Fluffy Meetings

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Tropical let out a sigh as he looked out over his cafe. While he couldn't honestly say that business was booming, per sae, since Aileron was a rather small town, things were going quite well for him and his business. He had managed to hire a roselia by the name of Vally to set up a stand for him in Grassveil, and he even had a mail-order business through the use of mail-Pelipper. All in all, business was going well for the tropius, and he was quite satisfied with his products.

The only thing that weighed on his mind now was the state of his mother, who had caught the horrid disease that was still spreading across the land. Sorrow lined the tropius' face as he recalled the insanity in his mother's gaze and the bright red blood as she had attacked his father, screaming incoherently. They'd had to leave her to the dungeon she'd burrowed herself in, unable to do anything for the poor female.

Tropical sighed. He had attempted to find a cure, but the horrid haunted mansion was too much for the peace-loving tropius. He had done something so horrible while trying to save his own life, that he couldn't even face the memory of what he'd done. He'd left the dungeon immediately and returned to the village, unable to cope with his failure. He knew not what else to do. In his mind, he had lost his mother forever, and the only way he felt able to move on from the pain and grief was to live life like she would have wanted him to.

Varda looked happy when he was instructed that he had enough for the poffins, as that was great! It never was a good thing to show up at a store empty-handed. However, buying out the entire café... To that, the bird had to shake his head.
"Oh, I don't need to buy that much, I don't think it all would fit in my belly," he chirped, taking the shopkeeper's words as if he had meant for him to do that seriously. He was hungry, but not quite that hungry. He would have to be a much bigger Pokémon to be able to handle that much!

"Steal?" The Altaria tilted his head as Tropical brought up thieves and his money. He looked back at his bag of money he, honestly, used very rarely himself. Would someone else really want it that bad? He did guild missions so often than he quickly filled his bag in any case, so he didn't really worry about it much. Would it be better to leave it behind rather than keep it with him in case he needed it – like now?
"Well... Maybe it would be safer to leave it behind," Varda cooed as he pretty much thought out loud,
"But... It's hard to know how much of it you need elsewhere! It'd be bad if you were in a situation where you needed the coins and had the coins, but far away where you couldn't easily fetch them!"


((But his chestfluff might eat you!))

Tropical bobbed his head consideringly at Varda's good points. "This is true. Perhaps the best way to ensure you're not stolen from is to be strong enough to defend yourself," he conceded the point.

As he continued to busy himself at the pot, he looked up at Varda again, curiosity in his gaze. "So, what do you do for a living, good sir? Are you an explorer or just an adventurer? I'm sure you have some wonderful stories to tell," he invited the pokemon to share with his warm tone and curious eyes.

OOC: BUT... FLUUFFLIES

Varda tilted his head enough to almost flip it over, a thoughtful hmm escaping his beak. Strong enough to defend himself... Well, he didn't know about that! At least this far, he hadn't been attacked by thieves! He thought, at least. He had never noticed having lost money, but perhaps a really good thief could just take it without him noticing... He didn't really count the money in his bag, after all!

"Oh, I'm from the guild!" The Altaria snapped his head back in its proper place, smiling as he spread his wings a little in his excitement. Distracted from their previous topic, it and the worries of thieves were soon forgotten as old thoughts gave room to the new.


((You'll sink in the fluff and be never seen again!))

Tropical's eyes widened at Varda's sentence. "Really? It must be a terribly exciting lifestyle," he commented. "You must have many fun stories to tell! What kind of places do you go; what kind of pokemon do you meet?" he asked curiously. He had only gone beyond the Floating Islands a few times in his relatively short life, and they were merely brief visits.

Meanwhile, he had finished mixing the poffin dough. He increased the heat of the fire by adding a few more sticks, and set the pot aside, using his vines and a scooper to even out the dough onto a pan in little circles. Then he added his savory mixture into the center of the dough with a filler tube*.

YAAAAY!

*filler tube is one of those icing filler things that you use to put icing on cakes, with those neat little nozzles that look like stars :3*

Varda nodded a couple of times when the shopkeeper asked for confirmation, indeed being in the Guild! However, when Tropical called it a terribly exciting lifestyle, he had to actually stop to think about it.
"I suppose... It's more exciting than the life before I joined the Guild!" He chirped, coming to his conclusion. Indeed, the bird rarely had a chance to even leave his nest, unlike now. Now he was just going all over the place, on his own or with his friends, seeing new sights, experiencing new things...

"Oh, um... I go everywhere! Or at least I try to. There's... Forests and mountains and towns and caves!" The Altaria explained, not getting very much into the details, but he seemed to be happy enough recounting his memories. Unfortunately, despite looking all over, he had not found what he was looking for yet...
"And there's lots of different kinds of Pokémon at the Guild! We go on missions together, sometimes... And, and, even though most Pokémon away from the towns are pretty mean, some are nice and fun to talk with! Sometimes they help us out, too."

Tropical blinked at the vagueness of Varda's words, but dismissed it. Varda seemed like a nice enough pokemon; friendly and happy, certainly. But Tropical wasn't sure that the pokemon was... all there, in the head. He seemed stuck in an innocent, child-like mindset. It was strange, but Tropical had seen stranger pokemon walk through his door.

"That must be very fun," Tropical said. He put the pan over the fire and then stood back. Now all they had to do was wait. "It will be about five to ten minutes for the poffins to finish baking," Tropical explained to his customer. "I wanted to make fresh ones for you; rather than those sample ones that have been sitting all day."

"I guess it is!" Varda chirped and nodded a couple of times as the shopkeeper mused how his lifestyle had to be very fun. In a way, yes, he did quite enjoy it! He got to experience so many different places and Pokémon, but... Of course things didn't always go perfectly and there was their share of issues and heartache.
"But I haven't found what I'm looking for, yet..."

The Altaria perked up as he looked over the counter, watching how the large Pokémon brought a pan with the dough-balls over fire to cook them. He had never actually cooked his own food, so of course he was curious, cooing in awe. When Tropical mentioned wanting to make fresh ones for him, Varda tilted his head as he looked up at the taller Pokémon.
"Are fresh ones better?"

Tropical hummed at the question spilling from Varda's beak. "Well, I wouldn't say their... better. More like; they're hot and the dough hasn't settled from cooling, so it's very flaky and airy, which has a different texture. Some pokemon prefer fresh poffins, some prefer ones that have been sitting in the warmer. I figured you could choose your own favorite," he attempted to explain.

After a few more minutes, Tropical took the pan off of the fire and carefully served up a fresh savory poffin on a plate for his customer. He watched with eager eyes, hoping the pokemon would like it just as much as his first.

OOC: Just wondering if it would be ok to introduce an NPC customer who has a beef with Tropical to keep the RP interesting? :3

Varda cooed as if he understood. Well, he didn't really know if he understood, never exactly baking for himself and eating whatever it was others gave to him... But he was going to trust the word of a professional! It was a good idea to taste different things, surely? As he watched the poffins cook, he tilted his head from side to side, eventually even resting his cheek against the counter. In the end, when the plate came closer, the Altaria's head was almost upside down as his beady little eyes stared happily at the approaching shopkeeper.

That did force him to flip his head back the right way and lift his neck so there would be room for the plate. And on top of it, there it was, waiting for him. A fresh poffin, a wisp of steam rising from it in a steady stream. It seemed to be really hot... But that didn't stop the bird from approaching it and trying it out with his beak. Its texture felt different – and it certainly was hot! He couldn't even try biting into it before it cooled a little, lest he burned his mouth...

Once Varda felt comfortable enough, he grabbed the poffin from the plate and let it slide down his mouth – but not before he forced the savory filling to burst out of the fluffy pastry! It was much hotter, for one, almost a bit too hot, but not quite. It was a different experience.
"Mhh," the bird Pokémon closed his eyes,
"This is good too!"



((Yeah, of course!))

As Tropical watched Varda happily eat the fresh poffin, a smile spread across his face. There was a soft ring through the shop, and Tropical turned his head to the door, where a pokemon was entering the cafe. The easy smile fell off Tropical's face like an over-ripe apple from a tree.

The pokemon entering the cafe was an aerodactyl, and the moment he laid eyes on the chef, the aerodactyl's eyes narrowed and glowed cruelly. It flapped over to the counter, completely ignoring the altaria happily eating the poffin and glared at the tropius behind the counter.

"You owe me 500 poke," the aerodactyl stated flatly.

Tropical glared back at the aerodactyl, disbelieving the nerve of the fossil pokemon. "I do not owe you anything, sir." Tropical's eyes narrowed. "If anything, you are the one who owes me poke, for destroying a perfectly good batch of poffins, just because you didn't like the taste!" Tropical's voice was sharp and harsh.

He was normally a rather calm and happy pokemon, but one thing he could not stand was to have his work be destroyed.

So I was struck while writing this. I'm not going to formally include Pterra's POV or his name here, but this aerodactyl is Pterra, and I have this idea that after his and Tropical's fight; he'll steal some rare poffin ingredients and flee to the Sky Tower, wherein Varda can try to get them back after some pleading from Tropical? or something.

Varda didn't even hear the chime ring, happily eating his food and enjoying the flavor. His earlier need to explore had been replaced by just wanting to stay here and eat until he was full, whatever happened after that wasn't thought about. It wasn't important at all, his stomach and taste buds making the decisions right now. He was happy... And could go for another poffin!

But eventually, he returned to the room, sensing the presence of another larger Pokémon behind him. He turned to look over his shoulder, seeing a large lizard-like Pokémon with wings... An Aerodactyl. And not just any Aerodactyl... Hadn't he seen this one before? For a moment, the Altaria's beady little eyes looked at the Pokémon in confusion before he realization seemed to hit them, a bright sparkle of understanding.

He didn't seem to be able to read the tense situation, instead being happy to see an old friend he hadn't seen in ages! With a great big smile, he looked up at the Aerodactyl.
"Hello there!" He chirped his greetings.



((Ooh, deep plot. Better not tell Pterra that the little fluffball has many levels on him.))

Tropical's eyes narrowed even further when Varda turned to his ...visitor... and cheerfully greeted him. Normally, Tropical's earlier observations of Varda's obliviousness would keep him from suspecting the pokemon of anything, but the familiar way in which his customer greeted the troublesome aerodactyl seemed rather suspicious to the wary shopkeeper.

"You two already know each other?" he asked, looking in between them. "Great, send some nice guy in here to lower my guard and then attack me at the next turn? That's low, even for you," he shot at the aerodactyl.

Normally Tropical was not this irritable or inflaming, but his previous encounter with the aerodactyl had left a bad taste in the tropius' mouth, not to mention his worry over his mother's ill condition. The combination left a very annoyed and angered Tropical.

The aerodactyl, on his part, merely looked over the altaria dismissively. "I was not aware of our apparent previous meeting," he stated uninterestedly, casting an unimpressed look over Varda, not recognizing the now-evolved pokemon.

Varda nodded a couple of times when the shopkeeper questioned if he knew the Aerodactyl. He was as happy and cheerful like always, not noticing how the atmosphere of the room had suddenly turned tense or the edge in Tropical's words. But when the talk turned to attacking, the Altaria seemed to grow very puzzled, his beady eyes very confused. He tilted his head in his confusion, the long streamer-like feathers on top of his head flopping over with ease.

"Attacking? There's no attacking!" The bird chirped, spreading his wings a little as he explained. Now wasn't that a strange conclusion to hop to for no reason! Just because the Aerodactyl was big and scary didn't mean he was evil or something! He had seen, the Pokémon was actually very nice and they had flown together in the mountains.

"Don't you remember?" Varda turned to look at the newcomer with a smile on his face, certain that everything was just a silly little misunderstanding,
"Back at the place, we did things? There were like, Pokémon and you were sleeping and it was fun!"

The aerodactyl cast an irritated glance at Varda. "Either spit out what you mean in plain words, or stop talking to me!" He said, annoyed. "Stop being vague; that situation could have happened to a thousand different pokemon. What place are you talking about? What pokemon -what things?"

Tropical glared at the aerodactyl. "Now wait here just a moment! Don't speak to my customers in such a tone, or I'll throw you out! In fact, I should stop wasting my time and just throw you out now!"

The aerodactyl let out a mean laugh. "You really think you can defeat me?" he shot back, spreading his wings and baring his fangs.

"Can't you remember? We were flying and everything," Varda chirped at the Aerodactyl as he spat out rather angrily that the bird's explanation had been useless. It so wasn't, though! Or at least so the Altaria felt, seeing what had happened so clearly in his own memories that he didn't realize someone else might have trouble remembering. However, he couldn't continue his explanation as Tropical suddenly rushed to his aid, not wanting anyone to talk so angrily at anyone! Well, his customers, at least, but Varda was certain the shopkeeper would totally defend others too!

"Waaait!" The bird called out as the situation was dangerously heading towards a fight. That much he realized, when the two Pokémon were getting more hostile with their words and actions.
"There shouldn't be any fighting!"