9:34. Wait fuck shit can yoy say hi to ny dad n give him a smooch
9:35. Bc i cant see him for 7 days
9:35. His xtrans has gone to fuck so he cant talk to me
9:36. Last time he sent me a text it took him 20 mins so he probably busted out my fucken flip phone in the meantime
13:02. yours?
13:03. Yea
13:03. Pastel pink
13:03. Pink conch shell background
13:04. verrry pretty.
13:05. I miss it so much it was great
13:05. Its the absolutely worst fuvking thing for me since ive gone deaf bc i can only message on it and its hell on earyh to try do that on a flip phone
13:06. can imagine.
13:08. do i have to. hm.
13:10. kiss him.
13:10. physically.
13:11. Do NOT shove your tongue in my dads mouth if you dont want me to clean your ass with it if thats what youre asking
13:12. I WAS NOT GOING TO.
13:12. You better not
13:12. But also no not necessarily
13:13. OK GOOD.
13:14. Also do yall not fucken kiss your pa on the goddamn cheek???????
13:14. What the ryck
13:20. how do i find him?
The Harlequin was rubbing the last bits of make up out of his face when he figured that the particularly tall white clothed man was approaching him specifically at vertiginous speeds, arms swinging like either a grandfather clock’s pendulum or the slowly descending curved blades used in a certain type of torture which he vaguely remembered being described in a thrilling short story.
“Hello.” said man began, and his voice was very familiar. “I-”
“Oh, I know you!” the clown interrupted him with a smile and a moderately heavy accent that the other could not quite place: “You are, ah, the boss! Of the metro, yes, no? Ah, ehm...”
He looked to his fingers as he snapped them once or twice, not noticing the sudden tension overtaking his interlocutor.
His expression turned sheepish as he faced the white eyes again: “Emmet?” he tried, starting to correct himself instantly: “No-”
“Yes.” the conductor assured him, deflating. “I am Emmet.”
“Ah, good, good! Sorry - I’ve got trouble with, ah, faces, you know,” the man explained as he waved a hand in front of his own nose to better drive his point home. Emmet found that to be hilarious affirmation, considering the only person he could have been mistaken for happened to have his exact same face, but did not say anything as the man’s eyes shined on him with newfound enthusiasm: “You are Briosa’s friend! No? She tells me about you!”
Her friend.
That was... Well, maybe not news - but it was weirdly relieving to hear.
So Emmet nodded in confirmation: “She says hello.”
“Ah!” and Mr. Crociera clapped once, very gleefully, and it might have looked not nearly as goofy if he were either still wearing Harlequin make up or not in otherwise full Harlequin costume: “Ah, thank you, thank you! She told you of the phone - oh my son, he’s sweet, my boy. She’s sweet, my boy.”
“Verrry sweet,” the conductor nodded again. “When she wants.”
The man laughed and made a strange sound, a sort of eh-jah, eh-jah, with his eyes crinkling at the corners as they turned small and squinty like his son’s (though exponentially less terrifying). His smile was more lopsided though, sliding all over his face to widen only on one side.
He made a wide inviting gesture with his hand, nodding his head in tandem: “Come, come, I know a place - I offer you a coffee, would you like? ‘s late, but I know a place in Nimbasa-”
“No no no,” Emmet replied quickly, though he did hold himself back from stepping away - that would have been awfully rude, a little voice in the back of his head reminded him: “Sorry. Still working. Sorry.”
“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine! It’s on me, I forgot, of course, of course, we’re in the metro, you run it... But one time, you can come by us? I mean by me, in Driftveil?” and he said that with an intensity in the way he brought both hands to his chest to emphasize his person that made the conductor almost stumble deeper into his coat, “For dinner! I’d be glad, no problem at all! I like guests, and you know Briosa, you can both come, I’d be glad!”
Emmet clicked his tongue loudly and froze solid.
He only managed to get out of himself a strangled 'ah’, overwhelmed.
Getting invited to dinner by a very enthusiastic 50-something divorced clown father of one he properly met two minutes ago was not exactly something he had expected complying with Briosa’s simple request would have spiraled into.
It didn’t really help that he felt like he was being set up for a date.
With which one of the two Crocieras was up for debate.
Which! Didn’t exactly put him at ease either.
“I am.” he began, stunted, scrambling around his brain for a script that he could use in a situation like this: “Not. Ah. Hm. I am Emmet. She is. A friend. I’m not. We are. Not. Uh-”
But Mr. Crociera waved - he did that a lot, hands flying short distances in all directions as he talked - and made a funny noise like the trembling huff of a Zebstrika.
"Oh no no, I know, she said already - no boyfriend or girlfriend, she's not bringing one home, not now, not never," he laughed to bring him back to a comfortable lack of tension in his shoulders. "It's just - Briosa, you know how she is, she is not very, uhm... Socheble?" (sociable, he meant, though his pronounciation was a little butchered) "So now that she's got a friend I'm happy, I'm excited! I'm glad! Ah, but maybe too much, eh? A little early to--"
"A little," Emmet agreed.
"A little." the clown smiled. He stuck out a gloved hand suddenly with a little oh!, realizing he had not even introduced himself: "I'm Giglio, anyways."
"Geeyo," Emmet tried to repeat as they exchanged shakes.
"Like that, yes! Or Jack if it's easier for you. I don't get angry about it, you know."
Jack, with a wide ah sort of sound?
"You work for Burgh," the Subway Boss recognized him. The artistic Bug-enthusiast stressed that was how the name of one of the performing battlers of his gym was pronounced even when told it seemed a bit silly, so it was hard not to recognize it.
Giglio nodded: "I do! You know him?"
"I like Bug types."
"Me too! You wanna see, we can battle! I got a Combee, a Venipede, a..."
"I run the Double Battle Line," Emmet interrupted him. "Please keep you Pokémon contained on regular trains. Battle 20 challengers and face me!"
"Ha-ha! I don't know if I have time for that, but I can try!" the clown snickered, seeming not at all put off by the sudden stiffness of his script. His eyes were still a little squinted by his grin when he opened them again: “But I do mean it, the dinner - when you think it’s a good time! When you think it’s a good time, you tell Briosa, or you tell me. I’m always here at this time. Except Saturday! Saturday is day off.”
Saturday is day off, Emmet found himself memorizing as he nodded.
“But you tell her or me, and I give you the address and we all eat together. Sounds good? I fix us something nice - I like having guests, it’s no problem!”
And then Giglio’s face changed in a way that the conductor couldn’t exactly place, his eyes turning to slightly wider half moons, his mouth straightening slightly more evenly across his cheeks while still smiling.
“You look a bit lonely.” he just said in that same jovial tone.
Emmet’s expression didn’t change, hit by that sudden statement as he was. He remained smiling, mind completely blank.
Did he?
Was it that obvious?
The hand he had not retreated from the shake was cupped by both of Giglio's: he watched the clown gently rub it between his gloved palms a couple times before twisting it to lay on them, knuckles looking downwards - and a little yarn Swadloon frowning sleepily upon it.
"Ha!" he squeaked.
A genuinely amused chuckle reached him: "A neat trick, eh?"
"Verrry neat!" he agreed, feeling his grin turn more honest in delight. His free hand went to pet one of the fuzzy leafy antennae with genuine awe: the craftsmanship maybe was not the most precise, but it was absolutely adorable.
“It’s based on mine,” Giglio said, pointing at it. He gave a little wave as he tilted his head to the side: “I mean, they all look like that, I know, I know. But that’s mine specifically! So you can have a little friend in your breast pocket, to keep you company. Eh, I’m still - working, on the, the handywork, it’s not the best, but it’s nice, no?”
The conductor nodded giddily, yarn Swadloon safely and quickly tucked away; he wanted to thank him properly, but words were failing him.
"You think about that, eh? Coming for dinner?” the Harlequin spoke in his place, wagging a finger in his direction as if he were a kid being playfully admonished, “Don’t leave me hanging on that. I told you, I’m happy to have guests, no problem at all. So think about it, hm?”
As he began nodding again, Emmet’s eyes fell on the numbers brightly displayed on his Xtransceiver: “The next train for Driftveil will arrive at Gear Station in five minutes,” he noted helpfully.
He could see why Mr. Crociera had kept his job at Burgh’s gym for as long as he had: the extreme expression and loud ‘ueppa!’ as he brought a hand to his head, almost shoving it down his torso with the extreme pathos of the movement, made for a great subject to observe like a newly hatched Durant under a magnifying glass during any battle, and had probably fascinated the artist to the point of growing fond of his employed challenger. No doubt he had inspired some pieces, with a face like that.
A pair of hands clapped on Emmet’s arms and sandwiched him within them, snapping him out of his musings: “Thank you, I was gonna be here all night!” Giglio laughed, patting once or twice: “Been nice meeting you! Good work then, and ah,” he added as he already started darting off, “Thank you for Briosa!”
“She sends you a kiss!” the conductor remembered a bit late.
From already halfway down the tunnel Giglio slapped a hand on his heart as if hit square in the heart by an arrow, giving a loud AH!, launched first a grinning kiss towards his train, and a Thank You sign right back at him with a laugh.
21:07. your dad sends you a kiss.
21:08. A
21:08. Thank youuuu
21:12. he is verrry verrry nice.
21:13. Ofc he is id never lie about him
21:13. Worlds most perfect man
21:14. gave me a yarn swadloon.
21:14. :O can i see?
21:16. (picture)
21:17. OH holy fuck WWAIT
21:18. Thats fucking Pantalone!! His swadloon!! Id recognize that little greedy bastard anywhere
21:18. Thats so cute ill shit myself
Waiting alone for a challenger on the forty-ninth wagon of the Double Line, Emmet wheezed his lungs out.
21:26. please don’t.
21:27. TOO LATE
21:27. ah! fuck!
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