6461/More On The Rustic Side

More On The Rustic Side
Date of Scene:	08 April 2019
Location:	Foxtrot Ranch (Pokemon World)
Synopsis:	Sarracenia visits Alexis' pokemon homestead and gets a taste of a little more rustic lifestyle.
Cast of Characters:	Alexis, Sarracenia

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Alexis has posed:
Does Sarracenia know what a barn even is? If she does she'd probably reconize the general shape of the building, though it's larger than your typical barn like structure. Because you know how big some Pokemon are, especially when Rock types is one of her specialties. But taking the Princess through the actual barn might not be the greatest idea, Alexis at least considers that. So she leads Sarracenia to the side instead and the stairs that lead up to deck and second floor.

She pauses at the sliding doors to glance over her shoulder. "Probably a bit lower class than you're use to," she admits, "But it's only fair to return the favor after lettin' us bum at your place." And she throws open the doors leading into the building proper, what had once been the barn loft redone as a reasonably sized condo would be, with a very rustic, country cabin athsetic to it.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Of course she knows what a barn is! She is highly educated!

     ..that doesn't mean she has been to one before, though.

     Sarracenia for her part doesn't seem instantly uncomfortable with being on a farm. Oh yes, she does avoid mud and low hanging branches and such like the plague, but she isn't just snootily looking around the place. And she had the good sense to dress in something a bit less gawdy and floor dragging. Some stylish red button-up boots, a wild west looking dress that is only about half the skirt length of her usual dress, and she is even wearing a special cowboy hat that carries her crown around the center section.

     She came by air of course, but rather than one of her huge galleons she came in the Dyna, a small wooden VTOL that looks much like a helicopter, but with two wings with large rotors on the ends that swivel back and forth as needed. As she is welcomed to the apartment above the barn she nods. "Naturally much lower class, but as long as it is not a pig sty I shall be fine." she says. She steps inside and looks around curiously. "So, this is where you live, huh? For some reason I was expecting something a bit more...spartan?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis shrugs a bit as she walks in after her, shutting the sliding doors. "It's not fancy resort, but a girl's got to be comfortable right? For as often I stay here more than a couple of days between adventures. Besides," she wanders over to the kitchen area while Sarracenia looks the place over. "I do have quite a few roommates to share with. Not everyone stays in the barn below."

As if on cue to that remark there's a herald of barking and paws on wood, multiple "Growl growl!" and "Ruff ruff!" as a Growlithe and Rockruff come bounding up what must be an indoor set of stairs that go right down to the barn below. They come running at hearing Alexis' voice, but quickly stop at seeing someone new and start sniffing around Sarracenia instead. "And there's the welcoming comittee."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia nods in agreement at the comment about comfort. "Indeed. A home should be comfortable, even if it cannot be luxurious." she says, then starts looking for an appropriate place to sit. She is surprised when the two puppy pokemon come bounding in and start sniffing at her. "Eek! Um...nice puppies!" she says, obviously inspecting them for signs of dirt and grime, and assessing how slobbery they might be. "And who are these two?" she asks Alexis, stepping back whenever one of the pups tries something like licking or jumping.

Alexis has posed:
"Hey you too, down!" Alexis walks over to pick up the Rock type of the two, as he's the more likely to be dusty just due to that. Not that he really looks like a rock type, having actual fur save the little knobs in his collar of fluff. The other one is content to just sniff around Sarracenia's feet, and eventually sits and wags his puff of a tail politely. "That's a Growlithe." She holds up the one in her hands. "And this is a Rockruff. He's a little more rowdy because I haven't had him as long. Blazemore there is of the same stock that's been bred for police dogs."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarra seems to relax when the Rockruff is under control. When Blazemore seats himself she smiles and reaches down to pet him. "Hello Blazemore." she says, then reaches into her satchel. "Let me see...I am sure I have some..." She pulls out some bone-shaped dog biscuits in a red box. "Ah! Here we are." she says, then smiles cheerfully. "Who's a good Growlie?" she says in a babish tone as she pulls out a treat and holds it up above Blazemore. "I never had pets such as these. My parents were quite worried that they would destroy valuables within the castle. There is always the royal stable, but a horse is not really something that can come to one's bedroom and be cute and cuddly."

Alexis has posed:
The munchie is snatched up, careful to not get the Princess' fingers as well, and the pom-tail wagging intensifies. Seeing that there's treats to be had the Rockruff dips his head a little and gives Sarracenia the best look those blue eyes can muster. He'll be good as long as you share. "And this, by the way, is Howlinger. He may look like a dog now, but his evolution is more like a wolf. So howls. And stuff." A name is a name.

Once he's also going to behave Alexis sets him back down. He's kind of heavy even if he's not made of rock. "You want anything to drink Sarra?", asks the tomboy as she heads back to the kitchen. "Feel free to have a seat on the sofa."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarra smiles as Howlinger calms down and he gets a treat as well. "Evolution?" She thinks for a moment. "Oooh...of course. Creatures of these worlds can often change form, correct?" she says as she gives each pup some attention now. "If you have some lemonade, I would be quite grateful." she says, then adds. "...or grapefruit soda." Apparently the princess likes sweet and sour drinks? She moves over to the sofa and after giving it an appraising eye she takes a seat, careful to ensure her dress does not get wrinkled or ride up too much. "So, this is the sort of thing that 'friends' do. Visit each others' homes. Share food and drink. Meet each other's cute pets?"

Alexis has posed:
The duo start to move but promptly stop when Alexis calls "Not on the couch when there's company!" like she knows what they're about to do. Because dogs. They both look at each other, and then just flop on the floor as they were. A little rowdy but at least well trained. Which is kind of a necessity when it comes to eventual battles. There is plenty more tail wagging at being called cute though.

"Actually yeah we do. Plenty of it." Alexis walks back in, handing Sarracenia a glass of lemonade. "Juice drinks are popular, when made properly Pokemon can drink them too." She then turns and plops on the other end of the sofa, less gracefully and more like someone just kicking back to relax. "Yeah. It is. Good way to get to know each other a little better, stuff like that."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia giggles a bit as Alexis calls out even though she can't see the pups. She takes the lemonade when it is offered, then blinks. "Excuse me, but...there is no straw." she says, as if it is common sense for lemonade to be served with a straw. And as if it is natural that Alexis get the straw. "I have visited...only one other person's house for purely social reasons. And unfortunately that person and his house disappeared back into the aether before we could get very close."

Alexis has posed:
Rather than give Sarracenia a look she peers at her own glass for a moment. "... Huh. Never been an issue but okay" Doesn't mean she's getting up though. Instead she looks back at the kitchen. "Hey! We need some straws." Something can be heard shuffling around in the kitchen, and then it drifts into into the living room. It... actually looks like an orange mini-fridge, with an odd lavander glow around it as it floats over, a pair of eyes towards the top. It just has glowy lightning zigzag shaped limbs, but is still able to hold onto a straw to stick it in Sarracena's glass. And one in Alexis' too. The straws are nice and chilled now, it'll help keep the lemonade cool longer.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia raises an eyebrow as Alexis just calls into the kitchen. And then...that little fridge floats over. Sarracenia actually seems intrigued by it, and when it places the straw in her glass Sarracenia giggles with child-like delight and gives it a pat on the head...er...top. "How wonderful! It seems we are more alike than I realized! I would have had a servant retrieve the straws as well!" she says, then sips politely of her drink through the straw. She shivers a bit at how cool the lemonade is now, then giggles again and smiles. "And what do you call this creature?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis makes a bit of a face. "I wouldn't save 'servent' per say, but I do have a few pokemon that specifically help out around here. They take care of the place when I'm not about." She takes a long draw of lemonade through the straw, then sets the glass on the end table. "Here, lets do this the official way." She pulls out her pokedex, sliding it open to reveal the holo-screen, and holding it up towards the floating minifridge the same way one would take a picture with a smartphone. But instead it's scanning the pokemon to bring up its file, because that's faster than scrolling through the damn thing manually to find it it. Though what comes up on the screen just looks like a floating electric spark, though it's got the same kind of eyes and orange body inside the electrified glow, as the digitalized voice of the device speaks.

"Rotom. The Plasma Pokemon. It's body is composed of electrical plasma. Known for being mischevious with the ability to mimic electronic devices." Then the display image changes to resemble the one floating in front of them. "This one is in Rotom-Frost form, from processing a fridge or freezer type appliance."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia leans over with her straw still in her mouth as Alexis pulls out the Pokedex and scans Rotom. "Oooh." She looks at the screen, then over the top at the poke-fridge, then back at the screen. "I see! It must be quite a convenient pokemon! I can only imagine how easy it must be for it to do chores such as maintaining the grounds or preparing a meal! My piranha plants do their best, but so many just lack the mental facilities to truly be competent."

Alexis has posed:
"Considering it's other forms include an oven and a lawnmower... I mean, it's not going to be making a five star gourmet meal, but it can cook with Heat form certainly." Alexis closed the pokedex and tucked it away again. "This is the kind of thing you come across in my line of 'work'." The Rotom emits a sound that sounds like a soft motor at the praise, almost like a purr, and wanders back into the kitchen. "Someone needed it removed because it was 'haunting' an old hotel that was going to be tore down, so I gave it a new place to be useful."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia watches the pokemon go back to the kitchen, then looks at Alexis. "It was quite kind of you to help relocate it. Though I am surprised you did not try to find it another owner. Is it not difficult to care for so many creaturs at once?" she asks, looking down at the two dog pokemon in front of them. She smiles to them and gives them another treat just for being cute.

Alexis has posed:
"Like I said, I've got a 'home' crew that take care of a lot of it." Alexis picks her lemonade back up, snickering a bit as the dogmons nom up the treats quickly. "Most of the pokemon I can't find a use for go to my aunt, who's a professional breeder, and has more time to put towards finding homes for things." She gestures towards Blazemore. "Like I said about him being from the same stock used to breed police dogs."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia gets some more childish delight out of feeding the cute dogmon, then returns to sipping her lemonade. "Does she enter pedigree competitions or anything of that nature?" she inquires. "Or does she simply breed to fill needs such as proper police dogs?" The princess seems to be relaxing more, even swinging her feet a bit as she sits there. Though still with prim and proper poise and posture.

Alexis has posed:
"When she was a young Trainer, yeah. There's competitions that focus more on showmanship and such. Not everything about Pokemon is about battle and exploration. Flashy contests aren't really my thing though." Alexis slurps loudly on the straw, then finally sets the lemonade aside again. She leans back in her spot on the sofa, folding her hands behind her head. "I may be competative, but I'm not really the 'professional athlete' sort. I'd rather be out there, doing something with it... Even if it's just as low key as keeping monsters and people from misunderstanding and causing problems for each other."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia nods lightly as she listens, and ends up leaning back when Alexis does, looking at nothing in particular while she contemplates. "A noble goal. It must be good to at least have a goal of some kind. I really am not used to even needing one. It was not until that licensing exam that I even considered that I might not be strong enough to do anything I put my mind to. I still have no real goal, except perhaps getting stronger. I guess I always assumed any goal or dream I might have would be for naught since I would have to take over the kingdom some day."

Alexis has posed:
"... Yeah, I suppose so." Just the idea of having that sort of thing already determined for you makes Alexis shiver a little. "Kinda... Kinda why I didn't join up with any of the new factions when the Union fell apart... and honestly I didn't even really like being there half the time. Not all that fond of being told where to go and who to fight or not. I'll invest my time where I want to put interest.... that and its less awkward that I have friends on all sides of the matter." She paused to give a whistle, getting the dogs' attention. "We need a little more homey ambience. Light a fire." Blazemore turns his head and spits an Ember into the fireplace on the other side of the room. "Good boy."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia lets out a surprised 'eep!' when Blazemore suddenly spits out a fireball, but when it is not only well aimed but starts a fire in the fireplace she laughs a bit. "I am not sure I could have hit such a small target so easily with a fireball." she says, then looks to Alexis again. "I am technically in one of the factions, but...I rarely do anything related to being in a faction. I also do not enjoy being told what to do or where to go. It is much of the reason my parents are annoyed with me so often. They expect me to attend boring meetings when they are the ones in charge of affairs of state. I do not wish to waste my time on such things until it is actually my duty to do so!"

     She takes a rather angry and long sip of her lemonade, then swallows and hmphs. "Honestly...if I did not enjoy all the luxuries so much I might consider simply renouncing my title."

Alexis has posed:
"Sucks that they won't accept you want to do your own thing while you still can," Alexis replies with a sympathetic nod. Then snickers a bit and nudges the princess with her elbow. "Well if you ever want to just get away from them for a while, I've got a spare room or two. It's no luxury suite. But at least you wouldn't have to worry about going so primitive as having to do chores yourself," she teases, trying to pick the girl's mood back up.

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarra hmphs in agreement with that first part, then blinks at the offer. "Hmm...perhaps I am due for a vacation." she says, apparently actually considering Alexis's offer. "There are certainly worse places to stay." she says as she looks around the place again. "I will consider your offer." she says in an official tone and gives a firm nod. "Perhaps I could present it to my parents as an effort to re-center myself." she says.

     She is quiet a few moments, then she sits up suddenly. "Oooor...once I -am- the ruler of Sundew, I could virtually do as I please!"

Alexis has posed:
"That's truuuue." It's probably not that easy, but she knows nothing about how royalty and being in charge of that sort of thing actually works so not really a frame of reference to know better there. Alexis gulps the end of her lemonade. "But what are you going to do while you're waiting for that to happen?"

Sarracenia has posed:
     The princess shrugs lightly at that question and leans back again, crossing her ankles in a polite, refined posture. "I suppose continue to do what I am doing. Although I suppose I will need to learn the proper methods of running a kingdom. Virtually is not completely, and it would still be my duty to attend to the wellfare of my subjects."

     She looks around again, then hmms. "You do not have an electronic gaming system?"

Alexis has posed:
Alexis pfffs, rolling her eyes. "Of course I do. They're just stored in a closet unless I'm going to play one. Otherwise between the Rotom and the Porygon they get burned out very quickly. What, looking for a few rounds of Pokken? Or maybe that dungeon crawling game." She reachs over to poke Sarracenia's shoulder with a finger. "You'd probably want to start with Eevee or Vulpix, just because of cuteness."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarra eeks and laughs a bit at the poke. "And is there something wrong with choosing a pokemon based on its cuteness?" she asks, then looks around a bit suspiciously. "...do you have either of those around here?" she asks in a way that might suggest either would be in serious danger of being pounced and snuggled mercilessly by the over-exhuberant princess. "I am not sure what Pokken is, but I do enjoy such a distraction every now and then."

Alexis has posed:
"People have picked a pokemon for worse reasons than being the cutest." Alexis pauses a moment. "I don't have any unevolved eevees currently, but..." She looks at the two dogs. "Where's Kindler?" "Growl?" "Ruff?" "You two have the noses, don't ask me." She shrugs. "She's here somewhere. I didn't have her out with me today. Unless she's off playing with Majorette, she-" "Vuuuul." Alexis looks up. "... Oh, right." She nudges Sarracenia, then points up at the fire fox curled in her tails on one of the rafters. "Foxes can climb like cats do. Even I forget that sometimes."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia aws softly as she hears that no unevolved eevees are about. Of course, she doesn't know that the eeveelutions are usually as cute as Eevee, and if not they have their own appeal. Hearing that vul from above them causes Sarra to look up as well before she blinks in surprise.

     What happens next is...well, chaotic. Sarracenia suddenly reaches in her bag and pulls out a small fox-like plush. Then in a puff of smoke she is basically -wearing- that foxlike plush! Except her face is still visible of course. And without further ado, she leaps upward to try and grab the little multi-tailed fox! "So cuuuuute!" she gushes, squeezing the vulpix like a plush...or at least attempting to.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis jerks to the side as Sarracenia transforms with one of those power ups. "Is that like the tanuki--" The girl jumps into the air before she can finish. "--Yup." The Vulpix is grabbed from her napping perch and squeezed. Alexis actually cringes... then opens an eye when there's no yelling and flambed princess as the Vulpix snuggles into Sarracenia's arm. ".. Huh. I guess you're close enough to a Ninetales in that getup she didn't freak out."

Sarracenia has posed:
     With her cute capture, Sarracenia glides back down with some wagging of her foxtail and lands on the couch again. She is already busy cheeknuzzling the little vulpix happily. "I simply must aquire one of these. Or perhaps two! I believe I heard on the radio that there is also an ice creature of this kind?" she says, relaxing her squeezing and nuzzling to just hold the vulpix now. And of course play with that cute hairdo upon its head.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis expected there to be more fire. Or maybe the Vulpix realized they'd both end up falling if she flamed the flying princess. They have that sort of mystical sense to them even if they're not Psychic types. "Yeah. There's an ice version, but they're only native to Alola and kind of elusive, I haven't had a chance to track any down yet."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Whatever the case, now Alexis has a fox-suited princess snuggling a fox on her couch. Hopefully the two dogmon won't feel jealous! "If you do manage to track one down, I would be happy to help you capture it. I am sure creatures as smart as these would be acceptable in even my parents' castle." she says, squeezing the Vulpix like a plush for a few moments before lowering it down to her lap and just basically resting her arms around it.

Alexis has posed:
Alexis hmms. "If they're going to insist on it being 'useful' could probably claim one to help with all the overgrowth pruning. A well trained Fire type can keep their fire under control... As for hunting, well, maybe a short expedition would help work on your stamina." Alexis pushed herself off the couch. "But while you two are getting aquainted, I'll go herd in the Mareep for the night." She gives a whistle to get the Growlithe and Rockruff's attentions. "Com'n you two, it's time to play sheep dog."

Sarracenia has posed:
     Sarracenia waves as Alexis and the sheepdogmon make their way out. "I am not sure what a mareep is, but it sounds cute." she comments before they leave.

     By the time Alexis returns, she is likely to find Sarracenia peacefully passed out on the couch, still holding the Vulpix if it hasn't made its escape. Why is it being at a friend's place is always so relaxing?