2024-05-01: Breakfast at Anne's
- Log: Breakfast at Anne's
- Cast: Anne Aomori, Damian Tamaoka
- Where: Viridian City - Emerald Way
- Date: May 01, 2024
- Summary: Following his chat with Anne, Anne insists taht Damian spend the night in the spare bedroom. In the morning, Damian gets to meet Edgar, who comes over for breakfast.
=======================<* Viridian City - Emerald Way *>======================== Viridian City is a city of many importances; it is the major commerce and logistics hub within the Emerald Cape province, providing primary access to the western reaches of the Kanto region. It's of no surprise, then, that it sports an expansive and well-developed commercial district, with Market Way providing a wide variety of shops and goods for all walks of life. Lush and adorned with nature, Viridian's residents enjoy a spacious and relaxed environment, with most living in medium-density apartment blocks three to four stories high. The market is most recently memorably featured in the hit single by sensational Nedean-pop band 2BA, "I'm on the Road to Viridian City." BGM: Pokemon: Let's Go, Eevee & Pikachu! - Pewter City - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGrGjO5F6ZM
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Anne's apartment is comfortable. It's on the fourth and top floor of the complex, in the corner; there's a balcony, and roof access. It does have a spare bedroom, as it happens, and while that isn't particularly special, it is a good place to sleep. It has a bed with a number of pillows, its own little bathroom, and a window!
It's mostly for if Anne has a visitor, especially one of her kids.
But it's morning by now, after Anne invited Damian to stay over given how distressed he was. She's already set on coffee and puttered around the kitchen to set a few things up, and also... been texting on her phone!
She's dressed in daytime clothes when she comes to knock on Damian's (temporary) door. Knock, knock. "Good morning, Mia," she says. "I had some breakfast plans--I was going to have Edgar over. If you'd rather, we can go out instead. Just let me know so I can tell him."
She waits!
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian was, indeed, in a state last night, and even though talking through it and processing it some more helped, and he was able to pivot to talk about other topics (like new photos from Lunar, showing off Chira, his newly-befriended Trapinch, or to ask more about the date), there was still a lot of emotional wariness and physical drain.
Crying really takes a lot out of a person, sometimes.
It really didn't take too much arm-twisting--if not from Anne then definitely from Purri--to accept the offer of a bed. Even if he tried to demure at first an insist that a sleeping bag on the couch or even the floor would be more than enough.
There is a sound from the bedroom of Purri waking up first, and then gently shaking Damian awake. "Purr, loin!"
"mmmf... P-Purri...?" He blinks and looks around. Oh, right. Anne's spare bedroom.
Damian opens up the door, still rubbing some of the sleep out of his eyes. His hair is still ab it in disarray, not tied back yet, and he doesn't have his glasses on either, so his pale, silver eyes are on full display. For pajamas, he's wearing a pastel purple top with a chibi-Purrloin curled up on front, and darker purple pajama pants that have Purrloin pawprints all over them in white.
Breakfast plans... "O-oh, um..." He rubs at the back of his neck a little. "Y-you d-don't have to change your p-plans, I c-can leave..."
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Photos from Lunar were welcomed; Chira was appreciated. Anne was very willing to talk about her date. But she expected Damian to be tired, and so she invited him to stay over. As for a sleeping bag or the couch, well--
She has the spare, so why not use it?
Damian opens the door, and Anne smiles at him. "Sleep okay?" she asks, looking him over for signs that he's fatigued instead of just-awake groggy. She seems satisfied with that.
"Don't be silly," Anne says. "I already told him you were here. You can get going after breakfast. I think he'd like to meet you anyway, considering."
Anne hands Damian's washed clothes over at the door, in the next moment. "Feel free to have some coffee if you like."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian yawns a little but then nods. "Yeah.. b-been a while s-since I slept i-in a bed..." he reflects. There's a small little smile as he considers that. "It w-was nice..."
He blinks at that, as Anne mentions that he's invited to stay for breakfast. "O-oh! O-okay. Thanks! U-um... then h-here or out is okay. C-can I help with b-breakfast?"
He takes the clothes and then nods. "Okay! I'll b-be out i-in a moment!" He takes a quick shower and comes out, looking better put together than moments before. Hair brushed out, and properly tied into a ponytail (instead of left to fall around his face), glasses, a plain black t-shirt and baggy shorts. Purri is on his shoulder, purring happily as Damian sits down to avail himself of some coffee. She hops to a seat next to Damian's to curl up and rest a little bit more.
"Y-you think he'd r-really like to meet m-me?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"Heh. All that camping out on the Journey. It was fun, but I don't entirely miss that part." Of course it was nice! Anne nods along, and then, "Then we'll stay here. I already started preparing it; I was going to leave it for you if we didn't stay."
A pause. "You can get some dishes out for us," she decides. "Big plates, little plates, and glasses for everyone. Mugs too."
Then, Anne steps on back to the kitchen, to finish getting things ready. When Damian comes out, she smiles at him again. "Better," she declares. "It's important not to waste mornings."
"I do," she answers Damian's question. "You're going to be our daughter's rival, at least for a while. Besides, he likes meeting my students."
Checking her phone on the counter, Anne says, "I think he's on the way up now."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
"Camping is f-fun!" Well, it's better than being stuck at home, so really everything is far more preferable. "B-but it is n-nice, e-every once in a while..." But staying here. "O-okay!"
Damian has a big smile in return to Anne looking... a lot better in that moment, between the talk and and comfort and a good night's sleep. "R-right! P-Purri usually makes s-sure I don't..." He has a gentle ear scritch for Purri as he passes by her to get to his assigned task. Big plates, small plates, cups and mugs... and he even puts out a proper silverware setting, too, complete with a folded napkin.
He's even humming to himself a little as he does it. Probably some theme from an anime of some kind.
But then he pauses a little when Anne brings up the Rival thing again. "O-oh, right... I-I'm... still not e-entirely clear o-on what that means...?" Sure, he's seen rivals in plenty of anime, but... that's a little different when it's real life and it's because one of you is in a criminal organization. But he brightens up again when Anne calls him one of her students. "O-okay!"
He definitely likes the sound of that. And he's definitely learning a lot from Anne.
He nods. Almost here... "A-anything else I c-can do?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"Oh, very. But it's nice to have proper indoors, too."
She notices the smile. Anne returns it, her wide glasses briefly glinting in the kitchen light. Her gray hair is not in a pontytail; she prefers to wear it long.
The napkin is a nice touch.
"That's up to the two of you," Anne says. "But for Sable, it means in part that she's identified you as someone she can get better by opposing." She pauses and adds, "He knows you're a Rocket, too. It was relevant to our daughter. And like I told you, I told him about me."
He is one of her students! And there is a knock at the door just after his next question. "Take a seat," she suggests. "You're a guest; you don't have to do too much."
She walks to answer the door. Edgar is there when she does. "Edgar," Anne says warmly.
Edgar smiles back. "Anne," he says. "And you have your student around?"
"That's right." Anne lets Edgar in, and he steps towards the table that Damian set up earlier. "Hey there," Edgar says once he sees him. "I'm Edgar Chiba. If we're in a lab you can call me Dr. Chiba, but here, you can just call me Edgar."
Anne closes the door behind him. "Coffee?" she offers.
"Sure," Edgar answers, and takes a seat. Since Damian has chosen the one next to Anne, that marks Edgar as across from both of them.
Anne gives Damian an expectant look so he can do his own introduction. "This is..."
She then walks back behind the bar and grabs the coffeepot, coming around to fill everyone's mugs.
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian's ponytail is, in all honestly, barely a ponytail. It's a mostly perfunctory tying his hair back to keep it from getting everywhere.
Though why he doesn't just get a haircut already is a mystery.
Damian blinks, as Anne clarifies about the Rival thing. "W-wait, she does...?" He frowns a little. "B-but..." He's about to insist that he's not that good, because he's seen Joy and Peace and others at work, but... hes also been practicing with Anne, hasn't he? Surely, he's getting better, too... "W-well, if she th-thinks so... b-but, I kinda thought she j-just wanted to convince me to l-leave Team Rocket..."
But he nods, as Anne mentions that Edgar knows. "O-oh, okay..." Well, if she thinks it's best, he'll trust her judgement.
He's told to take a seat. "Okay..." He wants to protest that he likes helping but he's willing to let that one go for now.
But he does take a seat--coincidentally choosing the one next to Anne. But just he's sitting down Edgar arrives, and he stands up to politely introduce himself. "H-hi!" He looks up--way up--in fact, blinking ab it at how tall Edgar is. He's even taller than Anne! "I-it's n-nice to meet you..." He nods as he says to just call him Edgar. "O-okay, Edgar!"
He might be stammering, but he's actually in pretty good spirits at the moment, so he doesn't sound nearly as unconfident as he might normally, even with the stammer.
"I-I'm Damian T-Tamaoka. A-and this is P-Purri." He leans over to give Purri a scritch, and then a gentle nudge. (She's curled up in Anne's seat, after all.) Purri jumps up to Damian's shoulder and looks to Edgar. "Purl! Loin purr purr."
Greeting delivered, Purri strolls out to the living room to find a warm spot to curl up at. Maybe next to Laqui, if he's amenable to it.
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
Anne's would be mighty!! If it were a ponytail. But it isn't.
"She does," Anne confirms. "Or so I assume; I haven't spoken to her about it. But my rival when I was her age was someone who I could always count on to challenge me."
Pause. "Well, he still does that, I suppose. But he gave me Whit."
A pause. "She probably does want that. It's up to you whether she succeeds. She doesn't get everything she wants."
Edgar knows! For Anne, it's a no-brainer, once he proved able to handle her status.
Way up indeed; he's about four inches taller than Anne, who is already very tall. "Likewise," Edgar says to Damian, and offers a handshakee.
"Hello, Purri!" Edgar answers, annd smiles at her. "She's beautiful," he comments, and then takes his own seat just before Anne brings out the food. She made waffles! Also some bacon.
Laqui will accept Purri's presence in the Nap Corner.
"Here you go," Anne says.
"So, I hear you raised an Egg!" Edgar says to Damian. "That's pretty impressive."
"He's the one I told you about all right," Anne says to Edgar. "The one Sable took an interest in."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
He looks thoughtful. Challenging her... "B-but if I'm challenging her... i-isn't she ch-challenging me, t-too...?" More ponderment. "I d-do need to get stronger, i-if I'm going to change things..."
Damian shakes his head. "N-no. I-I'm n-not leaving. I w-want to change things."
Damian smiles and reaches out to accept the handshake. He's not that strong, but he tries to make it a firm one anyway.
"Th-thank you!" beams Damian, as Edgar compliments Purri. And Purri has an extra pleased 'Purr!' for Edgar as well. "I w-work r-really hard on h-her coat!" Harder than on his own appearances, some days.
Waffles! And bacon! Damian will happily chow down on both--though a distantly cast 'Loin!' prevents him from drowning his plate in too much syrup.
She knows him really well for that called shot to work all the way from another room.
But he looks up as Edgar mentions the egg, lighting up. "Y-yeah! It t-turned out to be a Wh-Whelpwisher! I n-named her Rishi, she's r-really cuddly b-but a-also a handful, sometimes..."
Damian pauses, opening his mouth for just a moment as Anne refers to him as 'he'. He almost looks like he's about to say something but looks down and lets it drop. But he does look up again at the mention of Sable. "O-oh, r-right, um... Sh-she said I w-was her Rival...?"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"That's right," Anne confirms for Damian. "That's how it works! So make sure to appreciate her."
He's not leaving, hm...? Anne watches Damian's expression as he says that. "Then you'll have to show her your resolve."
When Edgar's here though, he does shake Damian's hand; it's firm, but not crushing. He is strong; he just knows not to crush someone's hand for a greeting.
"I can tell," he says of Purri's coat. "Your effort really works for her."
There's a couple different kinds of syrup, because Anne is fancy that way. It's worth being tempte!
"Whelpwisher, hm? That's very interesting. Did you know that they mostly live in cities? Makes sense, since that's where you find the most toys, right?"
Anne notices Damian's open mouth there. She looks at him for a moment, but it might be mysterious what she's thinking. Instead, shee lets Edgar answer first about the next thing.
"She mentioned you to me," Edgar explains. "Sable is..." He considers how to put it. "She tends to put her feelings into the things she does, instead of just into words. If she wants to battle you for more than just practice, it shows that she feels strongly."
Anne says, "That's right. So be careful; treat her seriously."
Edgar nods along. "Right. Especially when it comes to Pokemon." Edgar picks up his coffee and takes a drink. "Mmm," he says. "Nobody's coffee is quite as good as yours, Anne's. Not even the stores!"
"That's because I keep the good stuff," Anne answers easily.
"You never were one to settle," he muses. Then he looks at Damian, "But, old people flirting aside," he laughs, "What brings someone like you into Team Rocket? I know Anne's reasons, but I'm curious about yours."
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
So a rival is somebody who challenges you--and that you challenge in turn, and that you... should both appreciate and shouldn't disappoint. Damian blinks. "B-being a rival is c-complicated..."
He looks up to Anne and nods firmly. There is actually more resolve there than there was the last time they talked. "I will." Seems like Anne's talk with him lastnight might have really struck a chord with him. Having finally identified a future he wants to fight for...
Damian beams at the further compliment. "I l-like taking care of Purri a-and all of my p-pokemon... I c-cook their food, t-too!"
Several different kinds of syrup... Damian puts a different one on each waffle then. (But not too much, as Purri warned him not to do.)
"O-oh, huh. Y-yeah, m-makes sense. My egg k-kinda found me wh-when I was camping. Th-that's how I met D-Doctor Aomori!" (She hasn't told him to call her anything different outside of the lab yet, so he doesn't.)
Damian looks to Anne for just a moment, before dropping his gaze and not bringing up whatever it is he's about to say. Prviately he wonders what she was thinking in that moment.
But there are more things to learn about Rivals, it seems. But he listens, intently, as Edgar explains Sable a little bit more. And he nods along with that explanation. "R-right... I u-understand... sh-she's kind of like a r-really good friend of mine, i-in some ways... s-so I understand, a-a little bit..." But she must feel strongly... "R-right..." He looks to Anne and nods. "I will."
Treat her seriously. Add that to the list.
"... Is it weird, t-to say I hope I can b-be a good rival for her...?" He's still feeling this rival business out some.
"Sh-she and Nina w-weren't... v-very happy when they found out..."
He's silent for a moment, slicing up a piece of waffle to eat it as he looks back and forth between the two flirting adults.
"I-It's okay." Then he sits up a little straighter. "O-oh, um... It's k-kinda complicated..."
Where to start... "I l-left on my Journey, b-because..." Well, a lot of reasons. "B-because my only two friends l-left town, a-and I missed them, a-and then w-went missing... I w-wanted to find them, b-but it turned out they were in T-Team Rocket. I d-didn't want to g-go back home, s-so... I joined."
"B-but... r-recently I f-found some other reasons, th-things I want to ch-change about E-Energy Nede."
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"It is," Anne says. "Sometimes you're also something different, too, which is even more complicated when it happens. You might manage to still be friends."
Damian does seem to have picked up some resolve. But Edgar is happy enough to discuss Pokemon, "Do you? That's very good. I had my Braixen help with that, back then. ...Actually she still helps me out there sometimes." He listens about the Egg, too. "Mysterious, isn't it?" Edgar asks. "But that's a good way to meet a Professor, too."
Anne says, "Or any researcher."
"Hmm."
Edgar focuses on Damian again, and nods. "So you have some experience, there. That's good."
Anne of course knows who Damian is talking about. "It's not weird," she says. "It's good." She pauses, though; Nina and Sable, "No, Nina's not fond of 'goons in uniform,'" Anne reflects. "And Sable tends to think in pretty black-and-white terms until she gets to know an issue. But I raised her to have her own opinions."
"That you did. I like to think I helped, but that independence like that is definitely taking after you."
"You did," Anne answers. "...But that part is important to me."
Friends who went missing, and a home he didn't want to go back to. Edgar nods thoughtfully. "There's all kinds of reasons to Journey, and yours are yours. Joining because people you care about are there..." Edgar smiles. "Well, I'm not joining as such, but I'm in anyway, because Anne is. So I get that for sure. But if you're coming up with more reasons, that's good too. Things you want to change..."
"Maybe I could say you're a little young to have too much stuff to change, but I don't gather that's true. Good luck! Changing the world is a tall order, but I bet you can manage if you put your heart in it."
Anne smiles faintly. "...Besides," she says. "We can have some fun while we do, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
"S-something different? L-like wh-what...?" He looks down for a moment. "I d-dunno if sh-she wants to be my friend s-still... Sh-she started out not b-being sure if sh-she was mad and th-then said she w-was mad..."
"Oh, c-cool! I d-don't have a B-Braixen, b-but, um, P-Purri h-helps me w-with... w-well, a lot." Purri is literally Damian's emotional support pokemon, and she's got the certification to prove it. "Th-that's why I take s-such good care of her, b-because of e-everything that she helps me w-with."
"V-very mysterious, b-but... R-Rishi is r-really cute, s-so I'm glad she's i-in my party now." Party, not team. Someone plays a lot of video games.
He nods, on the matter of experience. He's got his own differences, too, though... not all of them in the same way as Sable or Joy.
But it's not weird. And Damian considers that a moment before nodding and accepting that. "O-okay..." Damian listens to Anne... and then looks down. "G-goons in uniform..." He wears a uniform when he does business for Team Rocket... He saw that picture Nina spraypainted, too... though he's not about to rat Nina out for that. Sable though... "Th-that makes sense..." It took him a while to see a different side of Team Rocket that was more appealing...
Well, a while and a traumatic experience that wont' be reiterated here.
"I'm s-still trying to figure out wh-what I want my Journey to be... b-but I do want to see more of N-Nede, a-and Filgaia, a-and Lunar, so..." Damian nods as Edgar says he's in. He cares about Anne, he gets it. (Definitely not in the same way he cares about Joy and Peace, but... still.)
"Im n-not too young t-to go on the Journey," Damian points out. He's silent for a moment, looking down at his plate. "I-If th-things were different, m-my friends and I w-wouldn't have needed to j-join Team Rocket...."
There may not be a lot of things, but they feel like awfully big things, to himself, Joy, and Peace.
But he smiles as Edgar wishes him good luck. "Th-thanks! I-it is, but... w-we can unite our strength t-together, r-right?" he asks Anne, looking up to her. Someone was definitely paying attention last night.
And a bigger smile for Anne's mention of having fun. "Y-yeah!"
<Pose Tracker> Anne Aomori has posed.
"Give her time to figure out her feelings," Anne advises Damian. "For me, it ended up being a bit more than that, with my old rival." Anne glances to Edgar with a shrug. "But... I think that's getting ahead of things for you."
Purri! "I see!" Edgar answers. "Well, it's important to be good to people who are good to you," he says. And then of Rishi, "Very nice! I'm happy for you."
Anne is well aware that Damian wears the uniform. And of how Nina likely thinks about him. "With Sable," Anne says, "You'll just have to show her that your choice is something she can respect."
Edgar nods to Damian about your Journey. "You're not," he says. "That's why I'm not going to tell you what to do." He 'hmms' a little about the matter of things being different, though.
Anne smiles back. "We can," she says. "Good, good. ...Now, eat something, before it all gets cold!"
<Pose Tracker> Damian Tamaoka has posed.
Damian does nod, on the matter of giving Sable time to sort out her feelings. "O-okay..." But as for the other thing... "Something more...?" His face scrunches up a little. "I d-don't get it..." Getting ahead of things... "... Is this one of th-those 'when you're older' things...?"
Anne has seen Damian and Purri interacting a lot. She can attest to how much Damian depends on her. Damian nods enthusiastically. "Yeah!" Very good to treat people well who treat you well in turn.
He looks up to Anne as she speaks of Sable again. "I'll t-try... M-maybe now that I have a r-reason..." Maybe that'll make a difference, with Sable? Who can say.
If things weren't the way they are, they wouldn't need Team Rocket. So, they'll make things the way they want them to be.
Admittedly, easier said than done.
Damian beams at Anne and tucks into his waffles and bacon in earnest.