Coffee break.

[insert pretentious name here]

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, gather 'round--!

Katya had once considered becoming a member of the Gardeners, but had long since discarded that possibility. Partly because she really wasn't into gardening (too much dirt. And bugs. And fertilizers whose contents she didn't want to know), partly because she disliked the idea of settling down. Katya was many things, but peaceful was... well, not exactly one of them.

The Kirlia adjusted her parasol, a frilly thing with the faint designs of yellow flowers decorating the white surface. She'd abandoned her usual circus regalia in favor of a light and equally frilly white and gold sundress. No one had yet asked where she kept her clothes or how she got them, which amused Katya more than it should have. She kept walking into the park, heading for the cute little cafe stuffed amidst the rose bushes (personally, Katya preferred lilies). Maybe she'd get coffee and find/be found by someone she knew. That, or someone she didn't know. Katya wasn't really picky.

[solem]

"Unnf." She was upset. Or at least, she would be upset, if she knew what to call it. A rich smell had drifted toward the snoozing absol, as she lay beneath a tree in the garden, a smell that told of something edible. She had no clue whether it was food or drink- she still couldn't distinguish them very well- but the pink-tinted pokemon was excited to get toward the creamy scent. So determined she had overlooked something very important... the path to the cafe. She had merely shoved her form straight through the protective layers of thorns, ignoring the tickling she didn't recognize as pain. Thorns tugged her fur, and a prickle of annoyance- even despite her being in the dark toward such feelings- ran up her spine. Why did these flowers not allow her to pass? She needed to pass. She wanted to pass.

Clawed toes reached up to rip at the netting of thorns and roses that were preventing her finding of the delicious scent. A faint creaking and cracking noise sounded and she pushed against the blocking structure until it snapped. Dry thorns crackled to the ground and the absol stepped nimbly around them, stepping up to- or nearly into- the cafe. She didn't seem to notice a pachirisu staring at her confusedly, or the tangrowth mumbling to himself of 'garden destruction'. X9 was only interested in one thing and one thing only- this 'drink' called 'coffee'. She must have some. MUST.

[insert pretentious name here]

As Katya approached the cafe, she heard the sound of something breaking. Katya had nothing against breaking things, so long as they weren't hers, so she did not react with annoyance. Instead, the Kirlia glanced inquisitively towards the source of the sound, which was apparently a thorny hedge that a somewhat ragged Absol had crashed through. Had Katya been one of the Gardeners, she might have been offended, horrified, etc. etc. that a random shrub had been squashed. But Katya was not a Gardener and she really didn't give a damn about shrubs.

More interestingly, at least to her, was the Absol's coloring - as if someone had slid a red filter between her and the typical black-and-white Absol. Also, the Absol was fluffy. Katya was particularly fond of whatever happened to be cute and fluffy in her line of vision. And, if the way it was acting was any indication, the Absol was rather young and confused.

Or at the very least intoxicated by the smell of coffee, which Katya could cheerfully work with.

The Kirlia approached, subconsciously maintaining an expression of friendly, benign interest. "Are you quite all right?" she asked the Absol, also completely ignoring the stares of other Pokemon, who either wondered why the hell a Kirlia was wearing a frilly sundress, why a frilly-sundress-and-parasol-bearing Kirlia was talking to the Absol who had just trampled a random hedge in the Emerald Park, or why the somewhat infamous leader of the Cirque was talking to a random Absol (if asked, Katya would have quite specifically denied any attempt at soul-snatching, whether or not it had any particular bearing on that conversation). Possibly a combination of them. Continuing on with blatantly ignoring people and observing the Absol's somewhat... obsessive... expression, Katya said, "Now, calm down, love, and come with me. I'll buy you a drink. Would you like that?"

[[No I don't know why Katya's so British either shut up. :D;]]

[solem]

"Are you quite alright?"

She had been about to brush this question off and move closer to the scent. It would've been easy- she was good at ignoring people- but something stopped her. Perhaps it was the odd accent, perhaps it was the offer of coffee that followed after her first question... it might even be the 'curiosity' she felt toward this clothed kirlia. (Honestly she had rarely seen pokemon in full clothing. Especially yellow- a color she liked.) But the absol turned, tipped her head, glanced the kirlia up and down, and parted her lips in reply. "I'm alright. And yes, I'd like a drink." Her voice sounded devoid of emotion, and it could be noted she lingered on the word 'like' as if she had no clue of its meaning. She knew what it was- for X9 was no fool- but she couldn't tell it apart from anything else that happened to twinge within her chest. Annoying, that was, but she figured she'd get it right sooner or later.

"I like your dress. The yellow looks good. Do pokemon normally wear clothes?" She didn't hide the question, or slip it out more subtly as perhaps she should. But X9 was not a subtle creature and she had no problem with others thinking her odd because of her lack of worldly knowledge. She just fell back on her young and confused appearance if any questions came into play. After all... a kid couldn't be expected to know that type of thing. ...or could they? Hm. Well.

Bright eyes suddenly caught on to the increased number of stares- why were so many turning to look? It couldn't have been her and so.. it was this kirlia? X9 glanced briefly at the petite pokemon. Besides the clothes... the parasol.... she seemed normal. Unless something was going on that X9 was not aware of. ...Then again... she wasn't aware of a lot of things. "Why do they stare at you?" she asked, a quizzical look crossing her face.

{{Yaaay British kirlia! If X9 ever had an accent... I think she'd be Russian. xD}}

[insert pretentious name here]

Katya smiled brightly into the Absol's not-quite cyanide eyes. "Why, thank you, dear. And no, I don't believe that most Pokemon wear clothes, but I do so like to make them," she explained.

At her second question, Katya didn't bother to look around to see that yes, there were other Pokemon staring at her. Now, there were a number of answers she could have given, but Katya chose the simplest one. "Why, I'm not quite sure," Katya replied, in perfect honesty. It was true - there was any number of reasons, but Katya deliberately chose not to dwell on them. "But never mind them, love, follow me." The Kirlia turned and marched - there was no other word to describe her decisive bearing, anyway - towards the cafe, glancing back to check that the shiny Absol was still following her. It wouldn't do if she wasn't, after all, now that Katya had an interest.

[[AMG RUSSIAN ABSOOOOL. -shot-]]

[solem]

She listened intently- she always did, for X9 was the learning type- as the kirlia told her no, other pokemon didn't wear clothes, she didn't know why the others eyes were on her, and to follow her. As if she didn't even need to mull such a suggestion over, the absol sprang into step behind the two-legged creature, who was presumably taking her to the cafe for a drink. Lovely.

Flexing her toes as she walked as if awakening her body from a previous slumber, the absol quickened her stride to catch up to and walk beside the newly-found ralts evolution. "You like to make clothes? For yourself, or others?" She was interested, if you could call it that, in how exactly a pokemon had the ability to sew. Were needles and cloth not human objects? Where would one get them? Naturally she knew the answer. Thievery. That would be the only way to get ones hands on such humanoid objects. Pokemon didn't wear clothes. Or at least... most didn't. Isn't that what the kirlia had said? "Where do you get cloth and needles? And thread?" She asked it despite already predicting the answer. X9 needed confirmation on the subject, simple as that. She might not have the abilities of a thief, but that didn't mean others didn't.

[[Da, she would be Russian. A very confused and conversationally retarded Russian absol. xD]]

[fantasmicdragon]

I walk a path of blood

[[Ish room for meh?]]

Obviously someone was watching the two, but who? In a darkened corner of the cafe, a pair of yellow eyes watched the two walking. A gentle ticking sound could be heard. It began to speed up as the creature drank the last of the coffee it had ordered. It stepped down from the seat and began to stalk the two. As it entered the sunlight, Its head began to show. A pair of dark ears, each a blue ring around it, began to appear, along with a pair of hard yellow eyes underneath its ears. It was same on its front legs. Its body began to appear, a black pelt lined with various scars. As its tail appeared, a scarlet stained gear appeared, ticking. It occasionally dropped a scarlet drop on the ground. Its eyes were still focused on the Kirla and Absol, what was drawing the creature to stalk the two?

for I am NIGHTSTAR

[insert pretentious name here]

Katya was quite enjoying herself. Most in this day and age didn't give you their undivided attention - or much of their attention at all, come to think of it - or express an obvious interest the way that this Absol did, and Katya did like attention. "Well, I don't have much time to make clothes, which is a bit sad. Most of them I typically make to wear myself. Other Pokemon don't really appreciate it, and I decided to stop making them for those who don't want them." She tsked, obviously remembering an... incident. "And it was such lovely muslin too..."

The Kirlia swept in through the open door of the cafe, closing her parasol as she did. Not that there wasn't plenty of room, but Katya disliked the thought of possibly smacking someone with it. Not only was the parasol a rather delicate thing, but Katya didn't see the point in such a trivial accident. Not amusing at all, and more inconvenient than anything else.

Out of the corner of her eye, Katya noticed an Umbreon melt out of the shadows, as oddly colored (well, as Umbreon went) as the Absol beside her (note to self, ask for her name). Her ears picked up a faint ticking sound, which was odd because Katya didn't remember there being a clock in the cafe that hadn't been silenced so as not to interrupt the quiet, soothing music that played in the background. Rather than acknowledging the Umbreon staring at the odd pair, Katya stepped cheerfully into the line, which was a rather short one of a Nuzleaf arguing with the barista Breloom and a Raichu wearing an aviator's jacket and excessively large headphones that, if you listened closely enough, were playing punk rock. In answer to the Absol's next pair of questions, Katya said brightly, "Oh, usually I go to this darling little shop in the downtown area, but you know, there are some lovely stalls in the marketplaces too."

For once, Katya was not deliberately omitting details - it simply hadn't occurred to her that it might have been important to mention if she stole the fabrics, thread, and needles. She did, at least, if they were in the stalls, because those prices were higher than Katya would have liked. On the other hand, Katya paid in the downtown store, simply because she found it more of a bother not to and frequented it far too often for it to be worth it. To be fair, that money was either stolen or earned by the Cirque, and if it had been earned, well, that money had probably been stolen by their clients. Not that Katya bothered to care, so long as it was in her possession.

[[ -rolls over and dies at wall of text- |D; Now I want that Raichu fffffff.]]

[solem]

She was surprised by the answer, if that was what one would call it. The kirlia said she went to stalls and a shop- but mentioned nothing of whether things were taken or not. X9 didn't mind, for she assumed the best of strangers and figured the little pokemon payed. Or else was careful. Either way, as long as this nice creature could do what made her happy. That seemed to be all it came down to, in the end. "Oh, I'd think more pokemon would want to wear clothes. They look good on you... would they not on others?" If that was a compliment, X9 wasn't aware. "Also... what is muslin?" She thought it sounded like a dumb question, but... well, she didn't really have any knowledge of fabric. She knew things more by appearance than name, which hindered her conversationally, but sometimes... well sometimes she could work things out. With a little strain, of course.

X9's head had been in the clouds as the Kirlia closed up her parasol. She had been listening contentedly to the soft music- it was soothing. Calming. She liked it. Moments into a new song the faint click of a ticking mechanism sounding somewhere, turning over and over like clockworks. She had been about to comment on this oddity to her dress-wearing new friend, but she stopped before letting out a word. Seeing no time-telling machine in sight, the absol frowned and let her sea-foam eyes wander aimlessly around the room. They halted on a pokemon who seemed to literally melt out of the more dimly lit side of the cafe, an umbreon who seemed bigger than normal. Perhaps it was her mind playing tricks, but was this beast taller than she? X9 knew she was petite for an absol, standing at about 3"8 instead of the usual 3"11 or 4, but she had never met an eeveelution that capped that. Weren't they supposed to be three feet and below? Or something? Truthfully she had only met a leafeon and jolteon, but still.... they had been the same. Confused now, the absol paced away from her kirlia companion to walk a circle around the umbreon, staring openly. She was, as mentioned, not a subtle creature.

After walking several units around the larger pokemon, she promptly sat down on her haunches in front of him, tipping her head. It wasn't the height, in the end, that caused X9 to comment on this umbreon. Nor was it his shinyness- she was unimpressed with odd colorings. They didn't make you any different, past appearances. No, no, it was the creatures odd appendage that had the little absols eyebrows raised. The red object that seemed to drip scarlet drops on the otherwise clean floor.

"You... have a gear on your ass." Score one for sensitivity.




[[She's not like other girls. xD]]

[fantasmicdragon]

My heart has been shattered

Nightstar flinched slightly when the Absol commented, but showed no other sign of being sensitive to the gear. "So? Its not like i care for the gear. And technally, its not on my ass, its on my tail." He said, showing no sign of senstivity. The ticking grew softer, but still could be heard. "Your gonna have to do better than that to get my to a senstive point."He whispered. Honestly, he did'nt care what the absol said, his only senstive point was in his past but the Absol would'nt dare to get into his past. Atleast he hoped the Absol would'nt. From the looks of her, she seemed new to the world but as far as he knew she could be pretending. He sat down and flicked his ears to a random direction. A couple Rattata were scrapping for a meal outside. Inside, various pokemon were either talking, drinking coffee or just standing around. The Dawn Fragment around his neck glimmered in the sunlight. But Nightstar's gaze remained on the Absol, waiting for an answer.

By the cruetly of love

[insert pretentious name here]

[[Solem. Best. Line. Ever. -shot-]]

Katya answered flippantly, "Oh, some just think clothes are awkward or uncomfortable or just human, though I don't see what's wrong with that, humans can be quite delightful. Muslin's a type of cloth, very popular in Orre," the Kirlia explained concisely. She tilted her head back to glance up into the newcomer's face, as Katya was about half his height. Being short was a trifle inconvenient at times.

"You... have a gear on your ass."

Katya let out a ladylike laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. "Please do watch your language, love," she told the Absol, though she sounded more amused than anything. To the Umbreon, the Kirlia merely showed an expression of pleasant "interest". "Hello, then," Katya said brightly. "I don't believe I've seen you before. I would remember, I should think."

[solem]

"Clothes seem pretty. I've never worn any, but... they seem comfy too. But I must disagree on one bit...." She frowned toward the kirlia, perhaps one of the only expressions she had used easily since she ran into the kirlia. "Humans are not delightful. They make delightful things. Some may be pretty. But they are not... kind."

She was watching the umbreon intently now, awaiting a sign he had heard her or was even interested in replying. He was, obviously, and she blinked emotionlessly as she saw a slight flinch cross the eeveelutions face. X9 dismissed it... perhaps she had imagined it. This pokemon seemed too solid and stoic to flinch.

"But your tail is still connected to your as-.... end." She tilted her head curiously, the red scythe that was the disaster pokemons calling card glinting slightly in the low lights. "It's dripping red. Are you bleeding?" He didn't seem to be- or maybe he just didn't feel it? Or she was imagining it? Hm.

"Is a sensitive point like a pressure point? Does it knock you out? If so I can see yours." She smiled in a friendly way, as though she didn't quite realize that sounded like a threat. Which she didn't, of course. X9 wasn't exactly normal, and nor did she get what the strangely larger dark pokemon was talking about. But she assumed it was something like pressure points, and hoped it might be... or at least be slightly close? Did a sensitive point hurt too? Could it knock you out? She wanted to know now.

Distracted by the Kirlia speaking, she turned her eyes momentarily on the pokemon who had taken her to this cafe, head tilted curiously once more. "Watch my language? Which one? Говорите ли вы русский? Do I watch my Russian?" She was confused, to say the least. That seemed to be happening quite a lot. Wait... how did she know Russian.....? This day seemed to be getting exceedingly complicated.

[[ APPARENTLY HER TEST-TUBE BIRTH GAVE HER EXCESSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGES. ...YEAH. .... and this post is exactly why I shouldn't try to write anything after ten p.m. Sorry. Dx ]]

[fantasmicdragon]

With blood stained paws...

Nightstar laughed at the question the shiny Absol asked. "That's for me to know and you to find out" He laughed. He listened a bit more and backed up a bit. "A sensitive point refers to feelings, some differ from others and some may not have a sensitive point at all." He said, the scarlet gear ticking faster with each word. More 'blood' stained the ground, he could tell that the other Pokemon were watching intensely at the gear. A nearby Flygon rose some dust into the air, scared. A few Eeveelutions nearby, Jolteon, Flareon and Espeon, watched the gear as well. The cafe suddenly grew very quiet, charged thick with fear and suspicion. Nightstar did'nt care, his gaze remained firmly locked onto the Absol. "By the way, what is your name?" He asked.
((bit short for my taste...))

Even destiny fears me

[Ex]

There was something very wrong with the café today. The vines which made up the café's wall (indeed, the entire small structure was made out of strong, climbing vines of various species, without a brick in sight) seemed to freeze, their soft green leaves lifelessly still. Without entering, the 'owner' of the café could feel the emotions: fear, suspicion, unease. They strangled his throat, reminded him why he hated the foolishness of trivial arguments.

"Good afternoon, everyone," the Gardevoir greeted pleasantly, pushing the doors open (alright, so, maybe there was a fence keeping the vines up, but it was completely hidden). In that instant the café seemed to calm down, at least to the point where danger seemed limited. After all, nothing really 'bad' could happened when Psy was around. Not when the angel of the roses, when the sweet pacifist, when the leader of Eden's Gardeners was around.

Psy was met with a number of timid hellos, although it was not him that had caused the timidness. The psychic scanned the interior of the café, quite satisfied to find that nothing was broken. The tree stump tables were all in place and the chairs had not been thrown across the room (which would be hard because the stools were secured by many vines, tightly packed and much stronger than a Pokémon would expect). However, there was still the feeling of tension in the air, and Psy intended to find out what it was.

The Gardevoir did not need to look any farther than directly in front of him (to the right, but just a bit) to understand what was going on. There appeared to be three Pokémon: a Kirlia, an Absol, and an Umbreon. All three had their own quirks: the Kirlia was wearing clothes (Psy was wearing a sunhat, so you could say he wasn't very different, but it wasn't the same) and the Absol and Umbreon were shiny. An odd group, but Psy had seen stranger in his life time.

"Hello there," Psy said sweetly, approaching the group. He was significantly taller than all three of then, standing at a Gardevoir tall 5'7", "You three must have come here to get a drink or a small pastry, or whatever the café gives. It's all free, as we grow the majority of the ingredients at Emerald Park. However, we do accept donations, as there are some ingredients that simply get exhausted too quickly to keep up with the popularity of our little café. Follow me to the counter, please."

Without waiting for an answer (Psy felt he had to ease the tight atmosphere as quickly as possible), the blue coloured Gardener walked to the counter. The bag of jasmine and chrysanthemum seeds and seedlings Psy had been carrying was taken by the Tangrowth, but not before Psy asked, "Have you seen other Gardeners around? I was expecting more Pokémon to be tending the café," only to have the Tangrowth shake his head and disappear into the back room. Disappointed, Psy went on to hang his wide sunhat on a coat hanger (which was also infested with vines) and put on a black biker jacket.

"Umbreon," Psy began, looking at Nightstar, "your tail appears to be bleeding. Would you like me to fix that?"

// Ahha, look, the leader of Eden's Gardeners is around. Okay, so, Strae knows him, but I'm pretty sure Solem and Dragon don't know Psy. So, Psy is my shiny Gardevoir character. And he's a guy. Don't let that stop the gender confusion jokes, though. Psy being mistaken for a girl is practically a meme by now. //

[insert pretentious name here]

[[Must not bring up Psy in a lolidress... must not...]]

"Never mind, love," Katya told her Absol companion. The Kirlia did not bother to explain her definition of "delightful" to X9, nor what "language" meant in her specific context. The second was partly due to X9 having corrected herself the second time around, and Katya didn't believe in repeating herself, especially when it wasn't necessary.

Katya realized quite abruptly she'd forgotten to ask the Absol's name. Stupid of her, really. The Kirlia knew her manners ought to be better, and yet - ! Putting that matter aside for the moment, Katya realized she was being ignored, which did not make her happy. Who did this Umbreon think he was, anyway? And he was bleeding. Katya did not approve of bleeding all over someone else's floor. Briefly, she considered giving the Umbreon a piece of her mind. A rather scathing one would be suitable.

Before she could, though, a certain shiny Gardevoir entered the cafe. "Oh, hello Psy!" Katya greeted him brightly. "You know, I think you'd look lovely in a, shall we say... different dress. Pink would do wonders for your appearance, love," she beamed. Whether or not it was a threat, it was certainly a memorable suggestion. Also, rather expected for the leader of the Cirque.