b u r n

“People don’t usually have tails! Unless you’re one of those demon people.” She put her fingers up by her head to mimic horns for a moment. “But those tails aren’t usually as… Floofy as yours.”

“Why do I have wings?! Because I’m a fairy, obviously! I should think that was pretty obvious! And this is normal fairy size! In fact I doubt you’ll find any fairies taller than me!” She fluttered up closer to the woman’s face now, interest shifted to the mark on her face.

“Do you fight?”

“Demon?” That’s a new one. She’s usually called a beast, or a monster, or something along those lines. Never a demon.

“I’m not one of those. I’m an Arcanine.” Screw it, if she’s going to accuse Noa of being something bad, then she might as well be straight about it.

“What? I’ve never seen a Fairy type like you. Are you supposed to be like a Flabebe or something?” But that species doesn’t have those wings even when they’re actual Pokemon. This is weird.

Oh okay, she was getting closer. She better not get any funny ideas… She kept an eye on those hands, up until the woman’s statement came out and she closed her eyes and crossed her arms indignantly.

“I’m not small!”

“You’re just huge! I’ll have you know I’m pretty tall where I come from! Small indeed…”

The dog barked once playfully.

“Shut up Finn! Traitor! What’s going on with you anyway? Why do you have a tail? What’s that about huh?”

She’s tall where she comes from? But she’s probably not much bigger than her hand.

Noa could definitely just pick her up and throw her really far without even trying.

But before that there’s a different conundrum.

Why does Noa have a tail? Is it because she’s an Arcanine? But she’s not really a Pokemon, just... sort of. But every time she tries to explain that to someone who isn’t like her, they get really confused.

As she’s thinking, her tail sways.

“I do, but…”

“Is she paying you enough? You should ask for a raise. But, nicely.”

“Noa…”

“…I wholeheartedly agree, but did you need me to fill your fridge…?”

“...”

@blazeguard​

The fact that FInn was here made this all a little better really. Not that she was scared or anything! Obviously not, she doesn’t get scared, no siree. But it was a little worrying being suddenly snatched away from most of her friends. Having her trusty steed/companion/bed with her did a lot to help her anxiety.

She was riding on the dogs back, not really heading anywhere in particular as she tried to mull over what had happened. Suddenly, Finn picked up his pace and started bounding down the street,

“Whoa- wait! Where’s the fire dude, calm down!”

But calm down he did not. The dog barrelled right up to a woman and then started sniffing around her legs.

“Oh, wow, sorry- he’s not usually like this…” Wow, what a pretty giant.

Wait…

“Is that a tail?! Holy crap! That’s cool!”

Noa catches a glimpse of a small dog running at her at high speed, and immediately sighs. This always seems to happen. First the little jerks, the cats, and now this. These one were like cats, but different. They were like... weird Herdiers. But they really seem to like her for some reason.

As long as they weren’t trying to pick a fight, they were better.

She knows how this works. The little animal would come up, be interested for a while, and then go off on its own way. She flicks her cigarette off into the sidewalk and readies herself for the usual.

The animal does the usual, but this time there’s something on it.

Noa crouches down.

She’s... a people? No. A Pokemon? Something like her? But she’s very small. And it doesn’t smell like her. She’s never seen someone so small, since that weird pink thing. Maybe she should throw this one too.

What a display of emotions on this woman’s face, perhaps she had not realised. Surprise, comprehension, realisation.

“I think it is. Well, it is in her nature, but I’m sure she enjoyed helping you regardless.”

“It was also impolite of me to stare. It was not you, just your… Well, it doesn’t matter. How about I buy you a drink? Are you allowed to drink on shift? I suppose you can always save it for later.”

It’s just her...

...what?

Noa looks down at herself, confused. She even turns to look behind her, watching her tail slowly wag. She looks pretty normal. Well, compared to what she knows of herself.

Did she smell weird? ...How long has it been since she showered? At least two nights ago, if not sooner. She tends to black out whenever she has to deal with that.

It’s probably fine.

Noa peeks over at the bar.

► “I guess so.” Then again, Tamae was kind of a mess aesthetically from time to time. She wasn’t against wearing mismatched outfits or the like when she was in a dour mood, so if people assumed her living conditions were just as erratic she probably wouldn’t have blamed them. “That’s good at least. It’s important to be considerate of the people you’re staying with.” And that was why she kept her mess in her room.

The cap on her cooler didn’t seem to be the twist kind, and so with the beads on her paw hands gripping it she tore it off. Her arm strength was still more than a human’s, even if she wasn’t as physically strong as Noa. 

She finished just in time to catch a glance of Noa downing a whole beer at once before sitting on the couch in the living room. “You should slow down Noa. You’re gonna be on your ass in ten minutes if you drink them all at that pace.”

Noa nods, her tail wagging at the sudden compliment (was it a compliment? Or just an observation? Noa didn’t really care about the nuances, since the comment made her happy). 

Noa tosses the now-empty can and grabs another one before following behind Tamae. She makes sure to nudge the door to the refrigerator with her foot before heading back to the living room, just hard enough to shut it.

She takes a seat on the edge of the sofa, close to Tamae. Very close to Tamae. Closer than one should with regarding their level of friendship.

  He can see her tail wagging and, in spite of the warning he’s being given, Joe can’t help but relax a bit more than before. The lady’s nice, maybe if not someone that’s easy to provoke. This isn’t the time to get weirdly deep into thought, though! 

  “ My bad, my bad…! ” he answers, a smile popping up on his face. “ I didn’t mean to look like I was glaring! Must’ve been focusing harder than I thought, huh? ”

  A hum, fingers in an ‘L’ shape at his chin.

  “ Can I make it up to ya somehow? I feel kinda bad just apologizing if I bothered you and you gave me some solid advice, so…! ”

So this isn’t a random delinquent kid. Just a normal kid. Guess that’s fine.

Noa gives a small shrug at his apology, shaking it off. There’s no reason for him to apologize, when she’s the one that made the mistake. 

So when he offers a gesture of apology, Noa shakes her head. “No need to do that. Take it as a freebee, I guess. Just be careful next time, alright?”

Perfect. A cool answer to top off a cool exterior, and now she just needs to g—

GRRRGHGHRGHG

...

Ah… Memo knew it was only a matter of time. She made sure to get dang good use out of that time while it lasted, though. Luckily for Noa, Memo is the opposite of physically strong, so she was pushed back pretty easily.

Memo wasn’t hurt, physically or emotionally, because she figured something like this might happen sooner or later. She just kept on smiling, holding onto Noa’s shoulders too.

“What you wanted me to do.”

“You told me to keep going, so I did. Right?”

Noa’s grip tightens slightly, not enough to hurt Memo but enough for her to tell. The smile and calm voice does the exact opposite of calming Noa down.

“I...! You...! You!!!”

She shakes Memo. “You should’ve! I dunno, stopped me! C’mon, I wouldn’t! I mean!”

The tail was hard not to notice. Crow almost even smiled, despite herself; Memo was good at having that affect on people. 

“Something like that.”

“She’s my girlfriend.”

She was trying to relax, she really was. As paradoxical as trying to relax is. She’d only heard good things, and she had nothing against this person specifically. 

But that scent clawed against her mind. Her fight or flight was trying its best to activate.

“She’s always very happy to meet more people like herself, and seeing her happy makes me happy, so… Thank you, for spending time with her.”

Noa nods. Of course, this is Memo’s girl...

friend...

...

Wait, Memo has a girlfriend?! No way! 

Noa thought she had a pretty decent sense for that kind of stuff, but she hadn’t even realized! Though now, in retrospect, it would make sense that she was into girls with how she acts... but wait, how long have they been girlfriends?? 

...Wait, she should probably talk.

If Memo were anyone else, she might think Noa was being too clingy at this point. But Memo was not anyone else, she was Memo, and to Memo, this was the perfect amount of cling. Which she easily reciprocated, wrapping just as tight around Noa and gently swaying the two of them side to side.

“What? I couldn’t hear you.” she said, having heard her perfectly well. But while pretending like she didn’t, her ruffles got more enthusiastic, then became head scratches instead, for at least a few moments more before Memo’s hand very gradually slowed to a stop… almost. Still some light scritches.

Her eyes were on the tail the whole time now though. Seeing it wag so excitedly was super endearing!

“If only I’d known you liked this before.”

Noa’s response is just a pleasant hum. This is great. The best. A+. Noa is 100% content right at this very moment. 

Noa’s tail wags excitedly for another few seconds before slowly... calming down...

Noa opens her eyes. She blinks once. Twice. She raises her head from Memo’s shoulder and blinks one more time.

HOLY—

Hands grip onto Memo’s shoulders and Noa pushes back, hoping that her strength is enough to get out of her grip. If so, she holds her at arms length.

She made a sound of disagreement, shaking her head at her question. “I don’t mind it.” Actually, the smell of the smoke coming from the stranger’s mouth… Didn’t really smell like tobacco? Or perhaps it did, and she was merely just overthinking things.

“I was just curious.. Why would the smoke not hurt you? Do you have a disposition towards fire?” This was probably not the question to get hung up over, but since she started the conversation this way, she felt obligated to continue.

Noa looks at her incredulously for a moment before shrugging and going back to her own devices.

Well, she would have, had it not been for the stranger making more conversation. Is Noa really that interesting? Maybe she’s turned on the cool too much. Is that even possible?

...No way, impossible. Eh, best to roll with it for now.

“Yeah, something like that. I can usually shoot fire out of my mouth, or make it come out of my hands. Guess that means its inside me, so what’s a bit more smoke?”