"You're right, that thing DID look weird." Andrea nodded in agreement, grabbing a croissant from the gift basket and biting into it. "It didn't even look like a Pokémon. It looked like some kind of alien space robot." Perhaps they could ask Violet next time they met her, and hopefully the answer wouldn't be another cryptic haiku that they'd have to decipher.

The dragon-hooded girl shrugged at Nagi's following question. "We'll know after I talk to him in person. He can't talk about it over the phone for some reason." She mused in response. There wasn't much they could do about it at the moment other than waiting.

Slowly but surely finishing her food, Andrea flashed a bright smile at her fellow megane. "Anyway, we should talk about how we're gonna celebrate clearing all those challenges!" She seamlessly changed the subject. "Once summer comes around, we should have a get-together at the beach! We can have fun for the whole day, plus we'll get to know each other better!" The girl proposed.

nagi miwa

☉

can't talk over the phone? nagi hums in response, a short, quizzical note, but he doesn't push it further, even as the secrecy — the promise of a deeper mystery and his answering, deep-seated call of but why — tugs at him.[break][break]

he sets it aside, and trails after andrea as she segues away into the next topic. [break][break]

"... we're celebrating?" [break][break]

crotchety, asocial nagi with his limited life experience had not, till that moment, pieced together that completing a challenge of significant difficulty was something that people celebrated. he sets the gift basket aside — the snacks left would be enough to settle his meals for days, as long as he wasn't a stickler for things like nutritional values and balanced diets — and slouches into the backrest of seat.[break][break]

“i mean, sure.” he says sure like he’s signing a liability form; I HEREBY ASSUME ALL OF THE RISKS OF PARTICIPATING IN ANY/ALL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS EVENT. “i guess we could.” [break][break]

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Andrea Vaneau [break]


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

The dragon-obsessed girl pouted once again. "Don't say it like that. Be more excited!" She demanded, outstretching her arms so that she could sandwich Nagi's face between her palms. Thankfully her palms lacked the adjacent pieces of toast that would make this a sandwich of the idiot variety.

Meanwhile, Doraemon seemed to be eyeing the young novelist's mostly untouched gift basket. If the Munchlax knew the move Thief, that basket would've already been gone. For now, the baby Pokémon was clearly biding its time, waiting for the right moment to swipe the basket while Nagi would be distracted.

Speaking of things that could distract young men. "I've already picked a swimsuit and everything. Well, kinda... I have three options. Which one do you think I should choose?" Andrea held her Rotom Phone right in front of Nagi's face, swiping with her index finger to show him a succession of stock photos of young, oiled-up, tanned supermodels clad in revealing bikinis of various bright colors.

There was no way she didn't know what she was doing, was there? This wasn't about the hot supermodels currently displayed on the screen; she was asking him what he wanted her to wear, like she was doing this as a 'treat' to him. That woman must have been a sadistic vixen in disguise.

nagi miwa

☉

"gah. stubbit." nagi squishes himself back into the backrest of the sofa, compressing himself into the cushion as he attempts to wrench his face out from andrea's knuckles-sandwich. [break][break]

he raises his hands up by his face — a pair of protective shields against further onslaught — when he looks over at andrea's phone. one eyebrow makes its slow ascent skywards as she flicks through the pictures. [break][break]

it would be a treat, maybe, to someone else. to nagi, who has skipped every fanservice beach episode in every anime he has watched in search of something narratively meatier, it's an oiled-up, tanned pearl cast before myopic swine. [break][break]

"... it looks all the same to me." the ruthless sartorial acumen of someone who came to the atelier in a hoodie and jeans. "roll a die?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Andrea Vaneau [break]


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

The girl's pout was exaggerated to a comical degree. "They're not the same! That one has a different color. It looks a bit tight around the chest area, though..." What if she found herself unable to breathe due to the tightness? They had to be careful about passing out in the open sea. Lifeguards were in short supply, after all.

Despite his apathy, Nagi had actually made a reasonable suggestion. As it happened, Andrea DID carry a six-sided die on her person. Don't ask why. She pushed the confections and miscellaneous objects to the side of the table in order to make room for her roll. "Alright, if it's 1 or 2, I'll buy the one in the first pic. If it's 3 or 4 the second one, and if it's 5 or 6 the third one."

A quick prayer to Arceus later, the die landed on 2. The young woman smiled. "First one it is! It looks so cute! Since that's settled, what should we do now?" She asked, staring at Nagi expectantly. Now that the conversation no longer revolved around Pokémon or fun outdoor activities, she wasn't as good at taking initiative. A reclusive, socially awkward nerd was obviously much better suited for that.

nagi miwa

☉

as someone who carries around a dice box of assorted dice for Nerd Reasons, nagi doesn’t bat an eyelid when andrea pulls out a six-sided die — he assumes that she, too, is a person of culture. [break][break]

despite his lack of investment in the results of the roll, he assists her with corralling the snacks and notes off into a pile at the side of the table. he even manages to scrounge up a polite “cool.” at her final decision. [break][break]

and with that single pronouncement, he reaches the limit of his reclusive, socially-awkward nerd’s conversational ability. andrea might have had a quicker response if she asked a wooden block.[break][break]

“we…” [break][break]

his eee trails off into silence. he taps his finger against the side of his knee, eyes flickering from her, to her munchlax, to the floor and the atelier’s assorted decor — a private game of eye-spy in search of their next course of action. [break][break]

“... i think i’ll head home. see what i can find about the myths.”

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Andrea Vaneau [break]


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

Sometimes the best way to do research, especially when one reached a dead end, was to take a small break, allowing the old noggin to cool down so that one could investigate any clues at a later date. That was what Nagi had decided to do, announcing his leave in a rather unceremonious fashion.

"Yeah, I guess we should get going too." Andrea nodded in reluctant agreement, slowly gathering all of her stuff, including her notebook and her gamer girl die. "Come, Doraemon." She gestured for her Munchlax to follow her, as she picked up what was left of the gift basket and stood up. "It was nice talking with you, Nagi. We should do it again sometime." The young PokéManiac said with a bright smile.

Their initially awkward relationship had blossomed into a beautiful friendship - a platonic partnership founded on mutual curiosity and thirst for knowledge. What mysteries of the Pokémon world would the dynamic duo try to solve next? Only time could tell.

nagi miwa

☉