She hesitated, watching him move with an ease in the comfort of his own home that unsettled her. He should be more vigilant than this, she thought, watching him discard his coat and subsequently ignore all her questions. It was like talking to a wall.[break][break]

"Tea?" she repeated, incredulous. "If you think that's the best use of our time, then, by all means."[break][break]

Her patience was thinning and her curiosity only mounting, becoming monstrous in its desire to be satiated. She took a nearby seat for lack of anything else to do, crossing her legs as one began to restlessly sway to and fro.

Glaring at him, she rested an elbow on the table while her hand delicately cupped her cheek, tilting her head towards him.[break][break]

"You're always indirect, aren't you?" she complained, frustration audible in her voice. "Questions answered with questions. I remember that, from when you and I first began talking with one another."[break][break]

It had amused her at the time, like a Skitty chasing a ball of yarn and seeing how far it could unravel. Now that trait of his only served to vex her.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"I like jasmine," she offered mildly, and her leg begrudgingly slowed in its swinging. "I used to have my own blend, once."[break][break]

Many blends, really. Floral themed teas, and even little desserts, fancifully arranged to look like the blossoms that infused them with sweetness. It humiliated her now to realize how much pride she'd taken in such a pitiful pastime.[break][break]

But there was an undeniable nostalgia in the scent, and it betrayed her deeper self with the longing it stirred in her for simpler times.[break][break]

Had she even offered FERNANDO SILPH this very jasmine tea, back at her quaint little cottage in the Petalburg Woods? She had offered to pour him tea, certainly, if not this precise blend. The memory of it persisted regardless.[break][break]

She'd enjoyed the tension of that encounter, back then. The apprehension between them unsettled her now.[break][break]

"If you're trying to poison me, though, don't bother. It's a waste of both our time."

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH

Context: Snake in the Garden ft. Fernando

[break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

She looked up at him, bewildered, and it occurred to her then how pointless all her questions had been. It was as if everything she'd said to him had been as meaningless as an infant's nonsensical cries -- a rustle of leaves, maybe, or the sigh of a drooping jasmine petal.[break][break]

"That's not easy to do," she acknowledged uncertainly, unsure where he was taking this strange conversation. "I didn't think you cared much about flowers, if I'm to be honest."[break][break]

He'd showed polite interest in her gardens, only to a point. It was the Gracideas that had intrigued him, and the crystablooms after: flowers with impact beyond their fleeting beauty. They were heralds of greater forces that sought to influence Hoenn at large, and as its councilman, he sought to decipher those omens.[break][break]

Jasmine petals held no such mysteries. They were far plainer.[break][break]

"Plainness isn't a bad thing, is it?" she said, more to herself than to him. "There is elegance in simplicity."[break][break]

She felt lost. She wasn't sure why she was here.[break][break]

The answer to that riddle felt so frustratingly simple, but nothing in her could decipher this conversation for what it was.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

"Oh."[break][break]

The sound of hissing steam filtered through the perplexed silence that followed.[break][break]

"Plain is fine," she managed, and again she wondered if this was a dream. It felt too strange to be real.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

She cradled the cup in her hand, the floral notes wafting from the brew. As she was about to sip the drink, she happened to glance up to see him awkwardly looming over the table. Strangely, he showed no indication of sitting or departing.[break][break]

He was just... looking at her.[break][break]

To be so observed doing such a mundane thing as sipping tea made it all the easier to fumble; it was unnerving, to be under such scrutiny. She lowered the untouched cup to the table, sighed, and gestured to the empty chair opposite her. His coat still lay draped across it.[break][break]

"Won't you at least sit?"[break][break]

If he wanted to play at normalcy for this bizarre encounter, the least he could do was play his part well.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

He remained standing, despite everything.[break][break]

Elisabeth leaned forward on the table, warily eyeing the curiosity that was this version of FERNANDO SILPH.[break][break]

It's like talking to the living embodiment of the Kantonese Room Thought Experiment, she thought bitterly to herself. It certainly felt like talking to a machine scripted to only understand so much of human language.[break][break]

Though that invited a different perspective on their encounter. Provoking him hadn't resulted in any meaningful reaction; needling him with questions had resulted in no answers; commenting on the absurdity of events brought about no shame or explanation.[break][break]

She'd yet to see what happened when she played along.[break][break]

"Tell me, then," she asked him gently, lifting her cup of tea again. "About the Lunar New Year, and the prosperity you're searching for."[break][break]

She sipped at it patiently, curious where he was going with this.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Her brow furrowed slightly, crinkling as she struggled to rationalize his reason for telling her this. Perhaps expecting reason was, in itself, an obstacle to understanding him.[break][break]

"Oh?" she said noncommittally, attempting to sound engaged.[break][break]

She knew very little about FERNANDO SILPH's parents, but what she knew came from MATIAS SILPH. She could still feel the GRUDGE the younger Silph had felt for his adoptive father, and while she suspected the two men had a different relationship than the one Fernando had known, following up on the topic proved risky.[break][break]

Uncertain what else to add, she continued to drink her tea, eyes pleading for him to continue.

[attr="class","ooc"] FERNANDO SILPH[break][break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]