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Snippet #2696273

located in Kanto Region, a part of Pokémon: Absolution, one of the many universes on RPG.

Kanto Region

None

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Eryk Nero Character Portrait: Kasimir Rheinallt
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Eryk was hanging out in his chair, perhaps a little unlike himself. His arms were hanging off of the sides, his head was leaning over the top, and he was just staring at the ceiling. He was having a bit of trouble sorting through things, and he'd been distracted as of late. So distracted that they had called to issue a complaint. Apparently he'd forgotten to send in a report in the last few weeks. He could have sworn he did, but going through the papers that were currently out of shape on his desk, had proven otherwise. The report was written, but it hadn't been sent off. He could have just e-mailed it to them, but he'd just forgotten.

He really felt distracted, and he couldn't quite place where it stemmed from. Part of it had mostly to do with what Cyrilla had told him, and the more he thought about it, the more distracted he became. What else could he possibly have missed? She had told him like it was something more, but how? How was it any more than what it was? He admitted that he enjoyed Ana's company, and that he'd liked her. But that was about as far as it went. He told Ana that she was a good friend to have, but now that he thought about it, that seemed wrong. He pulled a hand over his face, and dragged it across.

"I am distracted, and yet need a distraction," he spoke out loud. There was some irony in that statement, and Mankey seemed to have caught onto it. He simply jumped onto Eryk's lap, and stared at him. Eryk stared back. Neither of them blinked, and this went on for a few minutes more.

“You know,” Kas said from the doorway, “the resemblance really is quite striking. Between you and Mankey, that is.” He entered the office with a tray balanced on one hand. Steam wafted up from one of the plain white mugs from the breakroom—though by the smell of it, it had something much better in it than the instant coffee the grunts seemed to subsist on.

“Melly brought me coffee beans from the island,” he explained with a smile, obviously referring to his island. He talked about it like that, sometimes. “There aren’t any better ones in the world, so consider this a gourmet coffee experience. Black, as usual.” He set it down in front of Eryk, reaching back to the tray and producing an apple, which he handed to Mankey.

“And for everyone’s favorite troublemaker. Besides me, of course.” He tucked the tray under his arm and sat in one of the chairs on the other side of Eryk’s desk.

“So… what’s eating you?”

Both Mankey and Eryk turned their head in unison towards Kasimir, and for a moment, Eryk just stared at him. He frowned slightly, unsure of what to say himself. He didn't know what was eating him and he couldn't exactly describe it, either. He took the offered mug, and stared inside at the contents. Mankey took the apple happily, and jumped from Ryk's shoulder and made his way towards a make-shift tree that he could climb up. Eryk had it made special for Mankey so that he could have something to go in if he needed to.

"I don't know," he finally confessed, taking a drink from the cup. "I've been neglecting my duties, for some odd reason, and I think it has something to do with what Cy said," he continued once he'd swallowed his drink. He pursed his lips together as he thought about it more. He was pretty sure it was something that she'd said, but he still had some doubts. He glanced up at Kas, and furrowed his brows. "She told me that it's okay to admit that I enjoy someone's company," but he was still confused as to what she actually meant.

"And that it was okay to feel that," he stated, his brows furrowing deeper.

Kas propped an elbow on the armrest of the chair, resting his thumb on the underside of his chin and his knuckle in front of his mouth. He smiled for a second, but it faded pretty quickly. “Okay,” he replied slowly. “And the issue is that you don’t understand what she meant by that? Or that you do understand and aren’t sure you agree?” He seemed to treat Eryk’s conundrum almost as seriously as Eryk himself was—which was to say that he hadn’t immediately started cracking jokes or making fun of him. That was pretty unusual, actually.

If he were being honest, it was a little bit of both. He thought he knew what she meant by that, but he did know that he didn't necessarily agree with it. Considering how delicate this matter was to HQ, enjoying someone's company and admitting to it seemed like something he shouldn't do. It was dangerous ground for all of them, and he knew that. But...

"I don't know," he finally spoke, leaning back into his chair. "I think I know what she means, but I'm not entirely sure if it's the same thing. And no, I'm not so sure if I do agree if it is what I think it is," he admitted somewhat. Now, he was confused. The way he said it didn't make sense at all to himself, and he pursed his lips together. This was getting more confusing the longer he thought about it.

Kas smiled, apparently in good humor, but it was subtle compared to most of his facial expressions. “Slow down there, rapidash,” he said amiably. “I think you might be getting a little ahead of yourself here. All this is very vague so far. Now, I have my own ideas about what Cyrilla meant and how to take it, but why don’t we start simple: what do you think she meant to say when she told you that? Be as concrete and literal as possible: you’re good at that, so it’s what’ll help you think through this, right?”

"She asked me if I liked Ana and I told her yes. I like her because she's a good friend," he began, slowing down just slightly. "But from the way she said it, she made it seem like it was more than just that. I know it's not," he continued. He wasn't entirely stupid. He knew about things like crushes and shit like that. He'd known Cyrilla his entire life to not know what that was, however; he knew it wasn't the same thing with Ana. He simply enjoyed her company. That was it, right? Fuck, now he was doubting himself.

“Okay,” Kas said, seeming inclined to take him at his word, “so basically what you’re saying is that you think Cyrilla has misunderstood the nature of your feelings towards Ana.” He lifted both eyebrows at Eryk. “If that’s the case, what’s the problem? She misunderstood, said something that would only apply if she were correct—which you’ve said she isn’t. So it just straightforwardly doesn’t apply to the situation, right? You could tell her so if you wanted, but that doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would distract you this much, does it?”

His friend’s words had a sort of deliberate patience to them, as though he were quite consciously guiding Eryk through his own thoughts on the matter. He didn’t try to tell Eryk what was going on in his head; all he did was ask questions to try and get clarification. It was kind of strange, for someone who usually happily informed other people of what they were thinking—and who was most often quite right about it.

Now that he thought about it, Kas was right. If Cyrilla wasn't right, then it shouldn't bother him. He shouldn't be this distracted over some misunderstanding. Well. Shit. Now this just got more confusing. He sighed heavily and made to take another drink of his cup, however; he paused and glanced at his own reflection. He could see his reflection in the dark coffee, but it was distorted somewhat. Kind of like how he felt at the moment. Maybe he was just misunderstanding the situation as a whole? Maybe it wasn't really that, that distracted him. Perhaps it was something more?

"You're right about that," he finally admitted, tearing his gaze from his coffee to stare at Kas. "I suppose I should talk to her about it, and get it straightened out, but," he paused just temporarily. Would it be that bad if he actually did? His face straightened out into something unreadable, he could tell. It would be, because then that meant he had compromised his mission and became personally attached. This was why he wanted to distance himself in the first place. The more he was around her, the more he wanted to stay around.

"Maybe there is some truth to what she says," he spoke softly. He hadn't meant to say it out loud though, and was glad he whispered it.

Kas apparently heard, though, because he sighed heavily through his nose. “I know you’re probably thinking about the mission right now,” he said slowly, quietly. “But… I’m not gonna tell you what to do, Ryk, but here’s a couple of things you should maybe consider. Firstly… it’s probably too late to do this clean like they wanted us to. Whether we like it or not, whether there’s more to it for you or not, she’s our friend. There’s no getting around that at this point, and we’re deluding ourselves if we think it’s going to end without pain, for us or for her, if we have to do whatever the boss is after.” His words had a heavy weight to them, like he was speaking from deeply personal experience.

Then again, he was friends with Ana too, so maybe he was. “Second… it might not turn out that way—by which I mean she might not be a candidate or a prospect or whatever for this project at the end. Maybe she doesn’t have what they’re looking for; we’ve seen no evidence of anything that should interest the boss. He’s not gonna care that she has Everett’s or runs a shelter or is probably the nicest person we know. So… it’s possible that we might be getting worried for nothing. If that was the case, well… maybe you should at least think about what you would do and how you would act if she wasn’t a target, because she might not be one forever. But she’ll still be here. In our lives. Just… stuff to think about, I guess.”

He actually hadn't thought about it that way. But if that were true, then it still wouldn't end well. They would get transferred to another place, probably back to Saffron if had to guess where. Even if it was just stuff to think about, he was thinking about it now, and that was what distracted him so much. He sighed heavily into his cup before taking the last bit of drink. He set the cup down, glanced towards Mankey who seemed to have fallen asleep in his tree, and back towards Kas.

"You know," he began, pausing just momentarily to gather his words properly. He allowed a subtle quirk of his lips to be shown. "You're a good friend when you want to be, giving out advice and all," he stated just barely short of amused. But he supposed Kas was also right about another thing. It is possible that they would be getting worried for nothing, and that he should at least take it into consideration. After all, with her disease, perhaps it would be best if he didn't get attached that way. Her days were, practically, numbered. There wasn't any guarantee that she would live past this year or the following year.

And for the second time in his life, Eryk felt a spike of hot fear course through his body. He shuddered slightly, but shook it off as best as he could. "Even though you can be an ass most of the time," he added, trying not to think of anything more than he had to, now.

“Well,” Kas drawled, grinning back, “someone’s gotta help you out. Cy’s apparently vague as hell, and we both know that kind of thing doesn’t penetrate that thick skull of yours.” Amusement glinted in his eyes; apparently he could only be serious for short periods at a time. “But honestly, Ryk, I’m glad to help—if that’s even what I just did. Might’ve made things worse, now that I think about it.”

His smile faded slightly, and he stood. “One last bit of advice, though… sometimes, we don’t get to decide what we feel. Attachment, affection—they don’t work like that, exactly. So… just be aware that the feelings might not be up to you, in the end, but the actions always are.”

Oh he knew that. "I am fully aware of that," he repeated, though to himself. He only had to look at his cousin to know that. She might say she's over her feelings, but Eryk knew better. He almost chuckled at that.