Hmph. Fine with me! But, don't say I didn't warn you...
[Gyarados rumbles curiously. Humans are confusing... But his boy didn't seem to be sad anymore, so he submerges himself into the lake with a splash and decides to take a swim while they putter around together.]
[Blue's eyes narrow at the waters as they even out slowly in the wake of Gyarados' splashing, waiting for the right moment in the waves before he draws his arm back, changing the way his fingers are positioned over the rock like a baseball player, and lets it rip with a surprisingly strong throw. It sails and skips across the water, a little spin to it pushing it along before it finally plops under the water a great deal away.]
[Turning back to Killua, he gives a little cocky salute.] Okay, beat that!
Don't help him cheat, [Killua says flatly to Gyarados as he decides to ditch their baby boy emotion festival, which Killua can't blame him for.
Killua's eyebrows raise when the rock skips so far, looking genuinely shocked. he stares back at Blue with the same note of dumbfoundedness. this is a testament to the fact that if Blue just did anything with enough repetition, his body would probably be capable of more than he thinks... these trainers are so prone to praising their animals, but look at that shit!!! because of the dumb balls those animals are in, Blue can throw that far?! and well.
Okay, I definitely did underestimate you off the bat. But I bet I can still beat you.
[Killua used to skip stones a lot at the lake near the mansion... usually with Canary. it's a nostalgic, fond activity. and because Zoldyck nonsense, stakes were always higher than they had any right to be, but that's what made it fun!
so Killua feels around for a rock he decides he likes, and he waits for similar stillness in the water in the wake of Blue's stone. similarly, he hurls it straight with a good spinning trajectory—it also goes a great distance, landing at least near Blue's rock.
Killua squints and scowls, narrowing his eyes as he lifts his hand, trying to measure the compared distance.]
I don't cheat... [Blue huffs, watching as Killua stares at his throw. He gets a little flutter in his stomach at the other boy's expression of genuine surprise and delight, unable to keep from smiling.] And I did tell you! I don't like people underestimating me, so you better not do it again!
[He puts his hands on his hips as he loudly declares this, but his bluster is all smiles. He watches as Killua picks his stone up and takes aim, how he watches and waits for the right moment, and watches him throw. Hmmmm....]
I think I won. [Blue coyly murmurs, somewhere between sheepish and smug. He couldn't say his sheepishness wasn't a result of the conversation they'd just had, but... Maybe it was okay to push his luck a little.]
You think he's not gonna pick me anyway? [Blue narrows his eyes playfully, lips trembling with a held-back grin.] That's really trusting of you.
But, my Gyarados is a good guy! He'll know who won for sure. Gyaradooooos!
[He calls to the dragon, who has been snorkeling in the deeps of the lake and meeting some fishy pals. The dragon resurfaces after a few seconds with a burst of waves along the water's surface, and rumbles in inquiry.]
Gyarados, watch our contest and tell us who wins, alright!? [He's already reeling back for his second throw, tugging one sleeve up.] Go look and see which stone sank the furthest!
[Gyarados rumbles and re-submerges himself, and Blue waits expectantly for his return.]
Ah....I wonder if the stones are too small to pick up. [He suddenly hums, as an afterthought.] Oh well, winner of each round gets to throw second, right?
[Killua laughs when Blue gives that testament to Gyarados's character. fair enough, he supposes.]
Mm! [Killua nods, hands on his hips, and bends forward, looking for another good rock. he might have to go collect some...] That's true, he is big...but he's not dumb, right?
[Killua straightens up again, inspecting a rock. he squints at it. maybe not flat enough.]
Hard to tell, though, I guess... I mean, he's a dragon, but he's also kind of a fish?
He’s definitely not dumb! [Blue huffs, matter of factly.] ...Lots of people disrespect Magikarp for being weak and ‘useless’, but that’s because they’re too lazy and unskilled to bother putting the effort in to train it. If you don’t put any work into raising a Pokémon, you get what you deserve.
[Blue’s little rant is mercifully cut short by Gyarados bursting back out of the lake, sending waterspray everywhere- he waded closer to the shore where he towers over the two boys...only to let a small stone plop out of his huge, fishy-smelling mouth.]
[Blue rushes to examine the stone, squinting, then stands back up tall with a smug grin.] Oh, that’s definitely my stone! Good job, Gyarados! [To be honest, he doesn’t remember whose stone was whose......]
[Guzma connects without thinking, but it's after the connection is established that he's hit with the reminder of everything that happened last month with Blue and oh GOD THIS IS A MISTAKE.]
[But it's too late, and if he ran now Blue would know why, and that'd make everything worse. So, he's gonna play it cool, act like none of that happened.]
Yo, Golisopod brought me an egg. A Pokémon egg, to be clear. There might be more out by the lake, I haven't checked.
[Yeah, this ain't so hard, keeping it chill. All casual.
NO. BIG. DEAL.]
So, keep an eye out, don't need no idiots who ain't seen a Pokémon egg before messin' with 'em or destroying 'em 'cos they don't know what it is.
[Maybe this is Guzma's way of asking for help? Probably.]
[For now, indeed. Pokémon are more important than... whatever this is going to be.]
Yes I'm sure he's a dude!
[Guzma's clearly insulted, how dare you!]
He's claiming it's one of his, so at this point I don't know for certain what's in it. Could be a wimpod, could be... whatever Pokémon he got up to no good with.
[Not that Blue can see it, but maybe Blue can feel the withering stare he's offering Golisopod right now. Golisopod doesn't mind though! He's more excited about the egg!]
Sheesh......... [The tut-tuting in Blue's tone is palpable. He ain't gonna tell Golisopod to keep it in his shell, but-- Guzma, you should know better!!]
[Blue will have to lecture him properly later.]
Isn't the most logical explanation one of Archie's Pokémon? --Ah, but does he have any female Pokémon.....? --I don't, so it wasn't any of mine! Besides, mine are better behaved than that.
[Blue.... seems to be thinking something in the space of that first 'joke', but whatever it is doesn't make it across the feed. To the second, he just huffs.]
Whatever! Golisopod knows I would never say anything bad about him. [And he didn't, technically, he just thought it.]
Uh, duh. The point is that the Toucannon and Ribombee can't frolick. You dummy.
[Just because he KNOWS doesn't mean he has to be GROSS about it!!]
So anyway, I'm gonna go look around and see if there's another egg. Really... Golisopod doesn't know...?
[More teasing. But he won't say anything, that'd hurt Golisopod's feelings and he's not interested in that, even if it'd mess with Blue.]
It ain't that they can't.
[He corrects. They just won't make anything for their efforts. Really just. Rubbing that shit home.]
Good. [No 'thanks' or nothing. Just an expected single word response. Well, until he answers the second part.] That's the only one Golisopod found as far as I know.
He seems real fucking coy about this whole thing, won't even give me an idea of who the mother is. The dick.
[Blue should be ashamed of his typism!! Don't be a ghost racist!]
No idea, he ain't ever been sneaky like this with me before. If he was acting more skiddish and less like a happy dolt about the whole thing, I might be more worried.
Y'think I don't know that? I'm trying, yo. He's just being stubborn.
[One could say he's even being adamant about keeping this secret.]
[The last thing Blue had expected to interrupt his day was a surprise visit from Red- how had he even found him?- but the moment the apartment door had opened, everything had been set into an inescapable, spiraling motion.]
[He knew that he had said some deeply personal things last month- about his family, about Red, about himself. Some of these things he'd said in front of people he trusted; others, he'd spilled in front of people he'd later been anxious of biting him in the Feebas for what had been revealed to them.]
[He just didn't think Killua would have been in the latter group.]
[Red's supposed desire to "talk", laughable as that was conceptually, had ended right where Blue had figured it would, which was the moment the floor was opened to him. Immediate. He scoffs to himself that Killua had thought it his place to push for Blue to pursue something he knew wasn't real. Somehow, that had only burned him more- maybe there had been that small glimmer of hope trudged up last month for things that he knew were only fantasy. Now, it was snuffed out again.]
[Feeling just that, snuffed out, Blue didn't bother going back to the apartment once Red wanders off again to whatever loner path he's walking nowadays. It was an excruciating buildup of emotion- anxiety, loss, frustration, anger, heartbreak. It built up like the heat pressure in a stormcloud, and darkened the skies over him, cracking and snapping with that thunder and lightning like it had when Red had first shown up. So he does what he did then: he exiles himself.]
[Unfortunately, all of this had been so unexpected that this exile comes with some snags; he didn't have his full trainer bag on him, which meant he had literally nothing. Even Blue, who had spent his first few months of life here desperately insisting he could take care of himself, needed some basic supplies. So eventually, reluctantly, full of dread- he heads back in the middle of the night to the apartment, with the small hope that he could slip in undetected and escape with the things in that apartment that he needed, and the things he didn't want to leave behind. He steels himself, hand on the doorhandle and trying to turn it as quietly as possible, to take in the short-lived prospect of a peaceful, hospitable life one last time. He didn't expect to be back.]
[Killua, steeling against his own worst fears, had said so at least a couple of times to Gon: he wasn't optimistic Blue would return. and maybe more than anything, that was the pessimist part of Killua that was so largely occupying in his being. always hyper vigilant. always bracing for the worst case scenario.
so even though he and Gon had worked some deep, hard things out that same night—embracing and crying respectively, Killua had ultimately assured Gon he'd be to their room perhaps the next morning, if he slept at all. that he was going to wait for Blue. but, eyes unfocused in the dark as he sat there, tense in his grave anticipation. wasn't it bad, that he wasn't optimistic? when he only had a vague idea of where he'd fucked up—he knows some things are compounded. it's not just whatever mistake he's made; it's also Red's bad timing, their likely fallout...
but Killua can't help but brace himself for loss.
when Blue opens the door, Killua's whole body arrests with tension, his eyes immediately fixed on his paley illuminated silhouette. he doesn't know what to say; it's like he understands Blue's intentions, but hopes they aren't what he thinks. he doesn't know what to say, but from the shadowy figure of Killua's own shape on the couch, it's clear that he sits up.]
[Blue's eyes aren't as good as Killua's in the dark, nor his instincts towards detecting presence, but he freezes immediately as he takes in the movement in the darkness, and his breath cuts and holds. Every instinct in him, suddenly, screams for him to run. Screw supplies, screw memories- run now, run from the pain that's inevitable and coming--]
[In the darkness, Blue can't notice the initially slight, hairline fracture that begins to form and spread out in the wood flooring from where he stands in the doorway. His jaw locks and his eyes skew away from the shape of Killua, hoping that in this dim light he can't read Blue's more specific body language.]
[He's furious.]
[He doesn't say anything, but he takes another step inward, slow and careful and wary, like an animal that might bolt at any moment. His eyes briefly dart towards the direction of Killua and Gon's room, mistrustful. Then, back to the shape of Killua on the couch. Like he doesn't understand the disconnect. Or maybe, like he doesn't want to.]
no subject
Date: 2019-05-27 05:29 pm (UTC)[Gyarados rumbles curiously. Humans are confusing... But his boy didn't seem to be sad anymore, so he submerges himself into the lake with a splash and decides to take a swim while they putter around together.]
[Blue's eyes narrow at the waters as they even out slowly in the wake of Gyarados' splashing, waiting for the right moment in the waves before he draws his arm back, changing the way his fingers are positioned over the rock like a baseball player, and lets it rip with a surprisingly strong throw. It sails and skips across the water, a little spin to it pushing it along before it finally plops under the water a great deal away.]
[Turning back to Killua, he gives a little cocky salute.] Okay, beat that!
no subject
Date: 2019-05-27 05:41 pm (UTC)Killua's eyebrows raise when the rock skips so far, looking genuinely shocked. he stares back at Blue with the same note of dumbfoundedness. this is a testament to the fact that if Blue just did anything with enough repetition, his body would probably be capable of more than he thinks... these trainers are so prone to praising their animals, but look at that shit!!! because of the dumb balls those animals are in, Blue can throw that far?! and well.
well, fine. Killua whistles, obviously impressed.]
Okay, I definitely did underestimate you off the bat. But I bet I can still beat you.
[Killua used to skip stones a lot at the lake near the mansion... usually with Canary. it's a nostalgic, fond activity. and because Zoldyck nonsense, stakes were always higher than they had any right to be, but that's what made it fun!
so Killua feels around for a rock he decides he likes, and he waits for similar stillness in the water in the wake of Blue's stone. similarly, he hurls it straight with a good spinning trajectory—it also goes a great distance, landing at least near Blue's rock.
Killua squints and scowls, narrowing his eyes as he lifts his hand, trying to measure the compared distance.]
Hmmm... Close...
no subject
Date: 2019-05-27 06:07 pm (UTC)[He puts his hands on his hips as he loudly declares this, but his bluster is all smiles. He watches as Killua picks his stone up and takes aim, how he watches and waits for the right moment, and watches him throw. Hmmmm....]
I think I won. [Blue coyly murmurs, somewhere between sheepish and smug. He couldn't say his sheepishness wasn't a result of the conversation they'd just had, but... Maybe it was okay to push his luck a little.]
no subject
Date: 2019-06-07 07:50 pm (UTC)as they judge, Killua's ended up on the balls of his feet, leaning forward. then, decided, he's flat on his feet again.]
Really...? No way.
[he crosses his arms.]
I think I beat you by about 2".
[Killua's expression lifts, and he looks towards Blue.] Maybe Gyarados can tell us?
no subject
Date: 2019-06-08 01:59 pm (UTC)But, my Gyarados is a good guy! He'll know who won for sure. Gyaradooooos!
[He calls to the dragon, who has been snorkeling in the deeps of the lake and meeting some fishy pals. The dragon resurfaces after a few seconds with a burst of waves along the water's surface, and rumbles in inquiry.]
Gyarados, watch our contest and tell us who wins, alright!? [He's already reeling back for his second throw, tugging one sleeve up.] Go look and see which stone sank the furthest!
[Gyarados rumbles and re-submerges himself, and Blue waits expectantly for his return.]
Ah....I wonder if the stones are too small to pick up. [He suddenly hums, as an afterthought.] Oh well, winner of each round gets to throw second, right?
no subject
Date: 2019-06-10 07:28 pm (UTC)Mm! [Killua nods, hands on his hips, and bends forward, looking for another good rock. he might have to go collect some...] That's true, he is big...but he's not dumb, right?
[Killua straightens up again, inspecting a rock. he squints at it. maybe not flat enough.]
Hard to tell, though, I guess... I mean, he's a dragon, but he's also kind of a fish?
no subject
Date: 2019-06-10 08:48 pm (UTC)[Blue’s little rant is mercifully cut short by Gyarados bursting back out of the lake, sending waterspray everywhere- he waded closer to the shore where he towers over the two boys...only to let a small stone plop out of his huge, fishy-smelling mouth.]
[Blue rushes to examine the stone, squinting, then stands back up tall with a smug grin.] Oh, that’s definitely my stone! Good job, Gyarados! [To be honest, he doesn’t remember whose stone was whose......]
voice; 7/1 also 1/2
Date: 2019-07-01 10:16 pm (UTC)2/2
Date: 2019-07-01 10:17 pm (UTC)Yo, Golisopod brought me an egg. A Pokémon egg, to be clear. There might be more out by the lake, I haven't checked.
[Yeah, this ain't so hard, keeping it chill. All casual.
NO. BIG. DEAL.]
So, keep an eye out, don't need no idiots who ain't seen a Pokémon egg before messin' with 'em or destroying 'em 'cos they don't know what it is.
[Maybe this is Guzma's way of asking for help? Probably.]
1/2
Date: 2019-07-01 10:23 pm (UTC)[It's almost combative, or it would feel so if it wasn't also so withheld. So it seems the both of them have decided to take the same high road.]
[For now.]
no subject
Date: 2019-07-01 10:25 pm (UTC)[At least his surprise is genuine. A lingering curiosity filters across as he ponders.]
[And then, the most obvious answer] --He... you're sure he's male, right? Some Pokémon are hard to tell....
no subject
Date: 2019-07-01 10:49 pm (UTC)Yes I'm sure he's a dude!
[Guzma's clearly insulted, how dare you!]
He's claiming it's one of his, so at this point I don't know for certain what's in it. Could be a wimpod, could be... whatever Pokémon he got up to no good with.
[Not that Blue can see it, but maybe Blue can feel the withering stare he's offering Golisopod right now. Golisopod doesn't mind though! He's more excited about the egg!]
no subject
Date: 2019-07-01 11:00 pm (UTC)Sheesh......... [The tut-tuting in Blue's tone is palpable. He ain't gonna tell Golisopod to keep it in his shell, but-- Guzma, you should know better!!]
[Blue will have to lecture him properly later.]
Isn't the most logical explanation one of Archie's Pokémon? --Ah, but does he have any female Pokémon.....? --I don't, so it wasn't any of mine! Besides, mine are better behaved than that.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-01 11:10 pm (UTC)[Not that he's implying that his bug and Blue's tree got freaky, but more so the hypocrisy is a little REDONK!]
Nah, he ain't got any who could breed with Golisopod. [A pause] Well, any that'd produce an egg, anyway.
[Yeah, he'll let that correct and the implied thought sink in.]
no subject
Date: 2019-07-01 11:34 pm (UTC)[INDIGNANT. Unlike your UNCOUTH ASS BUGS, no offense Gpod]
[Anyway, he wants to die now]
[Enjoy that grossed out teenage boy whine] Eeeeewwwwwww! Don't even joke!
no subject
Date: 2019-07-01 11:48 pm (UTC)[What about not joking? Cuz now Guzma is going to do just that.]
What's the matter? Ain't no one ever told you about the Toucannon and the Ribombee? Are you really this much of a kid, yo?
no subject
Date: 2019-07-02 12:33 am (UTC)Whatever! Golisopod knows I would never say anything bad about him. [And he didn't, technically, he just thought it.]
Uh, duh. The point is that the Toucannon and Ribombee can't frolick. You dummy.
[Just because he KNOWS doesn't mean he has to be GROSS about it!!]
So anyway, I'm gonna go look around and see if there's another egg. Really... Golisopod doesn't know...?
no subject
Date: 2019-07-02 12:50 am (UTC)[More teasing. But he won't say anything, that'd hurt Golisopod's feelings and he's not interested in that, even if it'd mess with Blue.]
It ain't that they can't.
[He corrects. They just won't make anything for their efforts. Really just. Rubbing that shit home.]
Good. [No 'thanks' or nothing. Just an expected single word response. Well, until he answers the second part.] That's the only one Golisopod found as far as I know.
He seems real fucking coy about this whole thing, won't even give me an idea of who the mother is. The dick.
no subject
Date: 2019-07-02 10:26 am (UTC)[Maybe ghosts.]
Why is he being so sneaky about it? ....D’you think he’s afraid of us finding out or something? Does he realize people here might hurt the other ones?
...It’d really be better if you convince him to tell us....
no subject
Date: 2019-07-02 10:50 pm (UTC)[Blue should be ashamed of his typism!! Don't be a ghost racist!]
No idea, he ain't ever been sneaky like this with me before. If he was acting more skiddish and less like a happy dolt about the whole thing, I might be more worried.
Y'think I don't know that? I'm trying, yo. He's just being stubborn.
[One could say he's even being adamant about keeping this secret.]
no subject
Date: 2019-07-02 10:57 pm (UTC)Maybe I can try asking him... I wonder if he's told Exeggutor? You know, since he's....
[Eggy.....] I'll tell you if he knows anything about it, I guess.
WOw I thought I had responded to this AGES AGO
Date: 2019-07-16 06:00 pm (UTC)Yeah sure, do whatever. Don't hurt to try, but I also ain't about to hold my breath, neither.
Don't know what Golisopod is playing at with all this, but whatever, man. I'll figure it out one way or another.
action; late night of 7/8
Date: 2019-07-24 01:51 am (UTC)[He knew that he had said some deeply personal things last month- about his family, about Red, about himself. Some of these things he'd said in front of people he trusted; others, he'd spilled in front of people he'd later been anxious of biting him in the Feebas for what had been revealed to them.]
[He just didn't think Killua would have been in the latter group.]
[Red's supposed desire to "talk", laughable as that was conceptually, had ended right where Blue had figured it would, which was the moment the floor was opened to him. Immediate. He scoffs to himself that Killua had thought it his place to push for Blue to pursue something he knew wasn't real. Somehow, that had only burned him more- maybe there had been that small glimmer of hope trudged up last month for things that he knew were only fantasy. Now, it was snuffed out again.]
[Feeling just that, snuffed out, Blue didn't bother going back to the apartment once Red wanders off again to whatever loner path he's walking nowadays. It was an excruciating buildup of emotion- anxiety, loss, frustration, anger, heartbreak. It built up like the heat pressure in a stormcloud, and darkened the skies over him, cracking and snapping with that thunder and lightning like it had when Red had first shown up. So he does what he did then: he exiles himself.]
[Unfortunately, all of this had been so unexpected that this exile comes with some snags; he didn't have his full trainer bag on him, which meant he had literally nothing. Even Blue, who had spent his first few months of life here desperately insisting he could take care of himself, needed some basic supplies. So eventually, reluctantly, full of dread- he heads back in the middle of the night to the apartment, with the small hope that he could slip in undetected and escape with the things in that apartment that he needed, and the things he didn't want to leave behind. He steels himself, hand on the doorhandle and trying to turn it as quietly as possible, to take in the short-lived prospect of a peaceful, hospitable life one last time. He didn't expect to be back.]
no subject
Date: 2019-07-24 02:00 am (UTC)so even though he and Gon had worked some deep, hard things out that same night—embracing and crying respectively, Killua had ultimately assured Gon he'd be to their room perhaps the next morning, if he slept at all. that he was going to wait for Blue. but, eyes unfocused in the dark as he sat there, tense in his grave anticipation. wasn't it bad, that he wasn't optimistic? when he only had a vague idea of where he'd fucked up—he knows some things are compounded. it's not just whatever mistake he's made; it's also Red's bad timing, their likely fallout...
but Killua can't help but brace himself for loss.
when Blue opens the door, Killua's whole body arrests with tension, his eyes immediately fixed on his paley illuminated silhouette. he doesn't know what to say; it's like he understands Blue's intentions, but hopes they aren't what he thinks. he doesn't know what to say, but from the shadowy figure of Killua's own shape on the couch, it's clear that he sits up.]
no subject
Date: 2019-07-24 02:09 am (UTC)[In the darkness, Blue can't notice the initially slight, hairline fracture that begins to form and spread out in the wood flooring from where he stands in the doorway. His jaw locks and his eyes skew away from the shape of Killua, hoping that in this dim light he can't read Blue's more specific body language.]
[He's furious.]
[He doesn't say anything, but he takes another step inward, slow and careful and wary, like an animal that might bolt at any moment. His eyes briefly dart towards the direction of Killua and Gon's room, mistrustful. Then, back to the shape of Killua on the couch. Like he doesn't understand the disconnect. Or maybe, like he doesn't want to.]