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[attr="class","bisc"]As they went along, Scotti found his brain wandering.

First, it was about how he’d gotten roped into this. Sure, he wanted to help Hoenn, but he wasn’t sure making a delivery to a creepy guy in a fortress qualified. Then, he started thinking about eggs themselves—omelets and the process of making them. Which of course led to him wondering how his mum’s Skitty had come from a Wailord. So, now, he was trying to puzzle that out.

Then, Shalin spoke to him. Suddenly, he remembered he was on a cat. “Wha—!?” He startled back into the saddle with a guilty exclamation. Now, he was again aware of how weird riding the Persian felt. It was like a furry rollercoaster.

Couldn’t she have waited until he wasn’t being a perv? “I—uh—yeah.” Biscotti grinned awkwardly. With that same embarrassment, he followed her hand toward the horizon. Labrador eyes narrowed as he tried to pick out the house among the rocks."Where is—oh, I see it now.” At least, he thought that was their destination. That or it was just a funny shaped rock. At the talk of views, he swallowed. Him and heights didn’t exactly get along.

But he wasn’t going to admit that.

“I’m guessing I won’t be imagining too long?”

nabi park

☉

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[attr="class","bisc"]The brunette smiled up at her. “Yeeeah.” He lifts his shoulders in a shrug. “Life’s been kind of—” Uh, what? He made a serpentine gesture with one hand before following up with what seemed to be pantomiming a balloon animal. “--life-y.” The cake decorator finishes with a shrug of scrawny shoulders. That wasn’t to say that he’d been busy there. A reunion with Shalin and the chimera just hadn’t been on the top of his list mostly because he didn’t know what to say.

Which, really, was an all-the-time thing.

He whistles at the announcement. That seems like a really long, really dangerous journey for an egg. Wouldn’t it be easier to find somewhere closer? Sharing a brief glance with Lathiel, he reaches into his hoody pocket. From it, he pulls out three cupcakes in little plastic baggies. They’re made of rich, dark chocolate. The tops—before being squished inside—were piped to look like Tauros heads. They were leftovers from a little boy’s rodeo birthday party. “That’s why I always bring snacks!”

He offered one to Shalin and Lathiel before cradling the last in his hands.

At the offer, the brunette nods. Jangle looks at the other cat with barely hidden jealousy. “Can’t say I’ve ever ridden a uh—” He gestures at the cat. It’s a gorgeous, sinewy creature. Though he has to wonder if the saddle’s uncomfortable. It wouldn’t be his choice of fashion. But people were weird. “--moggie before.” In truth, he’d never ridden much of anything. He didn’t really trust himself or Pokemon like that. Not when he could limp around with a broken back and not even know it. As he climbed on, he offered the last sweet to the overgrown housecat.

“Where’d all these eggs come from?” There’s a pause as his cheeks redden. “I mean—I know where Pokemon come from, but who had this many?” A Pokemon love hotel maybe?

Shalin Nariya

☉

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[attr="class","bisc"]The guy bit back a laugh. “Yeah!” He grins. The gesture’s full of fondness. People said you shouldn’t have favorites. But his boss? Definitely the best sibling. Just looking at the remnants of his treats reminds him of her. It looks like a baggy of fertilized soil. It was close enough to black that it, uh, was really dark. “Cannolli loves her chocolate.”

With a grin, Biscotti watched the cat wolf down what remained of the treat. Left with an empty bag, he stuffed it into the pocket of his hoody. It’d no doubt be forgotten there until after the next wash. As the cat purred, the brunette grinned. “I’m glad you liked them. But you have a bit—well—here.” Reaching forward—with just a hint of reluctance—he brushed a crumb from the Persian’s whiskers. As the purring kicked up, the young man laughed.

“Whoa!” He exclaimed. “It’s like sitting on a vibrator—vibrating—” What was he going to say? There was a pause. “A massage chair.” Maybe what they said about purring and blood pressure was true. It definitely made him feel more relaxed. Not that it touched the awkward blush as he almost brought up sex toys to a ranger captain.

Biscotti becomes intensely interested in his reins. “Why would they—what are they all for?” Last he checked, there were plenty of Pokemon out there. Sure, he understood rare stuff, but this amount seemed excessive. “Uh, just how remote are we talking?” The baker realizes he probably should have tried GPSing the location beforehand.

At the question, he straightened up. The color of embarrassment still dappled his cheeks. “This is my first rodeo.” It was. “I’ve got this.” He totally didn’t.

How hard could it be?

Shalin Nariya

☉

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[attr="class","bisc"]That was one way to put it, he guessed. It definitely wasn’t unpleasant. Just made it hard to focus on parts of him that weren’t vibrating. Some part of him wanted to ask the cat to can the rumbling, but he figured that was kind of rude. It was just trying to show its appreciation.“Uh, yeah. Sure.” It wasn’t like this stuff lasted forever.

As his destination is revealed. Biscotti frowns. “Kind of a weird place for a house.” There’s a pause as he chuckles, the sound awkward and stilted. A hand reached up to ruffle his hair. Even if it wasn’t his father doing it, the gesture still brought him comfort. :”You sure the guy wants visitors?” At the talk of ride Pokemon, he gave the Persian beneath him a light pat. Good thing I went with her, huh?

“Nah. I’m good.” He pulled out his phone. The red-on-black case looks like something out of a children’s racing game. “It’s on here somewhere.” Besides, Scotti had zero plan to take the lead. He was more of a support guy.

At the invitation, the baker shook his head. It was one thing to admit you had no idea what you were doing. It was something completely different to do it with a cute girl. So, unless he was going to die, he’d just figure it out. “Here we go!” He gently bumped the cat’s sides with his flat tops. As he did so, Biscotti leaned over the lithe creature’s back.

“Take it easy on me, okay?” The path inclined slightly. So far, so good.

Shalin Nariya

☉

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[attr="class","bisc"]Ah, right! Duh!

She had told him that. And his sieve brain had just completely forgotten that until he opened his big mouth. He opens his mouth to reply but quickly closes it. A noise of indecision comes out. “Uh, it’s not really—it’s kind of different, I think.” There’s a pause as Scotti tries to articulate his thoughts. The syllables run together like a trainwreck. “It’s not like you booby trapped the place.”

He figured it’d be pretty easy to just stumble into her home. Probably roll out the figurative welcome mat. But living on top of a mountain? That was a sign you didn’t want visitors. “Yeah. I hope so.” It’d be kind of awkward if they went through all this and the guy didn’t want the giant egg sled.

“O-oh!” Biscotti lurches forward as the cat bounds forward. His hands grasp at empty air for a moment before settling reflexively on the pommel. His legs tightened around the cat’s waist. But it seemed this was a piece of cake. One of those boxed ones. Real cakes actually took work to get right.

Just when he’d relaxed, the plains opened up before him. “Whoa…” His voice is an awed sigh. He can’t remember the last time he felt so tiny. Then the cat is undulating beneath him like a mini coaster. “Ah!!” His hands are back to the pommel. He turns to Shalin for a second as he tries to process her words.

“I—uh—no?” He finishes uncertainly. “I’m more of a slity clicker—city slicker.” Pale cheeks flare. “Wilderness isn’t exactly safe for someone like me.” One trip and he’d probably end up speared on a stick.

Shalin Nariya

☉

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[attr="class","bisc"]As they went along, Scotti found his brain wandering.

First, it was about how he’d gotten roped into this. Sure, he wanted to help Hoenn, but he wasn’t sure making a delivery to a creepy guy in a fortress qualified. Then, he started thinking about eggs themselves—omelets and the process of making them. Which of course led to him wondering how his mum’s Skitty had come from a Wailord and what other wildcard combos were out there. So, now, he was trying to puzzle that out.

Then, Shalin spoke to him. Suddenly, he remembered he was on a cat. “Wha—!?” He startled back into the saddle with a guilty exclamation. Now, he was again aware of how weird riding the Persian felt. It was like a furry rollercoaster.

Couldn’t she have waited until he wasn’t being Professor Pervert? “I—uh—yeah.” Biscotti grinned awkwardly. With that same embarrassment, he followed her hand toward the horizon. Labrador eyes narrowed as he tried to pick out the house among the rocks."Where is—oh, I see it now.” At least, he thought that was their destination. That or it was just a funny shaped rock. At the talk of views, he swallowed. Him and heights didn’t exactly get along.

But he wasn’t going to admit that. His pride wouldn't let him.

“I’m guessing I won’t be imagining too long?”

nabi park

☉

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[attr="class","bisc"]“The worst of its behind us?” He parrots back with a grateful sigh. Puppy dog eyes turn to look back down the trail. For a moment, there’s a plunge of vertigo. “It really is—was long, huh?” He then reaches out to gently stroke the head of the cat beneath him. Sure, he was pretty sure his thighs would be damaged, but it’d been a smooth ride. Well, not smooth, but the cat hadn’t tossed him off or anything.

At the talk of flying Pokemon, Scotti smiled. He isn’t sure if that’d be much better. Him and heights weren’t exactly BFFs. Not that he’d ever admit to being scared. “It’s kinda spilled milk at this point, right?” Sure, he wasn’t strong or the sharpest tool in the shed. But he was pretty go with the flow. Like the whole medieval time warp? He’d adapted to that pretty well. And he would see this ride through. He was pretty sure the lack of pain helped.

I thought the worse of this was behind us? Biscotti reflexively tightens his legs as the slope intensifies. He scans the ground in front of him, as if weak human eyes might spot something the cat missed. “I—uh—I haven’t seen either. Or, well, yours. Kind of hard to miss this place.” He can’t help but wonder if they’re welcome in a place like this. He half expects a ballista or a catapult to fire at them.

He nods along with Shalin. Then, finally, he imparts wisdom. “Must be hell getting a pizza.”

Shalin Nariya

☉