Act 42: Double Date

After all of that sex, there is nothing better than sleeping together all bundled up like this. Pleasured and comfortable.
The next morning comes, and there is already something going on at the War room in the mansion.
It looks like Stic is having some sort of talk with the hologram of Mattias. "...And what do you mean we might need someone special to get the Sanitarium up to work well?"

Khaako nods in agreement with Mattias. "Well," She says to Stic. "You didn't think you could just stick any person in a position that requires them to have advanced knowledge of how the body works, and expect them to do well, did you?"

"No, of course I didn't." Stic sighs. "But I don't know anyone with a particularly mastery of medicine that would get the standards Mattias said was needed." He says.
"There is going to be a library to teach more about treatment in there but it was made with 'teaching more advanced medicine' in mind. It's not going to be anything basic like just using recovery. Wounds from Iron need something more than Heal Pulse." The human explains. "This can't be an impossible task right? You have been through worse. The coffers are still doing good...right?" The financial situation has to be good of course.
He nods. "Yes, we still have plenty of Poké at the moment, the war might start draining it though."

Khaako nods to that last part. Especially since they won't be pillaging they can't get a quick fix on that. Although it certainly helps that they're not spending it on stupid things that the previous lord spent it on.

"The problem I see is that we need someone to get the word out, and in times like these there aren't many people traveling." Stic explains the issue.
"There is Sebastian right, he hasn't left yet, maybe there is still time."
The Meowstic raises a brow at that. "Are you sure? After that talk we had yesterday, Ashshell's guildmaster looked really troubled." He hums in thought. "I suppose it is not a bad idea..."
Mattias turns to Khaako. "Though I wonder, since Sebastian is a human and part of the Protectorate...or was part of the original one. Where does he stand within your laws? Does this fact make him a member of the new Protectorate? You know, the Avali one?"

"I suppose it would." Khaako replies as she scratches her chin. "We've never really had that situation before where there was someone technically a human but in a non-human body."

"You were never prepared for such an eventuality?"
"Whatever the case, I will have someone bring him to us." The Meowstic said before raising his ears to reveal the eyes under them as he starts using telepathy to relay his orders without having to go anyway.

Back in the Barthol, Ranii yawns as she awakens, sitting up on the bed and stretches her arms to the sky. She scratches the back of her head, and notices she's now free from the knot, and his cock in general. She very carefully moves away, and is about to maneuver past Ara when her ears begin to twitch, and she hears a familiar voice in her head. 
Upon hearing it, she immediately shakes Luca awake.

Although Ranii is free of Luca's knot, it looks like he got it stuck on Ara now...looks like they did something extra while the Avali was sleeping. Shaking him does wake him up though. "uuuuhh? Wha....?"

"Hey, wake up big guy!" Ranii shakes further awake. "Stic's calling us."
She notices he's stuck in Ara.
"Seems you two had a little fun without me." She says with a smile.

"Calling us? Why? Is the campaign about to start?" Luca is fully awake now, thinking this must be serious.
Ara groans and shifts a bit, her hips being pulled by the Lucario's movement. "Mmmmm....." She stretches her body and looks back at the two of them. "Morning."

"Morning, love!" She leans in and kisses the Abra's forehead. "Seems you two had a bit of fun while I was asleep." She giggles.
"Though, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take him back now. Stic's calling for us again. I don't know what it's about, but it's not a good idea to leave him waiting."

Ara giggled from the kiss. "Aaaaaw really? Okay then. Luca, you can pull out now right?"
"Yeah, best I do that before I get hard in you again." The Lucario puts a paw on her hips and pulls his cock out of her pussy, it makes 'pop!' sound when it does so. "There we go."
That was a nice little sound to her. "Mmmmm~ getting knotted was really good~" Ara said to him. Then she decides to get a bit less lewd, it looks like they need to get going now after all. "Well anyways, looks like you two have a place to be."

"Yeah, unfortunately we do." Ranii sighs. She'd love to go another round, but... work calls. 
"Funny how stuff always seems to happen lately when we wake up." She slightly grumbles to herself.

Luca gets off the bed and gets ready to leave whenever Ranii is ready to do the same. "I wonder what Stic is calling us for this time."

"As I said, I have no idea. We'll probably find out when we get there." She replies to Luca.
She turns to Ara.
"Ready to teleport us out of here? If it's not too much to ask, could you drop us off at the manor instead of going back to the Bar? That might save us some time."

"Hhhmmm...Alright since i really like you two, i can give you a little shortcut to the mansion." Ara offers her hands to them. "Just come here."

Ranii nods, getting close to Ara. Giving her a light kiss as she gets close. A quick, light one on the cheek.
"Thank you." She says.

Luca approaches too so he can be teleported with his partner.
"Thanks for the night." Ara said with a smile. Then she hugged the both of them and teleported. It wasn't a one leap trip though, it took more than one teleportation but eventually she got them to the front of the mansion. She then let go of them and brings her hands to her head. "uurrgh..."

Ranii is about to thank her friend for the ride, but once she sees that her friend is in discomfort, she right away hugs her. "Ara? Are you okay?!"

The Lucario gets some worries too. "What happened?"
"Minor headache, I'm fine." She says reassuringly.

"Are you sure?" Ranii asks. She holds for just a bit, just to make sure her friend is okay. But... she really needs to go, quickly.
"Well, if... if you insist. Alright. We'll see you later, Ara!" She takes Luca by the arm as she hurries to the war room to see what Stic wants.

She waves to them as they go, now Ara is going to walk back to her establishment, at least a little bit until she feels better to teleport.
"Ah, there you are." The Meowstic said when he saw the Lucario and the Avali coming in.
"What is going on, Master?" Luca asks.
He gets to explaining why he called them here. "I hope you are alright with a few more tasks, with the preparations for the campaign taking center stage. I need your help with some things."

"Sorry we were late. We were at Ara's place when I heard you calling." Ranii says as she comes in. 
"You need but to ask." Ranii responds with a polite bow. "What kind of tasks do we need to do?"

"Well, first and foremost I need you to tell Fort Sandgun of the bandit problem we have along the north, with most of our forces going in other directions. I'm afraid I need to ask them to do something about it." He just hopes he doesn't need to add the request for them to NOT use artillery for this. "And i need you to get Sebastian, we need to talk with him one last time before he has to go, Mattias tells me we need to ask something of him."

"I presume you want to add the stipulation for us NOT to use the artillery?" Ranii adds for him on that first one. "Might want to add that since bandits aren't specifically covered. Not that I suspect they'd use it. But you never know..."
"At any rate," Ranii gives her head a slight shake. "We should probably fetch that Sebastian fellow first. I presume he's still here?"

"Yes, it would be great if we didn't used artillery, specially for something so simple." He said with a sigh. "And yes. I haven't got any word from Shrewn about him leaving, so he is still around here."

"Yeah, I agree. They'll probably just send a team or something." Ranii says in response to the first point.
"And alright. We'll go get him now." She takes a bow, and leaves to sebastian's room to fetch him for Stic.

It's good to know they won't be doing anything 'overkill' about this issue. Stic can rest easy.
Luca follows Ranii to go look for Sebastian, they spot him and his friends on the the entrance hall, looks like he is on his way to leave with them. Best go talk with him now.

"Hey! Sebastian!" Ranii huffs as she runs up to them, hoping to catch their attention before they can get the chance to leave. "Wait!"

The trio stopped when the Avali called out to it's leader.
"Oh? What is it?" The Oshawott asks her.
"You are leaving already?" Luca asks him questions, seeing how he, Burr and Riley were heading to the doors.
"Yeah."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that just yet." She says to him. "Stic wants to talk to you about something yet. I'm not sure what, but it sounded important."

"Really?" Sebastian thinks for a moment and turns to Burr and Riley. "You guys wait here, alright? I don't think this is going to take long." And with that he starts making his way to the War Room, where Stic and his councilors surely are waiting for him for whatever conversation they want to have.

Ranii leads him back to the war room. Giving a polite bow to Stic as she comes in, and stands by the doorway.

"Khaako, he is here." The Meowstic calls to the Avali Councilor.
"What seems to be the problem?" The Oshawott curiously asks as he approaches stic.
"Well, you see. Guildmaster of the Ashshell guild...we need your help." He is being all respectful with him.

Khaako's hologram flickers into being, for all to see her tiny form.
"Ah, yes. Good." She says to the male feline before turning to the Oshawott. 
"Yes. Quite so. By now you've no doubt been told about the Sanitarium we intend to open here?" She asks, adding onto Stic's words the other guildmaster.

Sebastian nods. "Yeah, it is to give medical aid to the citizens, right?" That is a prospect that he is glad about, and wishes there are other initiatives like this.
"Indeed. We need your help with it." Stic says. "I was told that the Sanitarium requires someone specialized, someone with experience willing to move to Sandstone to help get the Sanitarium running correctly."
"Oh, I see." He has his hands full with the trip back to the Land of Snow, he is not sure if he can really help...though this depends on what exactly will be asked of him.
"And we ask that you try to find that individual, I do not know where to start looking and I have a lot to worry about in the future."

"Yes. While we are also in the process of creating a school to teach individuals these, amongst other skills, that will unfortunately take time. Time I'm afraid we cannot afford." Khaako tells him as well.

"What kind of pokémon are you looking for then?" Sebastian asks, trying to think of who he could look for, from the get go he can't say he knows someone.
"Again, someone that knows about helping people, is skilled in doing so and would be willing to come here." Stic repeats the requirements. "And i will also be offering Poké should they come here, a generous amount." He added. He figured it's best.
"Right, I guess I can look for someone and I will tell them what you are doing. Can't say i can guarantee it though."
"Hhhmmmm..." It would be better than nothing, at least.

"I suppose that will have to be the best we can hope for. At least in the short term." Khaako sighs.

"Very good." Khaako tells him.

"There is something bothering me though..." Sebastian is sounding a bit serious now. "That guy that attacked me and my friends. Where is he?"
"His fine was paid by Mattias and he left town with that Linoone." Stic replied. "We haven't seen him since. If don't have any other questions, that will be all, there is nothing stopping you from leaving."
He sighs. He just really hopes that Jovanny guy doesn't come after him still. "Alright then, I'm off to the north. I wish you luck." And with that the Oshawott turned to leave the war room and go back to the entrance to reunite with his two companions to leave for his trip back to the Land of Snow

"Well..." Ranii says after they leave. "Let's hope that ends out well."
"Yes... quite so." Khaako replies. "While we could put an Avali in that position for the very very short term, the idea is to get you guys to do these things yourselves, not to rely on us for everything for all of eternity."
"Will there be anything else?" Ranii asks."If not, we'll be headed for Sandgun base to talk with them about the bandits."

"No, that should be all." Stic says to her question. "You can go deliver the news of the bandits to Sandgun now."

"Very well." She bows politely and then turns to leave with Luca in tow.
Once they reach the teleporter, they're about to use it, when suddenly a flash of light appears in the teleporter, the light soon forming into a familiar shape.
"... Easani?!" Ranii says out in surprise.
"Ngh, so that's what teleporting feels like." Easani says as he shakes his head. "It's going to take a while to get used to that." He turns to Ranii and Luca. "Oh hey Luca, er... Renali? Rinii? Rhaomi?" He can't quite seem to remember her name. 
"... Ranii." The cream colored avali replies flatly.
"Oh! Right right." He replies awkwardly, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
"So uh... what brings you out here?" Ranii asks partially out of curiosity, partially to break up the awkwardness.
"Well, I had some time off, so I decided today's the day I came back to sandstone to check things out. Plus, well.." He takes a bag tied to his hips off its holder, the sound of metallic clinking can be heard inside, and one can only assume there's poke' inside. "Yeah. Today's the day I pay my tab." 
The leafeon looks around. "I say I don't quite remember this place though. Where is this, anyway?"
"You're in the mansion. Or what was the former lord's mansion." Ranii informs him. "Nowadays it's the..." She pauses, looking for the word. It occurs to her that they haven't officially renamed the mansion into something else. "... City hall?" ... Yes, that'll do.
"Ah, I never saw that part when I was here last. For fairly obvious reasons." He replies. "I heard the brat liked to erm... 'collect' eeveelutions." A small scowl forms on his lips as he says 'collect'. "Luckily for me, I was apparently too male for his tastes. Still, though..."

Ah, so that Easani fellow finally came here, Luca wasn't expecting it but there is really nothing bad about it. "Yeah, I am happy to have been the instrument of their deaths with my partner here." He looked to Ranii for a moment as he said that. "And his collection are no longer bound as 'slaves in all but name'."
The teleporter is activated again, and with a flash of light a someone gets teleported in. It's a Decidueye...a familiar one, that is Duci. She came following Easani. "Sorry, I was a bit hesitant to step into this thing."
"You...!" The Lucario is more surprised to see her than anything else. "Duci...why are you here?"
"Oh you didn't heard?" The Owl raises a brow. "Well, I am no longer part of the Grove, I want no part of it anymore."

Ranii was about to reach for her spear, when Rani hears what she says. 
"Wait... really?" She looks to Easani.
"It's true!" He says, holding his arms up. "Wait, you mean you didn't know? I though-" He stops himself mid sentence. "Oh, that's right. You weren't with him when Stic came and gave her the official pardon and everything. He had that 'Mattias' guy with him."
Ranii blinks, unsure of what to say.
"Well... Umm... uh... That certainly is news to say the least. I'm happy for you. I'm surprised, to say the least."

"Don't you think she turned too soon?" Luca is not too trusting of her, given all she did...he knows she is one for tricks and deceiving. "You are not up to anything, are you?"
"Of course not." She answered him. Duci isn't very surprised by this, nor does she hold anything against him, she knew there was going to be something like this. She hopes the citizens don't recognize her, though maybe they won't but she best not to stand out. "I know it might be hard to believe..."

"I was there, talking to her every day. Trust me, it's real." Easani wraps an arm around her and gives her a side hug.
"Well... congratulations!" Ranii finally gets her bearings on what to say.  "And welcome back to sandstone, Under, hopefully different circumstances this time. So uh.... What exactly are you two here for?
"Like I said, had some off time, so I decided to come visit. And since Duci has nothing better to do or anywhere else to go, she decided to come with. Plus I really need to pay off the Barthol tab, as I said. I ran up quiiite the tab when I was here last. And not just on drinks, mind you."

The hug is comforting, but Duci can still see that that Luca is giving her the stink eye...it's a bit uncomfortable "I never thought i would come to Sandstone again." She said, trying not to sound awkward with Luca looking at her like that. "What's going to happen now? The Grove did not attack again, right...?"

"They haven't been seen or heard from since the attack, no." Ranii says. "As for what will happen, well... we were just on our way to Sandgun to discuss exactly that."
"I'll still get my day off, right?" Easani asks to himself. Unfortunately, Ranii heard him. 
"I'm fairly certain." She replies to him, shocking him a bit.
"Did anyone ever mention you avali have frighteningly good hearing?" He stratches his ears.

"Yeah, very much so, I doubt anyone can sneak up on an Avali." Luca said, proud of his partner's capability.
"So it seems." Duci comments, such powerful hearing the Avali have, even with her very good eyesight she feels a bit of envy. "Easani, is it really okay with you for me to come along?"

"Well, yes. As long as you stick by me, everything should be okay." Easani replies to Duci. He looks back to them. "Speaking of, we'll be on our way now. Lots to see. I'm curious to see what they did with the old guild."
He nods to Duci, and begins to wander off towards town.

Luca watches as the Ducidueye and the Leafeon leave the mansion and head to town. He then sighs. "I know she went through a lot but...you think Easani is sure this is a good call? Duci showed us that she is very deceitful and fiercely loyal to this 'princess'."

"Well..." Ranii shrugs. "I'm not entirely sure myself. I mean, we weren't there when he talked to her all those times. I mean..." Ranii pauses for a bit before continuing. "If Duci was trying to just take him for a ride, she could have flown away the moment she got here. And, I doubt she was faking the whole 'got raped by her CO' thing."

"Yeah, I believe her on that front too." Luca then looks to the teleporter. "So, Shall we?"

"Yeah, let us go. I'll go first." Ranii goes in, and pushes the button on the screen. A list of destinations comes up. Right now of course, there's only one. Sandgun. She taps another button to confirm her destination, and, in a flash of light, she disappears. A moment later, she opens and steps off the platform, the familiar sight of the looming artillery gun filling her eyes.
---------
Easani's first destination is, ironically enough, not the Barthol. But rather, something else. The old Sandstone guild.
"Hmmm..." By all outward appearances, the guild hasn't changed at all. The windows, the doors, etc. Are all intact. What is new however, is that the guild's mantle has been replaced, by a large cross or plus sign, and a sign on top saying "Clinic" with an advertisement saying "psychological help available."
"Ironic." Easani comments, knowing full well the kind of shit that went on here before all of this started. That it would be used to help rape victims instead of creating them now. There's something... Wholesome, and poetic about this. "People can actually get help here now."

Luca followed her doing the same. Entering the teleporter, choosing Sandgun as the destination and pressing another button to confirm. He got teleported there too. "Alright, here we are." He looks around for someone, he thinks they might need to ask to be taken to base's commander so they can relay their message.
----
"hhhmmm, there was a guild here before, no?" Duci comments, thinking for a moment. "Oh yes, this is used to be the guild that the Grove negotiated with to have them betray Sandstone...from what I heard it wasn't very difficult, the Heliolisk guildmaster was not loyal to Sandstone, just himself." 

Ranii nods. If the previous encounters are anything to go by, there should be someone to greet them in order to affirm that yes, they were indeed supposed to be there, and weren't just an overly curious guard or civie that somehow managed to sneak in.
As luck would have it, they're approached by a familiar large metal serpent.
"Ah, hello, it's you two again. The two that were escorting Stic the other day. Is he coming for another visit?" He asks cordially.
"Not today." Ranii replies. "We're here to relay something on his behalf, however. An... order of sorts."
"Ah." Seph relies. "I believe you'll want to talk to the base commander. If you'll follow me..."
-------
"Yeah... most of them were." Easani grumbles. "Loyal to themselves, that is. There were a few that weren't, but they were constantly bullied or kept underfoot by the other guild members, and from the reports, they suffered horribly as slaves before the Night Witches pack took the last of the traitors in the sands."
Easani shrugs.
"Well, no matter. Not really the reason I came here. But yeah, they were real shitheads. I had an... unfortunate meeting with some of them back before the Avali showed up. Fuckers took what little money I had. Was lucky I didn't get my badge stolen at the time." He grumbles at the less than pleasant memories. 
"You know..." He changes the topic after a pause. "This is where it all began. All this stuff with the Avali I mean."

"Ah, yes, Hello." The Lucario greeted the Synth. Then when he told them to follow he obliged and walked with him. Looking to, this Seph fellow sure is huge, bigger than that Protogen he saw before.
----
Duci raised a brow at that last part. She also wishes to say 'sorry' for what he went through but he changed the subject, maybe that was for the best. "This is where it all began? What do you mean exactly?"

"Normally, Easani is the one to do these sorts of greetings. But he's got his day off." Seph explains as he walks.
"We noticed." Ranii replied flatly.
The synth leads them to the command tent, and Ranii walks inside, noting the usual avalis at their computers and holo lens, doing... normal command pack things.
The commander is at their desk, looking at some papers before his ears twitch, hearing the giant synth enter, and the two come in.
"Ah... Stic's possie, I presume?" He says. "I notice he's not with you. Is something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, commander." Ranii says. "We're simply here to relay a... request from Stic."
------
"Well, did anyone tell you how this all began? With Ghost Bear and all that? And the Linoone that came from the maze?" He takes a deep breath before continuing. "Well, right before that, the Linoone went to this guild. She tried to join. She was trying to save that Shinx kid, you see. Well, you can imagine how well that went..."

Luca nods and gets to telling the commander Avali what this trip is all about. "Stic asks for help dealing with bandits to the north of Sandstone."
------
"I got a vague idea, I know things here and there but I don't know the entire picture." Duci says. "The thought of this place being part of the history of the Ghost Bear Pack...it's just something that didn't really cross my mind at all. Is it just about that Linoone though?"

"I see." The commander replies, his eyes go back to his papers. "I'll have Black Wings or one of the packs deal with it. Is there anything else?"
 ---
"All that relates to here, yes." Easani nods to her question. "I guess once we find time to sit down and chat, I'll have to tell you the entire tale. Suffice it to say I didn't actually see the rape happen, I was in the Barthol at the time. Seeing something else playing out. Something I didn't know was connected untill months later." He recalls. "After leaving the Barthol I encountered Linoone. See, I was hoping to sneak out, since I didn't have a guild badge." He scratches his chin. "Huh, I wonder if that's still a rule around here. Er, nevermind." 
He realizes he's getting off track. "Anyway, the guard was on duty and arguing with her over... well... leaving. At the time I didn't think anything of it. But I knew I couldn't get past either of them like that. I was wandering around that very night wondering what to do then, when I saw her again, over by that abandoned building over there" He points to an abandoned foundation of a building. "trying to heat up that metal guild mural, apparently trying to make iron out of it over a wooden fire." 
He chuckles at the absurd notion of it. "Now, normally that wasn't my business, but I could tell she was up to something. Especially when she burned her hand on it, kicked the fire in rage, and yelled at the heavens to help her. After a while of watching her, I was going to try and at least make small talk. But then... I heard this noise. There was a huge metal thing floating above her. Of course, I know now what it was, but at the time.. I nearly pissed myself!"

The Lucario looks to his partner. "Is there anything else?"
----
Duci is listening to everything with much attention, frankly surprised that Easani has some visual knowledge of what happened here. "So you were here to see the day all of that started? What was this 'huge metal thing' you are talking about?"

"It doesn't seem like it. I don't think Stic told us to tell him anything else." Ranii shrugs. Her eyes suddenly go wide.
"Oh, wait!" She says. "He also told us to tell you not to use the artillery."
"Well, I wasn't planning on using that on a bunch of lowly bandits anyway. Not even for practice." The base commander sighs. 
"if that'll be all..." The base commander waves dismissively. "As I said, I'll have one of the other packs deal with it."
-----
"A dropship." Easani explains. "You'll probably see one sooner or later, but it's a large flying thing the Avali use to get around on... whenever teleporting is, for whatever reason, not available to them. I"ve seen one at the base once. When it was delivering parts for the gun. But beyond that, they don't seem to use them very often."
"Oh, and yes, I was there that night. I didn't see the whole thing though. As soon as that big dropship appeared, I high tailed it out of there. By the time it left, the Linoone was gone. After that, I knocked out the gate guard and made a beeline for the dungeon, as between what I thought was a guild member after me, and that thing, I wanted to put some distance between myself and this town. Plus, I didn't really like this place much to be honest. Though... "
He looks around.
"I must say, things have gotten better since last time."

"Alright then. I thank you all for your time." Luca leaves the commander pack's tent.
----
"Hhmmmm...yeah." She agrees with him. "I can't argue with that, whatever Stic is doing it's certainly going the opposite direction compared to how the old nobles ruled this town."

Ranii leaves along with him, and the two of them head back to the teleporter. "Is there anything else on today's list?" She asks Luca just as she reaches it.
---
"Yeah. It looks good so far. I'm quite impressed." He says. "I mean, take this place, for example. It went from a guild that would rape would-be joiners in broad daylight without a care in the world, to a place where rape victims can go to receive help."

The Lucario thinks hard for a moment, maybe...maybe it's best to ask not to give 'that' another chance, especially since they might not get another chance any time soon. "Wanna go on a date...?"
----
"Mmm-mmm." The Owl nods to him, still looking at the former guildhall. "Say, that tap you said you got to pay, is it really that much?"

"Sure. With Joselyn calmed down these days, it might even work this time!" She takes Lucario by the hand, and gives him a quick peck on the cheek.
----
He looks down at his bag. He tosses it in his hand, and gives a loud sigh. "Yeah... yeah it is." He grips it with determination. "Those were not happy times, I'll freely admit. Though... thanks for reminding me."
Seeing no point in remaining in here any longer, he nods to Duci, and begins to make his way towards the Barthol.
"Let's hope it's still here..." He says. Seeing the sign, he breathes a small sigh of relief. 
"Good, the attack didn't claim this place."

He blushes and gives her a little kiss on the head in return. "Yeah, let's go have some time together."
----
The Decidueye is a little surprised that there is a place like this in Sandstone that is still standing, one would expect members of the Grove to go for such a place and 'occupy' it with such fervor it would leave it ruined. "Hhhmmm, never quite understood why someone would want to be employed in such a place..."

She takes him by the hand and leads him out of the mansion, not taking him to town, but instead leading him to a familiar spot, towards where the last 'date' took place, before slutbunny's rude interruption.
----------
"Well, me neither.  Well, I mean I kind of understood it during the nobility days, lack of economic mobility and all, but still..." He nods his head. "Still though, the barkeep was a good fellow. And so was that Eevee I had my eye on before the breloom came. Huh... I wonder what happened to them?" It seems Easani is not quite aware that the eevee girl from the bar and the Jolteon that joined the Ghost Bears are one and the same.
"Well, no point in putting this off any further." He takes a breath, and takes the bag in hand. "Let's get this over with." He goes into the Barthol, past the little gate 'doors' on the inside. As he looks around, he sees the Barthol is brimming with activity as normal. A very very attractive espeon taking it in the puss from behind by a growlthite, a Zoura in the corner sipping a drink, a poochyena  sucking off a Ampharos, presumably one of the guards on a break. And in another corner, on some pillows, with about 3, no, 4 pokemon of various kinds gathered around a large Lopunny.
"Huh, that one's new." He comments to himself. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't see the eevee at the bar, or anywhere. He can only assume she's either evolved or moved on. Well, it's not like it matters. The leafeon is not here for that right now anyway. 
Instead, he looks to the counter.

Luca hopes, REALLY HOPES, that this time nothing ruins their precious moment with Ranii. He just wants to have a good time together with her. When they both got there, everything seems fine to sit around. "So...Ranii I wanted to ask, you don't mind if I had a partner before you, right?"
----
"Oh, I almost mistook that one for a Male. She is...really enjoying her job it seems." She commented on the big Lopunny. Now for the counter. How can a female get so big....?
The Abra sitting on the counter looks at them, it takes her a few moments to recognize Easani and eyes the bag of money he's got. "Oh hey I remember you. I hope you are here to pay that tab, otherwise I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." She isn't one to forget a debt, but she is still being upbeat and polite with him.

"Of course not. I've had a few lovers here and there from time to time in my travels." Ranii tells him cheerfully. "If you want to talk about it, go ahead."
----
"Don't worry." Easani takes out the tied bag and gives it a toss into the air, the coins clinking against one another as they fly into the air, and then land in his hand. He then gives  it a light underhanded toss towards Abra.
"You'll find the full poke in there, plus a bit of interest." He says. "A little apology for taking this long to come and pay you back."
Now that he's in conversation... 'Ara' her name was, right? He looks around a bit, still not seeing the Eevee and still seeing that big Lopunny. 
"So um, I see things have really changed a lot since I was last here." He says, looking for a convo topic.

"Ah well it wasn't really like that with her." Because it wasn't really possible for him to go to that level, since he didn't have a dick and all. "But my first partner was A Kirlia named Lia."
-----
With telekinesis on Ara's part, the bag floated before it could hit the counter. "Mmmmm..." She shakes the bag shakes to hear the click of the coins again. "Yeah, it sounds good to me." She then moves on to the other topic the Leafeon seems to want to talk about. "You have no idea. The town is now owned by the Four Eyes and they want to make things better for us for a change! Like, actually better with a lasting effect. And I also got an interesting employee at the time too."

Ranii nods politely as she listens intently. "Go on."
------
"Yeah, I know. I got employed by their... eh... 'benefactors'." While he no doubts the Psychic type can probe his mind, he doesn't want to say 'The Avali' out in public like this. 
"And by 'new employee', you mean the lopunny there?" He sideways-nods towards Joslyn. It's not that hard to figure out. "I kinda noticed..."
He looks around, once more for the eevee. 
"Say, whatever happened to that eevee girl you had employed? Erm... Just curious." Easani says with a slight blush on his face.

"She was the first person i began putting my trust on, after i escaped from slavery and joined the guild. I don't really know what she saw in me at the time but she stuck with me, and we did jobs together for the guild." He sighs. "i think all of that was only bearable because she was there to make sure i didn't do anything stupid."
------
"Oh, Veera? It's a bit of a long story." Her smile falters a little bit, thinking about those times brings memories of her dead lover. "So Gaben had gotten his grimly scaled...arm things on her and took her away, forced her to evolve into a Jolteon. But she got out of that one. She had a friend she wanted to save..."

"Sounds like you really had a thing for her." She puts an hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "What happened to her?"
---
"Veera huh? ...Why does that name sound familiar?" Easani wonders aloud as he listens. 
"ugh, Gaben. I remember that little shit. Glad he's dead-" Suddenly his eyes go wide from realization.
"Wait, a Jolteon? This... 'Veera' girl... her friend wasn't a Shinx by any chance, was it? And she didn't happen to have a Linoone friend, did she?" He suddenly asks.

"We were covering a thing in the dungeon and...the locals weren't too happy that time." He says, his tone getting grim... "It was just the two of us at the time."
---
"Oh?" Ara raises brow, how can this grass-type fellow be a little ahead of the curve. "Yeah, how did you know? You saw them?"
Meanwhile Duci looks away when that Lopunny begins staring at her, she decides to focus on this conversation Easani is having with this Abra. But she doesn't realize that she might have started something...

Ranii simply nods, noting the tone getting grim. She fully expects it to get tragic very soon, and gets ready to comfort him when the bad part comes.
------
"Kind of." Easani admits. "I didn't see the whole thing of course, but I saw... some things."

"They...they killed her." It's not easy for him to say this, and he can't put it any other way either. "She told me to run before they got her...And all of this because some noble lost their stupid 'precious' hairloom."
-----
"Well, whatever the case, I'm certain that you mentioned her just now." The Abra nods. She continues telling him what happened that day. "So after she saved her friend, the Shinx, she travelled out of Sandstone for good. I haven't seen her and her friends since...much less heard anything from them. I hope they are alright."

Ranii pulls him into a hug. She sets her chin on his shoulder, and rubs his back comfortingly.
"I'm so sorry, it sounded like you really cared about her." She says into his ear.
-------
"Well, I've heard bits and pieces, but nothing solid. Suffice it to say that what happened that day, led to all of this happening." He says. 
"Er," He quickly waves his hands. "Not the Grove attack. That happened on its own. But I mean the defense against it, the rebuilding, all that."

"Yeah I did...after that I didn't look for a new partner." He hugs her back. "I kind of feel that if it wasn't for her I wouldn't have evolved..."
----
"Heh, yeah I hear ya."
Jocelyn peeks her head in just to the side of the Decidueye's point of vision. Staring at her with a big smile.
Duci jumps a little and looks at her, surprised by the sudden invasion of personal space. "Huh?!"
"Hehe, you were looking at me quite a bit!" The rabbit enthusiastically speaks. "I wonder why~"

"Evolved?" She asks. Then she remembers the Pichu evolving into a Pikachu. "Oh yeah. Say, what were you before you became the Lucario I know and love?"
----
"Yeah, I-"
His response is interrupted as Duci jumps in place. 
"Erm, something wrong?" He asks in confusion. Then he hears the Lopunny speak.
"Er, uh... She's not interested. At least I don't think she is." He's trying his best to get Duci out of this situation, but isn't quite sure how. He isn't sure what Duci is into, but it doesn't seem like this is it. 
A stray thought crosses his mind. This Lopunny seems unusually big for her kind. He also knows that Seph is a bit too big for most 'mons. He has to wonder....

"Well I was about your size really. I also didn't had any spikes" He tells her. "I didn't knew what to think when some called me cute back then."
----
"No, I'm not interested." The flabbergasted  Owl said. Duci doesn't know what this Lopunny wants with her all of the sudden but she isn't a fan of it.
The naughty rabbit isn't backing down though. But at least she isn't getting touchy. 'It's okay, I prefer dicks too but I don't mind if another lady likes what she sees!"
The Abra on the counter sighs. "Stop it, big girl." She says to the rabbit.
"Aaawww...Okay boss."

"Heh. Well, I bet you were..." She thinks for a moment. Something about that description sounds a little familiar.
"Wait. Were you like that one blue girl that was with Sebastian?" It seems the description fits.
-------
This makes Easani scratch his chin in curiosity. Part of him almost wants to take her up on the offer, but first of, he just got done paying a rather large tab, most of which was for this exact thing. The other reason is because Duci is with him. 
"Hmm I wonder if Seph would be interested in this?" He wonders. Seph is certainly big enough, too big for most mons. But at the same time, he never knew Seph to really be... 'in' to anyone. He had to wonder if this was simply because he's too big, or because has different orientations or none at all.
And seeing that Duci isn't interested, there is no reason to pay out of his pockets for an experimentation.
"I uh... think we'll leave now." Easani says awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah that's right." He nods. "I was a Riolu and looked mostly like that."
-----
"You going to leave already?" The Lopunny tilts her head, sounding a little sad now. She puts her paws together to beg. "Come on, birdy, just please tell me why you were staring, there is something in me you like, no?"
"Well..." Duci looks at this Lopunny some more and sighs. "Alright so...you look pretty firm, like, you got some nice strong muscle under all of that fur?" She said to her.
Jocelyn began smiling now, seeing that she got the Decidueye going the way she wanted, even if it is a little bit. "Yes, yes~ I could probably join the army of this place!"
"Huh...already wanting to look for another job opportunity?" Ara comments. "You are doing pretty good here though, I don't know anyone with more stamina and charm than you."
Something tells Duci that they wouldn't accept someone like this, heck, might be as strong as she looks to begin with. "Weren't you supposed to be busy?"
She is getting a little proud of herself from Ara's praise. The tall rabbit girl then looks back to where she was previously, all those four mons that she was servicing? They look pretty satisfied after all the fun she had with them. "I was busy, was!" She giggles.

"Well, in that case, yeah, I can definitely see where you'd be called cute." She kisses his cheek. "But I like your current form better."
-----
Easani blinks and stares blankly at this large Lopunny. It's easy to see why she chose this job, that much is obvious. Someone who was only here for economic reasons and/or just working for a wage wouldn't be this enthusiastic.
He chuckles softly at the idea of her joining the avali army. He guesses she actually means the four-eyes army. But he doubts the Avali would accept someone like this, at least in any serious role. 
Still, if any Nezo or anyone else asks about places to go on their time off, at least he has a recommendation. Hell, he might even take a chance at this... if Duci wasn't here and wouldn't think poorly of him for doing so.
... Wait a minute, when did he suddenly start thinking about what Duci thought of him? A week or two ago they were arguing at each other at the top of their lungs, and now he actually cares about her feelings towards him? He shakes his head. He can't deny it though, he does now...
No pussy for today. He's having enough trouble keeping himself erect with everything else going on around him.  Let alone her.

The Lucario blushes at the kiss. Then after a moment he gets a bit serious. "You know i...not sure if this is the best time to talk about this but...i was very scared of losing you in the times the Grove attacked. And the fact that we are going to have to go fight them again makes me anxious..."
----
"I honestly do not think they would accept you." Duci says matter-of-factly to this Rabbit. The Four Eyes and the Avali have proven themselves to be quite against such wanton sexualization, and it looks like this Lopunny can do nothing besides that.
"Oh but there is so much happening out there right now!" Jocelyn throws her arms up and runs in circles around Duci and Easani for a moment. "I really like working! But I'm starting to crave something a little more exciting!"
The Abra wonders what she could be talking about, she looks like she has a lot of fun here, why would she want to leave. "A little more exciting? like what?"
"Meeting new dicks! Seeing new horizons!"

"Well, I was afraid of losing you too. I mean, I've loved and lost before, left lovers when I was assigned elsewhere. And all that. But... there's something very special about you." She says. "You're the one I've been with the longest. And the one I've felt the most for. I really did not want to lose you. Though... I kind of feared I would. Hence I gave you that cock that day, and decided to give you your first sexual experience on the same day rather than wait till it was over. Just in case your first time was also your last..."
She gives a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad that wasn't the case."
-----
"Yeah, I'm definitely sure the base wouldn't have someone like you. And if they did, they'd probably give you a boring job like hauling boxes around or dungeon patrols or something. We don't really have a 'dedicated morale booster' in our army."
He coughs remembering that from his Grove days. 'dedicated morale booster' being either whores brought in from whore houses forced to work for berries, or, once they started taking places, slaves.
"But... I'll talk to a few of the base guys and see if any of them are interested. Maybe bring a few to you?"
Then again, these avali seem to do just fine on their own, from what he observes. He guesses they tend to have sex in their own pack when they aren't busy with stuff. Or at least that's his bet.
"Anyway, It was nice meeting you again... Ara was it? And I was glad to finally be able to pay off my tab. Though... seeing as my friend doesn't really want to stay here, we'll take our leave now. Maybe take a visit to the noodle place, if that's still going."

Not having words to express his gratitude for everything, the Lucario gives Ranii a tight hug. "You mean a lot to me too..."
---
Duci steps back from the Lopunny, going to Easani's side. "Yes, I think I want to leave too."
"Oh well, alright then." Ara said to him. She really hopes that they aren't leaving because Jocelyn here is scaring them away with her personality. "They are serving Cheri spice noodles this week."

Ranii keeps the Lucario in a tight hug for quite a while. Slowly, she lets him go.
--------
Unfortunately, part of the reason they are leaving is because of exactly that. Though, even without that, they would have left anyway, as Easani really only came here to pay his debt. He hadn't really intended to drink or have 'fun', at least, not in front of Duci.
"Mmmh, sounds good!" Easani cheers as he turns around, taking Duci by the hand with him. "Cheri spice noodles, here we come!"

After they stopped hugging, Luca looked to the sandy horizon. "Even with what's to come, I hope there aren't any circumstances that might separate us."
---
Now that they are out of there, Duci feels relief for not being around that Lopunny and that weird aura she gives off. She tries to forget about it and change the subject. "So... you like spicy food?"

"Yeah..." Ranii says. "And... I know I pitched this when I first gave you your dick, but ... I'm really hoping that some day, you'll become my pack member."
----
"Yeah, you could say that." Easani says. "I forgot what flavor they had last time, but the noodles in this place I remember are goood." 
They arrive, and take a seat by a table.

"I know." He gives her a pat on the shoulder. "And I remember saying I would consider it. When we get through all of this, I will do it." He smiles. He really hopes she can understand his reason here. "I just... would like to help Stic's vision of a better world come first." He looks down a bit. "Besides i... still haven't talked about this with him, I don't know what he will think of me for it."
 --- 
That medicine that they gave her to treat her pain really helped, the Decidueye is not feeling her ass hurting from sitting on this chair. "Oh good, it doesn't hurt anymore..." She said with a sigh of relief.

"Knowing him ,I'm sure he'll understand when the time comes." Ranii replies reassuringly. "Especially when all's said and done."
----
"I'm glad to hear that." Easani says. "You were cellbound for quite a while before you were able to even move much. They must have done a number on you." 
A female Sandshrew with an apron and a paper in hand comes to the table, interrupting the conversation. "Hi! Can I take your order?" She asks in a sweet tone.
"Yes, I'll have the special and..." He looks to Duci. "What will you have? The specials too? Or?"

Luca knows how much his father figure supports him, so maybe Ranii is right and he hopes his bad feelings are wrong. "Yeah." He then gives her a nuzzling on the head.
----
"What? Oh. Yes, a special too, please." Anything sounds good to her right now, and she doesn't want to be indecisive and hold things up so she decided on that order rather quickly. 

Ranii nuzzles back, and then gives him another kiss on the cheek. 
"So... you've told me about some of your past life... anything you want to ask little 'ol me?"
-----
The sandshrew writes down the orders and nods, then leaves quickly to pass the order onto the chef.
Easani twiddles his things on the desk, trying to think of a conversation to say with his... 
Well... he's not sure how exactly to describe what he shares with Duci. It's quite clear that they're no longer commander and subordinate. That relationship is long past, and probably for the better.  She's now his... co-worker? Friend? ..... Date?! ...... kinda-sorta-tottally not-teeny tiny crush?
A small blush forms on his cheek at that last thought, he still remembers when he had to rub that cream onto her pussy. Especially the first time he did it and he hid a massive hard on, and had to run out of the room just to get himself off to get it to die down.  And while he was able to contain it better in front of her the following times, that first time was... not exactly the last time he'd jerked off to her.
He'd have to admit to himself, that given the chance, yeah, he'd totally fuck her. Who wouldn't? The Decidueye sitting next to him was hotter than a fire type. Even if he was more into other Eeveelutions than anything.
Though at the same time, he had a lot more respect, and a lot more calmness than to just ask her like that. Or try to take advantage of her, even if the 'Kentaries Accords' weren't a thing...

After thinking for a moment, Luca asks something. "How did you got your ship?"
----
Duci is oblivious to his feelings as of yet, she doesn't know he would want to go this far with her, she thinks it's a miracle that they managed to be friends. "You know...honestly kind of miss the trees..." She said to him.

"Well, uh..." Ranii thinks back, recollecting the memory. "When I went back to Avali space, and once I graduated from military school, I went with a crew for a while. I wasn't a pack member, as I was, and still am, a technical kayo. But I saved up enough wages. Though I didn't have enough to buy one of those fancy-pancy ships, so I bought one of the cheaper UROs models off of an outer rim dealer. Still, it's cozy enough for a lone gal like me."
----
"Wha-oh." He snaps out of his thoughts when she speaks to him. "Yeah. The sand gets kind of... irritating?" He says in response. "Though who knows? Maybe the Avali have some sort of thing to terraform places like this? Who knows?"

He heard this word 'kayo' from her a few times, he wonders how it was like to be a 'kayo', it sounds like it was a difficult time by how she speaks of it. "Was it too hard being a 'kayo'?"
----
The Owl shrugs. "I suppose. Though I am skeptical about such a thing being possible." Now she has a question to ask. "So, you have any idea what it means to 'be in a pack'? The Avali talk a lot about this 'pack' thing."

"Harder than it is in a pack, that's for sure." She says. "I hear it used to be way worse back in the day. But it was... lonely, even though you were surrounded with crew members. It felt like I was there, yet not really a part of the crew. Oh, and there's really no privacy or 'me time' whatsoever. Even during pack sex, it felt... off." She sighs sadly. "It's odd, but... I feel more connected and bonded to you than I did during those days, despite them being my own kind."
-----
"That ..." Easani thinks for a moment. He's technically not really part of any pack himself. "Is probably a question better asked of Nezo. Or Veers. From what I understand, Avali are not raised like you and I, in a family, but are raised in a 'pack' which they bond with. Again, I'm kind of the wrong person to ask about that."

Life out there in space sure sounds strange compared to his own life. "That sounds very different from here." He commented. "Though how come you couldn't get a pack before? You had lovers, right?"
---
"Hhhhmmm..." Well if it's like that there ain't much she can do. "........I'm scared."

"I honestly don't know. I guess I never really connected with any of them." She honestly doesn't have much of any sort of connection.
----
"scared of what?" Easani asks with a raised eyebrow.

"Hhhmm, I see." Luca doesn't have anything else to ask.
-------
Duci is just staring down at the table as she speaks. "I'm scared of the Grove coming for me now...sending someone after me."

"I wonder if Sandstone will ever get a concert hall?" Ranii wonders aloud. "If it does, remind me to make our next date there."
----
"Well..." He places a hand on hers.  "The likelihood of that is quite unlikely. Even so, they'd have to know where to look for you deep in the maze. And, well, good luck getting anyone in there. Hell, even you only got inside because we let you, remember?"

"A concert hall? what is that now?" Having never heard of something like that, much less any music, it got him curious.
----
Duci feels a bit safer with his support. Not to mention that Easani helps keep at bay the feeling of self-doubt. "Yeah, I remember. Maybe eating will help set my mind at ease."

"Its where you go to hear people sing and plays songs."  Ranii explains. "They have instruments, and the concert hall is usually made so it carries the sound louder and longer."
-----
"Yeah." Easani says to her, with a smile. Before he can say anything more however, a smell enters his nose. A spicy, and good smelling smell. And almost immediately after, the sound, and sight of the waiter returning with the soups. They are steaming hot, so hot one can see the steam waffe from them as she sets it down in front of them.
"There you go you two, enjoy." The sandshrew gives the Leafeon a smile and a wink as she then turns and walks off back to the kitchen.

"Hhhmmm, sing? song? instruments?" The Lucario tilts his head, the last one being the most confusing word to him. "I don't think there is much of that around here in Sandstone at all." (but this can always change, heh)
---
She has to admit, this food does look pretty good, smells good too. But before they get to eat she has one last request for Easani, which she voices once they were alone once more. "....Easani, can you stay by my side for now on? I don't want to stay away from you."

"You really don't have instruments here in this world? Or sing songs?" Ranii puts a hand to her forehead. "Yeesh, no wonder this world is the way it is." She says with a sigh. "When we get back to the ship, I'll have to show you a few. Maybe even play a few."
-----
Easani was just about to dig in and take a bite of his food, when she asks this. "Ummm, well, sure. I mean, I hadn't intended to wander off today or anything." He says as he puts a bite into his mouth.
It's warm, very hot, and very spicy.
"MMMPH!" He takes a breath, somehow holding it in and swallowing. 
"Whew!" Easani pants out. "It's hot, really hot. Might want to wait a few moments."

Luca smiles. "It's always a delight when you introduce me to new things, you know?"
-----
The Owl chuckled at his reaction to how hot and spicy the food was. "Try not to get a big debt here after you just paid your previous one." She joked. But she takes his advice and waits a moment before taking a spoonful of noodles to her beak.

"Of course." She kisses him on the cheek. "And you as well." 
------
 Easani, waiting a few moments to stick the next bite, more carefully in his mouth. While still hot and spicy, it's not so hot that it burns his mouth off this time. He chews and swallows. Once he does, he speaks again. "Duci... if I may ask you a bit of a personal question?"

Having nothing else to say or talk about, the two simply relax in each other's company for the moment. She does have plans for him later on, but... it's far too early for any of them now.
--------
He takes a deep, cautionary breath before he asks her.
"What exactly am I to you

Duci is trying to find the words here, so for the moment she just looked at him, visibly trying to say something, only to stop herself. Until eventually... "You...well, I like you, I really do. I see you as a friend...but maybe that word doesn't do it much justice."

Easani takes another bite of his soup, a small sip so he can quickly reply.
"Well, uh..."
He blushes a bit. Is she saying she finds him... Attractive? No, it couldn't be...
... Could it?
"Well, I... Well I won't lie here." Easani speaks, getting ahold of himself. "I do think you're pretty attractive, if that's what you're trying to get at."

There is an awkward silence. "No i wasn't talking about that." Thankfully all is not lost though. "Not that i'm saying you are not attractive, you seem to have a good thing going with that Neso fellow, no mystery why that is now, is it?" So yeah, she does think he is attractive. "I'm just saying that your compassion for me has me in awe."

Wait... what?
"Hehehehe" It's all he can do to keep his chuckling soft and not louder and ruder. "You think Me and Nezo are...??"
He shakes his head.
"Oh no no no, there's nothing going on between me and Nezo, I assure you. My... spear doesn't rise that way, if you catch my meaning."
He quickly takes another bite, and chews it before swallowing.
"But, regarding that last part... thanks." He smiles at her, warmly.

She raises a brow. "Oh really? Yeah I thought that was the case." She eats a bit more of her noodles before continuing. Now about what he said before. "So you think I am attractive too right? In what way exactly?"

"Well, uhh.." He gives a blush as he thinks on how to choose his words. "Physically, but also personality-wise. I mean, it's no secret you're rather hot. Heh, remember the first time I helped apply that cream and then I had to run out just to contain myself? But it's not just your body, though. It's also in terms of, well, you... Look, I've been honest with you since you first came into my care, and I don't intend to stop now." He takes another sip before continuing. "When you first came in, and we were engaged in screaming matches with each other, I thought you were a naïve, zealous, and rather callous little bitch." Gods, he hates using that word now. "But the more I talked to you, the more I got to know the real you hiding behind all that misplaced Grove-worship and and submissive rage," Strange way of putting it, he knows, but he has no better way of saying it, "now that I've gotten to know you, the real you and not the one pining after the Grove's approval... Well, I really like you in more ways than one."

Duci just went silent to let him talk, and after all that touching speech he gave her, she finally spoke up again after thinking of what to say next. "It's good to know all of that." She sounds very sincere. "Even after everything you still care about me, and now I finally know why." The Decidueye looks down at the Leafeon's body, not she is thinking about the topic of him finding her attractive. "So, am I really that hot to you? Hot enough that you had to go 'touch' yourself?"

"Well, uh.. umm...." He stammers, trying to figure out how to say this next part without screwing it up, But ultimately, he comes up short. Well, here it goes, may fortune favor the foolish.
"...Yes."

"Honestly...that's pretty cute." She takes more of the spicy noodles into her beak, swallowing it. "Someone thinking about me like that..." 

"Y... You really think so?" Easani asks, a bit embarrassed. "I thought you'd find it off-putting or possibly creepy, especially considering... well... What happened to you."
He uncomfortably stirs his soup with his spoon. Or what's left of it. A few smaller noodles, some Cheris, but mostly just broth.

"I got kind of used to feeling like that. It happens when you stick with the Grove for too long." She is almost done with her meal as well. "I guess I got used to it out of necessity..."

He reaches over, and rubs her, comfortingly on the back. "Well, those days are over now. Your opinions, your choices... they're your own now."

He leans in, resting his head against hers gently, as he continues to rub her shoulder softly. He closes his eyes, as a smile forms across his features.

At this point the owl finished her meal of Cheri speci noodles. Right now Duci just sits here with him. "Now that I'm feeling more comfortable being alongside you, there are some things I want to ask but this is probably not the place." She said.
Easani is almost going to ask, but since she makes it known that she doesn't want to say it here, he stops himself. He's almost done anyway. He lifts the bowl to his lips, and sips down what's left of the broth, and the very tiny noodles and berries left. 

A few moments pass, and he lets out a loud burp.
"Whew, 'scuse me'. He says as he sets the bowl down. 
They sit there for a while, together, waiting for the Sandshrew waiter to come by and pick it up. Which she does.
"Can I get you two anything else?" The Sandshrew asks sweetly.
"Na, I'm good."
"You sure?" She asks again. "No desert or anything?" 
"Nah, I'm good to go." He replies. 
The sandshrew looks towards Duci.
"And you, miss?"

"Thank you, but I am satisfied." Duci responded educatedly to the Sandshrew's inquiry. Now she just waits for Easani to pay so they can go.

"Will you be paying your bill then?"
"Yes, yes I will." Easani replies. The Sandshrew hands him the clipboard, Easani's eyes raise, but he doesn't say anything. He takes out his wallet, and hands her the poke for the meal.
"Thank you sir." The waiter bows and leaves.
"There..." Easani says. "We can leave now. You said you wanted to say something in private?"
----
Meanwhile, a sizable distance away from the wall elsewhere, Ranii gets up from her spot. 
"Well, shall we retire to the ship?" She asks.

She nods to him. "Yes." When they were both outside she decided to ask him, since it seems there aren't many people out at this hour. "So about being a soldier to the Avali, what do they expect from us? Will they send us for battles frequently?" 
---- 
Ranii's Lucario partner nods to that. "Yeah. Honestly i kind of like the cold up there." He said before putting a hand on her shoulder so they could get teleported up to the ship.

"I cannot say for sure." He says as he walks with her. "But it doesn't seem like it. They seem intent on letting the Sandstonians/Four Eyes do the actual work of freeing themselves from the noble's grasp, while simply giving them advice and the tools needed to do so, only calling elite squads like omicron out when there's a task that needs doing but the guild is too stretched/too winded to do. Hell, I wasn't even at the first battle of Sandstone, and, Ranii aside, neither were any of the others" 
------- 
Ranii nods and the two of them disappear in a flash of light. Things haven't changed any really since her last trip up here. It's the same old ship, there are more hammocks out though, just in case of extra visitors... which does not seem to be the case this time. "Hmmmm" Ranii heads to her locker, the one hanging on the wall, and digs through it a little, clearly looking for something. Her rear sways back and fourth as she does, and her tail wags from side to side. It's not really clear if she's meaning to do this, but it does.

"I see." So it would appear that they won't be doing a lot, but military life is usually like that and she is aware of this. 
--- 
Up here, Luca feels pretty comfortable, so comfortable in fact that he doesn't hide the fact that he is really liking seeing her ass sway like that, it's getting his dick hard and he gives the little guy a little rub. "Sooo what ya getting there?"

"Yeah, why? were you hoping for more action?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.
---
"You'll see." She digs around some more.
"Ah ha!" She says, as she reaches in, and take out an object. It's an odd little item from her storage. It appears to be a round, small cylinder with a long 'tail' on the end of it, a hole in the middle, and several strings of unknown material. It has a strap around the back. "Here we go!"
She puts the strap behind her, allowing the item to be held up by its strap rather than by her hands. Even so, she rests the tail end of the object on her palm, her fingers free to touch the strings. "This my dear lover, is what we call a musical instrument. And as for what it does, well..."
her fingers move along the strings, pulling some of them lightly in a particular pattern. The instrument produces a series of sounds, one after the other. THey have an odd, yet entrancing ring to it.
"It makes music."

"I was just curious really."
-----
The Lucario watched with much attention as she handled that object, then pulled on the strings which made nice little sounds. "Oooooh." He finds that interesting, he likes it. "So that's a musical instrument, huh?"

"Well, between you and me, I-"
He is interrupted as he hears a noise. A series of noises strung together into a tune. 
"... Is someone singing or something?"
He wanders towards the noise. Sure enough, there's a Smeargle, standing on top of a box. He is holding a similar object as Ranii has back on the ship, but it's much different. It's got some sort of white canvas over a much larger hole, and it sounds much different. He is singing a song, and Easani stops to listen.
"Which side are you on, 'mons?"
"Which side are you on?"
"Which side are you on, 'mons?"
"Which side are you on?"
He takes an inaudable breath as he continues the tune, getting ready for the next verse.
"They say in Sandstone, there are no neutrals among thee,"
"You'll either be a Sandstone 'mon, or a thug for Princess Ivy!"
He repeats the chorus of the song, getting another breath of air, until he returns.
"My daddy was civie, and I'm a civie's son."
"We'll be with you to liberate the sands, until this war is won."
Once again he repeats the 'which side are you on' line.
"Oh citizens, how can you stand the 'nobs, oh tell me how you can?"
"Will you be a lousy raping thug, or will you be a 'mon?"
There is a small crowd gathered around him, they begin to sing the chorus.
"Huh..." Easani thinks aloud to himself. "Looks like they're singing propaganda songs to rally the war effort."
----
The Avali meanwhile plays a few more short, but wordless songs on the guitar, before she asks.
"How about I sing you something? Something from my Alpaca days...."

Oh, so there is some music going on here, Duci remembers that such a thing is common back in the Grove territory, usually taverns there hire some pokémon that have some skill with music, and some nobles that like musical entertainment as well. "It's not a bad song. Looks like he got some other singing with him too." Duci commented.
---
Luca nods, excited to hear what music he is going to be listening to from his lover. "I would be happy to hear your voice sing!" He cheered.

"Yeah... Seems the Avali are spreading some propaganda songs to rally the populace for the upcoming campaign to free the rest of the cities from the Grove's rampage. Though, I do find one little detail interesting.... Or rather, lack thereof." 
--- Ranii begins to play on the guitar, a tune begins to take form, and it is not long before her soft voice begins to form a song. 
The Bone-Dragon's wings, they did darken the sky. 
His roar fury's fire, and their scales sharpen scythes. 
'Pacas ran and they cowered, and they fought and they died. 
They burned, and they bled, as they issued their cries.
Alpacakiin, Apalacakin nall ok zin los vahriin 
Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal 
Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan 
Alpacha fah hin kogaan mu draal 
The tune continues for a few seconds before she begins the next verse. 
We need saviors to free us, from the bone dragon's scourge. 
Heroes on the field, of this new war to wage. 
And if the bone dragon wins, Alpaca is gone from this world. 
Lost in the shadow of the boney wings unfurled. 
Unlike the last verse, she does not wait before getting to the next one. 
But then came the valkyrie, on that terrible day. 
Steadfast as the mountains, she entered the fray. 
And all heard the music of the Bone Dragon's end. 
With her magic spear, Judgement she did rend. 
She likewise continues onto the next verse without waiting. 
And so the Valkyre freed us from the bone dragon's rage. 
Gave us a chance at life, ushered in a new age. 
If the bone dragon is eternal, then eternity's done. 
For its story is over, and the bones... are gone. 
She stops playing, and lets go of the instrument, letting it hang on its strap. "Well, how was that?" She asks.

'Lack thereof'? What could he be talking about, she wonders? "What do you mean?" She asks Easani.
----
"That was....just magnificent Ranii!" Luca happily cheered. "You told me a story and made it sound so...so exciting and fun!" No doubt about it, he must have really liked it. "I think I really like music."

"Well, there was no mention of the Avali in the song at all." He points out. "No mention of the avali help, no mention of the artillery. Instead, the song seems geared towards getting the citizens of sandstone itself to act. Like it was their victory, not the Avali's."
----
"Aww, I'm glad you liked it." Ranii cheerfully replies. "I have more, if you want to listen."

"Oh...you are right." So the Avali seem to be giving all the credit to Sandstone for that victory. So they really plan to remain hidden it seems. "They are really supportive of Sandstone, huh?"
----
"I would love to but I'm feeling tired, and tomorrow it's going to be a big day..."

"Yeah, they seem to be-"
He stops himself mid sentence to check a poster on a wall. It features a Shinx, looking at the viewer with a determined smile and eyes, holding one of their arms out and up at an angle in a flex, while their other hand rests on top of it. 
The text reads "I can liberate the Sands! And so can you!" 
There is another. This one is a split image. One is of a silhouette of an eevee with a crossbow, while the other, clearly a Charmander tending a forge. The text reads "It takes TWO to make a fight. Keep 'em fighting!"
And another. A group of mons, A Sandile wearing a guild badge and holding a mace, a Monferno with a citizens badge throwing a fire punch, and a raichu with no badge, apparently a savage, with a spear all about to attack a Flaaffy with a noble's badge. It says "Smash the Noble menace!"
And finally a final one. There is a picture of a Linoone looking off into the distance, with a smile. They have no badge. The text over it says "This mon is your friend!" A note by the side says "dungeon dweller", and the text below it says "They fight for Freedom!"
Again, none of them make mention of the Avali in the slightest.
"-As I was saying, it appears these 'Avali' seem to be doing exactly the opposite of what the Iron King did. Instead of spreading propaganda and stories about how they came to save the day, and how only they can solve the world's problems, they seem intent on giving the Mons the credit, and rallying them to take back the Sands, rather than simply steamrolling over it themselves."
------
"Ah. Well, in that case, I'll just put this away." She says with a small hint of disappointment. She returns to the locker, and her ass and puss are once again visible as she leans over and carefully takes the guitar off of her, and puts it back into the locker.

"Anyway, was there something ... else you need to ask me out of earshot?" Easani asks Duci.
------
Ranii's only response is to look back at him, and give him a sly, seductive grin, and a few more shakes of her rear.

"Well, nothing serious to ask." She said, "You think the Avali are flying types?"
----
Now he laughs. He knew it, she has been doing this on purpose, hasn't she? He approached behind her and rubbed her ass with his paws.

"I'm not sure if 'types' even apply to them." Easani shrugs. "Though, I've never really seen one fly." 
--- 
"Mmmmh!!" She presses her ass back against his touch. Her eyes close, and she sighs happily. "As much as you like touching it." She finally answers his question with a moan.

"So much we don't know about them..." Duci muses to herself.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I think it's about time to get back to the base. I've seen what I wanted to see, done what I needed to do here. And if there's nothing else..." 
----- 
"Mmmmph! taaake me!!" Ranii moans to Luca. They make love long into the night, trying a variety of positions, now that they have the time to do so.

"They don't look like they got enough feathers in their arms to fly." The Owl comments. "Anyways, yeah let's go back to base."
-----
After their post-day of work sex together, the Lucario and the Avali go to have a good, comfortable sleep in the hammocks