Post by Joseph Alvarez on Apr 19, 2015 9:44:49 GMT -5
Between the arduous training schedule that had been placed upon novice agents to prove their worth to the division as well as the odd jobs he'd been assigned to run throughout the past two weeks, there had been little time for Joseph to catch up with his daughter who'd only seen her dad at the start and end of each day, spending most her time at school and the neighborhood Pokemon Center (Nannies were a costly affair in the town and money was better spent on food and rent). The sprightly girl nonetheless showed no shift in her chipper attitude as he was woken up daily by her crawling on top of his back while humming Eye of the Tiger and went to bed each night with butterfly kisses, and as much as that was all a man needed to be assured that what he was doing was right no matter how rough the road ahead seemed, there was always the nagging want to be more, do more, give more to one of the sole reasons he'd turned away from a life which while had been questionable had also offered him everything money could buy.
Doing good was a lot harder than the streetside preachers made it sound like, though as they traversed the ancient ruins in the early morning sun and he heard Jayda's laughter as she scuttled towards a misshapen statue there came the notion that no one said it couldn't be a bit of good fun either.
Said statue resembled a totem pole of some sort, and she held out her hands to mimic its posed just as the tiny Togepi chick cheeped good-naturedly nestled on her head like a feathery hat spread out flightless stubby wings to copy her gesture.
"There's a third one on top of the second one but I'm not tall enough Pap---AAAAAAH!"
The childish observation was broken by a loud squeal of surprise which dissolved into a peal of giggles as Joseph ducked behind her so he could lift her up on his shoulders where she was perched on precariously before taking it upon himself to recreate the totem pole's pose in the most ridiculously overblown manner.
Behind him, the Ralts who was shuffling along and grumbling about his fur snagging on the stones and scuffed up by the dirt stared at the man like he'd grown an extra head.
'I can't tell if I'm dealing with a former criminal or a five-year old.'
Siegfried muttered mutinously under his breath as he let out a raking sigh upon tripping over another rock for the umpteenth time and simply gathered up his fur skirt like a debutante late for a ball before running after the motley group up ahead.
'Are they necessarily exclusive to one another?'
Gambit crowed out with a smirk as he flew with ease overhead, stopping to perch on a rocky ledge for a moment as he kept count of their team to ascertain that no one had been left behind.
'The master has been working hard for the past few weeks, it would do well to allow him a chance at being a human rather than a law-abiding automaton. Not that you would know anything about that would you?'
'I would be less inclined to complain about the current situation if he wasn't slated for an appraisal in a few more weeks, and we've barely made any progress with that idiot mongrel---'
Whipping his head distastefully at where Jaeger was scrambling determinedly atop a small plateau for a better look at the surroundings
'And as you well know, a failure on his behalf is a failure on my name as well, Krow.'
'Mais oui monsieur, but zhere is no harm in letting a father be a father is zhere?'
The gentle hooting of Adirael the Togepi who'd finally decided to interject as she threw a reproachful glance over her shoulder to the Ralts immediately silenced him, though it was with a degree of concern that she noted the way he'd gone pale at the notion.
'What is troubling you, Tarsal?'
'Nothing that concerns you.'
came the frigid reply as Siegfried shuffled over next to the ex-con's feet and committed to his silence while father and daughter made their way through the expanses of a kingdom lost to the sands of time.
It wasn't a theme park or the movies, but there was a charm to it Joseph figured the curious-minded child would find some excitement in.
"What do you think this place used to be Papa? I bet it was a grand hall! With lots of other statues and people dancing!"
Jayda piped up as she pointed to several tall columns which looked as though hey might have held aloft a Byzantine-style roof at some point.
"Could be, babydoll. Might'a had a dance floor right here---"
He swirled around where he stood in the clumsy though earnest steps of a waltz with his daughter still on his shoulders before gesturing to the weathered steps that led up to a higher area of what had been a hall eons ago.
"Maybe a special place for the king and queen right there. And that's the best part y'know? Because y'don't know."
He set her down before gently tapping her nose with a forefinger.
"And thinkin' about what could have been's half the fun. Let's see if we can find some buried treasure here eh?"
Doing good was a lot harder than the streetside preachers made it sound like, though as they traversed the ancient ruins in the early morning sun and he heard Jayda's laughter as she scuttled towards a misshapen statue there came the notion that no one said it couldn't be a bit of good fun either.
Said statue resembled a totem pole of some sort, and she held out her hands to mimic its posed just as the tiny Togepi chick cheeped good-naturedly nestled on her head like a feathery hat spread out flightless stubby wings to copy her gesture.
"There's a third one on top of the second one but I'm not tall enough Pap---AAAAAAH!"
The childish observation was broken by a loud squeal of surprise which dissolved into a peal of giggles as Joseph ducked behind her so he could lift her up on his shoulders where she was perched on precariously before taking it upon himself to recreate the totem pole's pose in the most ridiculously overblown manner.
Behind him, the Ralts who was shuffling along and grumbling about his fur snagging on the stones and scuffed up by the dirt stared at the man like he'd grown an extra head.
'I can't tell if I'm dealing with a former criminal or a five-year old.'
Siegfried muttered mutinously under his breath as he let out a raking sigh upon tripping over another rock for the umpteenth time and simply gathered up his fur skirt like a debutante late for a ball before running after the motley group up ahead.
'Are they necessarily exclusive to one another?'
Gambit crowed out with a smirk as he flew with ease overhead, stopping to perch on a rocky ledge for a moment as he kept count of their team to ascertain that no one had been left behind.
'The master has been working hard for the past few weeks, it would do well to allow him a chance at being a human rather than a law-abiding automaton. Not that you would know anything about that would you?'
'I would be less inclined to complain about the current situation if he wasn't slated for an appraisal in a few more weeks, and we've barely made any progress with that idiot mongrel---'
Whipping his head distastefully at where Jaeger was scrambling determinedly atop a small plateau for a better look at the surroundings
'And as you well know, a failure on his behalf is a failure on my name as well, Krow.'
'Mais oui monsieur, but zhere is no harm in letting a father be a father is zhere?'
The gentle hooting of Adirael the Togepi who'd finally decided to interject as she threw a reproachful glance over her shoulder to the Ralts immediately silenced him, though it was with a degree of concern that she noted the way he'd gone pale at the notion.
'What is troubling you, Tarsal?'
'Nothing that concerns you.'
came the frigid reply as Siegfried shuffled over next to the ex-con's feet and committed to his silence while father and daughter made their way through the expanses of a kingdom lost to the sands of time.
It wasn't a theme park or the movies, but there was a charm to it Joseph figured the curious-minded child would find some excitement in.
"What do you think this place used to be Papa? I bet it was a grand hall! With lots of other statues and people dancing!"
Jayda piped up as she pointed to several tall columns which looked as though hey might have held aloft a Byzantine-style roof at some point.
"Could be, babydoll. Might'a had a dance floor right here---"
He swirled around where he stood in the clumsy though earnest steps of a waltz with his daughter still on his shoulders before gesturing to the weathered steps that led up to a higher area of what had been a hall eons ago.
"Maybe a special place for the king and queen right there. And that's the best part y'know? Because y'don't know."
He set her down before gently tapping her nose with a forefinger.
"And thinkin' about what could have been's half the fun. Let's see if we can find some buried treasure here eh?"
GYARADOSITE!
SWAMPERTITE!
