Chapter 8- Discussions/ Finally On the Road "So how's ol' Anundrae?" Tokio-sama asked lazily as LSS-sama entered the room. The former was sprawled out in front of a giant television set, working away at a video game. "Irritable," LSS-sama replied, flicking off her jacket and sending it into a pocket of space. Then she flopped down on the couch where Tokio-sama lay. "Whatcha playing?" "Star Ocean. Coolest damn thing… well, anyway. How was Anundrae irritable?" "Our dear Programmer refuses to think that little project involving a new world for Halflings is a bad one." "Oh?" "Yup. I don't think Anundrae's gonna listen." "We can always find a new Programmer." "I dun wanna," LSS-sama complained, stealing some chips off of the nearby table. "It took so long to find someone who was that talented in computers, that willing to believe in the concept of creating a whole new universe chock full of Bishies, and that damn pretty." Tokio-sama blinked at that, turning to glance at her companion with a raised eyebrow. "Pretty?" LSS-sama blushed. "Well, he is!" "He? You mean Anundrae?" "Yeah, who else would I be talking about? Pretty Bish for a human guy, ne?" "He is so not a guy." LSS-sama now raised her eyebrows. "And what do you mean by that? Is he a eunuch or something?" "Ick. No, Anundrae's obviously female." LSS-sama watched for a moment as her companion continued to play Star Ocean. Then, slowly, she said, "Anundrae is a guy." "Girl." "He's a guy." "Girl." "Is not." "Is so." "Oh yeah? Did you grope him or something?" "Did you?" "He has no boobs." "She wears really, really tight jeans." "So? Maybe he's just very secure in his gender, or somethin'." The two creators of the Bishie universe glared at each other. Tokio-sama narrowed her eyes, ignoring as her main character on screen was hit with a powerful attack from a monster and died. "Female." "Male." The two continued to bicker as the television showed the Game Over screen, mournfully belting out the death song. At one point, the two began to throw food at one another, and everything spiraled down from there, the initial point of the conversation forgotten. Naomi and Erk decided to spend the first day together in town instead of heading off immediately. To Naomi's disappointment, Anya was indeed long gone by the time she woke up, so she was all alone with her new Bishonen. And, frankly, had no idea what she could or should talk to him about. If anything. The violet-haired mage, thankfully, didn't seem to mind that she wasn't talking to him. Actually, he appeared quite grateful. At least, he seemed grateful whenever he looked up from that huge tome he was carrying about. Since the moment the two got up and headed out, he had had his nose in that book. But then, the young trainer couldn't blame him, really. After all, he'd been saddled with a Serra- one of the most talkative girls she'd ever seen in a video game, not to mention one of the most annoying- for who knew how long. He was no doubt glad to have some time to hear himself think, and she was all too happy to give that time to him for now. It was about noon now, and the two were sitting together in a café waiting for their orders to come. Naomi had discovered a magazine for Bishie beginners, and was leafing through it while attempting to fight off the signs of a beginning headache. Erk was eyeing a particular page in his book, a thoughtful frown on his face as he tapped his chin with his index finger. Naomi glanced up, and decided it was time to break the silence. "So what have you been reading all day, if I might ask?" "I'm trying to memorize some new spells," was the quiet answer. "These are harder than I originally thought they would be." "I didn't realize it took so long to learn magic." "It isn't when you're learning the type of magic you're used to. This is dark magic, such as Flux; magic I have never attempted before." Naomi blinked. "I thought you were carrying about a book of Anima spells." "It mainly is, but each mage's book also has spells from the other types of magic too; which is why they're so sought after. Sometimes a book meant for an Anima mage will have a Light spell that's hard to find, even in a Light book. Or vice versa." "Huh." Their order came, and Erk finally set the heavy tome aside so he could eat. "So do you have any recommendations for where we should go next?" Naomi questioned. "I don't really care." "It's just… I have no idea where to start." Erk smiled faintly. "I recommend you try to go somewhere that has Bishies you really want to meet as soon as possible. This world is only getting bigger. Why, in the past three years, teleporters have had to be installed so that people could get where they wanted in a reasonable amount of time." "I noticed that. I still don't get how the planet can keep growing like that…" "Don't try to understand. It will only worsen your headache." Naomi blinked. "How did you know…?" "You look exhausted, and you keep rubbing your temples." Naomi blushed. "Oh! Um, I thought you were…" "You thought the bond between trainer and Bishie told me that?" Erk asked, faintly amused. When Naomi nodded, he said, "No, it doesn't really do that, from what I've heard. It's mainly just so that you know I am the Erk you captured, and tells us when we've wandered too far apart." Naomi ate for a few moments in silence, watching her Bishonen absently fiddle around with his food. Then, cautiously, she asked, "May I ask something?" "You already did, but you can ask me something else if you wish." She frowned slightly at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, you may," he added. "Why did you volunteer to be captured?" Erk paused, his silverware hitting the plate with a soft tink. "I suppose.. there are many ways I could answer that," he said. "The easiest and shallowest of them being that I thought any trainer would be better than dealing with Serra for another hour." Naomi smiled. "I think that's a pretty good reason myself. She's a good healer, from what I remember, but…" Erk shook his head. "I… have never been caught before. I was curious, which is a better answer. I suppose my best answer would be…" He thought for a moment. "I wanted to know more about you humans. You from another world, you who allegedly created this world that I was born and raised in. I wanted to see what you all were like for myself, but one can't do that when one lives at home. Not very well, anyway. And I couldn't very well walk up to a random trainer and ask him or her, because I would have been captured. And with my luck, it would have been a bad trainer. No, with this, I had a chance to choose my own trainer, just as you had the chance to choose your first Bishonen." Naomi tilted her head to one side. "I never thought of it like that. Humans creating the Bishie world, I mean. It must feel odd to be born in a world and have us barge in and capture you all-" "Those of us who do not wish to be captured mostly are not, because they stay within our cities," Erk interrupted. "And we made an agreement long ago with you humans about this world; that we'd split it equally. That we wouldn't be mistreated. After all, this is still our planet first, whether or not you all made it for us. We have more right to it than you do. Believe me, this is all voluntary on our parts, or we'd have kicked you all out from the start." The young woman nodded slowly. "Well, I'm glad to know that you all have a say in this. Because as awesome as this all is, I still feel a bit weird about capturing you." "Don't. We'll tell you if we don't like it." And then Erk gave her a smile. "I have learned how to make myself known thanks to Serra, so never fear." Naomi blushed slightly at the friendly smile before returning it. "Good," she managed. Then she looked down and realized that their plates were empty. And that their waitress was waiting only a few feet away, tapping her foot impatiently. "Oh, um, can we get the bill, please?" she asked her. The young woman was about to thank Erk for telling her all of this, but by the time she returned her gaze to her first Bishonen, he was already reading his book again. She sighed, and shook her head. But this time she did it with an exasperated smile instead of a worried frown. And, oddly enough, her headache seemed to be gone as well. Anya yawned and stretched. "Aah, it's so good to be on the move again!" Sano mumbled something. She poked him. "What, still not awake? Come on, wakey, wakey! It's noon already!" He swatted her for poking him, and muttered something else. "You're no fun in the morning," she announced, and looked to her other Bishonen. "Well, here we are at 'le teleport of doom. Shall we get going?" "Teleport of doom, no da?" Chichiri asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or death, or coolness, or whatever. I just like saying doom. It's a cool word, isn't it? I mean… doom!" Anya said, sweeping her arms about dramatically. Heero slowly blinked at her. "I believe she put too much sugar into her coffee this morning." "I did not." "She put sugar into her coffee period, no da," Chichiri said sagely. Anya rolled her eyes. "What's with you guys? Kenshin, help me out here!" But when she turned to look at him, he was busy attempting to wake up Sano to reply- her first Bishonen had collapsed to the ground and was currently snoring. Kenshin was poking him in various places with a stick. "Uncle San, wake up, will you de gozaru yo? This is embarrassing…" Kenshin muttered, sweat-dropping. "Great," Anya sighed. "It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't weigh as much as an elephant, but…" "Do not," Sano muttered, waking up just long enough to grab Kenshin's stick, break it, and roll over on the ground. "Sanoooo," Anya whined. "Come on, you can sleep when we get there, I promise, okay?" "Where're we going, anyway?" Chichiri asked. "To find another gym, if you all don't mind. I think some people are getting out of shape." This she said pointedly while glaring at Sano's back. "What with some people always sleeping.." "I don't always sleep!" Sano protested. "You do too. Come on, Sano, please get up?" "No." "I'll find a Megumi and make her wake you up," Anya threatened. "Hah," was his answer. "Fine!" She turned to Chichiri. "Chichiri, please…?" The blue-haired Bishonen shook his head. "Hey, no, I don't do women, no da." "You do too, you've turned into a Lina before! Remember?" "That was an exception!" "Pleeeeaaase?" Chichiri sighed. "What I do for my trainer." Then he POOFed into the doctor, Megumi. "Thank you, Chiri. We'll try and find one of your favorite restaurants when we get there, honest." That seemed to make him feel better, because he proceeded to wake up Sano with a little more gusto than before. Sano opened his eyes, shrieked, and dove behind Anya. "How in hell did you find one!" he demanded. "Are we awake now?" Anya asked. "I sure as hell am." "Good. 'Chiri?" Chichiri POOFed back into his normal form with a sigh of audible relief. "Oh hell, no, you did not make him-" "Did too. And it worked, didn't it? Now get into the teleporter before you fall asleep again." Sano glared at her. Then, muttering a few curses, he stomped towards the teleporter- a simple little platform a few miles out of town- and waited. Two minutes later, the group was roughly fifty leagues away from their starting position, standing before a sign that said the next town was about ten miles off. "All right!" Anya said, grinning. "Let's get going- the sooner we get there, the sooner Chiri eats and Sano gets to sleep!"