ready for the sky • genkei

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] Change was a blessed thing, truly. For, if change were not a thing that took place, the city she would be standing in would... well, not be the city she would be standing in, that was for certain. If it were the same as back that, she would rip it's location off any map and steer clear of it forever. It held bad memories for her, that was for certain, and she wouldn't be caught dead walking through there. But, now, the place was stripped of it's dark surface, it's dark people, it's dark everything. Even it's name was torn down and replaced with the suffix of "citadel", a strong hold for all the region. Of course, in the area that she was currently in, it was like any other ordinary city. Warm cup in hand, passing by large amounts of people through the crowd, and hoping to find something to do with her day, Hailey was certainly in a good mood that day. Taking a sip of her cappuccino, she let out a pleasant sigh, closing her eyes briefly and sort of fumbling her way through the people. Maybe it was the caffeine, but she was in a positively splendid mood right about then. And she hadn't bumped into anyone doing this yet - partially due to luck, and also because she was good at weaving around and was pretty nimble, given her light weight - so the raven-haired female didn't have to worry about tripping into someone. They'd have to be speed walking or all out running into her in order to make her loose her footing or - worse - spill her drink. Gosh, that would be bad news in the neighborhood. But such thoughts were but pesky flies in the back of her mind. "Man, I've been waiting forever for a day like this... I only I actually had something to do..."

Gen couldn't really think of any certain reason why he had gone to Veherna Citadel. This visit to this random city was rather sudden for him, and being a flying-type gym leader, he had rode his Staraptor all the way here. With his hair pulled back in its usual ponytail, and with a red bandanna wrapped around his forehead, the red-head had walked into the city like he knew it like the back of his hand. Of course, he didn't. He had honestly never been here before, unlike most people. It was much different to walk into the now largest city in the region. Sort of... cramped. And claustrophobic. And it was a little cold. Thankfully, he had worn worm clothes today; his black long-sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans.

It was rather hard to navigate through the huge city, and Gen didn't know where to begin. Should he go get something to eat? Lost in his thoughts, weaving through the hoards of people unconsciously, the man didn't notice the girl that was in front of him. She was obviously walking slower than him, and he just so happened to bump into the back of her. Looking up, he saw the girl in front of him and his eyes went wide. "Oops, sorry about that." He grumbled, and saw that she looked... different. Of course, like he had room to talk. He was a bright-red headed guy with a ponytail. Like he fit in any better.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] "Holy mother on a poop sandwi-" And, with a horrendous squeak, the gijinka went tumbling to the ground, hood miraculously managing to cover her horns the entire way down in a way she could only be thankful for. Gosh, she really was light, wasn't she? Knocked down from behind by dome dude walking the normal speed. Er, well, a little faster than most, maybe, but not something extraordinary. But that was beside the point. For starters, all the makeup on her hands that she tried to put on to cover up her obviously gray skin was smeared, leaving ugly, muted, and dark brown smear marks in their wake. It also appeared that the skin has been broken in some parts and, with said makeup sinking in, it hurt like nobody's business. Lastly, there was a warm feeling on her chest. Now, any warm feeling on a somewhat chilly day like this was weird on it's own. However, the fact that it was becoming scalding hot only made it that much worse. Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. He did not just- That moron! He made her spill her perfectly good drink all over herself! And, gosh, these orange clothes took a lot of grief, didn't they? "Oops, sorry about that," he said easily. The line seemed rehearsed, like an overused phrase. Did he even really mean it? Did those four words actually have any feeling behind them, or were they an empty consolation? Regardless of whatever passion he put behind his stupid sentences, a measly "sorry" just wasn't going to stinking cut it. Not on her watch, that was. Oh, no, she would make him pay in full. Struggling to her feet - nearly toppling back over on her own on account of how dazed she kind of was from a collision with painful cement - Hailey turned on the red-haired man, hissing, "Oh, come on! Ya' ruin a girl's makeup, get her all scraped up, and spill her caffeine supply on her and all you gotta say about it is a stupid "sorry"? Come on. You're going to make this up to me whether you want to or not!"

Gen was surprised when the girl he had bumped into fell over. What the heck, was she made of paper or something? The girl almost immediately stood back up, and jumped up into his face, practically hissing. Gen's eyes went wide at her anger. Then he noticed her smeared makeup and spilled coffee. "Crap, I'm really sorry!" He apologized, unconsciously grabbing the girl's arm as she almost fell down again. Only then did he notice the scrapes on her skin. Boy, she looked like he had beat the crap out of her or something.

After realizing the girl had said something about "making it up" to her, Gen immediately pulled out his wallet. He had quite a bit of saved-up money, but he had planned to spend it here. "Look, if it's about your coffee or your clothes, I can buy you more." He said awkwardly, looking at her apologetically. Scratching his red hair with one hand, he pulled out some money and tried to hand it to her. "I'm really sorry about that. I should've watched where I was going." He sighed.

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,450,true] The immediate shock that lit the man's eyes upon her swift recovery was almost enough to make up for the whole fiasco. Well. If we were to really stretch the if. That was just how amazing it was. I mean, seriously? It took a great deal of effort to not laugh out loud at him. He instantly started apologizing more rapidly, obviously flustered, and this only managed to further improve her soured mood. "Crud, I'm really sorry!" In fact, poor guy actually grabbed her by the arm when, stupidly, she almost made it fall down an' hurt yourself, round two. It took the gijinka a minute to realize this, so she had to ponder weather or not she caught herself with his aid or all on her own. Either way, she was still eating up his reaction. It was perfect! Darnit, she wished she had a camera to take a picture of this. It'd be too amazing for words. "You should be! I mean, look at this mess!" by that point in time, she wasn't even angry at all. Like, seriously. She just wanted to tease him. Of course, it was hard to tell with her whether she was literally scolding someone or pulling their leg, an ability few had. "Look, if it's about your coffee or your clothes, I can buy you more," to fine young man offer, his wallet catching Hailey's eye. Oh, what did we have here...? That thing was practically oozing cash. Whatever job he had, it certainly was well paying, and one of the things she lacked was funds. If she played this right, she could snatch that wallet within the hour and he would never even noticed. He handed out a few dollar bills, scratching his head, sighing, and apologizing once more, "I'm really sorry about that. I should've watched where I was going." Hiding a smirk, she replied, "Well, gee, I guess!" Gosh, she was such a hypocrite. "Oh, but I don't want your money." Yet. "I've got something better in mind. But, first, I have to get washed up. And you? You're coming with me. And then, you're taking me to the IHOP." Walking off with a purpose, waving her hand in a gesture for him to follow and looking over her shoulder to make sure that he was, she began to hatch her ingenious plan. Or. Well. Sort of.