That one-track mind of Roman's kicked in, and he stopped listening after getting the okay. Carefully, he reached out to touch the bruise. You'd think for someone used to getting their fair share of bumps. He'd know there be no difference from normal skin. But his imagination didn't care, planting the idea that the bruise would feel like a scab or squishy in his thoughts.

He pressed gently into mom's side and frowned. "Fuck, that sucks. I thought for sure that it be gross." Oh well, at least she'd let him touch it.

Arm dropping to his side, Roman looked at the boots he'd been ignoring and the dark bush of his brow furrowed. In seconds, he went from present to somewhere else entirely. Emerald waters formerly calm in their resolve grew turbulent.

Mom's trying. The least he could do was attempt to meet her halfway and not be so difficult. Roman kneeled, a hefty sigh escaping his lungs. "Okay." In silence, he untied and removed his shoes. Tossing the shoes aside, he shoved his feet into the boots and laced them up.

"I'll be careful, I promise." he stood, ready to meet the Tauros.

willow atkins

☉

Oh shit. Oh no. CIAN MAHER is armed, the mighty Spoon of Excalibur in his hands. An assuredly dangerous weapon.

Roman scoffed.

"I'm not scared of your spoon." he stuck his tongue out. Had the pillows not made reaching his eye difficult, he'd have pulled his bottom lid down too. He puffed his chest out instead.

They wouldn't be sword fighting. Roman took levels in Ranger, and he's about to put them to use. The Weedle under his arm straightened like a pencil, its body going stiff.

Uncle Cian should have told him he was with Team Rocket - that he's a bad guy. If Roman knew, he wouldn't have let himself get talked into running away. He wouldn't have met jayden cross.

He wouldn't have stabbed his friend.

Teeth ground against each other as Roman assumed the classic Quarterback throwing pose with his Weedle.

"Taste Weedle, you liar!" and he hurled it, aiming straight for Cian's eye with a lick of his lips.

The Weedle sailed like a missile (hopefully, Uncle Cian hadn't multi-classed into Monk) - not that it mattered. Roman's throw was far from perfect. A momentary distraction, the clink of beer glasses from his parents, pulled his focus away mid-toss.

They looked happy - like a family.

boruta maher CIAN MAHER willow atkins

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Grookey's easy to distract. The second the petals start to fall, he tries whacking them with his stick. Whatever's going on between Willow and Roman is all but forgotten. Probably for the best, D.K. got the impression things were about to get tense.

"What?" Roman frowned, "It's not my fault her tits sag." practically dangled down to the floor. He gagged. So gross, made him want to vomit the longer he thought about it. Good thing mom's here to steer his overactive imagination back on course.

He stared, emerald hues glued to the gnarly bruise on his mother's ribs. "Wow." she'd been walking around with that thing all day? Damn. Roman didn't give mom enough credit for her strength. "That's wicked." is it bad he wants to touch it?

"Can I touch it?" he hadn't meant to ask aloud, but the question slipped free regardless.

willow atkins

☉

It's hard work getting the pillows strapped to his arms, legs, and torso. They're attached to their respective limbs with sheets used like rope and looped as snuggly as Roman can get them. He stared at himself in the mirror on the back of his door. It's sloppy, but the battle armor of cushioning will have to do.

Emerald hues hardened for combat, Roman double, no - triple checked on the Weedle at his side. The needle at the top of its head was sharpened to a fine point. He poked it with the tip of his finger, wincing at the pain as blood pooled on his fingertip.

"Perfect." Roman wiped his hand on his shirt and grinned.

"roman! everyone's here!"

His ears twitched, heart beating like a drum in his chest. So, the time was now. The enemy was here. Roman plucked the Weedle up from the ground, and holding it awkwardly in his arms, he left his bedroom. An Electrike running through rolling fields of grass, he made a beeline to the kitchen.

"Uncle Cian!"

Roman's voice reached them before he did.

"Uncle Cian! You have an appointment with the pointy end of a Weedle."

The youngster rounded the corner adorned in his pillow armor, Weedle under his arm, and righteous fury in his eyes.

boruta maher CIAN MAHER willow atkins

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Roman scowled. She couldn't be serious - this is how she wanted them to spend the weekend? He loathed his mom's stupid garden. Nothing ever went right when working it. Now she's adding cattle into the mix?

"No thanks." he declared as if he had a choice.

Beside him, a curious monkey that refused to stay inside his Poke Ball poked the boots. "Groo?" Grookey's head tilted, eyes moving between Roman and Willow.

"I'd rather spend the day with Adelaide and her saggy tits." fidgety hands found their way into his pockets. "What's the point anyways? I'm just gonna fuck it up." You know, like he did everything.

willow atkins

☉