Chapter 6.1
"Yo, what are you doing, Mana?" An office chair quickly flew towards Saber at an alarming speed. He caught it and sat down before rolling towards Mana.
"Oh-! STOP! You scared me! I was just helping David with… whatever this is…" Mana gestured towards a small bag beside her. Around it, were two cylinders and something that looked like a hook. "...It's best not to touch that."
Saber grabbed a pair of scissors and started playing with them like a butterfly knife. "Where's he gone?" Saber glanced towards the closed door behind him.
"He said he's going to meet Ryna."
"Meeting Ryna, huh? Is that what he said- Ow."
Unfortunately for Saber, he wasn't a master at handling the scissor so he ended up accidentally stabbing himself with the pair of scissors. Fortunately for him, he didn't bleed because he's a pokemon. Tough skin and all…
"Yeah, he found something that looks pretty weird inside a bag." Mana leaned ever closer, whispering to Saber, "Ben's bag." There was a little smirk on her face, knowing she had another good reason not to trust Ben.
Saber rolled his eyes at what was to come. "Here comes Mana's gossip…" he thought to himself.
He had lost count of how many times Mana had told him about things when she went out with Ryna, and oftentimes, it was about someone doing something mildly out of the ordinary. It's like she's judging people.
"Wait, hang on, how did they know it was his bag?"
"I heard they traced his footsteps back into the wreck and it's just a bag all the way at the back."
Saber nodded. "I see…"
"You know, Saber? Why are you trusting the guy so much?" Mana sighed, "He has something that even David doesn't quite understand. Don't you think it might be a bit suspicious?"
"David's a smart guy and even he doesn't even know what it is," she continued.
"Sure, David's smart but that doesn't mean he knows everything. I don't think Ben is someone with malicious intentions. Not anymore. Not after actually interacting with him which you, Mana, don't seem to really do," Saber shot back.
"But how can you be so sure, Saber?" Mana narrowed her eyes. "We don't know much about him. He's been with us for like, what? 2 days?"
The room was silent, so much so that it was deafening. It was a staring contest between the two.
"I know something about him and it doesn't point towards any red flags," Saber said.
"Whatever you say, I'm still not trusting him. Not until he's proven himself as trustworthy."
Saber gazed up towards the ceiling. "Can I just be honest with you?"
"What?"
"I know something that'd shut you up- and I'm being completely honest here. He does act like York."
Mana perked up at Saber and her eyes that were closed shot open and gazed back towards Saber. The air in the room suddenly felt cold, even with the presence of Mana. "...I thought you said that you'd let go."
Saber crossed his arms. "Well, I did. I couldn't help but be reminded of him," he admitted, "He does… act a bit like York- Come on, letting go doesn't mean to forget completely."
Mana's expression softened as she watched her friend make an arguable judgment. The mention of York's name was enough to give anyone pause.
"You really think he's like York?" Mana asked, her voice softer now.
"Not entirely," he admitted. "The way he speaks, that is."
"How so?"
"Well-" Saber looked back at Mana. "You know how York always jokes around but if something's wrong he's the first to ask 'Hey, what's wrong?'."
"When did he do that?"
"Well, yesterday- Actually, the day before yesterday we were just on the balcony when we talked for a bit. It got to the point that we started talking about our journey a couple of years back, do you remember?"
"Go on."
"He was really into that conversation. He cares about it even if he's not involved."
"That does sound like him."
"Now you're getting it!"
"I don't know, Saber. I still don't buy it."
As Saber and Mana continued their conversation, their voices lowered even further. The mention of York's name had brought up memories and emotions that were still fresh in their minds. It felt like they were reliving the glory days.
"You know, when I first met York, I thought he was just another tough guy trying to act cool. He wasn't a psychic like me but damn, he can read people." Saber crossed his arms and gazed towards the ceiling. "He was a good guy."
"He was."
"Remember when he used to call me a stick boy?"
"Yeah. And you got fed up with it and smacked him."
Saber stuttered with his words. His past self didn't radiate the same energy as his current self. "W-Well, you can't blame me for that, can you?"
"If I'm being honest, Saber, you could've handled that better."
The past is in the past. The past is in the past.
"I know, I know. But that's a long time ago, and I've already apologized. But then again, that was the time when I think he's an egotistical bastard-"
They heard a door open behind them with multiple footsteps in quick succession coming towards them. Both 'mon looked towards the direction of the sound. It was David and Ryna. But then Ben appeared, seemingly peeking from the door before going in after David and Ryna.
"Hello?" Ben greeted with David beside him and Ryna following just behind them.
"Oh hey," Saber greeted, not entirely sure what to say because of his sudden appearance.
"Uncle Saber!" Russ, being the energetic little fellow he is, quickly made his way to Saber, before jumping on his lap and nuzzling him.
Mana, trying to stifle her laughter, couldn't help but tease. "Uncle Saber…" She covered up her face as she giggled to herself.
"Shut it!" Saber said, his pale face now visibly redder in embarrassment. Despite that, he does appreciate the Russ' affection.
Ryna patted Saber on the shoulder and said, "Sorry, but can you guys wait outside for a bit? We got some stuff to do."
Chapter 7:
Bad Dad
"What's this?" I scanned the whole room up and down, left to right to find the place to be pretty spacious. The side of the room had only shelves, where the walls remained to be seen. At the other end of the room, there was a line of tables, each divided into its own section for different people spanning across the room. There was a large table in the middle of the table, where on top of it resides some… stuff which was all covered with canvas.
The lights were super bright and the place reeks of a hospital.
"Those? Oh- well, that's for another time but c'mere real quick." Ryna ushered me to come too quickly. "So, we believe this is all yours, is that correct?"
I saw that everything that was in my bag were arranged on the table, and all of them didn't seem to be damaged – all of them were in pristine condition. My bags were just on the ground next to the table and they had been opened and I swear I saw my laptop– well, not exactly my laptop but it was supposed to be under my care.
"Y- yes?"
"I'm just wondering how exactly you use it so can you just… You know," David gestured towards the table. I got the message.
"It's pretty cool to see a camera this small."
Ryna nodded beside him. "I agree. It's all bulky."
When I was back in Ryna's office, David came in and noticed I was with her and he was like, "Perfect timing!". He showed me the thing in his hands that was mine, which was my camera body. Of course, when he came into the office, he was only holding the body, and the body only. That means the only thing between the sensor and the outside environment is the body cap so I don't blame anyone for thinking that it might not be a camera because there's quite literally no lens on it.
Aside from the lenses on the table which hinted at it.
Actually, that's a dumb assumption to make. It's pretty damn obvious that it's a camera.
"R- right. Umm…" I put down the camera body and picked up the lens from the table before removing the rear cap. Then, I placed the lens back on the table, forward side up before picking up the camera body and twisting the body cap, leaving the sensor exposed.
I held both components and lined up the white dot in the mount to the white dot at the side of the lens. Both of them slipped into place. I turned the lens before a faint 'ping' was heard.
My mind was focused on the camera and it reminded me of the times when I used to… well… use the thing. It almost felt nostalgic. Well, that's kind of an exaggeration, let me just say this; it felt nice!
"That's it?"
"Yep. That's it," I said.
Ryna chuckled, "Well, that looked easy,"
"It is."
David shot up from his seat. "Now- I'm just wondering, yeah," David walked up to a locker beside us before swinging it wide open and grabbing something inside. "You see this? This camera I have here has what we call a Two-Hook Mount." David took off the lens of a camera, before fiddling with the hooks that kept the lens in place. "Seeing what you did there made me realise how complicated this is."
I stared at the camera in David's hand with awe, trying my best not to geek out over it. In my mind, I was rubbing my hands together with mischievous intentions.
Complicated or not, it's still an interesting thing and that meant I want to hold it.
Ooooh, when I get my hands on that camera I am going to go with it for a 'test drive'.
That is if I have the balls to ask.
"Isn't it like a… you have to stay here for a certain amount of time to… be eligible? That's- that's how it works back home…?"
"I can mark you as 'undocumented'."
"You can do that?"
"Once in a while, you have to compromise." Ryna shrugged. "It is what it is."
Well said, Ryna. Well said.
"Now, I'm going to need you to stand there, and look at the camera. Don't smile too much, don't look too dead. I'm sure you know the process, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
Damn it. Now I'm all nervous as I kept thinking to myself, "ThiswillbeonmyICThiswillbeonmyICThiswillbeonmyIC."
"Ready?"
"Three, two, one."
The shutter triggered, and the flash lit up my vision, temporarily blinding me. The camera shutter had a unique sound that I'd never heard before. Different from DLSRs and WAY different from mirrorless. Actually, it sounded like both; the 'clop' from a DLSR and the 'schick' from a mirrorless camera. I really want to see how it looks from the inside. Maybe they have books about these?
"Yep. Looks good. You'll probably get it tomorrow."
"Can I see it?"
"No," she said.
I sighed. I walked over to the table and grabbed my glasses before wiping them with my shirt. "Soooo… what now?"
"You can go back if you want but if you want to use your stuff, you're going to have to do it here. I can't let you use them in public."
"I thought you said you needed my help…?"
"Actually- Oh yeah! I almost forgot. Okay, the rest of the team is probably coming back from their break, now. Can you wait in the break room? I'll call you when I need you."
Ryna turned towards the table and handed me my phone. "I trust you not to go running out with it. I'll strangle you."
I stared at my phone screen, hands hovering all while shaking quite a bit over a certain app icon.
GALLERY
…
Is it a good idea?
No. Not now.
"Or you can get a dog. You could train a dog as an attack dog which is fantastic if you own a scrapyard and you need the dog to guard it but if you take it home and you expect it to be a pet, it will eat your children! It's completely useless! That's what happens if you set a car up for the Nurburgring!"
Saber, Russ and I had left to mind our own business and chill at the other side of the room. That was, however, before the employees started coming back from their lunch break. We figured we were disturbing other people so we decided to leave the room entirely. Plus, the employees there were giving me weird looks.
Hmm… I won-der why…
That left us watching Top Gear and The Grand Tour clips on my phone in the break room, which was surprisingly large. Saber and Russ treated themselves to a slice of bread. They did offer one to me but I refused.
Russ looked as if he was in utter confusion but at the same time, he looked like he's just happy to be here. Saber seemed to enjoy it but at the same time, he was keeping a lookout for me. And by that, I mean REALLY looking out for me. I felt like there was something watching me from the back of my head constantly even though there were just kitchen counters and the fridge behind me.
It made me uncomfortable, I can't lie but the videos distracted me just enough for me to notice it barely. The sound from the video filled the room just enough that the room didn't feel all that eerie.
"If we strip all of the stuff off you, we'd find underneath the same basic skeleton as you would find in a racing driver but when we put it all back as we must to make you James May, YOU'RE JAMES MAY! That's the wrong car!"
Saber chuckled at the Top Gear clip we were watching, while Russ was too focused on his slice of bread to pay much attention.
"I really like this," Saber said.
"I know! It's good!"
I've been there for 6 hours. Man, it was an exercise getting called and walking back and forth to the break room. At times, I was actually frustrated because I got called so many times. On top of that, Ryna had me introduce myself IN FRONT of EVERYONE in the team because apparently, I'm officially in their team!
It was a long day. It really was.
But hey, at least I convinced Ryna to let me take my stuff with me. Sort of… that 'convincing' kind of came by itself. When I was using it, you know, just showing what does what, she concluded that it wasn't harmful so she let me on my merry way.
That left me with 'my' laptop, my camera, my phone and all the accessories that I needed for it which in the case of my camera, was a lot that Ryna had asked me how I managed to pack all of these into one bag. I have to admit, all of it was packed tightly.
That is also when I found out how good my bags are because nothing seemed to be catastrophically broken. There were some dents on 'my' laptop but it's still working and I'd probably ignore the damage anyway. My camera was fine because that thing was basically a brick, and so was my phone because it was with me.
When we left the police station, it was already dark outside. Ryna had invited David for dinner with us but as I see it, it's more of a 'date' and Saber, Russ, Mana and I were just third-wheelers.
It was boring for the most part. I could tell that Russ and Mana had gotten along pretty well. As far as I can tell, Mana… kind of acted more like a mother than a friend. That left me with Saber. Coincidentally, I was thinking of asking him what he could do – his abilities – which turned out to be quite a lot.
"I may not have a lot of fingers but I can add more fingers if I want to."
"What do you- Ohhh…" Not that well articulated but I got what he meant. Two words, actually. Psychic privileges.
"Mmmm… what about the thing…? The thing on your elbow? What's that?"
Saber glanced down to look at his extended elbow. "My blade."
"What do you use it for?"
Saber raised his non-existent eyebrows. "Cutting…?"
"What can you cut?"
"I could cut you if I wanted to."
I gave him a slight chuckle. "Nice." I took a sip of my watermelon juice.
I stared at the ceiling. Russ was sound asleep. Thoughts have been floating around in my mind lately. I've been here for like, what, two weeks? At first, I expected myself to be sad, and grieve for weeks on end but now? I still feel… nothing.
I've been taken away from my home and I'll never see my family again… but somehow… I don't feel sad. I have no idea if I'm supposed to feel this way and I'm just questioning is it just me coping with… all of this or is it waiting for something to trigger it? Or did I spend all my grief in the first couple of days of me being here?
But, as I looked at Russ sleeping peacefully, I felt a twinge of concern for the little creature. I looked back at the past couple of days of me with Russ and I couldn't help but ask, 'When was the last time we actually interacted other than a simple exchange of yes and no's?'. It was kind of sad when I answered it, to be honest.
I had ignored Russ because, in reality, I just didn't know what to do. I'm not a caretaker nor am I prepared to be one. The role's been shoved towards me. It's tragic.
As I lay there, the room felt eerily quiet, the kind of quiet where you notice the humming of the air conditioning, except there was no air conditioning. The only sound was the soft, rhythmic breathing of Russ as he continued to sleep peacefully.
What if Russ ends up not being right because of me?
…
I simply couldn't sleep.
I want to try something tomorrow.
"Hey Saber, is there a library around here?"
Saber, who was sitting on the balcony and reading a newspaper turned around and looked at me. "Yeah, but I know where it is but I haven't been there before."
"What does that mean?"
"You are going to have to walk there." After that, he just continued reading his newspaper.
"Ughhh…" I groaned in frustration. "Is it far?"
"At the edge of the town, next to Professor Rowan's– Actually, I can get you there–" Saber quickly peeked around the balcony door and looked at me like he had a suspicion of me being a murderer. "Wait- HANG ON A MINUTE. Why are you going to the library when you can't even read?"
Distraught at my own forgetfulness, I sat down on the sofa as I dragged my hands across my face. "How did I forget that… Oh my god… how did I forget that…"
Russ patted me on my thighs while calling out his species name in a… questioning manner. "Riolu. Riolu?"
"No- No, I'm fine… I'm fine. Thanks. I simply forgot something. Don't worry."
Clearly, the reassurance wasn't enough as Russ continued to look at me worryingly.
Eventually, Saber got up from his seat and went back inside. "What do you plan to read at the library, anyway?"
"Actually, can we just talk for a moment?" I turned to Russ. "Russ, listen, alright? I need you to stay in our room for a bit, okay? I need to talk to Uncle Saber."
"Damn it, Ben…"
Russ happily nodded at that and went on his merry way. Saber then joined me on the sofa.
"Right… umm… where do I start? …You're not reading my mind are you?"
"Nope. I wouldn't do that to you. You'll feel it."
"Okay, it's about Russ. I… don't know how to take care of him. I don't know what I'm going to do, let alone what I'm going to do with him. Like– he seems closer to Mana than me."
"And you're saying…?"
"How? How do I do this?" I whispered shoutingly. "I can't fuck this up, man. This is my only chance."
"I suppose asking Ryna would be a good first step. Just take it slow. Have you tried spending time with him? Taking him for a walk, for example."
"I hadn't had the time and the privacy to do that." I looked at him like it was his fault because it was.
"Mmmm… I figured." And it looks like he knew it himself.
"It's like- I know what I have to do but I don't know how to approach this."
"I don't know much about parenting but I know that it's not something that comes with a manual. Take your time and it'll come to you. How do I know? Ryna told me once and she raised me since I was a Kirlia."
"Hey, don't laugh. Back in my days, this was like- the Castelia Times Bestseller for people of my age." Ryna was just about my shoulder when she started flipping to the first page.
"Of course it was. You were like four."
"Right, right, whatever," Ryna dismissed, "Before we begin, do you have any questions?"
"Questions? Uh… how many are there?"
"Twenty-six."
"Twenty- ooh.." I pointed at the first letter. "Is that 'A'?"
"Yes, it is- How do you kno-"
"Yep! I got it. I just got it."
The next few hours were spent on 'deciphering' a newspaper with the children's book beside it. AND with Ryna's guidance, of course. It was so tedious since a whole book of alphabets meant one page for one letter; I had to flip the pages for EVERY. SINGLE. LETTER.
Ryna left me alone after that because she thought I was doing good and I quote, "You got it."
I took a deep breath with Russ on my lap. I rubbed my now-watery eyes underneath my glasses. "I should take a break later…"
Eventually, I memorized some of the letters which accelerated the process but in the end, I got a papercut because I was flipping pages way too fast.
"Ah, shit," I cussed out as blood started to trickle out.
"What- Oh- are you good?"
"Riolu!" For the first time, I saw Russ with a different expression other than happy, concerned or straight up just asleep. Boy, he was agape.
"Yeah, I'm good," I said.
"You're bleeding."
Russ was actively trying to climb up my legs to get closer to the wound. "It's a papercut, man. Chill."
"Because of a paper?!"
"Uh, yes? Have you never seen papercuts before? Here, wanna taste my blood?" They stepped back in disgust trying to get away from me as I showed them my finger.
"What? Ew, no- Why? Why would I do that? Why would I taste your blood? You shouldn't- bleed- that-?" Saber took a long and deep breath before sighing. "Alright. If you say you're fine, then you're fine. I believe you but is there something that I can do?"
"Yeah, grab a wet tissue paper or something before it starts dripping on the floor here."
Saber closed the door behind him and just stood there. His kind can hide their emotions pretty well, but anyone can tell from a mile away that he was shocked. Part of it was because he hadn't tried to hide his emotions at all. He simply didn't care all that much and he didn't need to.
Then, he thought to himself. "How does he bleed so easily?"
Saber shook his head, deciding that it wasn't worth dwelling on.
"Why do you look like you're traumatized?" Ryna said from across the room.
"Hey, Ben cut himself using paper in there. Accidentally."
She raised an eyebrow. "How the hell does that happen?" She's been living for many, many years and she had never heard anyone cut themselves using paper. It's either intentional and Ben was a moron or Arceus forbid, his skin was just very soft. She could only hope it was the former.
"He said that he's fine and he asked me to get a wet tissue paper." Saber went ahead and ripped out two pieces of tissue from the roll and dampened it using some water.
"Lemme take a look." Ryna got up from the sofa and they both walked towards Ben's room.
The door opened, and the tissue floated over to Ben.
"Your hand doesn't look like it bleeds anymore," Saber pointed out.
"I- I licked it. Dude, you took so long! It started dripping to the floor. Look."
Sure enough, on the floor were drops of blood waiting to be wiped off.
"You did what?!" Ryna exclaimed and facepalmed like I had accidentally broken someone's neck.
"I licked it! It tasted like metal," Ben said as he pressed the wound with the damp tissue and then used it to wipe the floor. "It still stings, by the way."
"...Is it normal to bleed that easily?"
"Well- no? You can't get paper cuts that easily."
"So you're saying you don't get papercuts."
"No." Ryna then grabbed fresh new paper – the razor blade of papers, mind you. "Look."
She then proceeded to cut herself in between her fingers. "WHAT THE FUCK!" Ben bellowed.
However, and miraculously, she didn't bleed. Not a cut was present. Not one bit, not a single drop of blood trickle out.
All sorts of emotions were planted on Ben's face. With disgust, confusion, and concern, he came to the conclusion that he was the most fragile living thing ever.
International Police
Anomaly Department
Sinnoh Division
WELCOME BACK
[FILE DATABASE]
…
[ARCHIVES]
…
[OBJECTS OF INTEREST]
…
[SERIES III]
…
[2700]
…
[2779 - CODENAME: Red Cap]
Object-2779
Object Class: C3, No threat, monitoring needed
[DISCOVERY]
[PROCEDURES]
[ADDENDUM]
[ENTRIES]
[DOCUMENTATION]
ENTRIES
Ryna Harwell
Containment Supervisor
The purpose of these entries is to document events during daily life with Ben Harwell (IC 5520803-6-0012) as well as discoveries regarding our subject's origin. Worry not, crucial information will be stored in another section as well as here (See Documentation)
This log will only be updated if necessary, (e.g revelations, possible threats)
Since this is the first log of the file, I will have to put in some basic information here to clear up any ambiguities:
Ben is a human being.
Ben currently resides with me.
In the first test, Ben demonstrated the ability to care for a Pokémon, named 'Russ' the Riolu (SEE TEST 2779-1A). The test was successful, and after a meeting with the team, it was decided that Ben was allowed to keep said Pokemon.
Anomalous properties are possible but unlikely.
Since Pokemon exists in the form of media entertainment, Ben may possess 'meta-knowledge'. However, this is yet to be proven.
With that out of the way, let's start with a summary of day one;
Ben moved in with me and has been provided a room for himself. He had apologized for his outrage a couple of days prior. He had quite a hard time adjusting and mostly stayed in his room throughout the day. Saber and Mana remained sceptical about Ben.
For day 2,
-Ben and Saber had an argument which left Ben devastated. Both of them had made up with each other since. Since then, they have been on good terms with each other. Mana, however, is still sceptical.
For day 3,
-I brought Ben to downtown. He had no jacket so I let him borrow mine. He was curious throughout the walk, especially at the sight of the Pokemon Center which he remarked as 'huge'.
-When asked what he wanted to eat, he simply said, "What do you recommend?" and got what the waiter recommended. When asked, he said that he couldn't read and he had to "cook something up somehow." I have to admit, it was pretty smooth.
-I had gotten him some extra clothing that night.
For day 4,
-Saber, Ben and Russ went out together for a walk. Saber had told me that he had teleported Ben three times before arriving at the station and mentioned that Ben almost threw up – a normal reaction for a first-timer. Action has been taken on Saber because, let's be honest here, the risk was uncalled for.
-During his time at the police station, I had Ben explain to us the use cases of his belongings in order to cement or correct our assumptions. It was clear in the end that Ben was a photographer and had a passion for his hobby.
-A photo for Ben's identification card was taken that day.
As of day 5,
-Ben had started learning the alphabet. It is now known that their version of the alphabet is the same, with the only thing varying being the shape and looks of the letters themselves.
-As absurd as this sounds, Ben accidentally cut himself using paper. He had said this was normal. My assumption now is that he has soft skin. I had advised the team as well as Saber, Mana and Russ to be easy when interacting with him.
-Warning to other personnel when interacting with Ben:
-DO NOT expose him to Pokemon moves other than healing moves. Even a single Tackle may prove fatal.
A soft glow was the first thing I saw as I slowly opened my eyes. I panicked and pushed myself from the hard wooden surface. I sighed when I realised I was still in my room.
Rubbing my eyes, I discovered that everything was not as clear as I would have liked it to be. I patted around, searching for my glasses before getting a hold of the temple and putting them on.
"Damn... what time is it?"
"Probably fuckin' midnight..." I answered myself.
Looking back at the bed, I noticed that Russ had taken the opportunity to sleep at my side of the bed, holding the blanket very dearly. I stood up, or at least tried to. After sitting down for so long, my legs now feel like sparklers.
The room swayed for a moment as I steadied myself, before doing the best stretch of my life. I felt something tug my pants from below.
"Riolu?"
"Oh… hey… How are you doing?"
Russ tilted his head to the side, a questioning look in his eyes. I crouched down to his level, patting him on his tufty head. "I'm fine, buddy." I gave him a tired smile.
"Do you want something to drink?"
Russ gave it a thought before giving me a nod. "Right, let's go, then."
I left the room with Russ following closely. It was pitch dark outside. With the light from my phone, we swiftly made our way to the kitchen before grabbing a cup and pouring in a cup of water.
As I sipped on my water, I glanced around the quiet kitchen. It felt odd being up at this hour, with everyone else in the house asleep. It's just eerie looking down the hallway, where it used to be so bright, with furniture that you can actually see that gives it life. Now, it's like looking into an abyss.
Not trying to wake everyone up, we quickly sneaked our way back to our room after that. We snuggled back to our bed and made ourselves comfortable.
"Russ?" I began, "I've been thinking…" I picked my next words very carefully so as to not embarrass myself in the future when I eventually look back at this moment.
"I… really haven't been a good companion, haven't I?" I said. His head turned to look at me, though, my attention was towards the ceiling. "I've never ever taken care of someone. This really is a first for me- um- and I'm really lost a- and- dare I say, I've neglected you- in a way."
I paused for a moment.
"And, uh, I'm sorry. I want to change that, I really do." I turned my head to the side to see two pairs of red eyes staring back at me in sympathy. "So… would you give me another chance?"
There was an awkward silence between us for a moment there.
"Riolu…" Russ gave me an affectionate lick on the cheeks. I smiled and stared back at the ceiling as I pulled back my covers. Not long after, Russ's quiet little snore started and it didn't take long after I too, fell into a slumber, now feeling a little bit at ease.
"You can set it to High Plus and it shoots really fast. But then when you want to take one picture, but it's still on this mode, and you press the shutter for a lil' bit too long, and it starts taking multiple pictures, it can get a little scary."
I grabbed one of my lenses on the table and mounted it on the camera. "Just look at that. It looks so neat," I commented.
"Well? Let's see it."
Tiktiktiktiktiktik
I held the camera in one hand, showed the screen towards her and started firing my shots. The camera made a series of rapid clicks, which were loud and rough. The sound never fails to stagger me back then, even today. At the end of the burst, I was grinning like an absolute maniac. OH, it felt like I was back in my element.
The pictures kept coming in, and in, and in, and-
"WOAH! Okay! I think that's enough."
"It's fuckin brilliant, that's what it is," I said while giggling at the same time.
WC: 5667
AN:
Thank you so much for waiting this long for another chapter. This chapter had been kicking my ass lately, as well as school. I'm still thinking about how I'm going to approach the next chapter. Hey, maybe I'll write a Christmas Non-canon chapter. It'd be amazing, right?
Anyhow, reviews are appreciated. I'd love to see some feedbacks. Just please don't roast me in the review section. I'd be really sad.
See you again in the next chapter, and again, thank you for reading.
Bye!