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Meeting Team Crossroads: An Encounter With Rene Part1
Based on a loooong series of PM's between Kompy and myself. Rene gets to know the various members of Team Crossroads...to their mutual chagrin. ;)
This is the first part of several.
Team Crossroads is © to Kompy. Thanks again!
This is the first part of several.
Team Crossroads is © to Kompy. Thanks again!
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 50 x 50px
File Size 92 kB
Meeting Team Crossroads: An Encounter with René Vulpes
&&&
René Vulpes was walking home from school when he noticed a gardevoir girl he'd never seen before heading home. Normally he wouldn't have approached her on his own but he had a question that just wouldn't wait.
“Where did you get your skirt?” René asked the gardevoir he assumed—incorrectly—to be a girl. Only when hearing said gardevoir speak did realize how badly he’d blundered.
“It came with the evolution suit.” Nigel Garkirl answered as he gave a long, drawn-out sigh, his voice highlighting his sex…and his British accent. “I'd happily give it to you if I weren't so attached to it. And believe me, it's not as fun as it looks -- you've any idea how hard it is to find decent pants to show off when you got a bloody ball-gown attached to you epidermis?!”
“Well…try finding pants that you can put six--count them--SIX tails through without risk mooning everyone you walk past.” René countered lamely.
“Duly noted. But then you have thing like this,” Nigel grabbed at the red 'spike' on his chest that also had a sibling at the small of his back, “Restraining your fashion choices. I’m almost dependent on the aid of the Garkirl family’s personal tailor to deal with either making or altering clothes that won't make it look like I've a damn Wurmple trying to burst out my body from both sides!”
“The tails can be a hindrance too.” René nodded. “I mean, it takes so long to wash and comb the darn things. On really windy days it gets all frazzled and makes my butt look big. In water, they drag me down like an anchor. And there are some girls who just will go NUTS over them: Hugging them, petting them; going ‘Awww, they’re so cute and fluffly!’” He looked at Nigel. “Say...if you have spikes on your chest and back, then how do you sleep at night? To say nothing of getting physically close to someone.”
“I sleep on my side, so it's not that bad. And they do bend a bit, just not enough to hide inside a sweater and all that.” Nigel answered. “As for the getting too close thing, my answer is to avoid it altogether, species traditions be damned! Though I guess the bending would apply to that as well. Joshua would probably be able to fill you in a touch better, but you're on your own there....so just so I'm clear on something. You don't fancy males in any way at all?”
“Um, well I kinda, sorta...don't really know. I mean, I think I would've been better off if I was born a girl. I like girls: I admire them, I want to be like them and kinda have a crush here or there on some girls. I don't THINK I like guys. I mean, I've never drooled over any guys or anything...it's confusing to me more than anyone else....You weren't coming on to me just now, were you? I have trouble telling.” René blinked. “What species traditions do you mean anyway?”
Nigel gave another drawn-out sigh. “No, I wasn't trying to come on to you, that was mere curiosity. Not to offend, I've just...been really torn on the topic as of late. You woudn't understand. As for the ‘traditions’ I was talking about, pardon me while I give you the written-down explanation. Its poison to even breathe out the words but it's carved into memory and impossible to avoid repeating to anyone who asks. So, to quote:
"From the time that we are born as Ralts, our whole evolution line has dedicated itself into devoting their life to better the lives of others, sacrificing our own lives just so those weaker than us may live fruitful lives. The Garkirl line is no exception to this; for over four generations it has been this noble family's ultimate goal, to pass on the teachings of kindness and compassion to our Gallade males and Gardevoir females. Let us strengthen our minds, unite our blades of chivalry and our hearts of purity, and bring the world up towards the light of a better tomorrow!"
Nigel quoted. “Which is, of course, bollocks. We're an old and somewhat rich family that tosses some coins to charities and calls it a day. And if you didn't notice, there's a great emphasis in having females be Gardevoirs, as Gallades are looked to to be the big manly warriors and Gardevoirs are...well, you get the idea. Needless to say, the idea of being a warrior -- a half-Fighting one, no less -- made me completely ill to my stomach, so I dared to defy tradition and evolve on my own terms and I've been paying for it ever since. In other words, I picked 'the girly' form out of spite of the non-girly one, no other reason.”
René looked at him in something close to disblief, at both the pretensious sounding nature of his family and his earlier remark. “I wouldn't understand being torn on issues of gender and sexuality? You do know who you're speaking to, right? This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain luxray would it?” He guessed, thinking back on something he’d heard from Romano.
“I don't mean that! I KNOW where I stand, I know I'm a male who prefers females...it's just...” Then René’s last comment sunk in. “I swear, you tell anyone about that, I'll...!” Nigel ground out. René held up his hands in a placating gesture.
“Okay, okay relax. I'll keep mum! Sheesh, this is like the time I caught Sam singing in the shower. Look, if it makes you feel better I'll let you know that I have a crush on Nicole Zuna of Team 16...and I like to think of Weaver of Team Nocturne as my big sister. ‘Kay? And personally Charla kind of...well, she bothers me.”
“So long as we're on the same page 'bout that,” Nigel sighed. “And while I have a list as long as a Steelix as to what issues I have with Charla and an even longer one for why I still can't stop thinking of her, I don't see how she'd be bothering you directly.” Then he blinked. “Weaver? You serious?
René shrugged. “Yeah, I'm serious. Weaver just makes me feel...safe. Well I don't exactly have a problem with Charla directly; it's just that...can you keep a secret too?” At Nigel’s nodd, René continued. “My mother was...IS--Vera Kitsunegari. She was an athlete and later a model. When I was seven she was in an accident. She's been in a coma ever since. And guess what sleezy photographer just HAD to intrude on my family and my grief when it happened? Eureka Ecks, Charla's mom. And now I hear that SHE wants to be a photographer too. She makes me...uncomfortable.”
“Since we've already started the secret exchange program here an' now, lemme tell you something about Miss Rey.” Nigel leaned in. “I've known her since she was a Luxio and I was still a Kirlia. Even back then, Charla's always hated her mum. Can't well go into huge details as to why, but safe to say it's for similar reasons you hate her -- she ain't fond of what she does for a living. As for the photography thing, I think she just has some weird need to want to prove that the art can be used for good instead of evil...that or her Da convinced her to give it a try. In any case, she isn't one to follow in her family's footsteps that way, so you needn't worry.” He snorted. “Weaver? Safe? ...suppose I'll have to take your word for it. Then again, I've heard stranger things.” Nigel shook his head disbelievingly.
René’s gave a half smile. “Weaver's a big cuddly drowzee.” Then he turned serious. “I'll trust what you said about Charla and her mom but...I can't ever forget sitting at my mom's bedside after the accident and I see this blinding flash out of the corner of my eye...and then I get to see my mom hooked up to a breathing apparatus in every newstand in the country. It's a child's fear, I know but...I keep having this image of Charla sending in a picture of me in women's underwear to the tabloids and some crack about me following in my mother's footsteps.”
Nigel tried picturing Weaver as "big cuddly Drowzee" and was forced to cover his mouth to suppress his snickering. René noticed how strangely graceful and soft his hand movements are, like those fit for his particular species (though not, exactly, his gender). More than likely this is one of those elements even Nigel doesn't notice of himself.
Eventually, Nigel got himself back under control. “Ok, that...give me a moment...ah...ah, there we go....ok, now you're just being daft. Charla woudn't do that. I know she woudn't. You know she woudn't. And no good will come of going about with that kind of fear over your head.”
René raised a skeptical eyebrow. “True, but aren't we being a bit hypocritical? Do you really think she's going to go swooning into the arms of Rayon just because he's a big, hunky Luxray? And I have to ask, have you ever considered taking up dancing or fencing or something? You're rather graceful.”
Nigel sighed. “...Well, keyword there is ‘big, hunky LUXRAY’. They're the same species, they can actually breed with one another and all that! Not exactly easy to compete with than, is it? And...funny you should say that.” Nigel looked aside with a look of forlorn in his eyes. “I've a stupid dream, of one day just walking right through this huge crowd to get to her, take her by the hand and sweep her off my feet. For all my reluctance to stick to the ways of the Garkirl family traditions, I'm actually fond of dancing. Me and Joshua were tutored since we were Ralts and while he never really picked up on it, I did. Probably the best time I ever had with my mum is when we're in the living room just swaying our bodies to whatever old tune she has playing on the radio. Joshua, amusingly enough, is the 'fencer' you're looking for. After all, he's the one with the blade-arms now.”
“So? Have you ever seen the way that guys looks at people? It's like a predator studying prey. It doesn't get much less romantic or likeable than that. For a girl he may make nice eye-candy but he's got about as much personality as a zip code.” René retorted. “Maybe if you actually WOULD do something like that, Charla wouldn't even waste her time looking at what's his face.”
“Nnngh. You don't understand,” Nigel sighed. “Rayon's not the one that concerns me, Charla is. I mean...this is going against the status quo. She annoys me, I feign annoyance, life goes on, life is as it should be. If I go against that, it'll complicate things...I don't know. Plus like I said before, our types ain't 100% compatible, if you catch my drift. I doubt I could deliver in that sense.
“Well maybe she's trying to rattle your cage to see if you care enough to make a move.” René guessed.
“...It WOULD be like her to go that far just to rile me up!” Nigel fumed. “Bugger all, why does she do this? And why do I let her?! Blast it...Right, right, but the part about not giving them mind still applies regardless if you have a gender or not. Can I ask just how close are you and Sam again?”
René drawled. “She's like the big buggy sister I never wanted. Seriously, she just likes to tease and mess with me. I'll crash in her dorm room from time to time though when things between me and my father get too...intense. She likes trying to set me up with other girls though...and then humiliate me.”
“...Interesting. Save for the hooking you up with other girl's part, that's not so different than me and Charla.” Nigel mused. “Back when I first did my little evolution stunt on my birthday I had to keep hidden from my family for a while until things cooled off and she let me hide in to her place for about a week. It was around that time that I realized I've developed...feelings for her. Whether or not she picked up on this, I can't say, though her teasing did pick up around then for whatever reason....might as well take the courage to ask. What are the chances Sam may like you and just have a rather ridiculous way of showing it?”
“Eh, none at all.” René said. “She's actually been trying to push me into a date with Nicole Nidoran...the nidorina on Team 16? That's probably what she's been up to. At least, it would explain those,” he coughed. “Items she put in my locker.” He blushed.
“...I'm not sure if to even bother asking about that.” Nigel winced. “And here I thought my friends were peculiar! And since I'm in need to get even for one of your questions from before, what's stopping you from having a go at that Nidorina?”
René blushed again. “Um well I...haven't ever exactly been on a date or asked anyone out before. Ever. I mean I spent so much time trying to be one of the girls that I don't know what to do with one besides trading blouses and getting our toenails painted and--What's with that look?”
Nigel had to keep from just blurting out a laugh by muffling his mouth with his hand…and not really working. “Nothing, nothing! And I can't say I've ever been out on a date either, so we're rocking that same boat, it seems. Mind...it's not because no one has asked me. To my relief at least, those always decided against the idea the second I go into detail about the contents underneath the skirt...”
René looked at Nigel oddly then shrugged. “Go ahead and laugh. I'm used to guys laughing at me. The time Sam took a picture of me sleeping with my stuffed Growlithe and posted it in the bathroom was worse.”
“SHE was the one that put that there?” Nigel asked. “I always wondered about that. And the laugh just came out, couldn't help it. I'm a hypocrite for doing it, tho' --I mean, my life as a fully-evolved Gardevoir has been relatively brief in comparison to what you've lived through, but I've gotten the same kind of grief over it as well. Especially at home, though that's unsurprising.”
“Well the fact that I was in my underwear and sucking my thumb didn't help.” René admitted. “I don't mind you laughing though. It happens...though you may want to consider stopping now while you still have bladder control.”
“Then you may want to cut down on the embarrassing stories then, for the sake of my bladder and what's left of your dignity!” Nigel snorted. “Though again, here's a token to pay for your humor ferry, though you probably saw this punchline about two weeks ago. Take a typical team rehearsals, add a very bouncy, purple-tailed Smeargle perfecting a Rapid Spin while in close proximity of yours truly. Then and a ill-placed tail that manages to knock me around and streak around my skirt, actually making a bloody purple belt right in the middle about 'ere! Did you know that if you let Smeargle pain stay on your skin for too long it takes forever to wash off and will even run? So for that whole day I kept getting such lovely bloody compliments from every girl in school about my brand new purple gown?!” He sighed. “Floritt's going to be th' death of me, I tell you.”
“Dignity?” René asked rhetorically. “What's that? Never heard of it. Oh Floritt's just...bubbly is all. Sweet, but bubbly. Heck one time I heard that she stuck her tail in a hot spring full of bathers and turned their lower halves purple! Makes you wonder if—or how—anyone can be in a pool with her at the same time.”
Nigel groaned. “Oh sweet Arceus, that story. I was there when it happened. I was one of the smart ones who DIDN'T go into the pool while she was near it! She wasn't even supposed to have been there, it was the boy's side! 'Course she wasn't the only female breaking the rules that night, which just made convincing her to move even more of a chore. Meg did give her what-for the next day, at least.” He snorted. “Mmph. Truth be told, she's the one I've had the most problems with on the team. Bad enough we're usually training together as the team's support fighters, just...she infuriates me. For reasons I cannot comprehend myself, every time the topic of her family comes up -- which happens often -- I just want to hurry up and perfect my Hypnosis skills so I can clam her up when she's going on about them. It's stupid, really, being jealous of a teammate like that...”
“Who else broke the rules? I wasn't there...would've been too odd to go on either side for me.” René rubbed his neck in chagrin. But then more sympathetically he added. “It's normal to be envious. I mean, I envy Rahne, Romano, and Sam for actually BEING girls whereas I just...really wish I was, and my whole time envies Romano. She's the only one with a normal, happy family life. My mother's in a coma and my father's an ass, Rahne's mom is dead and her father's a drunk, Sam doesn't know her father but her mother is a manipulative witch. Romano's SO lucky.”
Nigel paused to answer the first part of the question first. “Name escapes me, the Squirtle girl from Team Red. Charla would've joined in but she wanted to keep Meg company, since Meg couldn't well get in the water, bein' a Magmar and all. That, and I think she liked watching me squirm at the idea of being robbed of seein' her all n...anyway.” He changed tracks. “Really, the more I think of how stupid it is to be envious of Floritt, the more ridiculous it seems. Think about it: Meg has no Da and her Mum died while she was little and lives with her little sister and grandfather. Charla's Da is the most insane Ampharos on the bloomin' planet for marrying Charla's mum -- the less said 'bout her the better. Which leaves Floritt...who has this huge family of I think four other siblings and parents who are just as nutty as she is and the irony of it all is that she has this grand family and none of them are related to her by blood! Whereas my own family now wishes me to go quietly rot somewhere for not wanting to be some garish, musclebound Fighting-type. And Floritt's family are all Fighting-types. No, the irony doesn't escape me.”
“Yeah, having a normal, healthy family puts one in a pretty small minority.” René agreed. “As for your family...well it's really not my place to tell someone else that their family is a bunch of idiots, but...I can't figure out how to finish that thought. Sorry. Anyway, Charla's mom sounds more and more like my dad. He's a self-absorbed buisnessman who came THIS close to disowning me after I announced that I was transgender--the only reason he didn't was because this was after my mom's accident and he wasn't going to get anymore kids from her...and he can't divorce her or pull the plug without getting killed by the press--with reason! THAT'S the only reason my mom's still...my mom.”
“Believe me, you've nothing to apologize for.” Nigel assured him. “After all, it's not like it isn't the very feeling I have for most of them. Well, maybe not my Mum, she's one of the few people in the Garkirl family who doesn't care about how I look. Granted, she's blind...And while I'm in no authority to say just how bad Mrs. Ecks really is, I can't say I'm fond of any mother who gives their kid the kind of grief she gives Charla and, I suppose, her dad. Barely know his side of the story and Charla's been rather vague when it comes to giving out info on him, though I guess she has her reasons. That said...bloody 'ell, René, you've a soap opera for a family. No wonder you guys have paparazzi going after them, no offense.”
“Your mom sounds nice. I—” He choked up a bit as he thought about his mother and coughed to cover for it, “Anyway, as far as the paparazzi are concerned we're a loving family that suffered a horrible tragedy, especially since my mom was young and a great athlete and model. They don't know I'm transgender or that my father is a cold-blooded buisnessman who only stays with us because it'll hurt his image and thus, his buisness if he left or discarded us...besides he wants someone to mold into a clone of him to take over his buisness someday.”
René shook his head. “He's the reason I'm the Team Leader, he pays for everything. I have no qualifications to lead...I don't even know what I'm doing. The instant I find someone else to support us, I'm gonna ditch him SO fast....And Nigel, no offense, if my family sounds like a soap opera, then yours is like an after school special film.”
“No offense taken.” Nigel answered. “It's not like I'm not aware how ridiculous things can get there, after all.” He sighed. “So your family made you enroll in a team too, eh? As some sick little means to discipline me for being the new black Mareep of the family, I was forced to join up for a team as well. They didn't specify which team, tho', so the last thing my family was expecting was one with me being the only male representative. Sadly I couldn't see my family's actual reaction to this save Joshua, who mostly just shook his head in disbelief and made it a promise to try and beat me down should our teams ever battle.”
“He made me START a bloody team, though he didn't expect it to be me and three girls—he wanted to make a mon out of me by grunting, snorting, and back-slapping with a bunch of big hairy guys. Boy did THAT ever back fire on him!” René snickered. “Yeah, Life IS ridiculous. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
“Selling somethin' or drinkin' the extra-bitter types of Berry juice, if you catch my meaning.” Nigel replied. “Yeah, safe to say things didn't go as family wanted to on my end either. Wanted me in a mostly-male team as if to remind me of all that I've given up on for picking the form I did. Bah to 'em, I'm as glad for my choice as ever! I'm strong enough, in the way I WANT to be strong, by making use of my real strength up 'ere,” Nigel tapped his forehead for emphasis. “Instead of some blasted blades grafted onto my arms!”
“I prefer the brains over brawns approach myself...” René agreed. “Not that I have much of the later. I'm really pretty average when it comes to battles and the like. I mean have you ever been humiliated in a fight? Not just beaten, but humiliated?”
Nigeld sighed “Have I been humiliated? Have I ever been humiliated? In a word, YES. Week after I ran away from home to wait for the family to shut up about the whole affair, my brother finds me; in retrospect trying to hide from a psychic twin sibling was not really my most wisest of moves, but what could I do? So Joshua, he drags me back home and first thing he does is get the training room set up and the whole bloody family watching there later at night. And if I did any disappearing acts before then I'd been disowned completely, so I was forced to stay. Forced to stay, and fight my own brother. Now I've fought my brother before, plenty of times, back when we were still both Kirlia. I usually beat him, too. This time, though, I wasn't fighting that Kirlia.
The Kirlia I grew up with only went along with family ideals because he was scared to say or think otherwise, like I was. Scared! But the second he touched his stone to become a Gallade and I ran off, he changed. He became the family's pet, devoted to the cause because loyalty is what those blade-heads are all about…that, and speed. He overtook me in less than a few turns with moves I never even seen before. I don't even remember half of what happened during the fight proper, just the part where I fall hard o my back and have every single one of those so-called "benevolent" representatives of the Garkirl family giving me this ghastly look of satisfaction...Ngh. That wasn't mere humiliating, it was soul-crushing. Month later I got put back in school and put on the team...and the rest of the story, I think you know.”
René paled and went through several expressions of pity, disgust, and outright righteous anger on Nigel’s behalf. “That's...that's HORRIBLE! While my father and I disdain each other he's never gone out of his way to humiliate me like that! Is your family one of those old-blood snobby crew or just satantic?”
Nigel snorted. “As bloody hilarious as it might be to picture my family as a bunch of crazy cultists, they're best put in the "old-blood snobby crew" category. Bunch of wankers so certain the best way to handle things in life is to follow the rules set by our ancestors years ago. Heaven forbid anyone in their bloodline to wish to defy them!”
“Eww, I mighta guessed. Blue-blooded old money types are a therapist's bill waiting to happen.” René pointed out. “Parents can be so unrelenting when it comes to their kids forging a new path.”
“Quite right you are. It's one of the reasons I'm almost amazed as to how...how sane Mum can be sometimes. She's a firm woman when she needs to be, don't get me wrong, but she was the only one in my whole family who secretly smiled at me for doing what I did. I mean, no, I doubt she was too fond of me making a spectacle of myself in front of the whole family like I did then, but the part where I showed to have more mind than to stick to the same path as everyone else just because that's the way it's always been. I admit it, I love my Mum sometimes. Just, uh, don't go spreadin' about I said that out loud, will you?”
René smiled sadly at Nigel. “All right but I wouldn't be ashamed of admitting that I love my mother if I were you...I still do.” He sniffled and hastily drew a sleeve across his eyes. “You know, ever since I was seven I've visited her every week at the hospital. Mothers’ Day, our birthdays, the anniversery of the...accident. I spend them all there.” He wiped his eyes again, the tears just wouldn’t stop.
Nigel winced and immediately regretted saying it. “Oh...oh bugger. Look, look, I'm sorry for makin' you cry...I'm not ashamed of lovin' my Mum, really! It's just one of those things I have trouble sayin' out in public is all! Already got in trouble once with Joshiua for doing that -- got on my case about me giving her more trouble than she deserved, which I admit is partially true. But you get my point, right?”
René sniffled a bit as he bit his lip and tried to hold back from outright bawling. “I know what you meant. I just hurts sometimes beacuse--because, I just miss her SO much!” His reserves burst and he started crying and earnest.
“Oh. Oh, bollocks, you're getting worse. Come on please, don't cry, it doesn't suit you one bit. Don't cry...” Nigel quickly looked around before extending an arm and offering René a shoulder to cry on, should he need it. All the while he cursed his instinctual need to live up to his specie's nickname as the ‘Embrace’ Pokemon! Sure enough, René leaned his head on Nigel's shoulder for a minute before composing himself. “...Sorry.” He hiccupped as he wiped his eyes. “And--thank you. I-I really needed that.”
Nigel’s response was to blush as red as as René’s fur. “Don't mention it. No, really.” René misunderstood.
“You’re too sweet.” The still wet-faced vulpix said as he hugged him.
“Yes well--HEYHEY, no more of that, now!” Nigel started to glow again, threatening to kick start his Light Screen once more unless René quit the not-typically-huggy Embrace Pokemon that very instant.
René was immediately contrite. “Sorry.” He blushed.
“Right, then.” Nigel said in relief as René let go. “It's alright, it's alright, just a reminder -- there IS some truth to that rumor about me bein' a bit of a stuck-up jerk who went to the trouble of learning Light Screen and other unnatural-for-my-kind moves just to keep people from being too touchy-feely 'round me…Well, no, there's some exaggerations. I don't think I'm THAT stuck-up.”
“I don't think your stuck-up.” René answered honestly. “You just like keeping people away so they don't get close enough to hurt you like your family didm which is a shame because you're actually a pretty nice guy. Just a guess though. “
”Well, I....right. Right, that's about the size of it, yes. There's a bit more to it, mind, but you did hit most of those nails square on the head. And thanks for that, believe it or not you're probably one of the few 'morphs not on my team to even think I'm a nice guy. Or even a guy, but that's a given.”
“Yeah, I CAN tell the difference between a guy and a girl--all evidence to the contrary aside.” René snickered. “You’re welcome. Playing the nice sensitive guy no one even sees as a GUY is what I do.”
Now Nigel laughed. “Heh, so it is, but at least you actually want people to see you as a female. Whereas nothing short of slicing the skirt off's going to get me to be better recognized from afar as that of the male equivalent...and not even then. I swear I once saw someone think my brother was a girl even after his evolution as a Gallade? Bloody best day of my life, that day, made extra sweet by the big red cherry on top shaped like Josh's blushin' face!”
“You guys DO have pale faces. I guess a blush would really show then, huh?” René mused.
Nigel gleefully agreed. “Quite a bit. Redder than a ripe Tamato berry and twice as spicy after I got done teasin' him about it. My arm STILL smarts from the punch he gave me there afterwards, come to think of it. But that’s yet another reason why I try to keep public relations to a minimum. Less chance for them to see you make an arse of yourself that way and all that.”
“What're things like on your team? How do you guys interact out of the arena?” René asked.
“Out of the arena?” Nigel repeated. “Well, it's funny you should say, since we're still getting used to keepin' each other's company, as it were, so for the most part we meet up either at the gyms for practicing or, should that not be available, we go to our houses to practice. 'cept for Charla, we all have gyms at our places -- Meg LIVES in one of the really big official gyms, the private one at my place is almost as big as the school's and Floritt's folks have a makeshift dance studio, since I think they do performances every now and then. When we're not practicing, we admittedly don't see each other that much, save when we have classes together. The girls have their own cliques and whatnot, and while me and Charla sort of grew up together, we don't hang out on our own as much as before.
This would be the part where you get on my case for having a crush on someone I haven't talked to personally for who knows how long. Go ahead and have your laugh, not like you're wrong.”
René looked hurt at the implication. “I wouldn't laugh at you...especially not about that. I think it's, well, kind of sweet that the two of you grew up together and now you have the starting of something more...assuming you both work up the guts to admit it, no offense.”
Nigels eyes widened and actually looking surprised at that comment. “...no offense taken, René. And you're right, I do need to quit bein' so afraid to just ask...'course, it won't be easy now that she's got others takin' interest in her...”
René winced and not wanting to have Nigel get all gloomy and depressed by going down THAT road again, hurriedly asked. “I almost forgot, a few minutes ago you told me not to cry saying that "it doesn't suit me"...what did you mean?” Nigel looked a bit sheepish.
“Hm? Oh, that?” He shrugged. “Guess somethin' from Mum must have slipped out, she said that to me quite alot whenever I broke down like that --err, back when I was younger! She also often followed it up with this: "a face as charming as yours shines brightest when it's wearing a smile". Which...I obviously don't practice as much nowadays, but I figured you could use the advice.”
“Well, thanks for what you said. It was very--sweet.” René smiled.
“Heh. You're welcome.”
“Have you ever read the mind, or linked with the mind, or another psychic outside of your family?” René asked, still curious about psychics.
”Hrm...I assume you're not counting school assignments, so lemme think. Truth be told I actually don't associate that much with other Psychic-types save for when I'm forced to go to one of the family-funded charity events. Some of the more mentally attuned are so stuck up they don't even care to learn to talk, so they do all their communicating via telepathy. Let me tell you, there is no better way to develop a migraine than to be forced to mingle with folks who wish to go on and on and ON sharing their great wisdom to everyone by buryin' their putrid words into your very lobe. And the "best" part about speaking this way is that once you're stuck in a psy-convo with someone who loves hearing themselves think, it's a pain in the arse to pry yourself away -- they can talk to you from hundreds of feet away and if you try shutting your brain out that just makes them think you're ‘too weak to keep up’ and insist on prodding even more so they can hear you.” Nigel shook his head. “It's always extra fun when said guest is a bloody ‘mind-like-a-supercomputer’ Alakazam. Don't know about you, but I've yet to meet one that wasn't a bloody wanker.”
“What about Weaver? Or Ishtar?” René suggested, naming the only two psychics he really knew. “Or are you just afraid to enter their minds? Anyway, I was also wondering if I you could you read my mind? I'd kinda like to know what's going on up there...I’M not always sure about what I'm thinking.”
“Weaver, no, and while I don't fear her, the less people I have to force my way into mentally, the better. Ishtar...once, though it was an assignment. Hard to explain the details, but to put it in layman's it was a sort of endurance practice, to see who can break into who's mind first. The irony here is that all the times practicing how to tune myself out during those charity balls my family has actually gave me the edge to beat her in that. 'Course we then got forced to do it again by means of putting the other to sleep and I was out like a light before I even knew we'd even started.” Nigel paused before turning to the second question.
“Reading your mind? I could do that. The latter, though? No, because it doesn't work that way. See, a Psychic-type, a strong one, can peer into someone's deepest memories, feel their aura to see how they truly feel or even overtake and manipulate them that way. But I cannot, say, find out what exactly is it that makes you prefer to be a girl. There are just too many factors to look up for that sort of thing, too many to do in one sitting, at least. Now, maybe one of the grand Psychics like the Principal himself could fare better, but I doubt even he has that kind of power.”
“Do you have any friends at all?” René wondered. “Outside of your team?”
“...friends? Not, um, really. Growin' up, me an' Josh didn't really get to go outside very much. So for the longest time it was just us two, then later came Charla -- see, back when her Mum was still startin' out, she was the certified photographer for a number of large, rich families, mine especially. Charla was still on good terms with her Mum and was even an apprentice of hers when I first met her. So one day when Mrs. Ecks was called on to take photos for a cousin's Rite of Dawn -- err, that's what we call the birthday-slash-evolution party in our family -- and she needed to do some extra work, so she let her recently-evolved Luxio daughter wander about the mansion...which is where she met a Josh an' I, couple of newly-evolved Kirlias. Then years pass and Mrs. Ecks starts getting more exitin' work and she drifts off, so I don't get to really see Charla again 'till we're in school.
The whole "social outcast" thing didn't start until after my Rite of Dawn incident, though even back when I was a Kirlia I didn't really try hard to make friends. One or two kids that I talked to or played with, but not much else, if that makes sense.”
“Um...do you think that I'm a sissy or anything? Because I like acting like a girl and am kinda emotional? I know you try NOT to be those things so I just wondered...” René trailed off.
“You’re all over the place with the questions, aren’t you?” Nigel mused. “Oh, rubbish. If you mean sissy as in 'weak', that's hardly relevant to what being weak is. Weak means you're a coward and a fool, not that you think you're another gender. And anyway...thought your point was that you want people to see you like a girl?”
“I do!” René insisted. “But I know that you try hard not to be and so I was afraid that you might not like me and…” He mumbled and trailed off again.
“Well I don't like you assuming things like that, no! Really now, if I didn't like talking to you, you'd be talking to my Light Screen right 'bout now, don't you think?”
“I guess.” René sighed. “It's just kind of hard to make friends with guys. I spent so much time ingratiating myself among the girls--doing each other's hair and nails, going shopping--that I don't know how to interract with guys. I mean most think I'm a freak because I'm girly and get emotional realy easy and—” He started tearing up. “Oh man...”
“Oh, for...René, again with the crying? What'd I just tell you not long ago?” Nigel demanded. “Look. I won't lie, I haven't a bloody clue how you can improve on being friends with guys - after all, asking me for that kind of advice is like askin' an Ekans for tap-dancing lessons. But here's a thought: look to how the genderless folks manage. Some have friends, right? And you'd think they'd have it worse, not being seen as guys OR girls. If they can do well, why can't you?”
René sniffed. “Sorry. It just happens some times when I get worked up. You know, on my first day of going to the PCA, that I got beat up by some guys for looking different?” He asked as he started to cry.
“Oh, no no, not again...” Nigel groaned. “Look, would it make you feel better if I told you I had a heinous first day as well? Rather not go into details but suffice it to say Joshua made it certain I not feel very good about myself all day. As courtesy, though, he once more extended an arm for René should the crying become too unbearable.
“R-really?” René said as he hugged him. “Sorry...Did you always know that you didn't want to evolve or was it a spur of the moment thing? What was your view of your family before you chose not to evolve?”
Nigel was a bit stiff with the return-hug, though that was probably because he's just not that huggy a 'mon, period. “Well I'll be honest. Yes, yes it WAS spur of the moment. I actually wasn't aware of all the implications of what being a Gallade was until maybe a month before my birthday. I freaked. Not sure why, but I simply detest Fighting-types, especially back then. Just...the thought of having to fight like one for the rest of my life scared me, you know? Plus having to be forced into it whether I wanted to or not...I couldn't take it. And my family knew I was against it, but that last-minute stunt took everyone by surprise, even myself. I didn't think it, I just...acted on instinct.”
“That's terrible!” René exclaimed. “I'm so sorry.” He hugged Nigel even harder.
“Really now, it's not like--bit too tight there, René...If you'd be so kind as to let go...” Nigel’s imploring aside, René just hugged him even tighter, unconsciously using Bind. “Oh bloody hell, how does a Vulpix even know Bind?!” Nigel thought to himself “Ok, that's it...!” He started to glow for a brief moment and the next moment, he Teleported right behind René. “There! And people used to mock me for still using that old move. Shows what they know!”
René fell over. “Oww...” He groaned. Nigel kneeled down close, though there was the slight hint of a glow from a Light Screen waiting to burst to life should René have felt like glomping him again. “Alright, then...I have an idea what your relation with your 'dear' Scyther friend, but what about the rest of your team?”
“Well Rahne is like a big sister to me...the good kind that doesn't like to tease me. She helps treat my injuries after a match...in fact I kind of let her practice medicine on me, wrapping me with bandages, swabbing me with bactine, what have you. She wants to be a doctor you know.” René answered as he rubbed his head. “I try to help her with her homework and get her to relax every now and then. She works really hard to support her dad and her mom died when she was little too so we tend to lean on each other for comfort. Romano is the girl who drags me shopping and has me try on clothes for her while she gushes about Zeke. And I adore all three of them. Without them...I don't know what I'd do.”
“Well, that's nice. Meg would probably like Rahne, sounds like they have a few things in common.” Nigel held out a hand out for René to pick himself off the ground with. “And all things considered...my team ain't bad. We've lost more fights than we've lost, but otherwise it's been an ok experience so far. Just hope next week's tests don't go bitin' us in the arse too hard...”
René grunted as he let Nigel pull him up. “I'll have to introduce them. You think you have problems? My team has to go up against Team 16 and well...I kinda got a crush on one of them.” He blushed.
Nigel got René back on his feet in one pull – he’s stronger than he looks, unsurprisingly. “Now don't go getting weak-kneed over that, no good will come of it. And hey, I don't know, you could always ask her out afterwards; if you win, you can say it's a way to make up for it. If you lose, a celebration for 'em. Though for your team's sake, aim at winning. As for what team I'm going up against?” Nigel frowned. “You're not going to believe this.”
“Your brother’s?” René guessed.
“As hilarious as that'd be, no. Joshua, as you recall, skipped Juniors entirely and is on a Seniors team. I'll have my day eventually, but thankfully next week is not that day.” Nigel shook his head. “No...no, we're competing against bloody Team Pearl. Guess who their leader is!”
“Phew! I thought you would have to face him and the only thing that could compare to that would be to...face...” René trailed off as the conclusion came to him. “Rayon?”
“Got. It. In. One.” Nigeld nodded shortly.
“Well I hope you give him a good leafing!” René snorted.
“Don't worry. I intend to, and then some.” Nigel stated as a prismatic Magical Leaf forms between his fingers for a brief moment before he crushes it in his hand, making it shatter in a hundred angry sparkles.
René was unwontedly serious and unemotional. “Good. I don't mind telling you that I DETEST his type--no, I don't mean Luxrays--arrogant, strutting, jocks who enjoy impressing girls by pounding on someone. Don't get me started on Zap or Barrel Bibbins!”
“Never really cared for the type -- I've known worse, after all -- but I well can't sit idly by and do nothing. Now as much as I'd love to deal with him now, before he goes out with Charla...can't well do that without making a fool of myself in front of her. So we go for the next best thing - have a nice clean fight and have our skills do the talking!” Nigel blinked and then smacked his hand against his forehead. “...oh bloody 'ell, I just sounded like Joshua just now. Only more pathetic.”
René tried being optimistic. “I think you guys stand a good chance against the Rayon and the Pearls. Hit him right where it hurts...in his ego!” Then he rubbed his head in chagrin, being all tough is not his forte. “Well this pep talk aside, I do have a question: What do you do when you're not in school or practice? How do you relax? Have fun?”
“His ego...yes, that might do it, though it'll take some planning to--eh?” Nigel asked, having lost his train of thought. “Er, what? Right, what do I do when I'm not picturing would-be rivals getting sat on by Snorlaxes, you mean?...this and that, I suppose. Boring things. Reading, listening to music...I do go out sometimes though mostly to, ah, coffee places and arcades and the like.”
“Reading? Music? Coffee houses? You seem to have more of a refined air than you credit yourself with.” René noted. “Anything in particular that you like to read or listen to?”
Nigel coughed peculiarly. “Er, yes, well...they're hobbies that sharpen the mind, not exactly a strange thing for a Psychic to like, I suppose. I'll read most anything, though fancy prose and older fiction...and the occasional artsy indy graphic novel. Music-wise? ...mostly Indy stuff, some prog rock here 'an there. Try to keep a close ear to the newest bands, though I've been lax on that as of late due to school work. Often go to the coffee shops when they have a live band or poetry session on.”
René grinned and snapped his fingers like a beatnik. “Groovy. Poetry slams! You remind me of the art teacher.”
Nigel gave an eyeroll and a head-shake. “Real cute. No, I'll leave the beret-wearing to Floritt, thank you.” René paused before asking:
”I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable for you but how did your mother', um, condition come about?”
“...her blindness, you mean?” Nigel asked bluntly. “Well, even though she may not look it, Mum's actually pretty old. Most still find it a miracle she even had kids so late in life, she's so old. She's also fairly weak, which is why she doesn't go outside her home as much as she used to. And yet despite all that...” He lowered his voice. “...despite all that, I admit she is one of the strongest women I've ever met in my life. She fought for me when I decided to become a Gardevoir. She supports my team. She lets us practice in the mansion at times. ...dare say she even knows 'bout my feelings for Charla and is even rootin' for me. Silly, I know.”
“Doesn't sound silly at all...” René said softly. “Not to me...” He got misty eyed. “Moms are the best.”
Nigel showed the signs of a grin. “Yeh...yeh, moms are good that way.”
René sniffed. “Give her my best will you?”
“Of course.” Nigel nodded. “And...likewise with me and your Mum, maybe?”
René smiled sadly. “I'm sure she'd love to have the company. I know she'd like you.”
“...woudn't mind that, no. Visiting, I mean. She sounds like a lovely lady as well.”
“Yeah...she is. She really is.” He wiped his eyes.
“Right...sorry 'bout making you cry again like that.” Nigel apologized. René waved it off.
“Nah, it's okay.” He sniffed. “I just really miss her. Having her at home, you know?” René paused as he remembered something. “You know, once on my way to the hospital I saw your team leader Meghan kneeling in the cemetary. A lot of us have lost our moms you know?”
Nigel looked away for a brief moment as that shock of realization hit him briefly. “Suppose so. And that sounds familiar. I think I recall her saying she does that on occasion, visit her Mum with her lil' sister Maggie. Don't know much about what happened - just said she's been gone for a while and that she never knew her Da. Lives with her grandpa, ol' bag of charcoal that always gives me weird looks whenever we're training in Meg's Gym - three guesses why. From what I've gathered, though...she's like that fiend of yours. She pretty much takes care of everyone around her, though she's nowhere near as doting with her teammates, of course. Heh.”
“Her grandad not like you because you look...well, like I want to basically?” René asked ruefully. “Bit of a taskmaster is he?”
“...Pretty much, yeh.” Nigel confirmed. “You're much nicer with your choice of words, mind. And well, you can't really blame her. This is her first time in a team and she's already the leader, even though she's the youngest of us all. And we're still all trying to get used to one another even now, so it'd be unwise of her to be too lenient with us else we'd never get anything done....Just wish, truly wish, she'd not look to me to be this grand pillar of strength when she bloody well knows I'm not. I'm a supporter, fine, but I'm barely managing to support myself, let alone her or Charla! (Floritt's th' other supporter).
“What's a supporter?” René asked. “Shows what kind of leader I am, not even knowing that...heck and I let Sam and Romano walk all over me!”
Nigel winced, seeing him starting to go down another road of self-pity. “Well, err, it's more of a term used for when in a double battle. Supporters are essentially the ones that help keep their partners alive and powered up. It's not really an official term, which is probably why you're not familiar with it.”
Sure enough, René just looked depressed. “You're just saying that to make me feel better. I'm not qualified to be a leader. Everyone knows it.”
“Oh come off it, no I wasn't!” Nigel fairly snapped. “And I can't well say if you're a good leader or not if I've never even seen you at it before!”
“I let my teammates use me as a dress up doll and torment me incessantly. I don't REALLY mind it all that much but no one really respects me as a leader.” Sure enough, René was in full self-pitying form.
“Oh bloody, you're asking the wrong bloke about this - you want Meg for this kind of pep talk. But before I do send you to her, let me ask you this: Do you want your team to have a good leader or no? And no whining about you wanting someone else to do it, I know that story already.”
René had to bite his lip to prevent himself from saying that he 'doesn't' want to be a leader. “I want my team to have a good leader...but I want to have friends. I've never had any before.”
“And contrary to what some folks will tell you, you CAN have your cake and eat it to.” Nigel told him. “But that said, I think it's time I turn you to the professional on this. You coming?”
René nodded as he made to follow Nigel. “Okay…I'm in.”
“Good.” Nigel nodded. “Let's go.”
To Be Continued!
&&&
&&&
René Vulpes was walking home from school when he noticed a gardevoir girl he'd never seen before heading home. Normally he wouldn't have approached her on his own but he had a question that just wouldn't wait.
“Where did you get your skirt?” René asked the gardevoir he assumed—incorrectly—to be a girl. Only when hearing said gardevoir speak did realize how badly he’d blundered.
“It came with the evolution suit.” Nigel Garkirl answered as he gave a long, drawn-out sigh, his voice highlighting his sex…and his British accent. “I'd happily give it to you if I weren't so attached to it. And believe me, it's not as fun as it looks -- you've any idea how hard it is to find decent pants to show off when you got a bloody ball-gown attached to you epidermis?!”
“Well…try finding pants that you can put six--count them--SIX tails through without risk mooning everyone you walk past.” René countered lamely.
“Duly noted. But then you have thing like this,” Nigel grabbed at the red 'spike' on his chest that also had a sibling at the small of his back, “Restraining your fashion choices. I’m almost dependent on the aid of the Garkirl family’s personal tailor to deal with either making or altering clothes that won't make it look like I've a damn Wurmple trying to burst out my body from both sides!”
“The tails can be a hindrance too.” René nodded. “I mean, it takes so long to wash and comb the darn things. On really windy days it gets all frazzled and makes my butt look big. In water, they drag me down like an anchor. And there are some girls who just will go NUTS over them: Hugging them, petting them; going ‘Awww, they’re so cute and fluffly!’” He looked at Nigel. “Say...if you have spikes on your chest and back, then how do you sleep at night? To say nothing of getting physically close to someone.”
“I sleep on my side, so it's not that bad. And they do bend a bit, just not enough to hide inside a sweater and all that.” Nigel answered. “As for the getting too close thing, my answer is to avoid it altogether, species traditions be damned! Though I guess the bending would apply to that as well. Joshua would probably be able to fill you in a touch better, but you're on your own there....so just so I'm clear on something. You don't fancy males in any way at all?”
“Um, well I kinda, sorta...don't really know. I mean, I think I would've been better off if I was born a girl. I like girls: I admire them, I want to be like them and kinda have a crush here or there on some girls. I don't THINK I like guys. I mean, I've never drooled over any guys or anything...it's confusing to me more than anyone else....You weren't coming on to me just now, were you? I have trouble telling.” René blinked. “What species traditions do you mean anyway?”
Nigel gave another drawn-out sigh. “No, I wasn't trying to come on to you, that was mere curiosity. Not to offend, I've just...been really torn on the topic as of late. You woudn't understand. As for the ‘traditions’ I was talking about, pardon me while I give you the written-down explanation. Its poison to even breathe out the words but it's carved into memory and impossible to avoid repeating to anyone who asks. So, to quote:
"From the time that we are born as Ralts, our whole evolution line has dedicated itself into devoting their life to better the lives of others, sacrificing our own lives just so those weaker than us may live fruitful lives. The Garkirl line is no exception to this; for over four generations it has been this noble family's ultimate goal, to pass on the teachings of kindness and compassion to our Gallade males and Gardevoir females. Let us strengthen our minds, unite our blades of chivalry and our hearts of purity, and bring the world up towards the light of a better tomorrow!"
Nigel quoted. “Which is, of course, bollocks. We're an old and somewhat rich family that tosses some coins to charities and calls it a day. And if you didn't notice, there's a great emphasis in having females be Gardevoirs, as Gallades are looked to to be the big manly warriors and Gardevoirs are...well, you get the idea. Needless to say, the idea of being a warrior -- a half-Fighting one, no less -- made me completely ill to my stomach, so I dared to defy tradition and evolve on my own terms and I've been paying for it ever since. In other words, I picked 'the girly' form out of spite of the non-girly one, no other reason.”
René looked at him in something close to disblief, at both the pretensious sounding nature of his family and his earlier remark. “I wouldn't understand being torn on issues of gender and sexuality? You do know who you're speaking to, right? This wouldn't have anything to do with a certain luxray would it?” He guessed, thinking back on something he’d heard from Romano.
“I don't mean that! I KNOW where I stand, I know I'm a male who prefers females...it's just...” Then René’s last comment sunk in. “I swear, you tell anyone about that, I'll...!” Nigel ground out. René held up his hands in a placating gesture.
“Okay, okay relax. I'll keep mum! Sheesh, this is like the time I caught Sam singing in the shower. Look, if it makes you feel better I'll let you know that I have a crush on Nicole Zuna of Team 16...and I like to think of Weaver of Team Nocturne as my big sister. ‘Kay? And personally Charla kind of...well, she bothers me.”
“So long as we're on the same page 'bout that,” Nigel sighed. “And while I have a list as long as a Steelix as to what issues I have with Charla and an even longer one for why I still can't stop thinking of her, I don't see how she'd be bothering you directly.” Then he blinked. “Weaver? You serious?
René shrugged. “Yeah, I'm serious. Weaver just makes me feel...safe. Well I don't exactly have a problem with Charla directly; it's just that...can you keep a secret too?” At Nigel’s nodd, René continued. “My mother was...IS--Vera Kitsunegari. She was an athlete and later a model. When I was seven she was in an accident. She's been in a coma ever since. And guess what sleezy photographer just HAD to intrude on my family and my grief when it happened? Eureka Ecks, Charla's mom. And now I hear that SHE wants to be a photographer too. She makes me...uncomfortable.”
“Since we've already started the secret exchange program here an' now, lemme tell you something about Miss Rey.” Nigel leaned in. “I've known her since she was a Luxio and I was still a Kirlia. Even back then, Charla's always hated her mum. Can't well go into huge details as to why, but safe to say it's for similar reasons you hate her -- she ain't fond of what she does for a living. As for the photography thing, I think she just has some weird need to want to prove that the art can be used for good instead of evil...that or her Da convinced her to give it a try. In any case, she isn't one to follow in her family's footsteps that way, so you needn't worry.” He snorted. “Weaver? Safe? ...suppose I'll have to take your word for it. Then again, I've heard stranger things.” Nigel shook his head disbelievingly.
René’s gave a half smile. “Weaver's a big cuddly drowzee.” Then he turned serious. “I'll trust what you said about Charla and her mom but...I can't ever forget sitting at my mom's bedside after the accident and I see this blinding flash out of the corner of my eye...and then I get to see my mom hooked up to a breathing apparatus in every newstand in the country. It's a child's fear, I know but...I keep having this image of Charla sending in a picture of me in women's underwear to the tabloids and some crack about me following in my mother's footsteps.”
Nigel tried picturing Weaver as "big cuddly Drowzee" and was forced to cover his mouth to suppress his snickering. René noticed how strangely graceful and soft his hand movements are, like those fit for his particular species (though not, exactly, his gender). More than likely this is one of those elements even Nigel doesn't notice of himself.
Eventually, Nigel got himself back under control. “Ok, that...give me a moment...ah...ah, there we go....ok, now you're just being daft. Charla woudn't do that. I know she woudn't. You know she woudn't. And no good will come of going about with that kind of fear over your head.”
René raised a skeptical eyebrow. “True, but aren't we being a bit hypocritical? Do you really think she's going to go swooning into the arms of Rayon just because he's a big, hunky Luxray? And I have to ask, have you ever considered taking up dancing or fencing or something? You're rather graceful.”
Nigel sighed. “...Well, keyword there is ‘big, hunky LUXRAY’. They're the same species, they can actually breed with one another and all that! Not exactly easy to compete with than, is it? And...funny you should say that.” Nigel looked aside with a look of forlorn in his eyes. “I've a stupid dream, of one day just walking right through this huge crowd to get to her, take her by the hand and sweep her off my feet. For all my reluctance to stick to the ways of the Garkirl family traditions, I'm actually fond of dancing. Me and Joshua were tutored since we were Ralts and while he never really picked up on it, I did. Probably the best time I ever had with my mum is when we're in the living room just swaying our bodies to whatever old tune she has playing on the radio. Joshua, amusingly enough, is the 'fencer' you're looking for. After all, he's the one with the blade-arms now.”
“So? Have you ever seen the way that guys looks at people? It's like a predator studying prey. It doesn't get much less romantic or likeable than that. For a girl he may make nice eye-candy but he's got about as much personality as a zip code.” René retorted. “Maybe if you actually WOULD do something like that, Charla wouldn't even waste her time looking at what's his face.”
“Nnngh. You don't understand,” Nigel sighed. “Rayon's not the one that concerns me, Charla is. I mean...this is going against the status quo. She annoys me, I feign annoyance, life goes on, life is as it should be. If I go against that, it'll complicate things...I don't know. Plus like I said before, our types ain't 100% compatible, if you catch my drift. I doubt I could deliver in that sense.
“Well maybe she's trying to rattle your cage to see if you care enough to make a move.” René guessed.
“...It WOULD be like her to go that far just to rile me up!” Nigel fumed. “Bugger all, why does she do this? And why do I let her?! Blast it...Right, right, but the part about not giving them mind still applies regardless if you have a gender or not. Can I ask just how close are you and Sam again?”
René drawled. “She's like the big buggy sister I never wanted. Seriously, she just likes to tease and mess with me. I'll crash in her dorm room from time to time though when things between me and my father get too...intense. She likes trying to set me up with other girls though...and then humiliate me.”
“...Interesting. Save for the hooking you up with other girl's part, that's not so different than me and Charla.” Nigel mused. “Back when I first did my little evolution stunt on my birthday I had to keep hidden from my family for a while until things cooled off and she let me hide in to her place for about a week. It was around that time that I realized I've developed...feelings for her. Whether or not she picked up on this, I can't say, though her teasing did pick up around then for whatever reason....might as well take the courage to ask. What are the chances Sam may like you and just have a rather ridiculous way of showing it?”
“Eh, none at all.” René said. “She's actually been trying to push me into a date with Nicole Nidoran...the nidorina on Team 16? That's probably what she's been up to. At least, it would explain those,” he coughed. “Items she put in my locker.” He blushed.
“...I'm not sure if to even bother asking about that.” Nigel winced. “And here I thought my friends were peculiar! And since I'm in need to get even for one of your questions from before, what's stopping you from having a go at that Nidorina?”
René blushed again. “Um well I...haven't ever exactly been on a date or asked anyone out before. Ever. I mean I spent so much time trying to be one of the girls that I don't know what to do with one besides trading blouses and getting our toenails painted and--What's with that look?”
Nigel had to keep from just blurting out a laugh by muffling his mouth with his hand…and not really working. “Nothing, nothing! And I can't say I've ever been out on a date either, so we're rocking that same boat, it seems. Mind...it's not because no one has asked me. To my relief at least, those always decided against the idea the second I go into detail about the contents underneath the skirt...”
René looked at Nigel oddly then shrugged. “Go ahead and laugh. I'm used to guys laughing at me. The time Sam took a picture of me sleeping with my stuffed Growlithe and posted it in the bathroom was worse.”
“SHE was the one that put that there?” Nigel asked. “I always wondered about that. And the laugh just came out, couldn't help it. I'm a hypocrite for doing it, tho' --I mean, my life as a fully-evolved Gardevoir has been relatively brief in comparison to what you've lived through, but I've gotten the same kind of grief over it as well. Especially at home, though that's unsurprising.”
“Well the fact that I was in my underwear and sucking my thumb didn't help.” René admitted. “I don't mind you laughing though. It happens...though you may want to consider stopping now while you still have bladder control.”
“Then you may want to cut down on the embarrassing stories then, for the sake of my bladder and what's left of your dignity!” Nigel snorted. “Though again, here's a token to pay for your humor ferry, though you probably saw this punchline about two weeks ago. Take a typical team rehearsals, add a very bouncy, purple-tailed Smeargle perfecting a Rapid Spin while in close proximity of yours truly. Then and a ill-placed tail that manages to knock me around and streak around my skirt, actually making a bloody purple belt right in the middle about 'ere! Did you know that if you let Smeargle pain stay on your skin for too long it takes forever to wash off and will even run? So for that whole day I kept getting such lovely bloody compliments from every girl in school about my brand new purple gown?!” He sighed. “Floritt's going to be th' death of me, I tell you.”
“Dignity?” René asked rhetorically. “What's that? Never heard of it. Oh Floritt's just...bubbly is all. Sweet, but bubbly. Heck one time I heard that she stuck her tail in a hot spring full of bathers and turned their lower halves purple! Makes you wonder if—or how—anyone can be in a pool with her at the same time.”
Nigel groaned. “Oh sweet Arceus, that story. I was there when it happened. I was one of the smart ones who DIDN'T go into the pool while she was near it! She wasn't even supposed to have been there, it was the boy's side! 'Course she wasn't the only female breaking the rules that night, which just made convincing her to move even more of a chore. Meg did give her what-for the next day, at least.” He snorted. “Mmph. Truth be told, she's the one I've had the most problems with on the team. Bad enough we're usually training together as the team's support fighters, just...she infuriates me. For reasons I cannot comprehend myself, every time the topic of her family comes up -- which happens often -- I just want to hurry up and perfect my Hypnosis skills so I can clam her up when she's going on about them. It's stupid, really, being jealous of a teammate like that...”
“Who else broke the rules? I wasn't there...would've been too odd to go on either side for me.” René rubbed his neck in chagrin. But then more sympathetically he added. “It's normal to be envious. I mean, I envy Rahne, Romano, and Sam for actually BEING girls whereas I just...really wish I was, and my whole time envies Romano. She's the only one with a normal, happy family life. My mother's in a coma and my father's an ass, Rahne's mom is dead and her father's a drunk, Sam doesn't know her father but her mother is a manipulative witch. Romano's SO lucky.”
Nigel paused to answer the first part of the question first. “Name escapes me, the Squirtle girl from Team Red. Charla would've joined in but she wanted to keep Meg company, since Meg couldn't well get in the water, bein' a Magmar and all. That, and I think she liked watching me squirm at the idea of being robbed of seein' her all n...anyway.” He changed tracks. “Really, the more I think of how stupid it is to be envious of Floritt, the more ridiculous it seems. Think about it: Meg has no Da and her Mum died while she was little and lives with her little sister and grandfather. Charla's Da is the most insane Ampharos on the bloomin' planet for marrying Charla's mum -- the less said 'bout her the better. Which leaves Floritt...who has this huge family of I think four other siblings and parents who are just as nutty as she is and the irony of it all is that she has this grand family and none of them are related to her by blood! Whereas my own family now wishes me to go quietly rot somewhere for not wanting to be some garish, musclebound Fighting-type. And Floritt's family are all Fighting-types. No, the irony doesn't escape me.”
“Yeah, having a normal, healthy family puts one in a pretty small minority.” René agreed. “As for your family...well it's really not my place to tell someone else that their family is a bunch of idiots, but...I can't figure out how to finish that thought. Sorry. Anyway, Charla's mom sounds more and more like my dad. He's a self-absorbed buisnessman who came THIS close to disowning me after I announced that I was transgender--the only reason he didn't was because this was after my mom's accident and he wasn't going to get anymore kids from her...and he can't divorce her or pull the plug without getting killed by the press--with reason! THAT'S the only reason my mom's still...my mom.”
“Believe me, you've nothing to apologize for.” Nigel assured him. “After all, it's not like it isn't the very feeling I have for most of them. Well, maybe not my Mum, she's one of the few people in the Garkirl family who doesn't care about how I look. Granted, she's blind...And while I'm in no authority to say just how bad Mrs. Ecks really is, I can't say I'm fond of any mother who gives their kid the kind of grief she gives Charla and, I suppose, her dad. Barely know his side of the story and Charla's been rather vague when it comes to giving out info on him, though I guess she has her reasons. That said...bloody 'ell, René, you've a soap opera for a family. No wonder you guys have paparazzi going after them, no offense.”
“Your mom sounds nice. I—” He choked up a bit as he thought about his mother and coughed to cover for it, “Anyway, as far as the paparazzi are concerned we're a loving family that suffered a horrible tragedy, especially since my mom was young and a great athlete and model. They don't know I'm transgender or that my father is a cold-blooded buisnessman who only stays with us because it'll hurt his image and thus, his buisness if he left or discarded us...besides he wants someone to mold into a clone of him to take over his buisness someday.”
René shook his head. “He's the reason I'm the Team Leader, he pays for everything. I have no qualifications to lead...I don't even know what I'm doing. The instant I find someone else to support us, I'm gonna ditch him SO fast....And Nigel, no offense, if my family sounds like a soap opera, then yours is like an after school special film.”
“No offense taken.” Nigel answered. “It's not like I'm not aware how ridiculous things can get there, after all.” He sighed. “So your family made you enroll in a team too, eh? As some sick little means to discipline me for being the new black Mareep of the family, I was forced to join up for a team as well. They didn't specify which team, tho', so the last thing my family was expecting was one with me being the only male representative. Sadly I couldn't see my family's actual reaction to this save Joshua, who mostly just shook his head in disbelief and made it a promise to try and beat me down should our teams ever battle.”
“He made me START a bloody team, though he didn't expect it to be me and three girls—he wanted to make a mon out of me by grunting, snorting, and back-slapping with a bunch of big hairy guys. Boy did THAT ever back fire on him!” René snickered. “Yeah, Life IS ridiculous. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
“Selling somethin' or drinkin' the extra-bitter types of Berry juice, if you catch my meaning.” Nigel replied. “Yeah, safe to say things didn't go as family wanted to on my end either. Wanted me in a mostly-male team as if to remind me of all that I've given up on for picking the form I did. Bah to 'em, I'm as glad for my choice as ever! I'm strong enough, in the way I WANT to be strong, by making use of my real strength up 'ere,” Nigel tapped his forehead for emphasis. “Instead of some blasted blades grafted onto my arms!”
“I prefer the brains over brawns approach myself...” René agreed. “Not that I have much of the later. I'm really pretty average when it comes to battles and the like. I mean have you ever been humiliated in a fight? Not just beaten, but humiliated?”
Nigeld sighed “Have I been humiliated? Have I ever been humiliated? In a word, YES. Week after I ran away from home to wait for the family to shut up about the whole affair, my brother finds me; in retrospect trying to hide from a psychic twin sibling was not really my most wisest of moves, but what could I do? So Joshua, he drags me back home and first thing he does is get the training room set up and the whole bloody family watching there later at night. And if I did any disappearing acts before then I'd been disowned completely, so I was forced to stay. Forced to stay, and fight my own brother. Now I've fought my brother before, plenty of times, back when we were still both Kirlia. I usually beat him, too. This time, though, I wasn't fighting that Kirlia.
The Kirlia I grew up with only went along with family ideals because he was scared to say or think otherwise, like I was. Scared! But the second he touched his stone to become a Gallade and I ran off, he changed. He became the family's pet, devoted to the cause because loyalty is what those blade-heads are all about…that, and speed. He overtook me in less than a few turns with moves I never even seen before. I don't even remember half of what happened during the fight proper, just the part where I fall hard o my back and have every single one of those so-called "benevolent" representatives of the Garkirl family giving me this ghastly look of satisfaction...Ngh. That wasn't mere humiliating, it was soul-crushing. Month later I got put back in school and put on the team...and the rest of the story, I think you know.”
René paled and went through several expressions of pity, disgust, and outright righteous anger on Nigel’s behalf. “That's...that's HORRIBLE! While my father and I disdain each other he's never gone out of his way to humiliate me like that! Is your family one of those old-blood snobby crew or just satantic?”
Nigel snorted. “As bloody hilarious as it might be to picture my family as a bunch of crazy cultists, they're best put in the "old-blood snobby crew" category. Bunch of wankers so certain the best way to handle things in life is to follow the rules set by our ancestors years ago. Heaven forbid anyone in their bloodline to wish to defy them!”
“Eww, I mighta guessed. Blue-blooded old money types are a therapist's bill waiting to happen.” René pointed out. “Parents can be so unrelenting when it comes to their kids forging a new path.”
“Quite right you are. It's one of the reasons I'm almost amazed as to how...how sane Mum can be sometimes. She's a firm woman when she needs to be, don't get me wrong, but she was the only one in my whole family who secretly smiled at me for doing what I did. I mean, no, I doubt she was too fond of me making a spectacle of myself in front of the whole family like I did then, but the part where I showed to have more mind than to stick to the same path as everyone else just because that's the way it's always been. I admit it, I love my Mum sometimes. Just, uh, don't go spreadin' about I said that out loud, will you?”
René smiled sadly at Nigel. “All right but I wouldn't be ashamed of admitting that I love my mother if I were you...I still do.” He sniffled and hastily drew a sleeve across his eyes. “You know, ever since I was seven I've visited her every week at the hospital. Mothers’ Day, our birthdays, the anniversery of the...accident. I spend them all there.” He wiped his eyes again, the tears just wouldn’t stop.
Nigel winced and immediately regretted saying it. “Oh...oh bugger. Look, look, I'm sorry for makin' you cry...I'm not ashamed of lovin' my Mum, really! It's just one of those things I have trouble sayin' out in public is all! Already got in trouble once with Joshiua for doing that -- got on my case about me giving her more trouble than she deserved, which I admit is partially true. But you get my point, right?”
René sniffled a bit as he bit his lip and tried to hold back from outright bawling. “I know what you meant. I just hurts sometimes beacuse--because, I just miss her SO much!” His reserves burst and he started crying and earnest.
“Oh. Oh, bollocks, you're getting worse. Come on please, don't cry, it doesn't suit you one bit. Don't cry...” Nigel quickly looked around before extending an arm and offering René a shoulder to cry on, should he need it. All the while he cursed his instinctual need to live up to his specie's nickname as the ‘Embrace’ Pokemon! Sure enough, René leaned his head on Nigel's shoulder for a minute before composing himself. “...Sorry.” He hiccupped as he wiped his eyes. “And--thank you. I-I really needed that.”
Nigel’s response was to blush as red as as René’s fur. “Don't mention it. No, really.” René misunderstood.
“You’re too sweet.” The still wet-faced vulpix said as he hugged him.
“Yes well--HEYHEY, no more of that, now!” Nigel started to glow again, threatening to kick start his Light Screen once more unless René quit the not-typically-huggy Embrace Pokemon that very instant.
René was immediately contrite. “Sorry.” He blushed.
“Right, then.” Nigel said in relief as René let go. “It's alright, it's alright, just a reminder -- there IS some truth to that rumor about me bein' a bit of a stuck-up jerk who went to the trouble of learning Light Screen and other unnatural-for-my-kind moves just to keep people from being too touchy-feely 'round me…Well, no, there's some exaggerations. I don't think I'm THAT stuck-up.”
“I don't think your stuck-up.” René answered honestly. “You just like keeping people away so they don't get close enough to hurt you like your family didm which is a shame because you're actually a pretty nice guy. Just a guess though. “
”Well, I....right. Right, that's about the size of it, yes. There's a bit more to it, mind, but you did hit most of those nails square on the head. And thanks for that, believe it or not you're probably one of the few 'morphs not on my team to even think I'm a nice guy. Or even a guy, but that's a given.”
“Yeah, I CAN tell the difference between a guy and a girl--all evidence to the contrary aside.” René snickered. “You’re welcome. Playing the nice sensitive guy no one even sees as a GUY is what I do.”
Now Nigel laughed. “Heh, so it is, but at least you actually want people to see you as a female. Whereas nothing short of slicing the skirt off's going to get me to be better recognized from afar as that of the male equivalent...and not even then. I swear I once saw someone think my brother was a girl even after his evolution as a Gallade? Bloody best day of my life, that day, made extra sweet by the big red cherry on top shaped like Josh's blushin' face!”
“You guys DO have pale faces. I guess a blush would really show then, huh?” René mused.
Nigel gleefully agreed. “Quite a bit. Redder than a ripe Tamato berry and twice as spicy after I got done teasin' him about it. My arm STILL smarts from the punch he gave me there afterwards, come to think of it. But that’s yet another reason why I try to keep public relations to a minimum. Less chance for them to see you make an arse of yourself that way and all that.”
“What're things like on your team? How do you guys interact out of the arena?” René asked.
“Out of the arena?” Nigel repeated. “Well, it's funny you should say, since we're still getting used to keepin' each other's company, as it were, so for the most part we meet up either at the gyms for practicing or, should that not be available, we go to our houses to practice. 'cept for Charla, we all have gyms at our places -- Meg LIVES in one of the really big official gyms, the private one at my place is almost as big as the school's and Floritt's folks have a makeshift dance studio, since I think they do performances every now and then. When we're not practicing, we admittedly don't see each other that much, save when we have classes together. The girls have their own cliques and whatnot, and while me and Charla sort of grew up together, we don't hang out on our own as much as before.
This would be the part where you get on my case for having a crush on someone I haven't talked to personally for who knows how long. Go ahead and have your laugh, not like you're wrong.”
René looked hurt at the implication. “I wouldn't laugh at you...especially not about that. I think it's, well, kind of sweet that the two of you grew up together and now you have the starting of something more...assuming you both work up the guts to admit it, no offense.”
Nigels eyes widened and actually looking surprised at that comment. “...no offense taken, René. And you're right, I do need to quit bein' so afraid to just ask...'course, it won't be easy now that she's got others takin' interest in her...”
René winced and not wanting to have Nigel get all gloomy and depressed by going down THAT road again, hurriedly asked. “I almost forgot, a few minutes ago you told me not to cry saying that "it doesn't suit me"...what did you mean?” Nigel looked a bit sheepish.
“Hm? Oh, that?” He shrugged. “Guess somethin' from Mum must have slipped out, she said that to me quite alot whenever I broke down like that --err, back when I was younger! She also often followed it up with this: "a face as charming as yours shines brightest when it's wearing a smile". Which...I obviously don't practice as much nowadays, but I figured you could use the advice.”
“Well, thanks for what you said. It was very--sweet.” René smiled.
“Heh. You're welcome.”
“Have you ever read the mind, or linked with the mind, or another psychic outside of your family?” René asked, still curious about psychics.
”Hrm...I assume you're not counting school assignments, so lemme think. Truth be told I actually don't associate that much with other Psychic-types save for when I'm forced to go to one of the family-funded charity events. Some of the more mentally attuned are so stuck up they don't even care to learn to talk, so they do all their communicating via telepathy. Let me tell you, there is no better way to develop a migraine than to be forced to mingle with folks who wish to go on and on and ON sharing their great wisdom to everyone by buryin' their putrid words into your very lobe. And the "best" part about speaking this way is that once you're stuck in a psy-convo with someone who loves hearing themselves think, it's a pain in the arse to pry yourself away -- they can talk to you from hundreds of feet away and if you try shutting your brain out that just makes them think you're ‘too weak to keep up’ and insist on prodding even more so they can hear you.” Nigel shook his head. “It's always extra fun when said guest is a bloody ‘mind-like-a-supercomputer’ Alakazam. Don't know about you, but I've yet to meet one that wasn't a bloody wanker.”
“What about Weaver? Or Ishtar?” René suggested, naming the only two psychics he really knew. “Or are you just afraid to enter their minds? Anyway, I was also wondering if I you could you read my mind? I'd kinda like to know what's going on up there...I’M not always sure about what I'm thinking.”
“Weaver, no, and while I don't fear her, the less people I have to force my way into mentally, the better. Ishtar...once, though it was an assignment. Hard to explain the details, but to put it in layman's it was a sort of endurance practice, to see who can break into who's mind first. The irony here is that all the times practicing how to tune myself out during those charity balls my family has actually gave me the edge to beat her in that. 'Course we then got forced to do it again by means of putting the other to sleep and I was out like a light before I even knew we'd even started.” Nigel paused before turning to the second question.
“Reading your mind? I could do that. The latter, though? No, because it doesn't work that way. See, a Psychic-type, a strong one, can peer into someone's deepest memories, feel their aura to see how they truly feel or even overtake and manipulate them that way. But I cannot, say, find out what exactly is it that makes you prefer to be a girl. There are just too many factors to look up for that sort of thing, too many to do in one sitting, at least. Now, maybe one of the grand Psychics like the Principal himself could fare better, but I doubt even he has that kind of power.”
“Do you have any friends at all?” René wondered. “Outside of your team?”
“...friends? Not, um, really. Growin' up, me an' Josh didn't really get to go outside very much. So for the longest time it was just us two, then later came Charla -- see, back when her Mum was still startin' out, she was the certified photographer for a number of large, rich families, mine especially. Charla was still on good terms with her Mum and was even an apprentice of hers when I first met her. So one day when Mrs. Ecks was called on to take photos for a cousin's Rite of Dawn -- err, that's what we call the birthday-slash-evolution party in our family -- and she needed to do some extra work, so she let her recently-evolved Luxio daughter wander about the mansion...which is where she met a Josh an' I, couple of newly-evolved Kirlias. Then years pass and Mrs. Ecks starts getting more exitin' work and she drifts off, so I don't get to really see Charla again 'till we're in school.
The whole "social outcast" thing didn't start until after my Rite of Dawn incident, though even back when I was a Kirlia I didn't really try hard to make friends. One or two kids that I talked to or played with, but not much else, if that makes sense.”
“Um...do you think that I'm a sissy or anything? Because I like acting like a girl and am kinda emotional? I know you try NOT to be those things so I just wondered...” René trailed off.
“You’re all over the place with the questions, aren’t you?” Nigel mused. “Oh, rubbish. If you mean sissy as in 'weak', that's hardly relevant to what being weak is. Weak means you're a coward and a fool, not that you think you're another gender. And anyway...thought your point was that you want people to see you like a girl?”
“I do!” René insisted. “But I know that you try hard not to be and so I was afraid that you might not like me and…” He mumbled and trailed off again.
“Well I don't like you assuming things like that, no! Really now, if I didn't like talking to you, you'd be talking to my Light Screen right 'bout now, don't you think?”
“I guess.” René sighed. “It's just kind of hard to make friends with guys. I spent so much time ingratiating myself among the girls--doing each other's hair and nails, going shopping--that I don't know how to interract with guys. I mean most think I'm a freak because I'm girly and get emotional realy easy and—” He started tearing up. “Oh man...”
“Oh, for...René, again with the crying? What'd I just tell you not long ago?” Nigel demanded. “Look. I won't lie, I haven't a bloody clue how you can improve on being friends with guys - after all, asking me for that kind of advice is like askin' an Ekans for tap-dancing lessons. But here's a thought: look to how the genderless folks manage. Some have friends, right? And you'd think they'd have it worse, not being seen as guys OR girls. If they can do well, why can't you?”
René sniffed. “Sorry. It just happens some times when I get worked up. You know, on my first day of going to the PCA, that I got beat up by some guys for looking different?” He asked as he started to cry.
“Oh, no no, not again...” Nigel groaned. “Look, would it make you feel better if I told you I had a heinous first day as well? Rather not go into details but suffice it to say Joshua made it certain I not feel very good about myself all day. As courtesy, though, he once more extended an arm for René should the crying become too unbearable.
“R-really?” René said as he hugged him. “Sorry...Did you always know that you didn't want to evolve or was it a spur of the moment thing? What was your view of your family before you chose not to evolve?”
Nigel was a bit stiff with the return-hug, though that was probably because he's just not that huggy a 'mon, period. “Well I'll be honest. Yes, yes it WAS spur of the moment. I actually wasn't aware of all the implications of what being a Gallade was until maybe a month before my birthday. I freaked. Not sure why, but I simply detest Fighting-types, especially back then. Just...the thought of having to fight like one for the rest of my life scared me, you know? Plus having to be forced into it whether I wanted to or not...I couldn't take it. And my family knew I was against it, but that last-minute stunt took everyone by surprise, even myself. I didn't think it, I just...acted on instinct.”
“That's terrible!” René exclaimed. “I'm so sorry.” He hugged Nigel even harder.
“Really now, it's not like--bit too tight there, René...If you'd be so kind as to let go...” Nigel’s imploring aside, René just hugged him even tighter, unconsciously using Bind. “Oh bloody hell, how does a Vulpix even know Bind?!” Nigel thought to himself “Ok, that's it...!” He started to glow for a brief moment and the next moment, he Teleported right behind René. “There! And people used to mock me for still using that old move. Shows what they know!”
René fell over. “Oww...” He groaned. Nigel kneeled down close, though there was the slight hint of a glow from a Light Screen waiting to burst to life should René have felt like glomping him again. “Alright, then...I have an idea what your relation with your 'dear' Scyther friend, but what about the rest of your team?”
“Well Rahne is like a big sister to me...the good kind that doesn't like to tease me. She helps treat my injuries after a match...in fact I kind of let her practice medicine on me, wrapping me with bandages, swabbing me with bactine, what have you. She wants to be a doctor you know.” René answered as he rubbed his head. “I try to help her with her homework and get her to relax every now and then. She works really hard to support her dad and her mom died when she was little too so we tend to lean on each other for comfort. Romano is the girl who drags me shopping and has me try on clothes for her while she gushes about Zeke. And I adore all three of them. Without them...I don't know what I'd do.”
“Well, that's nice. Meg would probably like Rahne, sounds like they have a few things in common.” Nigel held out a hand out for René to pick himself off the ground with. “And all things considered...my team ain't bad. We've lost more fights than we've lost, but otherwise it's been an ok experience so far. Just hope next week's tests don't go bitin' us in the arse too hard...”
René grunted as he let Nigel pull him up. “I'll have to introduce them. You think you have problems? My team has to go up against Team 16 and well...I kinda got a crush on one of them.” He blushed.
Nigel got René back on his feet in one pull – he’s stronger than he looks, unsurprisingly. “Now don't go getting weak-kneed over that, no good will come of it. And hey, I don't know, you could always ask her out afterwards; if you win, you can say it's a way to make up for it. If you lose, a celebration for 'em. Though for your team's sake, aim at winning. As for what team I'm going up against?” Nigel frowned. “You're not going to believe this.”
“Your brother’s?” René guessed.
“As hilarious as that'd be, no. Joshua, as you recall, skipped Juniors entirely and is on a Seniors team. I'll have my day eventually, but thankfully next week is not that day.” Nigel shook his head. “No...no, we're competing against bloody Team Pearl. Guess who their leader is!”
“Phew! I thought you would have to face him and the only thing that could compare to that would be to...face...” René trailed off as the conclusion came to him. “Rayon?”
“Got. It. In. One.” Nigeld nodded shortly.
“Well I hope you give him a good leafing!” René snorted.
“Don't worry. I intend to, and then some.” Nigel stated as a prismatic Magical Leaf forms between his fingers for a brief moment before he crushes it in his hand, making it shatter in a hundred angry sparkles.
René was unwontedly serious and unemotional. “Good. I don't mind telling you that I DETEST his type--no, I don't mean Luxrays--arrogant, strutting, jocks who enjoy impressing girls by pounding on someone. Don't get me started on Zap or Barrel Bibbins!”
“Never really cared for the type -- I've known worse, after all -- but I well can't sit idly by and do nothing. Now as much as I'd love to deal with him now, before he goes out with Charla...can't well do that without making a fool of myself in front of her. So we go for the next best thing - have a nice clean fight and have our skills do the talking!” Nigel blinked and then smacked his hand against his forehead. “...oh bloody 'ell, I just sounded like Joshua just now. Only more pathetic.”
René tried being optimistic. “I think you guys stand a good chance against the Rayon and the Pearls. Hit him right where it hurts...in his ego!” Then he rubbed his head in chagrin, being all tough is not his forte. “Well this pep talk aside, I do have a question: What do you do when you're not in school or practice? How do you relax? Have fun?”
“His ego...yes, that might do it, though it'll take some planning to--eh?” Nigel asked, having lost his train of thought. “Er, what? Right, what do I do when I'm not picturing would-be rivals getting sat on by Snorlaxes, you mean?...this and that, I suppose. Boring things. Reading, listening to music...I do go out sometimes though mostly to, ah, coffee places and arcades and the like.”
“Reading? Music? Coffee houses? You seem to have more of a refined air than you credit yourself with.” René noted. “Anything in particular that you like to read or listen to?”
Nigel coughed peculiarly. “Er, yes, well...they're hobbies that sharpen the mind, not exactly a strange thing for a Psychic to like, I suppose. I'll read most anything, though fancy prose and older fiction...and the occasional artsy indy graphic novel. Music-wise? ...mostly Indy stuff, some prog rock here 'an there. Try to keep a close ear to the newest bands, though I've been lax on that as of late due to school work. Often go to the coffee shops when they have a live band or poetry session on.”
René grinned and snapped his fingers like a beatnik. “Groovy. Poetry slams! You remind me of the art teacher.”
Nigel gave an eyeroll and a head-shake. “Real cute. No, I'll leave the beret-wearing to Floritt, thank you.” René paused before asking:
”I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable for you but how did your mother', um, condition come about?”
“...her blindness, you mean?” Nigel asked bluntly. “Well, even though she may not look it, Mum's actually pretty old. Most still find it a miracle she even had kids so late in life, she's so old. She's also fairly weak, which is why she doesn't go outside her home as much as she used to. And yet despite all that...” He lowered his voice. “...despite all that, I admit she is one of the strongest women I've ever met in my life. She fought for me when I decided to become a Gardevoir. She supports my team. She lets us practice in the mansion at times. ...dare say she even knows 'bout my feelings for Charla and is even rootin' for me. Silly, I know.”
“Doesn't sound silly at all...” René said softly. “Not to me...” He got misty eyed. “Moms are the best.”
Nigel showed the signs of a grin. “Yeh...yeh, moms are good that way.”
René sniffed. “Give her my best will you?”
“Of course.” Nigel nodded. “And...likewise with me and your Mum, maybe?”
René smiled sadly. “I'm sure she'd love to have the company. I know she'd like you.”
“...woudn't mind that, no. Visiting, I mean. She sounds like a lovely lady as well.”
“Yeah...she is. She really is.” He wiped his eyes.
“Right...sorry 'bout making you cry again like that.” Nigel apologized. René waved it off.
“Nah, it's okay.” He sniffed. “I just really miss her. Having her at home, you know?” René paused as he remembered something. “You know, once on my way to the hospital I saw your team leader Meghan kneeling in the cemetary. A lot of us have lost our moms you know?”
Nigel looked away for a brief moment as that shock of realization hit him briefly. “Suppose so. And that sounds familiar. I think I recall her saying she does that on occasion, visit her Mum with her lil' sister Maggie. Don't know much about what happened - just said she's been gone for a while and that she never knew her Da. Lives with her grandpa, ol' bag of charcoal that always gives me weird looks whenever we're training in Meg's Gym - three guesses why. From what I've gathered, though...she's like that fiend of yours. She pretty much takes care of everyone around her, though she's nowhere near as doting with her teammates, of course. Heh.”
“Her grandad not like you because you look...well, like I want to basically?” René asked ruefully. “Bit of a taskmaster is he?”
“...Pretty much, yeh.” Nigel confirmed. “You're much nicer with your choice of words, mind. And well, you can't really blame her. This is her first time in a team and she's already the leader, even though she's the youngest of us all. And we're still all trying to get used to one another even now, so it'd be unwise of her to be too lenient with us else we'd never get anything done....Just wish, truly wish, she'd not look to me to be this grand pillar of strength when she bloody well knows I'm not. I'm a supporter, fine, but I'm barely managing to support myself, let alone her or Charla! (Floritt's th' other supporter).
“What's a supporter?” René asked. “Shows what kind of leader I am, not even knowing that...heck and I let Sam and Romano walk all over me!”
Nigel winced, seeing him starting to go down another road of self-pity. “Well, err, it's more of a term used for when in a double battle. Supporters are essentially the ones that help keep their partners alive and powered up. It's not really an official term, which is probably why you're not familiar with it.”
Sure enough, René just looked depressed. “You're just saying that to make me feel better. I'm not qualified to be a leader. Everyone knows it.”
“Oh come off it, no I wasn't!” Nigel fairly snapped. “And I can't well say if you're a good leader or not if I've never even seen you at it before!”
“I let my teammates use me as a dress up doll and torment me incessantly. I don't REALLY mind it all that much but no one really respects me as a leader.” Sure enough, René was in full self-pitying form.
“Oh bloody, you're asking the wrong bloke about this - you want Meg for this kind of pep talk. But before I do send you to her, let me ask you this: Do you want your team to have a good leader or no? And no whining about you wanting someone else to do it, I know that story already.”
René had to bite his lip to prevent himself from saying that he 'doesn't' want to be a leader. “I want my team to have a good leader...but I want to have friends. I've never had any before.”
“And contrary to what some folks will tell you, you CAN have your cake and eat it to.” Nigel told him. “But that said, I think it's time I turn you to the professional on this. You coming?”
René nodded as he made to follow Nigel. “Okay…I'm in.”
“Good.” Nigel nodded. “Let's go.”
To Be Continued!
&&&
You know the story here (Well written as it is) brings up a good point I'd considered about a lot of the students created for PCA. You've got your Zaps, your Nicoles and your Rylais but for the most part most of the students created are good people for the most part. Given how big the school probably is with how many students it'd be safe to assume there' s a lot of NPCs (Non-Player characters for the non-RPers) at the school who are...less understanding than say a Nigel or an Ishtar. Those that would give someone like Nigel or Rene a hard time...
I digress, great story.
I digress, great story.
This took me SO long to read! But it's SO informative! Great job!
It's cool to hear about other Psychics, helps me write mine. You can't get away with talking with your mouth open at the Hipnough house either. Only mindspeaking from this point on. o.o
And why do I see Rene and Karen hugging each other and weeping an awful lot? ;D
It's cool to hear about other Psychics, helps me write mine. You can't get away with talking with your mouth open at the Hipnough house either. Only mindspeaking from this point on. o.o
And why do I see Rene and Karen hugging each other and weeping an awful lot? ;D
Hmmm, maybe you see that because you know them? ;)
Rene gets a little touchy-feely when he's emotional. He needs to cut down on the Midol. Seriously though, he's a little emotionally...young for his age I suppose would be the best way to put it.
Pff. This is nothing. Wait 'till you see the whole exchange-turned-story is posted...it's HUGE!
Rene gets a little touchy-feely when he's emotional. He needs to cut down on the Midol. Seriously though, he's a little emotionally...young for his age I suppose would be the best way to put it.
Pff. This is nothing. Wait 'till you see the whole exchange-turned-story is posted...it's HUGE!
Wow, they both sure seemed to lay it all out on the line here. Even though both René and Nigel have more than their fair share of emotional baggage, none of it seems to be gratuitous or just there for the sake of making them seem dark or mysterious.
Both you and Kompy definitely should be commended for going to such great lengths for character development, this was well worth spending the time to sit down and read all the way through! :)
Both you and Kompy definitely should be commended for going to such great lengths for character development, this was well worth spending the time to sit down and read all the way through! :)
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