A selection of pokéballs rested atop the dining room table, each waiting to have its contents uncovered. He could ask, of course. He could hurry, too, but it hardly made a difference. Much as he preferred the creatures outside of such shells, once they were in one, a second or an eternity was all the same to them. He poked listlessly at his half of his meal, having rescinded the other half of it to a curious Eryzard. It had emerged from the right-most of the coloured orbs - and, after initial disorientation, had promptly clambered up from the tiled floor to his face to lick at one cheek, until he had gently prised it off to set it down. As a consolation prize, slivers of salmon were offered for inspection and potential consumption, but they were untouched so far, if certainly not unoggled. Maybe the peas on the side were confusing it. Maybe Jagdish's presence was demanding too much attention. Who knew? He's used to strange behaviours.
The knife in his right hand pivoted around its blade lazily, reflecting the ambient lights from the ceiling's edge into his eyes at rhythmic but arbitrary intervals. 'If salmon doesn't please you, my dear, perhaps a strategic incision would?' he thinks, imagining himself intoning the words quite casually. It's a doubly cynical observation, of course - not only would the cut heal obscenely rapidly, reminding him, again, just how alien he is, but it was less 'food' and more 'drug', even if it could certainly double as former. And the last thing he needed was a pokémon that was even more delighted of him.
A soft 'pop' above him is all the warning Jagdish gets before a gleeful pink fuzzball belly-flops onto his head, long tail swerving in front of his face. “Meeewwwwwww,” she offers in greeting, tone more a contented sigh than anything else. The Eryzard's gaze shoots up to the newcomer, blinking, uncertain whether to consider this newcomer a threat. It takes a couple steps back, just to be safe.
The morbid thoughts leave the building in a hurry. 'Hello there, little bundle of pink fluff and sadism.' He dons a practised smile, only the mildest tinge of annoyance in it - she's sitting on his hair, he prefers looking creatures in the face - setting down his cutlery and gesturing with index and middle finger of his right hand to the Eryzard, the motion slow and steady, denoting that nothing is wrong and there's no cause for alarm. “Hello, Mew,” he greets. “Where have you been?” he asks, with a subtle hint of a stern scepticism sneaking into his tone, for now still chiefly fond of the little rascal, however unsettling her personality may be, and thus willing to indulge her at least a little.
The Legendary slips forward, sliding off the back of Jagdish's head to set her forepaws on his shoulders, the rest of her body following shortly thereafter. “Mew,” she answers non-committally, tail flicking across Jagdish's neck as she turns to face forward. Her eyes focus on the pokéballs for a moment of curiosity, and then she turns her gaze to Jagdish, expression impossibly bright. “Mew?” she asks eagerly.
“Yes, we have a new guest,” Jagdish confirms, knowing that there was no point in concealing the matter from Mew - she could just teleport through all rooms and check if she really wanted, after all. “But no sentence, so you're going to have to be patient before you can see what happens to him,” he remarks, steadily, matter-of-factly. “Where have you been?” he repeats, in the same patient tone of voice. She knows that if he's asking a question twice, it's best not avoided again.
The bright glimmer in the Legendary's eyes fades as Jagdish mentions that there's no sentence yet, and she utters a soft, whimsical sigh. The fact she's not turned to pouting and pawing at his face in a futile attempt to get him to cave and indulge her (just once) is already a hint that she's in a ludicrously good mood.
Given that, with some deduction and a few guesses Jagdish could probably figure out where she's been, but given he's asked the question twice already, she decides he's probably not in the mood for twenty-questions and she shouldn't try her luck. “Mew!” she squeals out in glee in response to that question, launching herself off his shoulder and racing in circles around his head a few times, mewing in glee, before collapsing onto his lap in a purring lump of pink fuzz, stretching out her limbs and exposing her belly.
If she'd been anywhere but with Keith, that kind of response would have terrible implications.
Jagdish exhales audibly, sound tinged with a hint of stern disapproval - though he wasn't entirely sure if it was at his pink-furred Legendary friend, or at Keith for presumably violating the rules Jagdish had set down for that all too enthused sadist. “Perhaps I should rephrase my question,” Jagdish comments, allowing himself a tone of dry humour. “What did Keith do?” …and even as the question escapes him, the answer becomes immediately apparent to him. His eyes drift closed. Some part of him flails desperately against his ribcage and the inside of his skull, hoping to escape the implications. In a slow, steady motion, three fingers of his left hand bring their tips together to a point and rest it against his forehead.
Mew opens her eyes, gazing up at Jagdish as he asks that question… but an answer isn't really necessary, is it? He's figured it out already. A soft purr spills from her, nothing more than a simple reminder that she's there. He's upset, though. Disapproving, she can understand, at least in principle; she knows he doesn't entirely approve of her and Keith's idea of a good time. But it's more than just that, isn't it? “Mew?” she intones with a hint of curious concern, pawing loosely at the fabric of his pants.
Silence. For a moment, he simply keeps his eyes closed and his hand as it is, not bothering to show any form of reaction to Mew's enquiry or gesture. Then he peels his eyes open to stare at her, the expression quite unlike any she's ever seen directed at her so far, resolute, scolding and venomous all at once. “…just… - just tell me one thing,” he says, voice soft, but no less tense for it. “Did you egg him on? Did you?”
That. That is a look she's seen a great many times, but not even once directed towards her. It's always amusing when it's pointed at a human. Now… well, now she's getting a newfound sense of what it's like to be in the human's shoes. Without thinking, she's shying away from his glare, curling her tail around herself defensively, wide eyes staring back at Jagdish. “…Mew?” comes a tiny squeak, hint of something like a shrug in her shoulders. A moment later, the glare from Jagdish grows too harsh for her to bear, and with a soft 'pop', she's vanished from sight.
✘ IN PROGRESS