[attr="class","witness"]Asher's eyes traveled to the blonde who had approached. He was dressed in his usual business attire, a white suit. He also had on a white fedora this time, to keep the sun out of his face.

"It's not a corviknight," no he was selfishly keeping that bird to himself. "But I thought, perhaps it would be a subtle reminder of home."

Bridget was laying in the sand beside the cufant, her newly hatched baby, that was running around and playing with the foam. On occassion, the cufant would try to run too far, and Bridget's strong trunk would gently bring the cufant back to what Bridget considered a safe distance.

She was relieved she was getting this thing to a good trainer because it was more work than she had bargained for...

Alethea Ivanova

[attr="class","witness"]What Asher had been aiming for was achieved. Asher could tell by the red in Thea's cheeks that she enjoyed the present, but he wasn't entirely sure that she understood that Asher was literally giving her the cute little thing.

Which was a good thing because he was pretty sure Bridget would never breed again, it'd been hard enough to get the stubborn elephant to breed in the first place.

Walking over, Asher extends a luxury ball to Thea. It has signs that it belongs to a pokemon already, as pokeballs do one imagines, and he noddes toward the cufant while holding it out.

"For you, Thea. You're an excellent teacher and while I don't understand the feeling of being homesick, I'd imagine this might be a decent dose of medicine on the road to recovery."

Alethea Ivanova

[attr="class","witness"]Seeing Thea's emotions... hurts. It's that good sort of hurt, but Asher doesn't know that. All he knows was that somehow he screwed up and now she's crying??

Shit, shit, shit!

Without much thought, because making her cry really was the furthest thing from his mind, he puts a hand on her shoulder and furrows his brows in concern. A hug? Sure, but tears?? What was happening? Maybe it was a cultural thing.

"If I've done something wrong, I assure you, it was a mistake miss Rhodes."

And he couldn't even kiss her to stop her from crying! Yes, his usual go to... shh.

Alethea Ivanova

[attr="class","witness"]Asher would never in a million years say that he was an expert in women, and this was a prime example as to why. Things like this completely alluded him. Perhaps it was because he hadn't ever been homesick before. He'd never attached to anything well enough for him to genuinely miss them. Usually, he distracted himself or found something to fill a void, because they were never deep enough voids to not be filled with something else.

"I'm relieved."

Asher's entire body relaxes and he removes his hand from her shoulder, looking out to the cufant who his bouncing around in the sand and pretending it's some form of buneary from the looks of things.

"Within a week, I'm sure the energy will wear off. The poor thing must have gotten it from its father, because I can't imagine Bridget ever had that kind of energy within her."

To prove his point, the behemoth of an elephant rolls onto her side and lets out a lazy trumpet from her trunk.

Alethea Ivanova

[attr="class","witness"]The kiss on the cheek had Asher's eyes widening and he gave her a confused look. It took about two seconds for him to rule that as a friendly kiss, at which case he gave her a smile.

It was, admittedly, his default 'wtf' smile. That smile he gave when he didn't hear what he was asked, or if he didn't understand a situation. He didn't speak, and instead looked toward his copperajah and then took out her luxury ball, returning the beast so she could sleep.

"Take good care of the cufant, miss Rhodes. I find that visits to lakes make them very happy."

It was the only thing that motivated Bridget to do anything, really. He tried his hardest not to sound annoyed. Why was he annoyed? Because he was mildly ... anxious, and when he got anxious, his first reaction was to get annoyed that he felt that way.

No, he wasn't blushing, but damn if he wasn't close.

Alethea Ivanova
cherish this moment uwu

[attr="class","witness"]The time it took her to collect herself was the time Asher took to collect himself as well. He's blushless and otherwise less annoyed with himself now. He turns to look at her and gives a charming smile. It has a fondness to it of its own because he realizes, in this moment, she's not ever going to be his as more than anything but a friend.

And finally, he's okay with that. Though his pride is a bit hurt.

"Well! The same is to be said for me as well. I wouldn't want to keep you from your students, miss Rhodes, and I hope that you're not overworking yourself."

Finally he's back to a comfortable stance with her and he finds he's not nearly as confident in that as he'd like to be.

"It's very important to keep an eye on your own health. Take a vacation, if you need to. And, if you haven't the funds, I'd be more than happy to help a friend."

Alethea Ivanova

[attr="class","witness"]Asher takes no effort in hiding how he laughs. The idea that 'people do talk' was comical to him, if only because she was right.

"Come now, if I had simply sent the cufant to you through the global trading system, it wouldn't have been nearly as bold of an impact, now, would it?"

She might not have cried though, so joke's on him, and it was mostly why he'd laughed.

"But, if you'd like, I'll be sure to try and keep myself open enough during the day for talk with friends."

He surprised himself a bit with his words, and tilted his head to hide his face as he internally scolded himself for the title he'd given her. A soft bow later, and he turns toward the dock.

"Have a lovely rest of the day, miss Rhodes."

Alethea Ivanova