Ana's Shelter - Afternoon - Warm
Cyrilla Niav
Cyrilla sighed softly, spearing a hand through her hair as she tried to work out some of the tangles. She forgot to brush her hair when she left the apartment, mostly because she hadn't quite woken up, yet. She'd slept in today since it was one of their days off, and she'd been out the night before. Of course she'd left empty-handed, it happened sometimes, but it wasn't exactly a problem. The problem was that she'd left the house in a mess, and was trying to correct it. Mostly satisfied that the tangles were taken care of, she pulled her hair into a tail, and set off to Ana's place.
She was mostly visiting. Anastasia was an interesting person to be around, and Cyrilla would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy spending time with her. It was almost like being in a different place, a different world. Carefree and without worry. It was... freeing in a sense. Cyrilla wasn't entirely sure when the last time she'd actually felt like that was. She didn't think there really was a time, though. Not with her and Ryk's family. Pushing a sigh through her nose, she glanced down at Noctis who was trailing beside her. He glanced up at her, though, and tilted his head, almost as if he were asking a silent question. She huffed lightly and scratched behind one of his ears.
He shook his head and made a face at her, causing her to chuckle lightly. “Oh, come on, Noct, you love ear scratches. It's because you wanted one of those cookies and I wouldn't let you have it, right?" she asked, watching as he made another face and turned it away from her. She was right, she knew she was. She huffed lightly and shook her head. “Fine, I'll give you one when we get back, but you have to be good while we're at Ana's, alright?" she stated, watching as a small fox-like grin appeared on his face.
It wasn't much longer before she'd reached Ana's shelter; she didn't live too far from the Cloyster, but it was still a bit of a walk. She approached the gate, stopping only to ensure that Rufus wasn't around or any of the other pokemon before she let herself in. Cyrilla had texted Ana earlier to let her know that she was on her way over. She didn't want to spring a surprise visit on the young woman, after all.
“Hey Ana, are you outside?" she called out. Ana had said she would be, but not where, exactly.
"Around the back, Cyrilla," Anastasia's voice seemed disembodied, because she still couldn't see her, but rounding the corner to the back of the house revealed that the other woman was apparently setting out a tea service with snacks, at a small wicker table on the broad brick terrace that abutted her garden. There were explosions of riotous color in bloom this time of year, tropical flowers and berries of all kinds cultivated in artful-looking displays that must've taken a lot of work to maintain.
Once she'd come into sight, Anastasia lifted her head from where she was meticulously arranging stirring spoons. Luna was draped on a short retaining wall nearby the table; she flicked her forked tail languidly at Cyrilla's approach, but made no move to leave her spot. Nova, on the other hand, was draped over Anastasia's shoulders as she worked, large red eyes flicking momentarily between Cyrilla and Noctis before they fell away. Sometimes it seemed as though Anastasia's pokémon were more suspicious of things than the woman herself, and they hadn't quite warmed to anyone in the group, yet.
"Good afternoon," Anastasia said, smiling slightly. "I hope you don't mind tea. I've cookies and pokémon snacks here. I tried a new recipe for chocolate orange, and another for coconut macadamia. Er—cookies, not pokémon snacks, sorry." She flushed a little, patting down the apron over her overalls awkwardly.
It was enough to make Cyrilla grin lightly. Anastasia was adorable when she was awkard. Something about the blush on her face complimented the color of her eyes. Red did seem to be a good color on her, and there were other things that were red. A certain person's eyes. She pushed the thought away for the moment, and inclined her head in greeting towards Nova and Luna. Even if they hadn't quite warmed up to her, Cyrilla wasn't going to be rude to them. The eevee line was known to be rather intelligent, especially the espeon, umbreon, and sylveon of that line.
“It's fine, Ana," Cyrilla replied, waving a dismissive hand in front of her face. “And I'm sure your pokémon snacks are just as delicious as your cookies. Almost tempted to try one myself," she stated, allowing the grin on her face to smooth out a bit. Noctis glanced towards Ana, though, tilted his head, and made his way towards the table, sniffing at the pokémon snacks. He made no move to eat them, though, and turned his attention back towards Ana and Cyrilla. She huffed lightly.
“I think he wants to know if it's okay for him to have one, now. I denied him one earlier," she stated, shaking her head lightly. She hadn't done it on purpose, really. He had to eat his breakfast first, but he had wanted the cookie first. They ended up leaving the apartment before she could give him one, though.
"Of course he can," Anastasia said warmly, before turning to the zoroark himself. "Feel free, Noctis. There's plenty more back in the kitchen."
“How are things going with stunky and mankey?" she asked, making her way to sit in one of the chairs at the table. Eryk had seemed really attached to both of them, and Cyrilla wondered if he was going to adopt one of them. Or both, knowing how he was. It didn't matter what kind it was, Eryk had a tendency to adopt stray pokémon. The last two members of his pokémon team had been strays at one point, if Cyrilla remembered correctly.
Anastasia removed her apron carefully, folding it into a neat square and placing it on the chair perpendicular to Cyrilla before taking the one directly across. Carefully, she poured tea for them from a rather delicate teapot, probably Galarian from the design, and handed Cyrilla's cup and saucer across to her with both hands before doing her own. She added a bit each of milk and honey, then proceeded to answer the question while she stirred.
"I'm afraid stunky's lung problems are congenital," she said quietly, looking down into her tea before glancing back up at Cyrilla. "Er—genetic, that is. Resulting from a defect introduced by... well, it's hard to say for sure, but in a facility like the one they came from, inbreeding is most likely. She'll have trouble breathing all her life, but it should be manageable with medication. Technically, this classifies her for hospice care, as the condition will most likely end her life early, but with proper treatment she may have up to a decade ahead of her still." Her lips pursed, brows furrowing as if the words were somehow painful to say, but she made no great production about delivering them.
"Mankey, I'm more hopeful about. He's very young, and needs proper rearing and socialization, both of which he's very behind on, and he's a little malnourished, but I think with a little work he should be perfectly fine, and adoptable. The screens I did of his genetics came back without any defects, so for the moment all he has to do is recover from his injuries and he should be mostly fine." She pursed her lips, shaking her head faintly. "I think maybe some of the trauma will always be with him, but I think he has a tremendous will to live, and so he should recover from it as well as anyone can."
Things like that always broke Cyrilla's heart a bit more, or at least what was left of it, she felt. Stunky's case was just... it was sad. She should have had a full life behind her, and even with a decade it was still so short. Cyrilla was half tempted to adopt stunky, herself, but knew she shouldn't. She wouldn't be able to care for stunky in the way she would need it, and Cyrilla didn't want that for any pokémon, really. Instead, she sighed softly and shook her head.
“Mankey sounds a lot like someone I know," she huffed lightly. In more than one way, actually. Something about mankey's condition mirrored Eryk's, but that was a thought she didn't want to dwell on. “It's good, though, that he'll be mostly fine and adoptable in time," she stated, taking a drink of her tea and letting out a satisfied sigh. “And your tea is always so good," she muttered, setting the cup back down.
“So, Ana, tell me about why you have such a large space, but you're the only one who lives here. It looks like you could have a couple of live-in volunteers, or maybe even a helper," she stated, gesturing to the shelter in a vague way. It was large enough, from the looks of it, to house at least two or even three people.
Anastasia, who'd smiled when Cyrilla complimented the tea and hid her face partly behind her own cup, hummed vaguely into the rim of it at the question. Finishing her sip, she set the cup back down on the saucer with a soft clink. "Well, I can't really afford to pay anyone to help me," she admitted quietly, "but I have considered renting out a room. There are three bedrooms in the house, but only two bathrooms, and one of them's connected to mine. I wouldn't want to make anyone share or anything."
She cast her eyes down a moment later, and shook her head a bit. "All my volunteers have, well, lives. Outside of this. And honestly I don't know that anyone would really want to live with me either. I'm not really very interesting or exciting, and there are plenty of nicer places for rent on the island. That and Carter's really not too fond of the idea—he says letting a stranger into my home would be unwise, and I suppose I don't think he's entirely mistaken." She frowned a little, though.
“Carter, Carter," Cyrilla repeated the name, trying to remember where she'd heard it from. “Oh, you mean Carter, the police officer," she stated when it finally clicked. She wanted to roll her eyes, but he did have a bit of a point. Letting a stranger into a home wasn't quite the same as letting a friend or a family member into the same place. It was all levels of uncomfortable, however; it was also Ana's decision what she wanted to do.
“What is he, your boyfriend?" Cyrilla stated in a nonchalant fashion. Carter was a good-looking guy, but even Cyrilla knew that he was all kinds of knots that couldn't be worked out. “I can see where he's coming from, though. Letting a stranger into your home is kind of ill-advised, but what about a friend? It sounds to me like you'd be the perfect roommate for someone, Ana. You're not very interesting or exciting, you say, but I beg to differ. I find you to be a very interesting person, myself, and I'm sure the others do, too. You've already accomplished a lot of things for someone your age. You have your own shelter, your own place. Not many people can say the same."
Cyrilla certainly couldn't. She was always on the go. She couldn't afford to settle down, or even think about buying a place. It just wasn't something she could do, nor Eryk.
It was hard to tell what part of that caused Anastasia to make a small, embarrassed noise and slide down in her chair, pouting a little without seeming to be conscious that this was the expression on her face. Perhaps it was all the parts of it.
"I don't really have any," she said looking down at her hands in her lap. "Friends, that is. Well, I suppose Drake might be my friend, but he doesn't need my spare rooms. And Carter is..." She made a face, a little bit of a grimace and a little bit confusion. "Well, he checks up on me a lot. Auntie Lydia asked him to, since she's friends with his mother. He's... n-not my boyfriend. He's just nice to me because he was asked to look after me."
“Someone who checks up on you that often, and tries to look out for you like that isn't just nice, Ana. Trust me," Cyrilla stated, chuckling a bit at Ana's reaction. The young woman was adorable, even if she didn't quite know it. “Someone who checks up on you every once in a while is nice. Someone who does it more than three times a week is doing it because they want something from you, or they want you," she stated, arching a brow in Ana's direction. She was so innocent, and Cyrilla had to quash the ugly feeling that crawled into her chest at the thought that threatened to cross.
“So, if, hypothetically, I needed a room, or even Kas or Ryk, would you rent us one?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she regarded Ana.
Ana looked momentarily confounded by something, and then almost a little suspicious, but it faded as soon as Cyrilla posed her the hypothetical. "But aren't you all living in those new apartments downtown...? Oh. Um. Hypothetical, right." She seemed to genuinely think about it, or maybe just take a moment to recover from the teasing, as the color on her face slowly faded out. Picking up a cookie, she broke it in half and took a bite, using her other hand to pick up one of the pokémon snacks and feed it to Nova, still lounging across her shoulders. The pokémon was a very polite eater, taking measured bites and chewing with his mouth closed—rather dignified and gentlemanly, as pokémon went. It somehow matched Anastasia's bearing and aesthetic; it wasn't hard to imagine a younger version of her having tea parties with a couple of very well-mannered eevee.
"Of course I would," she said after a moment. "It can be... difficult, to trust people sometimes, as I'm sure you know." Something about the way she met Cyrilla's eyes when she said it conveyed that she knew she did. "But... if anyone's earned the benefit of the doubt it's you three. Er—I'm sorry, that made it sound like I'm deigning or suspect you of something. That's not what I meant. I just—people. Getting along with people is... challenging. For me."
Something about the way she said it made Cyrilla smile. It was a small one, but it was genuine. And she knew it was, because it felt so out of place on her face. “Understandable, I suppose. We live in a world where people want something from you, and in order to get it, they feign friendships or something similar. I don't blame you for being suspicious of us, Ana. It's perfectly normal, even if getting along with people is challenging for you. I guess... it's just part of our natures to be suspicious, especially when those people work for NTR."
Cyrilla knew Ana was aware that they were affiliated with NTR. Eryk had mentioned it, so it wasn't like she had to hide that. She also knew that a certain someone would, actually, prefer something small like Ana's place. Eryk didn't bother hiding his displeasure when it came to living in their apartment. He never liked things that were quite noticeable. He liked things that were more secluded, more hidden. It was part of his nature, she supposed, to want to hide from people or not be seen. Cyrilla knew it had a lot to do with the scars on his face.
Noctis trudged over towards Cyrilla, though, and laid his head on her lap, causing her to shake her head lightly as she stroked his fur. He always seemed to know when she was feeling a certain way, but she pushed the thoughts away for now. “If you'd like," she began, turning so that she could face Ana, fully.
“I can help you with that. Not that it'll be easy; you can't just teach someone to get along with people," she stated, huffing lightly. “But I can try to help you be a little more confident in yourself. I might not look like it, given my savvy appearance," she pointed an index finger at herself, “but I still struggle with a bit of shyness, myself. From one shy person to another, I can try to help."
"Would you?" Ana asked, clearly surprised by the offer. "I just—" She shook her head, all but rolling her eyes at herself as she finished off the cookie. "I know the kind of person I want to be, you know? But no matter how much I try to act like that I always manage to mess up." She pursed her lips and sighed, but then smiled a little.
"And I don't know if this makes it better or worse, but... you being from Neo Team Rocket doesn't have anything to do with it. I'm sure you have your reasons, and besides that... having this job, having seen what I have..." The smile, small as it was, wavered but remained in place. "Well, to me, all of you are the reason mankey and stunky are safe now. Safer than they've ever been. And it's because you're part of NTR, so—so I can't see you as bad people, no matter what anyone else says."
She cleared her throat a little awkwardly, retreating behind her teacup for another sip. "Sorry. I must seem terribly childish to you."
... see you as bad people, no matter what anyone else says..
Cyrilla kept the smile on her face, but she felt her heart wrench painfully in her chest. If Ana only knew that they were. Small things like saving mankey and stunky made what they did a little more tolerable, but it didn't erase the fact that they were bad people. They always would be for doing something like this to this young woman, so innocent, so pure. And more than anything in the world, Cyrilla didn't want to be part of destroying that. For destroying the trust that they might build between them.
“Not at all, Ana. I don't think it's childish; I think it's very admirable that you would say something like that. And what kind of person do you want to be, hm?" she stated, deciding to ask that question first. Ana was already doing it wrong; you couldn't try to be the person you wanted to be. You had to go about it slowly, find things that felt natural and easy to do. Ana would have to ease into it. But of course, Cyrilla had no idea what it was Ana was trying to do, hence why she asked the question.
Ana considered it. "I guess... I'm trying to be a little more... worldly?" She furrowed her brows over the word, a little unsure it was the one she wanted, apparently. "A little more resilient and confident and clever, I think." She snorted softly. "I know it's kind of useless for someone like me, but I've always wanted to be the sort of witty, interesting person who doesn't get shy and babble or clamp up around others. It's always one of the two with me, and I'm just so... I don't know. Plain. Ordinary. Boring, I guess. I tried to start with my wardrobe because I've always liked pretty things but even then half the time I'm wearing coveralls and work boots."
She shot Cyrilla a rueful smile. "It's funny, because part of me wants to... stand out, I guess. To be intriguing. But most of me's just terrified of anything like that, and wants to hide where no one will ever see me again."
“So... what we want to do is take a feebas and make it a milotic," she stated, smiling just a bit at Ana. Truthfully, Cyrilla didn't know what she was getting herself into. These were things that, even for Cyrilla, would be difficult to do for a shy person. The only reason Cyrilla was able to be as witty and stand out as much as she did was because she'd learned to kill her heart, and all the things that made her feel. It was just how the family trained her.
But that wouldn't work for someone like Ana. She needed a different approach, something more soft and gentle.
“Hm... I know what you're going to say, but hear me out: what are your measurements? I want to see if I can find something for you that'll look nice while also being sturdy enough for the work you do. Feeling good on the outside is the first step to feeling good on the inside. It helps boost your confidence when you feel good about yourself. Once you start with that, everything else will come to you. I'm not going to sugar coat this for you; it won't be easy. It's going to take a bit of time, but I think we can do it."
She believed, honestly, that Ana could be the person she wanted to be. “You just have to start small, take baby steps before you can take the bigger ones until you're finally ready to run. Oh, and don't worry about the costs of the clothes. Think of it as my way of saying thank you for taking care of the pokémon for us. You didn't have to, but I am thankful that they ended up with someone like you."
"Uhm. I'm not sure clothes are really the problem, though," Ana replied, frowning. "Like I said, I've found lots of things I like and that work for my job, but the reason I end up back in the scrubs and coveralls all the time is that... well, I'm not comfortable wearing them most of the time. So having more... wouldn't really help. At least not yet." She seemed to be dressed a little differently today, anyhow—the overalls were black and clearly from a consignment shop with homemade details, but they were kind of cute where she'd added a lace ruffle to the straps and some red to line the pockets and hems, and they were shorts, which she'd worn with her heavy, almost military-style workboots and a black-and-white striped t-shirt.
She gave Cyrilla a wry look. "It's okay if there's not much to be done. I know it's a contradiction in terms, really. It's probably better if I'm boring anyhow. Permanently a feebas, if you will."
“Nonsense!" Cyrilla stated, furrowing her brows and pursing her lips together. “It is exactly a clothes problem. If you don't feel comfortable wearing them, it's because they're not the right ones for you. How about this, I'll buy you one set of new work clothes that'll look nice, make you feel comfortable, and still be sturdy enough for you to do your job. This is a challenge that I, Cyrilla Niav, promise to undertake with all the seriousness I can provide!"
“And hey, feebas are beautiful creatures in their own right. They wouldn't be my favorite pokémon if they weren't," she stated, grinning lightly in Ana's direction. They really were her favorite pokémon. There was just something about them; how they could live in just about any environment and thrive. Sure, they might not be much to look at, but... well, they reminded Cyrilla of herself. The only difference was she wasn't physically ugly. It was the inside of her that was all banged up and mangled. Permanently, so.
Ana still looked skeptical, but she didn't protest to the plan, instead simply shrugging her shoulders. "Okay, but... only one, please. I'm definitely not comfortable having other people spend their money on me, especially not when all I've done is my job, so..." she trailed off a bit awkwardly, obviously every bit as uncomfortable with the notion as she'd said.
But she changed the subject right after, probably hoping to avoid an argument about it. "We've had a couple feebas here in the past. Our only one right now has a couple prosthetics, so he can't really be trained, but he's in the pool if you'd like to meet him."
Cyrilla was just glad that she agreed to it. She'd, of course, honor her word and only get Ana one set of work clothes. It would probably be a week or two before she actually found something, but Cyrilla was determined, if nothing else. So, she grinned at the mention of a feebas, instead.
“Oh, I'd definitely love to meet him! He sounds adorable."
She was mostly visiting. Anastasia was an interesting person to be around, and Cyrilla would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy spending time with her. It was almost like being in a different place, a different world. Carefree and without worry. It was... freeing in a sense. Cyrilla wasn't entirely sure when the last time she'd actually felt like that was. She didn't think there really was a time, though. Not with her and Ryk's family. Pushing a sigh through her nose, she glanced down at Noctis who was trailing beside her. He glanced up at her, though, and tilted his head, almost as if he were asking a silent question. She huffed lightly and scratched behind one of his ears.
He shook his head and made a face at her, causing her to chuckle lightly. “Oh, come on, Noct, you love ear scratches. It's because you wanted one of those cookies and I wouldn't let you have it, right?" she asked, watching as he made another face and turned it away from her. She was right, she knew she was. She huffed lightly and shook her head. “Fine, I'll give you one when we get back, but you have to be good while we're at Ana's, alright?" she stated, watching as a small fox-like grin appeared on his face.
It wasn't much longer before she'd reached Ana's shelter; she didn't live too far from the Cloyster, but it was still a bit of a walk. She approached the gate, stopping only to ensure that Rufus wasn't around or any of the other pokemon before she let herself in. Cyrilla had texted Ana earlier to let her know that she was on her way over. She didn't want to spring a surprise visit on the young woman, after all.
“Hey Ana, are you outside?" she called out. Ana had said she would be, but not where, exactly.
"Around the back, Cyrilla," Anastasia's voice seemed disembodied, because she still couldn't see her, but rounding the corner to the back of the house revealed that the other woman was apparently setting out a tea service with snacks, at a small wicker table on the broad brick terrace that abutted her garden. There were explosions of riotous color in bloom this time of year, tropical flowers and berries of all kinds cultivated in artful-looking displays that must've taken a lot of work to maintain.
Once she'd come into sight, Anastasia lifted her head from where she was meticulously arranging stirring spoons. Luna was draped on a short retaining wall nearby the table; she flicked her forked tail languidly at Cyrilla's approach, but made no move to leave her spot. Nova, on the other hand, was draped over Anastasia's shoulders as she worked, large red eyes flicking momentarily between Cyrilla and Noctis before they fell away. Sometimes it seemed as though Anastasia's pokémon were more suspicious of things than the woman herself, and they hadn't quite warmed to anyone in the group, yet.
"Good afternoon," Anastasia said, smiling slightly. "I hope you don't mind tea. I've cookies and pokémon snacks here. I tried a new recipe for chocolate orange, and another for coconut macadamia. Er—cookies, not pokémon snacks, sorry." She flushed a little, patting down the apron over her overalls awkwardly.
It was enough to make Cyrilla grin lightly. Anastasia was adorable when she was awkard. Something about the blush on her face complimented the color of her eyes. Red did seem to be a good color on her, and there were other things that were red. A certain person's eyes. She pushed the thought away for the moment, and inclined her head in greeting towards Nova and Luna. Even if they hadn't quite warmed up to her, Cyrilla wasn't going to be rude to them. The eevee line was known to be rather intelligent, especially the espeon, umbreon, and sylveon of that line.
“It's fine, Ana," Cyrilla replied, waving a dismissive hand in front of her face. “And I'm sure your pokémon snacks are just as delicious as your cookies. Almost tempted to try one myself," she stated, allowing the grin on her face to smooth out a bit. Noctis glanced towards Ana, though, tilted his head, and made his way towards the table, sniffing at the pokémon snacks. He made no move to eat them, though, and turned his attention back towards Ana and Cyrilla. She huffed lightly.
“I think he wants to know if it's okay for him to have one, now. I denied him one earlier," she stated, shaking her head lightly. She hadn't done it on purpose, really. He had to eat his breakfast first, but he had wanted the cookie first. They ended up leaving the apartment before she could give him one, though.
"Of course he can," Anastasia said warmly, before turning to the zoroark himself. "Feel free, Noctis. There's plenty more back in the kitchen."
“How are things going with stunky and mankey?" she asked, making her way to sit in one of the chairs at the table. Eryk had seemed really attached to both of them, and Cyrilla wondered if he was going to adopt one of them. Or both, knowing how he was. It didn't matter what kind it was, Eryk had a tendency to adopt stray pokémon. The last two members of his pokémon team had been strays at one point, if Cyrilla remembered correctly.
Anastasia removed her apron carefully, folding it into a neat square and placing it on the chair perpendicular to Cyrilla before taking the one directly across. Carefully, she poured tea for them from a rather delicate teapot, probably Galarian from the design, and handed Cyrilla's cup and saucer across to her with both hands before doing her own. She added a bit each of milk and honey, then proceeded to answer the question while she stirred.
"I'm afraid stunky's lung problems are congenital," she said quietly, looking down into her tea before glancing back up at Cyrilla. "Er—genetic, that is. Resulting from a defect introduced by... well, it's hard to say for sure, but in a facility like the one they came from, inbreeding is most likely. She'll have trouble breathing all her life, but it should be manageable with medication. Technically, this classifies her for hospice care, as the condition will most likely end her life early, but with proper treatment she may have up to a decade ahead of her still." Her lips pursed, brows furrowing as if the words were somehow painful to say, but she made no great production about delivering them.
"Mankey, I'm more hopeful about. He's very young, and needs proper rearing and socialization, both of which he's very behind on, and he's a little malnourished, but I think with a little work he should be perfectly fine, and adoptable. The screens I did of his genetics came back without any defects, so for the moment all he has to do is recover from his injuries and he should be mostly fine." She pursed her lips, shaking her head faintly. "I think maybe some of the trauma will always be with him, but I think he has a tremendous will to live, and so he should recover from it as well as anyone can."
Things like that always broke Cyrilla's heart a bit more, or at least what was left of it, she felt. Stunky's case was just... it was sad. She should have had a full life behind her, and even with a decade it was still so short. Cyrilla was half tempted to adopt stunky, herself, but knew she shouldn't. She wouldn't be able to care for stunky in the way she would need it, and Cyrilla didn't want that for any pokémon, really. Instead, she sighed softly and shook her head.
“Mankey sounds a lot like someone I know," she huffed lightly. In more than one way, actually. Something about mankey's condition mirrored Eryk's, but that was a thought she didn't want to dwell on. “It's good, though, that he'll be mostly fine and adoptable in time," she stated, taking a drink of her tea and letting out a satisfied sigh. “And your tea is always so good," she muttered, setting the cup back down.
“So, Ana, tell me about why you have such a large space, but you're the only one who lives here. It looks like you could have a couple of live-in volunteers, or maybe even a helper," she stated, gesturing to the shelter in a vague way. It was large enough, from the looks of it, to house at least two or even three people.
Anastasia, who'd smiled when Cyrilla complimented the tea and hid her face partly behind her own cup, hummed vaguely into the rim of it at the question. Finishing her sip, she set the cup back down on the saucer with a soft clink. "Well, I can't really afford to pay anyone to help me," she admitted quietly, "but I have considered renting out a room. There are three bedrooms in the house, but only two bathrooms, and one of them's connected to mine. I wouldn't want to make anyone share or anything."
She cast her eyes down a moment later, and shook her head a bit. "All my volunteers have, well, lives. Outside of this. And honestly I don't know that anyone would really want to live with me either. I'm not really very interesting or exciting, and there are plenty of nicer places for rent on the island. That and Carter's really not too fond of the idea—he says letting a stranger into my home would be unwise, and I suppose I don't think he's entirely mistaken." She frowned a little, though.
“Carter, Carter," Cyrilla repeated the name, trying to remember where she'd heard it from. “Oh, you mean Carter, the police officer," she stated when it finally clicked. She wanted to roll her eyes, but he did have a bit of a point. Letting a stranger into a home wasn't quite the same as letting a friend or a family member into the same place. It was all levels of uncomfortable, however; it was also Ana's decision what she wanted to do.
“What is he, your boyfriend?" Cyrilla stated in a nonchalant fashion. Carter was a good-looking guy, but even Cyrilla knew that he was all kinds of knots that couldn't be worked out. “I can see where he's coming from, though. Letting a stranger into your home is kind of ill-advised, but what about a friend? It sounds to me like you'd be the perfect roommate for someone, Ana. You're not very interesting or exciting, you say, but I beg to differ. I find you to be a very interesting person, myself, and I'm sure the others do, too. You've already accomplished a lot of things for someone your age. You have your own shelter, your own place. Not many people can say the same."
Cyrilla certainly couldn't. She was always on the go. She couldn't afford to settle down, or even think about buying a place. It just wasn't something she could do, nor Eryk.
It was hard to tell what part of that caused Anastasia to make a small, embarrassed noise and slide down in her chair, pouting a little without seeming to be conscious that this was the expression on her face. Perhaps it was all the parts of it.
"I don't really have any," she said looking down at her hands in her lap. "Friends, that is. Well, I suppose Drake might be my friend, but he doesn't need my spare rooms. And Carter is..." She made a face, a little bit of a grimace and a little bit confusion. "Well, he checks up on me a lot. Auntie Lydia asked him to, since she's friends with his mother. He's... n-not my boyfriend. He's just nice to me because he was asked to look after me."
“Someone who checks up on you that often, and tries to look out for you like that isn't just nice, Ana. Trust me," Cyrilla stated, chuckling a bit at Ana's reaction. The young woman was adorable, even if she didn't quite know it. “Someone who checks up on you every once in a while is nice. Someone who does it more than three times a week is doing it because they want something from you, or they want you," she stated, arching a brow in Ana's direction. She was so innocent, and Cyrilla had to quash the ugly feeling that crawled into her chest at the thought that threatened to cross.
“So, if, hypothetically, I needed a room, or even Kas or Ryk, would you rent us one?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she regarded Ana.
Ana looked momentarily confounded by something, and then almost a little suspicious, but it faded as soon as Cyrilla posed her the hypothetical. "But aren't you all living in those new apartments downtown...? Oh. Um. Hypothetical, right." She seemed to genuinely think about it, or maybe just take a moment to recover from the teasing, as the color on her face slowly faded out. Picking up a cookie, she broke it in half and took a bite, using her other hand to pick up one of the pokémon snacks and feed it to Nova, still lounging across her shoulders. The pokémon was a very polite eater, taking measured bites and chewing with his mouth closed—rather dignified and gentlemanly, as pokémon went. It somehow matched Anastasia's bearing and aesthetic; it wasn't hard to imagine a younger version of her having tea parties with a couple of very well-mannered eevee.
"Of course I would," she said after a moment. "It can be... difficult, to trust people sometimes, as I'm sure you know." Something about the way she met Cyrilla's eyes when she said it conveyed that she knew she did. "But... if anyone's earned the benefit of the doubt it's you three. Er—I'm sorry, that made it sound like I'm deigning or suspect you of something. That's not what I meant. I just—people. Getting along with people is... challenging. For me."
Something about the way she said it made Cyrilla smile. It was a small one, but it was genuine. And she knew it was, because it felt so out of place on her face. “Understandable, I suppose. We live in a world where people want something from you, and in order to get it, they feign friendships or something similar. I don't blame you for being suspicious of us, Ana. It's perfectly normal, even if getting along with people is challenging for you. I guess... it's just part of our natures to be suspicious, especially when those people work for NTR."
Cyrilla knew Ana was aware that they were affiliated with NTR. Eryk had mentioned it, so it wasn't like she had to hide that. She also knew that a certain someone would, actually, prefer something small like Ana's place. Eryk didn't bother hiding his displeasure when it came to living in their apartment. He never liked things that were quite noticeable. He liked things that were more secluded, more hidden. It was part of his nature, she supposed, to want to hide from people or not be seen. Cyrilla knew it had a lot to do with the scars on his face.
Noctis trudged over towards Cyrilla, though, and laid his head on her lap, causing her to shake her head lightly as she stroked his fur. He always seemed to know when she was feeling a certain way, but she pushed the thoughts away for now. “If you'd like," she began, turning so that she could face Ana, fully.
“I can help you with that. Not that it'll be easy; you can't just teach someone to get along with people," she stated, huffing lightly. “But I can try to help you be a little more confident in yourself. I might not look like it, given my savvy appearance," she pointed an index finger at herself, “but I still struggle with a bit of shyness, myself. From one shy person to another, I can try to help."
"Would you?" Ana asked, clearly surprised by the offer. "I just—" She shook her head, all but rolling her eyes at herself as she finished off the cookie. "I know the kind of person I want to be, you know? But no matter how much I try to act like that I always manage to mess up." She pursed her lips and sighed, but then smiled a little.
"And I don't know if this makes it better or worse, but... you being from Neo Team Rocket doesn't have anything to do with it. I'm sure you have your reasons, and besides that... having this job, having seen what I have..." The smile, small as it was, wavered but remained in place. "Well, to me, all of you are the reason mankey and stunky are safe now. Safer than they've ever been. And it's because you're part of NTR, so—so I can't see you as bad people, no matter what anyone else says."
She cleared her throat a little awkwardly, retreating behind her teacup for another sip. "Sorry. I must seem terribly childish to you."
... see you as bad people, no matter what anyone else says..
Cyrilla kept the smile on her face, but she felt her heart wrench painfully in her chest. If Ana only knew that they were. Small things like saving mankey and stunky made what they did a little more tolerable, but it didn't erase the fact that they were bad people. They always would be for doing something like this to this young woman, so innocent, so pure. And more than anything in the world, Cyrilla didn't want to be part of destroying that. For destroying the trust that they might build between them.
“Not at all, Ana. I don't think it's childish; I think it's very admirable that you would say something like that. And what kind of person do you want to be, hm?" she stated, deciding to ask that question first. Ana was already doing it wrong; you couldn't try to be the person you wanted to be. You had to go about it slowly, find things that felt natural and easy to do. Ana would have to ease into it. But of course, Cyrilla had no idea what it was Ana was trying to do, hence why she asked the question.
Ana considered it. "I guess... I'm trying to be a little more... worldly?" She furrowed her brows over the word, a little unsure it was the one she wanted, apparently. "A little more resilient and confident and clever, I think." She snorted softly. "I know it's kind of useless for someone like me, but I've always wanted to be the sort of witty, interesting person who doesn't get shy and babble or clamp up around others. It's always one of the two with me, and I'm just so... I don't know. Plain. Ordinary. Boring, I guess. I tried to start with my wardrobe because I've always liked pretty things but even then half the time I'm wearing coveralls and work boots."
She shot Cyrilla a rueful smile. "It's funny, because part of me wants to... stand out, I guess. To be intriguing. But most of me's just terrified of anything like that, and wants to hide where no one will ever see me again."
“So... what we want to do is take a feebas and make it a milotic," she stated, smiling just a bit at Ana. Truthfully, Cyrilla didn't know what she was getting herself into. These were things that, even for Cyrilla, would be difficult to do for a shy person. The only reason Cyrilla was able to be as witty and stand out as much as she did was because she'd learned to kill her heart, and all the things that made her feel. It was just how the family trained her.
But that wouldn't work for someone like Ana. She needed a different approach, something more soft and gentle.
“Hm... I know what you're going to say, but hear me out: what are your measurements? I want to see if I can find something for you that'll look nice while also being sturdy enough for the work you do. Feeling good on the outside is the first step to feeling good on the inside. It helps boost your confidence when you feel good about yourself. Once you start with that, everything else will come to you. I'm not going to sugar coat this for you; it won't be easy. It's going to take a bit of time, but I think we can do it."
She believed, honestly, that Ana could be the person she wanted to be. “You just have to start small, take baby steps before you can take the bigger ones until you're finally ready to run. Oh, and don't worry about the costs of the clothes. Think of it as my way of saying thank you for taking care of the pokémon for us. You didn't have to, but I am thankful that they ended up with someone like you."
"Uhm. I'm not sure clothes are really the problem, though," Ana replied, frowning. "Like I said, I've found lots of things I like and that work for my job, but the reason I end up back in the scrubs and coveralls all the time is that... well, I'm not comfortable wearing them most of the time. So having more... wouldn't really help. At least not yet." She seemed to be dressed a little differently today, anyhow—the overalls were black and clearly from a consignment shop with homemade details, but they were kind of cute where she'd added a lace ruffle to the straps and some red to line the pockets and hems, and they were shorts, which she'd worn with her heavy, almost military-style workboots and a black-and-white striped t-shirt.
She gave Cyrilla a wry look. "It's okay if there's not much to be done. I know it's a contradiction in terms, really. It's probably better if I'm boring anyhow. Permanently a feebas, if you will."
“Nonsense!" Cyrilla stated, furrowing her brows and pursing her lips together. “It is exactly a clothes problem. If you don't feel comfortable wearing them, it's because they're not the right ones for you. How about this, I'll buy you one set of new work clothes that'll look nice, make you feel comfortable, and still be sturdy enough for you to do your job. This is a challenge that I, Cyrilla Niav, promise to undertake with all the seriousness I can provide!"
“And hey, feebas are beautiful creatures in their own right. They wouldn't be my favorite pokémon if they weren't," she stated, grinning lightly in Ana's direction. They really were her favorite pokémon. There was just something about them; how they could live in just about any environment and thrive. Sure, they might not be much to look at, but... well, they reminded Cyrilla of herself. The only difference was she wasn't physically ugly. It was the inside of her that was all banged up and mangled. Permanently, so.
Ana still looked skeptical, but she didn't protest to the plan, instead simply shrugging her shoulders. "Okay, but... only one, please. I'm definitely not comfortable having other people spend their money on me, especially not when all I've done is my job, so..." she trailed off a bit awkwardly, obviously every bit as uncomfortable with the notion as she'd said.
But she changed the subject right after, probably hoping to avoid an argument about it. "We've had a couple feebas here in the past. Our only one right now has a couple prosthetics, so he can't really be trained, but he's in the pool if you'd like to meet him."
Cyrilla was just glad that she agreed to it. She'd, of course, honor her word and only get Ana one set of work clothes. It would probably be a week or two before she actually found something, but Cyrilla was determined, if nothing else. So, she grinned at the mention of a feebas, instead.
“Oh, I'd definitely love to meet him! He sounds adorable."