2024-04-02: Writing on the Wall
- Log: Writing on the Wall
- Cast: Nina Chiyome, Sable Aomori, Damian Tamaoka
- Where: Saffron City - Paella Avenue
- Date: April 02, 2024
- Summary: Damian tries to get out of his usual haunts to avoid people in the wake of his Team Rocket affiliation being revealed. Instead, he runs into Nina committing Paint Crimes, with Sable acting as lookout. Explanations are given, and rivalries are declared.
=======================<* Saffron City - Paella Avenue *>======================= Saffron and Celadon City both stand side by side in the Central Kanto Plains, only divided by several highways and tunnels that connect them -- and where Celadon is known for its centre of government, Saffron has been long known as the bastion of science and development in Energy Nede. Saffron City boasts a significant majority of all white-collar jobs within its innumerable skyscrapers, and cutting-edge development happens within highly-guarded venues. The most well-known company in Saffron City is Silph Co., whose headquarters is seated at the very centre of business centres within town. Paella Avenue -- so named for the rice dish that famously uses saffron to produce its lavish golden colour -- cuts a straight path across the meticulously planned city, and sports a no-nonsense business chic of groomed hedges and tastefully coloured metallic plates and accents, adorned with many restaurant chains, electronic and computer stores, and net cafes. Some of its detractors find it stifling, but many see Saffron City as the city where the future is born. BGM: Pokemon: Heart Gold & Pokemon Soul Silver - Viridian City, Pewter City & Saffron City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43rbMuaGsg8 DC: Eleanor Klein switches forms to Sage of Light! You say, "Oooh, good point." Eleanor Klein says, "also wanna see her updated statblock" Eleanor Klein says, "i'm" Eleanor Klein says, "working on a new one" You say, "Oooh, sure."
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
It's night time! Because if you're going to do something stupid, illegal and at least a little spiteful, you should do it when you're less likely to get caught.
Nina's out in full kit! Mottled grey ninja style clothes, mask, her hair pulled back and mostly hidden under a bandana. Paint near her eyes to further disrupt facial recognition. Soft soled sandals, the works!
As for what she's up to? The sound carries a bit. She's currently got a stack of cans behind her partially obscured by a bag, hanging from a hook, much like she is as she starts on the grafitti she'd chosen this time around. Starting first and foremost with a white background to make it 'pop'. Right now she's apparently spraying a pokemon's design in. The sobble on the ground living up to its namesake. It seems to be wearing dark clothing of some kind though. She hasn't finished it, the outfit looks kinda outdated, but she's up to.. well something.
Tonight was picked for it's overcast vibe. It's not raining yet, but it's not bright either.
She did.. call in some help on this one. Hanging there, exposed to any passerby if she's not careful.
Also she's listening to music in one ear, if anyone were able to get close enough to surprise her and all.
Also her harness is completely safe. Don't worry about it. Besides, it's only a few stories down.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable Aomori is also in dark clothes, though hers are more deniable; a black hoodie, hood pulled up, with a facemask and soft-soled sneakers. She is ostensibly listening to music, but in actuality, the headphones are off.
She's keeping a lookout for Nina, prepared to warn her if someone should happen to come along.
But that's not too likely right now, either.
Sable waits.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian isn't sure he can handle running into anybody else he knows right now--at least, anybody who knows his Team Rocket affiliation but that is not also, themselves, in Team Rocket. It went okay with Chase, but it was tense, and it took quite a bit of effort on both of their parts to reach an understanding.
So he's decided to ditch his usual haunts and try visiting someplace new--which was also part of the lure of going on his Journey to begin with, pretense or not. To see more of Energy Nede than he ever could stuck in Lavender Town or stuck on a vacation with his parents.
Who would be out at this hour? Someone who let themselves lose track of time while checking out new hardware in the stores, that's who. And who might've taken a wrong turn getting back to the Pokemon Center but hasn't resorted to pulling out his phone yet to get directions.
He is also dressed in dark clothing, but that's more of an accident (and it isn't the all-black Team Rocket uniform, either): purple hoodie, brown shorts, black sneakers, and a purple feline pokemon on his shoulder.
Purri's ear twitches, and she turns her head. "Purr?"
"Did you hear something...?" Damian turns a corner to see what's caught Purri's attention...
And stops short when he sees Nina spraypainting, though he doesn't immediately identify her. Instead he's focused on that graphic she's painting...
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
The somewhat compulsive ninja in training is more observant than she usually lets on. At least with matters regarding her antics. The movement gets her to pull the can in close and she flattens against the building. The mottled grey probably making more sense at that point, especially since darker would probably stand out more.
She also is slowly reaching a hand up to begin climbing the rope. She might have an escape route in mind.
Then she pauses. She's pretty sure she recognizes both that figure and voice. For one moment she's raised the can like she's considering throwing it, but she stops herself well short of that.
Instead, she swaps the can out for the next one in the line. Something bright red. She points to the figure, then points two fingers to her eyes and turns to spray a nice big red R on the uniform. It's a bit mean spirited and actually seeing the person does add a pang of guilt, but it's dark enough and she's masked up so it's a bit harder to see.
She might be angry and feel a bit betrayed..
She clearly doesn't seem too worried about him running off and tattling either way.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable sees Damian about the same time that Nina does; they're both observant. But Damian isn't a danger, so she just lifts a hand, glancing once to Nina and making a signal.
Then she looks back to Damian again. Purri is there...
"Hello, Damian."
She pauses. "Nina's mad at you," she explains. "And she's busy. Don't make a lot of noise, or we'll have to leave."
She pauses then. "...I'm not sure if I'm mad at you."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian tenses up and freezes when the spraypainting figure stops. He very quickly gets the idea that that person spraypainting shouldn't be here, and he shouldn't be here either. He's already taking a step back to turn around and walk away when Nina points at him.
She paints that R, and his eyes go wide.
He ducks his head and quickly turns to walk away. There's only a few people who that could be, who would know his involvement with Team Rocket, but he's not prepared to take the time to think that through.
(He might have trouble thinking it through regardless, even with all the clues he has...)
But he turns around only to run right into Sable. Nina's mad... Damian blinks and looks back to the ninja-in-training, then back to Sable and silently nods.
He looks down, and Purri jumps into his arms from his shoulder without prompting so Damian can hug her to his chest.
"... I don't blame her," he admits, quietly.
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nina's taking a little bit more time. Outlining, quick strips of paint. Then a signature that looks like a proper signature and a number all rolled into one. 9s, which.. it's there.
When she climbs up the rope with her kit in tow, she disappears for a few, taking the rope and the kit with her. When she reappears some time later, best not asking how she got down so quickly, she looks to Sable, then points up and says, "Not the cleanest work I've done. I liked doing more cheerful. This seemed appropriate though." And a bit mean. Again, it's kind of offputting with the target there. She does feel some guilt even now.
She doesn't address Damian at first, for a myriad of reasons really, all helpfully hidden by the mask. Looking to Sable, she states, "He was trying to steal other people's pokemon and I have a hunch-" she glances his way, "At least one of his was. Remember the lab incident?" She's paying some attention.
She does finally address Damian though. Like she'd been organizing her thoughts. Though she doesn't say anything. She's just staring. Intently. Hand near her pokeballs. There's definitely a lack of trust there.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable knows, of course; Nina told her. She doesn't lower her mask, but it's possible to recognize her all the same.
Nina appears, and Sable nods. "I like more cheerful, too. Sometimes you're inspired, though." That seems to be that. But--
"I remember," she says. "I wasn't there, though."
Pause. "...I don't understand," she says.
"Why don't you blame her?"
"If something's important enough to you to steal Pokemon over, then why aren't you defending yourself? You wouldn't do something like that for no reason."
"...I thought you didn't have goals, or something to fight for. But it looks like you're doing it anyway."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian can't really bring himself to look at the painting again. He stays facing away, towards Sable, holding Purri in his arms. Purri is nuzzling Damian, but her expression is serious as she watches Nina, to be ready in case she does somethign drastic.
He does look up when Nina finally makes her appearance, and then looks down. There is a wince as Nina says he was trying to steal other peoples' pokemon. That's not... strictly true--through it's definitely not cool to try and capture Daihaku like Biggs and Wedge were trying to do.
One of his... "O-one of mine what?" he asks, not catching the inference. But the lab incident... "... I w-wasn't there," he says, voice almost a whisper. He looks down. "... I c-c-c..." He takes a deep breath and then forces the word out. "Couldn't..."
Damian looks up, blinking as Sable asks him why he can't blame Nina. "... B-because..." He looks between the two of them before looking down again. "... I know... p-people d-d-don't like Team Rocket..."
"I d-d-didn't join Team R-Rocket b-b-because I w-wanted to st-steal Pokemon... I j-joined b-b-because..." Damian sighs. "... m-my friends were already in it... I-I just... I just w-wanted to be with th-them..."
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Brushing her hands, she glances around, then peels her gloves off. stashing them in the bag with the paints. Which carefully get set out of the way in hiding for now. It's a good excuse for her to process her thoughts on the matter. Though she does nudge the bag with her toe a few times to make sure it's out of sight. Standards stuff. Sort of.
"Next one I think I'll do..." She starts. trailing off in thought. There's a distracted tone there that suggests more going on under the hood than she'd initially admit though. "Nanoha sent some pictures of her Bayleaf out in a field of flowers. Could do something with that next time." Not one to one of course, but...
"Now, or ever?" She finally asks Damian, particularly at the comment that he couldn't steal. There's probably some level of hypocrisy in her dragging both siblings and Sable into these kinds of antics, but she's not anywhere in the right headspace to approach it. Besides, grafitti's different!
Damian's response as to why he joined and Sable's comments are met with a flat, "He still doesn't it sounds like. Just duck your head and move on. Let other people shoulder it." She turns finally to face him, considering her words. Staring. Hand still at those pokeballs again as she watches Purri. That last statement's probably close to her problem. It's rubbing against her own self-righteousness. That they should show they can help themselves with their own power and skill!
"I'd have helped you stand up. Never would have dragged you into.. what they're doing. Some friends." She does look to Sable at that. Like she's worried that her long term friend might feel trapped in a similar way.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Can't? Couldn't? "They why are you?"
Sable waits for the answer. SHe waits as Damian gives his answer, such as it is, and...
She'd like the Bayleef picture. But that's not what she's discussing at the moment. Instead, "But joining means you're doing things like stealing Pokemon," Sable says. "It doesn't matter what you wanted. It matters what you do."
Pause. "...I think I'm mad at you too, then." Not that she sounds it. "It's not like I think sneaking around is wrong..."
She looks back at Nina, tilting her head. Then she looks back to Damian. "You should do things for your own reasons. If being with your friends is important enough to you to steal over..."
"Then you should stand behind that. If you can't, then you shouldn't do what you're doing."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian doesn't always have the best time reading people, but beyond Nina being mad, it's a bit hard to follow her train of thought--though a digression into Bayleafs in a field of lowers doesn't help. He looks up, very briefly, at the graffiti before dropping his gaze again. "... I-is that... the paint crimes y-you mentioned, before...?" He looks to Sable.
She stands watch, Nina said...
He meant that he couldn't go to the lab. To to go a place full of Psynards, with a Psynymph on his belt... he couldn't do that to Mypsy. But Nina seems to have taken his statement the wrong way. "E-ever..."
Nina's hands are near her pokeballs... but Purri's eyes are fixed on Nina, and they're narrowed as she keeps careful watch, even while giving Damian the occasional nuzzle to reassure him.
Nina would've helped... and Damian looks down. "W-we weren't f-friends yet... I-it's..." Complicated, and there's quite a bit to explain, and still some things he doesn't want to talk about despite all of that.
He withers a little when Sable says she's mad too, that he should be doing things for his own reasons. Damian looks down at the ground for a long time, trying to sort out his thoughts.
Still looking down, he says, "R-remember... wh-when I s-s-said my Journey d-didn't have a goal...?" That's addressed to Sable, but now Nina gets to hear, too.
"I d-d-didn't have a l-lot of friends, b-back home... J-just two... e-eventually, they left town, a-and I was stuck a-at home, a-and it... i-it was terrible, w-without them... I-I w-was lonely, my p-p-p-parents..." He flinches, reflexively, at the memories, and skips over that bit for now. "W-when one of m-my friends went m-missing o-online... th-that's wh-when I left. To -find them, a-and g-get away from home..."
"... th-they were in Team Rocket..." Which is why Joy vanished, why Peace was so distant, but he can't name them by name, here.
His voice is smaller than ever. "I w-was l-lonely, th-they were... m-my only f-friends, s-so..."
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nina Chiyome glances over at Sable. The dogleg had thrown off a few people. She'd mostly been trying to be dismissive. It didn't work. Probably on account of still participating and.. being all serious for once.
"It's what you do, not what you say sort of thing." Agreeing with Sable in a round about way on the subject of stealing. "If not worse." She adds, something of an after thought. Glancing his way again.
"Vandalism." Just name it what it is. She knows what she does! No reason to be cutesy here and now she figures.
She still hasn't pulled her mask down.
She does try to hide the ghost of a smile at Sable's last statement though. Then it disappears just as fast and she says simply, "Please don't ever feel pressured to join my stupidity." Which is more insight than most would probably assume she had.
"You say that." She says simply to Damian. Clearly she thinks the other side of that coin's more accurate considering how she found out.
"No, but I bet we could have done... literally anything to help if we'd known." admittedly, with Nina that probably means convincingly giving him excuses for failure and.. that probably wouldn't work. And might suck. She does look briefly contemplative. It is complicated.
She's thinking on her words at this point though. There's a darker look on her face when she hears that his friend pulled him into the group though. She bites down the thought she had. It won't help here, but she does make a mental tally. It shows on her face, masked or not that she's not thrilled that said friends didn't try to keep him out of it. Even if she does sneak another look at Sable, wondering if she feels pressured too now.
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
Sable is in general both easy and hard to read. She doesn't emote as much as most people, even when she isn't wearing a mask, but she's fairly straightforward--even blunt--when she speaks.
"Vandalism," Sable agrees. "Technically criminal. But it doesn't hurt anyone."
She didn't catch the nuance about the lab. Instead, it's...
Well. Sable shakes her head. "I don't feel pressured. I only do what I'm comfortable with."
Then, "I remember." Sable stops, and then, "I see..."
"That's sad," Sable says. "But it doesn't change the way I feel. You should stop."
"...Until then," she says, "You're my rival. ...I'll show you through my actions that the way to live on your own isn't to join something like Team Rocket."
"Even if your friends are there."
"Did you finish your work?" Sable asks Nina. "...I don't think we should linger around here too long."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Vandalism. Damian nods, simply. Technically criminal but... it doesn't result in wrecked labs or stolen pokemon. "Y-yeah..." he agrees, forlornly.
Nina could have done something... "I w-wish..." Deep, steadying breath. "I w-wish we'd met s-sooner... b-but m-my friends m-meant everything to me. I-I though... I d-didnt think... I-I'd ever make other f-friends..."
Sable says he should stop. Damian looks away a little. "I sh-should... b-but..." He looks to Sable. "Not w-without my friends." That's perhaps the one thing that he's sounded a little bit firm on, this entire evening.
The declaration of being a rival, though... Damian looks like he's been punched in the stomach, and it takes him a fewq moments of incoherent stammering to be able to form words again. He somehow looks wounded and resigned all at once. He looks like he wants to protest for a moment, then he nods, looking down.
"I'm sorry," he says in a whisper-quiet voice.
He hugs Purri tighter.
"Th-they didn't join b-because they wanted to steal p-pokemon... th-they h-have a-all s-sorts of goals..."
"M-mine, f-for now, is p-protecting my friends."
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
Nina's response to Sable is almost relieved looking. Someone so wrapped up in just acting, she hadn't stopped to think she'd drag someone else along for the mess. "Just.. don't be afraid to say no." She says simply. Not that she doubts Sable would, but at this point she wants to make it clear. That's just who she is.
She does nod in agreement that Damian should just.. stop. His denial of that is met with a wry look. "If they don't want out and they-.. wouldn't want you to go to ground, I don't.." She trails off. She's pretty sure it's obvious what she's about to say, but it's not going to help here and for once, she caught herself out in advance. Might be a good influence on her having Sable around all calm and collected.
"Rival suggests a fair fight." Which.. Nina's pointedly against in a lot of situations. The question really is, what did she mean by it though.
"She's right though. You should just skip out. Hit the door running." She claps her hand for a visual aid. Adding flatly, "And your friends should agree with that." Hedging that subject again. "You need help, you show you want out. You know how to get me though."
Then, she looks up at the painting and back at Damian. "Yeah it's done." using her usual burner phone to take the pictures she likes before looking to Sable, "Let's get going before we have to answer weirder questions."
<Pose Tracker> Sable Aomori has posed.
"I'm not," Sable says. She nod to Nina. And then as Damian keeps talking, "I see. So you want it to be different... but you're not willing to make it different."
"He'll have to toughen up then," Sable says of a fair fight.
"...If you decide to change your mind, that's fine. But until then..."
"Maybe they have other goals, but that's the big one I've seen. Stealing Pokemon and scaring people. ...Maybe there's other things they want to do. I don't know."
"But if you're going to protect your friends like that, then that's how it's going to be."
She stops, and looks to Nina. "...Let's go, then."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
At least Nina and Sable seem to have reached a better understanding... so at least one good thing came out of the awkward conversation.
Damian blinks and looks at Nina. "Y-you d-don't what...?" He doesn't know what the ending of that sentence is. This conversation is in such a weird place as it is that he really can't guess what might have ended that statement.
Damian pales a little bit as Nina brings up a fair fight... and Sable's reply is to say that he'll need to toughen up.
Chase was concerned about what being in Team Rocket would do to his pokemon. What is having a rival going to do on top of that?
"I c-can't just..." Team Rocket is protecting him from something that feels infinitely worse. But to say that would be to explain about... everything. There are things that it hurts too much to talk about. "... n-not yet..."
Stealing pokemon isn't the end goal of Team Rocket. They're gathering power for... some purpose that he's not really sure of.
It sounds so convincing when Doctor Aomori speaks about it... wanting to change a broken system.
But he can't mention that to Sable, either.
"Th-there are..." is all he says of it.
But Sable is more than ready to go, Nina is too, and Damian stands aside so they can pass.
He does look up to Nina, briefly, before she goes. "... Am I your rival now, too?" he asks, softly.
<Pose Tracker> Nina Chiyome has posed.
The ninja shakes her head, "I'm not that kind of friend." Which is still obscure enough. For whatever reason she doesn't want to outright say what she thinks!
"She might give you a fair fight to be fair." She jerks her head towards Sable, "Fair as in she won't hit you in the back of the head with a paint can first." She's.. got to be joking by her tone. Even if she is still kind of angry. And shifted the anger to a new target too.
"You have two whole other worlds you could hide on. Can't and won't aren't synonymoous here." Still a blunt force trauma Nedian she is. Nina and Doctor Aomori even have similar goals. And entirely different views on how they play out!
As for that last question. "Yeah. I am. I'll take all of you down one by one if I have to too." She then offers a wave. Seemingly oddly cheery at that statement.
To Sable, she adds, "Saw a ramen place that was open late. You hungry?" Which.. is still definitely the impulsive kid in her.