[attr="class","stone"]alexander also has a problem. ever since his appointments as gym leader and councilman, he's had far less time to devote to training the dragons of the morningstar estate. he's been neglecting the little axew freya morningstar entrusted him with, and for that he is sorry.

today is another one of those days, unfortunately. alexander offers the kind owner of the daycare center a warm smile before waving goodbye to the little axew. the dragon-type looks sad, lonely, but alexander promises to return soon.

until then, the axew waddles over to the corner of the daycare and joins a sliggoo in staring at a patch of tall grass. he doesn't see what's so interesting about it, so he pokes the other dragon-type and asks:

"what are you looking at?"

[attr="class","noodles"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-axew"]

Mimi Cheng
mission

[attr="class","mimi"]the poke startles her. yunshi almost allows some of the toxins in her body to pool in the direction of the poke, and that scares her even more because she doesn't want to hurt anybody. instead, there's a screech and tumbling feet (does she have any feet?) and then a squeaky "d-don't come too close!"

realizing her actions may be taken as anything but what she truly means to convey, as they tend to be, yunshi withdraws into as small a ball as she can manage. "i'm sorry," she says, but she's not sure the axew can hear her.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-sliggoo"]

ALEXANDER STONE
mission

[attr="class","stone"]vass visibly recoils, pulling his hand straight back before clutching it against his chest. "oh! i'm so sorry." he takes a few steps back, creating enough distance to give yunshi the space she needs.

the way yunshi withdraws into a small ball has him tilting his head. "it's okay! really, it's okay." he has to try to calm her down somehow, right? vass offers her a friendly smile, the best one he can muster up under such circumstances.

"my name is vass. what's yours?"

[attr="class","noodles"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-axew"]

Mimi Cheng
mission

[attr="class","mimi"]huh? yunshi couldn't possibly be hearing well. would she need to ask her trainer to bring her to the pokemon center later to look into her hearing? she looks up, it's just a little peek, but she gets to see a smile and it's the most confusing thing she's ever experienced.

"you're... you're not mad? she asks, honestly stunned. he's even introducing himself! the green of her eyes lulls into place, giving the appearance of focus. she almost forgets her own name. "my name is yunshi. are you really not mad?"

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-sliggoo"]

ALEXANDER STONE
mission

[attr="class","stone"]"why would i be mad?" there's a look of genuine confusion on his face. for whatever reason, he cannot seem to comprehend any reasons as to why he would be mad at her. he shakes his head, reaffirming: "yes, really! i promise."

"my name is vass. it's really nice to meet you." his ears perk up at the soft melody that flows through the air. naturally, his hips start swaying to the rhythm. "do you know how to dance, yunshi?"

[attr="class","noodles"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-axew"]

Mimi Cheng
mission

[attr="class","mimi"]even after having it reaffirmed twice, yunshi doesn't completely trust her antennae. her pose remains wary, and she keeps her distance from the axew as if any false movement could poison him. to be fair, it could. maybe he doesn't know and that's why he's trying to talk to her. maybe if she tells him so, he'll leave like everyone else does.

she's never tried to dance, so she doesn't know. she shakes her head no. "i don't know, but your dancing looks funny." maybe it's because his head is way bigger than the rest of his body, but it makes yunshi giggle. she tries it, too. to sway her hips like he does. the one problem is that she doesn't have hips, so it ends up looking like a magma lantern that was just turned upside down.

yunshi wants to hide away again, but there's only so many times she can turn into a ball before it gets tiring. is there?

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-sliggoo"]

ALEXANDER STONE
mission

[attr="class","stone"]his head stays fixed in place while his entire body moves underneath it. her words do little to deter him away from his sick movements as he bends real low before bouncing back up. it makes him laugh a little.

"thank you! your dancing looks really cool! where'd you learn to do that?"

it's a little impressive honestly. vass continues to dance, completely missing how yunshi wants to hide away again. but she has no reason to. there's no way she could look as bad as the axew does.

the scent of food flows through the air, and with a single sniff, vass redirects his head to the barbecue over on the other side of the daycare. he looks back to yunshi with a smile. "are you hungry?"

[attr="class","noodles"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-axew"]

Mimi Cheng
mission

[attr="class","mimi"]"i... didn't," yunshi mutters under her breath. she's not certain of how to react; she was just trying to imitate the axew's moves. clearly she'd failed, and it's too embarrassing to admit it now. either that, or the axew doesn't know how bad he really looks dancing. then again, he took her earlier comment as a compliment. yunshi is just really confused.

like the axew's ears before, her antennae perk up at the mention and smell of food. "yes!" she answers excitedly, forgetting for a moment all the embarrassment she's felt since meeting vass. she smiles back at him and walks only a tiny little bit closer to him for their lunch. might as well share the shadow of the big tree. she would hate to tan just from dancing.

[attr="class","seelie"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-sliggoo"]

ALEXANDER STONE
mission

[attr="class","stone"]"yes!"

they make their way over to their lunch, to the daycare lady standing by the grill. the little axew is far too short to see what is actually being cooked, but if his nose can be trusted, it is probably some kind of beef. how lovely! vass shakes a little as he waits in anticipation, literally vibrating in place.

"i like being your friend, yunshi!"

[attr="class","noodles"]

[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-axew"]

Mimi Cheng
mission