conversation, taking everything in. So they weren't going to rob them, it seemed.
A certain hand-gesture, slipped in among the gesticulations of Lin's arms, while he talked, confirmed it.
There was no harm, then, in speaking with the fluffy one.
The Snivy paused for a moment, looked up and seemed to judge the time

"Aha! So the lady is lost?!" Lin exlaimed, gesticulating, a little dramatically, but not losing his, seemingly, easy smile. "Then I must try and help if I am able, for it's not a good thing for such beauty to be hidden and lost among these gloomy trees and besides, I must apologize for startling you. Where are you hoping to go?" He came across wandering trainers occasionally, and old habits would have him befriend and steal from them, but recent hopes, aims, were quelling such an impulse today. How could he ever hope to do Ruff justice if he stole from /every/ soul he met? Besides, he still might get something out of this, he thought; the woman did not look poor and did seem to need help; going past the same spot two or three times was not a normal thing to do, unless you were looking for something.  

[Tori Honoo]

'The fluffy one' was shocked at the polite way of the Snivy's words, and it showed in her features. She smiled, this time more warmly, and nodded. she told him, bowing her head a little, before looking over to the male human and back to the other pokemon. she laughed embarrassedly, fluffing her mane a little as if to sooth the feeling a bit.

Meanwhile, Dove continued to smile, unable to shake the feeling that this boy was oddly familiar. He was just like one of her closer friends back home, and for that, she couldn't be more grateful, though she was sure she would appreciate his bubbly personality more when she wasn't so irritable. His theatricality and charming words did draw a laugh from her again, and she shook her head, fond, but cautious. "It's no problem.. Honestly I'm just glad to see something other than trees and Lovey at the moment," she told him, tucking stray strands of her hair back behind her ear, toward the long braid she had tied her hair into. "We're looking for Sandalwood... We've only been once before, and I'm afraid I traveled with a larger group, then. Can you help us?" she asked, also embarrassed by the situation she had found herself in and the desperate need for help.  

[Gwennythe]

"Lovey? That is a lovely name for a lovely Eevee!" Lin complimented, taking the cue that Lovey was indeed a name, and only seeing the Eevee aside from his own pokémon. He smiled to the fluffy creature.
"Sandalwood? Dear lady, you are but a stone's throw!" Yes, yes, this was how Ruff talked; the old man had done it better but this certainly felt close. "Jeeves and I, Lin Salter, are obliged and honored to guide you!" He was pretty sure a bow would come here, and settled for a shallow one.

Jeeves returned the smile, though it wasn't quite as warm as the Eevee's; if anything, it looked a little like the smile of one who was used to taking on the tasks of others- a little world-weary but with genuine satisfaction in being able to do so. There was also a slight undertone that the Snivy seemed to be assessing everything, perhaps even judging what he saw.
 

[Tori Honoo]

She felt her irritation slowly slipping away as she listened to the boy, further calmed with the knowledge they were close and he could guide them. Knowin they had apparently been so close, however, made her want to kick herself.

With a grateful smile, she nodded. "That would be absolutely wonderful, Lin..." she said, grinning at Lovey's bark to the young man in thanks for the compliment. "And yes, thank you.." she added, both from herself and as a translation for Lovey.

Lovey, still surprised with the Snivy's formality, nodded as well, though an ear flicked a little as his phrasing. she asked, her wen smile still in place. Unless, of course, the kindness was feigned. She refused to think of things that way, however, though it settled on her mind as a possibility.  

[Gwennythe]

"Say nothing of it, it's our pleasure!" The boy insisted, easing into a practiced, obliging, flash of teeth. "Though, would you perhaps do me the honour and kindness of revealing your name to me? It would be nice to know the name of the pretty girl I am to guide!" Lin prompted, responding to having heard Dove call him by name.
Helping a stranger; well, it wasn't too far from what he had done before, just that, for once, the boy didn't intend to steal anything. He smiled, changing his expression just a little, as he tried to hear what his old friend might have said on the matter.

The Snivy agreed, still formal, somewhat 'haughty' sounding, perhaps, but not sounding unfriendly. Jeeves entreated with an apologetic, but stiff, nod. He could have been covering a slip of the tongue, but the formal politeness seemed easy, and usual, to him.  

[Tori Honoo]

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Call me Dove," she answered, blushing. How could she have been so rude to have forgotten to give her name? "Do you live around here? You're obviously well acquainted with the trees, if your... entrance has anything to say about it," she smiled, gesturing loosely up onward the canopy where he assumed he had been before appearing in front of her.

The Snivy's tone didn't fluster the eevee, nor did his flattery or that of his trainers, though it did make her curious. Nevertheless, she dismissed her suspicions, and instead nodded, smiling still.  

[Gwennythe]

"Dove," Lin repeated the name, watching the blush, the right corner of his lips ticking upward for a second "now there is a fitting name. Oh, you are quite right! I have lived here for all of my life. My apologies again- so sorry- about that," The smile turned sheepish with practiced ease "we honestly had no intention of startling you." He then, breaking off from the subject just slightly, offered out his arm, crooked at the elbow, in invitation. "Shall... we walk a way? I will guide you to one of the ways up."

Jeeves had a way of trying to make himself sound reassuring, and yet placid, at the same time; almost like a paid servant, if he hadn't been a pokémon.  

[Tori Honoo]

His polite urging her forward into their walk was accepted with grace, and she walked alongside him as she spoke, Lovey following after her. A soft laugh was given. "It's just a nickname, but thank you," she smiled, tucking her hair back. "And really, it's okay. That was probably the tamest fright I've come across since my moving here, so." A somewhat slighted thumbs up. "We're okay." For a moment her gaze grew distant, before she sighed and offered another content smile. At least she wasn't incredibly frustrated anymore.

"So you've been in Sandalwood your entire life? It's an amazing city, from what little I remember," she led, looking back once to make sure Lovey still followed, and the snivey wasn't a fiend. It was hard to trust anyone these days. "We've only visited once, around Christmas for a league gathering, but the atmosphere was breathtakingly unique.."

Lovey continued to stick close to her trainer, though her conversation with the grass type continued. she replied, offering him a calm smile with her ears high. This Pokemon... He sounded just like some of the staff--one in particular that he could remember-- of her trainer's old home. she said, quickly adding the last bit as a blush rose under her fur.  

[Gwennythe]

"A fitting nickname, then!" He insisted on keeping the point, before turning curious, though somewhat troubled, eyes on the young woman.
"Tamest fright? Well, I apologize anyway; it was very impolite to do it. I kinda wanted to show off, I guess." He dropped his flamboyant manner for just that latter sentence, just for a moment. It was back, though, upon the topic of his hometown- though maybe with a slightly different edge beneath the good-humoured tones, and perhaps, he had some trouble keeping it as it had been before, upon the subject.
"Oh, oh yes; since I was born. It is certainly a very.. unique city," He nodded "or so we're told, anyway. Aha," He smiled, trying to inject charm back into his very being once more "Christmas time is an interesting time to visit, but I hope you were not given too much trouble... for outshining the decorations. Might I, ahem, be so bold as to ask what brings you back here now?"
He was slipping, he felt it; Ruff's way of talking had slipped a couple of times from his grasp there; he hoped it wasn't too noticeable.

It was polite, but insistent; friendly, but with a continued haughty air. The Snivy gained a strange frown of surprise at the Eevee's next comment, and preceding question. In fact, he was younger than the boy, but the uppity Snivy wasn't one to share too much personal information.  

[Tori Honoo]

She grinned as she listened to him, picking up slowly on the subtle drops of his 'act'. She did nod, however, and offered him a smile as he apologized again. "Trust me, I've been through worse than having people drop down from trees nearby," she told him, looking up into the trees before back to him. Her gaze grew a little more serious, though, as she looked him over again. "You're not the first one to surprise me, though I've got to say, I'm enjoying it a lot more this round," she added, her smile returning a bit.

She was glad when the conversation returned to the city, and she nodded again, giggling embarrassedly at another compliment. There he went again, with attempts that seemed as though he were trying to gain her approval. "You know you don't have to try so hard, right?" she said gently, her smile bright and warm, though she referred more to the multiple compliments than she did his way of speaking. What he didn't intend to be obvious wasn't. "I'm already impressed."

Again, she looked back to Lovey, then to him again as she stepped through the forest. "I just thought I might look around at the University... The Library, anyway." Another soft laugh, riddled with a serious undertone. "And I really just needed a break from things back at...home." If that was what she considered 'home' nowadays, anyway.

Lovey smiled, then nodded to him, accepting his amazingly polite correction as she hopped over a tree root. she responded, matching his formality. However, she blinked at his frown, and was immediately aware she had said something that bothered him, though she had no intention of doing so.  

[Gwennythe]

"Worse? Oh my, have people been popping out of the ground?!" He teased, before appearing to realise she was actually serious. There was a slight danger, as he became curious, and suspicious, of what had upset this woman, of him 'dropping' his act altogether, though he was prompted to quickly retake, and reinforce, his smile as she mentioned she was 'enjoying it a lot more this round'. "Well, a, uh," Damnit, what was that word- he went for something that /kind of/ sounded right "blight on their day then, that they should not grant a pleasant experience after frightening such an undeserving target!"

However, he was startled by the next thing that Dove said.
"Try so hard?" He questioned, almost inaudibly- afraid that he really hadn't been quite so good at putting it all on as he'd hoped- right before she mentioned being impressed.
This was getting difficult, and some relief was impossible to hide away; he got somewhat clumsy as he tried to react to it.
"Impressed? Why there is, uh.. nothing to be impressed with us and you shouldn't..." This was getting nowhere, at least he could seize on what she'd said about the university- wait, bah, the university just inspired resentment... He needed something else to grab hold of, and found himself grasping at what she said about needing a break.

"Well!" He couldn't miss the undertone, surely? Except for being desperate to recover from his clumsiness around words, perhaps. "Everyone deserves a break from the daily troubles and irritations of the home! That's why I rather hope to wander, myself! I do hope you intend on seeing more than just the scholarly areas of the city?- they're kind of stuffy, you know."


The Snivy responded with a polite smile- genuine, at least- and a slight dip of his pointed snout; her apology appeared to have some positive effect, and the smile persisted- snooty even if genuine- as he spoke again.
 

[Tori Honoo]

She shook her head. "No, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did have an underground base," she replied, shaking her head, though his lighthearted tease did manage a smile from her. "Blight on all their days. I would never wish sunshine on a Rocket." There had been a lot of undeserving targets...she thought, looking to her shoes as they continued to walk. She wondered, as was obvious by her way of speaking, if Sandalwood had the same problems as Camphoreon did with the criminals. Camphoreon was a city, so it made sense that it would have a higher crime rate... but if the University was here...

She looked to him again, this time with a soft, genuine laugh. She had no idea what kind of person he really was inside, but his behavior reminded her of quite a number of people she had met before...and she had met a lot of people. The way he relaxed when she said she was impressed was good, though, and she smiled, picking up when his excuse fell to pieces. "So you're telling me I shouldn't be impressed with a young man helping a hopelessly lost stranger out of the woods? I'm still impressed."

His redirection of topic was accepted without question, as she hardly picked up on his apparent resentment, if there had been any physical evidence at all. His comment about 'wandering' was noted, for later use if there was any, as was his assessment of scholarly areas. "I guess they can be stuffy, but I like to learn... as ridiculous as that sounds," she told him, shrugging contently. "I would like to stop by a Pokemon Center, if there is one... My team kind of took a few hard hits..." Shoot, had she just admitted to not having a strong team? She didn't even know this guy, and if he was a threat, he now knew she was weak.... "And then I'll have to find someplace to eat..." She offered him a brighter, hopeful smile. "Have you had dinner yet? I would love it if you'd join me somewhere... My treat for helping me out of the woods. Literally," she giggled.

Lovey continued to follow along still, enjoying the polite conversation at hand. she laughed, blushing under her fur. she said nodding, having no qualms about answering him. She regarded him carefully, knowing full well that the others were in no current shape to meet the Snivy, after having battled earlier in the day. His question did bring rise to her own curiosity, though, and she asked,