#poor tab

"I know ye hate me."

The torkoal didn’t move a muscle as Tabitha spoke, content to sit across from the ex-Magma as they had one of their so-called bonding sessions. Ever since he won the damn thing at the tracks, Tab hadn’t managed to get along with Qurtle, yet. Most of the time, the psychotic fire-type would try to kill him, it seemed, mostly with Flamethrower, though once or twice with Heat Wave. Those were the days Tab had to keep Jaspar nearby and Quake’s pokeball close at hand, just to be safe.

But today seemed like one of the rare good days Qurtle had, where the most he would do was snort smoke and generally grump about. Tabitha had to admit, he preferred those days to the alternative, and used them best to his advantage, trying desperately hard to form some kind of connection with the tortoise. Of course, he’d been trying for a long, long time, with no luck. But that didn’t mean he would stop trying.

"It wasn’t my fault that happened, back at the track. Ye know that, right? It was because of that stupid delcatty that they had to take you away from your trainer." Qurtle made a sudden movement- well, sudden for a torkoal, at any rate- and Tab prepared himself to jump out of the way, but it seemed all the fire-type was interested in was the small pile of yellow pokeblocks on the ground between them.

"It was wrong fer me te take ye away from ‘em. I know that. But the fella that owned the place wasn’t givin’ me much slack. An’ I know ye hate me fer doin’ it, but what option did I have?" Tab sighed heavily as he watched Qurtle continue to eat the pokeblocks. He could never get a reaction out of the tortoise. No matter what he said, how much he reasoned, or how often he apologized, the torkoal still seemed to hate him, and he couldn’t figure out why. They were stuck with each other. They should be trying to make the best of it- and Tab honestly was. The goddamned tortoise could be making a little effort to make the relationship work.

"I jes’… I dunno, Qurtle. I dunno if we can even make anythin’ of this, anymore. It’s obvious yer never gonna come ‘round, ain’t it….? Why do I even bother….. But… ye know, I guess we ain’t so different, ye and me, y’know? We’re both far away from home, we dunno if we’re ever goin’ back…. We ain’t around the people we love, anymore…." Well- that wasn’t entirely true, he mused. Brodie had shown up several months ago. Blaise, too. So Tab wasn’t entirely alone, anymore, and things had been looking better than ever. But this poor torkoal didn’t even have a single friend on Tab’s team- Qurtle and Jas never got along, and Quake seemed to ignore the fire-type, for the most part. Even Ian preferred the company of the other two over Qurtle. Even though Tabitha was no longer in that sort of situation, he definitely had been, before, and it was a terrible feeling- a feeling he wouldn’t wish on anyone, human or pokemon.

With another sigh, he watched as Qurtle lowered his head to again lick up another couple of pokeblocks. Poor little bastard. He needed some love. Hesitantly, for the lingering threat of the torkoal attacking was in no way out the window, Tab reached out, gently running his fingers back along the fire-type’s neck, towards his shell. And for once, Qurtle didn’t seem to mind- or at least wasn’t angry about it enough to torch him. Slowly, a small, sympathetic smile curled at Tab’s lips.

"See? It ain’t so bad, is it, jes’ lettin’ me pet ye?" His smile brightened as Qurtle glanced up at him, apparently deep in thought about something. Maybe it was an epiphany of some sort, he mused. Maybe Qurtle was coming to the same realization as he had, and was willing to give it all a shot.

He was proven wrong only a second later when Qurtle suddenly gave the torkoal equivalent of a smirk, and his body heat surged as smoke bellowed out of his shell and nostrils, forcing Tab back and leaving him in a coughing fit.

"Las’ night? Yeah- yeah, I was pretty fuckin’ sloshed, las’ night….."