"My lady, please wait! I've not yet finished packing the crumpets!" Jeanne panicked about, quite flustered.
Virgilia sighed as she paused.
"It's fine, Jeanne. We'll go without. And call me Virgilia, we're friends, okay?" She smiled reassuringly at the pikachu.
"My lady, I can't do that! I owe you a debt that cannot be repaid, I can't break that tradition!" Jeanne continued trying to pack the crumpets into the basket as she said it, adamant upon doing it right.
Virgilia took on a stern expression.
"You do as I say, correct? Call. Me. Virgilia."Jeanne blushed at the order.
"Of - of course, my lady Virgilia! My apologies!" She bowed ridiculously three times, embarassed at her percieved slight.
Virgilia sighed. That wasn't exactly what she meant. But there was nothing that could be done about it now, so she let it drop.
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It had been a week since Virgilia had encountered Jeanne and healed the human she was with. The human had gone off to the city, and hadn't been seen since. But even after a week, Jeanne
still couldn't relax around her. Virgilia sighed to herself. She knew she had wanted that no less than 2 weeks prior, but now it just seemed like such a pain.
"Something the matter, my lady?" Jeanne looked at Virgilia with concern.
"Is it the crumpets? It's the crumpets, isn't it? Oh, I'm so sorry! I should have known I did something wrong! I'm sorry, it's all my fau-"Virgilia cut her off before she could continue.
"It's not the crumpets, Jeanne, they're lovely. I was simply thinking to myself, that's all."Jeanne looked worriedly at Virgilia, but remained silent.
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Mephistoheles and Lenore moved quietly through the plains. They smelled food, and it had been a while since they had eaten. They spied their quarry - a buneary and a pikachu had bread-like materials. A lot of bread-like materials.
Lenore turned to Mephistopheles. "
Hey, Mef. Think you could go ask if they'll share? I'd do it, but I figure I'm slightly creepier than you in this case."
Mephistopheles nodded slightly before floating over to the group.
"Greetings. My name is Mephistopheles. My companion and I are in a bit of a bind. You see, we've not eaten in a few days, and I do not think she can go for much longer without food. We were hoping you might share your meal in return for our gratitude?"Jeanne leapt to her feet, energy leaping from her cheeks, but Virgilia waved her down.
"I do say that would be fine, my ghostly friend, but where is this other companion you speak of? Why do they not greet me personally?""My companion is a human who feared you might fear her. She is a tad strange, but she is a kind person." He turned toward the spot that Lenore lay in wait, giving her the OK.
Lenore walked over the assembled pokemon with a blank look on her face. "
Hello. I just want to thank you for sharing your food with us. Unless you aren't, in which case I apologize. I don't understand pokemon, and I don't know if you understand me, so I'm sorry if I'm just wasting time." Without waiting for an answer, she sat down as if she had already been a guest, helping herself to a crumpet. Mephisto followed suit.
Jeanne couldn't help but be reminded of Reis by this young girl. She was much smaller, though, and far less energetic. Still, they shared a lack of concern about what others thought.
Virgilia turned to the duskull.
"I've never seen one of your kind before. Where are you from?" The question was a mix between a conversation starter and genuine curiousity.
"Lenore - that's the girl here - and I are from Orre, a place really, really far away from here. There's not much there, honestly. It makes for dreadfully boring conversation." And with that, he went back to eating.
He was right, that was boring.------------------------------------------------------------------
Lenore finished a second crumpet, deciding that was enough for her. The others seemed to still be wanting to eat, so she decided to simply observe. The pikachu had stars all over it - that was something she'd never seen in the books she had read. It ate with slightly restrained fervor, and kept peeking glances at her. Lenore found that strange, making a mental note of it that she would probably forget.
She turned to the buneary. This one ate with a certain precision, taking small measured bites, and chewing what seemed to be a certain number of times. She watched closer. 8. 9. 7. 10. 7. Huh. That was kind of interesting. The buneary had patches of pink in places on it's body, something Lenore assumed was a rare quality. She had a certain aura about herself, and Lenore compared it the aura in books that a commoner feels upon meeting a princess.
She had watched Mef before, but never around others. As usual, food just kind of disappeared into his robe, with no trace of having been chewed at all. His eye was kind of just floating around inside the skull, looking from pokemon to pokemon.
Lenore leaned back and looked at the clouds overhead as she waited for everyone to finish.
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A short time later, everyone was done eating. Lenore stood up first, Mephistopheles soon behind. Lenore bowed graciously, feeling for some reason it was the proper thing to do. "
Thank you for the food everyone. It was very good." Virgilia nodded at the duo before standing up as well.
"It was very good, Jeanne, you did nicely." To this Jeanne fidgeted nervously.
"Mephisto....fillas? It was a pleasure meeting both you and the girl.""Mephistopheles." He corrected her then continued.
"And I, too, thank your for your graciousness. I'm sorry I could not have afforded you better entertainment.""Ah, it is no trouble! No trouble at all!" She was almost certain he had meant it as a slight, but it had caught her off guard.
With that, Lenore and Mephistopheles left, leaving Jeanne and Virgilia standing around the picnic.
"Well, then, my lady? Shall we be off?" Jeanne picked up the basket and assorted things as she inquired.
Virgilia smiled.
"Yes, Jeanne, let us return home. And drop the 'My Lady'. I'll order you to do so if I have to. We are friends. You are important to me, and I'd like to think you feel the same about me. Do you understand?Tears lined Jeanne's eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.
"Yes, Virgilia!"Virgilia embraced the pikachu in a hug, and they remained as such for a short time before leaving.
