She'd preferred it if they did it right away, put the posters up and said a little prayer afterwards, but then again, why shorten her time here anymore than what it already would be? She meant it when she said if she could she'd stay but she also meant it when she said she needed to be with Maka. This left her loyalties torn between the two humans.
If it were only about their pokemon then Crona knew she'd choose Maka each time.
Liz and Patty were okay but she didn't like how much of a bother she was being, how she unintentionally made them jealous nor how they had neglected to help her earlier when those bug-type's were giving her a hard time. Besides, her homesickness was worsening and she found herself strongly desiring to play with someone.
Before this entire mess, Soul and Black*Star would play ball with her, though it often turned into a competition where Black*Star tried to see how far he could throw their toy whilst Soul tried to outrun Crona for it. She was proud to say she had won against him a few times.
Crona sort of liked when Tsubaki threw them a stick. It was usually less of a hassle.
At other times, Maka would have this...this thing...a stick with a line and a little bell with pretty blue and white feathers attached to it. She'd jingle it in front of the sylveon's face or high over her head and for some reason Crona found herself batting her paws at it, stalking to pounce on it, or shake the bell to make it give that pretty jingling sound. Ragnarok sometimes laughed at her or told her she needed to stop acting like she were a skitty for Maka's amusement.
In all honesty, though, Crona didn't mind if she acted like a skitty. It was extraordinarily fun.
Or maybe three of them–her, Soul, and Black*Star–would try having a swimming contest, if they were in a vicinity with water, of course, which Black*Star usually won and she lost, leaving Soul to take second place.
Then, if he were in the playing mood, Ragnarok would play fight with her, but that usually turned out badly with her losing and he unintentionally–though at times she suspected it wasn't entirely an accident–leaving a few bruises here and there. Crona much preferred hide-and-seek, even if he usually won that game, too. The fact he'd have anything to do with her made Crona feel ecstatic.
However, ever since she came to Kid's she hadn't really had the chance to play a game, too concerned with leaving.
Staring at Kid now, Crona wondered if he'd play a game with her. It was a small consolation for the both of them, but at least when she left she could have some good memories. Scanning the room she was almost too stunned to breathe when she noticed a pretty pink rubber ball left on Liz and Patty's beanbag bed. Supposing it would be okay if she borrowed it, Crona got off the bed and went to grab it, taking it back to Kid who was now typing furiously on his laptop.
Dropping it in his lap she sat down, waiting to see if he would take the hint that came with her offering. He stopped his typing, seeming confused when he saw the toy she'd brought him.
"Thank you," he murmured, lifting it up between his fingers to examine it before giving a nervous chuckle and admitting, "I've never really...done this...before."
Why not?
"I guess it's my own fault. I've never really had a pokemon like you before. I've never had a ghost bring me a ball and Liz and Patty usually entertain themselves so..." he sighed, smiling weakly and flushing lightly in embarrassment, "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with this."
You just throw it.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not up to this, Crona."
Kid–
He gave it a light toss and on instinct, Crona leapt off the bed and went padding after it. She pinned it to the floor with her paw, glancing over her shoulder at Kid who was staring at her, arching a brow with mild interest. You did it! Crona cheered. Grabbing the ball up in her mouth, she took it back to Kid with her tail wagging profusely. Throwing it again, Kid watched as the sylveon ran after it, yipping happily in triumph, as she began pawing it, as though she had brought down a mortal enemy.
He was rather intrigued by the simplicity of this game. He was, furthermore, surprised that he actually liked it. In many regions, people said that canine pokemon were man's best friend and Kid had never, honestly, understood that comment, at least, not until that moment.
You're really good at this, Kid. Crona praised, tail wagging as she panted lightly, waiting for him to throw the ball again. Are you sure you haven't played before?
"You're looking tired." He murmured. She was about to assure him she was okay when he promptly added, "I think we should stop for now. We can play some more tomorrow."
Crona knew this was most likely a lie, but gave a halfhearted smile and headed out of the room to go find out where his pokemon had gotten off to downstairs.
Unbeknownst to her, the two pachirisu were nowhere to be found downstairs. Instead, they scampered about the upstair hallways, waiting for her and their master to leave his laptop unguarded. Peering into the room they found that Kid was no where in sight and the bathroom door was shut. The sounds of water running assured them that they had eighteen minutes exactly to get on his laptop and find those posters he was making. It was pretty easy, considering this wasn't the first time they had done something like this. Okay, Patty, we'll be looking for a human under the name, Maka Albarn. Got it?
Got it, sis!
Good. I'm gonna send this in to the library computer and we can print copies off from there. After that we'll just have to throw them around town.
She'll be outta here in no time! Right, sis?
Right. Then things can finally get back to being normal. No creepy bugs or ghosts or Kid pushing us to the side. Things'll be normal again.
Okay, but what about Cro~na?
She'll be home safe and sound with her owner. Liz responded knowingly, clicking the enter button to send it to the computer in the library. Looking down to her younger sister, Liz gave her a promising smile.
Everybody wins. She reasoned, fully believing this to be true and knowing it was what was best in the long run. No point in beating around the bush or prolonging the inevitable. Everybody will be happy. We're just...speeding things along...so everyone will heal faster from all this.
What do you mean, sis?
You've seen how emotionally drained that awful girl made Kid, right? Liz waited for Patty to nod before continuing with her line of reasoning. Well, just think of what would happen if he gets too attached to Crona and vice versa. It'll be a mess! She already has a human and if Kid gets too close then he'll just get his heart broken when he has to give her back.
It'll be smashed into a katrillion tiny pieces!
Exactly! And that's what we've gotta stop from happening.
Off to the land of books! Patty exclaimed, fully energized and gearing to go as she gave a dramatic point to the door. Scampering out she gave little notice that Liz wasn't following, causing her sister to give an exasperated groan, following after and, inadvertently, stepping on the laptop's keyboard by mistake.
She swore silently, hoping that didn't break anything as she then scurried after Patty, not seeing the small box that had popped up, accompanied by a shrill beep, afterwards.
Where are they? Crona wondered as she allowed her paws to carry her back up the stairs where she then headed for and reentered Kid's room. He was apparently grooming himself in the next room seeing as the door was shut and she could hear the sounds of running water. Sighing, she seriously wished she had someone to spend time with. Her loneliness was only amplified when she climbed up onto his bed to lie down, only to end up unable to rest because she was unused to sleeping alone. In fact, she noticed a slight chill brought on from her immense feelings of loneliness.
Of course, this was when she noticed Kid's laptop sat open and that a little beep was registering from the device. Glancing to the closed bathroom door, Crona dared to go take a look at the screen. Multiple small boxes had appeared on the desktop.
One read, 'File Crona_Poster_01 has been deleted', and another box that read, 'Click to complete system shutdown', and then there were two or three others saying something or another that the sylveon paid no mind to. She was far too attracted to the first box that informed her that the poster Kid had designed was successfully deleted.
Both her mother and Maka had talked enough about technology and computers for her to understand that when a file was deleted that meant it had died and wasn't coming back unless you got it from the computer's garbage. It seemed easy enough but then again its harder when you're all paws and suddenly too distressed to think of using your feelers.
Why? Her mind whined in panic as she began to frantically paw at the infernal machine's keyboard in an attempt to rescue the file only to cause more undo problems before the power shut off and the screen went blank. No! She wailed, knowing this meant her chances of being found had shrank back down to zero. No, no, no, no, no! She couldn't believe this. Crona just couldn't believe this had happened.
But how?
"Crona?"
Looking up from the screen she found her eyes meet gold and her heart stopped for a moment before continuing its steady beating. Why? She had no idea why she asked. The words came as quickly and unconsciously as when her legs carried her over to him and had her standing before him, watery eyed and no longer asking, but demanding why the poster had been deleted.
Of course, Kid was oblivious to the source of her distress and tried to calm her only to have her feelers push him away. Crona wasn't sure she wanted to be near him as a sudden idea struck her: What if Kid had deleted it so she would stay there with him forever?
No, she scolded herself, feeling as disgusted and ashamed as she had when she permitted herself to believe Maka had abandoned her. Kid wouldn't do that, she assured herself, but then another voice inside of her rose to demand a reason why he wouldn't, persisting even against the argument of friendship that Kid was still only a human. She knew better than anyone how incredibly selfish they could be, especially if there was something they considered worth keeping in their line of sight.
Still, she refused to believe he would do this to her when he had been trying so hard to help her. Crona tried her best to push her natural earned mistrust towards the human race as deep down as she could get it so that her mind would stop making such outrageous accusations.
"Are you all right?" Kid asked, noticing how concentrated the sylveon appeared.
This question combined with his fingertips gingerly grazing her silky fur made Crona jolt. She stared up at him wearily for a moment before she silently leapt onto his bed and laid down, curling herself up at the foot of the bed where she had been put the night before. Kid sighed. Whether it was from weariness, irritation, or frustration she didn't know. She didn't want to know. All Crona wanted was to pretend she was at home and forget about this ugly business but sleep was slow to come and all she could wonder was if tomorrow would truly be better, as Kid had assured her it would, now that her chances had been terribly reduced. Somehow, though, sleep managed to find her and took her under to a place where she was eternally safe and perpetually loved.
Happy Easter everyone! Sorry if this chapter was a bit rushed or not as well edited as past chapters. Also, I appreciate the support and suggestions I've been getting. It means a lot to me, like, a lot! You're all great and I am very appreciative for that. But then again, it's kinda like simple math, right?
No flames + Inspiration + Update = x) ppl all around!
Anyway, I think I'll be calling it a...err...nap? Yeah, I'll call it a nap. I seriously need some Zzzs about now, but missing 'em was worth it! I hope you all like the update.
Thanks, again, you wonderful gals & guys and have a wonderful Easter!
~Sincerely, Fairylust~