[PRP] Polar

[Gwennythe]

Sandalwood City could certainly not be described as Eumelia's favourite place; familiarity had not really bred affection within her, but she supposed familiarity itself was worthy enough to induce return visits, or the occasional stay without too much reason; she could see the attraction there.
Thus neither could she say, conclusively, that Sandalwood wasn't her favourite place.

Today, however she found herself in the city of which she held familiarity with no strong feelings- still a form of attachment, she guessed- due to work.
She'd commuted in from Jinko that morning, and spent five hours within the university; three of them 'wasted' in class, teaching people who'd likely never do anything with the subject they'd chosen to pursue, and two spent with administrative work and checking in on certain favoured projects.

Still, the class had left her in a bad mood, one, she suspected, that might be aided by a good coffee and something sweet.
Dressed in her sneakers, her dark trousers, a red sweater, and with a long-ish dark grey blazer over the top (it even had elbow patches- this might have amused her if she'd considered the stereotype at all, as it was it simply pleased her that it was a nice jacket). A black shoulder bag held her things where the few pockets she had (another thing she was pleased about her jacket for) wouldn't suffice.

The white haired woman allowed Celsius to walk with her as she left the university in pursuit of a mood-lifting lunch; the Eeveelution was a good sounding board (Eumelia hadn't yet developed any ability to talk with pokémon- which was a minor annoyance, such a skill might be useful in her research- it certainly seemed to have inspired some colleagues, she had to admit), and as 'Eumelia's best and oldest current friend', as much as she had them anyway, the Glaceon was welcome company for the walk.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

While Camphoreon was usually his first choice of city, Izaya was all too aware that he was uncomfortably well-known there by a great deal of people he would rather not be recognized by. Though he was wearing an alternate outfit from his favorite fur-trimmed parka, he knew better than to think that would be enough to keep him from being identified by those on the lookout for him.

With Faleen still running around loose, that city was dangerous enough for the information broker, but after the events at the Valentine's Ball, he couldn't bear to show his face there just yet. He didn't need anyone he knew questioning his peculiar behavior from that night.

Aside from being pretty close to base and the forest being a good cover in case he needed to leave in a hurry, Izaya found Sandalwood City ideal to visit for other reasons. For one thing, he was more familiar with it than other destinations in Kodo because it had been the site of his first team mission as a Rocket. Since he was still practicing how to judge depth perception with one eye, this town in the tree canopy was really nice for working on his parkour.

There were lots of hand and footholds - more so than an average urban setting - and if he fell, it was a lot less likely he'd hurt himself on metal or concrete as opposed to natural foliage, underbrush, or other greenery. There were plenty of branches to grab on the way down, too, and being high up gave plenty of time to catch himself before he hit the forest floor. Besides, Izaya had always enjoyed high places.

His pokemon being unique in appearance as they were, he didn't feel like having any out at the moment lest they be associated with him as Rocket pokemon. It made it easier to concentrate on his depth perception exercises without his little pocket monsters running around to distract him, too. However, distractions could obviously never be completely eliminated and Izaya was reminded of this as, from a high bough overlooking a university, a white-haired woman walked away from the building with a Glaceon at her side.

Hmm...hadn't he seen her before? He couldn't recall at the moment why she looked so familiar, but wherever he'd seen her last, she definitely hadn't been wearing that stereotypical professor's outfit. Struck by curiosity, the man dropped from the tree bough with his legs hooked around it, hanging upside down for a fraction of a second before he used his momentum from the swing to release himself and land on his feet before the woman, his back to her.

He winced and exhaled sharply at the landing - it had been a bit farther than he'd thought - but having bent his knees had allowed them to absorb most of the shock. He took a second to recover, straightening up before turning around to face the mysterious stranger. "Yo!" he greeted, grinning.  

[Gwennythe]

Eumelia might have remained happily oblivious to the man in the trees, or perhaps even put on the appearance of being so through active dismissal, had he chosen to continue his activities up there.

Instead she found herself stifling a cry of surprise, and then clenching her teeth in annoyance that someone should cause that kind of reaction from her.
Her body was tensed, a flight or fight kind of response she dimly registered in mind, and she had to take the same few seconds that Izaya took to recover to bring herself out of her tension-clenched rigid reaction.
She blew a hot stream of air out, settling whatever her initial reaction had been into a simmering kind of irritation, looking with scorn at the individual as they turned and addressed her with 'Yo'.

'Yo'? Was this a student? The hip hop greeting, the outfit; they didn't exactly suggest otherwise. She didn't recall him being in the class she'd... tried to teach, but then she barely ever actually remembered any student unless they happened to fall within the slim category of those that 'had promise'. It wasn't likely a mugging, so close to the school and in the open. So, probably student. Either he was or he wasn't, and if he was then she'd better be clear, she supposed.

"If you have questions about the material, you should ask it in class. I am not in the habit of repeating my lectures, in any partial form, upon time set aside for my lunch."

The Glaceon was much happier to see a surprise human drop from the sky in front of them. Celsius swished tail and sat down, after the initial surprise, with a happy 'Glay!' to the acrobatic stranger. She had, momentarily, had her hackles raised for a possible threat, but this human didn't seem very threatening in the aftermath of his landing after all.
How exciting that someone new had approached them!  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

Smirking a little at the woman's look of scorn, Izaya blew the lady a derisive kiss. Already she was reminding him of the haughty, better-than-thou, serious-as-death higher-ups of Team Rocket. That couldn't have been where he'd seen her before, though, could it? He was pretty sure he'd have remembered that white hair. And what kind of Rocket would have found time to teach at a university outside of base?

"So you are a professor," Izaya confirmed aloud. "I was beginning to wonder if maybe you were attempting some sort of boring cosplay. Unless you're just telling me that to stay in the role of your character." He gave her a lop-sided grin. "Are you a tsundere-type professor, then? I certainly hope you have a greater love of your students or at least of teaching than the impression you're giving off.

"I heard that teachers don't get paid all that much, so I wouldn't think you'd do it mostly for the money, but perhaps it's different for university professors. Or...maybe teaching is a condition for an opportunity to do research with university resources?"

Crimson eyes flickered to the Glaceon, which he half expected to attack him, but was curiously surprised to find greeting him instead. At least that's what he thought it seemed like. He couldn't understand Ice-types, but it certainly appeared to be happier to meet him than its presumed trainer. Smiling, he knelt and held out his hand for the Eeveelution to sniff if it so chose. "Hello, there. What a warm greeting for an Ice-type."  

[Gwennythe]

Eumelia was entirely at a loss of how to deal with the kiss she was blown; what? Why would someone do that? The only response she could find that might be even remotely suitable was to frown at the man even more... and purposefully not comment on the strange action.

"I do not know what you're talking about- I don't even think I know that word you used- and I would appreciate you telling me, if you're not bothering me to ask a question about the class I just taught, what you actually want."

She turned her head slightly, eyes narrowed becoming more of a side-eyed look, regarding the man as he hit upon, in fact, one of her exact motivations for the teaching job. Not exactly 'dumb' then...
Still, he had, already, made a rather unfavourable first impression on her.

"She bites." Eumelia stated, frostily, a little in contrast to her Glaceon- who, as Izaya had so aptly pointed out, was being rather warm toward the stranger for an ice type... and certainly didn't seem like a pokémon that was in the habit of biting people.

<> The Glaceon chirped happily, not seeming to care that Izaya wouldn't understand her, after she'd moved to sniff his hand. She was sure her cheerful tone would carry over, at least.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"What word? 'Cosplay'? Or 'tsundere'?" The black-haired man laughed. "I guess it doesn't matter either way, since you don't seem curious enough to want to find out their meanings."

Appraising the woman, he noted her narrowed gaze and the turn of her head. Along with the demeanor she'd shown so far, Izaya was willing to bet money that the woman was only a professor at the university for the purpose of being able to do research there that she wouldn't have been able to do elsewhere. Except, perhaps, at Team Rocket, depending on just what sort of research it was she was interested in.

Not like he could have recruited her even if either of them wanted to, though. He wasn't even technically a Rocket any longer, much less an agent with the authority and judgement to officially recruit. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't have some fun with her. She was just the sort of person he loved to learn about; even if - no, especially if - he had to push her buttons to do so.

"What I want?" he repeated, acting as if he needed to take a moment to seriously consider the answer to that question. "Lots of things, naturally. But if you mean in regards to you, finding out more about you would be nice for starters." And, in addition, finding out why she looked so familiar and where he must have seen her before, but he figured that would probably be learned with time through everything else. No need to alert her he was familiar with her if she herself didn't seem to recognize him from anywhere. This was probably just as well since it was likely to be somewhere or in some situation that Izaya wouldn't have wanted to be identified at.

"Thanks for the warning, but it's not her I'm wary of," he told the Glaceon's trainer with a wry smile. Absently reaching to pet the pokemon's head after she'd sniffed his hand, he continued to address the frigid woman. "Earlier you you mentioned lunch. Did you have some already, or might I offer to take you out?"  

[Gwennythe]

"I am aware of what 'cosplay' means, not 'tsundere'; I doubt it would serve much purpose in my life to know it." Eumelia, as close as, conceded that she was, in fact, not all that curious about either word.

His answer definitely seemed to stir some surprise in her, and again she looked a little bit bewildered by it for a moment, actually glancing toward her Glaceon as though looking for reassurance, or affirmation, that this /was/ odd.

"Why would you want to know more?" She wrinkled her nose, prompted by the aggravation and confusion she felt, letting a little hrmph, as she watched Celsius happily allow the man to pet her.
The ice type seemed to be pleased to see everyone all the time... Another mystery to Eumelia, though not one she intended to solve.

"I was on my way to get some." The woman refrained from saying yes- the interaction was throwing her, moreso than usual interactions. She, on some level, wished she could ask one of her colleagues about it already but... then that would mean asking them about something, and admitting she didn't understand this whole thing.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"'Tsun tsun' means 'to turn away in disgust' and suggests that you're showing a cold, blunt, and curt attitude. Wouldn't you say that's accurate regarding how you're treating me right now?" Izaya asked with some amusement.

"As for the 'dere' part...I suppose I'll tell you if you ever show it. In the meantime, since I have yet to know what to call you, I think I'll go with 'Tsun-sei' since you're 'tsun' and a teacher, which we call 'sensei' in my native language."

Indulging in the woman's apparent surprise, he continued to smile casually and pet the docile Glaceon at hand. Reminded of Frost and his Glaceon, Izaya wondered idly if people with cold personalities were simply drawn to the ice-types or if they even realized their chilly demeanors even matched at all. At least Frost's name was Frost, so he had another possible reason besides just being cold as a person.

"Why?" This earned another full laugh from the informant. "Could it be that no one has ever shown interest in you before, Tsun-sei? Or have you just been stubbornly oblivious?" It could have been that her cold aura kept them away. But even so, there certainly had to be people out there who were attracted to that sort of aura.

"Oh, good! Wonderful! Then please allow me to treat you to lunch today," Izaya said happily, not bothering to phrase it as a question. "Both you and your delightful pokemon." Giving the ice-type a final pat, he straightened back up and grinned at the professor. "What sort of food do you enjoy?"  

[Gwennythe]

Eumelia listened with narrowed eyes as Izaya explained the meanings behind the terms he used. She gave no indication beyond a slight stiffening of her posture to what she thought of what her said, but she did speak up as he proclaimed her 'Tsun-sei'.

"I would rather you called me 'Eumelia' or 'Miss Strand', those being my names." The professor introduced herself in the vain hope of heading off the acquirement of such a nickname.

"No one has approached me in quite this way, no. Why would you want to buy my lunch?" She resisted the urge- she wondered why she even had it- to actually tell him the kind of food she liked.

Celsius continued to enjoy being petted, and then chirped delighted at the offer of food. She looked back at her trainer, almost seeming to urge her to take up the stranger's invitation.  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"It's my pleasure, Eumelia-san," the man answered, bowing at his waist with a devious smile. It had, of course, been his intention to get her to tell her name by indirectly threatening to use his own absurd made-up one for her if she didn't say. Thus, he considered the acquiring of the professor's full name to be quite a triumph.

"Well, by 'shown interest in you in this way', I'm not referring to ambushing you from the treetops," Izaya clarified quickly. "But as you still seem puzzled regarding your second question, I think I still have my answer."

He laughed lightly, hands back in his jacked pockets. "Eumelia-san, you seem like a very intelligent woman. Can you honestly tell me you can't guess at the reason why someone would ask a stranger out to lunch?" His gaze rose from the bridge planks to her face with a coy smile. "I already told you I'm interested in finding out more about you. You seem like an intriguing human being. And, as it happens, I adore human beings."  

[Gwennythe]

"Hm. I'm sure. Well you have mine, now social custom dictates, I believe, that you reveal your own." Eumelia responded, sounding impatient, but secretly grateful he'd used 'Eumelia' and not the nickname he'd been about to bestow before.

"Oh who knows. I'm quite sure I could guess and I'm quite sure I could give you approximately seven different answers off of the top of my head but given it's a subject that I have very little interest in exploring the reasons behind, I am loathe to attempt to do so."

At his choice of words, however, she found herself giving the stranger a more careful look-over.
"You say you adore humans as though your are not one. You are. My interest in you would have been assured otherwise."  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Of course. I just ignored social custom in favor of hearing you voice an interest to learn my name," Izaya admitted with obvious amusement. "That's not exactly what I had in mind, but I figure it's the closest I can hope for. Chrome - call me Chrome."

"If you're 'loathe' to explore the reasons, why did you bother even asking me why in the first place?" he laughed. With a patient smile and his hands in his pockets, he slowly continued to approach her, entering what was probably more of her personal space that would have been deemed appropriate by reasonable standards. There was always the chance that her Glaceon might not have liked that, but he hoped that if he took his time doing so, she wouldn't suspect him of having any ill intentions.

When they were about a foot apart, he stopped. "Yes! How astute of you to notice. But I really have to ask - with all the tricks pokemon have been discovered to use nowadays, how can you be so certain I am human?"  

[Gwennythe]

"Your name is 'Chrome'. Like the electroplated coating of Chromium? Surname, forename or," She made a kind of 'tch' noise of a sigh "nickname?" She didn't sound very convinced that that could actually be a name at all.

"Mm. Why, indeed." She muttered, serving as a reply, but mostly in the form of an irritation at herself. She had asked, after all, and even she wasn't totally sure why except, perhaps, it was an extension of her natural curiosity deciding to make itself known. She wondered, seriously, why she'd cared to ask at all.
Preoccupied by the problem this presented, she was a little aghast (it was a better word than irritated) though she hoped subtly so, that he'd gotten closer than she'd like before she'd registered the fact.
His question caused her to scoff, then a very brief thoughtful look to cross her face, and then Eumelia turned her head ever so slightly, a scrutinizing look emerging from her brow down through her eyes.
"Your speech." She decided after a few seconds.

Meanwhile, Celsius, though not aggressive and very glad that 'Chrome' and Eumelia seemed to be becoming friends, was gently trying to 'nudge' at Chrome's legs to signal for him to step back a little at least... Eumelia was weird about humans being so close! He didn't want to ruin the new friendship before it started, and she was keen to help!  

[lZAYA ORlHARA]

"Wow, you have more of an interest in my name than I'd guessed you would," he chuckled. "But what does it matter what kind of name it is? A rose by any other name is still the same, ne?" Izaya was pretty sure that wasn't how the original saying went, but it would have felt peculiar to suggest he was sweet-smelling through the comparison of the metaphor.

At the woman's response, Izaya's grin broadened. "Up until recently, I would have completely agreed with you. Speech is something that should be reserved for humans and humans alone. Unfortunately, it seems that in Kalos, at least, pokemon have been heard to communicate in the same manner - or something similar enough to give us humans the impression of it. But perhaps you have yet to come across that particular phenomenon." He shook his head and reached out a hand to pat her on the shoulder. "Cherish it while you can."

"Hm?" Noticing the Glaceon at his feet, he was surprised to find her trying to nudge him backward. Nevertheless, he obliged and moved away from her trainer, even if not more than a few steps. "I'm sorry; are you not close to other people being so up close and personal with your trainer? I guess it's true she doesn't seem the type to express intimacy...but there doesn't really have to be anything intimate about buying her lunch, does there? And her designated lunch period is slowly slipping away as we continue to stand here." He looked up to meet Eumelia's eyes, talking as much if not more to her than Celsius.