It had been two months since Swift had come to live with Sibyl and her family. He already knew he made the right decision, but there was still a lot of adjusting going on. One thing that was very new to him was that, now that he had so much less to worry about, he needed something useful to do with his time. If he was going to live with these people, he wanted to pull his own weight so as not to get kicked back out. When Sibyl was at school and her dad was at work, he joined her mom on errands. That way he could try to patch up their rocky start and get used to being around people. Luckily, Sibyl was happy to help with this new problem of boredom, especially at the city park on Saturday afternoons, like today for instance. "Left, right, left, right!" she called as she ran beside him. Zipping back and forth between the flagpoles, the Zangoose panted from exertion as he hurried to the finish line. He hissed at himself as his tail brushed on a flagpole, but there was no time to look back! "Come on, Swift, bend!" she encouraged as they kept going. Five flags to go...three...one...! "Now Scratch it!" No sooner had he run around the last flagpole than he saw her throw a stick up in the air. Crouching down, he hopped up and pulled back a paw, whipped it forward, and sliced the stick in half. As he landed and the halves of the stick hit the grass beside him, he looked back at Sibyl hopefully. "...Nice. You're down half a second from your old record, even figuring in the time penalties for the poles you hit," she said approvingly, showing him her stopwatch. After they shared a high five, he went to take a drink from his water bowl as she wiped her sweaty forehead and wrote the time in her notebook. "You can really move, Swift...but we really need to get you down to [u]no[/u] poles hit. Buuut I think you've earned this," she added as she pulled off her backpack and tossed him a wrapped-up pecha berry. He gratefully devoured the berry, letting out a long, happy sigh as she sat next to him. he said with a nuzzle of her arm before lapping up the rest of the water. Scratching his neck, the girl took a drink from her own water bottle before looking at her watch. "You about wore me out today. Think we can just start heading back now and make a good walk outta it?" He nodded, feeling winded from that last run anyway. Once they had done a post-workout stretch, they pulled up the flagpoles and brought them back to the nearby equipment shed for someone else to borrow. With that done, the two of them started walking the long way back home. Swift kept mentally congratulating himself for doing so well today, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the sound of being praised for doing something he enjoyed. Being told that he did a good job was something he rarely heard, and rarer still was when whoever told him that rewarded him for it. At least, they had been rare. This was turning out to be one more change in his life that he was coming to enjoy more than he expected. "Hey, what's so funny?" Sibyl asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You were snickering to yourself," she said with a grin. "Whatcha laughing at?" He shook his head. he replied shyly. [i]"Didn't even notice...gotta watch how I act around people,"[/i] he thought. "Suuure, okay," she teased. After that, their walk continued in silence for a while, with the two of them leaving the park's open spaces where they did most of their Saturday afternoon exercising and heading to the park's center. When they reached the walking and cycling path, Swift felt a nagging feeling of familiarity hit him. His days of free roaming were over now that he lived with Sibyl, and even before then he had to be smart about how he traveled, but...why was this so familiar? He felt like he had been here before, but why he would think so was not coming to him. Sibyl again interrupted his thoughts when she asked, "Say, uh, Swift? I was wondering...you've been getting better at this whole agility thing." he muttered, only half listening, and then not listening at all once realization hit him. He came by this path once a week for a while before he met Sibyl. He had just never been to this part of the park, having to keep to a strict path that gave him plenty of places to hide from people while he went on his scavenging runs. "Ah-HEM!" she cleared her throat, making him look at her. "Did you hear me?" he asked with a shake of his head, still feeling like he was forgetting something important. "I was saying, there's this beginner agility contest coming up in a month. I thought you- hey, what're you..." she trailed off as his eyes widened and he hurried further along the path. "Would you please listen for a sec?" she asked in exasperation as she followed him. Swift finally remembered: He came here once a week to meet that old man George, who gave him decent food while he played chess with a friend of his. But the last time Swift saw him was the night he was caught, and that was some...four months ago? George had been the only human he felt like he could trust, but after suddenly not showing up ever again, would he be worried that something happened? Something [u]did[/u] happen: The former stray had a home now, but George had no way to know that. Soon, Swift could see the tables. Now would George be here? "If you wanna go somewhere, could you just wait for me?" Sibyl grumbled. "Seriously, what's going on?" No sign of George, which he figured would happen. But there was one human he recognized: George's friend Leanne, sitting by herself and reading a book. She never liked him, so he had no idea if she would help him, but she was his best shot. he beckoned Sibyl with a wave of his paw as he ran for the tables. "What, see someone you know?" she asked as she followed him. He answered only with a quick before he slowed his run to a walk. Gulping, he approached Leanne and gave her a nervous smile, almost flinching when she looked away from her book at him. "What do you want?" Looking behind him at Sibyl, she asked the girl, "Is he yours?" with a point at the Zangoose. "Yes. I um, I'm sorry but he just suddenly ran here while we were on our walk," she answered politely. "Does he know you or something?" She looked back at Swift, then her eyebrows rose slightly. "Are you that stray who bugged us once a week?" he said with an excited nod. he asked, looking around and hoping she could understand his confusion. "Well well, so you're still around. It's been a while, hasn't it? But you still like interrupting me, I see," she noted. "I'm sorry for us bothering you," Sibyl spoke up, "but he got caught in my building a while back, and he's been living with us for a couple months now. I guess it's just been a while since-" "He doesn't want to see me," Leanne interrupted knowingly. "He was probably hoping George would be here to give him food again, aren't you?" [i]"Grrr...that's not the real reason...but, just...play along for now, Swift,"[/i] he growled in his head. he asked, nodding. "Sorry, but he's not feeling well. Last I checked, he was staying at home today." [i]"He's sick? Is he okay? Er, will he [u]be[/u] okay? He is kinda old...what if..."[/i] he mentally rambled, wringing his paws worriedly. "...Swift? What's wrong?" Sibyl asked, but Swift did not answer, too caught up in his growing worry that if George thought something happened to him, he might never know the truth. "Listen, um, I'm sorry again to bug you, but whoever George is, it looks like Swift really needs to see him." That got Swift's attention, and the Zangoose nodded at both of them. Leanne tapped a finger on the table and quirked her lips. "...Okay. Here, you have some paper?" After Sibyl handed her their workout notebook, Leanne wrote the address down and pointed behind her. "You can get there on the bus easy enough. Line 6 goes pretty much right past his house, and it'll be coming by in a little bit." Swift said with a smile, something he never thought he would do to Leanne, and looked at Sibyl hopefully as they started walking to the bus stop. "...Uh, Swift? This is kind of on the other side of the city...you think we can just go tomorrow?" she said uncertainly. He shook his head, trying to pull her onward. "But," she sighed, "we kinda need to get back home. I mean, I told you I got homework I put off enough that I kinda need to- what?" he begged, standing on his hind legs to clasp his front paws together. He hoped she could understand through his tone and body language, if not his words, how important this was to him. She bit her lip, at first shaking her head, but then he gave her the most pleading face he could muster, which got another, more defeated sigh out of her. "...Okay...you win this time. But we're making this quick!" she warned him. he replied with a grateful nuzzle. Before long, they were on the bus. Swift kept close to Sibyl, trying not to look at the other passengers whether they were humans or Pokemon. Truth be told, he kind of wanted to be as small as he felt, his ears swiveled back as his eyes went back and forth between the floor and Sibyl. He really felt that this had to be done now, but it was not until they were on the bus and he had time to think that he started feeling guilty for putting Sibyl through this trouble. That was another thing he was not very used to: Guilt. After an uncomfortably quiet ride, they left the bus in a residential part of the city's outskirts. Sibyl checked the address they were looking for against a few nearby addresses and then waved for him to follow as she started walking. "All right, should be only a block or so this way," she said. Looking back at him still sulking and avoiding her gaze, she stopped and turned to face him. "Hey. What's your deal? I thought you wanted to see this guy." he muttered. "If you're sorry, thanks, but don't worry about it. You don't ask for much. If this is that important to you, I'll probably figure it was dumb to be mad in the first place," she replied, reaching down to pat his head. He finally looked up at her face, a bit relieved to see her smiling. "Kay?" He nodded, smiling back. Once they reached the address, Sibyl looked down at Swift as she rang the doorbell. "Now, remember, be polite and stick with me. And please, stay out of their garbage," she warned. He chuckled nervously at her remembering a little misbehavior of his from a recent visit to one of her friends. His ears perked up at approaching footsteps, and when a woman who looked about George's age stood before them, Swift looked at Sibyl expectantly. "Can I help you, young lady?" she asked. "Hi, um...this is a little awkward, but my Pokemon here," Sibyl said, pointing at Swift, "is looking for someone named George?" "I'm sorry, but he's not feeling well right now. Who shall I say is looking for him?" "My name's Sibyl and his name's Swift, but I don't know George. I think Swift here used to-" "Lisa?" called a man's voice from behind the woman, one Swift recognized despite its hoarseness. "Who is it?" At hearing that voice, the Zangoose could wait no longer. He zipped past the woman, mentally apologizing to Sibyl at hearing her call his name and running a couple rooms in to the source of the voice. He skidded to a halt at seeing George resting on a couch. The old man looked at him questioningly, apparently not very bothered by this Pokemon running into his house. "...Yes?" he said simply. Swift smiled at him as he slowly approached. he asked. [b]Hey![/b] came both Sibyl's voice and another female voice in the Pokemon language. Looking aside, Swift saw a Pidgey sitting on a perch by the window, her feathers fluffed in irritation. she squawked. "I'm so sorry...Swift! What'd I tell you?!" Sibyl snapped as she and Lisa came into the room. Seeing George, she moved behind Swift. "I'm sorry, sir, I swear he's not always this bad." "Well, I'm awake now...so, what can I do for you?" he said, clearing his throat as he sat up. Sibyl looked down at Swift, nudging him forward. "We were sent here by someone named Leanne. I guess Swift here used to know you?" she asked. Swift nodded. "Leanne..." George said, rubbing his chin before the answer came to him. "Well well well...it's been a while, hasn't it, fella? How've you been?" he asked the Zangoose with a smile. Nodding, Swift walked up to him, brushing against his leg affectionately. Sibyl looked back and forth between them and asked, "So you [u]do[/u] know him?" "I could ask you the same thing," George replied. "But I...'scuse me," he interrupted himself before he let out a sneeze. "He plays chess with a friend of ours in the park," Lisa explained, "and there was a stray Zangoose who came by to see him 'cause George'd give him some food every time." "And I was wondering what happened to you," he said as he reached down to pet Swift, to the Zangoose's loud purring. "But did you say his name was Swift? Do you know him, too?" he asked Sibyl. "Um...yeah. He lives with me now. My family, I mean. That's what I named him," Sibyl explained. "Is that right? So this fella here got himself somewhere to live after all," George mused with a chuckle, looking up to smile at Sibyl. "Any friend of this fella...or Swift, I guess...is a friend of mine." Sibyl smiled back. "I'm sorry if we bothered you, but Swift's been dragging me around to see you. I guess he was worried about you after your friend said you were sick?" she suggested. Swift asked, looking at George worriedly. the Pidgey huffed from her perch. "Oh, I am. But it's just a cold is all," George replied, to which Swift gave a sigh of relief. "Believe it or not, it's not always about 'my old trick ankle' or whatever with old people; sometimes we just plain get colds," he added with a shrug, getting a snicker out of Sibyl. "Ah...good. I'm sure Swift's happy to hear that too, aren't you?" she asked him, getting a nod back. "But if you're not feeling good now, maybe we should come back and finish catching up another time, like...about now on next Saturday?" After George and Lisa agreed, Sibyl looked down at Swift. "So, say goodbye, Swift, and let's get rolling." As George gave him a last scratch behind his ears, Swift nuzzled into his hand. "See ya later, then," he said to the Pokemon before looking at Sibyl, "and thanks for what you've done for this guy." "Same to you," she said with a thumbs-up. Once they were back outside, Sibyl and Swift looked at each other. Swift quickly looked down shyly, feeling newly apologetic about his behavior. he muttered. "Hey," she said simply. When he looked back at her, she shook her head with a smile. "Don't you remember what I said? Don't worry about it. I get what this was about now, and I'm glad we did it." Leaning down to pat him, she gave him a knowing nod. "I don't know what things were like for you before you lived with me, but now we're friends, and friends just help each other. Right?" His shame melted away at hearing her call them "friends." Having never really had any friends before, he had been waiting to hear her call him that for a while now. He wondered, he hoped they were friends, and now she finally said it herself. He barely heard her surprised gasp as he stood up and hugged her, maybe not the most Zangoose-like way to show affection but one he knew would get his point across. To his relief, she did not ask why he did that; she just hugged him back. [u]Scripted Encounters[/u] On the other hand, sometimes it's the more deliberate encounters that have the real action. While I was writing "Random Encounters" ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13208649/ ), there was one bit of the plot that I felt was unresolved, but it wound up that I couldn't smoothly work it into the story. But, as you may have noticed, this year hasn't been a very productive one for me as far as writing is concerned...so far, anyway. It got to the point where I figured doing something had to be better than doing nothing, so I thought I should at least wrap things up for my own sake and a couple of my friends'. After yet more time passed and I still couldn't get myself to write a story, I thought, why not share this? It's nothing special, no, but that doesn't mean it's bad. Story and characters by me. Pokemon (c) Nintendo, Game Freak, etc. Keywords: Clean Pokemon Zangoose (M) human (F) short