Quaking, Crona felt terribly frightened. She'd decided to wander about until Kid came looking for her, but the house was so huge that she soon became lost in a library that would have made Maka squeal out of joy. No, she'd be too happy to squeal. She'd either cry like other human girls or throw up like her dad sometimes did when she announced she would spend the day with him.
Sitting beneath a table, she sighed as her ears fell to lay uselessly against her head. She closed her eyes to try and drift off into a peaceful slumber only to be interrupted by the sounds of quiet pawsteps. Opening her soft blues, Crona sat up to scan her surroundings.
She was completely alone. Or so she thought since she didn't see or smell anyone; however, she could still hear the quiet paws as they rose and fell against the floor not too far off.
The sylveon's heart thudded a bit harder in her chest as she started to feel a tad spooked, completely oblivious to the pink striped tail that hung off the side of the table behind her until she begun backing up, walking straight into the fluffy appendage, which was quick to give her a shock.
Yelping, she jolted forwards in fear and attempted to make a run for it only to have some sort of screeching creature leap onto her back.
Yee-haw! Said creature exclaimed loudly, holding onto Crona's feelers like they were reins and causing the sylveon to scream in a combination of pain and panic, forcing her legs to move even faster. Laughing and cheering, the creature on her back encouraged her to keep moving with tugs to her feelers and exclamations of 'Faster, faster!'; 'Go this way!'; 'No that way!'; 'Harder, faster, run, run, run!'; and of course, 'Don't slow down, little dokey!'
Eventually, however, Crona found herself having no choice but to stop due to an overwhelming exhaustion. She came to a halt in a hallway, legs buckling and body stumbling, rolling forwards head over tail. She crashed against a wall, hitting it so hard that a picture fell atop her to crush her already sore, battered body. Whoever, or whatever, had been on her back must have landed on its/their feet because they were now shouting in alarm, or no, they were laughing and somebody else was shouting in alarm. Kid? The sylveon's weary mind wondered as the picture was lifted up off her. She looked up with watery eyes to see who'd moved the picture.
No, not Kid. Definitely not Kid. Not even human.
It was a pachirisu who stood before her wearing a red bandanna, staring at her with a mixture of awe and concern, as she sat the heavy picture frame off to the side.
Are you all right? She asked, brushing away whatever dust had gotten onto Crona's fur. She helped Crona to her sore, trembling feet with a sigh. I'm sorry if Patty was being too rough on you. She just gets carried away at times.
Sis! Another pachirisu, a pink striped pachirisu, shouted from down the hall. Did you see how she cart-wheeled? It was so cool!
Yeah, it was great. She rolled her dark eyes as she said that, huffing as she tried not to think about how badly this could have ended. Smiling softly, she decided to make a good impression since Patty had already succeeded in scaring the daylights out of their guest.
Anyway, my name is Liz. That's my little sister Patty, as you may know, since you guys have kind of already met. So, what's your name?
Umm, m-my name?
Yeah. Who else would I be talking to?
M-my name is Cr-Crona, she replied nervously, though at the same time felt a candle flame spark within her mind. Are you...you're Kid's pokemon, right?
Huh? Yeah, why? Realization seemed to make itself clear within the pachirisu's eyes and soon after a look of outrage came over her face. Wait a minute! Was he trying to hide you from us?!
Hide! Patty sang, laughing and scampering about in a manner most childish. Hide! Hide! Hidey-hide-hide-oh-ho!
No! Crona exclaimed, cringing at the rise in Liz's tone. No, he wasn't trying to hide me from anyone! Except...that girl...maybe...
Oh, Liz murmured, tone flat, as she stared at the sylveon. She'd assumed that Crona had been the pokemon of a guest, seeing as guests came and went for meetings or to just hang around for a short time, but if her master were trying to hide Crona from that girl then that meant her stay was probably going to be longer than what was acceptable, perhaps her stay would be indefinite.
There was a moment where nobody said anything, but then Patty said something about Kid and went scampering off. Reluctant to let her sister bother their master, Liz followed after along with Crona, who was reluctant to be alone at all.
It was just a good thing the sisters knew of a shortcut to get back to a rather familiar looking hall. They were at the door to Kid's room rather quickly. The door was open and the lights on. Liz and Patty scampered inside without a second's thought. Crona was nervous though, not seeing the kind human who'd taken her in made her wonder if she were permitted inside or not.
"Oh, there you are," a sudden relieved voice made her jump. Looking over her shoulder, Crona saw Kid standing a short distance away and seeming very glad to have found her. He wore a black coat over a white pajama shirt and blue pajama pants. He pulled it off as he moved to where he stood in the doorway to his room, looking down at the sylveon thoughtfully.
"For a moment," he confessed, "I was worried Ponera had thrown you out. It's a good thing I decided to come look for Liz and Patty."
As if cued, Patty then leapt at him, climbing his pants and hopping up to sit on his shoulder where she giggled playfully and ruffled his hair. "No, stop!" Kid scolded, pulling the pokemon from his shoulder. "Patty, stop!" He finally managed to pull the small pachirisu from his being and sat her on the floor where she stuck her tongue out at him before going off to jump atop Liz who'd finally started to relax, lying on what appeared to be a black beanbag.
"Come on," Kid said, as he lifted Crona up, "it's too late and much too wet for us to try finding your owner so you'll have to stay here." He sat her on the foot of his bed. She lay there, confused and tensed as she felt Liz and Patty gape from her to their master.
Okay, umm, thank you. Crona mumbled before Kid turned out the lights and closed the door. He then went to crawl underneath the covers and go to sleep. Crona tried to also sleep, but was unused to sleeping on a bed.
Maka had tried to get Crona to sleep on the foot of her bed many times before in the past, but that spot was already designated to Soul and Crona didn't want to risk their friendship by taking his special spot. Besides, the corner wasn't so bad. In fact, Crona had grown a soft spot for it and found comfort there whenever she was upset. So much comfort that she had decided to refer to it as Mr. Corner, despite how Maka discouraged her from naming a corner.
Crona missed Mr. Corner.
She missed her blanket and usual sleeping style. But most of all, Crona missed her family's presence. They had all shared Maka's room instead of spending the night locked up in some pokeball alone. Crona had her corner, of course. Maka her bed, which she shared with Soul, and Tsubaki had been sleeping in a hammock that had been fashioned using one of Maka's old sweaters she'd planned to throw away. Black*Star usually slept wherever he felt like it. Ragnarok was the same way, though he alternated between the doorway and Maka's closet. Sometimes he would lay with Crona in her corner, but always told her to not read much into it.
She missed Ragnarok's body heat and his strong heartbeat that sometimes thudded steadily in her ears, lulling her to sleep. She missed Soul's weird mumbling while he dreamed. She missed Maka's quiet, steady breathing and Tsubaki's comforting presence. She even missed Black*Star's sleep drool.
It was then she felt a sharp pang in her chest. It hurt terribly and tears dribbled their way down her cheeks as the homesickness began eating her up and she feared never seeing her family of friends ever again. What if they don't find me? A part of her chattered. What if they hate me now? Another part sobbed. What if they don't care at all? A dark little corner of her mind whispered. She could hear Liz and Patty whispering about now and it didn't help her sleep any better.
What's going on? Kid never let us up on his bed.
She's probably his new, little pet.
Master's pet!
Shh! Don't wake them up!
Her eyes stung as she tried to stay quiet, feeling awful about how she was intruding in their domicile, unintentionally earning the favor of their master and gaining special benefits that the pachirisu never had. She wished she were home. At least she knew nobody there would make her feel guilty for being loved. Maybe it was selfish of her but she didn't want to feel bad about Kid liking her nor did she wish to continue hearing Liz and Patty's whispered conversation.
Silently peeking over her shoulder, she watched Kid as he slept. He looked so nice and peaceful. She hoped he was a deep sleeper.
Inching her way up the bed, she nuzzled herself against Kid's side, feeling a lot safer and somewhat better as she tried to pretend the human's heartbeat was that of someone else. Closing her eyes, Crona slowly drifted off into a gentle slumber.