smash_logs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Marie the Turtel! (

tidalwaves), Voile the Gardevoir (

reservedempath)
When: Futuredating! - 10/26 - Afternoon'ish
What: It's a date. It's a date. ~~Voile's dating everyone.~~
Where: Some hallways... Then some gardens...
Warnings: Likely nothing.

Sweet Pokéblocks. Voile had not forgotten. But then, there were few things that she let slip her mind. Books said that the mind retained the information it defined as 'important' and if such were the case, then clearly absolutely every little thing had been 'important' to the gardevoir. At that rate, she'd run herself ragged trying to match up to that. She could see it happening so easily, too.

But Marie would help, she thought. It was a little odd, sometimes, between them. Voile had never disliked him, of course, but at one point in time, he'd certainly had his own discomfort with her. And it was understandable. But she was happy that it seemed to have change over the course of time.

She'd waited for him in a rather simple dress, dressed for the season, and taking advantage of what little sun they had left. And in one hand, a rather small satchel, tied neatly with an organza ribbon. Within her lips, a content smile, as if she had no other place she wanted to be. And until proven otherwise, she truly saw that as the case, in spite of the way her insides fluttered about with a mostly vague uncertainty.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Marie was undeniably nervous. He really didn't spend that much time with people other than his team, if at all, disregarding his roommate he hardly exchanged words with. He was certainly far from a social Butterfree, usually preferring to spend time by himself than with others.

Not to mention, he was on his way to see Voile. Voile whom he had previously held a pretty nasty grudge against before he had even met her, simply based on her friendship with a certain 'saur. Voile who had been kinda sorta seeing his brother and called him cutesy nicknames. Voile who had recently said he understood her unlike anyone else at the school. If he were still a Squirtle, he figured his nerves would have him drooling anxiously.

To say he hadn't considered not showing up would be a complete lie. But, sure enough, Marie found the Gardevoir, just where they had arranged to meet. And she was wearing a pretty dress and holding something. ... Should he have brought something too? Uuuuughhh...

"Hey," he mumbled, once he was close enough.

Edited 2012-10-25 04:05 (UTC)

It was true that Voile still had a certain Snorlax in the background of her mind. True enough that she hadn't even gotten a note from him when he left. That he'd simply gone and she'd had no other choice than to accept it. And it hurt more to have Cyrus do precisely the same thing. That the two people she'd held closest to her had gone. And it sucked even more that Knuckles hadn't been around. If she had been more open about it... perhaps she would have admitted that she had a hard time wanting to be emotionally close to anyone.

And that was impossible when everything about her was emotional. She had no other choice than to keep going. On top of it, to act as though she was utterly unbreakable. Yet she felt like glass.

All of that stayed in the background, however, when Marie approached her and closed the distance between them. With a kind smile, she offered over the satchel for him. "Hello!" Her head tipped and she slipped her free hand behind her back, "I brought you some Pokéblocks. I hope you like them."

Or maybe he'd just spit them out all over the place. She hoped not, honestly.

Edited 2012-10-25 04:11 (UTC)

Taking the satchel, Marie knit his eyebrows together. Honestly, he probably should have expected that she was going to bring him Pokéblocks, considering she had asked him about it. It was a nice gesture, and while he appreciated it, he felt a little rude.

"Oh, thanks. Sorry I didn't bring you anything..." he replied, frowning. He shrugged and added, "Next time."

She blinked at his colloquial reply and it didn't take more than a few moments for her to laugh. Not at him, of course - though in hindsight, she imagined he'd interpret it like so - but rather at the notion he felt he needed to do either of those things. One was for him to apologise, for there was really nothing to feel 'sorry' over. And the other was the misconception that he needed to get her something.

"I didn't bring you something to get something in return," she corrected, tempted to bonk him on the noggin. But feeling he wouldn't appreciate that either, Voile amazingly refrained, and instead held onto the smile that was birthed when she saw him.

Slipping her hands behind her back, she remained at his side, comfortable and content. "I'm happy to see you. I was a little nervous." A lot nervous, actually.

Although Voile didn't mean anything by it, Marie couldn't help but shrink a little bit when all she offered in reply was amused snicker. He pulled the hood of his jacket up, although made every attempt to make it look like an idle gesture, rather than one of nervous habit.

She was wise, though, to keep herself from tapping him. Maybe she understood him just as well as he supposedly understood her; Marie had some fairly rigid personal space boundaries. Respecting them, even without meaning to, was an easy way to make Marie more comfortable.

"Really?" he asked. He could feel his cheeks getting a little warmer. "I mean... that's okay, but, like, why?" Only after he blurted that out did it occur to him that maybe he didn't want to know, or that Voile might not have wanted to share. He swallowed his tongue and fiddled idly with the satchel he'd been given.

Her hands laced together to keep herself occupied from otherwise being too touchy. It came from being a gardevoir, she supposed. She didn't have a problem with touching other people, be it from hugs (the embrace pokémon, after all), holding hands, and other such things. Well, no. Holding hands was something of an infrequent occurrence and she hadn't done too much of it, knowing well enough of the implications behind such gestures.

"Well, I thought perhaps you wouldn't really want to see me," she spoke up gently. "Sometimes you seem as if you only do things to sate me, which isn't really necessary. I'd rather you spent time because you wanted to, rather than feeling like you had to."

Voile a small, sheepish sort of smile and she tipped her head this way and that in a very 'schoolgirl' sort of fashion. "But you also could have simply told me 'no' about meeting up today. So I think even if you didn't want to admit it, secretly you were happy to see me."

"I didn't say yes because I felt like I had to, or whatever," Marie replied. He spoke quietly, a hint of his nerves in his tone. "I mean, I am happy to see you... I can say that. Like, I like you."

He was doing an A+ job at embarrassing himself rather thoroughly. He made an awkward attempt at backpedaling in order to explain himself by stumbling over a syllable for a second before he finally managed to mumble, "I mean... I shouldn't have ever disliked you." Pause. "Well, I mean, not that I did- well, okay, I did, but only because I'm stupid.

...

I kinda know you now, and I think you're nice, and stuff. I dunno. Sorry?"

Rather than interrupting him or trying to reassure him, Voile decided it was better to let him get everything out. It gave her an opportunity to determine what she felt was sincere from her. It was his chance to really show his colours. His uncertainty, his nerves, his anxiety, and his doubt all from having her company. Not because he disliked it, but because he seemed to question how much of it was okay with his own history of thoughts regarding her.

But at least he'd never considered flat out hurting her, because she was sure there were other people who had thought things like that.

She slowly smiled and glanced sidelong to him. Then she very lightly elbowed him. "I never held anything against you, and I understood. It's fine. I promise." She offered him a smile as additional reassurance, "So please don't worry."

Still flustered with himself, Marie kept his idle hands busy by fidgeting with the satchel of Pokéblocks again. He felt guilty about giving Voile a rather unfriendly first impression. Admittedly, his anxious nature seemed to make that his default first impression for a lot of people.

"Yeah, well..." he started to protest. But Voile insisted he shouldn't worry. So he'd try not to... "Alright."

He let out a quiet sigh and he nodded back at her. A pause, and then he made a clumsy attempt at changing the subject, "So... have you been to the gardens before, or whatever?"

And she was perfectly fine with the 'seamless' way he changed topics. Successfully for him, her gaze moved off of his anxious self and onto the direction she'd meant to take them. And in hindsight, she thought it would have been nice to make them a picnic. But perhaps something simple would be best for a first get together.

"I have certainly spent my share of time in them," she admitted. "I like flowers. I think they're very beautiful and it's said that they have their own language and symbolism. It's hard for me not to respect something not only eye-catching, but equally delicate and strong, as well as enigmatic. I feel I could stand to be more like a flower."

So perhaps she visited them on occasion in hopes of acquiring some of their desired traits.

In response, Marie... was silent just a beat too long as he searched for something to say that didn't sound like he was flirting with her.

"I haven't gone before," he mumbled back, quite simply.

It probably would have been appropriate to mention that Marie really didn't like flowers. That he actively avoided the greenhouse and other concentrations of plants. That even his brother's comforting sweet scent made his eyes itch. He should have said something, but he didn't.

She blinked and thought about the number of reasons someone didn't go to places like that. Allergies, for one, which seemed a good enough reason to halt in her footsteps. Considering the idea that she was so completely 'gung-ho' and he was simply being too nice to potentially dash her desires...

Voile looked over to him and rather than trying to pry into his thoughts or his feelings, she took a few more moments of silence. Then she slipped her hands behind her back and nodded slowly. "Where would you like to go?"

Because that suddenly seemed so much more interesting than a place she'd been to several times.

Oh, auugh. Being put on the spot like that was almost just as bad as having to go spend an afternoon in an enclosed space filled with plants. But he tried not to show his discontentment; tried not to let Voile know he was uncomfortable. He was quiet just a little too long as he nervously tried to think of somewhere. Anywhere.

"I, uh... I like spending time by the lake, or whatever. Not that interesting or anything," he replied. "I want to go wherever you want to go."

"You're sweet."

There was nothing wrong with being truthful she thought. But she hoped he didn't mind it too much. Voile had never been much of a liar. Sometimes she did not say everything she thought, but lying wasn't something she was fond of. Right up the alley of manipulation and deception, two other things she desperately disliked.

"But I'd like it if we could go somewhere we both enjoyed." She smiled knowingly, seemingly familiar with his 'type' and consequently the reason for any potential discomfort in a place by a lot of plants. At least she wasn't heartless, though she did inwardly scorn herself for not thinking of that sooner.

At Voile's off-handed comment, Marie was pretty sure he was going to implode. His ears heated up and his cheeks reddened as quickly as the words left the Gardevoir's lips. There was nothing with being truthful, but her voicing those sorts of opinions was evidently a very effective way of flustering the timid turtle.

"Uhhhh," was all he could manage for a moment. He really didn't want to have to make a decision; he had a tendency to be fairly passive with people outside of his team. "Just, like, whatever?"

Hopefully Voile wouldn't interpret his nervousness as disinterest. He offered her a nervous smile to try and assure her he meant well.

Many people probably would have been turned off by Marie's indecisive nature. But rather than to capitalise on it, Voile could practically feel his nerves. What she couldn't understand was why he felt it necessary to be so anxious around her. After all, she was just herself. But for some reason, he thought her worthy enough to be nervous around. And when she considered what that entailed, she turned the slightest hint of pink.

Then she quieted as she tried to think of other places. Water. Someplace that had nothing to do with grass. Or electricity, she guessed. She tipped her head this way and that and finally curled an arm around his and gently coaxed him along with her.

"There's a clocktower. When you go up the stairs, you can see all of the town and the academy's campus from it. I haven't been there in at least a year and I never went often. No grass. Nothing you won't like, I think."

At Voile's arm around his, Marie flinched just a little. There was a fairly rigid personal space bubble that Voile was very much invading when she lead him along with their elbows linked. He let her, though.

No grass. Marie let out a quiet, somewhat relieved-sounding laugh. Voile didn't quite understand all of the turtle's silly quirks and rules-- not that he expected her to-- but she was still thinking of him. He felt a very odd mix of uncomfortable and happy.

"That sounds like it'd be really nice," he mumbled, still managing a timid half-smile for her.

Her grasp was loose enough that if he'd pulled away, not only would Voile have let him go freely, that she also would have understood. She knew very well she danced on that edge with him. The one where he could grow so heavily uncomfortable that he would withdraw into his shell and hide away from her.

But they'd already come so far...
It would have been a shame for either of them to lose such progress with one another.

She opted for his hand instead and gave it an encouraging tug toward her. "I hope you'll like it. I could lose myself up there for hours." With a pause, she turned to give him a better look, "I... don't like the idea of trying to lead you. I like it more when we walk together." Even for as pink as admitting that made her turn.

Marie stole another quick glance at her when she mentioned that. Although he didn't let his glance linger, he noted the pink in Voile's face. All while she had his hand in her's. Neither of these things were helping him feel any less flustered. It was a complicated sort of flustered though... Not entirely bad.

He opened his mouth to apologize or otherwise make excuses for himself, but didn't speak until he thought of something else to say. He kept his step up, trying to match Voile's rhythm as they walked.

"Yeah," was the only brilliant thing that came to mind to say.

Yes. That felt nicer, she thought. Holding hands was a little special, right? And Marie was special. She wasn't about to lie and say otherwise. But she wasn't about to blatantly say it either. After all, he'd probably turn so red that eventually his head would explode, and then there'd be a huge mess and she'd have to explain why there were bits and pieces of him all around.

At least that was how her mind pictured everything going down.

"Marie, what are you doing for the holidays? You know, when it grows colder and everyone starts going home to be with their families?"

Voile had the right idea, keeping that thought to herself. Marie really wouldn't have known what to do with himself. And, it really wasn't out of the question to assume his head would explode...

Marie bristled just slightly at her question, though. More than anything, Marie would have liked to see his trainer for the holidays. But the day he'd return was still up in the air; Marie hadn't heard from his trainer in months.

"I don't know," he mumbled. "Probably spending it with Vinnie and Sasha, I guess. ... What about you?"

He didn't want to have to dump all his terrible gross feelings about his trainer on Voile... On another note, She might have noticed how clammy his hand was in hers.

"That sounds good. Spending it with some family," she agreed with a nod.

And she took some time to think about her own plans. Or lack thereof. Back in Hoenn, she'd spent it with Delian and the others. Around a tree. Sometimes with other decor. Occasionally dancing, or whatever she thought was the equivalent of dancing. But to say she knew nothing of those footsteps through nostalgia would have been a falsehood.

Her head tipped and she eyed their hands. Carefully she rubbed her thumb over the back of his and she tilted her head this way and that, stalling for time perhaps before she could get her words to come back up in a mostly eloquent fashion.

"I believe I intend to spend it taking care of things here," she nodded firmly. "Sounds like a good use of my time." But she glanced aside to hide the way her expression grew a little more serious.

Marie didn't bother filling the silence between her agreeing with him and what she had said next. Rather, he focused more on the feeling of her thumb against the back of his hand. For the few moments she left him alone with his own thoughts as she reminisced or otherwise decided what else to say, Marie was panicking about the significance of the way she held his hand.

When she finally broke the silence again, though, most of his more anxious thoughts subsided and he gave her his full attention again. Although she'd made her best attempt at hiding her expression, he noticed the shift in her demeanor regardless.

It really wasn't his place to pry, though.

"That sounds like it'll be alright," he offered, trying to sound as neutral on the subject as possible.

"Yes," she agreed with him. "I think it will be. I feel a little bad for the people who may not have a home to return to, or a family. So I think it would be nice if they could be with someone for the holidays. I want to be here, for people like that."

Never mind that she was one of them. But it was always she who needed to tend to the wounds of others, and never to lick at hers until she was left to her own devices. And even then, it was to be done modestly, for if she spent too much time with herself, she could and would forget the needs of others.

Like Marie, who seemed more than a little uncomfortable with her brazen behaviour. The concept made her unable to resist smiling and she eyed him appreciatively. "Do you want me to stop?"

For a second, Marie wondered if Voile had somewhere or someone to return to for the holidays or not. Again, it wasn't really his place to ask, so he kept the thought to himself. The thought of not visiting one's family on Christmas briefly made him consider if Red would be back by then... Bitterly, he figured he probably wouldn't.

Voile pulled him out of his own grumpy thoughts again, though, and he looked back at her with a somewhat surprised expression.

"Huh? Oh, uh..."

Well, he sort of did. He would have been much more comfortable with his hands shoved in his pockets, rather than holding Voile's. But would that be alright to say? It'd probably sound really rude. In an attempt to seem impartial, Marie simply shrugged.

"Whatever."

That was vague enough.

His reaction - or lack thereof - reminded her of her manners and her polite etiquette. So a final gentle squeeze to his hand and she released it. There was no offense taken, no insult interpreted, or anything of the sort. If anything, she only seemed entertained how he endured it, simply for the sake of what seemed to be her feelings.

"Do you mind if I ask what made you decide to come to the academy? And furthermore, what's coerced you to stay?"

It was a purely innocent question. After all, it was one of the few times that Voile would have his company without the overhanging concern that they'd be interrupted. It helped that they'd never exactly gotten time together, too. And she'd had every intent to put that situation to good use.

Besides, she enjoyed the idea of getting to know him.

It was relieving to have his hands to himself again. Even more relieving that Voile didn't seem to make a big deal of letting him go. As soon as she let go, Marie shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and kept his head bowed as Voile questioned him.

He was sure she hadn't meant anything with her question, but she'd struck another sore spot. Again, he tried not to let it bother him too much. But he answered her after hesitating just a beat too long.

"Oh. Uh, my trainer. Red. It was Sasha's idea to show up and surprise him while he was staying here. Then, I guess, we just stayed ever since," Marie admitted. No one had ever asked him a question like that, and it made him a little flustered to have anyone care about him enough to even ask. "I stay because of him. That probably doesn't make sense, since he's gone now, but, like..." Hm. "I dunno, it's complicated."

He waved his hand, trying to make it out like it was nothing. Like it didn't bother him that his trainer was away, and he'd been told to stay behind.

"He'll be back," he added, almost sounding as if he were trying to reassure her.

She nodded slowly, not ignorant to the way his initial reaction went. Voile should have known better, but it was hard to find something that wouldn't sting him a bit. And she imagined she wasn't so different in that respect either, as much as she wanted to be. So she listened attentively, walked in calm stride, and temporarily forgot about time as a whole.

"I understand what you're saying," she began kindly. "You have hope and that compels you. And you have your other family here as well. And your friends, of course. Many things you would miss if you were so hasty to go." And it was really all educational in terms of guessing. Better than rattling something off and sounding silly or ridiculous.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only