[Day 224] Through the motions every day [Open and closed]

[hellpyre]

Who: Rin Okumura, Kintaro the Tepig, and anyone | Rin Okumura and a certain little brother that needs to be bothered
Open: Open and closed
When: 224
Where: Out in the dragonfield | hospital
What: Rin is attempting to be a good Pokemon trainer. Not that she has any idea of what to do. | Also a little brother needs to be pestered
Format: Any
Warnings: Rin being Rin, as usual.

[Open - Dragonfield, afternoon]

[Rin didn't know how to be a trainer. The idea behind getting her Tepig (now named Kintaro) was to give her and Yukio something to bond over. Which worked, but it left her caring for something that was far more intelligent and aware than a simple house pet.

Granted she had been given Kuro to care for back home, but Kuro was also far more independent, being well over 120 years old compared to Kintaro's age of barely a month. And she could tell he was getting restless at home and in the kitchen with her, even if he did help as much as possible.

She was sitting in the Dragonfield with her legs crossed and Kintaro curiously sitting in front of her, head tilted. Her focus wasn't on him, though  - it was on the Pokedex she had borrowed from Hilda.]

Says here the first thing you should be able to learn is... Ember.

Pig... ?

... I have no idea how to get you to learn that.

[Closed to Yukio - Hospital, evening]

[After spending time with Kintaro in the Dragonfield (however well that went), Rin shuffled in to the hospital with said Tepig in her arms, poking around for a certain other Okumura.]

Yuuuuki~ Where are youuuu~?

Comments

[chosenbylife]

You must train him first! Or he won't learn anything new.

[ It was a beautiful day for a leisurely stroll around the dragonfield, and Calem was close enough that he managed to overhear her. ]

Perhaps you'd like a little assistance from somewhat of an expert?

[hellpyre]

Tepig!

[Kintaro bounded up from where he was sitting and ran over to Calem, bouncing around his feet excitedly.

Rin was less excitable to see the other boy, leaning back on her hands and tilting her head to look at him.]

Well you are a trainer, right?

[doctor_dragoon]

[Things have been fairly quiet lately, which means the hospital has been quiet as well, but that hasn't stopped Yukio from heading there each day. With no patients to worry about, there hasn't been anything to distract him from what Colin jokingly refers to as his "homework".]

Up here, Neesan.

[His distracted voice floats down from one of the offices on the second floor. The office he's using is the only one with lights on, and when Rin looks in the door she'll see a familiar sight.

Yukio's working and, by the looks of it, he's been at this for quite some time. Long enough that he's given up on some of his usual habits concerning neatness. The place is nothing compared to the sort of messes Rin can make, but there's definitely some clutter happening. The desk has taken the brunt of this clutter-abuse, and that's where Yukio seems to have settled himself.

He's got one of Colin's datapads and a few books within reach, most of the books marked in dozens of different places with little tabs of paper. The majority of the desk, however, is covered in stacks of paper, all of which have Yukio's handwriting marking them in some way. Some are full, top to bottom and margin to margin, with extensive notes. Others bear rushed shorthand, and even more have somewhat crude diagrams sketched out in different colors of ink. Yukio's never really been an artist, but his sketches are accurate enough to recognize what they're meant to be, at least. Human ribcages from different angles, red muscle stretched in different directions over bone, a rough diagram of a human heart...

The young doctor barely even looks up when Rin arrives. Oshawott, at least, gives a quiet little snort. The little Pokemon is curled up on a chair nearby, snoring lightly with a few sheets of crumbled paper clutched in his paws. Someone was "helping", but he's too young to pull the long hours that Yuki does.]

Is something wrong?

[hellpyre]

[She can tell he's been immersing himself in studies again. The long hours with no patients, bringing books home, returning to his four hours of sleep a night schedule... typical Yuki.

Which is why she's there with a certain fire pig sitting on her head, holding a cloth-wrapped box in one hand.]

Nah. You missed dinner again, though.

[Which leads her to lifting the box and dropping it in front of him. She knows he won't even look at it if it's not right in front of his face.

It also gave her an angle to look over what he's got laid out in front of him, too.]

Is that for the Kokonose kid?

[doctor_dragoon]

[He blinks at the box when it lands on the desk, looking almost confused for a moment before he registers what it is.]

... Oh. I'm sorry. You didn't have to bring me anything...

[It looks like he's taking notes from a medical text on the datapad, a diagram of the correct way to use a rib spreader on display. He must've gotten most of his notes from books on the datapads. Their physical texts on the subjects he's studying are somewhat limited, but the datapads have more books than Yukio could ever need.

He nods at Rin's question.]

Yes, for Haruka-san. We need to be prepared in case his condition declines...

[hellpyre]

[Colin is good for that if nothing else. The more information they have here, the better. Even if not all of it is something that can be used in their current situation...

Rin drew up a chair next to him, handing over a pair of polished chopsticks.]

If I don't you're never gonna eat.

[So eat, damn it.]

Geez... so he must be really messed up then, huh? I saw him at the feast, he was eatin' like a damn shounen hero and looked okay, but I know when he got here he was stuck in the hospital for a while.

[doctor_dragoon]

[WELP, if Rin's settling in then it looks like Yukio won't be worming his way out of this one. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't hungry, anyway. Focusing on his work just made it easier to ignore.

He takes the chopsticks and obediently starts unwrapping his dinner.]

It's hard to say. He received treatment before he ended up here, but I can't make any guarantees about how well or how long it will work.

[He frowns and shrugs. Haruka could be totally fine for ages, or he could need another surgery next week. With their lack of equipment and expertise, it was hard to tell.]

[hellpyre]

[She knows your game, bro. That's why she's here.]

That sucks. Poor kid... and windin' up here after all that.

[Rin shook her head sadly, nearly dislodging Kintaro from his spot. Which was fine, since he took it as a sign to hop down and make sure Oshawott wasn't completely dead to the world.]

It'd a good thing you're here now, though. He woulda been screwed otherwise.

[doctor_dragoon]

[Oshawott's pretty oblivious to the sibling meeting happening in the room, clutching his crumpled papers tighter with one arm and lazily trying to wave Kintaro off with the other. He's tired, bro...

Yukio chews a bite of his dinner thoughtfully and gives a slight shake of his head, not looking particularly confident. He didn't feel all that confident either. He could study until he was blue in the face, but it would never really prepare him for the real thing.]

He might need surgery, and I'm not a surgeon.

[hellpyre]

[He's just trying to say hello!

But fine, he's not going to wake you up. Apparently just joining Oshawott in nap time is the better idea here.

Which of course gets a tiny "aw that's cute" smile from Rin as she watches.]

... oh. Yeah. That's true. Ain't really what you were trained for, huh?

[She fidgets with the hem of her skirt awkwardly. Having serious conversations where no one is yelling is still weird when it comes to Yukio, but... they're getting there. Slowly.]

If it happens, though... I mean, you should probably like... prepare for that possibility, right?

[freedom_engineer]

Hey, you two. How goes it?

[Yep, that sure is Colin taking a stroll through the Dragonfield. True to his words, he can't keep working all the time, and mandatory breaks are pretty heavily stamped into his work habits. The sight of Rin with her pig was not an uncommon sight, but he didn't usually see her so engrossed in... whatever she was working on.]

What'cha trying to work out over there?

[hellpyre]

Yo.

Pig.

Tryin' to figure out how to actually be a trainer.

[And all of that said while still staring at the Pokedex. She is pretty engrossed in it.]

[freedom_engineer]

The way I understand animal training, and I could well be mistaken... When you're raising them this young, they take a lot of their behavior from you. They've still got their own personalities, but they are VERY impressionable at this age.

[Colin crouches and holds his hand out to Tepig. Looks like he's got an Oran berry there.]

Family units in the wild teach each other how to do things like hunt, stalk, pounce... all of that through play. My sister's raised several panthers from cubs all the way through adulthood. And she's got some scars to prove it.

What do you want to teach him to do?

[hellpyre]

So if he starts swearin' like a sailor I should probably tone it down a bit, huh?

[She's joking, of course. She knows that Pokemon can't say much more than their own names.

Kintaro let out a happy squeak at the offering, waddling up to take the Oran berry from Colin.]

Well Pokemon have those attack powers, right? And accordin' to this Pokedex thing Hilda let me borrow, the first thing he can learn is a move called Ember.

[freedom_engineer]

If you can teach him to swear, I'm certain that you can teach him anything.

[Colin gives her a grin, and he gives Taro the Oran berry without any further urging. Hope you don't mind being petted, Taro, 'cause he is gonna pet you once you've taken the berry.]

If you can spontaneously generate a flame in front of your mouth... I'd recommend doing that in front of him. If he's got a snack that he likes, do it, and if he can mimic you... give him the snack. Associate the activity with the reward, and if you want him to recognize it... Say "Ember" just before you do it.

You're mama, he's gonna wanna follow in your footsteps anyway. But if that doesn't work, Hilda's companion may be able to assist you. They're the same species, right?

[hellpyre]

Heh. I may not mind bein' vulgar but I should probably not teach him bad habits like that.

[Kintaro is very happy with both of these things. Pets and berries, both good.]

Mn... maybe. Hilda made it sound like this kinda stuff is just... natural to them or somethin'. But they still gotta work at it, too, and he ain't old enough for battles just yet.

[She nods to the question after that.]

Emboar is the final evolution. The one in between it is Pignite.

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin grins at her, and he continues to rub his hand over Kintaro's back. He likes animals, and more often than not, they tend to like him.]

Probably a smart idea. He'll grow up with his own personality, but you'll still shape him. But I wouldn't worry too much about nature versus nurture. Yeah, it may be part of his nature, but little ones still learn how to behave and what to do by looking up to their family members.

[Yep, Colin's just gonna start rubbing 'Taro's belly now.]

How did you learn to control your fire powers? While I don't imagine he'll understand a lecture, if you show him fire powers, he'll probably start exploring his own, learning what he can do, and trying to mimic you. Just don't overthink it, and you'll do fine.

And if you're lacking anywhere, Emboar can definitely show the little guy a few tricks.

[hellpyre]

Piiiiiiig...

[Moar of that plskthx.]

How did I learn to control it? Uhm... most of it was just figurin' shit out on my own until Shura came long. Then she had me doin' exercises with candles. I don't think any of that is gonna help Kintaro at all...

[tophgirl]

By this point, Toph has been informed that she's been punked. And she is none too happy about it. Mostly because she accidentally smeared the mustache. She's stomping through the Dragonfield, trying to find the closest body of water to scrub her face.

[hellpyre]

Well that sure is a... sight. Rin almost misses it, so focused on her Tepig and the Pokedex, but her hearing catches the sound of bare footsteps nearing and drags her attention away.

Only to see that mess on the girl's face.

"Whoa..."

[tophgirl]

Toph stops and crosses her arms.

"What?"

Somebody is, perhaps, a little defensive.

[hellpyre]

Just a touch. Rin is more concerned than anything because damn how the hell did that even get there?

"What uh... what happened?"

[tophgirl]

"What do you think, genius?" Toph says. "I grew it, duh."

[hellpyre]

Rin blinked at that, scowled, then sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose. Not buying your sarcastic shit, Toph.

"That's marker. Who the hell in this place would even think about punkin' some one with a lame ass prank like that?"

And then, a little more sympathetically.

"Want me to kick some one's ass for ya? Or uh... give you a handkerchief, that might be easier."

[tophgirl]

"I can kick ass on my own, thanks," Toph said caustically. "...but a handkerchief would be good." The sooner she got the ruined drawings off her face, the better she'd feel.