A/N: You know, you people are really lucky that I like you. You have no idea what I go through to post these, and since I'm tired from working all day I'm going to bitch about it to you whether you like it or not. To get this story out, I first have to write it. But I couldn't have a normal word processor, nooo, so I write either in an old version of MS Works that's on my dad's office computer, or I write it in WordPerfect on my computer. Then, if it's in WordPerfect, I e-mail it to myself, because my computer doesn't recognize ".htm" as a viable tag. After that, I either take the stuff off Works, or copy from the e-mail, and paste it in wordpad. Still with me? good, because we're just getting started. Now, since it's in wordpad, it can be saved as an ".htm" file, but you have to put in all the tags. I made the mistake of doing that on the first chapter. Once it's tagged and ready, you upload it. Three hours later, I've finished eating, cleaned up, and beaten another gym on my Ruby or Sapphire version. And organized all 300 of my Pokemon:EX cards. I come back, and lo and behold--it's uploaded. With the HTML tags all visible. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! So I go through and erase them, and format the damn page. Or, for convenience, I delete it all, copy and paste from my wordpad program. The only problem is, my chapters are, on average, six to seven typed pages long. That's a lot to copy, and my dad's computer is a little old, so it can't manage it. So, I go through the story a third time, hoping against hope that it's the last time, and reformat it again. And then I proofread it, post it, and discover the million-and-one things that I screwed up on but didn't notice until the whole process was through and would have to be mostly repeated to fix. It's up there on my Top Ten Fun Things To Do List, right below rolling nude on a thumb-tack covered floor.
You know, you people are really lucky that I like you. You have no idea what I go through to post these, and since I'm tired from working all day I'm going to bitch about it to you whether you like it or not. To get this story out, I first have to write it. But I couldn't have a word processor, nooo, so I write either in an old version of MS Works that's on my dad's office computer, or I write it in WordPerfect on my computer. Then, if it's in WordPerfect, I e-mail it to myself, because my computer doesn't recognize ".htm" as a viable tag. After I either take the stuff off Works, or copy from the e-mail, and paste it in wordpad. Still with me? good, because we're just getting started. Now, since it's in wordpad, it can be saved as an ".htm" file, but you have to put in all the tags. I made the mistake of doing that on the first chapter. Once it's tagged and ready, you upload it. Three hours later, I've finished eating, cleaned up, and beaten another gym on my Ruby or Sapphire version. And organized all 300 of my Pokemon:EX cards. I come back, and lo and behold--it's uploaded. With the HTML tags . AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH! So I go through and erase them, and format the damn page. Or, for convenience, I delete it all, copy and paste from my wordpad program. The only problem is, my chapters are, on average, six to seven typed pages long. That's a lot to copy, and my dad's computer is a old, so it can't manage it. So, I go through the story a time, hoping against hope that it's the last time, and reformat it . And then I proofread it, post it, and discover the million-and-one things that I screwed up on but didn't notice until the whole process was through and would have to be mostly repeated to fix. It's up there on my Top Ten Fun Things To Do List, right below rolling nude on a thumb-tack covered floor.Sorry, I think I inhaled too many paint fumes at work today. I'm feeling very irritable and uncomfortable, and my head hurts. I need some caffeine. I need a Mountain Dew.
Anyway, long chapter ahead. I'm gonna set the plot in this chap, so study it carefully. There's a lot of important stuff hidden in this one.
Well, this here's TJ's present. Gather 'round, y'all, an' y'all listen up to Uncle Tony, we's gonna pry inta other peoples personal lives! Ain't it fun!
Enjoy!(and review, PLZ review!)
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own my character TJ, and I own his method of arrival (unless God wishes to take credit).
Note: "Speaking"
Thinking
Pokéspeak
Psychic conversations
Flashbacks
SHOUTING!
Chapter Three:
The Morning After
May yawned and stretched her arms. The large T-shirt and baggy sweatpants that TJ had lent her were warm, and the couch felt comfortable and inviting. It was morning, but still early, and May couldn't imagine what had woken her. She was just about to fall back asleep when a commotion from the kitchen brought her fully awake.
"TORCHIC! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU--WAIT UNTIL IT'S READY!"
"TOR! CHICK TOR TOR CHICTOR! CHI TORCHITO!"
Torchic was standing on the kitchen counter glaring at TJ, who was cooking something on the stove and glaring right back.
"AW, GEE, THAT'S REALLY SAD! IF I HAD KNOWN YOUR STOMACH WAS IN SUCH A STATE, I WOULD HAVE MAGICALLY WHIPPED UP SOME FOOD! AFTER ALL, I'M THE MAGIC HUMAN, AREN'T I!"
"CHICK! TOR CHI TO CHITORCHICK!"
Sitting up, May noticed Treecko leaning unconcernedly against the wall, and Mudkip staring embarrassedly at the floor. Neither seemed upset by the fight, so May figured it was a common occurrence around breakfast time.
Mudkip cleared its throat, looking a bit nervous. "Kip mudkip," it muttered quietly. "Kipkip mukip kimudkip, mudkip mu-"
"CHICTORHIC!" Torchic interrupted, turning on the poor little creature, "CHICKCHICK TORCHICK TOR! CHI TOR CHICKTOR, CHICKCHICK-"
"DON'T YOU DARE YELL AT YOUR BROTHER, YOUNG MAN!" interrupted TJ. "YOU'RE DAMN LUCKY THEY DO PUT UP WITH YOUR STUPID HIJINKS AS IT IS! IF YOU WANT BREAKFAST EARLY THEN YOU MAKE IT FROM NOW ON! AND BEHAVE YOURSELF THIS MORNING, BECAUSE WE HAVE A GUEST! THIS CONVERSATION IS NOW CLOSED!"
Torchic huffed, puffed up its feathers, and hopped off the counter. TJ went back to cooking, looking somewhat angry. Mudkip hunched up, staring at the floor uncomfortably. Treecko did nothing.
All of a sudden the absurdity of the situation hit May like a ton of bricks. Between TJ treating Torchic like an annoying little brother, and Torchic treating TJ like an exasperating older brother, the humor of the situation just overwhelmed her. May burst out laughing.
TJ spun around so fast May thought he was going to fall. Torchic hopped up on the counter again, goggling its eyes at her. Mudkip turned a deep shade of purple, and stared so hard at the floor that May thought he would burn a hole through it, and even Treecko shifted uncomfortably along the wall.
"Uhm, how much of that did you see?" asked TJ. He had turned crimson again, and his eyes were shifting everywhere. He was also rubbing the back of his neck self-conciously, and May found this very endearing for some reason. Her heart flipped over twice, but she managed to ignore it.
"All of it," she said, suppressing her giggles.
"Oh."
May giggled a bit. Everyone else seemed frozen with embarrassment. TJ cleared his throat and shot a look at Torchic. "Sorry you had to see that. We were trying to keep it quiet and let you sleep, but someone," he looked expressively at Torchic, "decided that he couldn't wait fifteen more minutes for breakfast. We promise that you won't have to see anything so impolite again, as long as you're here. Everyone is really sorry, and I'm sure," and he glanced expressively at Torchic again, "that they'll all want to tell you so-" Overcome by fits of giggles, May waved her hand to make TJ stop speaking.
"Look, it's all right, really it is. I don't mind waking up right now, and I thought it was really cute the way you two fought, and besides, it's nice to see you getting angry and fighting. It makes you seem less like an angel, more like a human."
"Oh. Um, all right then. I guess we're off the hook, huh?"
May giggled again. "You were never on the hook to begin with!"
"Hmm. Well, that's nice to hear. Don't think this gets you out of the doghouse," said TJ, turning to Torchic. "You need to behave yourself better in the morning. What's gonna happen when we leave, huh? How're you gonna cope with having to sleep outside, and wait for a fire to get going, and eat camping food? You better toughen up, or I'll leave you home!"
At this last comment, Torchic's eyes had doubled in size, and he had dashed over in front of TJ, gotten down on his knees, and started unmistakably begging him. "Tor chic torchic tor! Tor tor chic chick! Tor-"
"All right, all right already. I didn't mean it! I'm not going to leave you behind--but you could use a bit of toughening up. You keep that in mind, 'kay?"
Torchic nodded violently. TJ smiled and said, "all right, off with you then. Let me finish cooking--or aren't you still hungry?"
"TOR!" Torchic moved so quickly he seemed to dissapear. TJ chuckled, then turned back to the stove.
Now that it was light out and May was feeling all right, she could get a good look at TJ. She smiled asnd shook her head at herself for thinking he was an angel, but she could still see it, a bit. TJ's hair was very long, down to his shoulders. It looked like he had somewhat curly hair that he had tried to grow into a ponytail, but it was just barely too curly and had ended up looking like a cross between a hippie's hairstyle and a bush. She had thought him tall and mature, but now that she could see clearly he was average height, in fact she doubted if there was more than an inch of difference between the two of them, and he couldn't be older than 21. He was very strong-looking, although May was willing to bet he wasn't quite as strong as he appeared, and his face did seem to have a sort of, oh, angelic quality to it. May couldn't quite put her finger on it. It might have been the gentle expression he always-well, usually-had on, or maybe it was the feminine roundness and softness. His hands however completely dispelled the sense of holy perfection. One had only to glance at them to feel disdainful, because they were covered in dirt. Here and there splotches of dried paint appeared sporadically. His voice was pleasant enough, definitely a tenor, and a decent singer to boot as he began quietly singing over the sound of cooking eggs. He looked up, and May noticed that he had beautiful hazel-colored eyes. She was entranced by those eyes, she felt drawn to them, as if they were pools that she could fall into forever. She felt safe and happy for some reason. She wished that he would never look away.
"Ahem."
May gasped, and now it was her turn to blush. TJ was staring at her poinedly, knowingly, and he smiled a bit. What the hell, May thought, I've already embarrassed myself, why not look again? It's not like he's going to say something about it, is it?
And so May gazed once more into TJ's eyes. TJ locked gazes with her, and May felt a force, a push, a shock, something, pass between the two of them. She inhaled sharply, and tried to swallow, but her throat was completely dry. She turned away; her heart was beating so hard she thought it would leap out of her throat. She could hear TJ breathing hard in the kitchen.
What the hell, May thought, what the HELL is going on! I've just met this guy and I'm acting like I've got a massive crush on him! This can't be! I'm crazy! C'mon May, pull yourself together and think straight! Okay, so he's kind of cute, and incredibly nice, and pretty much perfect in every way--stop it! Snap out of it, girl! and stop blushing too! This is CRAZY, remember! Do you want another Ash all over again?
This last thought sobered her a little, enough so that she was able to regain a bit of her composure. She was afraid to look at TJ, lest she lose what little she had, but she could hear that he had stopped breathing so hard. Everyone sat quietly for several minutes.
"Uhmm, I, I mean, the kitchen, and breakfast, and I should finish cooking..."
"Yeah, I should, well, I'm kinda dirty, maybe I could, I mean, if it's okay, I should shower..."
"Um, right. Up the stairs, second door on the left."
"Yeah, um, thanks."
The awkward moment ended, and May headed upstairs to take a shower. As she started the water, she heard TJ and Torchic start shouting at eachother again. Shaking her head ruefully, she got in the shower.
OOOOOOOO
May came down dressed in a T-shirt and some shorts that TJ had given her to wear until she went home. There were five plates on the table, a pitcher of orange juice, some salsa in a plastic jug, and two large bowls containing eggs and ground beef. It all smelled delicious. May inhaled the aroma apreciatively, and said, "hey! I thought you told me you couldn't cook!"
"Mexican is the one exception," said TJ. "I can't cook anything else, but I make some mean nachos, and my burritos are to die for."
May looked at him quizically. "What's 'Mexican'?"
TJ stared at her openmouthed, at a loss for words. "Ah, uhmm, it's, well, err, it's...a private name! Yeah, a private name, just my own little nickname. Pay no attention to it."
May shrugged. "Okay." She piled some eggs onto her plate, heaped some meat on them, and poured liberal amounts of salsa on all of it. She was mildly surprised to see TJ do the same thing after her-most people didn't like food as spicy as her. She took a bite. "Mmmm! If it was Orre-style why didn't you just say so! It tastes great!"
May was focused on her food, so she didn't see the looks of confusion, understanding and worry that appeared on TJ's face.
They ate mostly in silence. It was mostly because all three pokemon were allowed to eat at the table, and only Treecko had the ability to use silverware. If may hadn't been so hungry she would have witnessed a hilarious sscene as Torchic and Mudkip wolfed down their food, faces buried in their plates. It gave a whole new meaning to the term "table ettiquete".
Finally everyone finished. Torchic and Mudkip were polite enough to wipe their faces on their napkins, an involved process that May found amusing. Everyone was sitting at the table still, all of them full but so content that no one wanted to move much. Mudkip lazily got up off his chair and wandered over to May, nudging her leg. Smiling, May picked him up and set him on her lap, where he sat as she stroked him.
"You know," she said, "these guys are all pretty rare. And they're fairly well trained for the level they're at. Where'd you get them? Theyre impressive."
TJ smiled. "Well, I kinda have this thing going with Professor Birch, you know, just general Kennel Tech stuff, clean the cages, feed the critters, take out the trash, gofer work. These three were sittin' around in his Section Seventeen Laboratory, and I talked him into lettin' me have 'em."
A passing stranger would have thought that TJ had just used a joybuzzer on May's ass. She jumped up so fast she knocked over her chair. Mudkip went flying as she scrambled away backwards.
TJ had stood almost as quickly as she had. He looked a bit angry, but he was controlling it. "What's the matter?" he asked.
May was breathing heavily, and her eyes were still on Mudkip. He had gotten up unsteadily, and was now looking at her with a hurt expression on his face. May risked a quick glance at TJ. "What's wrong?" she said hysterically, "why, nothing! Nothing at all! I'm in a house with three extremely dangerous pokémon and you're asking me why I'm acting so-"
"Hey!" TJ cut her off. "There is nothing wrong with my pokémon! They wouldn't harm a fly outside of battle, and Mudkip was nice enough to come over and try and cuddle with you. He doesn't do that for anyone except me! He obviously likes you a whole lot! What you just did was unbelievably mean!"
"TJ, open your eyes!" said May in the same hysterical tone. "Do you even know what Setion Seventeen is?"
"Yeah, it's an enforced retirement home for pokémon who don't want to stop fighting but are too old to continue, and are considered a danger to themselves and others!"
"Yeah, that's half of it, but it's also the nearest secure pokémon storage facility for most of the area! It's the place where they stick pokémon that are considered dangerous, maybe even lethal, to humans and other pokémon!"
"Do my guys look dangerous to you!"
"Well, they don't look like retirees!"
"What's that supposed to mean!"
May shook her head. "You're crazy! Those three are gonna kill you in your sleep one day!"
"There's nothing wrong with them! They're harmless!"
"You're crazy," May said again, more calmly this time. "And I'm leaving. Bye!"
She stood up and headed for the front door. She actually had her hand on the handle when TJ grabbed her shoulder. She spun around, hand upraised to slap him, but he caught it with his arm, then shook her, hard.
"May! Please! Listen to me!"
May snorted derisively. "Why? You're crazy!"
"May," said TJ, and she paused at the look on his face. He had a tired, sad look on, one that spoke of many previous fights. He spoke softly, sadly. "May, They're harmless. Trust me, they are not a danger to humans, or other pokémon."
May softened a bit at his words. She looked at him, feeling another thrill of something as she did. "TJ, how can you say that? You know where they're from, you know why they were there, how can you possibly know whether or not they're dangerous?"
TJ swallowed. "Just...trust me, May. I know them. I know who they are, inside. If I say they're harmless, they are."
May looked at him skeptically. TJ looked up and said, "You believe me, don't you?"
She gave him a hard look. His face fell, like his world had ended. May sighed and loked at him sadly. "I want to TJ, I really do. But how can I?"
TJ looked up and stared straight into her eyes. Unlike before, there was no warm feeling; May felt as if he was staring straight into her soul and sifting what he found there. Finally, he said, "what if I could prove it?"
May sighed deeply. "How? How, TJ?"
TJ sighed. He ran his hand through his hair and motioned towards the couch she had slept on. "Sit down, this is gonna take a while. You might as well be comfortable. You don't have to sit near my pokémon if you don't want to!" he said, correctly interpreting her hesitation.
May deliberated. Oh well, in for a penny in for a pound. May sat.
TJ ast on the other couch across from her. His pokémon joined him there, and he held his face in his hands for several minutes. Just when May was considering telling him to get on with it, he said, "I guess this all starts with how I hate my life."
A/N: Eeeeeeeekk! A cliffie! Isn't this fun! Tune in next time for TJ's past! In Technicolor! It's good! Oh, and it's part one of three. PLZ PLZ PLZ review!