As expected, Adelaide was up before Jagdish. Since the only thing physically keeping her in Taqnateh was the environment around it and her word, she could move freely, and by now the floor plan of the bizarre building was beginning to make a strange kind of sense to her, making her feel less lost. It continued to be strange that half of the building was a ruin, but it was the aesthetic the gym was going for - inasmuch as it could even honestly be called a gym, given its remote nature meant it was practically never used for sparring.
Dawn was still only just staining the horizon when Adelaide could be seen stepping out into the crumbling courtyard that she'd first met Jagdish in to grab some fresh air.
There was a second sun in the landscape, sitting comfortably next to the other, but below the horizon to the side, paler, its luminescence halfway between the rising disc and a full moon. The morning breeze kempt though its feathers. It was some kind of pokémon, large as the psychic one she had already interacted with, of the same general shape, looking straight at her.
A second Legendary. That was… certainly not who Adelaide had expected to encounter this morning, and she felt slightly exasperated at the burst of astonishment. No part of her brain should be surprised there were two of them. There were six of them, she'd been told, and this could only be Solalon, the Spirit of Light in all its forms.
…presumably he would not threaten to lick her, but she didn't know if he could also pull a disappearing act.
It rarely harmed to be polite. “Good morning,” Adelaide offered softly, hesitating in the doorway and wondering if she should wait for a response or apologise for disturbing him and retreat.
A growl emanated from somewhere to the left of the second sun, and something shifted, looking in the first instant like an arrangement of tuning forks, before the dark crimson shade that held the tines together became apparent. …two Legendaries, then, neither of which seemed the type to respond to Adelaide's polite comment with anything other than a firm stare.
She flinched slightly at the sound and its source. That seemed like a non-verbal expression that she should go away. Adelaide nodded to the pair and backstepped, softly closing the door behind her before she could do anything innate like nervously offer to make cups of tea for Legendaries.
There was plenty of outside elsewhere, but perhaps she should retreat to her room with a book. Would Jagdish look for her there? Perhaps the kitchen.
A soft, excited “Mew!” popped into existence beside her, along with a soft pink glow, with the little psychic pokémon that had so effortlessly teleported her and Yarver up here in the first place beginning a little mid-air twirl and dance around her as she left the closed door behind. At least it wasn't literally curling around her neck, keeping some measure of distance, but it would have no doubt been nicer if the distance were larger.
Once again she jumped. Adelaide would like to say she had a better understanding of how to deal with Mew, but from what she had seen that was something only Jagdish could claim. Most of the time. The only remedies seemed to be indulge Mew, ignore Mew, or possibly attempt to hide under the bed until something more engaging occurred.
“Good morning, Mew. Were you looking for me in particular?” Indulging Mew seemed safest right now, rather than risking it bothering the Legendaries. For the sake of everyone involved, really; Jagdish would be upset if Mew got eaten by a cranky raptorian, Mew would not enjoy being eaten, and Adelaide wanted the beings judging her to be in the most pleasant mood possible.
“Mew!” Mew declared with great enthusiasm, twirling about in the air before Adelaide as if in triumph for getting attention. It was a cute pokémon if you hadn't witnessed it teleporting you halfway across the island without any apparent effort. It looked fragile and playful and friendly, and Adelaide was acutely aware that it could turn her to pulp if it was ever so inclined.
“Congratulations on finding me, then,” Adelaide said, a smile creeping up her face. Now for the game of twenty questions. “Did you want to t- to lead me to Jagdish?” Not 'take me to Jagdish'; that was a short route to an abrupt teleportation, and knowing Mew's sense of humour could result in being dumped on the man's lap while he was still asleep in bed.
In response, Mew began to float upside down in front of her, head canted slightly as if in curiosity. It at least suggested that the thought hadn't even crossed its mind.
Well, that was a no. Probably. Mew was, so far, the strangest pokemon she had ever met. And unlikely to play messenger for anyone else, so probably here out of simple boredom. “Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?” Adelaide asked, slowly winding her way through the building. Maybe she could find a nice eggcup to serve it in.
Something bubbled from Mew that might have been laughter as it corkscrewed about. It was hard to tell whether it was delight at the idea of getting tea or laughter at her cuteness for offering it to a Legendary that did not need anything of the sort.
But Mew had apparently decided that the time of getting to know each other was over, and in its next motion darted to settle around the back of her neck like a warm scarf, displacing some of Adelaide's hair in the process.
Once again Adelaide froze, then took a steadying breath. It had to be nerves about the trial that had her being so jumpy this morning. Pokemon ignoring personal space while wanting attention? That described a third of her team. If one ignored the respective power levels (which was challenging) this was familiar territory.
“Comfortable?” Current plan: her own cup of tea, the book she had been loaned, sit and quietly read. Similar to her plan of two minutes ago, except now it may include providing a neck to scarf around and possibly pettings.
“Mew,” Mew purred against her cheek, evidently content in some way that made perfect sense to its preferences. The tail flicked to and fro at the edge of Adelaide's vision.
It was easy enough to find the kitchen - beside the bathroom closest to her lodgings, that was the one place she'd gone to often enough to firmly place it on the mental map. There wasn't anyone in it yet, and so no one who might interfere in tea-making, but about halfway through the procedure, she could hear soft, still-tired footsteps that she could identify as Jagdish's.
Dakarai, she'd already found out by now, made almost no sound at all as he walked, as though he were trained to be some prowling panther - he didn't look predatory, but Jagdish hadn't really gotten into the details of what he did, other than implying it involved circuiters.
“Good morning,” Jagdish said from the dining room, not yet in sight - the kitchen sounds obviously gave Adelaide away. There was a bit of a yawn in his voice.
It was no trouble to lay out an additional cup and begin preparing a drink for him too. “Good morning,” Adelaide responded, finally back on (mostly) comfortable territory. And then stepping outside it once more. “I presume you are aware they've arrived, but just in case: there are another pair of Council members in the courtyard.”
“Mmhmm,” reverberated as acknowledgement through the dining room. For a moment he was visible in the doorway to the kitchen, hanging in the frame and looking at her - he was used to being the one milling around in the kitchen, his whole posture forming an aborted habit - and then he withdrew to sit at the table and let her do her thing.
Maybe it wasn't wise to let someone you were going to drag through a trial make you your drink in the morning, but he evidently wasn't worried about that, either.
It was only a cup of tea placed on the table before him, not a full breakfast, but going that extra step without discussion felt… well, rude. Let the man have a chance to fully wake at least.
Adelaide sat herself, gently nudging a pink tail away from her drink. While the colour and dimensions of the tail were new, the act was extremely familiar.
“Slept okay?” he asked, poke a spoon into his tea and stirring it silently, only to transition to picking up some of it and pouring it back in, a gradual cooling ritual. His eyes darted between Adelaide and her new pokémon scarf.
With some pause and consideration, Mew finally uncurled with a soft “Mew!” that sounded a little bit like a protest, then tiny forepaws mussed into Adelaide's hair like a caricature of putting it back into order, and the creature half-flowed, half-leapt off her shoulder and onto the table to begin a little faux-wrestle with Jagdish's spoon.
Jagdish didn't even change the pace of what he was doing.
“I suspect you could have stirred his tea from here,” Adelaide commented dryly, before answering the original question. “I didn't sleep especially well, but I suppose that's to be expected.”
✘ IN PROGRESS