Two years ago, when White and N went separate ways, White would have killed to spend a little more time with N and get to know the peculiar boy some more. Now, she wasn't so sure. At all.
N wasn't the best roommate to have, White learned to her dismay. His years of being recluse from all human contact had led him to be very closed up and distant. It seemed like a switch had been flicked; the happy moment after their reunion, he regressed. White could hardly coax out any conversation from him.
At this rate, Ghetsis was looking to be a better roommate then this unsociable mouse.
White's eyes burned from another night of nearly no sleep, and her face itched with sweat and fur particles from having her pokemon sleep with her in the same bed. Normally firm and assertive, she tended to be very passive when her pokemon wanted to sleep with her. She glanced outside, through the sea of fur and feathers. It didn't look to be anymore than six in the morning. Again, that was no different.
This castle barely seemed livable, although enough to please N. Of course, after all these years, anything that's not one single, never-changing room would please N. Her bed was giving her back deformities, she was sure of it, but she was far too shy to admit it to N. She didn't want to seem like a burden.
Yawning, White stretched her aching muscles and tip-toed out of the bedroom anyway. She was dizzy from fatigue, but she ignored it. It wasn't like she'd be able to sleep well on a worn mattress with pokemon bulging from it.
I wonder if N is up yet. She always pictured him to be an early riser. He was a former king after all, and royals were normally up at the crack of dawn.
Her feet felt cold as they glided over the porcelain and through the halls. Cautiously, she peered into N's room(kitchen). He was still sleeping. White gave a soft giggle at the tufts of black and red sticking up beside N. So she wasn't the only one that slept with her pokemon...
Despite how rude she knew it was, White couldn't help but come into the room. She stood by the former King's bed and peered down. N looked so young and innocent when he slept. His tea-green hair was ruffled and unkempt, and White quickly realized his sleep wear looked as if it was ten years old.
Doesn't he have any other pyjamas? It looks as if they went through a blender!
White continued to stare intently at the sleeping N, and she didn't realize at first that he was no longer asleep. In fact, he was just laying there, blinking up at her.
He blinked.
She blinked.
"...KYAA!" Mortified, the girl stumbled, and her head almost went cracking to the floor. A pair of claws caught her in an instant. Hovering mere inches above the ground and being held up by the Zoroark, White flushed and muttered and embarrassed thank you as the dark pokemon roughly shoved her towards N with a glare.
"White, are you alright?" N asked. White froze when she realized N was the one holding her up now. Her mouth moved, but all that could really be heard was unintelligible babbling.
I think she was spying on you, N. Zoroark was the only one of N's pokemon that didn't refer to him as 'my lord.' White flinched under the pokemon's glare.
"Let her be, Zoroark," N frowned. "I think she's shaken right now." He looked down at his tattered clothes and hastily pulled on an old robe.
"N..." White hesitated; she didn't want to offend him. "N, don't you have any other pyjamas? Those have holes everywhere! They can't be very comfortable. You must be cold at night."
"I am," the teen hesitantly confessed. His pale face flushed pink in embarrassment as he pulled ashamedly at the thin and torn fabric. "I haven't had the chance to buy any new pyjamas, and I, well, have to keep a low profile, as we know." He straightened himself. "If you're hungry, I'll get us some breakfast."
The walk to the kitchen (and by that, meaning the table just about five feet away) was as quiet as usual. White didn't say a word, and obviously neither did N. It baffled White how someone who never used to shut up about pokemon now hardly said a word. And here she thought he was finally happy.
White ingested her cereal in silence. Her pokemon stood at her side and she passed out small bowls for them to feast on. The only sounds were spoons gently clanging into glass bowls and chewing, until Fuu started cooing to N. White glowered at her pokemon as N dropped the poker look and started to chat with the Samorott.
She narrowed her eyes at Fuu. Oh sure, he talks to you, but Arceus forbid he converses with me. Inwardly, White cursed herself for her own selfishness. This was N, the boy that grew up with pokemon as a family, the boy that barely saw the outside world, and the boy that didn't know squat about interacting with humans. She needed to be patient and let him come around on his own.
"How did you sleep last night, N?" She had to start somewhere.
"Fine." She wondered if he even realized how cold his voice sounded, and how deep it cut her when he spoke now. Perhaps he did, for he noticed her pained eyes. "I always sleep better when I'm with my friend. Zoroark has curled up beside me since I was four." He smiled—holy crap, he smiled!-and looked at White. "He's a little too big for that now."
That was the most words Whits had managed to pull out of him in three days! She felt accomplished, and far less tense as she grinned back cheekily. "Yeah? Try sleeping with a bed-full of pokemon, on a bed that's not even too comfy to begin with." Realizing her mistake, she instantly shut her mouth.
N didn't look offended though, that she could tell. He only nodded and shrugged slightly. "I had a feeling that bed wouldn't be the most comfortable. I'll have to find you a better mattress." He went back to staring down at his cereal, and White realized that the moment of talking – the only one that would probably exist that day – was over.
Near the end of the meal, White noticed N was struggling to keep his pyjama sleeve on. The withered fabric seemed like it was at the end of its life as it fell limply down his arm, and a glaring N gave up and let it fall into the shallow puddle of milk in his cereal bowl.
"You need new pyjamas," White said, as if it wasn't completely obvious.
"I suppose I do," N agreed. "I'll have to cut up some of the old towels and use the sewing skills Concordia taught me to make some new ones." He blinked as the brunette's eyes bulged out. "What?"
"Are you nuts?"
That seemed to confuse him more. Damn him and his inability to understand expressions! "No, we don't have any. I can get you some if you want."
"N!" White exclaimed, exasperated. Didn't he get it? No, of course he didn't. If you wanted to get something through N's head you needed to be literal. "You need actual pyjamas! You need to wear something with real material, like flannel or cotton. We need to go clothes shopping."
He stared at her for a few moments and then shook his head. "Have you forgotten I'm wanted in Unova?"
"No you're not. The legal system isn't holding anything against you, it's just some people may not be too fond of seeing you, but we can't use that as an excuse to stay here forever. We'll go crazy!"
N blinked at her, and then his voice grew hostile. "You forget that you're free to leave whenever you wish, if you really do not want to be here. I'm not keeping you as prisoner." Even he was taken aback at the venom in his voice, and he could tell by the hurt look on her face that it had affected her as well. He really was trying, but it baffled him how she chose to stay with someone as terrible as him. He could never be a friend to her...
"I just think it would be good for you to go out in society. We could take a ride on Amane into Castelia to shop for some new clothes and stuff for the castle. I have quite a bit of money saved up."
At last, N gave a nervous smile and shrugged, to White's relief. Perhaps something as little as pyjamas would finally give them something to talk about.
Castelia was bustling at this time of day. Of course, being that it was the region's favorite city, it was always busy and crawling with people. There was no good time to go for those trying to keep a low profile and remain inconspicuous.
"Put these on," White told N, shoving a pair of sunglasses on his face. Lastly, she pulled a straw hat over his head and tucked his ponytail up into it.
N stared down at himself. His beige pants had been replaced with a pair of blue jeans, and his white shirt with a corduroy sweater with buttons that connected to the overalls. He looked hideous, he found. He glowered when White started softly giggling. "I fail to see what's so ludicrous about this situation."
"Nothing," White laughed, calling Amane back into her ball. The two teens had made sure to land in the darkest part of the alley so Reshiram wouldn't be seen in the city. Reshiram coupled with her and N could be a disaster if people put the pieces together.
"Now let's go."
The teens made their way past a crowd of people, and into the mall. They looked about in wonderment at the size of the vast building. It was truly huge. During her travels to the League, White didn't take much time to shop at cities and towns, so she hardly gave a store in Castelia City so much as a second glance. This was entirely new to the both of them.
N left White's side and took a few steps forward, his mint-green eyes widening in wonderment under the dark glasses. "What a peculiar idea. Instead of just one store, they've combined several of them to take up more space and make it more convenient."
Oh, that's right. He had probably never seen a mall in his life. "Yes, well, let's just stick togeth—N!" Within the span of two seconds he was gone. White looked around frantically and finally saw his form ascending up the escalator in front of her. He was clinging to the railing and looking absolutely petrified.
"Oh jeez!" What was he, a toddler that she couldn't turn her back on? Apparently so. Hurriedly, White climbed the escalator and pulled him up to his feet. "What are you doing?" she scolded. "You'll get lost and I am not paging them to find you!"
His fear settling, N glanced down at the moving stairs and now seemed greatly fascinated. "How clever. Instead of everyone just going up the stairs at once they reduce the work by making them move?" He frowned. "It seems sort of lazy though."
"It's good for people with disabilities," White pointed out. "Now let's get you your pyjamas, and some stuff for the castle."
They walked into the store, and White looked around in bewilderment. This one store seemed like it was a mall in itself! Well, it was one of those stores that was supposed to have everything. The two of them walked through the screen door, which immediately screeched and opened itself upon their arrival.
"The clothing department is just down that corner," White pointed out. It took her a while to realize she was talking to herself and the sound of the screeching was still going on. Sure enough, N was still back there, stepping in and out of the door and watching it open and close on its own curiously.
Yanking the older teen to her with a sharp tug, White led him down to the men's clothing department. "They have sleepwear of all kind, and I think we should really look into getting you another outfit as well. Don't worry, I have the money for it." She gave him a shove. "Now get in there!"
N stumbled, nearly into a coat rack, and almost lost his glasses in the process. He shot a glare at White, but she only motioned for him to hurry up and choose something. His eyes roved the racks of clothes in front of him. There were two pieces, one pieces, and clothes that looked like dresses. None were really in his style.
He glanced back at White for her input, but she seemed busy gazing at the woman's rack of clothing. "N, do you think you'll be alright by yourself?" She watched him give an awkward nod. "Alright, I'm going to go pick up some clothes for myself. Now find something, and try to stay in this department, got it?" God, it was like ordering a five year old to stay close to Mommy.
Again, he nodded. White pushed past a clothes rack and disappeared, unaware to how much she was going to regret leaving him alone later.
N didn't like shopping. He had never done it before and he couldn't imagine why people found it so appealing, or why there were so many 'shop-a-holics', as Concordia had called them. The store was big, there were too many people, and the selections had too much to choose from. He couldn't make up his mind.
"Excuse me, madam." He lowered his goofy sunglasses and smiled up at one of the salesclerks. "I'm looking for a new pair of pyjamas and I'm having trouble making up my mind. Would you please show me the selection?"
The woman blushed deeply at his silky smile, but that just made him blink in confusion. Why was it every woman he came in contact with seemed to stutter and go pink in the face? Was his presence invoking an illness on them? The men he met didn't do that. Well...some did.
"Of course, sir, right this way. What were you looking for?"
"New pyjamas," N said simply. The woman laughed and N couldn't figure out what was so funny. He wanted new pyjamas.
She led him to a rack at the back, and N was captivated by the colors the dull clothes in the front didn't seem to have. His eyes sparkled with wonderment as he held the fabric. The woman watched, quirking an eyebrow as the grown man nuzzled happily into the fabric and sighed. "Sir..?"
Pulling back, N pointed to a rack with yellow, flannel pyjamas that had all kinds of pokeballs all over them. "I think I'll have these, please." It was yellow, soft, and warm.
The salesclerk smiled at N and nodded, looking over the pyjamas. "Oh dear. These pyjamas don't look to be in your size."
"Oh." N blinked. "Are you going to shrink them?" The woman started laughing again, and he couldn't understand it. He was being serious!
"I'll be back in a few moments with your size." She left, and N stood there. What was he supposed to do now? He wasn't able to see White over the sea of racks in the woman's department, but he knew she told him to stay close.
His eyes began wandering the store, until they landed on the electric appliances. Instantly, N was captivated by their weird forms, ignored White's order, and hurried over. He ran his fingers over the appliances and gazed at them.
"What is this, sir?" N asked, pointing to a coffee maker. He held up the mug and turned it in his hands. The mug looked like a Magikarp, and the handle was its tail.
The man only snorted over his newspaper and scowled down at N. "It's a coffee maker, what else? Don't you see the filter there?"
Now N was even more confused. "What's a filter?"
The man just stared down at him, unable to believe what he was hearing. "What, are you from Mars?"
Now N seemed to shrink in slightly on himself. He looked very uncomfortable and embarrassed. "No...my bedroom." After giving him another stare, the man snorted and returned to his paper. N stared back, blankly, and then returned to browsing the appliances.
"Such curious inventions," he mused. He reached a finger in through the cages to a fan and lightly spun the blade. "What purposes do these serve?" He looked back over at the rude salesclerk, but the man didn't even glance in his direction. N figured he'd try to decipher the contraption and flicked the switch.
A blast of air slammed him in the face, and he yelped and stumbled out of its firing range. It then blasted into the stack of paper in the stationary aisle, and sent an explosion of white rectangles into the air. The man finally put down his newspaper and hurriedly turned off the fan. The stationary manager yelled words N had heard his father say many times as he shook his fist.
The teen backed up as the salesclerks screamed at him, sensing he should probably leave as soon as possible. He bolted into another aisle, breathing heavily.
"Hello there, young man." N turned as a kinder, and bigger woman greeted him from behind a cart of toys. "Can I do anything for you?"
N gazed up at the woman. "Do you have pokeball covered pyjamas?"
She looked at him funny and laughed. "No sir, not in this department. You're at the toy department, my friend. But, I do have something much better. How would you like a furry, huggable, little friend?"
N's teal eyes lit up in immediate delight at the thought. Was this the woman's way of releasing pokemon? Did she have to get rid of hers and wanted them to go to a better home? Well, whatever it was, he'd be delighted to see another pokemon. "A pokemon?"
"You betcha!" N yelped as a Minun plushie was tossed towards him, and he barely had time to catch it before it hit the floor. The teen gave the little pokemon a friendly squeeze—and promptly felt his insides grow cold. The insides of the pokemon felt very soft; there wasn't a single ridge of bone poking him. Slowly, N turned the Minun over and gazed into the large, button eyes.
"It's not moving," he whimpered.
The woman only laughed some more and gave N a pat on his straw hat "You're hilarious, boy. I like you! 'Course it ain't moving! It's a stuffed pokemon!"
The toy fell from N's hands as he stood there trembling. The woman gazed down at him and frowned. N's face had drained of all color as he shivered there, frozen on the spot. "A-a stuffed pokemon?!" With a cry of terror, N bolted there from the spot, and into the bathrobe section.
The woman only turned up her face in confusion. "What a weird little man."
"N! N, where are you?" White had been calling to him for about ten minutes now, and learned quickly that he was nowhere near the men's wear. Did she really expect him to listen to her though? If she was in a mall for the first time she'd want to do some exploring as well.
"Excuse me sir, have you seen my friend N?" The man behind the counter of appliances only glared at her."He has on overalls, shades, and a straw hat."
At that, the man threw down his paper and laughed bitterly. "The freak who doesn't even know what a fan is? Yeah, I saw him! Did he just crawl out from under a rock or something?"
White wanted to punch this guy. She knew that society wouldn't be able to understand N's inability to comprehend most things, and his complete and utter lack of knowledge for, well...everything. Still, she felt a strange protective urge come over her. She knew how N grew up, and it was not his fault he had the mindset and knowledge of a five year old.
"He is NOT a freak!" she shouted at the man. "You think just because he's different you can call him a freak? So what if he doesn't know what a fan is! Maybe he grew up in a different way than you, jerk!"
The cruel man,unfazed by her rant and scalding glare, only snorted. "Well, the little weirdo went running off into the bath department. I think I saw him hide behind a rack of bathrobes."
Hide? For Arceus sake, did he see a bed sheet and think it was a ghost? Most likely. Rolling her eyes, White pushed back against the counter and walked heavily over to the bath department. Well, it was no big guess as to what rack he was in, judging by the bathrobe quivering right beside her.
Whisking aside the robe, White stared down at him. He looked terrible. He was pale and trembling, and his eyelids appeared frozen open. All in all, he looked traumatized. "What happened to you? Are you alright?" She knelt down next to him.
N stared over at White, and she felt her heart surge with fear when she realized there were tears rimming his eyes. "White, I want to leave this place immediately! This store is horrible! It's barbaric!" He shivered, and White's worry increased. "This cruel, horrible monster of a woman is selling stuffed pokemon!"
To his amazement and chagrin, White fell to the ground in hysterics. He glared through his tears. How could she laugh at a time like this?! "White, you horrible girl! How can you possibly find any humor in the sick notion of humans digging out a pokemon's organs and stuffing them with soft, fuzzy material to give to people to cuddle?!"
When the girl could finally breathe through her fits of laughter, she helped N up to his feet. "N...N you adorable, stupid boy, come with me."
The green haired teen let himself be dragged back to the aisle, but made no attempt to walk there himself. He hid his face when the two of them reached the woman, and wouldn't look as White held out the Minun plush to him.
"N, look. See? Its eyes aren't even real. They're buttons!"
If anything, that made him freak out more. "You mean to tell me they replaced the eyes as well?!"
"No!" White laughed. "N, it's fake!"
"...Huh?"
"The pokemon, N. It's fake." She pulled at the 'fur'. "See? It's made of fleece. Plushies are just made for people to have a buddy to cuddle with. They're made for fun. No pokemon was killed to make them..."
Slowly, N took the Minun plush into his trembling hands and looked it over. Finally, his shoulders relaxed and he gave a smile of relief. "O-oh, it is fake." Curiously, he scratched at the fabric with his nail, and ripped a stitch. "How peculiar."
"Hey!" the woman growled. She glared down at White and held her hand out expectantly. "That'll be 500 yen."
"I can't fathom why humans are comforted by this...plushie," N said as he looked over his Minun plushie. "I understand the need to cuddle with a pokemon for comfort, but why not turn to the actual thing instead of a cheap imitation of it?"
"If you don't like it then why did you rip it?" White snapped. N shut up and White looked back to see him staring quietly, and rather shamefully up at her.
"Are you angry with me?"
It felt like a giant rock had just hit her heart and White's frown instantly faded. How could she be so stupid? N wasn't like a normal teenager, whom you could just scold and they'd laugh at you. When N was scolded, it always made him feel like he had committed a blasphemy. Beneath the adult exterior and appearance, he was a child.
"No, I'm not mad at you," she said kindly, much like her mother did when she asked that very question long ago. "But I want you to know that I'd never take you to a place I think is inhumane. This mall is talked about often and it's a clean and wholesome, family-place."
"Hey, miss! Do you and your friend want some free samples?"
White exhaled in relief and appreciation. She didn't even realize how hungry she was until she looked at the baking vendor's cart just across from them. Hurrying over, both her and N took a small cup of treats and eyed the contents.
N pulled out a Pikachu shaped cracker and examined it in confusion. "This seems a little odd. To what purpose does this pokemon shaped thing serve?"
"They're pokemon shaped crackers!" the man grinned. "These are our newest flavor, coconut with a cream filling!" And with that, he bit the head off the Pikachu.
And N promptly fainted.
Between the plushie incident, the pokemon crackers, and then an incident soon after where N had seen a pokemon on a television and accidentally slammed into it, thinking it was real, White made a solemn vow to herself to never take N to the mall again. Currently, she had the teen firmly gripped by the hand, wishing she could leash him. Maybe that's what they'd do next time. White would get him a long leash and would reel him in like a damn fish when he couldn't be trusted to be on his own.
Which was always.
"I think we have almost everything," White said tiredly as she loaded a few bags of stuff onto Amane's's back. N, still holding her hand, looked worriedly at the Reshiram.
"Don't you think we might be putting too much weight on Amane?"
"She's fine." White really didn't care right now. She knew her Reshiram could handle it anyway.
"I really need a new mattress." She sighed and looked up at Amane. "But someone needs to finish loading the shopping bags on Amane. We can't keep her out in the open too long, so one of us needs to go get the mattress." She glared N in the eye. "The mattresses are right by the door. Surely you can handle that, can't you?"
Timidly, the teen nodded.
"Alright, go get me one and be fast." She tried not to make her voice sound too threatening, knowing he had enough of that as a child, but White was fed up. If she had known N's inexperience with interacting with people and the world would lead to this then she would have left him home. Better yet, she would have tied him to a tree so he couldn't break anything or hurt himself while she was gone.
N entered the mall again, and paid no heed to the sliding door that had immensely fascinated him earlier. He had a task to do.
The Queen sized mattress towered over some of the smaller ones. The smaller ones would fit White, but in N's eyes only the Queen sized mattress was good enough for her. He knew she'd appreciate the larger one way more. After all, the limp one she had now could barely fit all of her pokemon as it was.
N threw his arms around the mattress, hugging it tightly to him. Carefully, he maneuvered it from where it was and stumbled back with it. N had never really seen a mattress, unfortunately, and thus, failed to comprehend how heavy they were.
N stumbled back with a yelp from the force of the mattress. It felt as if the weight of a thousand Golems were on him. N felt his foot catch something and suddenly he was on his back and rolling in something, crushed by the mattress.
N could hear the sounds of screams and curses from around him, but he was able to see nothing but the fibers of the bed on top of him. He heard an echoing crash and caught a glimpse of cartons sprawling to the ground. Oh dear. Now he knew what was happening. He had fallen into a shopping cart.
"N!" He could hear White screaming behind him, and he turned his head to see her frightened eyes. He tried to call back, but it was muffled by the mattress pressed against his mouth. White gave a bloodcurdling scream and held her face in horror. Before N could question it (if he was even able to), he came to an abrupt halt and the mattress was roughly yanked off him.
N rubbed his green bangs out of his eyes and blinked up lazily. Towering over him, nearly to the ceiling, was a large, intimidating, and heavy cabinet. The cabinets he had back in his old room were miniature—fit for a toddler. Now he understood why White panicked: he nearly crashed into that thing.
White scrambled over and helped N out of the cart. Dizzy and confused, N blinked as White stood, somewhat protectively in front of him when a man came near. What was she doing? Was there a danger around here? If there was, shouldn't he be the one protecting her?
"You kids are like hurricanes!" the store manager shouted. "You bring disaster everywhere with you! Especially THAT one!" He pointed an accusing finger at the bewildered N. White pushed N behind her some more and glared defiantly at the store manager.
White was beyond exhausted. She couldn't believe she couldn't even trust N to get a mattress. Of course she was probably partially to blame. She never told him to ask for help.
Her grip on his arm was hard, and on the way of being dragged out, N spotted his pyjamas neatly folded on the customer service desk and waiting for him. His hand reached out, threw out some yen and nabbed the clothes as they walked out of the store.
White was exhausted, to say the least. She made her way over to Amane and practically collapsed on the pokemon's back. Amane nuzzled her in concern.
"White?"
Cracking a cyan eye open, White glowered down at the seemingly smaller form of N as he stared up at her with doleful, owlish eyes. "Are you mad at me?"
"Just shut up and get on the pokemon."
(Oh wow, this chapter made me laugh the entire time I wrote it, especially N's reaction to the plush pokemon. I imagine the prospect of stuffed pokemon would scare the crap out of him at first with how life-like some of the pokemon plushies look in OUR world. Wow, this chapter was longer than the others. But as I said, lengths will vary.
And yes, although I do support N/White and believe they could be extremely close, I don't think that would come without many difficulties given how N was raised and his limited knowledge of how to communicate with humans. That's why he was cold in the beginning of the chapter. His behavior will vary like that for a while.
Up next: "New Friend"; White and N decide to take a little trip in the afternoon, and meet a little friend on the way.
