[PRP] Getting to know you

[TawnyAngel]

A couple of weeks after the clash with Team Rocket he was feeling somewhat better and had even managed to shoo his parents onto a plane back home. He'd spent most of his time flopped in his apartment with his pokemon, a bit dopey from the painkillers and just glad they were all still with him. Eventually however the perpetually active man got bored and took to wandering outside and when that happened it wasn't long before his feet took him to the hospital.

For a lot of people it was an uncomfortable place, once steeped in fear and grief. For him it was different; it was his place of work, his territory almost and it was where he saw all of his friends over the age of twenty five. He spent about half an hour in one of the break rooms being plied with cake and fussed over which was nice enough but the way they kept looking at the dressings over the right side of his face was awkward. He hadn't expected doctor patient confidentiality to last in his case and it was easier this way anyway. Still it was a bit awkward and so he excused himself to go and make an overdue visit.

He couldn't say he knew the girl but that didn't mean he didn't care about her; he'd sat with her on the trip out there, fought beside her, and then tried to stop her from bleeding to death. She was lucky to be alive given how close she had been to that blast, alive and out of the ICU even.

Having discovered where she was Dith approached the door to the little private room and knocked.  

[Tori Honoo]

Finally out of the ICU and able to withstand longer periods of wakefulness (and allowed and given what she considered a more proper bath, finally), Dove found herself in a state of unrest and inner conflict, wanting to escape the walls of the hospital room she now resided in and the pain that plagued her between medications. So far, the healing process had only made her feel sick, but as the doctors were assuring her it was positively normal, she complained less, simply glad to be alive, and without the circumstances the others had found themselves in. Even if it was still absolutely horrific.

When Dith knocked on the door, he would hear a soft, almost content call welcoming him into the room and the immediate sound of tiny paws on the floor, were he to listen carefully enough. "Hello? You can come in..."  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith was not listening all that carefully - he was thinking about what he was going to say - but he opened the door slowly all the same so should the owner of little paws be behind the door they would have ample time to get out of the way. Stepping inside he closed the door behind him and offered Dove a bright if lopsided smile, moving the dressing covered right side of his face still hurt so he avoided it as much as possible.

"Hello there you!" the large man flourished a bunch of assorted flowers, mainly yellow and light purple. "I brought you flowers and some company, I thought you might be bored in here." She looked much better than he had expected - feared. That of course was no guarantee of how she felt.  

[Tori Honoo]

When the door was opened, the pokemon behind it stepped back, and tilted her head in confusion when the person who appeared was not who she had expected. Nevertheless, the little brown eevee waved her tail in welcome anyway, then took to chair, then bed once more, with her kit and trainer.

Dove, while she experienced a slightly similar disappointment when the person wasn't the man she had hoped to see, offered as bright a smile as she could, the tired gleam reaching her eyes as he announced his gifts. She barely even knew Dith, and yet his appearance was already cheering up her day. "Wow...! Thank you, sir!" she gave sincerely, her smile even brighter as the smaller, blue eevee suddenly perked up at the sight of the flowers. The baby's initial reaction had been to shrink more into Dove's less harmed side. This new person was so big...

"There's a chair in here somewhere, I think..."she offered, trying to look around without moving so much. Though it had been a few weeks since the explosion... it had only been a few weeks.  

[TawnyAngel]

"You can even keep them if you don't call me sir anymore," Dith said with an amiable wink (though it was hard to tell with just the one visible eye) and the same half grin. "Dith or Dima, whichever you like," he went on, moving around to Dove's side and picking up the standard awful plastic visitor's chair that rested nearby. "I also answer to Goldilocks and Princess," he added, easing himself down onto it cautiously just in case the legs turned out not to be stable. It only had to happen to you once for you to be forever cautious

"I will find vase for the flower later, I know people," he added, resting the bunch carefully on the little table by Dove's bed. Cheer was about all he could offer just at the moment but luckily he had quite a lot of that to give even with his mind still in a bit of a whirl over everything that had happened. In the end life would go on, he was still alive and still fit. Coming off like a Bond villain wasn't the worst thing in the world in the end, he'd just have to work even harder not to seem intimidating.

"Oh, and who are your little friends?" he nodded to the two eevees. "I'm afraid I have not yet learned the names of your team properly."  

[Tori Honoo]

She laughed embarrassedly, though not for long, as even a smaller version seemed to still hurt. "Sorry..." she grinned, her cheeks flushing a bit. His teasing additions only made her smile a little wider, and she shook her head just slightly. "I'll stick with Dith, I think," she further announced, reaching up to set the long plait of hair over her shoulder again. It was driving her crazy not to be able to play with her hair, but braiding it was certainly much better than having to face the fact that she had to have it cut, if only a bit to remove the burned ends from the blast.

The flowers made her smile soften as he put them on the unoccupied table, the room now balanced with his gift and the simple vase of lilies at her other side. "Thank you, Dith... They're gorgeous!" Definitely better than the sterile walls of the room that were driving her crazy.

When he mentioned the two creatures sitting with her, the elder approached and sat before him at the girl's side, offering a soft bark up at him in greeting yet again, clearly unafraid of him. The girl's face again turned pink, as she still wasn't entirely sure she was allowed to have them outside their pokeballs, and the idea that a doctor was asking her about them was slightly embarrassing. "This one is Lovey... she was my first, from back home. And this little one..." she added, reaching over to scoop the blue kit from its place with one hand, "Is her kit, Diana. She's a little shy, still..." As if to prove her point, the smaller kit looked up at him with wide eyes, timid, but not so skittish as to run away...yet. "The rest of my team is a little big... especially the ones I guess you've seen..." she explained, unsure if he was asking for their names all at once or not. She surely didn't want to bombard him with information he wasn't wanting.  

[TawnyAngel]

The chair seemed safe and so Dith relaxed, shoulders shifting in a restrained stretch. "No need to apologise," he smiled, "but I have never been sir to anyone, and I don't intend to start. And you're welcome," he gave a little bob of his head. "I didn't know what flowers you liked so I went for pretty and cheerful." It had seemed like a pretty safe bet, though if Dove had suffered from hay fever he would have been in trouble.

"Lovey, and Diana," Dith echoed as the two eevees were introduced, extending a hand out towards the more confident of the two for sniffing/licking/nibbling. "I saw... three big ones I think were yours? Rapidash, Arcanine and Typhlosion, da? Oh, and the cute pink thing you had in your lap on the trip over." He didn't know what it had been but cute it had been for sure.

"Viktor was my first," he continued, fumbling with his other hand for the scratched old plain grey pokeball. A moment later the striped golden Espeon appeared on the floor, sitting with his tail neatly curled around his paws. "I found him when I was five," he explained, smiling down at the calm psychic type. Abruptly Dith's huge frame shook in a shiver but this was closely followed by a laugh. "Oh and come out you!"

With a soft chuckling intonation of "Haunt haunt!" the ghost appeared, black patched with red like spilled blood.

"This is Zla," Dith explained with a twirly wave of his hand. "He was my father's second pokemon and he thinks I am still five."

"Haunt." Zla grinned and patted Dith on the head.  

[Tori Honoo]

"They're perfect," she assured him, the sentiment sincere. Flowers had always been a favorite, and the ones he had chosen were, indeed, cheerful-- just what she needed.

In response to their names and the offered hand, Lovey stepped forward and nudged her head into the man's large hand, clearly pleased with the affection. While she had known to be wary of strangers, she had at least seen this man before, and her trainer seemed glad to see him.

Dove nodded, and looked to the belt laid across the table with the lilies, each ball aligned neatly-- most luxury, one heal, and one masterball. "The Rapidash is Thierry... he was the first pokemon I ever actually caught. Sparky is the typhlosion. He was a gift from my parents when I started my career, so I guess he was my second..." She paused, her gaze somewhat distant, but her smile soft. "They gave him to me as a Cyndiquil, but had someone else train him for me." A slight shrug, which she instantly regretted again. "Aurora is the arcanine... I caught her on the way to Sandalwood. I...think she's a natural shiny. But she's fierce. I guess that....didn't really matter so much, considering where we were fighting..." Her team had been so biased, and so weak against those of the desert...

Mention of the 'cute pink thing' brought the flush back to her cheeks, and a slight uncertainty. "Oh... um... That's Trill. It's... a mew..." He didn't seem to have known what it was immediately, so the fact that it was a legendary didn't seem all that important at the moment, though she did lower her voice as she told him its type. The subject was quickly added onto and redirected. "I also have a Togepi, named Tobikuma--or Tobi-- and a Liepard that I got in Grande Ile." Albeit, the liepard had been in the battle too...for all of 2 seconds. "And I'm looking after an Espeon for a friend, or...was..." Not now that she was in the hospital. That task had been handed off for the time being, she supposed.

She looked on with interest as he released his own Espeon, and smiled brightly. "Hello,Viktor," she nodded a little, smiling even brighter at the man's description. The shiver, however, was unexpected, and when the Haunter emerged, she started a bit over its appearance, wincing again at the sudden movement, but otherwise unharmed as she relaxed, watching fondly--and in amusement-- as it patted the man's head. "Hello, Zla! They're wonderful, Dith. Were both with you the other day...?"  

[TawnyAngel]

He nodded at the mention of natural shiny, he knew some people set store by looks and judging by the get up Dove had arrived for action in she was one of them. It was harmless so long as you were a nice person though, which she seemed to be so that was what mattered. He might have to have a talk to her about leather, the desert, and the very real dangers of heatstroke though... but not just now.

It was the mention of the pink pokemon's species name that pulled Dith's focus back fully, and Dove's dipping tone was not missed. It did however tell him that he had missed something, ought to know something about them. Were they popular lately? A recent import? He would have to ask google later on that one.

"Da," Dith nodded when Dove finished speaking, "I had all of my pokemon with me, I have only the five. Viktor and Zla, then there is my Liepard Teazer who I caught, Luna another Espeon who I bought, and Dolly my Rapidash who I caught as Ponyta." At least he wasn't the only one with a slightly unbalanced team. Rosie knew a lot about pokemon, maybe he could ask her what he should think of getting as a sixth pokemon to balance his team.

"I'll have to meet all of your pokemon properly some time," Dith added with a smile and a little nod. "When you get out of here, when everyone is out, maybe we can have a little celebration together."  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove smiled again at his admission, and nodded a little. "Five seems to be a good number... a few of mine don't fight, but keeping them all content is a job in itself."

The offer to get together with everyone was heartwarming, and she nodded again. "If they'll ever fix me enough to go home..." she laughed softly, attempting not to let the motion upset her wounds. "That would be really nice, actually... I was so...out of it...beforehand that I didn't even meet everyone..." Another reason, while shallow, that she was glad there had been no casualties. The thought brought her eyes back to his face, and she tilted her head, just enough to see what her collarbone would allow. "How are you feeling...?" Those bandages looked like they might cover something a bit--or a lot-- uncomfortable.  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith gave a soft chuckle and inclined his head slightly. "My colleagues will have you fixed and out as soon as they can. If I think they're slacking I'll loom at them, I do that pretty well." Not that it actually fooled his coworkers for a minute, or anyone who'd know him longer than a week or so for that matter. Ah well, there were many worse things to be known as than a softie.

Ah. Of course, she would have asked sooner or later. "Heh." With that small noise that wasn't really a laugh Dith sat back in his chair and shrugged. "I've been worse, and it could have been worse too. Still not all that amazing I must admit though." The big man gave a weak smile and shrugged again "I think the novelty of being a pirate will wear off before too long, but in the great scheme of things I suppose I can't complain." There were worse things to lose than an eye, remembering that was important.  

[Tori Honoo]

She only smiled at his reassurance and offer to direct them toward action should they fail her, again, glad for his cheer and gentle nature.

His response, while again playful, gained an apologetic look from the girl and a softer smile. She wasn't sure to what extent he had been injured, but from the looks of things, she wouldn't be at all surprised if irreparable damage had been done to at least one of his senses, and again, a sharp ping in the back of her mind reminded her not to dwell. Things really could have been worse. Quietly, she looked to him, then away again, watching Diana curl up in the sheets gathered over her lap. "We were all very lucky to get out alive...and I'm sorry for being so withdrawn before," she added, the need to apologize pressing at her mind. He, too, had been kind to her, and she had been too caged to respond properly.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Psh," Dith waved a hand dismissively, smile softening again. "You don't have to apologize for that, not everyone is so forward as I am with people they don't know well. Plus of course it was not really ideal circumstances to say the least. We all had other things on our minds than just being sociable."

Viktor, who had been sitting quietly until that moment, got to his paws and stretched slightly before hopping into his trainer's ample lap.

Wrapping one arm loosely around the Espeon Dith scratched the golden-furred psychic type's head with the other hand. "Perhaps we can get to know one another a little now though," he suggested to Dove with a little nod. "Are you native to Kodo?" Her accent didn't sound native but he'd been wrong on such scores before.  

[Tori Honoo]

While he assured her there was no need to apologize, she shook her head, though she said no more on the subject. He had already dismissed it, and she was grateful, she supposed, though still sincere in her apology.

His motion to get to know one another better was met with a small smile, and she nodded at it, though she shook her head when asked if she was a native of Kodo. "Oh, no... I'm actually from Sinnoh. Hearthome, more specifically... I did live in Unova once, but I've only lived here on Kodo for a year..." she admitted, playing again with her braid. "And you?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Me?" Dith grinned and shrugged. "Well I am from all about. I was born in Moscow but for ah... politically unfortunate reasons I moved to Yakutsk - that is in the very north east of Russia - when I was nine. Moved again to St. Petersburg when I was twelve, but when I was eighteen I moved to the UK to study medicine and I had lived there ever since until about three years ago when I came here." Still grinning a little he gave another shrug. "A bit complicated there I'm afraid, but you can class all my childhood as Russian, somewhere basically. I don't want to overload with too much information."