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File Name: Ghost in the Machine (Part 2)

Owner: Pokégirl

File Location: www.patreon.com/SomeonesPC

File Type: Story:Adult:F/M: Human x ???

Caption Text: Support us on Patreon for special art, stories, and more!

Details: Brought to you by "LigerHorse", continuing with the Luxury Tier request of "Female Trainer x "Male" Rotom possessing a mecha-pokemon (your choice, is the same size as the pokemon it is based on)."

It took some time (and a massive amount of shop towels) for Merah to clean up the translucent blue gel that Ro had inadvertently released while inside Sparkles' body. She didn't appear mad, if her chipper tones as she talked a bit more about Sparkles to Ro and the tests she wanted to do were any indicator. Ro did feel a bit sorry that he couldn't help but, while he could probably use his static to move a sheet or two at a time, the gel would probably weigh it down to the point he couldn't clean anything effectively. Instead, he attentively listened to Merah's words, asking questions or commenting on something he didn't understand or found interesting. Merah would smile and explain, never once sounding exasperated or annoyed.

Once the gel was cleared away, Merah took the blanket and covered Sparkles. With a quick glance around the room and a nod, she then turned to look at him.

"Ready for some food?" she asked.

[Sure,] Ro answered, a little excited to try "eating" and see if he liked it.

Leaving the room, Merah held the door for him to zip out behind her. Letting it swing shut, she led him back through the huge room and to the metallic doors Alex and Azad had first brought him through. Pressing a button next to it, which lit up after her finger clicked it, Ro could hear a whirling sound along with the low hum of electricity. The doors opened, the space inside empty.

Once they were both inside, Merah pressed another button reading "B1" and the elevator lurched upward. This time, Ro was relatively prepared and the journey was much shorter than before, the doors opening not even a minute later.

Still letting Merah lead, Ro glanced around the new area. Similar to the other floor, this one had exposed ceilings but it seemed... neater, somehow. It took Ro a moment to realize that all the wiring was encased in silver tubing, rather than strung along, and no dangling sockets were anywhere to be seen. There was a series of thin colored metal or wood planks that ran from where they were down the whole length of the room, a bright contrast to the otherwise chrome ceiling and white walls, as though someone had decided to design a simplistic version of a rainbow against a gray sky.

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" Merah asked, a bit of a laugh at the end of her question. "A bit eccentric, I think, but it all kind of works." She pointed to a pillar in the middle of the room, with a scattering of triangles in various earthy shades. "That one is my favorite."

Merah turned right, passing a few more tables before they entered a smaller space. The ceilings here were covered, the paneling having either gaps that the light shone out of or lights that gave the illusion of gaps. Ro wasn't quite sure which and had to focus more on not bumping into Merah to figure it out. This space, too, had lots of gray and chrome but with some wooden accents along the wall that reminded him of the tables and flooring in the larger room. There were counters of shiny silver with glass coverings that were somewhat like windows but with gaps that anyone could just reach through to the trays of food within and, atop the glass, were bowls and platters with what looked to be an assortment of berries and fruits. Something sweet, he wasn't sure what, made him sniff and turn, before a different scent of roasting or burning had him looking to find that scent.

"This is the Canteen. It's where we come to eat food. There's a lot of different kinds to try," Merah said, pulling out two trays from a storage spot built within the counters and laying them on the counter top's edge. "If you don't see anything you'd like to try here, there's some other food in the coolers but this stuff is usually better tasting." Pulling out two plates and bowls, setting one of each on the trays, she smiled towards him. "Just let me know what you're interested in and I'll get you some. If something is out, we can ask the lunch staff and see if they can refill it. We're between lunch and dinner right now so they might or might not."

A door off to the side opened, a blue energy pushing and holding it as someone came out. From the height and build, Ro thought it was a human at first until they turned. With such rich purple skin, full pink lips, and blonde hair (albeit, contained within some odd netting) , this could be none other than a Jynx.

"Hey, Sumire," Merah said, scooping up some white fluffy looking stuff with a spoon and putting it on what Ro assumed was to be her plate. "What's good today?"

[Everything, of course!] the Jynx answered, her words a bit breathy. Ro wondered if it was her natural way of speaking or if it was due to her using her powers as four trays floated out from what he guessed was the kitchen. [But you know the blonde brownies are my favs.]

Merah chuckled, getting some long green beans next and putting them next to - but not touching - her mushy white stuff.

"I'll come back for dessert after loading up," Merah said, waiting as Sumire waved a hand, four somewhat empty trays lifting out from around the room and floating through the door while the fuller and fresher ones took their place.

Ro was impressed with the Jynx's level of control, that she didn't hit the glass, walls, or door even while she wasn't looking was a testament of her abilities.

[And who are you, cutie?] Sumire asked, a slight sigh at the end of her words as the door shut and her energy dispersed. [A new hire? Or a guest?]

Ro glanced at Merah, not entirely sure how to answer.

"A little of both, at the moment," Merah replied, nonplussed. "He's in the process of evolving, you might say."

Ro whirled around, trying to catch a glimpse of himself before frowning.

[I don't seem to be evolving,] he said. But then, how would he know? What did evolution feel like...?.

The nearly identical smiles on Merah and Sumire's faces made Ro frown, feeling as though they might be laughing at him.

"From guest to new hire," Merah explained, her tone soft and pleasant enough that Ro decided she wasn't laughing at him after all. "Though it would be interesting to discover a Rotom's next evolutionary stage."

[Maybe you can find a Jynx one, while you're at it?] Sumire teased, giving a wink.

Ro joined Merah in a bit of light hearted laughter before Merah slid the trays down, peering past the glass casing into the trays beneath.

"See anything you like, Ro?" she asked, getting what he thought was a white meat of some kind.

[There's so much,] he said, [I'm not sure where I'd start!]

[Whatever you think looks good,] Sumire said, her breathless manner of speaking seeming not to have anything to do with her use of her powers. [Clarity Envisioned provides meals for their employees at no charge and, seeing as how you're practically one of us, that goes for you, too.]

Ro felt his plasma warming, having never been "one of" anything unless it was "one of those scary Ghost Pokemon in an otherwise abandoned house."

[Whatever doesn't suit your tastes, you don't have to eat,] Sumire went on. [Our Trubbish will happily dispose of it for you.] She gave a laugh so soft he almost mistook it for a hum. [Though, they might wait a week until it reaches their preferred tastes.]

Feeling a bit better but still mostly uncertain, Ro ended up letting Merah add things to his tray for him. For the most part, their trays ended up looking nearly identical though Merah did add a few other items "for him to try" and "to add some variety."

Before they left the serving area, Merah stopped near some large silver machines with colorful tags and spouts. She filled two cups by pushing the label "Water", placing one on each tray, and added some silverware before giving a nod, appearing satisfied with the contents.

Merah was about to pick both up when they began to glow with blue energy.

[Just take a seat, dear,] Sumire said, her lips offering a small smile. [I'll send them out to you.]

"Thanks, Sumire," Merah said, giving her own grin of thanks.

Waving Ro along, they walked back out into what Ro now figured to be the "dining area", even though, to his left, he noticed that there were two members not so much eating as they were talking, with two of the same style computers (laptops) that Merah had on the wider table they were sitting at and with paperwork spread out to the point of almost covering every inch of it. He hadn't seen them on the way into the food area, having been too distracted by everything else, but was still somewhat stumped as to how he'd missed them, given one was a rather eye-catching color blue.

The Nidoqueen, who somehow had a pair of spectacles placed just at the edge of her snout and some gold dangling from her ears, was bent forward, motioning to something on the screen. Her human companion was leaning over, not quite in her personal space but pretty close to it, observing what she was indicating before gesturing to his own screen. Ro couldn't make out what they were saying but could hear the low tones of their voices.

"That's Miss Thorn," Merah said, seeing Ro's curiosity at the pair. "She's the head of our IT Department. And, that's Ruben. Did you want to say hello?"

[No,] Ro answered, even though he sort of wanted to. [They seem a bit busy. I wouldn't want to distract them.]

Merah just gave a nod of acceptance at that and led the way to a small table the opposite way, near the pillar she'd pointed out as being her favorite. Merah had just started sitting down when Ro noticed their trays of food floating towards them. High enough above to avoid tables, chairs, and employees, they were also low enough to avoid the lights.

[Does she usually deliver them?] Ro asked, thinking that the smooth way the trays floated, the liquid in the cups not sloshing or spilling, indicated a measure of practice in addition to her skills.

Merah's face flushed, her cheeks becoming nearly as red as one of the triangles on the pillar beside her.

"I, well, I get a bit anxious when carrying my tray to my seat, balancing it if there's too much on it, and Sumire, sort of, unintentionally picked up on it." Merah's words stumbled out of her mouth, her eyes lowered to the table, blinking just once as her tray was set in front of her. "She, uh, mentioned it one day, when we were by ourselves, and just offered to do it for me, if it was okay, if she happened to feel me getting anxious." Merah gave a sheepish laugh. "I guess my own anxiety was making her anxious and she'd been fretting for about a week or so before bringing it up, given that Psychic types can get a lot of flak for 'reading people's minds' without permission and she didn't want me to think she had." Merah took a sip of her drink, her cheeks still heated. "I was just basically radiating anxiety to the non-Psychic equivalent of waving a sign and shouting so she wanted to help."

[That was really nice of her!] Ro said, floating down in front of his own tray, which Sumire had placed across from Merah.

For some reason, this made Merah smile and she lifted her head, leaning back to a more comfortable position in her chair.

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" she said, her laugh this time softer and happier sounding.

Pleased that his words had somehow gotten such a response, Ro turned his attention to the assortment of food on the tray. Most of it was prepared in such a way, he honestly wasn't sure what was what, other than the assortment of fresh cut berries Merah had put in his bowl. There was so much, he didn't even know where to start with it!

"Try this first," Merah offered, stabbing something brown on her tray with her fork. It didn't look particularly appetizing but the eager sparkle in Merah's eye made Ro obediently open his mouth for a taste.

When he closed his mouth, allowing Merah to slide the fork back, a rich flavor filled his mouth. Giving a slow chew, he found it thick but also oddly soft, a somewhat heavy but enticing taste that made his eyes widen. He was half reluctant to chew faster, wanting to enjoy it as long as he could, and half impatient to finish it so as to try more.

[If all food tastes like this, then I've been missing out!] he said, when he did finally swallow.

Merah's grin widened. "Normally, desserts are eaten at the end of a meal but I thought a bite of brownie wouldn't hurt, especially if it's your first real bit of food."

[What should I try next?] Ro asked, just barely keeping from hovering over the different dishes as his electricity buzzed.

Merah sank her fork into a bit of berry in her own bowl, tipping her head towards his own tray. Ro got the idea, lifting his fork with a bit of his static. It was a bit more cumbersome than the papers had been, having to not just hold it in place but also guide it, but Merah waited until he was able to sink the fork into his own piece of berry and lift it to his mouth.

The sweetness was slightly lacking, after the bite of brownie, but the sharp bite of tart was new and interesting. The next berry had a bit more sweetness than the first but wasn't as soft, having a crisp crunch that Ro greatly enjoyed. The third berry was soft, his bite hard enough to rupture it and have its mild sweetness flood his mouth.

Merah ate her own berries along with him, her smile remaining the whole time as she watched him. Ro might have felt a bit more self-conscious about that, having not had anyone pay him such attention before, but he was so distracted by the flavors and textures he found he didn't mind.

When Merah next dug her fork into the white meat, Ro asked about it, seeing as she'd also put a matching portion on his own plate.

"It's a synthetic meat," she answered, using her knife to cut it into smaller pieces. "Basically, it's grown in a lab out of cells donated by a living Pokemon so that Pokemon and humans can eat it without needing to hunt or farm living Pokemon."

Ro wasn't quite sure how he felt about that. [Why not just eat fruits and other plants?]

Merah finished cutting her meat, laying down the knife. "Humans are omnivores," she explained, when noticing Ro was about to ask. "We can eat meat and plants, but there are some Pokemon whose diets are more carnivorous, that is, meat based. Like Azad."

[They can't eat plants at all?]

Merah made a soft hum, moving her fork for another bite of berry. "More like, they can probably eat plants but the plants wouldn't have the nutrients their bodies need to keep functioning."

Ro frowned, not fully understanding that.

Merah set down her fork, lightly tapping her fingers on the table. Once more, Ro got the sense she was doing it more to organize her thoughts than out of impatience.

"Well, my knowledge in biology is basically high school level but there's essential vitamins and nutrients that all life forms need to keep on, well, living." Merah began just tapping her pinky finger. "There's a lot of back and forth between humans, on if humans can just live on plants and supplement with vitamins, with no long term negative effects, with different studies showing in favor of one way or the other." She gave a light shake of her head. "Honestly, at a point, I stopped paying attention to it because I think it's more of a moral debate than a biological one."

[O-oh?] Ro asked, feeling a little overwhelmed.

Merah gave a slight nod. "Essentially, the majority of humans could probably just eat plants and supplement what's missing but that's not the case for Pokemon." Merah raised a hand up, as if to fend off his already formulating question. "And I can't answer why that is because I never went that far into my studies."

[So,] Ro started, putting his thoughts together. [You could just eat plants, if you wanted to? Not meat.]

Merah looked down at her plate, a small frown at the corner of her lips.

"That's the moral rub of it," she said, giving a sigh. "There are some places, farms, essentially, that have herds of Tauros or Wooloo, that raise them to be happy and cared for then, at the end of their natural lives, they're, well," Merah waved her hand, giving Ro a fairly clear indication of what happened. "There's other situations where herds of Stantler get to be too large for a territory to sustain so teams of hunters go with their Pokemon to, well, cull the herd by taking out the weak and sickly like their natural predators would."

Merah took a sip of her drink, her lips pinched tightly and her eyes still looking at her plate but in a way that made Ro feel like she wasn't really looking at it. Before he could try and change the topic, Merah was speaking again.

"They're sure to label them, at the stores, so you know whether the food's from a farm, hunt, or lab... Here," she gestured to the dining area. "It's synthetic only. So, no Pokemon were killed for it." She gave a cutting laugh. "Basically, a lot of words to say that I probably could eat just plants but I like the taste and, while I wouldn't go killing a Pokemon for it, I can just get by with my conscience to eat the synthetic, especially when it's not labeled as a real Pokemon."

Ro felt like he should still change the subject but he was stuck on the last bit.

[It's not a real Pokemon?]

Merah gave a slight shake of her head. "Sometimes, they merge different cells to make a 'new' meat. In this case," she picked up her fork to point it at the white meat. "It's marketed as 'chicken,' even though there's no such Pokemon by that name." She gave an off handed shrug. "So it's easier for me not to think about, especially when there's no bones, synthetic or otherwise, in it."

Ro didn't really want to contemplate the idea of synthetic bones on top of synthetic meat so he opted for taking a bite of one of the long, green beans on his plate instead. It was rubbery, making him have to chew a few times, and, while it was hard to explain, if you had asked him to describe "green" as a taste, this would be the first thing to pop in his head.

Merah's smile was slowly forming again, though her fork ignored the chicken to instead go for the fluffy white pile on her plate. Seeing her close her eyes in enjoyment, Ro opted to take a forkful of that next to try. They were warm, with a creamy texture that complimented the array of flavors he couldn't fully begin to describe.

"The garlic mashed potatoes are my favorite, too," Merah said, taking another bite of her own.

The rest of the meal mostly consisted of them eating with Ro asking here or there for the names of certain items. Even though he was a little hesitant, he did end up trying the "chicken" and found it somewhat bland but easy to chew and okay overall. Nothing really came close to the brownie, though, and when he said as much, Merah only smiled while taking care of their trays and told him to remember that the first time he tried something called "ice cream."

They took the elevator back to Merah's workspace only to find Alex waiting outside, a slight frown on her face.

"It'd be nice if you had a light or something on your door if no one's in there," she said, giving a light huff. "I tried knocking but, obviously, no one answered."

Merah gave a sound that could have been an agreement or indifference.

"It's not like we get too many people knocking," she said. "Though I guess a sign or something might be easy enough."

Alex just gave a curt nod before turning to look at Ro. She had more papers in her hands, he saw, though, this time, they were on some kind of black, plastic board.

"I made those calls," Alex said, a light huff still in her voice. "Unfortunately, most of the contractors want to come directly to the site before making an 'official quote.'" She took a breath, releasing it in a long sigh. "It's not that I can't understand, they want to measure the length of the roof and take a look to gauge the work needing to be done and, to be frank, given the damage we saw when we visited, I assume they're going to have to rip it all off and redo it, not just patch and shingle."

Ro considered that and acknowledged it was likely true.

"Which then leads into who legally owns the house," Alex said, moving her hand to grab a pen which was also on the board.

Ro tilted his head, glancing from Alex to her papers.

[It's my house,] he said, slowly in case she somehow had forgotten he was living there, hence why he wanted to do the repairs.

Alex drew in another breath, the expression on her face making Ro float closer towards Merah. When she did finally speak, he felt a little better that it seemed her ire wasn't directed towards him

"The law," she all but rolled her eyes as she said that word. "Says that Pokemon can't own homes or properties unless they're bequeathed to them by," Alex closed her eyes, appearing to struggle for a moment before opening them and continuing, her voice even sharper. "A human, essentially, due to the reasoning that anyone who catches a Pokemon possessing anything could then, in theory, have it taken away by the one who catches them." She scoffed. "As if a house is a bit of honey or an Oran berry."

Ro swayed. [But... I've always lived in my house.] He shook his head, even as he was trying to reach back to his oldest memories. [There's never been a human there while I've been there.]

"I figured as much," Alex said, her voice softening as she attempted to give him a smile. "And squatter rights don't work for Pokemon..."

[So... my house isn't my house?] Ro drifted down, finding this all hard to take in.

"Well, I did a bit more digging and, while Rotom aren't Legendary Pokemon, they are considered unique, given that they're genderless and don't usually breed in the wild, and their habitats, when possible, are to be protected," Alex flipped a page over. "From what I could find, most Rotom are found living in abandoned homes so there's already a process for requesting the home and the immediate land it's on to be identified then classified as a Rotom's natural habitat."

"So, that would mean...?" Merah asked while Ro was still trying to process it.

"We basically take some pictures of Ro at his home and submit them. The Pokemon Wildlife Conservation group will send someone to verify and then will go to whomever legally," Alex put emphasis on that word, as if to show what little she thought of it. "Owns the property to then purchase it at market value. The PWC will then own the property but, so long as Ro lives there, it'll be his in every other sense of the word."

Ro drifted further down, nearly touching the floor.

"Would they even let him make changes, then?" Merah asked, sounding almost as confused as he felt.

Alex gave a slight shake of her head. "I honestly don't know... I think Ro is unique in that he wants to. But I don't know how that would work, with the PWC legally owning it and having the right to approve or deny what's done."

[Even if I pay for it?] Ro asked, trying to keep the warble out of his voice.

Alex's weak smile was enough of an answer for him.

"What if..." Merah paused. "What if we find out who owns it and buy it from them and then deed it to him?"

Alex tapped her pen against the papers, looking thoughtful. "I think I found the bank that currently owns it but..." Alex gave another small shake of her head. "I don't think that Clarity Envisioned could buy it. Not that it can't financially afford to do so," she said, as if expecting that argument. "But it might set a precedent that others might come to expect and a mess of headaches in the future."

"So," Merah said, voice soft enough that Ro thought she was talking to herself. "What Ro really needs is a proxy."

"That, and funds to buy the land and house," Alex said, "if he wants it to truly be his."

Merah nodded, meeting Ro's gaze briefly before looking back up to Alex.

"Can I get that bank information from you?" Merah asked, reaching her hand out. "I'd like to give them a call."

=*=*=*=

Sitting in Merah's truck, Sparkles in the back and covered with a sheet underneath the cap, Ro's mind was spinning at what'd happened over the last few hours. Paper in hand, Merah had called the bank. After being put in touch with the right department, explaining the property she was looking for with a lot of details from another sheet that Alex had produced when "I want to buy an abandoned property" was too vague, and waited while they tried to find the information. After being routed and re-routed to several different people, an older gentleman called Testae appeared to recall just the one they were talking about. After finding the file, there was some slight haggling over price before Merah agreed to an amount that Ro could only guess to be large from Alex's impression of a Magikarp.

From there, Merah had requested the information from Alex about the contractors she'd reached out to before going back into her lab. She'd packed a good portion of supplies and showed Ro to a second set of doors, which he'd missed his first visit, and which were large enough for Sparkles (while still covered in her sheet) to be carried through with the help of a Machamp. Going through a second, larger set of metallic doors that Merah called a "Freight Elevator" the Machamp had kindly loaded Sparkles into the back of the truck, careful not to peek after Merah's several warnings, and gave them a wave with two of his four hands as they were off.

A trip to the bank, which Merah had to go inside briefly, and they arrived at a building that Merah said was a "realtor office." She asked Ro to wait in the truck, leaving it running for him so he'd be comfortable and could listen to the radio. This took a little longer but, when Merah came back smiling, Ro felt his plasma heating, seeing the papers she had in her hands.

Now, they were heading to her apartment before going to his home. Her home? Ro thought about that and figured, between the humans he didn't know and Merah, he'd rather it be her home than theirs. Still, from what he could understand, the amount Merah had paid for his home was significant and he couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

[Why?] he finally asked, looking at her from his seat. [This... isn't something humans usually do, is it?]

He really only had Alex's reaction to go off of, but he could understand the oddity of purchasing someone's home for them when you'd only just met.

Merah didn't look at him, her eyes on the road, but there was a smile along her face.

"I consider it an investment," she said. "I've done more today with your help than I've been able to by myself in the last two months." She made a slight tsk sound. "Not going to lie, though, that was basically all of my savings... but I've lived the college poverty lifestyle before and can do so again." Her smile widened. "At least work lets me eat basically all I want so I can save money there."

Ro squirmed against the fabric seat, unsure what he could say.

"I figure I can update my will and stuff later tonight," Merah said. "It's been a while, anyway, and needs some updating. That way, if and when something happens to me, there'll be no debate about it being your house."

Ro felt all of his plasma still.

[What?] he asked, his mouth dry.

Merah spared him a brief glance before her attention went fully back to the road. "Well, a will is something..." she trailed off. "I hate to say humans have but I don't know that Pokemon have wills? Anyway, a will basically lists what you'd like to happen if you're incapacitated or dead, so that your wishes are honored." Her shoulder lifted in a shrug. "Mine was basically 'donate all my stuff to charity' so I'll have it updated and notarized so your home is listed as going directly to you." She frowned a little. "You know, I think we could set it up so that the attorneys' office acts as your proxy, after my passing-"

[That won't happen for a long while, though, right?] Ro asked, feeling as if several small Joltiks were trying to claw their way from his chest up and out his throat.

"I'm afraid you're likely to have to put up with me for thirty-five years, give or take," Merah said, sounding oddly bright to Ro, given the topic of conversation. "Barring any random accidents or heart attacks or the like, anyway."

While Ro was trying to grasp how long of a time span thirty-five years actually was, having never really tracked the passing of time, and had just started wondering over the odds of an accident or something else happening, the truck slowed to a stop and didn't move again. Looking over, he saw Merah turn the key, the truck turning off.

Ro fully expected he'd be staying in the car again. When Merah undid her seatbelt, she smiled at him.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked. "I just need to grab a few things."

[Oh-Okay,] Ro answered, giving a nod and zipping out her open door when she held it open for him.

In front of them was the largest house Ro had ever seen. It had more windows than he could count at a glance, with alternating colors of gray and red bricks. It didn't have a wrap-around porch, like his place, but small little porches that were wrapped in metal or glass barriers, with taller ones being at the top. He could just make out plants on the roof and some of the higher mini-porches.

[Your house is huge,] he said, having to close his mouth after having it hang open for so long.

"Sorry to disappoint," Merah said, her smile soft. "This is an apartment building, where lots of people live, and then there's some stores on the bottom floor, where people can shop. My apartment is much smaller."

Ro didn't quite understand but drifted after Merah as she led him past what he assumed were the stores and to a door that she held up yet another badge to that beeped and let her through. Rather than the metallic elevator, Merah took him up a flight of stairs, exiting at the very next door and using her badge again to open it. Going into a fairly clean but somewhat snug hallway, they went by two doors before Merah used her metal key to open the door.

"I'm going to throw a bag together really quick, then we can be on our way," Merah said, letting Ro in after her.

As the door shut, Ro drifted in, immediately surprised. From what he could tell, Merah's home was merely one room, a room that wasn't even half the size of the bedrooms within his home. It was substantially cleaner and neater, he admitted, but when it was such a small space one would hope it'd be. The walls, cabinets, and furniture were white. The only spot of color was a woven rug of purples and blues in front of the sink, matching the teal wall of the kitchen area, the silvers of the appliances, and the black that made up the kitchen counter.

Merah had grabbed a bag out of what he guessed was a closet, throwing various items of clothing into it. There was one other door, which he saw when she went in, was a bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet. She grabbed some things from there, tossing them into the bag as well.

Lastly, she went to the large cupboard space and pulled one of them, making a portion of it fall. Ro zipped over to help her, to keep her from being crushed, only to see that it was a controlled fall and there was a bed on the other side.

Slipping her shoes off, Merah hopped up on the bed and reached into the highest cabinet, pulling out what looked to be a rolled up blanket of some kind. With that, she hopped back down, put her shoes back on, and grabbed a pillow and what looked like a stuffed Magneton and added them to the pile and shoving the bed back up into place.

With a quick peek in the fridge, she gave a snort and muttered something like, "probably a good thing, in this case, I don't normally buy much food" before raiding the cupboards and pulling out various items that she ended up not having room in the one bag and grabbed a second, smaller bag.

[Are you moving?] Ro asked, wondering if he should somehow try and help.

"Mm, well, more like visiting," she said, giving him a grin. "The nice thing is, you and I can basically work anywhere and, if we're at your house, then we can work there while having the contractors come out. Two birds, one stone, you know?"

Ro blinked, befuddled. He hadn't even officially agreed to work at Clarity Envisioned! Though, admittedly, it seemed like if he wanted to fix his home, this would be his best choice.

"All set!" Merah said, grabbing her two bags.

As she lugged them to the door, Ro took one last look around her home. From what he could see, while she had a window, it didn't have one of the small porches. If Merah, Alex, Azad, and the Machamp could fit in here, Ro would be at a loss for how.

"Coming?" Merah asked, her tone playful.

[Yes,] Ro answered, turning and leaving, waiting while Merah shut and locked the door.

=*=*=*=

By the time they were back to the house, it was just starting to get dark. Backing the truck up, Merah had the bed of it just in front of the double doors leading into the house. Opening the door, Ro followed timidly behind, wondering if Merah might regret spending the money she had on his home. While her place was tiny, it was clean and new. His... well, not so much.

"Look at that..." Merah said, turning her head and taking it in.

Head somewhat lowered, Ro did look. With new eyes, having seen Clarity Envisioned and Merah's apartment building, his own home looked even older and more rundown then he'd initially thought.

"Those porches are incredible," Merah said, leaving her bags for the moment to take a closer look. "I mean, obviously dangerous, I can see from the broken boards and somewhat chewed up rails but do they wrap all the way around?"

Ro lifted his head, enough to give her a nod.

"Shit," she said, her grin so wide it made those two dimples form. Turning back to the house, she sounded almost giddy. "And look at that roof! It's got arches and angles, I mean, they don't build them like this anymore."

Ro floated a little higher, looking at his home with new eyes. That was true; neither the apartment nor the office had a roof quite like his.

"And the columns along the porches," Merah was giggling. "This isn't even my house and I'm so excited to see how it'll look, all fixed up!"

[But...] Ro swayed, glancing from her to the house. [It is your house. You paid for it.]

Merah's eyes narrowed, her brow wrinkling. "Hey, now," she said, sounding rather firm. "This is your house, Ro. I'm just visiting and helping you get it fixed up a bit."

Ro was going to argue that but the way her expression went stormy warned him not to. Silent, he looked at his home and imagined, as she had, all the possibilities it held and what it could be, and the tightness that had been hanging around from Alex's telling him that his home wasn't really his home eased.

Especially when he caught sight of Merah looking back towards his home, smiling.

"Well, I don't suppose you have a room that I could borrow, while I'm here?" she asked, a bit of mirth warming her tone. "Preferably one that's Rattata and Caterpie free?"

Ro laughed, as he expected she'd meant him to, then led her towards his home.

The door groaned nearly as loudly as when Alex had first pushed it open, but it did let them in. Merah took in the sight of the great hall, with its tiled floor and dual staircases, the chandelier and the somewhat flaking paint. Shaking her head, Ro thought for a moment that she was disappointed until she let out a low whistle.

"Man, Ro, I don't know much about fixing up stuff but I bet with some sanding and staining, those stairs will look fan-fucking-tastic."

[You think so?] Ro asked, floating closer to take a look for himself.

"Yeah, I mean, it doesn't look like there's been any paint on them and, if they're still fairly solid and in good condition, I bet they'll be a grade A feature of your house."

Ro felt himself warming, his electric current giving a pleased pop at the thought.

"Well, where would you like me?" Merah asked, adjusting the straps of her bags along her shoulders with one hand while the other held her curled blanket.

Ro tilted his head, thinking. While there was furniture in some of the rooms, he had no way of knowing how safe it'd be for Merah to go up the stairs and if the floor would support her.

[Maybe the family room?] he offered. [There's a couch, table, and chairs... at least until we know how safe it is to go upstairs.]

Merah gave a short laugh.

"Good call," she said. "I would really rather not be the one to find out if it's safe or not, up there."

Giving a wave of his bolt, Ro encouraged Merah to follow him. Leading her straight ahead, ignoring either set of stairs, he went through the middle of the three archways then turned immediately to his right.

The family room, as he'd dubbed it, was sizable. It, too, had a chandelier, though a different style then the one of the great hall, made with a black metal of some kind with glass covering the bulbs. That same black metal matched the railings of the upper floor, which peered into this one, with several arches leaping around the room until they struck the outer wall. The floors in here, rather than tile, were similar (if not exact) wood to that of the stairs and the rails of the front entrance and gave a contrast to the otherwise overwhelming whites and off whites of the walls and furniture.

Hastily zipping forward, pulling his bolts in front of himself, Ro focused a small Electro Ball between them. A few slow passes over the furniture and the dust wriggled and rose into the air, gradually floating and encasing the sparking ball. When he'd gotten all he could, Ro carried it over to the fireplace and let the Electro Ball disperse. The dust fell like dirty snow, some of it leaving the pile in a miniature dust cloud. Typically, Ro would fly it up the chimney and clean that as he went but, given his guest, he decided to do that later.

"Oh, wow," Merah said, stopping just in the room. Lifting and turning her head, she gave a small smile before moving further in. "This room is nearly as big as my apartment!" Giving a light laugh, she set her bags down near the couch. "I'll feel right at home."

Ro felt himself smiling, her amusement warming him.

"The furniture looks in pretty decent condition," she said, which Ro couldn't help but think implied "compared to the rest of the house."

[Furniture is easy to clean,] he said, drifting near the short table nestled between the couch and chairs. [But I can't paint with a Hex or patch holes with Thunder Shock.]

Merah tilted her head, looking up at the walls, as if just now noticing that the crackling surface of the paint. Given the only light was from the large windows opposite the fireplace and the sun was slowly dipping below the tree line, Ro admitted that could be a possibility.

Frowning slightly, remembering Alex's earlier words about human's and their poor eyesight, Ro flew over to the tall standing lamp by the couch and touched the bulb gently with his bolt. With a little focus, he left a miniscule Discharge contained within the filament and glass so that, when he pulled away, it still remained warmly lit.

[I can't do this for the bulbs that are damaged,] he apologized, [but I should be able to at least do a few for you to see by.]

"Thanks, Ro," Merah said, her sincerity and the knowledge he'd been helpful making his chest puff out, pleasure making him rather giddy. "I'll be back in just a moment, then. I want to grab my laptop and a few more things from the truck."

Ro gave an emphatic nod that she couldn't miss before trying the two mounted wall lamps on either side of the fireplace. They were placed high enough a human would need something to stand on to get to but Ro figured it was better than running into one if they weren't paying attention. The left one brightened easily enough but the filament in the right, when he took a closer look after trying and failing, was broken. Drifting towards the entry, Ro gave a lazy spiral up to the chandelier, succeeding in lighting less than half by the time Merah came back.

He heard her before he saw her, small grunts and heavy footsteps letting him know once she was walking up the outer stairs. When she entered, having left the bothersome door open (likely in the anticipation of her quick return), she was breathing heavily, her arms filled with the sheet and, he suspected, Sparkles.

Quickly zipping down, Ro was at a loss for how to help her. Sparkles was too heavy for his static to carry and, if he hopped in, he didn't know how to fly or walk in Sparkles yet.

"It's. Okay." She was half hunched over Sparkles' covered form, straining stubbornly to carry it. "I've. Got. It."

Each word was a breath and a step, Merah's eyes focused straight ahead to the family room. She just made it into the family room, taking perhaps another five steps to get out of the door before groaning so loudly Ro thought she was dying. Thankfully, the noise only seemed to come from her having to bend her knees and back further, her arms shaking with exertion as she gently put Sparkles on the floor.

[I thought you were going to get your laptop!] If there was an accusatory note in Ro's voice, it was likely from shame that he wasn't able to help her.

"I did," Merah said, gesturing towards her back. Indeed, slung along it was another bag. "I just figured... I'd bring Sparkles in. Too."

She still sounded a little winded and Ro felt his bolts sparking.

[Next time,] he started, faltering when he realized there was little he could say, given his own lacking abilities. Still fuming, he waved a bolt her way, trying again. [Next time, I'll move Sparkles for you!]

Merah wiped her brow, her breath still coming out raggedly.

"Sounds good to me, Ro," she said, giving a weak laugh. "Sparkles is damn heavy."

Only feeling somewhat mollified, Ro narrowed his eyes, making sure she didn't think he was joking. Head hung down and her hands on her upper thighs, her body bent slightly over, Ro couldn't tell but that only strengthened his resolve to learn how to walk in Sparkles sooner than later.

Drawing in a deeper breath that ended in a worn sigh, Merah moved over to her small pile in front of the couch to deposit her laptop bag. Just when he thought she'd recovered, she plopped down on the couch, leaning her head back over it and stretching her arms along the back.

"Uuuuugh, that sucked." Merah closed her eyes. "I forgot how heavy Sparkles can be when there's only one person carrying her."

Ro felt an annoying prickle inside, one he couldn't do anything about.

[You could have carried your computer separately,] he said instead.

Merah gave a laugh. "And make another trip? Never!"

Ro didn't quite see the humor in that and wondered, briefly, if it was a human thing. Swaying, he hovered, uncertain if he should see about going and lighting more bulbs or if Merah might need him for anything.

After a few minutes, she gave a soft sigh and her breathing seemed less labored. Leaning her head up, she brought her arms back in and stood, giving a resigned sigh.

"Alright, then. I should probably get a few things taken care of before bed."

[Oh?] Ro asked, a little tickle of worry making him wonder over what sort of "things" she intended on taking care of.

"Mmhmm," she said, moving to her bags and bending to unzip then root around in them. "Like, I know you don't have electricity here but I was wondering about water? Less for drinking but I'm eventually going to need to use a toilet. I was thinking, given your house's age, maybe there's a well?"

The images that came to mind were stone, hollowed towers with a small roof and a bucket with a rope and handle.

[I don't think we have a well in the house,] he said, certain he would have noticed that.

Merah's lips pulled up, her eyes glancing towards him for a moment before she reached further into her bag.

"The well would actually be in the ground with a pipe leading to the house into a cylinder looking thing. Usually, they're in the basement." Merah made a soft ah sound, pulling out a similar device to what Alex had when she'd visited earlier. Using her thumb, she smoothly slid a bit of plastic on the side and light flooded out. "Granted, there's a chance the pipes might be busted-"

[They shouldn't be,] Ro said, realizing the item Merah was talking about. [That cylinder, you're right. It's in the basement. I've powered it here and there, to keep it working, and no water ever came out anywhere it wasn't supposed to.]

Rising, keeping her light pointed at the floor, Merah gave a wide grin.

"Well, why don't we go see if it's still working, then?" she said, making a gesture that Ro took to mean he should lead the way. "Because, if I can avoid having to do my business in the woods, I'd appreciate that."

[Don't you do your business at Clarity Envisioned?] Ro asked, a bit confused until he realized. [Oh! Wait! That's right, you said you could work from anywhere, right? So long as you had me and Sparkles!]

Merah made an odd sound, something like a snort and a cough or a laugh and wheeze? Ro had to admit, he didn't realize that humans could make so many noises outside of their spoken language.

"It's... a different sort of business," Merah said, her shoulders trembling a little. "Basically, inferring I'll need to borrow your toilet at some point."

Ro tilted his head, drifting in that direction slightly before shrugging his bolts.

[You're welcome to borrow it, I guess,] he said, moving to lead the way to the basement door. [So long as you put it back when you're done.]

There was that weird sort of sound again and Ro gave another shrug, deciding humans must just be funny like that.

=*=*=*=

Between Merah's "flashlight" and Ro finding a few more bulbs that could hold a Discharge, she was able to safely maneuver down the basement stairs, primarily by keeping her free hand on the rail (after giving it a shake to test it) and her feet wide on the steps leading down. Odds were, she'd told him, that the center would rot before the end bits and, if those spots were bad, the frame of the stairs should help support her.

Still, Ro didn't feel at ease until she had her feet firmly on the cement floor of the basement. This area, admittedly, needed the most cosmetic work of the whole house. As Ro zipped up to test the long bulbs hung along the high ceiling, lighting the way for Merah, he wished the old owners might have done something to the brick walls and arches of the basement. Sure, they'd been painted, once, but the white was discolored with age and moisture, parts of the lower rows of brick striped away to their original red. The only good things he could say about it was that the ceilings were tall, it was a vast (albeit empty) space, and nothing had cracked, yet.

Hovering, waiting for Merah to catch up as she wandered, turning her light this way and that, Ro guided her just a bit further towards the outer wall, where the cylinder thing she was looking for stood.

"That looks like it could be it," she said, bending and using her flashlight to see as the filament in the bulb above it was, of course, broken. "Especially if you powered it on and the water worked."

[It did!] Ro reassured her. [I could get it going for you.]

He zipped close to it, ready to give it a bit of electricity when Merah held her hand up.

"Give me just a second before you do that," she said, leaning over to the side.

Setting her flashlight down, balancing it so that its light shone against the ceiling and reflected downward, she pulled out a small rectangular device from her pocket. Pressing its side, the front of it lit up like a television or a computer screen. She moved her thumb in some kind of pattern and the image changed.

Floating behind her, not wanting to be rude but very interested in what she was doing, Ro watched as Merah used her thumbs to type something into the rectangular device. A few moments later, images of the cylinder appeared on the screen.

"Well," she said, her voice a mumble as she slid her finger along the screen, appearing to skim the text that was below the image. "The bad news is, on your list of home repairs, you're probably going to want to look into a new well pump." Her finger paused, the screen stilling in response, before she moved her finger and hit a button on the side of the device, the screen going dark. "The good news is, because it's an older model, it'll work with lower voltage so I can run a huge-ass chain of extension cords from my truck to the basement to power it temporarily until we get your power on." She smiled back at him, slipping the device back into her pocket. "It's a good thing you're out in the middle of nowhere. If you had neighbors, they probably wouldn't like me running the truck so long."

[I could just power it,] Ro offered again, circling around her towards where the pump was plugged in but stopping when Merah held up her hand.

"I appreciate the offer but this isn't like the lights, right?" Ro tipped his head and she clarified. "You can't just put a charge in it and it'll hold, right? You'd have to stay here to keep the pump going, wouldn't you?"

Ro bobbed his head, not seeing the problem with that. Apparently Merah did, from the way her lips pinched and tipped down.

"There's no reason for you to be down here like that," she said, her voice sounding firm like the cement floors. "It makes more sense just to run the truck and it means we'd be able to power more things."

[Like what?] Ro asked, drifting after Merah as she made her way back to the stairs.

"My laptop will eventually need power," she said, once more doing her wide-stepped walk back up the stairs. "Sparkles will, too. And when I go to get more gas for my truck tomorrow, I should see about getting a minifridge or a cooler, otherwise we'll be eating a lot of takeout." She gave a quick laugh. "Assuming anyone delivers to your house."

[I have a fridge!] Ro said, pleased he could at least help out this way. [It works, too. I've been inside it.]

Merah paused, turning to look back at him. "You've gone inside the fridge or you've gone inside it like how you have with Sparkles?"

[Like with Sparkles,] he said, giving his own laugh. [Why would I want to go inside the fridge? It's empty!]

=*=*=*=

After some work that involved moving Merah's truck closer to the house and by the basement window nearest the well pump, Merah and Ro had the pump up and running. Ro had done a quick fly by and through the house, finding the plumping still in good order with no visible leaks outside the dripping sink in the guest bathroom upstairs. Since both of them were reluctant about Merah going to the second floor, she only ran the faucets on the main floor, the discolored water eventually clearing. The scent of "rotten eggs," as Merah put it, didn't fade though, not until she shut off the water.

"It's not like I'll be drinking it," she said, shrugging when Ro brought it up. "Not until it's tested to make sure it's safe, anyway."

Unfortunately, Merah didn't have enough of the extension cords to run to the fridge nor for her laptop. She just shrugged that off as well.

"I can buy more tomorrow," she said, giving him a smile. "Extension cords are cheaper than having to buy a fridge so it's all good."

When Merah went to "borrow his bathroom," Ro floated along with her, curious as to what she'd be doing with it. However, Merah stopped him at the door.

"Bathrooms are private time situations," she said, her cheeks turning oddly rosy colored. "I'll be out in a bit so just... please stay outside."

Ro thought it a bit odd but figured it was either a human or non-Ghost thing and just agreed. When she'd shut the door, he drifted back to the family room and was now waiting for her return, hovering over Sparkles' sheet covered form in the meanwhile, considering if he should try merging with her once more.

Casting a glance towards the direction of the bathroom, not able to see it through the walls but not hearing Merah coming, he drifted closer down. Some of the sheet had come off when Merah had moved Sparkles, an antenna and half her face visible. In a way, it was odd to be looking at Sparkles from the outside, having been her.

Catching his blue tinted reflection in her eye, Ro dipped a smidge closer, feeling his plasma warm as his vision trailed along her antenna, remembering how it'd felt to have Merah's fingers grazing over them. Over him. The feather light touches. The harder pinch. The intense pressure followed by the rush of release.

Swaying, Ro pulled his bolt back, stopping himself from trying to pull the sheet away.

"Did you want to have another go?"

Ro jumped, flailing as he spun, finding Merah staring at him.

"Sorry," she said, putting her bag down on the floor. "I guess I thought you would have heard me." Gesturing to Sparkles, she looked his way. "I can get her running, if you want to pilot for a while. You could give the legs a go, if you want."

[Sure,] Ro said, remembering his earlier words as he'd had to watch Merah's struggles to lift and carry Sparkles. The sooner he practiced, the sooner she could stop having to do things like that herself.

It took only a few moments for Merah to pull out her laptop, uncovering Sparkles and setting the sheet to the side before plugging the cable into the mouth port. With a few keyboard strikes, she'd unlocked the legs and, after a slight hesitation, the wings.

"I don't want you to try flying yet," she stressed, meeting his gaze. "You could get hurt and doing that inside isn't a great idea for a first flight... but I want you to be able to use them, if you need to, to help balance yourself."

Giving a nod of agreement that Merah copied, she gently pulled out the cable and sealed the port.

"Okay," she said, wrapping the cord. "You're all set. I'll keep an eye on the system's vitals from the laptop but control is basically all yours."

Puffing up a little at the importance of that, Ro gave a quick bob before zipping towards and into Sparkles. This time, the process went smoother than the first, Ro now knowing what to expect as he reached out for the motor and was pulled within it. Still, there was a brief moment of panic when Sparkles began to sway, not having enough time to register how to get the legs to hold him/her up.

Warmth blossomed against his/Sparkles' sides, just below the wings. The pressure was firm but steady instead of crushing.

"I got you," Merah said, causing Ro to lift Sparkles head up to catch sight of her in his blue tinted vision. "Just take your time, try to get your legs under you."

While Merah didn't sound frantic, Ro could see her arms straining to support Sparkles' weight. Given how difficult it had been for her to carry Sparkles, he really didn't want to force her to have to hold him/her for long.

The problem was, Sparkles had so many limbs! Ro only had to worry about his bolts but Sparkles had two wings, two antennae, two arms, and four legs (or no arms and six legs, depending on how Bugs counted things) that he had to try and manage, all at the same time! Before, with the majority of them locked, it had seemed so easy, being Sparkles, but with full control Ro realized just how little control he actually had.

"It's okay," he heard Merah say, despite the strain he heard in her words. "Ro... just, take a moment. Be still."

His random wiggles ceased, eliciting a sigh from Merah, making his head lower when he realized his frantic flailing had made it harder for her to hold Sparkles up.

"Good job," she said, her voice still strained but lacking the tones of anger he'd have expected. "Just take it one step at a time." She gave a tight, single noted laugh. "One limb at a time, anyway."

Ro still felt something darting within his chest, akin to the Zubat that'd once fallen into his home from the chimney and had frantically flapped for a way out. Trying to take Merah's advice, Ro closed his eyes, Sparkles' blue vision fading, as he tried to get a feel for the many limbs and how to move which ones he wanted, when he wanted.

In the darkness, he could feel the heat of Merah's hands with more clarity, certain he could all but make out the spread of each finger curling from his sides to his belly. That familiar warmth made his wings tremble, a phantom touch tracing the trail she'd followed earlier that day.

Opening his eyes, Ro latched on to that sensation and deliberately tried moving his right wing. It gave a weak beat, tapping lightly against Merah's arm before lifting again. Turning his head, Ro tried to mirror the same action along the left wing and was smiling to himself when it worked.

Drawing himself up, inside his mental space, Ro closed his eyes once again, focusing, allowing the faint echo from his memory to form and become more solid, more real. How her fingers had wrapped around his leg, flexing the joints, stretching it outward and brushing along the back of the joints.

Following the memory, he twitched one leg, then the other, until all six legs (or four legs and two arms) were acknowledged and identified. At least, he thought he had the right limbs moving.

Opening his eyes once more, the blue tint still present, Ro tried moving them again and was delighted (as he assumed the Zubat had been to find an open window leading out of the house) that each one was moving as he imagined it in his head.

About to share his success with Merah, Ro lifted his head and was about to say something when he noticed Merah wasn't looking at him. Instead, she had her gazed lifted and was breathing through her mouth, taking in a ragged breath before releasing it quickly.

Putting his mind to it, Ro was able to move each of the four legs (he decided just to go with four legs and two arms, since the two had mitts and that was less confusing) underneath his body. Once he could faintly sense the floor under the tip of his legs, he opened his mouth.

[I think I got it,] he said, his wings and antennas freezing as he felt Merah's hands ease up along his sides, releasing the bulk of his weight.

There was an initial wobble, Ro scooting his left front leg forward and his right back leg in slightly to compensate and evenly distribute the weight, but he was otherwise stable.

"Ready?" Merah asked, the word slightly mangled by her pants.

[Yes!]

Her fingers flexed, as if she was having second thoughts, before the heat of her hands lessened, eventually fading into nothingness.

And still, Ro remained standing.

Legs and body bent, Merah took several more breaths before drawing one last deep one and letting it out with a groan, stretching herself upright as she did so.

"Alright," she said, rotating her shoulders before putting a hand on her back. "I need a sit after that."

[Sorry,] Ro said, though he blinked when he already saw Merah waving his apology away.

"It's all part of learning," she said, still managing to give a small smile. "For you and for me." She moved towards her bags, grabbing the rolled up blanket and moving a black strap out of the way that'd been wrapped around it. "For example, I've now learned that starting Sparkles in a down position rather than standing would be a good idea."

The blanket, thicker and with an odd sheen to it, uncoiled and Merah held on to the end, giving it a quick snap that caused the blanket to jump and fully spread along the floor, just in front of the couch.

"I knew I'd have a reason for a sleeping bag, eventually," she said, sounding both amused and pleased with herself.

As she moved to pick up her laptop and the cable from the floor, Ro tilted his head, mindful when he felt Sparkles' weight shifting to adjust so as not to fall.

[You can sit on the couch,] he said, wondering if this was something one needed to give explicit permission for another to do, having never had someone else in his home. [It'd be more comfortable for you, I would think.]

Merah merely smiled at him, stopping by her bags to pick up the odd tiny computer she'd been using to look up information about the water pump.

"It'd be a lot harder for you to get up on the couch, though," she said, taking both devices to her sleeping bag where she set them slightly off to the side before sitting down. With her back resting against the front of the couch, she lightly patted the empty spot beside her. "Why not give it a go and see if you can walk here?"

It didn't seem like a far distance, not when he'd been floating and without a metal Frosmoth exterior. Now, effectively grounded and trying to maneuver so many limbs without falling, it felt like it may as well have been the drive from his home to Clarity Envisioned.

"Just take it one step at a time," Merah said, pulling up her knees and wrapping her arms around her legs, resting her head on them while still giving him a soft smile. "You got this, Ro."

Ro didn't feel like he had much of anything but was reluctant to voice his concerns given how sincere Merah's confidence in him sounded. Taking a moment to try and remember which vague sensation matched with which limb, he messed up moving his right arm when he'd meant to move his right front leg but stopped abruptly enough he didn't throw off his balance.

Concentrating, trying to vividly recall every stroke of Merah's fingers along his limbs, Ro's next attempt to move his right front leg succeeded. He guessed the left back leg correctly, though he initially thought it a mistake and sort of half wiggled it before being reassured. Feeling a bit more confident, he next tried to actually work on moving forward.

It was a jarring, mechanical walk. No Pokemon nor human in their right mind would have mistaken him for a graceful Frosmoth, given his gait. He couldn't even say it got better, the closer he got to Merah; only that he did finally succeed in walking to Merah. Still, it was hard to hold on to those cutting thoughts when Merah's eyes were nearly sparkling, a soft sigh of pleasure leaving her lips as she reached a hand out to him.

Uncertain what was expected, Ro held still. Her hand brushed his cheek, warmth spreading as her fingers slid further back, cupping the side of his face. The mental tension brought about by his high levels of focus eased, his legs miraculously holding him up even as Merah's thumb brushed back and forth.

"You did so well," she said, her earnest tones burning away some of his own displeasure at how he'd done. "That was only your second time in Sparkles and you were able to walk!"

Still slightly sullen, Ro tipped his head, mumbling, [It wasn't a very good walk, though.]

At Merah's snort, he looked at her, surprised to find her shaking her head.

"Seriously?" Her hand slid away from his cheek, only returning long enough to lightly poke a finger between his eyes and above his mouth, where the scent sensor was. "Do you know how long it takes for humans to learn to walk? Not to mention figure out how to drive." She pulled her hand back, folding her arms around her legs again. "All it takes is a bit of practice, trial and error, and some studying."

[Studying?] Ro asked, a bit unsure on that one.

Sliding her legs down, Merah reached over for the small computer while talking.

"Or research, yeah," she gave a bob of her head as she talked, making some more swiping motions on the little device before setting it aside, picking up the laptop and putting it on her legs. Turning her head slightly, she motioned him closer.

Not particularly enthused but taking the few awkward steps needed to allow him to look once more at the laptop screen, he saw a bunch of images with small bits of text under them like "Why eating healthy is so expensive" and "You will like this video." Merah clicked a button to the left labeled "Library" (which Ro thought was odd since there was nothing book related), then went past several other images and texts, stopping at one with a Frosmoth image. The still image moved, when she hovered over it, like a mini movie.

When Merah tapped her finger, the screen changed and the image grew larger. Similar to how he remembered the television working, the images were moving (though without the bit of "snow" he was accustomed to seeing) and the sound wasn't as muffled. A soft tune was playing while a bundled up human was speaking, talking excitedly and gesturing just off screen, about a new species of Pokemon with a Type combination unique to it and its pre-evolved form. The video blurred, jostling slightly, before re-focusing on a Frosmoth on a tree. The voice might as well have been an accompanying instrument for all that Ro paid attention to it after that; more focused on the sight of an actual Frosmoth.

Ro couldn't quite make out if the Frosmoth was eating the snow or the needles of the tree it was on but he could make out its arms, reaching and grabbing for something before then moving its mits towards its mouth. It did this a few times before moving, its silver legs moving in slow, smooth motions as it went further up the branch of the tree. Whereas Ro had to think before doing each movement, the Frosmoth moved effortlessly. Despite its size, there was a sort of weightlessness that Ro couldn't understand until he realized that, even as the Frosmoth moved, the branch it was on didn't even drop a flake of snow.

There was a sound, either a crack of ice or a branch snapping, apparently taking the human speaking by surprise as their voice suddenly broke off and the camera swayed. Somewhat blurred but no less elegant, the Frosmoth's wings gracefully moved, beating downward. Just as the camera was getting steady, the Frosmoth lifted off from the tree, a trail of glittering snow following after it before the video's view switched to the excited human gesturing and speaking.

"What did you think?" Merah asked, doing something with her finger that made the volume stop while the image of the human continued to move.

Ro rested his head on her leg, taking comfort in the subtle warmth as he kept watching the screen, hoping the Frosmoth might reappear.

[I don't know that I'll ever be able to walk like that,] he finally said, feeling his antenna droop, as though he suddenly lacked the energy to keep them up.

"It's only your second time in Sparkles," Merah repeated, her hand moving to stroke the finer fur along the top of his head, between the antenna. "I wouldn't give up hope quite so fast."

Ro just gave a sound of discontent, tipping his head so she had better access while watching as the image of the human went black, another video starting.

That video showed a cluster of the pre-evolved form of Frosmoth, called a Snom. Ro thought it might show how they evolved but it was mostly the Snorlax-like eating habits that the video discussed. The next one was more exciting, showing the battle between a trainer's Alolan Ninetales and a Frosmoth (they were evenly matched, for the most part, but the Frosmoth had managed to escape and avoid capture, in the end). After that, an older human who called himself "Professor Oak" showed the differences and similarities between a Frosmoth and a Venomoth, which was educational, if not as awesome as the battle had been.

As the older human was winding up his lecture, Ro felt Merah's hand leave its place atop his head. Turning to see why she'd moved, he saw her cover her mouth, an oddly loud and segmented sigh coming from her.

"I guess that means it's time for bed," she said, rubbing her fingers along the corners of her eyes.

[Oh, right.] Ro recalled either reading or watching something about humans needing eight hours of sleep. It seemed excessive, to him, when he could make do with a few hours of recharging in the sun when electricity wasn't readily available, but Merah would know best on how to take care of herself.

"Why don't you keep watching?" Merah offered, moving the laptop closer to him. "I'll get ready for bed."

Ro was about to offer to help when Merah rather quickly added, "Which means I'll need to borrow your bathroom, again."

Ro tipped his head, momentarily wondering why the bathroom of all places was so interesting when she'd already been in to see it once. He gave a mental shrug before actually nodding, to show Merah he understood (even though he didn't) and felt his wings give a slight twitch when she smiled.

He didn't really get why she took her bag with her or how that pertained to getting ready for bed but, as the last video had ended and the new one was starting, Ro decided to ask her later so as not to miss the beginning.

This time, there was no one talking nor on screen. Instead, in a setting very much like the first video, there was a wide view of untouched snow and towering pines with sagging branches. It was hard to tell the time of day, what with the haze of white hovering along the tree tops, but it could have been either early morning or just into the dusk.

The image suddenly became fuzzy, the snow and the trees blurring into a mix of white and shadow that blurred before the picture focused, zooming in on one of the larger branches of a pine. Other than the fact that, yes, there was snow on it, just like what looked to have been on the other branches, Ro couldn't fathom what was so special about this branch.

About to give up on this video and see if Merah might need help with "getting ready for bed", the view jerked up, zooming and refocusing once more.

A large blue eye filled the screen.

Ro would have flown backwards if not for the weight of Sparkles' form holding him in place.

The video adjusted one last time, zooming out enough so that a large Frosmoth nearly filled the screen. Narrowing his eyes, waiting for the camera to adjust yet again, it was only after several moments that Ro realized it wasn't another issue with the camera.

It was just that big!

Wondering what it'd be like to pilot a Frosmoth even larger than Sparkles, something caught his attention at the upper right corner. At first, Ro thought it was a shadow or maybe the wind causing something to move in the way but, ever so slowly, the image widened, allowing a second Frosmoth to appear alongside the first.

At least, Ro thought it was a second Frosmoth.

The coloring and the pattern on this one were different. Unlike Sparkles or the larger Frosmoth, who could as easily blend into a snowstorm as a Vaporeon could the ocean, this one was a brilliant blue with shades of black along the upper portion of its wings. He couldn't make out the color of the gem or the exact shade of the eyes (this, of course, being the one time the camera didn't get close enough) but he thought they might have been black or, at least, a very dark purple.

Also, it was smaller. Obviously so, compared to the first one, but he felt like it might have been a bit smaller still than Sparkles. Given the size difference, Ro tensed, convinced that the larger of the two would drive the other one away, given its clear size advantage. Remaining still and focused, Ro quietly urged the smaller one away.

Clearly not taking his warning, the blue one paused, hovering a few feet away from the larger one before making the insane decision to fly closer to the massive Frosmoth.

Clutching his mitts tightly, Ro watched as the white one moved, giving a slow but mighty beat of its wings. The branch it was on bent downward, light drifts of snow blowing from the single flap. It was going to fly and attack the smaller one, Ro just knew it, but, after its wings rose back up into place, it appeared content to have made its point.

Plasma starting to flow normally again, Ro gave a nod. All the smaller one had to do was fly away and everything would be okay-

WHY WAS IT LANDING ON THE LARGER ONE'S BRANCH?!?!

Utterly dumbfounded, unable to even shut his mouth, Ro couldn't fathom how Blue had the courage (or stupidity) to land on the branch like that. Surely, though, if it left now, White would just let it go and-

WHY WAS IT SHIFTING CLOSER TO THE LARGER ONE?!?!

This time, White was not content to stay still. Lifting its right arm slowly upward, Ro found himself unable to look away as it... moved its mitt behind its head and antennae?

Starting at the base, by its head, it stroked along the backside of its antennae, letting its mitt glide forward until it slipped off the tip of it. The motion repeated twice before it switched to the next one.

At this point, it didn't even surprise Ro (though it still left him confused) when Blue leaned closer, in full view of White, mimicking the motion.

While White had clearly been aware of Blue's presence, this was the first time Ro got the feeling that it approved of the other being there; its head tilting ever so slightly. Its antenna, which had settled back into place, swiveled on either side of its head, almost like very thin Granbull ears. When Blue repeated the movements of its mitts on its own antennae, White turned its body, fully facing the smaller one.

When White took a step forward and Blue's mitt faltered, Ro's plasma grew still.

As White stared at Blue, its wings held loftily upright, the smaller one somehow completed the motion of stroking its antennae and even repeated it again all while the larger one watched.

There was a subtle movement of White's wings, as if it might abandon its branch altogether, before its head dipped downward.

Blue, taking a very slow and small step forward, moved even closer to White.

Plasma now so still Ro was surprised he didn't rupture something, he watched with equal parts dread and fascination as the little one's darker mitts reached up. Palms upright, hovering but not quite closing the distance, it was clear enough to Ro that Blue was asking for something even if he didn't fully understand what.

Almost ready to shake the screen with his own mitts, Ro thought he got his answer a moment later when White's antennae twitched. Rotating, they moved from the sides of its head towards the very front, hovering mere inches from Blue's open mitts.

Still, Blue did not move and Ro was close to shouting when White bent its head down just enough that its antennae gently touched Blue's mitt.

Ro's plasma began to flow again, some of the tension in his body easing as he watched Blue reverently holding the white antennae in one mitt while stroking along the backside of it with the other. Something about that action made his plasma heat, leaving him bewildered until he realized that it was very similar to the way Merah had touched his antennae earlier. And, while it was far more subdued, watching Blue touch White made it feel like she was touching him all over again.

[I don't want to make a mess again,] he whined, certain the pitch was more from his actual distress than an auditory issue with Sparkles.

Glancing down from the video at the many keys, wondering if there was a way to turn it off or skip to the next video, a motion out of the corner of his eye had him glancing up again without really meaning to.

White's body was trembling.

Ro couldn't rationalize why the sight of White, so much larger and stronger than Blue, with its head bent and its body shaking left him, a Ghost with no actual air in his body, breathless, but it did.

Plasma warm but pulsing slowly through him, not quite so fast or hot as it had been in the lab earlier, Ro kept watching. His fear of making a mess was still there but suppressed by his need to see what would happen next.

After the last stroke, White withdrew its antennae, offering the other one to Blue's outstretched mitts. Startled by a movement to his left, Ro realized that his own antennae unconsciously had moved forward, blocking the view of his left eye but leaving his right to keep watching.

His plasma burned hotter, as if encouraging him to follow through with his sudden impulse.

Reaching up with his left mitt, watching as Blue moved to touch White, Ro ever so gently brushed against the back of his antennae. Softer, with less bite than an electric current but equally as strong, Ro felt the sensation travel through his body, causing it to quiver. While there wasn't as much heat behind the action as when Merah had done it, there was a teasing warmth that lingered and all but encouraged him to do it again.

Watching as Blue traced its mitts along White's antennae, Ro mimicked the motions, basking in the feeling like a Heliolisk in the sun. Each stroke made his current race and brought his plasma's temperature up higher, feeling so good he couldn't imagine stopping...

At least, not until he felt his stomach area ache, forcing him to abruptly let go as he recalled the sensation earlier had led to the ovipositor deploying and the mess of gel that'd needed to be cleaned.

Vents kicking on, exhausting the heated air through his fluff, Ro tried to focus back on the video and ignore the allure of stroking his antennae once more.

Blue was allowed one more full stroke before White lifted its head, pulling both antennas out of reach though they were both still pitched forward. Giving a very light flap of its wings, a sort of half wave that Ro took to mean it was content or appeased by Blue's administrations, White proceeded to turn its back to Blue.

Thinking he'd misread the situation and that White was actually displeased, perhaps even intending to fly off, Ro became utterly baffled when Blue began to flap its wings.

Unlike the slow and gentle flaps of the first Frosmoth video, where it had taken flight, these ones were hard enough that, had there been sound, Ro felt certain he'd have heard a buzz. Frantic, erratic... there was no ethereal beauty or fluid grace to the movements. Yet, just like White's trembling, there was something captivating about the overwhelming excitement that Blue just couldn't contain.

Neither one took to the air, despite what Ro had expected. Instead, Blue walked closer, its body shaking with the force of its wing beats. White, turning its head, gave a slow and purposeful flex of its abdomen, the segments of its body more prominent as it did so.

As if that was the signal that Blue had been waiting for, it quickly cleared the distance so that it was right behind White. With no pause, it half climbed, half crawled its smaller body over White's larger one, placing its mitts along White's back and away from its wings. If White was surprised by this, it didn't indicate so in a way that Ro could pick up on. At the very least, it didn't try to shake or dislodge Blue so it must have been okay with it.

Once Blue was almost completely atop White, the video blurred, focusing in and shaking slightly before steadying on a close up of their abdomens. White's flexed again, its abdomen elongating in such a way that its fur didn't quite cover the peach skin (or was it shell?) underneath it. Additionally, there was an opening along its very tip that Ro didn't think was there before; almost like a very dark, upside down triangle. Blue's abdomen also flexed but curved down, as if to touch itself to White's. With its fur coloring, it was hard to tell exactly but it seemed to have a darker blue or even black underneath. Blue's tip, at least, did look similar to White's until something dark and slimy slid out.

[The ovipositor?]

While it did have liquid dripping from it, that answer didn't feel right. As it slipped further from Blue's body, twisting and sliding against the top of White's abdomen, Ro felt his plasma oddly heating again. Something about how it squirmed, like it had a mind of its own, curling and wriggling like a black worm as it smeared its wet length against White made him give a low whine. He felt his abdomen flex involuntarily, almost at the same instance that White flexed... h-hers?

Ro was hesitant to try and guess genders, given his abysmal luck lately, but he couldn't deny that what he was watching would make more sense if Blue was a male and White was a female. Which would mean that the dripping, steaming length was Blue's phallus and not the ovipositor. And that the two were in the process of, of...

A high pitched sound made Ro jump, turning his head this way and that, worrying for a moment that the vents had overstrained themselves and broken in their desperate (but futile) attempts to cool his plasma. However, upon listening more carefully, he found the sound wasn't coming at either end of his neck, where the vents were buried under the almighty fluff, but, instead, from the laptop.

The initial sound had faded away, leaving an ambient noise that was not unlike someone blowing against the microphone. Given the constant stream of it, despite its speed rising or falling here or there, Ro thought it more likely to be the faint sound of the wind and, likely, the reason it'd been muted up till now.

Over the sound of the wind, the high pitched cry rose up once more. It, too, was continuous but peaked and dropped in ways that made it sound almost fragmented. The lower points blended in a near perfect mesh with the wind while the higher notes echoed like a stone skipping across a frozen lake. As it faded, leaving the wind to once more play with the mic, Ro could still feel it echoing within his body, the reverberations causing him to tremble and once more pay attention to what was happening on the laptop screen.

Blue's length had found its mark, plunging into White's opening. The larger Frosmoth was pushing her lower body upward, angling into Blue's downward thrusts, as though attempting to have him enter deeper within her. After a moment where both were still, Blue presumably in as far as he could go, the smaller Fromoth lifted his abdomen back up, slowly removing himself from White. His member, writhing much like Ro imagined a reptilian tongue would, had all but completely withdrawn from White when Blue suddenly jutted forward again. Diving back in, as if to lap at the juices dripping down into the snow, his black shaft buried itself once more into White. The larger Frosmoth lifted her head, her mouth opening and that haunting cry once more rising above the repeated whispers of the wind. Something about the sound coupled with the sight of Blue, so eagerly pumping into White, made Ro's lower region ache, his own body flexing unintentionally, as if to participate as well.

There was another cry, more piercing but otherwise very similar to the first, that Ro mistakenly thought was White again until the view pulled slowly back, showing both Frosmoths again instead of primarily their abdomens. The higher pitched cry was, apparently, Blue's; the smaller Frosmoth having his mouth opened as he rocked against White.

His mitts clung to White's fur, his body jerking while his wings alternated between frantically buzzing, then stilling, and back again. He was too short to reach White's actual scruff and, instead, was left to grip the shorter fur along her back. While Ro thought that might have hurt, with the hairs being shorter compared to the fluff around the neck, White didn't appear to be in any pain. Rather, her head was canted upward, her antennae tipped back and almost hidden within her fluff. Another plasma heating cry left her mouth, leaving no mistake in regards to her enjoyment.

A sudden shiver worked its way through his body, causing his wings to tremble in place and a perplexing need of something causing him to give a low groan as he failed to prevent his abdomen from flexing again. Unbidden, thoughts of what happened earlier, in the lab, with Merah touching along his body had Ro reaching to sink his own mitts into his fluff.

The feel of his mitts didn't grant him that dizzying awareness Merah's touch had. Certainly, it was nice but relatively unsatisfying in a way that left him frustrated from something more than his simple lack of understanding. Giving a tug of his fluff, coincidentally coinciding with a cry from White, Ro felt his current flutter and had to stop; feeling as though he was one pulse of heat away from his ovipositor deploying. Torn between not wanting to make a mess and wanting to relive the rush of heat releasing from the ovipositor as he had earlier, Ro just barely restrained himself from giving in, still reluctant to have to clean up such a big mess again.

Still, he couldn't help but give another tug of his fluff, just enough to keep the heat within his lower body burning while he watched Blue's eager mounting of White. Blue seemed to have picked up speed but his movements were no longer fluid. Like his wings, there were moments of jerky pauses and erratic bouts of speed before his gait would smooth back out gain. White still met each of his thrusts, even impatiently pushing back against him when he'd gone still, as if to encourage him to pick back up again. Her cries had grown sharper, shorter, and more frequent. Ro didn't even try to stop his body from jerking obediently at each command she gave, though he still desperately fought to keep his ovipositor contained. Oddly enough, there was a minor sense of satisfaction and pleasure that came from the motion, though he had no contact with anything. Watching the two, however, he could only imagine that it must feel so much better with someone to actually plug into, as Blue was doing. Or would it be getting plugged into, like White, since Sparkles was a female and Ro was inside her?

Curiosity was unable to pull enough power away to fuel the search for an answer to those questions, when nearly all of his energy was going towards feeling good and trying to keep from leaving a blue puddle all over the floor and Merah's sleeping bag. Still, it did have just enough power to fuel one last question...

Just how much better would things feel, if Merah was here with him?

Pulling harder than he'd meant to on his fluff, spurred by the thought, Ro stifled a cry just as White and Blue's voices rang out. His body pulsed, heat rushing through him with the overwhelming desire to spill out. With all the strength he could muster, Ro tried to keep it contained and, though his ovipositor throbbed in time with his plasma, the wave of pleasure swept over him quickly. Like a splash from a puddle compared to a wave from the ocean, it left his plasma still warm but not rushing nor as hot as it had been. However, it also left Ro feeling as though he'd missed out. Like, if Merah had offered him a nibble of the brownie earlier then kept the rest away from him.

So, while there was no mess to clean up on the floor, Ro couldn't help but frown at Blue and White on the screen, the two Frosmoths appearing far more content in the moment then he did.

"Sorry that took so long."

Head jerking up away from the laptop screen, Ro blinked, now having the answer as to why Merah had taken her bag with her. She'd changed from her black leg and gray top coverings into a matching pair of dark purple coverings, with an odd pattern of grays that ran in thin lines either spread finely in places or clustered tightly to make up some kind of square design. The top part exposed her arms, as had the gray top, but the bottom halves didn't go down near as far as the black ones had, exposing her legs from just above the knee down. For some reason, she had some odd baggy gray coverings on her feet, which Ro couldn't remember seeing before but, then again, he hadn't really looked down to see what she (or Alex) had been wearing before. It only stood out to him now because of the odd exposure of skin between the coverings.

Dropping her bag back where she'd initially grabbed it from, Merah moved to sit back beside him, the video with Blue and White having now changed to a different video of a Frosmoth in flight. For some reason, Ro found himself rather disappointed about that, as though he'd missed out on a chance to say goodbye to the two Pokemon he'd only met through the screen.

While frowning over that, he felt a light nudge under his left wing.

Turning, he saw Merah repeat the light touch and obliged, canting the wing at an angle. With a smile, she scooted closer to him, allowing the wing to rest comfortably along her back. That contact, combined with the faint heat of her body, made his plasma give a quick but strong pulse.

For a moment, Ro went still, worried that it would start to churn and boil. When it remained warm but steady, Ro relaxed, listening to the sounds of Merah's voice and her explanation of how the Frosmoth glided, absently wondering if her cries sounded anything like White's.

To Be Continued in Part 3.

Interested in more of Miss Thorn and Ruben doing "IT work"? Check out Disciplinary Measures!