Slushy Water

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(OOC: Discussed in this thread.)

It was an idealistic winter's day around Grassveil, with energetic children running about, throwing snowballs and building snowmons. Snow fell gently down from the sky, with each individual flake gradually adding thickness unto the white blanket already atop the ground. The pond itself was beginning to feel the effects of the below freezing temperatures, with most of it being frozen on the surface, bar a few spots of broken ice around the edges from naive pokémon attempting to step onto it.

Most of the pokémon willing to be out in the snow and ice were either biologically inclined to cold weather, or bundled up in blankets and scarves. Clovis, a piplup, while not used to the same artic areas as his ancestors, certainly fell under the former. He had no cold weather clothing on whatsoever, besides a joy ribbon, tied under the 'collar' of his cape-like tail like a string bowtie. Instead, his resistance came from a thick layer of feathers underneath the visible ones on his exterior. He sat on a conveniently located tree stump, finishing off a bagel and admiring the pretty white landscape, with nothing in particular on his mind.

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Yooka nodded as the Piplup seemed to look up to the guild as a fall back. She only joined out of spite for a skitty. Ending up causing problems for said skitty. leaving the skitty's team just to make her own. All in the very next weekend. Now, a whole year later she's doing fine. She never finished a F grade mission due to joining other teams in higher grade missions, even though she can only accept F grade. No one knew except for maybe the Guildmaster. She usually always snuck into a higher grade just for the experience. She even selfishly made one of the skitty's friends take a C grade mission, faking it as a F Grade... figuring the igglybuff's hidden ability would just be enough to finish if she could keep harm off it. They failed the mission after the pokemon broke down forcing Yooka into a position she never thought she'd need to do before. Ending up forcing an exit through a boarded up window to barely escape 5, no 3 very strong pokemon. She dropped the objective on the way out. Yooka stopped day-dreaming of some time in the guild and snapped back to the Piplup.

"They do offer a room to stay, but it's pretty much minimum. You'd need to fill it in yourself whenever you get the chance. Oh, and the food is slightly mediocre... about average, probably. Just wanted to say that." Honestly she never tried it. Only got that from reactions of others that just joined or who just started trying it. She's always made her own meals. "If you ever need help on something I'm just the fourth door on the left, if your looking from the Guildmaster's door."

She pulled out her chipped badge from her bag. It was really dull and still of the grey varient. Nothing special, its just denoting her as a basic newbie in the guild. Yet by herself she can handle some of the higher grade missions if shes ever needed. However, she could only earn the F grade mission's Guild Points. She looked at the badge in a rather scornful way, murmuring to herself... "This 'thing', Hinders the fun for me... I'd rather do the harder missions but no-o-o... tsk."

Clovis wasn't very surprised to hear about the food being unremarkable, run-of-the-mill fare. With as big as the guild was, the food would have to be cheap enough to produce or purchase for every member without draining too much on the coffers. As it stood, the piplup ate fairly well and heartily every day, and had a particular taste for cheesy food, especially when seasoned with imported spices. If one had been paying close enough attention, they might have noticed a slight bit of pudge beginning to form on his body as a result. Clovis certainly wasn't. His thoughts began to transfer from the guild, and more towards what he was going to eat for lunch. Or would it be considered brunch time? Clovis wasn't sure, he didn't have any sort of timepiece on him. He progressively paid less and less attention to the kecleon as he considered all the possibilities. Let's see, I still have some poké after breakfast, and I'm in a pasta mood...

Clovis finally paid more attention when Yooka pulled out her guild badge. She looked at it rather disdainfully and, judging by the way it was dull and chipped, treated it rather disdainfully as well. She seemed to be complaining about how it hindered her fun somehow... perhaps it was a punitive badge, or one that denoted low rank? He blinked, and spoke up. "Erm, how exactly does a badge hinder your fun?" Perhaps it had something to do with her status as a 'solo' pokémon.

She blinked and paused when the Piplup seemed to of heard what she mumbled. She looked at the Piplup then her badge. she then held it out to the Piplup. "oh what? this? It's just the Guild's badge. mmrrr... the Grey rank badge, the guild's rules are broken. I'm only able to get into F-grade quests. Yet I completed far higher with other teams. I don't actually have anyone to call to help get me up in rank, usually due to how low the quests I can do are. I'm usually the one being called, and soloing isn't an option due to a 'you need a partner to do a quest' thing, tsk. Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll find someone to get you through. I'm just a bit slow on gaining an actual-..." she paused before announcing 'friend'. She turned around to look at the guild. "Forget it. I'm just another idiot with no friends."

It was just her fault. She never truely trusts anyone anymore. One moment she walked into her house just to notice her missing mother was back and her father in a better mood, just for it to end up being a Zoroark's illusion covering a mega-sableye and a weird Marowak who wasn't effected by her family's TM, Power-up Punch. She nearly was killed her in her own home from the encounter. She never trusted another person again. Infact her entire aspect of people just went out the window.

She doesn't look at appearances as a factor but their behavior instead. She remembers people from their behavior and history, this way incase a zoroark ever does take the form of anyone she knows she can always tell if they are a big lie or not. however, that ruins most relationships really quickly. and she lost her own personality from that. She no longer cares about most things except what absolutely matters to her. knowledge and learning in nearly anyway. anything where she can learn new things she'll take in like it was candy. She never relies on rumors but proven facts are the best things she'll ever feel anymore.

From what Yooka was ranting about, Clovis could tell that she wasn't particularly satisfied with her current guild situation. Or something like that. When she referred to the guild rules as 'broken', Clovis just sort of stopped listening, and thought about what he would have for lunch again. To him, it sounded like she was complaining about something and, regardless of whether or not her complaints were legitimate, Clovis wasn't really involved enough himself to care. His stomach growled, and images of rich, steaming noodles covered in flavorful sauces began to enter his thoughts. Garlic would be well-ground and sprinkled all over, adding spice and texture to the previously smooth sauce. In addition, bits of green from various herbs would be visible on the surface of the sauce, adding not only flavor, but also some extra color to make the food more pleasing to look at. Afterwards, some warm chocolate cake, heavy in icing, to be matched perfectly with a glass of cool, creamy milk. He could practically feel himself taking gulps of his imaginary beverage to wash down imaginary deserts which he would eat when he left the pond and headed back into town. Drops of drool began to flow from his beak...

It took him a second to realize that the kecleon had paused her speech. He had heard very few of the words she had said, but he thought he could piece together a general idea. She spoke up again, briefly, about how she was an idiot with no friends... or something. Clovis returned to his senses when a bit of drool dripped down to his chest, and responded with a brief bit of dismissive snark. "Well, hmmmm Yooka, if you want to call yourself an idiot, I suppose it isn't really my place to argue." He inhaled the chilly air with a "Sniff."

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Yooka was triggered to the Piplups response. It sounded like he didn't care. She buzzed around and pointed right at him. "Well excuuuse-- huh.?" She got a confused look on her face when she noticed the line of drool from his beak. Was he thinking of treasure? Fame? the more she thought on it, the more she realized he started this when she mentioned the guilds rooms and food. food...? She snapped, ending up yelling at the Piplup while closing her eyes. "Are you thinking about food?!" She gripped her left frill with her left hand and calmed down quickly. She looked back at the Piplup still gripping her frill. She decided to try something with that thought. She sighed before speaking,

"Want me to get you anything...? It'll be on me, that was a bit rough. Just nothing too exotic considering your class. She looked annoyed but she looked passed the Piplup towards the kids by the pond. They were just about leaving. How long has she been away from Grassveil? It felt like only two hours but it could've been much longer.

When Yooka started yelling, Clovis sat still, widened his eyes and took the shouting without complaint, even smiling a bit at the fact that she had guessed his thoughts almost exactly. Internally, he chuckled at just how annoyed the kecleon had gotten. Really, there was a certain humor to the situation. Then, perhaps as an apology, she even offered to buy him lunch! "Goody-goody-goodness me, Yooka. I didn't know kecleon were psychic!" He laughed in a pitch much lower to the way he usually spoke. "Now that you mention it, I could really go for a nice, big bowl of spaghetti." He twisted his beak corners into a suave smile and looked the kecleon dead in the eyes. "That's not too exotic, is it? Assuming they let you eat more than just gruel and öats over at the guild, hmm?" Although her shouting was rude, and his tone as he spoke was certainly patronizing, there wasn't a hint of anger in any of his words. She realized her mistake, and more than made up for it by way of paying tribute through a meal. Clovis could appreciate this.

Yooka released her grip on her frill when the Piplup replied. It seemed to be calm, more like, enjoying her frustration. Although what it said seemed like an old magazine-like one-liner by some common bird hero. She ignored it, except the part where he said Kecleon's seem psychic. They could be, 'if' they were to adapt to it. She found herself more towards the Dark or Ghost type though. She smirked with a downed face towards that.

The next bit sounded very sarcastic. She thought that at first upon looking into the actual 'cafeteria' of the place. but it was actually a very decent 3 star-ish restaurant-like area. Well kept and the food was fine but nothing special, just enough to get down to. She looked sideways as she never had actually tried any. So she doesn't know personally. "I'm sorry, not there. They don't serve non-guildmembers... It's just a rule about the place. I was thinking more of an actual place in town..." She caught herself and smirked thinking of a joke. "or 'downtown' if you think you can handle that. heheheh" She turned back to town to start walking but stopped midstep and turned her head around till she could see him in her vision slightly. "Oh, and we can be psychic-'type'... perhaps not psychic itself. but we can be psychic. hahahahahah!" looking at the town, once again, she continued. "But unfortunately, I'm not that right now. I just take things into consideration, 'deeply...alot' of the time." usually when she's mad or in a bind.

At the prospect of going to a restaurant downtown, Clovis stood up, grabbed his wallet and jumped off of the stump, landing in the snow with a little 'poof'. He waddled up behind the kecleon, ready to go for the most part. He wasn't really sure what to say, and just made a quick little statement so that things wouldn't turn to silence. "I suppose that if you're paying, I'll let you pick your favorite place. I won't tell you where to spend your money." He shifted around on his feet, and began to wipe saliva off of his chest. Drooling, almost nodding off while someone else was talking... it wasn't something he wanted to be remembered for, but it did get him a meal.

(OOC: Not really sure what to do here, but I guess it's time to make a thread in Grassveil proper if that's where we're going, eh?)

((ooc: sure but I'll just say you should be the starter again. :3
Also I don't really know any 'fancy' style restaurants IRL. So I dont really have an idea of what to put. Roleplaying can be an experience too you know. xωx (i'll look into it online but don't expect actual experience.) ))

Yooka barely heard the piplup get off the stump but she heard the suggestion. She was already leaving the perimeter of the pond, but stopped when she considered a place to go. She hesitated for she never left the guild or the town's marketplace except to catch a crook or for a mission. She never paid any attention to the buildings she passed by during those. She doesn't know of anyplace in Grassveil to go, she only knew of places in her old hometown of Rainfront.

"uh... ngh. I'm a fool yet again..." She doesn't like to lie. She hates the aspect of false information, but not to a point she dislikes it, quite the opposite. It's more of a puzzle to which some of the pieces need to be found. "The places I know in this town wouldn't be close to your standard." She turned around to face the smaller pokemon. "I should just let you decide, you choose the place. Just... something in the middle for both of us. I'm not as poor as most of the guild. I can assure you of that." Half-lies. Most new pokemon seem to be in a better position than she is but She'll double over on missions anyway even if the place isn't a literal money drainer and she wouldn't be lieing even if he was below-mid class. She didn't know of any place worthy of any class, except the guild but that isnt a restaurant.

Why go to such lengths for a random? She served her father as a sortof slave/butler while handling a merchant's dream job. That is, until she left due to feeling too overworked, but he knew of her leave from his sources. When she returned a few years later she was greeted to a nightmare.... One she liked for what she saw, but also hated due to what she knew. She still has mixed feelings of the event, anyone daring enough to question that day would feel Yooka's dark side.

It's in her past experience to help, but she hates and likes it, but can't decide why. Why be nice? They may just betray her later, but she still gets pings of optimism. The event that took place took care of her personality making her hate everything but she still helps randomly when it pops even if she doesnt show it or isn't needed. If she can do it to learn something, she will.

(OOC: In that case, I say we finish up this page before moving on, just for the "exp".)

Clovis yawned and stretched as he listened to Yooka. She referred to herself as a 'fool', in yet another example of unacceptably low self-esteem. Internally, he groaned. How could he respect someone with so little respect for themselves? The way she described herself as incapable of finding a restaurant up to his standard just seemed a bit pathetic, even if she didn't realize it. He wasn't that picky. At least, he didn't think so. She passed the decision onto him, with the expectation that he was to pick a restaurant of relatively average quality. The piplup shook his head at this... getting lunch was her idea, and yet she didn't know where she wanted to go? Choosing where to eat was one of few decisions which Clovis was willing to delegate to others, usually to his parents. Personally, if he had offered to buy someone lunch, he would have chosen someplace nice, just to make a good impression and display himself as someone with good taste.

"I'm no food critic, Yooka." He said, with a vaguely charismatic smirk, in a demonstration of false modesty. "But I suppose I can think of a few places in town which I'm sure you'll enjoy." He danced around acknowledging the fact that Yooka was paying; he didn't want to mention this too often, lest he seem like he was dependant on her company or kindness. He was definitely making a conscious effort to make sure he seemed as dignified in receiving this gift as possible.

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The Piplup said something that took Yooka by surprise. She was expecting something on the lines of a 'nevermind' or 'What do you mean?'... Instead he said a 'pretty calm but a hint of curious' something, as if he was playing along. Not wanting to refuse the offer. Yooka looked a bit annoyed at what he said, but she turned her head as he was saying it. She just wanted to stay quiet but she matter aswell get a feel of what to expect. "Oh...? Not a food critic? Well, then what kind of stuff do you like? ...other than what we're doing..." She waved him to 'follow and talk' as she was asking, but he was probably doing that already considering he was waddling right nearby her.

heh, he's waddling... that's a bit cute. must suck on the guy's feet over long distances... Well Grassveil isn't far... just... ngh, half a mile. What am I thinking? However, She nearly giggled when she reached the packed snow path practically denoting the dirt path back to grassveil. It even stopped snowing, well, it wasn't as bad as it was when she arrived at the pond. To her it still felt like an icy wind, but to others it was probably lighter than light snowfall. As soon as they get back to Grassveil she'll feel a bit better.

While the two of them walked, Yooka took an interest in small talk, and asked Clovis a question. Specifically, what did he like? What, you mean, as in what I like to eat? The exact context of this question was a bit vague, and its meaning difficult to discern as a result, so he asked for clarification before he would answer. "What do you mean by 'stuff'?" He spoke rather calmly, and would have given an answer, if he knew what the kecleon meant.

He looked down at his feet and tried to 'correct' his awkward way of walking by picking up his feet a bit, transforming his waddle into a difficult, but much more noble-looking stride. In addition, he improved his posture to make himself seem a bit more lofty than he had previously. While he was working on his walking, a realization hit him. Wait, she was asking me for my hobbies, wasn't she? But by then, it would have been too late to correct himself.

Yooka nearly tripped hearing the Piplup's response. She was confused at what 'he' ment more than he was at what 'she' ment. It took her a few seconds to even think of how he got confused. The only two thoughts were 'a potential misunderstanding of the meaning of the word' or 'He doesn't know what it means due to age' which felt ridiculous, he handled tougher words than this. Well, If it wasn't clear enough as it was, then an example will be needed. meh... She sighed, feeling like she just wanted to facepalm this moment. "eh... uh... random stuff. Like how I 'like to learn' about anything that gets my attention. Like the floating village of Aileron where the other Exploration Guild is located." There was a second reason to that but she could only think of that at this moment.

"Right, right." Clovis murmured, before giving a little cough. "I thought you were asking what kind of 'stuff' I like to eat for a moment there." An honest mistake, one which even he was willing to admit to. He began to explain how he had reached that conclusion, just in an attempt to save face. "The word 'stuff' has many different meanings, depending on context, you know how it is."

Clovis continued walking for a bit, before he would answer the question. He had to come up with an answer first, of course. "I suppose that I enjoy learning, as well. Grammar, dialect, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music. The seven arts, which are essential to any intelligent 'mon." Clovis had just listed off essentially, a set of prospective school subjects. He didn't know much about any of these subjects, and was really just saying them to impress the kecleon, but he could at least define them if pressed. "Unfortunately, there's not much I can tell you about Aileron. I'm not, heh, that kind of bird."

It didn't take nearly as long as she took getting to the pond than getting back to Grassveil. They reached the entrance to Grassveil Town but just before entering she turned around and looked at the Piplup. "Whaat...? You sure you're interested in 'all' of those subjects?" She smirked like it couldn't be true. However, she too sort of fits that situation, but not 'that' much. "I'm only into learning anything that I don't know. Some categories I don't like and would rather avoid, but It's still fun to learn if it would be needed for something later... Heheheh." She ruffled the top of the Piplup's head before entering the town. "Perhaps we could continue this subject once we find a place to... well, you know." She went silent and continued forward. Perhaps, I could ask if he would like to... nah, he didn't seem interested in dealing with it right now.

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