Lazy Days (Fay/Open)

[Slate Aspen]

Ignoring the light mist that was falling from the slightly overcast sky, Slate sat atop Metagross's head with both his legs and arms crossed, leaning forward slightly as he slouched and clad in his usual brown and black clothing, for once clean since he hadn't been travelling long. Despite accepting the position as the second member of the Elite Four, a station that he'd never dreamed of when leaving Rustboro over eleven years ago nor one that he'd ever really coveted, he'd found that once again he just wasn't able to stay put in any one place. After only a month and a half of simply sitting around waiting for challengers and with no news of any promising talent from the region's Gym Leaders, he'd consulted with his team and found that they had also been in agreement - like him, they had spent most of their lives travelling with the sole exception of Heracross, and found sitting still difficult as well. Shortly after that he'd decided he would start another journey, repeating the process that he'd gone through three times already, first in Hoenn before moving on to Johto and Kanto.

Leaving the League headquarters, Slate had first gone through Lunar City before reaching the Shale meadows on the outskirts of Reinshaw town - while he and his team, except for Pupitar who very much disliked the water, greatly enjoyed the heat and humidity similar to the climates south east and north west Hoenn, they had no intention of staying there for long. Figuring that he'd let Metagross out for a change, a freedom seldom allowed due to his monstrous size and weight, Slate had released the Iron Leg pokemon along with the rest of his team. After nearly half a day they had all grown too tired to continue moving save for Metagross himself, and had elected to rest in their pokeballs. His own legs growing a bit numb, Slate had gotten on top of Metagross with his permission, and they'd continued moving through the light, warm fog. Leaning back and placing his hands on his lower back, Slate flexed, causing several light popping sensations to zip up his spine as Metagross relentlessly plodded along, his weight causing each foot to sink several inches into the soft ground with each step.

[kay]

Faint, misty rain billowed from the dove-grey sky which stretched from horizon to horizon over the vast Shale Meadows. Long blades of grass glisten like shafts of emerald in the midst of sprinkling of flowers. Tall poppies and black-eyed daisies wink at the pearly sky from far below. Small wonder that the meadows were known worldwide for their beauty.

On a day like this, warm and wet, tourists unaccustomed to the humidity of the area might be tempted to stay inside and enjoy a pot of something hot and comforting at Reinshaw's teahouse. Ophelia Waterstone certainly would, and did; the old woman was miles away, stirring copious quanities of lemon into her tea and probably paying very little thought to her adoptive granddaughter. There was simply no cause for worry, as far as Ophelia was concerned, so long as the young girl was flanked by a certain eager Sableye.

Fay cut a sharp silhouette at the crest of one of the meadow's hills, her form appearing almost startlingly dark against the rainy sky. Perhaps, of course, some of the fault lay with Sanguine. The strange little creature bound herself to Fay's back like a child, arms and legs wound about her torso. The effect was almost alarming, almost suggestive of a parasite embracing its host. Fay seemed blissfully unaware of the ghost caressing her--and everything else, for that matter.

It took her a long time to become aware of the enormous steel beast approaching her from behind. A Metagross was a very conspicuous thing; more than that, it was intimidating at best. A person unfamiliar with such Pokemon would not be out of line to be startled or even frightened upon turning toward the thunderous sound of its heavy footsteps and finding such a thing close at hand.

Fay merely blinked. "You're hurting the flowers," she protested in dismay. Her arms were crossed over her torso, her loose braids partially unbound and kinky from the moist air. She addressed the Pokemon directly, as though the Metagross would heed her and feel some remorse for the damage it did to the beautiful natural landscape. She did not, at this time, acknowledge its trainer.

[Slate Aspen]

Metagross, originally intending to simply move around the woman before resuming his original course - a straight line from Lunar City to Reinshaw town - stopped as the girl addressed him. Having already turned and moved halfway past her on her right, Metagross rotated his body slightly to his right to put her in his field of vision, red eyes silently appraising her and the small ghost pokemon attached to her back. Having taken to laying on his back with his legs drawn in slightly and crossed, Slate woke up from his light sleep and uncrossed his legs before sitting up without the use of his hands - his long hair, having acted like a sponge to soak up the water collecting on Metagross's flat top, was soaking wet, along with his clothes. Still, Slate wasn't at all uncomfortable as long as it was warm, and after yawning slightly looked around to see what had caused the massive arachnid like pokemon to stop, before catching sight of the other person and her pokemon. Looking around again to make sure that there wasn't anything else, Slate leaned forward and looked down into Metagross's slanted face.

"What's wrong, buddy? Something about her bother you, or just curious?" Slate asked, long hair dripping slightly onto the gray X shaped mark on the pokemon's face, although neither individual seemed to notice nor care. Despite hearing the question, Metagross didn't respond, instead continuing to stare blankly. Slate sighed slightly - while Metagross was a psychic type and perfectly capable of telekinesis, telepathy was another matter entirely, and one of the few abilities that he actually wished the pokemon possessed. Despite being one of his oldest pokemon, Slate still found it next to impossible to read or understand the steel type without directly conversing with it, which made it nearly impossible to communicate effectively when he chose to remain silent. After a few moments Slate redirected his attention to the other human, a look of mild apathy on his face.

"Don't really know what you said or did to make him take notice, but I am a bit curious to know what someone is doing out here. It's still several miles to the nearest town, and you don't seem to be a trainer - despite the pokemon, you have no bag for belongings and your clothes are a bit too clean."

[kay]

When Fay turns her wide brown eyes upward to meet Slate's her face is neither blank, nor distant, nor cold. Her eyes are warm and shrewd and her mouth downturned as though grieving. There is no reproof written on her face, but she declines her chin again with the air of patience one might take with a person who had interrupted a conversation. "These flowers are so beautiful," she informs the Metagross gently, canting her head imploringly. "You should try to be more careful."

Only when her business with the iron giant is finished does she address Slate again. "Hello," she replies with a smile. Over her shoulder, Sanguine stretches her dark neck and rests her angular chin in the crook of Fay's neck. It is impossible to tell, with her hollow ruby eyes, where she is looking; however, it seems obvious that the Sableye is appraising the Metagross in much the same way it is appraising the young woman.

"This is Sanguine," is the polite continuation of Fay's introduction, "and my name is Fay." The girl nears still further; if it will allow her, she will lay a gentle hand against Metagross' steel shell and stand on her toes to bring herself closer to Slate. "We came to look at the meadow, because we heard that it was beautiful. Didn't you notice?"

Suddenly the girl looks dazed, blinking and shaking her head as though rousing herself from a dream. "You didn't come to see the flowers, did you? How strange." Again she frowns, sighing softly.

[Slate Aspen]

Simply continuing to stare at her, Metagross made no movement to reply to the woman addressing him, instead remaining the quiet observer. Slate leaned back again to sit, crossing his legs and placing his arms behind him as he watched her himself - Metagross were plenty rare, and Slate had yet to here of one in the wild. As a result most people had never seen or encountered one first hand, which meant that they were usuall intimidated a bit by the machine like yet animalistic appearance when they met one for the first time. Either she'd encountered them before, or she had another reason for not being afraid - that, or lacked any reason for the fear most people felt. Still, it was enough to intrigue Slate, especially since he'd had yet to run into anyone else in the fields over the last two days. He was even more impressed when she actually reached forward to touch Metagross's steel like shell, an act he'd never seen a complete stranger attempt to do. Metagross himself gave no acknowledgement that he even felt the touch, however, simply refocusing his unblinking stare onto the Sableye peering over her shoulder.

"To be honest, no. We were a bit more focused on reaching Reinshaw, and after travelling for as long as we've been the places tend to blend together a bit." Slate said, still watching her with mild confusion mixed with approval - as he'd thought before, she was either very dazed or had more nerve than most. "Also no. We recently picked up a job over by Lunar City, but business has been a bit slow lately. There wasn't any real reason to stay for a while, so we decided to take a tour of the region while we could. Only reason we took this particular path was because it was the fastest way to Reinshaw, and from there we were intending to head to the Sira desert for a bit."

[kay]

The young girl's hand on the Pokemon's cold metallic hide is war and gentle. Her comfort near the hulking behemoth of a Pokemon seems to be deeply rooted in more than mere absent-mindedness. The Sableye does not move. Fay seems almost oblivious to her presence, as though the Pokemon attached to her weighs nothing--which, to be fair, is almost true.

"I see," is the reflective reply, another soft smile creasing the girl's face. "That's a shame. I would be very sad if I didn't think to stop and look at the flowers."

Suddenly, as though her head is abruptly too heavy to lift, Fay heaves a sigh and leans forward to caress the Metagross with her cheek. Her next words are reflective, directed more inward than towards Slate. "Much too beautiful to just pass by. If only there were something we could do..."

Then, just as quickly, her head snaps back and she looks up at Slate. She does not totter, although she has by now been standing on her toes for some time. "Come with me," she begs him, lifting her hand as though offering him a hand down. "Walk with me a little while. Please?"

[Slate Aspen]

As Fay seemed to fall against his leg Metagross's eye on the side she was on darted to follow her, although he made absolutely no movement with the rest of his body. Slate himself remained equally quiet, somewhat confused by her behavior - while he himself tended to be blunt and a bit quirky as a result of spending so much time in the wilderness with only his pokemon companions to keep company with, the girl easily topped him in regards to strange behavior. Slate was still trying to understand exactly why she was acting the way she had up to that point when she spoke again, the side of her head rubbing against Metagross's front right leg.

Definately absentmindedness, not nerve then. Slate thought, peering down from when he was sitting with a slightly apathetic look on his face, although inside he was debating whether or not to take her with him to Reinshaw - on the one hand, it was more than likely the town she'd come from given that it was the closest place for miles and she obviously wasn't a trainer, but on the other hand he had no idea if someone was out there in the fields looking for her. Either way, he didn't exactly feel at all comfortable if she was as....... away as he was beginning to think she was. She did have a pokemon with her, but Slate somewhat doubted that the tiny Sableye would be able to do much if they were to encounter one of the larger, less than friendly pokemon in the fields and low hills. It was then that her head snapped up in a slightly disquieting manner to speak to him again. Slate considered her request for several long seconds before replying.

"Alright.... first though, where exactly did you walk out here from, and where were you going? It's not exactly smart to wander around alone out here without previous experience travelling." Slate said, uncrossing his legs and standing before simply stepping forward to fall off of Metagross and onto his own feet next to her.

[kay]

"Such an interesting Pokemon." Already distracted again, it seems. As the man nimbly jumps down from astride the colossal steel giant, Fay skirts around to the forefront of the Metagross. "Although you don't need to see or touch me to know where I am, do you?" she inquires mildly to the Pokemon. As she walks, her fingertips lightly trail along its shell. Her eyes, as she peers into the red irises inset to either side of the creature's iron cross, are intense and thoughtful.

"You won't hurt me." The words issue as a simple statement. Their tone is trusting, even affectionate, as though she were talking to an old friend. Finally, with an inclination of head and shoulders to indicate deference to the Metagross, she steps away from it.

A poppy on the ground, pale pink and blowsy in the breeze, is carefully plucked from its stem. As Fay bends, the Sableye on her back slips from her and into the tall grasses, partially obscured thereby. The Pokemon observes the girl with the vigilant eye of a watchdog, intently dogging her without disrupting her strange course of action.

The flower is offered to Slate. Fay peers up at him with clear brown eyes; as she regards him, a broad smile grows on her lips. It seems to cause her whole being to brighten. "You will take this as your first memento of the beauty of these meadows," she informs him. "In return, I will tell you what you want to know. My nanna is in Reinshaw, and I've come to look at the flowers. I'll go back when I've seen them all."

[Slate Aspen]

Aaaaand she's gone again. Slate thought as he landed, the other human seemingly either ignoring him or forgetting he was even there as she moved around the massive Iron Leg pokemon, tracing her fingers along his steel like hide. Metagross, to his credit, showed no signs of nervousness or anxiety at her odd behavior, he himself simply and calmly tracking her with his eyes. As she alternated between looking into each eye the respective pupils shrank accordingly to focus on her before she stepped away from him, Metagross continuing to watch her as she moved away and let Sableye fall from her back.

Slate, unlike Metagross however, did feel slightly unnerved as she moved to offer him a picked flower. Still, he gave little external hints to it beyond hesitating to take it before glancing at it briefly and lowering the hand holding it.

"No offense intended, but isn't that somewhat of a contradiction?" Slate said, referring to the flower she had just picked - only minutes earlier she had been upset with them for stepping on the field. "Also, are you sure you aren't lost? We're miles away from Reinshaw, and even on Metagross it'll take hours to get back. The fields themselves go on even farther in the other direction, almost all the way to Lunar City."