Back to School

First topic message reminder :

Osiris didn't think there was ever a time when the streets of Grassveil weren't busy.

Having been born and raised in Grassveil, he'd spent much of his early childhood slithering all over the place at every given opportunity. The dratini was confident enough to make the claim that he knew his hometown like the back of his tail, and he definitely moved like it. He waded his way through the streets, snaking through the legs of much taller and larger pokemon, dragging behind him an empty leather satchel affixed to his neck by a strap.

"Excuse me—pardon me—comin' through~," he called out absently, his first stop of the day clear in his mind. That stuffy old book store that his mom used to drag him into when he was little.

Usually, he spent his time reading at home or playing with his friends, or occasionally working up the nerve to explore one of the forests surrounding Grassveil. It wasn't so, today; Osiris had an actual, bonafide errand to run. Classes at Peak had just started, and while Osiris had attended his first one already—his instant favorite, Countering—he had preparations to make for the second. School supplies, essentially. His second major was Essential Skills, so he figured it was probably a good idea to show up to class with at least the ability to take notes.

He didn't know what he specifically needed, but as he lived in town, he could afford to just get a few things and pick up others as he needed them. Today's list was simple - some writing utensils, some paper, and whatever else jumped out at him while he was out.

The dratini came to a reluctant stop at his destination, a decrepit, sad little structure with a sign out front reading Grassveil, Used Books and Other Goods. He heaved a long-suffering sigh before steeling himself and slithering through the open door, resigned to his fate.

"Ah..." Alki said, nodding. So these were pencils. That made sense! And he even went to the trouble of explaining how they worked! "S-Sorry about that, sir..." The jigglypuff mumbled, as he lamented how his claws weren't very steady anymore... Dang... she'd brought up bad memories for him... All of a sudden, she felt even worse about her laughter earlier. But it's not like she could take either back, so she simply bit her lower lip, and trudged on. He didn't seem too sad about it. That was good, at least. She hadn't screwed up that much yet.

Osiris said that he'd just have one, and with that, the Noctowl began to sort their things into two separate piles. Hers was the one on the left, it seemed, as Osiris's on the right only had one notebook. Ten Poke for her, and...

Iris?

"Iris, huh?" She said, smiling widely as she fished for her own Poke to pay for her stuff. Honestly, she had expected it to be much more expensive. Ten Poke wasn't much, and the person she'd... taken money from last time had had plenty to spare! But she supposed that it was a rather small shop. And quite dusty too... the Noctowl probably couldn't afford to be too picky about the pricing. She was more than fine... She put down ten little coins onto the counter, a little way's away from Iris's. "That's a pretty cute name too, Iris!" She said, without really thinking, winking back at the Dratini. It was true! She quite liked it, honestly...

"Ah, you have nothing to be sorry for, lass," Archie replied, scooping up clawfuls of poke and dumping them someplace unseen behind his counter. "Just old age, is all. Nobody's forever young, I'm afraid." After that, he produced a couple of paper bags, putting their respective purchases in each one. The noctowl nudged both of them toward the edge of the counter toward both of them.

Osiris, meanwhile, had to fight very hard to keep under control. He could feel his scales heating up in embarrassment, and his ear fins starting fluttering weakly. What a dumb old coot, letting his mom's nickname for him slip out like that! Now Alki seemed to take hold of it, too. Great. "Thanks, Archie." he said sarcastically as he took his bag and unceremoniously dumped it into his satchel, closing the flap on it securely. "I'll see you around sometime."

"Tell your mom to drop by soon, you little horror. I got some new stock she'd be interested in." the noctowl said. "Until then, I'm going back to sleep."

With a noisy flapping of his wings, the flying-type pokemon left back into the dark room, leaving the two of them in his store alone. It was quiet for a few moments after that, before Iris spoke up again. "I used to come here when I was little," he settled for saying, feeling a need to explain the familiarity between him and the shopkeep. "Or, well, my mom would drag me in with her while she shopped for books. Old Archie isn't so bad, really. Just kinda grumpy when it's not dark out." he explained, hoping to smooth any damage over that the rough old bird might have done. Not everyone understood that he was just playing, after all, and Alki seemed a bit shy around strangers—himself included.

Alki nodded, taking in the Noctowl's words silently. She supposed that was true. It wasn't something she thought often about though. It was hard to be very concerned with age when she didn't even know her own... she'd never celebrated a birthday either; she remembered Darcy had been quite shocked to hear that piece of news. "Yeah, I guess..." She said, deflating a bit as those thoughts crossed her mind. How long could somebody say they were 'young' anyways? Who knew... that kind of thing was something she didn't feel like worrying about at the moment. Instead, she picked up her bag silently, clutching it tightly against herself.

Iris thanked the Noctowl for his help, and Alki simply nodded in agreement up at the bird type. "Yeah! Thank you!" She said sincerely, completely missing any sense of sarcasm from the Dratini. She placed her own purchase securely inside her bag and slipped the flap over it. She didn't bother with the buttons; those were always a pain. "Good night!" She called out as he announced his intentions to go back to sleep, not realizing her mistake until he had disappeared back into the dark room. She began to blush softly as she added a "Y-Y'know what I mean..." under her breath.

With that done, she turned to Iris and listened to what he had to say. An explanation of some kind, as to how they knew each other? His mom had introduced them! Well, that was sweet. Alki nodded, indicating she understood. "Y-Yeah. He seems pretty alright. I mean... well, he didn't really need to call you a twit, did he? Or... well, I mean, we're not rotten! Whatever that means..." She said, exclaiming her indignity in a quiet voice. She wasn't really all too bothered. He'd explained what a pencil was, and he'd given her these books and pencils practically for nothing! Besides, name-calling aside, he hadn't really been mean at all.

"So... what now, Iris? I have a decent amount of Poke left over..." She asked quietly, a small smile on her face. As if to prove her point, she swished her bag around, the coins inside rattling noisily. "W-Would... Um. W-W-Would..." She trailed off, her confidence waning as she realized that it was just the two of them left. Things were much easier when other people were doing the talking... She'd wanted to invite him some-place, any place, but any eloquence that her request might have had was quickly vanishing. "W-W-Wanna D-Do something...?" She finally managed to blurt out, after quite a few seconds of silence. Her ears perked up and her eyes widened at her sudden loud outburst, and almost immediately after, the jigglypuff began to shrink back, very embarrassed at her sudden incompetence. This wasn't good...

Iris couldn't quite hold back a smile as Alki hollered a good night to Archie, equal parts amused and impressed at how she somehow came off as teasing and earnest. "He means well," he said in response to her exclamations. He knew the old bird pretty well, he thought. "I don't think he meant any of that, not really." They'd have a very different relationship if he did, honestly. His mom was as fierce and protective as any mama dragon, and he knew she wouldn't associate with the noctowl if he was truly mean, let alone allow Osiris to associate with him. As it was, though, Archie was just a fun distraction at worst, and a family friend at best.

He cocked his head inquisitively when Alki jingled her coin pouch and asked to hang out some more. He found that he wasn't at all opposed to the idea. Sure, he'd literally just met the jigglypuff, but so far she'd been nothing but nice, amusing, and friendly. Plus he still hadn't figured out where she went to school at. There wasn't any reason for him to say no, and every reason for him to say yes.

"Sure," he agreed frankly, closing the flap on his satchel and tightening it to his neck with his teeth. "What'd you have in mind?"

There were any number of things they could get up to at this time of the day, really. If she needed to do some more school shopping, he could show her around the market. He knew the streets of Grassveil like the back of his tail, after all, so in his modest opinion, there was no one better to show the jigglypuff around. Or they could grab a bite to eat—it was probably lunch time, after all.

All of that made sense. He didn't seem to mean any of it, it was true. She hadn't really thought of it in the moment, but... if he had meant what he'd said, about twits and rotten-ness, then he wouldn't have been nearly as helpful as he had been with the books, and the pencils, and then been so kind about her apologies and... "Yeah, you're right..." She said, her ears perking up. He really did seem rather kind... maybe once she learned to read, she'd come back to this store! That'd be fun...

Then she just had to go and stumble over her offer, and in the worst way possible too! The most embarrassing way possible... Alki felt as though everything were about to go to waste, all the friendly chat and the teaching about school and notes and pencils, but, surprisingly... he really didn't seem to care! Her awkward invitation was met with little more than a Sure, and a totally normal question: What did you have in mind? Not an... Are you ok? or, even worse, Are you stupid? Just... sure. Alki's ears flattened as her gaze lowered to the ground, giggling softly as she began to blush. "Sure..." She repeated quietly, smiling to herself. He asked a follow-up question however: What'd you have in mind?

At this, the jigglypuff paused, quite unsure of herself. What did she have in mind? She'd kind of just spoken out of impulse, and now that he agreed, she... she really had no clue! It's not like she needed any more school supplies! She'd gotten all that she thought she needed. She could ask Vesper later, if she thought she needed anything more, but for now... for now that seemed to be quite enough. Alki's gaze rose to meet the Dratini's, as she pondered the question. "U-Um... I-I'm not quite sure, but... w-well. We could... I mean. We could grab something to eat, real quick, before deciding?" She offered tentatively. She was kind of hungry. It was noon, after all. But... she didn't quite know what for . Whatever he'd like! Assuming he wanted to eat too, that is...

"Lunch sounds good," Osiris agreed, grinning eagerly. He could do with a bite. "Let's get outta here."

The dratini slithered languidly back the way he came, passing through the open door of the bookstore and out into the streets of Grassveil. He peered up into the cloudy sky, eyes searching for the position of the sun from under his headband. He didn't spend nearly as much time in there as he feared he would, so he had practically the whole day to do whatever he wanted. Lunch was a good idea on Alki's part, though, and with a hungry rumble from his stomach, he wondered what they could go grab.

He didn't know what Alki liked to eat, or if she was allergic to anything... but there was always a safe bet when it came to food. Something with which the selling point was its variability—you could eat one that was cold, warm, hot, spicy, mild, sweet, sour, whatever you wanted. Flavors were available upon request and the only way you could go wrong was if you did it on purpose.

"Do you like poffins?" he asked. "I know a place that does them pretty good."

Alki met the Dratini's grin with a small smile of her own. She was more than happy to leave the dusty, intimidating piles of books within the slightly-chilly, rickety wooden shop. She'd come back when she actually knew how to read. It'd probably be much more pleasant - and much less scary - then.

"Alright. Lunch it is, then." Alki said quietly. As to what they were going to eat, Alki really didn't know. She didn't go out to eat very often. For the most part, she simply ate whatever it was the guild was offering, (And she always made sure to go to the mess hall later than everyone else; the less people she had to interact with there, the better.) The only food she ever really ate was at a pancake stand, but for some reason, she had a feeling that pancakes at noon wasn't the best course of action.

It was then that Iris mentioned something about a Poffin. The jigglypuff had no clue what exactly a poffin was. Given the context, she could guess that it was a food of some kind. Beyond that? No clue.

"E-Erm... as long as it doesn't have m-meat, I'm willing to try new stuff..." She said mousily. That much was true. She didn't have any allergies (that she knew of), and for the most part, was fine with a lot of foods! As long as they had a lot of fruits and berries, and absolutely no meat. That meat had to come from somewhere, right? And even if meat came from feral pokemon, she still wasn't entirely comfortable with eating pokemon... "S-So... where is this place?"

"No meat. Just dough and whatever berries you like best," the dratini said, taking off down the street in a lazy slither and beckoning Alki to follow after him. "They're baked, like muffins and stuff, except with special flavors."

Osiris wasn't too surprised at the meat condition. Vegetarian diets weren't uncommon around Grassveil, so there wasn't any trouble finding a place to eat at that catered to your liking. He himself wasn't the biggest meat eater, but he didn't shy away from it, either. His favorite foods incorporated oran berries and baked treats—his mom's oran berry flat pie was probably at the top of his list.

"It's not far, really. Down this street for a few blocks, then down and around the corner." he went on, leading the two of them to his bakery of choice. This was another great perk of running his own errands in town, he realized; There were no grown-ups around to tell him he couldn't have sweets for lunch!

Alki bounded after Iris, nodding at his reassurance that these poffins did not, in fact, have meat in them. Just berries and dough, and apparently you could choose from whatever kind of berries you wanted! How else did you get those special flavors! In fact, these poffins didn’t sound so far off from the pancake stand she’d been thinking about… maybe next time they hung out, she could invite him there! (If there was a next time, anyways. Things could always go wrong...) Unless he already knew about it… come to think of it, he probably did, didn’t he? He seemed to know his way around Grassveil pretty well..

“A-Alright… These poffin thingies sound nice...” Alki said, trailing the dratini a short distance away. She really didn’t know where he was going at all… although he did seem to be giving directions. Alki made a mental note of her surroundings, hoping she could remember them for the next time she had gathered the courage to come out to Grassveil by herself. “So… can they be sweet?” She asked, unable to keep excitement entirely out of her voice. The jigglypuff loved sweet foods. They were the best kind of thing to eat after a bad day… not to say that this day was bad! Honestly, they were the best kind of thing to eat in general…

“Anyways...” She said, after a bit of time had passed. “H-Have you gone to school before? You seemed to know… know a lot about it.” It was true! All of the advice he’d given her had really exuded a lot of confidence! That was something she didn’t… well, that she’d never really had. “I-I’m going to a rather… um. A pretty nice one, and I don’t want to stand out too much...” She mumbled, the excitement that had been in her face only a few moments ago washing off as the sudden weight of her life’s problems came returning to her. She didn’t want a repeat of the bullying she’d experienced at the pond when she was an Igglybuff… She’d gotten punished for not acting right back then, and she didn’t want that to happen again...

"You betcha," Osiris confirmed as he slithered along. "You get to choose what kinds you want. Sweet, sour, spicy, mild, whatever you're hungry for, they can make a poffin for it!" he went on, his excitement growing by the second. It had been a while since he'd had some decent poffins, and this was as good a reason to pig out as any. If Alki had never tried them before, then he practically had a duty to show her how good they were!

He rounded a corner after a minute or so of hurried movement, his eyes lighting up as he spotted the bakery down the street. It was a big, homely structure, warm and cozy with smoke billowing out of the chimney. The sight always reminded him of the fireplace he had at home and made him want to curl up next to an open flame for a nap. A banner out front just above the doorway read '~Pans' Powerful Poffins~', decorated with a number of ribbons and colorful beads.

The dratini was just about to make a bee-line for the door when Alki's question registered. "Uh, yeah," he said, slightly hesitant as he picked up on the jigglypuff's anxiousness. "I went to a local schoolhouse for a bit just after my mom taught me to read, but I just transferred to a new school." The dragon-type paused for a moment before continuing. "It's really not that big of a deal. Some kids show up to school and they don't even try at all. I don't think you'll be behind at all if that's what you're worried about."

Alki's smile grew as Osiris explained what kind of Poffins you could get. Sweet, spicy, sour... That all sounded very nice! Her own excitement grew as her companion's did; he clearly loved this type of food very, very much. Alki hoped she would enjoy it as much as he seemed to! They certainly sounded like a very nice food!

"Sweet!" She said simply, hoping her clever little joke wouldn't go unnoticed.

As the topic of conversation switched back to school, the girls smile soured. He really seemed to be overestimating her intelligence, but she wasn't about to complain. It felt nice.

"So what school are you going to now? T-the new one..." She asked, shifting the conversation slightly.

"Oh, it's this new place that just opened up on the Pond," Osiris replied, slithering up to the doorway of the bakery. "Peak Academy." He stopped in front of it, raising his tail up to wrap around the doorknob and gave it a twist and a firm tug, pulling it open. Immediately, he was hit by an intense but not uncomfortable warmth and a myriad of delicious and intriguing smells. An absent, unthinking smile grew on his face in response.

He moved to the side a bit, making way for the jigglypuff to make her way inside first. It was only polite, after all—he knew his manners. "What about you?" he asked, turning his head to take a peek inside.

It was a very homespun, domestic sort of bakery, Osiris thought. There were only a handful of tables inside, flanked by economic-if-a-bit-uncomfortable wooden chairs. But cushioned, worn loveseats and old but comfortable couches dominated the other spaces. Coffee tables and little dressers were littered around them, with trendy, stock magazines and books on top of them. It was obvious just from a glance that customers were encouraged to make themselves at home here, as it was a very informal environment.

At the back of the bakery was a high-rising, wide counter that went from one end of the room to the other. The middle of it was made up of glass panels, and on display through them were a number of baked goods and treats, each labeled with a name and a price above them. High above on the wall overlooking the counter was a full menu complete with drawings and everything.

A simipour stood behind the counter, leaning on it lightly as she thumbed through a colorful book. The rest of the establishment only had a little bit of clientele in at that moment, a smattering of quiet, content pokemon nursing their meals and drinks peacefully. A pansage and a pansear adorned with aprons lingered around them every once in a while, very obviously waiters.

"R-Really?" Alki said as he said the name of his school. That was the very same one that she was going to! They entered the bakery, and the warm air and plethora of agreeable smells only made her smile grow wider. "Peak Academy... t-that's where I'm going to as well!" She said, louder than her usual voice. She bounced in place lightly, just like she had done before she'd evolved. Maybe they would even have the same classes! That'd be just about the best thing that she could hope for at this point! "W-What... What classes are you going to?"

The first thing that caught her eye upon entering was the variety of baked goods on display. They all looked so delicious, and she wanted them all! But that'd probably be expensive... Finally, she spotted one that seemed particularly good: A small pastry that seemed to be absolutely drenched in something sweet. Probably chocolate? Alki looked up at the Simi-pour, but she seemed to be so busy with her book... "H-H-Hello..." She said, trying to catch her attention away from the book, but she didn't seem to look up. The jigglypuff began to pale, intimidated by the prospect of interrupting her reading and maybe getting in trouble for it... what if she got upset? The jigglypuff opened her mouth, but found herself unable to speak any louder than she had before. "H-Hi..."

The dratini perked up at Alki's reply, feeling his smile grow at the revelation they were going to the same school. "Uh, all the Battling classes I can, honestly." he replied, thinking back to his selected majors as the two of them made their way to the counter. Battling, of course, because every explorer needed to be handy in a fight. And Essential Skills, which was the compromise he came with his mom in return for transferring in the first place. "We already had one, actually, it was Countering. But it was kind of a general type thing. And I'm gonna take some Essential Skills classes too, I guess."

"Hello there," the simipour called down from the counter, looking away from her book and down at the dratini and jigglypuff that had just entered. "Welcome to Pans'. What'll you be having?" She rested her chin on her hand and had an absent little smile on her face, the picture of a relaxed employee during a slow day at work.

"I'll take a few poffins—oran. Fresh, if you have 'em." Osiris said, looking up at the menu overhead. "And whatever she wants." he finished, gesturing at the jigglypuff next to him with a wave of his tail.

Alki pretended to look up at the menu and understand what was going on, if only because the Dratini that was next to her seemed to be doing that as well. He seemed to be handling all the verbal interactions just fine, and Alki was more than content to let him continue. Once he finished his order, she nodded along, as if she had decided, before pointing down at the pastry that had caught her eye earlier. "T-This one, please." She said, in as confident a voice she could muster. (It wasn't very loud.)

Once all the ordering business had been taken care of, she turned back to the Dratini, eager to continue their previous conversation. "B-battling? That sounds scary..." Alki thought back to all her previous attempts at battling with more than a bit of regret and embarrassment. "I don't think I'd be very good at it... I'm taking e-essential skills too, though! And performing arts..." Truth be told, she didn't think she'd be very good at those either, but she didn't want to ruin the Dratini's mood. "M-maybe you could teach me battling!" She said, only half joking. It would probably nice to know at least the basics, considering what she wanted to do. But she didn't want to embarrass herself either...