Pepino barked softly as he sat in the child's seat of the grocery cart as Andres moved them through Pokefoods as Andres trolled along for the discount items. Mainly the protein powder and energy drinks. He didn't often come out considering the price tags, but the selection for health nut product was vast. Pepino is well behaved, mostly gobbling up the free samples that were offered to Andres. [break][break]

Andres pat her, softly chiding the Zigzagoon for overeating. "You're gonna get a stomach ache." he said with a laugh before turning the corner, before knocking his cart onto another customer's. "Oh- Sorry!" he blurted out, Pepino barked happily looking over at the stranger, smiling excitedly. Andres' surprise quickly morphed into shock, and then he slowly went pale. "Onyx-! I- Uhh- Um- N-Nice to see you. Again."

[break][break]

+ @onyx [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

They’d stopped in front of the apples for what seemed like eternity, Juliette fighting a tireless war to get Onyx to eat healthier and, by extension, have better food available for his team. To shut her up he’d grabbed an apple and tossed in the cart and she’d about lost her god-damned germ fearing mind. Ten minutes later they had three bags of various apple varieties (they made too many different kinds of fucking apples, in Onyx’s opinion) and they were at the scale to weigh them and slap the sticker on them. Though, to his delight, Juli picked the cheapest kind of apple per poundage and applied that to all the stickers. The self-checkout would be none the wiser.

Fresh off the shores of Battle Apple, they rounded a corner to the grape, orange, and cherry section; Onyx was happy to bypass it all together as he trekked valiantly towards his beloved green onions, but Juliette began exploring the oranges for the brightest and most fresh. He tried to move the cart and she held on-- and if there was one thing about Wigglytuff, it was that they were strong as shit. Onyx pushed and Juli dug in her heels-- until she saw something she wanted to grab and let go of the handle, causing Onyx to shoot forward and lightly crash his cart against another.

He plastered on his scariest expression, preparing to glare the other driver into silence, but when he saw who, of all people, he’d hit, his face clouded with disgust.

“You,” he snarled, voice dripping in venom. He narrowed his eyes, suddenly suspicious. It wouldn’t surprise him at all to learn that this shithead do-gooder was in league with the-- well, with the League, and was following him around given the rather illegal activities he’d stumbled into. His mind whirled-- Andres always made his mind whirl, which was disgusting, and wholly unique-- as he cycled through the regular cast of threatening things he could spout back at the miserable twink. Who was still taller than him, much to his dismay.

What the fuck do you think you’re doing here was out, because Andres would most likely have some dumbass remark like I’m grocery shopping, a-yup! I’d expect to find you in a shitty place like this was also out because, as much as he would love to not be, Onyx was also, presently, in this shitty place.

After a moment more of angry glaring, he settled for, “Why’d you have to pop out and make my bad day worse?”

As if on cue, Juliette plopped a bag of oranges in his cart, with a satisfied tuff-tuff! And crossed something off of her list that Onyx just realized she was carrying around. She pointed in a direction and tuff-ed, indicating they should head thataway, and only looked up at a moment when Onyx didn’t move at her order, looking slightly miffed.

andres buenaventura

☉

Oh boy- He didn't like the way Onyx addressed him. All he said was 'you' but it felt way more personal. The man could hold a grudge...but then again so could Andres. Was it a grudge? Or more- memories. Yeah. Memories and regrets. He can't help shrink under his glare even when he was the bigger person, literally. "I-I uh- I wasn't-" he stopped himself form bringing up the other day. They wouldn't speak of that. Not if he wanted to avoid the same fate. His eyes ducked down at his shoes. Meanwhile Pepino missed the venom in Onyx's tone completely, crawling out of the kid's seat and dropping on top of a pack of toilet paper before sniffing over at the Rocket and then wagging his tail at the Wigglytuff. He looked like he was considering jumping as he slowly climbed over to the edge of the shopped cart and had all paws precariously cling to the cart. Though towards the inside of Onyx's cart, or his partner no one could be sure unless he was stopped. [break][break]

Andres was never the best at hiding his emotions. Even now. As much as he would like to deny it, the man's words stung. He had just been passing through. "I...I needed re-refills..." he offered dejectedly, eyebrows knitting together as he frowned. Protein powder. He was still cutting a bit but it'd be bulk season soon enough. And these were good deals. "Um- S-Sorry for your bad day...?" he's less nervous here than out in the woods but that was probably because of the perceived security being around a public area granted him. Even so, he didn't want to give Onyx a reason to confront him later. "Oh- uh- sorry to you too?" he added looking down at the Wigglytuff.[break][break]

"Oh- That's Pepino!" he added, introducing the pup as it barked up at Onyx having taken the opportunity to tumble into the grunt's cart. "He- uh- He's friendlier than Chu-Chuchi, promise!" he said as he began carefully maneuvering his cart out of the way so he could scoop the Zigzagoon back out. Not before the normal type snuck in a lick at his face.

[break][break]

+ onyx straub [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Unfortunately for Onyx, Andres didn’t, at first, look the tiniest bit scared. Disappointed, maybe? That stung.

Wait, why did that sting?

He had to suppress the urge to fly off the handle and punch the man in his stupid, fucking face right then and there just to maintain some shred of dignity. He was satisfied with Andres quailed a bit in the light of his angry look. But he still didn’t look scared.

Onyx had the bubbling, irrational desire to make Andres get on his knees and--

TUFF!

Onyx jumped-- literally, physically jumped-- pulling his brain out of the horrifying, terrifying gutter it’d been rolling down, like the sixteen-pound bowling ball it was turning into. But Juliette hadn’t been speaking to him, she was addressing the little Zigzagoon who was presently doing some nimble acrobatics off a pack of TP. She had her hands held out and her gaze was creased with concern-- not anger or rage or malice, but genuine concern, as she waited for the little Pokemon to jump forward or back or fall or do anything that she might need to hop in and help with.

Distantly he registered the sound of Andres apologizing for his own bad day and was brought back to the extremely visceral images he’d been cultivating in his head just a moment ago. Unlike Andres, he was pretty good at hiding his emotions, but he felt sudden heat in his face and had the horrible realization that he was blushing.

This was stupid, this whole thing was stupid.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid Andres Buenaventura.

The Zigzagoon-- Pepino-- chose that moment to hop into Onyx’s cart and Juli helped him along, lifting him slightly to avoid bumping his knees on the edge of the cart. Andres scrambled over to grab him back and Juli waved off his apologies with a Wigglytuff-tuff~

Onyx, who had found a very interesting bag of grapes to stare at for the last thirty seconds, wanted to rip the cart around and, just, leave. Just leave and never, ever, ever, ever talk to Andres again; but when he went to pivot, he found the cart stuck in place, once again held by Juliette. She looked up at him with a severe, admonishing look, and tapped her toes. Her eyes jumped from Onyx, to Andres, and back again. Tap, tap, tap went her little pink foot. He shook the cart-- nothing, no give.

Tap, tap, tap.

“Fuck off,” he snarled, knuckles gripping the handle of the shopping cart, but eventually, he rolled his eyes and said, “This is Juliette. Jules, this piece of--,” Jules gave the cart a shake, rolling the wheel over Onyx’s boot, higher up over the bridge of his foot where the steel toe was not protecting. He grunted and winced.

“This,” he said through clenched teeth, “is Andres. I know him from my shitty fucking childhood. There, I introduced you, you pink rat.” He glared down at her. “Happy?”

Juli tuffed and swung her chin away, pointedly ignoring him; then with a tuff-tuff she stuck out her little arm to Andres, in an offer to shake hands.

“Fuck me sideways,” Onyx growled, rolling his eyes.

andres buenaventura

☉

Pepino wiggled in Juliette's grasp but not to escape it. He cooed, tail wagging excitedly as the Wigglytuff held him up. It was fun! And he didn't mind being carried, by anyone really. He loved it. He let out a soft thanks to the pink pokemon as his trainer picked him up. This time he thrashed a little harder in an attempt t ask to be set down on the ground, which the blonde obliged. "Be polite." he warned the normal type, patting down the pokemon's fur before standing up again. Once there, his claws clack excitedly on linoleum as he moved closer to Juliette sniffing her and giving her a proper greeting. [break][break]

Andres for his part, had noticed the weird blushing on Onyx's face, frowned just a little in concern before looking away to give the man privacy. "I...uh- Tylenol is good for fevers." he said in case it was maybe just that. He pointed at his own face, though there's a clear lack of blush. Fortunately for Onyx, Andres is fully unaware and incapable of thinking the man next to him thought of Andres as anything other than a worm in the ground under his heel.

He nodded a quiet 'thanks' at Juliette happy that she seemed lie ka responsible pokemon. From the looks of her and their shopping cart, she seemed to be trying to help Onyx eat healthy. Or maybe...all that fruit was for her. [break][break]

And then there's silence, and Andres waited awkwardly to see if Onyx would say anything. He doesn't but there's this tense moment between trainer and pokemon and he's not sure if he's even allowed to leave now. He almost bolted at the curse, taking it at first as an order but then- "Oh-! Uh, hi Juliette. N-Nice to meet you." Despite the circumstances and how he called her a 'pink rat' he flashed a signature grin at the fairy type. Though it quickly disappeared under the tension.[break][break]

That's right. He was just a 'shitty' memory on Onyx's. Something easy to forget. He wished it was the same for himself. That Onyx took up far less mental space than he did. He leaned down a little politely taking her hand as Pepino barked up at the pair, happy as can be and unaware of ANY tension. At his next outburst though, Andres finally lets out a small laugh, "You're not nearly flexible enough." He's distracted, he realized, the words slipping out without meaning to. [break][break]

This isn't banter. They aren't having friendly conversation. He can't make Onyx like him. But he was starting to fall into that old pattern again. Where he tired. Where he cared. He froze mid shake before Pepino luckily lended himself as distraction jumping up and then offering his tail to Juliette too shake. He let out another laugh, this one more nervous but nevertheless trying his best to stay calm. "Sorry- A-Anyway," he stated, as he pulled the cart back a bit. "I just needed some carrots and cabbage, but...I kinda want to make a parfait." he said looking over Juliette's picks with interest. Pepino doesn't miss a beat barking excitedly at the mention of a 'parfait'. "You just want to eat the can of whipped cream again..." he murmured waving off the normal type with a tired smile. [break][break]

"G-Good luck with your fruit salad." But he doesn't really turn away, deferring to Pepino as he waited for the normal type to return to him so he could put him back in the shopping cart.

[break][break]

+ onyx straub [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

There was a reason Onyx was really good at fighting-- his brain worked faster to his arms and legs than it did to his mouth. His fight or flight response was so heavily tuned to the ‘fight’ sitting that, sometimes, his brain was bypassed completely, like an unwanted and unnecessarily convoluted section of highway.

He opened his mouth to say why the fuck would I need Tylenol, realized vis a vis Andres gesture what was being referred to, and snapped it shut again. He looked like a fucking fish, filter-feeding in his own filth. That set him on an even sharper edge. Why was he turning into the biggest fucking idiot?

Juliette was totally disregarding his very uncharacteristic meltdown, instead lavishing attention on the very nice boy and his very cute Zigzagoon that Onyx had introduced her to.

Onyx wondered, briefly, what Juliette would be like as a person. Most likely she’d bother Andres about his preferred brand of protein powder, what his favorite vegetables were, and whether or not he had decorative or functional hand-towels in his kitchen. Hell, she and Andres would probably hit it off pretty great.

You’re not nearly flexible enough.

When he registered what Andres had said, his mind did a repeat-rewind of all the images it had conjured up in the last ninety seconds-- the ones he’d worked so hard to crush and shove somewhere, never to be seen again. His face grew red and hot again.

Andres just continued blithely on about some dumb bullshit and parfaits, but Onyx was staring at his face and imagining--

--he squeezed the cart handle tight enough for the plastic handguard to crack, like lightning, and he jerked his hand back with a hiss.

Meanwhile, while Andres was distracted with Pepino and Onyx was… being Onyx, a little burst of light spat out a small, pink blob, who was clambering up a pile of grapes heading towards the melon section on the opposite side.

andres buenaventura

☉

Despite Onyx...Juliette was very amicable, and the swirly puff on her head adorable as well. He'd never pictured Onyx with this cute of a pokemon but...then again he hadn't pictured Onyx...ever really. He'd never thought he'd see him again. Now ho their reunion had gone nor...here. Pepino is elated to be a participant in the conversation and tried to keep his voice down as he barked at the pink pokemon. [break][break]

He snuck a glance at Onyx, catching his eyes and noting how...bright red his face was. He didn't have too long to focus on that before the handguard cracked and he flinched, hand reaching out towards Onyx before stopping awkwardly halfway and dropping again. "Everything alright there..?" he asked, gesturing at his face then the cart before remembering this guy wasn't someone he should take up too much time with. Lest he wanted to be hanging from a tree as well. "Sorry- I- Uh- I didn't mean to take up a lot of your time-" he said quickly, looking away form his childhood bully. Looking anywhere besides Onyx. [break][break]

He focused on whatever Pepino was staring at, politely sitting before Juliette but eyes suddenly laser focused, and his tail slapping the linoleum wildly as he itched to give chase to whatever the fuck had escaped Onyx's orbit.

[break][break]

+ onyx straub [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Onyx forced himself to take a breath, flexing his hand and drawing his fingers over his palm. He froze when Andres reached for him, already standing still in the throws of combating his fight or flight response. Just punch him, his brain roared-- because that was his immediate reaction to anything and everything-- but he painstakingly pressed down on that retrogression, cracking the knuckles along his right hand with sedulous slowness.

“‘M fine,” he managed to say, voice coming out more of a husky croak than anything that might instill confidence in another, “just… cheap ass carts.”

Juliette was still fawning over Pepino, making goo-goo eyes at the baby Zigzagoon, while their trainers were locked in the stalemate. Andres tried again to extrapolate himself from Onyx’s orbit, and Onyx wanted to just move the fuck on with his day-- did health stores have whiskey?-- but then--

“OHMYGOD!”

There was a shrill shriek from the aisle over as a woman stumbled backwards, slapping at-- at her breasts, from which there hung a tiny, pink, grinning orb of--

“Fuck,” Onyx hissed, just as Juliette said ‘tuff, in the same tone. Which is Wigglytuff for ‘fuck’, if you didn’t know.

The woman was wearing a rather low cut v-top cotton t-shirt and had been reaching over the sweetmelons to grab at a particular one when one of the melons grabbed onto her boob, wherein he was currently trying to nestle in between them, oblivious to her panic.

“I vote we just leave him here,” Onyx whispered, to which Juliette parked her hands on her hips and admonished him with a tuff-TUFF! “Don’t look at me. I should’ve let Zia kill him when she had the cha--,"

Juliette hit him, then. Deadlegged him right in the thigh, and the muscle immediately tingled and lost feeling. Onyx yelped gracelessly and slouched forward over the cart, jostling it into Andres’ again.

“F-fine,” he grunted, standing back up, “you go get him then.” There was a brief stare-off wherein each tried to glare the other into submission, before Juliette relented with a ‘tuff-Wigglytuff, and walked around the edge of the fruit stand.

Romeo was now well and truly entrenched in the woman’s bosom, and a crowd was beginning to gather; someone was calling the police, or animal control, or whomever that specific individual thought had the authority to control the situation.

Juliette walked up to the lady, grabbed her by the hem of her t-shirt, and dragged her down. She reached into the startled woman’s breasts and seized Romeo by the fluff on the top of his head, jerking him free with little effort, and turning to walk away.

“Don’t bring him back over here!” Onyx yelled, a little too loudly; he’d turned his cart and stepped back to stand closer to Andres, without realizing it.

“Hey!” someone else yelled, pointing an accusatory finger, “It’s THEIR Pokemon!”

Onyx's face turned redder than a tomato. "We're not toge--!"

“The police are on their way!” someone else helpfully added.

Tuff-tuff! Juliette said, holding the still grinning Romeo by his head. She scooped Pepino up in her other hand, holding him round the middle like a loaf of bread.

“What Jules said.” Without thinking, Onyx grabbed Andres’ forearm, sliding around him to head in the opposite direction. “Time to cut and run.” Tugging-- more like dragging, honestly-- Andres behind him, he started running for the back of the store.

andres buenaventura

☉

Andres nodded awkwardly, noting that at the very least Onyx didn't snap at him for his concern. That was nice. Perhaps having Juliette aorund ( and all these other people ) was beneficial for him. He's about to bid Onyx a good day when the shrillest words to ever escape a human mouth ring out. "What the-" he began, eyes turning immediately towards the source. In unison, Onyx and Julliette seemed to understand what was happening, but he just looked back at the poor woman. Was that- a Pokémon? [break][break]

"Do you...see this shit?" he asked, trying to whisper too since Onyx was. He watched him try to convince Jules of something before covering his mouth as she wacked him again without mercy. Stifled snorts came out but its nothing to the noise gathering a crowd now. "W-Wait- I can-" try to help... it what he would've said but the Wigglytuf is nothing if not determined. He couldn't help but laugh as Juliette ripped Romeo rather forcefully off the woman. Good. He loved some titties but...this was not the way to handle that urge. [break][break]

He's mid laugh as Onyx had another outburst and managed to swallow the rest of his laughs before looking from Onyx to the pair of pink pokemon, the crowd and back. Fuck. "Fellas, listen, it's just a baby-" he explained as Pepino dashed back and forth between the crowd and Juliette, becoming an annoyance and forcing Romeo's victim to scream wildly as she assumed another pokemon was about to jump into her chest. "Mira, I don't think the police is nece-" he began quickly as Juliette moved into action, grabbling both small pokemon like footballs and beginning to beeline away from the crowd. OH no- "Wait- What? You just look more guilty!" he protested. [break][break]

He can't even grab their carts. Onyx is already dragging him away. It's at this moment that his brain decided to remind him that some stores...if you stole less than 20$ worth of merchandise you could take it and not get chased. They were running away anyway- fuck it. He managed to yank Onyx's cart behind him before just barely grabbing Juliette's bag of apples before the damn thing crashed, creating a small obstacle against the indignant crowd. [break][break]

He fell into step behind Onyx as the other man brought him to the back. They slam through heavy double doors and the temperature immediately dropped 10 degrees, at LEAST. The smell is fucking awful, stench of rotten food and garbage permeated every nook and cranny of the back rooms. Pepino barked, tail wagging excitedly as they made moves out of there. "Ok, ok, exit strategy?" he asked as they followed bright red EXIT signs to one end of the supermarket. Selfishly, as they ran back stock that was getting ready to get put out on the floor, he yanked a bottle of protein powder tucking it under his arm with footballs of his own. Fuck it. They were already in trouble anyway. "I should've brought a backpack if I knew this would happen." he said through pants as they ducked through skinny, crowded aisles, shoving back employees and ignoring the angry grunts and yells that followed.

[break][break]

+ onyx straub [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Onyx didn’t really do awkward. He had enough self-confidence for that, at least. He also couldn’t be putting the beat down on loser nerds like Andres in public, which is what he used as a reason to explain away the sudden lack of an urge to actually put the beat down on loser nerds like Andres. Or, really, just Andres. He didn’t want to hurt Andres. Because they were in public, you see.

“Too late for that!” Onyx grunted back, hauling Andres along in his wake. Listen, one of the two men was a career criminal, and he knew when their ship was sunk. The moment Juliette had turned the corner to return Romeo, that had been the final nail in the coffin. Honestly, bringing the little pervert along had probably been the first nail, but whatever, hindsight was 20-20.

He didn’t even realize they were running together-- and doing it well, damn it-- as he blasted through the double doors, shoulder first. Andres said exit strategy and Onyx was already all over that shit-- career criminal, remember-- banking a hard left and running down towards the truck bays at the very back of the store. “Through here,” he barked, turning sideways to slip through the gap between the unloading truck and the bay wall, still holding onto Andres’ forearm-- his grip slipped towards his wrist during the squeeze-- and out into the back parking lot.

Outside the air smelled like hot asphalt with just a hint of the ocean. Onyx paused for a half second to listen for the sound of sirens before continuing onwards. The employee/merchandise parking lot backed up to a steep upwards embankment, at the top of which was a line of tended trees and cultivated greenspace, and beyond that, other businesses. Onyx cut right at the slope, feeling it would be too exposed should anyone continue to hunt for them, and ducked behind a large, crappy, off-white SUV that most definitely belonged to an employee. He dropped to one knee, keeping the car between them and the store, looking back over his shoulder to make sure the entourage was in tow.

Which is when he realized he was still gripping Andres’ wrist and coming dangerously close to his hand--

--he dropped the limb like it was on fire, the press and squeeze of his fingers still evident on Andres’ skin.

Juliette peeked around Andres to give Onyx a shady look and a smirk. She was still holding Pepino and Romeo under her arms and was completely unaffected by the mad dash out of the supermarket.

“Fuck off,” Onyx snarled at his Wigglytuff. “And fuck you.” He pointed at Romeo, who looked happier than a pig in shit. “Little freak.”

andres buenaventura

☉

When Onyx gives him directions, he doesn't question it. Mainly, because there's no time to. Stopping to think abbot what the hell was going on might be enough time for the indignant mob to catch up to them, and he really didn't want to get thrown in holding. As they began to sidled through, Andres sucked in everything he had, just barely scraping through as Onyx helped guide him through. "Thanks-" he breathed out, falling in step behind the guy once more. [break][break]

Andres hid, planting himself right next to Onyx and trying to control his erratic breathing, hazel eyes looking around the parking lot to back at his childhood bully. He hadn't eve realized Onyx was holding his arm that tightly until the guy threw his arm back and he had a chance to look at the red finger prints on his skin. He glanced at Onyx, wondering with a slight frown if he was that grossed out to touch him, before his eyes moved to the Pokemon. "He learn that from you?" Andres asked through pants as he caught his breath, though the slight grin made it clear he was just teasing. He turned towards Juliette and gave her a thumbs up. "And you? You got through with surprising ease, with cargo." he said congratulating the pink pokemon on her escape. Though, perhaps she was just good because her trainer was equally practiced in quick getaways. [break][break]

Listening out for footsteps of anyone chasing them or even security, he waited before continuing to speak. "Let's get going. I'd feel better at my place than out in the open." he offered before holding up his spoils: the bag of apples and the protein powder bottle. "I managed to salvage something at least." he added as he moved form sitting to crouching, before getting up entirely. "Is he gonna be a problem? I can hold him here if he's so tit hungry, but I can't promise it won't be in a choke hold for this." he added with a small laugh, as he lifted up his tank top. Typical jock show off shit. Though annoyance did leak into his words. This was a good grocery store and now he'd have to come incognito or just....not come at all!! [break][break]

Pepino, who this whole time had been enjoying the ride simply barked softly once, tail wagging quickly behind him. He was fine in Juls' arm like a football. It was fun, and comfortable. He didn't want to actually bother walking home. That was for big boys, like Andres and Onyx. Pepino's eyes are once again on the apple and his tongue lolled out excitedly.

[break][break]

+ onyx straub [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Onyx’s gaze was pure poison, acidic and corrosive-- but for once, it wasn’t aimed at Andres. He was shooting it at Romeo, who Juliette was still clinging to by the tufts of hair on his head. “No,” he spat, repulsion evident in his tone, “he came that way. I found him trying to climb up skirts at an Oldale Farmer’s Market and someone didn’t want to leave him behind or kill him.” His eyes shot up to Juliette, who, at least, had the grace to look sheepish. “Though it would’ve been doing the world a favor.”

Juliette turned her head, preening under Andres’ praise.

Onyx was about to insist they split up-- like hell he was going back to Andres’ place-- but he had to admit, the asshole had a point. The part of Onyx that had been integrated, trained, broken down and beaten into, reshaped for this life, this job, couldn’t argue with the promise of another bolthole-- especially one as inconspicuous as the house of someone he blatantly hates.

“Sure,” he says, pushing up off the SUV and cracking his neck. He shoots Andres a withering glare when he holds up his pilfered trophies, and was about to say something about good for you, a participation award when Andres has to bring up his fucking tits. Having spent a decent portion of the last ten minutes imagining Andres on his knees and begging for-- for something, Onyx really did not need the man pointing out that, for all his faults, physically he was an amazing specimen of a human being.

With amazing tits.

He honestly would've been totally fine to never think of them as 'tits', either, but the rush of heat running to his groin showed that it was apparently, cranking his gears, and he hated it.

He had already turned away, luckily, so Andres didn’t see the red blaze that exploded across his face.

“No,” he grit out through clenched teeth, willing himself back under control. He shoved a hand in his jacket pocket and found Romeo’s Pokeball before zapping the little perv back where he belonged. “And stay in there,” he said, holding the Pokeball up to his face, “or else next time I’l let Ziadem have you.”

Juliette shifted Pepino to both her arms, holding him like an actual puppy, before looking at Andres and asking tuff-Wigglytuff?

Where to?

andres buenaventura

☉

He almost wouldn't beleive that story if he wasn't actively watching Onyx refrain from stabbing the Igglybuff. It's kind of funny- Romeo not his ex bully. "Well, no helpin' it now, I guess." He wondered where exactly it'd learned that behavior before decided maybe some things were just left better unknown. He looked over at Juliette who went from embarrassed to proud of herself. He refrained form petting her cute hair tuft before focusing up on the issue at hand. [break][break]

without really thinking much on it, he'd offered up his place as a hidey hole to Onyx. Onyx who he'd cried in front of and ran terrified of the last time they'd met. Onyx his bully. Onyx, the guy that Chuchi had gone feral over. He'd put her away before she objected when they got home... Onyx puts away Romeo and Andres shrugged the whole ordeal off. He misses the blush, unaware of the effect he'd had on the man. Again, he shouldn't be this friendly. And again he can't help but want to appease Onyx in any way possible. This was just another opportunity of that, even if he didn't admit it to himself. [break][break]

Pepino licked Juliette's face, shifting comfortable in the new hold before Andres nodded over a specific direction. "C'mon, we can cut across the parking onto the road, and then start heading back." He'd walked there so it wasn't too far away. He peeked around the SUV, watching to see if there was a security guard or something. More than likely the indignant crowd was being calmed down by the staff inside instead of letting them rampage their backrooms. Still, better safe than sorry. [break][break]

He watched an employee come outside, casually he might add, before turning back inside before whispering, "Ok go!" He gave a nod for Juliette and Pepino, before yanking Onyx by the arm as they made their little dash through. Luckily there's bushes and some trees, a sort of median before the actual street but its all the same. Nothing in Lilycove was that hard to get through. It's all too manicured, not unlike an actual route. [break][break]

He seemed all too happy, despite the run aorund he'd gone through, to drag Onyx and their pokemon back home. Andres doesn't hold onto Onyx for long, and is quick to fill up the silence and 'act normal' by talking about the different food places or little hang outs he'd happened upon while living in the area. It's more or less Andres taking advantage of an uncomfortable situation Onyx's pokemon had put them in. In fact, this was probably the longest he'd ever really spent hanging around Onyx. Nevertheless he's eager to please, even if his constant chatter may not have had the intended effect. [break][break]

He leads them to his apartment, greeting the front desk person. Pepino at this point jumps out of Juliette's arms, running over and sitting patiently for a treat that's tossed to him which he catches and comes back. And then its quiet in the elevator. Because now they're sort of alone, and now they sort of don't need to pretend to be casual. "Um...give me like a minute-" he explained as he let them into his apartment. Chuchi greeted him lazily, yawning and barking form his bedroom. Pepino makes his way inside, leading Juliette to the kitchen where there's water and Andres simple gestured to the couch. He grabbed a pokeball off the coffee table before moving into his own bedroom. There's silence, then a sudden snarl, and then silence again. Chuchi's pokeball is left on the bed and he closed his door behind him. "So, uh, parfait?" [break][break]

Andres' apartment is small, but comfy. Lived in, and colorful despite the singular resident. A couple of dog beds here and there as well as chew toys and snacks. A throw pillow and a thick blanket on the cough. Dog hair. Dog hair for days but one got the feeling that this was leftover from cleaning day. Occasional piece of clothing that was 2 sizes too small to be his. Just any gym bros apartment.

[break][break]

+ onyx straub [break][break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]