[SOLO] Roommate wanted?

[TawnyAngel]

Most of the time Dith just sent Dolly out on her own with the supply packages these days; with saddlebags on but no other tack it was obvious that she wasn't wild, but also that she probably hadn't shed a rider somewhere in the countryside and was thus in need of recapturing. Today however he was along for the ride, it had been a long week and he fancied getting out of the city for a while.

The route to the little woodland was very familiar by now, neither he nor Dolly really had to think about it and so they were able to relax and enjoy the gentle canter. Slow though Dolly was for a Rapidash a 'gentle canter' still got them there rather quickly and so it was late afternoon when Dith dismounted at the treeline, removed Dolly's tack, and left her to do whatever while he headed into the wood with the bags.

After a few minutes of walking he found the little shelter by the stream. "Anyone home?" he called. There was no reply and so he ducked into the shelter, opened the crate nestled at the back, and started to fill it with the supplies he'd bought. A gas bottle from the little camping stove was next to the crate - empty - and so Dith put it into one of the empties bags and made a mental note to buy another when he went shopping tomorrow.  

[TawnyAngel]

A little way downstream the owner of the shelter was just finishing a bath; the cold water was a relief from the summer heat and as she stepped back onto the bank she merely shook herself off rather than using the towel she'd brought to dry herself with. Slinging the towel over her shoulder the Mewtwo turned and headed for home.

Just short of the little clearing here she had constructed her shelter she froze; somebody was in there! Last time somebody had been in her shelter - a young human - it had eaten half of her supplies and had the cheek to take a nap in her hammock, with its boots on! If not for her need for secrecy she would have given it a piece of her mind. Well, what this time then? Drifting into the air so that the light tread of her paws couldn't give her away Lovelace moved around the edge of the clearing so that she could see what was going on without too much risk of being spotted.

When she saw the large shape fiddling around at the back of her home however she relaxed and touched back down on the ground. <>  

[TawnyAngel]

The sudden voice in his head made Dith startle slightly. "Gah, hello!" he turned with a smile and ducked back out of the shelter. "I haven't seen you in a while either."

<>

"Ha! Well, yes, I suppose if you hadn't seen me I wouldn't have seen you either. You look well. Oh, and Dolly is out on the edge of the wood getting some grass and leaves into her." Lovelace did look well; no longer the sad skinny thing he'd run into here a few months ago her fine coat looked in good condition and he couldn't see any bones you weren't supposed to be able to see. "Been for a swim?" he asked, noting her dampness.  

[TawnyAngel]

The human did talk a lot. She quite liked him - though she wouldn't admit it to him - but he did talk a lot. She rolled her eyes at his comment. <> As if he would ever spot her when she hadn't spotted him first! He easily conceded the point however and so she didn't feel the need to make any more of it.

<> she said instead. <> She would take the heat of summer over the cold of winter though, it was easier to cool off in the water than it was to keep herself warm in the wind and rain even with her shelter and the blankets that her human associate had provided for her.

She didn't want to spend another winter out here.

<> she remembered to offer after a moment, followed by; <>  

[TawnyAngel]

"Da, good," Dith dusted off his knees and nodded, "same old really, people hurting themselves inventively when drunk or when doing it for the vine. Also some really nasty sunburns and some heatstroke this time of year but pretty good." Nobody had died on him this week, that made it a very good week indeed. There were some people who wouldn't be the same now but... well, that was the reality of life and at least they still had a life.

"I brought you the usual stuff, also a couple of new books and a book of crosswords and suduko," Dith continued with a wave of his hand to the shelter. "I see you need a new spare gas cylinder for the stove, is there anything else?" He knew what she really wanted was a solar panel installed somewhere so that she could run a tablet, electric lighting, and so on. Unfortunately however he had a feeling that such a thing would sooner or later be spotted by somebody who would start asking questions, and questions were the last thing Lovelace wanted.  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Was there anything else? What she really wanted was not to live here anymore, she missed civilization and its comforts and while she was still deeply wary of humans she no longer believed that they were all evil; some of them were even kind, decent sorts. Some however she knew were bad, or at least greedy and ignorant and arrogant enough to think that they had a right to put her in a pokeball and make her their 'buddy' regardless of what she had to say about it.

<> Lovelace added after a pause, <> It was delicious and alleviated boredom on a long night when she had run out of things to do.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Cider? I can do cider," Dith nodded. "It was the Strongbow you liked wasn't it?" There were people who said that you shouldn't give alcohol to pokemon. Dith was of the opinion that, as long as they were about as bright as he was or brighter, they could make their own decisions. Most of his showed no interest in it and so didn't have it but the principle remained the same.

"Nothing else?" he asked, stooping to pick up the saddlebags full of empty containers.  

[TawnyAngel]

Lovelace tried to think of something else interesting to ask for but everything that came to mind needed power. She really needed a solar panel, or an electric type to live with, or not to live in a damned forest anymore.

She sighed. <> Her life was going nowhere. She didn't have a cause as such anymore and she had nothing much to divert herself with either. What was the point?  

[TawnyAngel]

Oh. Right then.

Dith put the bags back down on the ground and sat on the log Lovelace and Dolly had dragged into the clearing a while ago. "Okay, what's up? You can talk to me you know. Maybe I can't help but I can listen." Talking about things was usually helpful in his experience, if nothing else it made you feel... validated? Yes, that was sort of the right word, and talking aloud - or psychically as the case may be - sometimes helped you to get your head around an issue better too.  

[TawnyAngel]

Lovelace huffed slightly and padded over to join him, what was the harm? It wasn't as though he would go around telling other people, she trusted in that at least. <> she began, her tail starting to twitch as her frustration bubbled closer to the surface. <dirt. It's gritty and gets everywhere when it's dry and it's sticky and gets everywhere when it's wet. Then there's washing, it's alright at the moment but in winter? I have to choose between stinking and freezing. And don't get me started on having to hide whenever a trainer comes through, and the boredom! Suduko and crosswords only go so far, and while I do love to read I want to do other things too! I miss the internet, and air conditioning, and hot running water, but I don't want to trade my freedom for the comfort of being somebody's pet. I hate it here, my life is excruciatingly dull, but I haven't got anywhere else to go and so I'm stuck with it.>>  

[TawnyAngel]

One thing about speaking psychically of course was you didn't have to pause to breathe; Dith sat motionless, looking slightly glazed as the information and accompanying flares of emotion battered his brain. It was like falling off a surfboard and getting tumbled along the bottom until you washed up to shore with sand everywhere and a vaguely perplexed feeling about life, and then the surfboard hit you in the face.

Or something like that.

"Erk." Dith blinked. "Wow. I uh... I'm sorry I didn't know you were that unhappy. I knew you got a bit bored but...." It had to be lonely too, living here all alone except for occasional encounters with wild pokemon or with Dolly when she brought supplies.  

[TawnyAngel]

Lovelace humphed and crossed her arms over her chest, her tail still lashing from side to side. <> It felt a little good to vent she supposed but it didn't change anything.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Yeah, I do.... Hu," Dith frowned to himself and tilted his head back to look up at the bright blue sky. There was an idea forming in his head. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea but it was an idea nonetheless and it couldn't hurt to voice it right?

"Uh.... You know, if you wanted to you could stay with me for a while? I have a spare room in my apartment. I guess getting you in and out without getting too much attention could be tricky but it couldn't hurt to try right? You'd still be free but with modern amenities at your disposal." It was of course entirely possible that she'd take his suggestion the wrong way and hurl him against a tree but after all she'd just said he couldn't just have kept the idea to himself. The offer was made, what she did with it was up to her.  

[TawnyAngel]

<> Lovelace stared for a few moments and then shot to her feet glaring, a confusing mixture of emotions bubbling away in the pit of her stomach. <> It was at that point that she realised she was standing next to a shelter he had helped her to make - there had been printed instructions with diagrams - which was filled with things he brought to her. <> Damn! <> In a nice apartment with her own room? And hot water? And the internet?  

[TawnyAngel]

Dith listened, his brows raising slowly as Lovelace spoke and opened his mouth to speak. She got there first however, waving off the 'charity' thing as 'a given level of charity'. "Okay then," Dith shrugged, "you can repay me by doing chores for the time being, and maybe we can work something else out if we decide you living there works for us both. You could get a job." Somehow. Getting her into the city was still going to be-

"Oh! I know how to get you in too, I will ask my friend Sera if her Zoroark can help us out. He can disguise you with his illusions no problem." Problem solved! Hopefully. Was this really a good idea though? It was a bit impulsive... Oh well, YOLO right?