Blessing in Disguise

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As it had for weeks on end now, the endlessly cloudy sky seemed determined to mask the position of the sun. If not for the dreary darkening of the evening and the numerous shop vendors in the streets and their increasingly harried and exhausted expressions - a few of them even deciding to close up early and begin disassembling their stalls - it would be next to impossible to tell the time of day. Still, there was an active energy in the air, with several late bloomers emerging from the woodworks to visit various stalls and a few long-lasting vendors haggling well into the night, determined to make the most of the evening. A few straggler baby Pokemon were being hauled back home by their larger, sterner parents, fussing absentmindedly as their bedtime approached. The streets themselves were not quite barren, but the time of day was clearly apparent judging by the number of citizens wandering at this time of night. There was a sort of innocence to the picture, seemingly picturesque in its chasteness compared to the rest of the world. It was a typical evening in Grassveil, and the city was better for it.

There was one Pokemon in particular who disagreed. Slithering grimly along the town streets was one particular dratini who was a bit fed up with the monotonous nightlife of his hometown. It wasn't as if there was nothing to do in Grassveil, but Osiris was quite tired of doing the same thing over and over. He was bigger than this small town, he was destined for greater things, and he was sick of spending so much time under the blanket of protection that the city provided. Osiris was desperate to spread his metaphorical wings and blast off from this town in an explosion of draconic, magnificent glory. Spending his mornings and afternoons cooped up in the schoolhouse and his evenings training in the surrounding forest dungeons was dreadfully boring, and it was wearing on him. He'd come to the resolution before to be mature about it, to be more patient and spend his time wisely, but saying that was a lot easier than doing it. The dratini was bored and frustrated, and he needed something desperately to distract him from his (childish) dilemma. Which was why he had skipped out on training that night, deciding instead to wander the streets in search of something more interesting or fun-looking. Maybe someone.

There wasn't much to differentiate him from his species aside from the somewhat-oversized headband adorning his brow and the small satchel he dragged around behind him, or his visibly childish and sour attitude. He made no attempt to hide himself, slithering down the center of the street glancing around desperately for something to occupy himself with. He'd been on pretty good behavior recently; Surely he deserved a night off? It was approaching dinner time for him, and surely his mother was waiting at home with something to eat, but he would much prefer to be distracted.

The blissey could hardly believe what happened. The rhypherior convinced the dratini to go home, but that was not what she was emotional about. The large pokemon looked at her and spoke her name. She was going to be alone with him! It was not terror that caused her to freeze, but absolute disbelief and glee. Her eyes as wide as dinner plates, she attempted to respond to the rock type, "I...yes...please..." her voice was strained and quiet. All that could be heard was a squeak of approval. Her face flushed as her soul seemed to take a trip out for an out-of-body experience. Ms. Sweetswell nodded. Her stomach turned and her head felt light.

The combination of heightened emotions, a day of running about, and the earlier damage of the flamethrower finally all seemed to catch up with the blissey at once. At first the blissey seemed to just look up at the Rhypherior, but it would become suspicious as her eyes seemed to keep going up into the back of her head. What happened became apparent as the blissey fell onto her rump and began to roll onto her back. All out of steam, she passed out!

Again his thoughts escaped him, he could not recognize the dratini that approached him. He could hardly remember why he wanted to hide in the first place, but he knew it was important. An impending sense of doom hung over him like a guillotine. The flame in his mouth continued to burn away at the inside. He lifted a corner of his lip to allow smoke to flow out. A bit of light emitted from the spot, but it would certainly not be enough to reveal his position.

He ignored the dratini at first, more concerned with the situation at hand. This changed, however, when the dragon type gave him a bag. He thought nothing of it at first as the pain made it difficult to think of anything else. His eyes began to tear up as his body begged him to release his tail. In response, he bit down harder on his tail to keep it there. The pain shot up and into his spine before he finally got the hint from the Dratini. He repressed the urge to cry out as he released the appendage. The flame dropped to the ground as a plume of smoke rose from the charmeleon's mouth.

Quickly, his talons hooked onto the bag without much care for its condition. Instead of placing the bag around his tail like a reasonable plan, he panicked and shoved the bag onto the flame. His tail was now pinned between his the bag and the ground, but the light was contained once again. Had the rhypherior noticed?

"I didn't see the spitfire take off, so he must have gone south, southeast maybe. Otherwise, I would have at least caught a glimpse of 'em. The boy went that way, so if we wanna be smart about this - oh, miss?!" As straightforward as ever, the rhyperior immediately began focusing on the situation at hand. The goliath had put a hand on his chin as he put his mind to the situation, thinking out loud for the benefit of the exhausted nurse at his side. When he had intervened in this situation, he did not at all expect to be hunting down a charmeleon at this hour, but it was the right thing to do in this situation... His muttering was cut off by sort of squeak from the blissey at his side, and the strange sound drew his attention. His expression was more than honestly confused when the nurse's eyes peered up to look at him, but then they kept on going. Before he could understand what was going on with her, the normal type had fallen backward on her rear, rolling onto her back bonelessly. He had, of course, noticed the residual damage of a fire type attack on her hair and that was one of the reasons he was so keen on getting the charmeleon the help he needed, but never did he imagine that the blissey was this hurt! "Oh, no, no, no, no.

"You're... she's out of it. Poor gal." Gently, the rhyperior lowered himself to the ground as much as he was able, leaning forward over the suddenly unconscious healer. Her face was... red. Mindful of his own power, he slowly pressed on bulky hand to the woman's forehead, taking in the heat radiating off her with a grimace. Either she'd just worked herself up into a frenzy worrying over that troublemaking patient of hers, or that charmeleon had left a burn. He honestly wasn't sure why else this gal would be so warm. And suddenly, there was only one real thing to do here. The charmeleon would simply just have to wait; He couldn't leave her in the middle of the street while he went to hunt down her charge. Gingerly, he scooped the normal type up with both of his bulky arms, lifting her up bridal style. She'd mentioned her name, but never her home or anything like that - the only place for him to take her would be the hospital. "Hang in there, ma'am. I'll get ya back."

While the rhyperior ambled off with the passed out blissey in his arms, Osiris was panicking in the alley next to the increasingly strange charmeleon. The big lug looked like he was trying to swallow his own tail or something! By the time he had emptied his bag out and thrown it at the guy, he'd tried to take a bite out of himself. A worrying plume of smoke wafted up into the air as he finally replaced his own mouth with Osiris' school bag, and it was with a sinking heart that the dratini tracked it as it floated into the night sky. It didn't dissipate until it had wafted up well above the building that was covering them, and had anyone been looking for a sign of this guy... Quickly, the dratini darted back over to the corner and peeked his head out - all he saw was the rhyperior literally carrying the blissey away as they left to presumably look for this wayward patient. He scrunched his snout up at the sight. Grown-ups were weird.

"I think we're good. Keep my bag over your tail for a minute, just to be safe." Worried eyes tracked the two rather large Pokemon as they walked down the street and into the distance, before the rhyperior finally turned a corner, heading in a seemingly random direction. He had to wonder why, exactly, they were going that direction, but it didn't matter in the end. They'd gone a different way, and the two of them were in the clear. He'd gotten this charmeleon away from his would-be kidnappers... why exactly he had done so was escaping him at the moment. Because he was... kind of cool? The almost-charizard was, that is. Given just about every interaction he had with the bulky fire type, he was turning out to be more weird than anything,  but he supposed everyone had their quirks. The important thing was that now Osiris had this guy all to himself. "Take it off if it starts smoking, though. That's the only bag I have for school, so I kinda need it. My name's Osiris, by the way - what's yours?"

Not a single peep left his mouth as he pressed his hand on to the bag. His eyes were wide while his mouth hung open. The cool outside air felt great on his tongue, but he was pretty sure he would not be able to taste anything for a while now. The lizard almost seemed to freeze in time as he stared down at the bag that hid his presence. While he waited for the danger to pass, he took the time to try and remember why he felt so...afraid? He would try and try again, but he could not find a single memory beyond the past several minutes.

The trance-like state he sent himself into was broken by the child's words. His eyes snapped up towards the stranger that introduced himself as Osiris. Immediately, he tried to find some kind of affiliation he could draw from his mind. Unfortunately, he could find no fruit in the barren tree. His wide eyes softened briefly before they took on a more focused look. He stared at the dratini after they introduced themselves for a brief moment as he tried to remember his own name. To his horror, he could not. The charmeleon looked as if he were about to speak for a second, but the expression fell as he tried once again.

His jaws closed finally as a talon from his spare hand reached up to scratch along his jawline in thought. It...it started with a G? He could remember that much. His inability to remember his own name was obvious in his expression as he continued to simply stare at the dratini. After a rather long silence, he would finally speak, "I...don't know."

He looked down, his face was not of sorrow but disbelief. How could he not remember his own name? His gaze trailed back up to the child before he would speak again, "I think...it started with a G..." His attention was drawn off of the sack he pinned down completely, to the point that he forgot what he was even doing yet again. The bag was exposed to the heat of his tail, but it was no match in resistance to it. It did not take long at all after he spoke for a small stream of smoke to weave its way up into the air and through his nostrils. Upon catching the scent, he looked down at the satchel and lifted it off of his tail.

Light once again flourished in the small alleyway and lit up the two reptiles. Their shadows danced on the walls as the sun began to set. Garnet looked up at the sky as he wondered whether it was sunset or if the sun just began to rise. He could not see the sun directly nor could he remember which way the sun rose or set. He also could not remember whether the past several hours were day or night. A different kind of fear he experienced time and time again began to settle into his psyche. He was familiar with the feeling, but he could not remember a single other time he experienced this kind of emotion.

"What happened?" he finally decided to ask, "What are we hiding from?"

Osiris slithered back up to speaking distance with the charmeleon now that he was satisfied the other Pokemon were no longer looking for them; Or, rather, simply looking in the wrong place. He'd expected this Zircon guy to at least give him that name, but instead, he confessed that he didn't know his own name - but he was pretty sure it started with a G. The dratini took all of this is in with a slightly disbelieving if admittedly exasperated expression. It was one thing for the guy not to remember anything after smacking into that rhyperior as hard as he did. Maybe he'd rattled a few screws loose, and losing some of your memory after a hit like that was supposed to be normal, right? But for him to forget his own name... It was definitely worrying. The more he interacted with this fire type, the shadier and shadier he got. He was covered in many, many battle scars, his memory was extremely faulty at best, and he was apparently some kind of patient at the hospital! Suffice it to say, Osiris thought this guy was wicked cool.

"The, uh... the blissey? And the big rhyperior? They wanted to kidnap you and stick you in the hospital again? That was like, not even a minute ago, man." The dratini retrieved his school bag as the amnesiac removed it from his tail, turning it over fussingly to inspect the damage. It was definitely singed... and still smoking. He lifted it up with his mouth and smacked it against the ground a few times, putting out the fire before it could truly start. As he did so, he tried to jog the fire type's apparently horrendous memory; either this guy was pulling his leg or he had some serious screws loose up there. After smacking his school bag around to his satisfaction, the serpent drug it back over to where he had dumped out his things and began shoving them back in his satchel gracelessly. It wasn't as if he was truly concerned with the appearance of his bag - considering that he drug it around on the ground all the time, it was usually always dirty anyways. And he could always ask his mom for another one if this one got too bad, but he wasn't sure how he was going to explain the uh... the fire damage. "I acted like he stepped on me and you ran off when they started freaking out. I think the nurse lady stuck you in a barrel and shoved you down a hill. She pretty much admitted to it, I think."

Once he'd gotten all his things situated, the dratini fastened the bag shut and crawled through the strap - but with his own small snake-like body, he couldn't exactly fasten it to himself now that he'd taken it off. The alternative was to simply drag it around with him with his mouth, but that was... well, it'd look dumb. And he could hardly interrogate this charmeleon about cool dragon stuff if he was chewing on leather. "Hey, uh, can you help me out for a sec? Tie my bag strap around my neck, but not too tight."

Kind enough to explain, the dratini filled him in on what literally just happened to them. Garnet could remember next to none of it, but one word did catch his attention the most out of it all: "Blissey." As soon as it came up, a chill was sent down his spine. The name brought feelings of unease and even guilt. He stomach turned as he felt as if he was going to be sick. The adverse reaction confused him, but he knew there was something about the pokemon that just wasn't right.

He was shocked to hear that he was shoved into a barrel and shoved down a hill. A look of surprise overcame him as he crossed his arms uncomfortably. Each claw gripped the upper half of his arm in uncertainty as he watched the little pokemon that helped him gather their things. He did not think to assist until the dratini brought up a request. Another silent stare from Garnet for a brief second occurred before he nodded and approached. It was difficult to handle the small and delicate material with his pointed talons, but he managed to carry out the dratini's request without complications. The strap might have been a bit too tight, however, but he did not exactly have a way to tell.

"Oh," he spoke in response to the dratini, "I don't remember any of that," he explained blatantly. He was confused, however, but he voiced his concerns to the dratini rather than trying to focus on his foggy thoughts yet again. It was much easier to ask and be answered than to have to think about it, "If she was a nurse...why would she throw me down a hill in a barrel?"

It did not make much sense to him, but something about the bad feeling he received made him think it might have been a malicious blissey. Why else would he feel so badly about something as harmless and innocent as a nurse? At least, he thought Nurses were supposed to be harmless and innocent. The lizard watched the dratini carefully and hopefully with answers. The more he spoke, the easier it seemed for him to latch onto the ground and keep himself from the drift into the bottomlss pit of his own mind.

Maybe it was a little naive for him to ask this incredibly shady and suspicious character to tie a leather strap around his neck and just trust that he wouldn't do something awful, but it honestly didn't even occur to Osiris that this charmeleon could be a bad guy. He had apologized, after all, and the only times he looked dangerous or aggressive was when the rhyperior was getting too handsy. Stuff like that was normal for strong Pokemon, anyway. The dratini tried not to react when he felt the sensation of evidently very sharp, pointed claws brush over his neck slightly when the stranger acquiesced to his request. He did grimace a bit when Zircon fastened the strap around his neck just a liiittle too tight, but it wasn't so bad that he couldn't breathe or anything. Just a bit uncomfortable. As the amnesiac charmeleon confessed that (surprise surprise!) he didn't remember any of that stuff either, Osiris set about tugging slightly on the strap around his neck to loosen it up a little. It was definitely weird, but at this point, he had to just go with the flow.

"You know, that's a really good question. I think she said something about chasing you, and then you apparently hid in a barrel... so she just picked it up! Like she was just gonna carry you back! Crazy stuff." Now that he was finally situated, Osiris set about slithering a bit closer to his hopefully new friend and inspecting him a bit. He'd stared at the guy none too subtly earlier, but now he didn't have to worry about the guy snapping at some rude handsy rhyperior. A bit too eager for his own good, Iris circled the stationary charmeleon, taking mental notes of everything about his appearance. The scars, the color of his scales, the impressive musculature and strange markings adorning him, the very bright tail flame and previously mentioned sharp claws... he'd suspected as much earlier, but this guy looked really, really strong. Or at least just healthy, which clashed a bit with all the scars and memory issues. "I guess you spooked her though and she dropped the barrel, so then you rolled down a hill and crashed into the rhyperior. That's how we met.

"She called you Mr. Zircon, by the way. Like, that's your name." Now slithering back around face-to-face with the charmeleon, Osiris stared up at him admittedly a bit star-struck. This was one of the first dragons he'd ever really met, besides his mom. "Maybe that's your last name. I don't know anyone who'd name their kid Zircon, do you?"

The final question was a bit of a stupid question to ask in Garnet's mind. His head tilted as he hesitated in response. Then it dawned on him that perhaps this dratini was not aware of his current situation. He could recall that he needed to ask the blue pokemon of what happened, but the dragon type might not have been aware entirely.

"I would not remember if I did," he spoke, "I don't really remember...anything really."

The lizard scratched his jawline once more. He paid no mind to the dragon type's circle around him. He honestly hardly even noticed as he drifted into his thoughts once again. He snapped back out of it on his own this time, as he came to realize that the word 'Zircon' felt very familiar to him. He tried to dig into his mind as to why, but he could not find a definite answer or even feeling.

"It sounds familiar to me," he admitted, "But uh...that's about it." The talons that were still hooked onto his upper arm released him and slid down along his right as he lowered it away from his chin. The charmeleon's expression fell as he looked disheartened by the lack of a definite answer. A frustration began to rise, but it was not enough for him to exhibit any body language that suggested the rise of his anger. The fire type looked back to the serpent that assisted him as a different curiosity took his attention, "Why...did you help me? Have you seen me before?"

It was a bit of a stupid question himself, seeing as Osiris just introduced himself and requested his name, but Garnet already began to let the introductions slip away from his mind. Not willingly, but his failure to latch onto the memory and keep it there caused the memory to erode and become erased once more.

The severity of the charmeleon's memory problems was finally starting to set in for Osiris. It was one thing to lose a bit of time after taking a hard hit, but missing actual memories of your name and your situation and people you might know... well, that was a bit more serious. The dratini's animated and excited attitude died down a bit once he realized that this guy had a serious issue on his hands, and he might have just helped get him away from people who were trying to help him. But... well, Mr. Zircon didn't want to go with that nurse, and it wasn't like he was aware of his problem when he got involved, so maybe it wasn't a bad thing. He saw real anxiety and fear when the charmeleon was interacting with that blissey, too, so for an amnesiac to react that way around someone - maybe he'd even done a good thing. The nurse was pretty scary, with the things she said and the things she'd done. "Huh. That's... that's rotten luck, mister.

"And I uh, well. I kinda like dragons, you know, charizards and dragonites and salamences and stuff. I always have, and I'd never met one before! Until you, I mean." His previously contrite demeanor shifted to one of embarrassment and tentative hope, looking up at the charmeleon who had a real-life problem while he had to explain why he "helped." The differences in their motives were all too apparent to Osiris, and he couldn't help but feel childish next to the larger fire type. Still, he pressed onward. He had motives that weren't childish, too; He wanted to leave Grassveil, get stronger and become an adventurer. But he was weak, still, and some advice from a strong looking guy like this might just be the thing he needed to really get a head start! "But yeah, we just met earlier. Like maybe five minutes ago, tops. My tail got clipped by your barrel then the rhyperior brought you over and then he said he was gonna take you back to the hospital by force and I figured you could use some help and maybe-we-could-talk-a-bit-after-who-knows-huh?"

The tail end of his explanation was blurted out in a rush, barely a pause between words as he forced out his sort-of request. He probably would have kept on going, but the serpent actually had to break for air, running out just as he finished speaking and immediately sucking in a greedy breath of oxygen. He felt like his ear-fins were about to catch on fire, with how hot they suddenly were. Here he thought he could maybe make a good impression on this guy, but now his mouth was running at a mile a minute and making him look like a total kid!

Rotten luck indeed, Garnet thought bitterly to himself. He listened to what the dratini had to say in response to his question. It seemed that the dragon type liked him because...he was a dragon. Was he a dragon? He knew he was a fire type, the flame on his tail attested to that, but a dragon? He had no idea what to say to that, but the one before him looked hopeful about it. He decided it best to not crush the little guy's dreams.

Once again the situation was explained to him, not that he complained. The explanation the dratini gave him earlier already began to leave him. He listened attentively to what the little one had to say before it became abundantly clear to him. It made sense, really, with the school supplies and how young his voice sounded. Osiris was a child, a young one at that. The realization did not seem to impact him much, though there was a bit of shame that poked at him for the fact that he had to get help from a youngster like Osiris.

Once again he poked at his mind for answers, but nothing came of it. Emptiness. That was all he could find. Emptiness and a sense of hopelessness. It angered him. The rage built up, but he kept his voice calm and tried to speak with the serpent in a calm and collected tone. If he kept himself busy, he felt that perhaps he might not burst. The dratini said that it wanted to talk anyway, so it was not like he was bothering the snake.

"Clipped your tail? Did it hurt?" he asked, though the obvious answer was most certainly yes. He just needed to keep the dratini talking...what would he talk about though? "Wait, aren't your parents dragons?" he asked at the sudden realization, "You're a dratini right, so your parents should have been a uh...dragon-something-or-other like that?"

"Oh. Well. I mean. Yeah, my dad is, I think." The absolute last thing that Osiris expected was for this charmeleon to actually stick around. Call him insecure, but he'd half expected the much older, experienced, and infinitely cooler Pokemon to maybe say thanks before strutting off to go do cool stuff. Maybe it was just his luck that he found the one charmeleon in the world who had chronic amnesia, though. Still, he would take what he could get - he was actually thrilled that Mr. Zircon was hanging out with him even after that embarrassingly childish outburst of his. He dared to get a bit closer, getting distracted somewhat by Garnet's now uncovered tail-flame. It really was bright; Absently, in the back of his mind, he had to wonder just how close the charmeleon was to evolution. He had to be close, with how strong he was. How awesome it'd be to be able to grow wings and soar around the world as free as could be... maybe he'd give Osiris a ride sometime, if they managed to become friends. He'd kill to be able to experience something like that this early in his life-span. He didn't know how many years it would be before he'd become a dragonite, but he knew it would be quite some time. "I've never met him, though. My mom says he works at the guild, so I guess he's too busy there to come meet me. And I can't ask my mom much, either, 'cus all she ever wants me to do is go to school. Ugh.

"S'not all bad, though. At least I get to learn about cool stuff sometimes. And Grassveil isn't so bad; the market is fun, and there's always other kids at the Pond, you know?" Belatedly, he realized he was sort of just rambling about himself. Which, you know, wasn't a horrible thing since this guy asked about his family - it was sort of really cool that he took an interest - but the whole point of getting him alone was so Osiris could ask him stuff! But what could he really ask him now that he knew the guy was an amnesiac? If the guy couldn't even recall his own name or what he was doing here, or things that had happened literally five or ten minutes ago, then what kind of answers would he have for a kid trying to get a head start on the world? The answer was probably none, but... well, he'd been looking for a distraction, too, and it's not like he had anything better to do than find out. "Tail's fine, by the way. Crazy blissey fixed me up on the spot as soon as I tried to make that distraction for you. Guess she wasn't lying about being a nurse, huh?"

He took a moment to raise his tail up and wriggle it at the charmeleon, displaying the evident lack of damage. It hadn't even been that bad before the blissey got to him - it'd been easing in pain and swelling by the second. Nice of this guy to be so concerned, though; Another point for him being a good guy. He was actually surprisingly reasonable. Osiris figured that his nurses might think differently. It wasn't until Osiris noticed that he was having trouble seeing without the aid of Garnet's bright tail-flame that the time of day dawned on him. "You know, it's actually getting... pretty late. Were you, uh, staying at the hospital? Like... sleeping there?"

A father? He could not remember what his father was. He couldn't even put a name or face to the title. Somehow, it did not seem that important though. He could recall that parental figures were important, yet he felt nothing when he brought that sort of title to mind. He paid no mind to the dratini as it drew closer. He was indeed close to evolution, but his form was not ready quite just yet. The charmeleon had no reason to evolve as well so far. If he were to remember, he might have found the idea of flight particularly useful. Instead, he was left with an emptiness that disturbed him every time he thought about it. It was difficult to just ignore it, unfortunately.

The guild seemed familiar to him. Was he a guild member? He was not sure. The child went on to explain that they needed to go to school in obedience to their mother. Garnet could remember what a the concept of a school was, but he could not recall if he ever went to one. Just like when the subject of a father came up, he felt nothing in response to the establishment. Osiris seemed to enjoy life around Grassveil, wherever that was, though. While the child rambled, Garnet preferred it that way. Finally, the kid answered his earlier question, one he forgot he even asked. The tail was fine, a blissey fixed it. Another unpleasant chill, but if the kid was fine then he supposed everything was fine for now.

The reminder of tails caused his own to aching one to be brought to his attention. He glanced down at the appendage and noticed that he left some marks. Nothing broke the skin, but it still looked pretty sore. He thought as little of it as possible, the dragon's inquiry assisted him in forgetting. He thought about it for a moment as he tried to remember, before he gave a helpless shrug. His tail began to lash about in a slow manner as the frustration continued to build, "Can't remember a damn thing." he spoke, the frustration a bit more obvious to his tone. How many times would he have to repeat it? Did he even say it before?

"You...probably need to head home right?" he asked, a bit disappointed, "Your ma worry for ya?" he inquired with hopes to get the lad talking again. It was easy to get him talking the first time, perhaps he could do it again? It was a selfish thing to do, but he needed something to keep himself grounded. It felt as if he slipped away whenever he stood around with nothing to do or say. It was...unnerving.

At the first sign of actual frustration from Garnet (that he noticed), Osiris drew back with wide eyes, his mouth opening as a small 'oooh' noise escaped from him at the charmeleon's tail lashing. Perhaps he was being a bit obtuse, but seeing it in motion like that was just cool. He knew what the other Pokemon looked like when he was confrontational, of course, seeing as how he had a front-row seat to the fire type's posturing with the rhyperior earlier. But having even an incredibly watered down version of that directed at him was exciting. He didn't feel afraid or even in danger since he still firmly believed that this charmeleon was a good Pokemon. Still, he was being more than a bit rude. Of course being a chronic amnesiac would be frustrating - it was tactless on his part to keep asking questions that the other guy couldn't answer. If it were him he couldn't recall the time of day and he had some kid at his heels peppering him with questions that only brought more to mind, well... Maybe this guy was a lot more patient than he figured, to be able to deal with stuff like that all day. The dratini adopted a contrite expression, nodding his head slightly as he acknowledged the gentle rebuke. "Right. I just... yeah, sorry. I'll keep it in mind.

"You're right, too. I should head home soon, but - you uh... if you don't have a place to go anymore, that'd kinda be my fault, right?" He wasn't quite sure where he was going with this, as his mouth was getting ahead of his mind, but as he thought his own words over it was kind of true. If he hadn't of stepped in, that rhyperior likely would have dragged Mr. Zircon back by the tail to his hospital bed, where he'd have a roof over his head, food in his belly, and a place to sleep. And thanks to his own selfishness, Osiris had sort of messed that up for the guy, even if the charmeleon himself didn't want to go back. There was a bit of lingering guilt, though it was tempered since all he did was assist. It was still the charmeleon's own idea to not go back with them; He'd said those words, right? Or something along those lines, at least. He'd still be remiss not to at least try and make up for it, though, so... "You could come with me, and at least have dinner. Mom always makes extra just in case dad comes home, but he never does. There's enough even if you want seconds. You hungry?"

If that just so happened to result in him having an excuse to spend more time in the company of this super cool charmeleon... well, then that was just a plus. Really. No ulterior motive there. He certainly wasn't trying to lure the guy into liking him by bribing him with food and comfort, nope, no sir. Just being a good samaritan is all.

The lack of fear, defensiveness, or concern in the dratini's expression saved him from accidentally initiating a spiral in the charmeleon that another would make the mistake of doing later on. Garnet's aggression did not progress any further with the lack of fuel from the dratini's part. The frustration that built did not have a flame to ignite, so it was simply left to sit. The lizard's claws released each of his arms as they hung at each side of him. His shoulders positioned themselves so that his claws did not drag along the ground.

The kid had to go home. His body seemed to deflate in almost disappointment. His tail ceased waving about as the kid pointed out that it was possibly his fault for his loss of memory. Garnet had no clue whether it was or was not, but he did not feel any malice towards the kid. He assumed that the kid spoke of his memory loss rather than how he was cheated of a nice roof in a hospital. Even if he did think of it, the charmeleon would have just broken out again. There was no way he would have stayed there with Blissey around.

Upon the very mention of food, his stomach began to ache. When was the last time he ate? He could not remember. It was a tempting offer, one he legitimately contemplated...and accepted. "If that's alright..." he started off, "I'd be grateful." he nodded to the dratini. 'Being a good samaritan' certainly seemed like an effective plan of garnering his favor. The only issue, however, would be whether or not the amnesiac lizard would remember the gesture a few hours later.

He looked down at his tail as it rested on his toes and blazed before him. His shadow consumed the wall behind him and lit the area before them. He did not know, but this was the second time he was going to play as a flashlight for someone. He almost felt kind of bad for the dratini, however, upon the mention that the father never came home despite the mother's preparations. He almost wanted to comment on how the father seemed ungrateful, but he decided it was best to hold his tongue.

"I'm a little hungry...I don't know when I last ate but it feels as if it's been a while," he took the moment to wonder how exactly he was going to feed himself. What was he going to do, hunt something? Steal? He certainly did not have any money...or did he have some bag somewhere that he lost at some point? So many questions, yet he would receive answers for none of them.

"Yes! Haha, yes, it's about ti - err, I mean... Yeah. Okay, cool, great." His excitement at Garnet's acceptance of his offer manifested itself before he could stop it, and the dratini metaphorically exploded in celebration, shooting up with wide eyes and a wider smile. At least, until he caught himself acting like a total goof in front of this guy, again, and pulled it back once more. Here he was, so excited to have a friend in a charizard-to-be, and he kept coming so close to driving the guy off with how childish he was acting. Instead, he had to be cool, composed. He had to be someone that this guy wouldn't be embarrassed to be seen with - someone equally mysterious and dangerous. Osiris sucked in a deep breath before letting it out in a composed sigh, shaking himself out a bit before smiling up at the charmeleon who agreed to come home with him. Step one to making his awesome new friend - dinner. "It's quite a ways home, though, so...

"You mind if we walk n' talk? It'll be real boring if we don't, since we're kinda out of the way a bit." Without really waiting for an answer, Osiris turned right around and slithered back to the alleyway's corner, checking both sides of the street for any rogue rhyperior or blissey. The coast was clear. He turned back to the charmeleon, beckoning the fire type to follow with his small tail, an excited smile on his face. He wasn't the most perceptive snake in the world, but it was at least apparent that this fellow didn't really enjoy speaking up much unless he absolutely had to - so if he was cool with Osiris just kind of talking out loud, then that was what was gonna have to happen. Asking questions about his past or even just about general information wasn't gonna net the overly curious kid any answers, it would just piss off the temperamental chronic amnesiac who could tear him to ribbons if he were so inclined. Not that Iris ever expected such a thing to happen, but still. "I guess mum likes the privacy, since we're kind of on the outskirts of Grassveil, not even in the town proper. I can't say it's not nice, though. And sometimes you can see wild Pokemon in the distance, if you stare at the horizon long enough."

The dratini's excitement almost seemed to take energy from Garnet. In reality, it was simply the drain of whatever he did all day catching up to him. He was a bit disappointed to hear that it was a ways away, but he was not going to complain about it. The charmelon would take whatever he could get for assistance at this moment. He did not care that the dratini did not get an answer before they started off. He followed behind without an answer to the question, as he allowed his actions to answer for him.

The town seemed to be cleared out for the most part, save for the nocturnal and late-dwellers. They paid no attention to the charmeleon and the dratini, more interested in their own personal business than the strange duo that would even be a questionable combo in broad daylight. Garnet listened to the kid prattle on about his mother, before he brought up a fact that they could see wild pokemon in the distance. He could not remember what exactly a wild pokemon was, but context dictated that they were not a good thing to encounter him.

"Isn't that dangerous?" he asked, "If one of them decided to get a bit too close, wouldn't they attack you? You and your ma could get hurt if they decide they're a bit hungry..."

Attacking...that would initiate a battle. Garnet trailed off before he could say anymore as his mind began to drift into his fantasy of attacking one of those wild pokemon. Despite his foggy memory, the fantasy of violence was clear. He would inflict as much pain as possible against the enemy. It would have been cathartic almost. The thoughts thrilled him and caused his tail to flicker into a blue light for a brief moment. The lizard was only able to pull himself out of it when the dratini spoke again...