From: "STEFFAN HEDD ALUN" <sha3@aber.ac.uk> Subject: Re: [PW!] Better Slate Than Never Date: Friday, May 21, 2004 9:25 PM "Amber" <kitsunenoasobi@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:df411eb.0405211026.3025d94d@posting.google.com... > "Hoo boy, when's Laddy on?" she inquired out loud. He remembered her > obsession with Laddy vividly. Every night, treat after treat had been > lost to that television. He chose not to respond and she completely > ignored it. Suddenly she looked over at the cloaked lump who was > sitting on the edge of his bed. > > "You ok there?" > > A long pause and then a muffled "oh...are you talking to me?" > > Sweatdrop. "You're the only other one in the room!" > > "...oh I guess you're right." Vixxen pulled the cloak from Karl's head, laughing. She returned to watching her beloved television programme. Karl watched her for a while. She turned her head. "What's up? What are you looking at?" "Oh, sorry," said Karl. "I was just... I don't know. Staring into space." Karl had always been fascinated by Vixxen. The girl was half POKéMON, for crying out loud, yet she was perfectly comfortable with herself and never seemed to worry about saying the wrong thing or making a fool of herself. In the past, he could watch her and try to emulate her confidence, and she wouldn't notice because she was surronded by others. Here, though, her only friend was Karl. Karl smiled to himself. "Wait! Are you saying my head's SPACE?" "Uhhh," said Karl, stuggling to find an escape route. "I meant like...not empty space...but, like, stars and-" "Stars? You're saying my head contains stars?" "Small sta-" started Karl, but stopped himself before he said something dumb. "Your eyes have solar systems." He was too late. "My eyes are like stars?!" said Vixxen. Then, thinking about the comparison, she squealed, "Thankyou! You have pretty eyes too!" "Wha-" Karl had green eyes. They clashed with his white hair and made him look weird. Karl replayed the conversation in his mind quickly. It didn't seem to make sense, so he gave up. The programme ended, and Vixxen hopped onto the bed. She started to bounce a bit, and Karl got up. "I'll be right back," he said. "Where are you going?" asked Vixxen softly, who was now bouncing higher and higher. "Just going to let my Pokémon out," said Karl, who wanted to talk to Ess. "You can do that in here!!" said Vixxen. "Liven the place up a bit!" "Liven the place up?!" spluttered Karl, for Vixxen was now standing on the bed, jumping with all her might. "Vixxen!" The first time he'd said her name. "You don't know how strong the floor is. You'll go through-" "Let Iceduck and that other one out!" squealed Vixxen. "Was it a Spearow?" "Farfetch'd. His name's Nomak. Anyway, I meant my-" "Go on, Pokémon are fun! And yours are only small. I can't exactly let Lapras out." Karl didn't have the energy to debate the matter further. He released Ess. "Oh, wow, you have an Unown? That's so COOL!" beamed Vixxen. This was the closest Ess had ever been to her, since Karl always seperated from the group to release it in the past. Ess immediately understood why Karl envied and admired the girl so much. The last thing Karl would do would be to jump on a bed in a strange place. Karl sat down on the floor, halfheartedly pressing the buttons of his NES controller, pretending to play a game. The door opened. It was the Spinda from downstairs. It stuffed a piece of paper into Karl's hand and left again. Karl read it: "Keep the humping down, for pity's sake! I've still got customers!" "Uh, Vixxen?" he said. "You need to stop that." "How come?" "They think we're-" Karl could bring himself to say it. He looked from the letter to Vixxen, trying to decide which was least embarassing. He settled for watching Ess, who was floating around the ceiling. FLUMP! Vixxen had stopped jumping and had landed on her stomach. She scrambled under the covers, rolling around in them and making herself comfortable. "Mmmmm!" She pulled the sheets around her and rested her head on the pillow. She hadn't slept in a real bed in months. "Right," said Karl. "Ok." He pulled some spare clothes out of his bag and used some t-shirts to create a makeshift pillow. He pulled a warm jumper out of the bag to serve as a blanker. "Goodnight." Vixxen looked up curiously. She saw Karl's clothing bed. "What are you doing?" she asked. "I'm sleeping," said Karl. "Karl, there's a bed right here!" "Well, YOU'RE in that, and-" "Come in, Karl! It's a double bed!" "Oh, I couldn't do-" "KARL!" Karl submissively climbed into the bed. He looked a great deal less comfortable in it than Vixxen did. Vixxen quickly fell asleep, but Karl's eyes remained open for a long time. From the ceiling, Ess projected some images into Vixxen's mind, to make sure that she'd wake from a night of wonderful dreams. - End Of Thread