[attr="class","icon"]

a familiar voice calls out to him. he turns, recognizing the man after a brief moment.[break][break]

"fucking terrible! i still can't find one."[break][break]

he laughs, then walks over with his orthworm and tinkatink following closely behind. the tinkatink's riding the orthworm like one would a mighty steed.[break][break]

"cute fidough! is it okay?"

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

He doesn’t think about the weirdness of running in the cold until he’s doing it. His nose is frozen, but he feels like he’s melting under the layers of his running gear too. Weird.[break][break]

But stopping for a chat provided further opportunity to semi-cool down so he’s not gonna complain. So long as he doesn’t turn into an ice cube by standing for too long.[break][break]

“Ugh, tough luck! Maybe it’s the cold,” he suggested, shrugging loosely. When he thinks about it, he found his own just before the snow fell.[break][break]

“Oh shit—gummy worm, my guy!” he waves at the orthworm, who is…a little less weird now that he’s not intoxicated, but still weird. “That tinkatink showed you who’s boss, huh?”[break][break]

He looks down at his fidough, still splayed out. “Oh, yeah. She’s fine, just dramatic about exercise..” He sticks his hands in his pockets. “Hey Bagel Bite, treat?”[break][break]

She immediately perks, and scampers over expectantly. “Yeah, thought so.” He tosses her a poffin.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH [break]
bond bridge[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-shinx color-shiny"]

[attr="class","icon"]

the orthworm rises off the ground, slowly, like a door with rusted hinges. when it gets high enough, two of its legs protrude out to wave at lam and his pokemon. it falls back down to the ground after, aided by the BONK! of tinkatink's hammer.[break][break]

"oh yeah. tinkatink's real tough like that."[break][break]

at the remark, tinkatink raises its hammer, then lets out a battle cry which sounds more like a battle squeak.[break][break]

how fidough immediately perks up makes him laugh.[break][break]

"you out here running in this weather? very resilient."

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

Ah, the orthworm remembers him! How dope is that? He continues to wave, even when the tinkatink bonks him. “Aw, poor gummy.” Stooping to one knee, he rubs the top of the orthworm’s head.[break][break]

Will the tinkatink bonk him too?? It comes to mind too late.[break][break]

“I can tell!”[break][break]

Still pretty cute for a lil pink buddy with a hammer.[break][break]

Reinvigorated, Bagel Bite trots up to Matias to demand attention for herself.[break][break]

“Trying to! Got sort of lazy last month.” Well, his default state is lazy, but he’s usually at least a little routine with exercise.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH [break]
bond bridge[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-shinx color-shiny"]

[attr="class","icon"]

the tinkatink does in fact bonk lam on his head as well, the hammer connecting almost too cleanly and swiftly as though this was exactly what it has been raised to do.[break][break]

kneeling down, matias reaches out for the fidough, knowing where exactly to scratch it. behind its bagel ears.[break][break]

"what a cutie."[break][break]

he peers back up at lam.[break][break]

"well if you want we can go for a run now. orthworm's able to keep up. it's deceptively fast."

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

“Oof.” Lam winces as he’s bonked, rubbing the sore spot on his head. “You pack a punch for a lilbit.” The tinkatink does, in fact, look pretty proud of itself.[break][break]

Bagel Bite, meanwhile, is perfectly content to keep receiving scritches from Matias—going so far as to roll over and let her stubby little leg thump to encourage more attention.[break][break]

“Right? Surprised I found her outside—she came right up.” And uh, how was he supposed to resist taking home a bread dog??[break][break]

“Yeah, I’m game!” He’s probably not near as fit and smokes too much to keep up with Matias, but hey—he’ll at least try. The fidough’s love, however, sours as she figures out the other man intends to make them jog again.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH [break]
bond bridge[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-shinx color-shiny"]

[attr="class","icon"]

"if fidough doesn't wanna run she can just sit on orthworm."[break][break]

orthworm slides forward like an uber pulling up.[break][break]

"but let's go!"[break][break]

he takes off into a light jog, maintaining a pace he assumes lam would be able to keep up with. the man does look quite lean, after all. maybe he runs often?[break][break]

tinkatink bonks! orthworm on its head once more to get it to follow.

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

Lam sighs, looking down at Bagel Bite in resignation, who just looks back up at him with wide, pleading eyes.[break][break]

“Go on then.” How is he supposed to say no to the puppy eyes? Lucky for orthworm, his shinx isn’t eager to add to the load and zips ahead at the starting cue.[break][break]

Oh good, the pace is easy even though the cold burns some at his lungs as they move forward. For now, he can keep up.[break][break]

Key words, for now.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH [break]
bond bridge[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-shinx color-shiny"]

[attr="class","icon"]

matias casts glances over his shoulder every now and then to see how his friend is doing. when he sees lam breathing just fine, he decides to pick up the pace, increasing it a little to turn a comfortable run into a slightly uncomfortable run.[break][break]

surprisingly, his orthorm even with two pokemon its back is able to keep up. in fact, it soon overtakes the humans, slithering past them to the front as tinkatink yells with its raised hammer.[break][break]

"wow! looks like we'll have to pick up the pace."

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

The fact that Matias picks up the pace is not lost on him. Inwardly, he maybe groans a little. But he still keeps up to the best of his ability. That was the point of coming out here in the first place, after all.[break][break]

A little push from a buddy can be a good thing! Hopefully, maybe.[break][break]

“Again?” he calls back with a puff of frosty breath. But the faux-complaint is edged in a laugh. Hey—if his shinx can run circles around them, he can kick it up a little bit.[break][break]

The small feline chirrups from up ahead where he scoots around the orthworm and its entourage, just to rub it in.

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH [break]
bond bridge[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-shinx color-shiny"]

[attr="class","icon"]

huh? not the little shix trying to outshine mister orthworm. the steel-type glares at the shinx, then picks up the pace as its body starts lithering faster, left, right, left, right.[break][break]

matias picks up the pace again, this time transitoning into a not-so-light run. he makes it look easy, though, as though traversing the terrain takes nothing out of him.[break][break]

he looks over his shoulder at lam.[break][break]

"still managing okay?"

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]

[attr="class","icon"]

Of course the shinx was going to try and outshine the orthworm. That was just the little guy’s nature. He chirps as the orthworm eyes him, and also picks up the pace– sparks kicking up under his little golden paws.[break][break]

Lam, meanwhile, is definitely not challenging Matias in the same way. His buddy picks up the pace again, and Lam looks up at the sky in the lament before following suit. How the heck is he so good at this? It’s literally just running.[break][break]

But it’s so cold.[break][break]

Yeah. That’s gotta be it, because he’s recently decided the cold and snow is one of his top least favorite things. And it’s definitely not fun on the lungs. If it was warm, he’d be doing way better.[break][break]

But he forces a thin smile and nods, shooting the other a thumbs up before huffing out a, “Yep! Mhm! Doin’ great!”

[attr="class","bottom"]MATIAS SILPH [break]
bond bridge[break]
[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-shinx color-shiny"]

[attr="class","icon"]

as the orthworm continues to trail behind the shinx, unable to overtake it, tinktaink grows more agitated with every bonk! of its hammer. it yells then, inspiring the orthworm enough for it to flick its IRON TAIL into the ground. the impact propels it forward, shooting past the shinx.[break][break]

at lam's answer of how he's (surprisingly) still doing fine, matias grins.[break][break]

"huh. guess we gotta go faster, then."[break][break]

and goes faster, now shifting into running speed.

[attr="class","bottom"]lam logan[break]