Whirling around and doing her best to not panic, Matilda called out for Dziban and searched every inch of the area where she'd last seen him on her shoulder. A red feather drifts down a few feet in front of her, and despite her fear she couldn't help but notice how very odd that was. Her eyes flick up to the roof of the nearest building, and sure enough a Fletchinder was perched on the gutter, watching her. A Fletchinder...in a port town? The bird trilled at her and flew a few yards before turning and watching her again.[break][break]

It's a short trip to the scene the Fletchinder leads her to, three teenage boys and so much tension it was palpable. "Hey, uh...everything okay?" She asks the redheaded one - if it came to a fight he'd be the outnumbered party, and the Fletchinder was clearly his.



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Tilly occasionally made a face over the course of the story, but she stayed silent. The bandaging finished, she repacks her things and sits next to Dom once more, pulling out a Pokeball. [break][break]

A small Togepi appears in her lap and she holds the Pokemon out to Dom. The small fairy's eyes light up when she sees Dom and she holds her little arms out for him, a giddy grin on her face as she cries out for him to hold her. "To-togepi!"



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Hearing Martín del Mar say her name, her smile fades a bit as her heart pounds and the sound of rushing blood fills her ears. He has a nice voice, anything he says would sound like that, she tells herself. He's just repeating it to be polite, she tells herself.[break][break]

When he complements her however, her smile reappears and she giggles nervously. At the mention of Dominic Grey she looks for her friend over near the drinks with every intention of introducing the two - but her gaze falls on luka chêne and she freezes, the light fog of alcohol immediately clouding whatever it was she'd been thinking about a moment ago.[break][break]

Matilda's brow furrows when Mars states that he never pursued music and she looks him up and down. She lets it go with a soft laugh when he complements her painting. "Ah, well I appreciate your kind words," she replies, not knowing how much of that complement was genuine and how much was kindness for her sake. "I saw Eris give you her gift and she was so nervous, I couldn't upstage her," Mattie says playfully with a hint of sarcasm. They both knew which Pokeball was higher quality. "I actually gifted that one to your girlfriend," she tilts her head in Luka's direction, "so you'll have plenty of opportunity to marvel at my work," she adds jokingly, feigning confidence.



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Mattie's eyes widen in both surprise and awe as luka chêne offers her gift in exchange. Unfortunately, her first attempt at verbal appreciation gets caught in her throat and she covers her mouth just in time to turn away and cough, choking on her words. She grabs her cup to take a drink, but it's empty; she spies Dom over at the drink table, so she grabs his cup and takes a long drink. Ooo, the punch is good. She makes a mental note to get a glass of fruit punch for herself when she has a moment.[break][break]

Matilda turns back to Luka with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, dry throat," she says, pointing to the cup. Clearing her throat, she gestures to the painted Pokeball now resting in Luka's hands. "I'm so glad you like it! If you ever want others just let me know, I'm always looking for new projects!" Holding up the bag, Mattie looks at Luka with gratitude. "Thank you for this, it's exceptionally kind of you." Feeling a tug on the hem of her dress, Mattie glances down to see Vega eyeing the bag in her hand hungrily. "Oh, you haven't eaten all night, have you?" She asks her Bulbasaur rhetorically, then bends down and fishes a Pokeblock out of the bag for her companion. Upon standing she realizes Luka has already moved on, but she smiles kindly at the gift in her hand and places it safely in her bag.[break][break]

Taking another sip, Matilda turns around to people watch when she almost runs into Martín del Mar. She stops herself abruptly, choking on her drink and causing another small coughing fit. Mattie slams the rest of her punch to stop the coughing, and she feels warm tingles spread throughout her body. Oh man, that wine must just now be hitting. She sets down the now empty cup and smiles up at Mars, cheeks once again red but feeling a bit less self-conscious than before. "Mattie," she replies, taking his hand in both of hers. "Matilda," she clarifies quickly, "Greenlaw. Or Tilly, Dom's been calling me Tilly since we were kids..." Realizing she was rambling and holding onto his hand much longer than social etiquette dictated, she cut herself off and let go of his hand, instead clasping hers behind her back. "Your singing earlier was lovely. Do you study music?"


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Once Nova falls into a play bow, Haedus lets out a few short yips and bounces around excitedly, snapping for the stick. Realizing he isn't getting the toy without a fight, he immediately grabs the free end of the driftwood and tugs, growling very loudly and far more dramatically than was strictly called for. His joy at finding a friend as spirited as he was not lost on anyone witnessing the scene - including the small Chinchou, who laid lazily in the sand and watched the playing duo.[break][break]

Tilly shrugs and turns to face the fire. "Might as well spit it out then. Whoever you pissed off came after me, insisting I knew where you were and threatening to hurt Nona and the babies..." Nodding to the Pokemon down the beach, the glow of the Chinchou's antennae gives her pause. She tilts her head quizzically, but seeing Haedus and Nova continue to play either with or despite it informed her that things were alright. "If I didn't tell them how to find you," Tilly finally finishes her thought, looking back to Dom. "So a few weeks ago I packed up my things in the middle of the night, grabbed as many of the new hatches as I could, and left. Nona made a bunch of food for me and we had a spare tent, so I had a few supplies starting off. I couldn't take too much though - there were people watching the house, so I had to sneak past them." The yips and barks of play drew Tilly's eyes back to the Pokemon bouncing about in the sand. "I talked to her about it and tried to get her to come with me, but you know how Nona is. It wasn't feasible to bring everyone, so of course she stayed to take care of them."[break][break]

Turning to Dom once more, Tilly frowned at the red mark blooming across her friend's cheek. Her hand grasps empty air as she reaches down for her bag, and she quickly realizes her bag had been dragged a few feet away by a Mawile - a seemingly hungry one, as it was pulling items out of her bag one at a time and sniffing them thoroughly before tossing the object aside and moving on. "Hey!" Tilly cries, jumping up. She closes the space between her and the Mawile with just a couple steps, but stops abruptly as its large secondary set of jaws bares its teeth at her and the Pokemon puffs up, attempting to appear larger than it was. "Hey, hey there," she says soothingly, moving slowly around the creature, giving it a wide enough berth that it can't snap at her. Once the bag is between the woman and the Mawile, she lowers herself to the ground and reaches out slowly, ignoring the soft growls emitting from the Mawile. Pulling the bag over to her, she adjusts so she's sitting on the sand and rummages through her pack, pulling out the first bit of food she could find.[break][break]

Noticing the small jar in Tilly's hand, the Mawile's curiosity leads it to stop growling and lean towards her with its body, trying to see if the jar held anything interesting. Tilly opens the jar and holds it out to the Pokemon. "It's okay, you can have it," Tilly reassures it quietly. Looking back and forth between the jar and the woman, the Mawile finally decides to hold out its hand. Tilly snorts in amusement and raises an eyebrow, but she doesn't take it personally; fairies could be fickle. She reaches out and sets the jar in the Mawile's grasp, picking up her strewn items and carrying her bag back to the bench, leaving the Mawile to its own devices.[break][break]

Sitting back down close to Dom, she digs through her belongings once more, finding her first aid supplies and beginning to tend to Dom's injuries, letting him take the time he needed to tell his story.


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Dominic Grey[break]
...well now I need to be frens with that Mawile...

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Between the alcohol and the jovial atmosphere, Matilda feels herself relax as the sounds of caroling grow. She catches a smile from Martín del Mar and smiles back. As soon as he begins singing she looks away abruptly and polishes off her drink, the echo of every missed note that she'd floundered her way through that morning taunting her. [break][break]

Once people start exchanging presents, Matilda's heart sinks - she hadn't even realized she was going to be in Hoenn by now, let alone had the forethought to bring presents. She looks at Vega with a grimace as Vega looks up at her with wide eyes and shrugs, then points to her purse. Mattie sighs and opens her bag to reveal everything she owns - five pokeballs, a few dollars, and a folded piece of paper with a handwritten recipe for one of her favorite dishes. She looks back to Vega and the Bulbasaur grins proudly back at her. With a small sigh, Matilda grabs one of the pokeballs and thanks her lucky stars that she'd at least finished a couple of them.[break][break]

Holding the capsule in one hand, she rolls it around to inspect it one more time. She loved painting, and with her recent lack of canvases she'd taken to painting pokeballs. Sometimes she'd paint the name or imagery of the Pokemon it belonged to, sometimes it was simply a pattern or blocks of color; the one in her hand was painted to look like a flower. Orange to pink to almost red at the tips of the petals, it mirrored the colors of the flower on Vega's back.[break][break]

Matilda takes a steadying breath and begins heading toward Martín del Mar. A few feet from reaching him however, Matilda sees Eris Halla press a pokeball into his hand that appeared specially made, metals and colors intermingling in a way that denoted care, professionalism, and top-notch artistry. Her cheeks flush red as Eris bolts past her and Matilda palms the pokeball, praying Mars hadn't noticed her.[break][break]

She turns on her heel and stands there for a moment, not sure if her cheeks were still flushed from the embarrassment or the warmth of the room, now fairly packed with people. Looking around, she does her best to find a potential recipient who may enjoy her 'gift'. Her eyes light on Locke Jamison, and she pauses. Wasn't that the person Dom did a job for? The Delibird delivery, transporting mail...it must've been. Well if they owned the mail delivery system for this region, they definitely didn't need one random pokeball. Scanning the room, her eyes quickly alight upon a barely familiar face. Mattie does her best to ignore her pounding heartbeat and heads for luka chêne, the lovely woman who had been decorating the tree with Dom.[break][break]

"Hi!" Matilda greets the other woman, giving her a small wave. "I didn't realize gifts were in order so it's not much, but if you're in need of another pokeball..." Cheeks still red, Matilda holds out the orange and pink flower to Luka.


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Remiel CalcifetGive a gift!

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Thank you so so much Chu-e Choi you're an angel!! <3


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Tilly chuckles at Dom's mention of the electric star, but her smile disappears quickly at the mention of him no longer having an electric type. She takes a large drink from her glass and looks down. As Dom begins stumbling over his own words, Tilly notices Vega had discovered the nearby Riolu and seemed to be chatting with it about the festive finery bedecking the tree. Witnessing that small moment of comradery reminded her why she was here. Tilly touches Dom's arm gently to calm him without interrupting him, but before she gets the chance to reassure him the caroling begins and he's ushered over to the piano and the exceptionally talented pianist. [break][break]

Stepping nearer the tree to get out of people's way, Matilda looks over the ornaments and listens to Vega and Riolu chatting at her feet. She takes another drink and rolls one of the ornaments in her fingers, watching her reflection distort and wondering when Riolu was going to notice Dom had left. Her eyes grow wide with realization and she turns toward the piano - and right into Dom. Intimately familiar with the look in his eyes, she squeezes his hand in hers and readily follows him to the music, joining in on the singing.


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Remiel Calcifet prompt: caroling!

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Seeing Vulpix bolt down the beach with the coveted stick, Haedus forgets that Cutiefly exists entirely and takes off after Nova. Just as he's about to catch up, he instead finds himself face planting rather ungracefully. With a frustrated whine he turns to see what he'd tripped over, and finds himself nose to nose with a small Chinchou. He sniffs the new arrival while she touches him gently with the baubles at the ends of her antennae. Satisfied that he will no longer be impeded in his Great Hunt, he turns on a dime and bounces over to Nova, falling into a deep play bow and trying to steal the stick whenever the opportunity arises.[break][break]

Tears start welling up in earnest as Dom's expression softens, and Tilly falls into her old friend's arms, holding him tight. As soon as she has the tears under control, she lets go and sits next to him near the fire. "Me?! What are you doing here?" She asks, fighting back small sniffles as she wipes her eyes with one hand and gestures to their surroundings with the other.


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Dominic Grey[break]
I'm def gonna make friends with that Chinchou!

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