[16:28]  * Luxray scratches the space between Ren's ears with an outstretched paw. "You're going back to your old nervewracked roots, Ren. Relax a bit and stop letting every little thing bother you."
[16:29]  * Ren` sighs, slumping to the ground despite the scratch. "... Easier said than done, sometimes."
[16:31] <Luxray> "Well I'm the one who always doing the saying around here, and as far as I know, you're much more adept at just doing, so I don't see how that could ever be a problem for someone like you." he added with a smirk, laying beside her as he allowed his own breaths to seep into the air before them.
[16:35]  * Ren` lets out another steady sigh, a heated breath rolling against the ground with a faint cloud of dust. "... Normally that 'doing' involves hitting things. It's easier to relax when there are things to hit..." the linoone points out, punctuating her words with a jab of a pointed foreclaw downwards into the cold earth.
[16:38] <Luxray> "Well tell you what, come wintertime, I can get Psik and Lopunny to help with setting up snowmen near the den, and give them horrifying faces so you'll feel that much more tempted o pummel them to dust. I'll even sneak a few Tamato berries inside so when they break it looks like you're actually making them bleed. How does that sound?"
[16:41] <Ren`> "... Wouldn't be the same. Besides..." she pauses to push hseself up into a sit, her tail flicking slightly behind her. "... I can't imagine headbutting snow is all that fun. I don't need to be soggy and cold." She lets out another sigh, another exasperated huff that lingered in the air for a moment. "... Things were so much easier when I had you and Umbreon to be reliably angry towards."
[16:42] <Luxray> "Well I never said you couldn't continue being angry at me, as long as you don't mind being outdone on most occasions from directly dealing with someone much more used to taking flak. But Umbreon? What could have possibly happened there? Are you trying to suggest to me that he ran out of things to keep apologizing for?"
[16:48] <Ren`> "... Can't beat him down right now. Hell, I couldn't really do much to him even with that dancing he does, but at least the chase kept my mind off stuff and burned some energy..." Her neck cranes to look at the blue-black fur of the body beside her as she slides back down to the ground once more. "... And although you've done some pretty... Luxrayish things, I can't exactly hit you for them. Lucky for you."
[17:02] <Luxray> "I'm not so sure. You're definitely right in saying that there seems to be a distinct lack of anything that annoying or dangerous around here; although, to be a bit of a devil's advocate, you *did* use to complain about having to deal with that so much, so I find it a little amusing that now as it's happening, you find that discomforting as well.
[17:04] <Luxray> But if it keeps on like this, I might end up getting soft as well, which can't be good for either of us. I mean, that counts whether I'm retaliating to another one of Vaporeon's vicious catcalls, or..." he stopped suddenly, a little hesitant in stating his other example as he sought to cover it in a rather obvious manner, "*coughprotectingcoughoffspringhack*..."
[17:07] <Ren`> "... Nasty cough there. I'm guessing you didn't have any injections for that..." Rolling her eyes theatrically, her mind flicks back to the earlier comment. "... I guess... you battle for three years or so, and... you just keep on looking for an outlet along the same lines, 'specially if it's all you knew. I didn't think monotony would be so frigging *boring*."
[17:13]  * Luxray had to agree, although his only reply at first was a silent nod that alluded to his own meandering thoughts. Perhaps it was also due to the slowing motions caused by the steadily dropping temperature of the season. but the fact remained that in one way or another, the state of the community was....stagnant, at the very best.
[17:15] <Luxray> In time, his own series of unique, rampant, sometimes even interesting thoughts lent to him the potential for something that, while crazy to anybody else but Umbreon for obvious reasons, may have been just the kind of thing needed if his hunches were right - he really needed a term to dub these little inspirations, as "Luxbulbs" was already beginning to stale.
[17:15] <Luxray> "...Let's fight sometime."
[17:18]  * Ren` blinks. Did she hear that right? Her eyes locked on the back of Luxray's neck, she pushes herself upright, resting once more on her haunches as she kept the lion locked in her inquisitive gaze. "... You want to-- You do remember what generally happened when we scrapped, right? And you know that holding back... sort of defeats the purpose?"
[17:19] <Luxray> "Yeah, I'm aware of what occurred, and that was usually because it was the hidden motive behind our scrapping in the first place. But I'm talking about straight up fauna fisticuffs, you and me, the only two people who seem to understand what a fair fight is. I don't trust that human for a second with his weapon nearby, all these 'psychic' users bother the mental hell out of me,
[17:21] <Luxray> and of all people who would actually be able to provide some sort of need to be creative rather than straight up 'more strong', I'm fairly sure you're the best bet. Besides, we could even host it right in the middle of everything else, let the bunch of subs watch in awe - maybe instill a little chaos along the way while we teach them what a  *real* battle is like."
[17:26]  * Ren` perks her ears, the spiky nubs flicking gently in the cool air, a smile slowly creeping over her pointed muzzle. "... You and me both," she says. "I don't know what the hell that human expects to do with weapons... and you know my opinion on psychics." She gives a faint shudder before continuing.
[17:26] <Ren`> "Maybe we'll actually teach 'em what being a pokémon is all about as well." She pauses, her mind flicking to the most popular activity around these parts. "... Well, maybe one aspect."
[17:28] <Luxray> "You and me both, that's right." he repeated, flashing her that same kind of smirk he was so well known for, in the single moment that, miraculously, seemed to have them connecting just as well mentally as they had already often done physically. "Fight to grow, fight to evolve, fight to survive. At the very core of all that we do, and by far the thing we know...or *should* know, how to do best."
[17:32] <Ren`> "And you wouldn't think it by looking over some of those sorry lot... my trainer wouldn't have given 'em a second glance, I bet." She smiles again, trying to hide some of the excitement that belied her anticipation. "... Of course, we might need to make sure they don't join in, either."
[17:34] <Luxray> "Hire Furret as crowd control, then. Between his servitude to me, and his companionship with you, I'm more than sure he'd be guaranteed to be willing to take it on in the interest of keeping his master satisfied in one way or another." he suggested, elaborations giving way to minor ideas one after the other. "We could ask Psik as well, he may understand... or if all else fails,
[17:35] <Luxray> any interruptions against either one of us gets a response of having *both* of us retaliate against them. And trust me, if there's one thing that's going to teach them about picking their battles wisely the quick way, it's putting themselves into an impromptu 2-on-1 against the two Pokemon most likely to be considered for kicking asses first and taking eggs later."
[17:40]  * Ren` pauses. "... I think Furret and Psik would be better... or someone around here that's battled properly before, but I can't think of many that fit that. There are quite a few pokémon I wouldn't mind beating down... but there are a few I don't know if I could bring myself to fight." Another unpleasant idea fills her mind. "... And I'd rather you or I didn't get shot either if that human's around, whatever his name is."
[17:41] <Luxray> "According to Umbreon, he more or less knows the rules - the less he does directly involving us, the better. And at the very worst case, if one of us were to get hit, we *know* where there's first aid available." his assurances, while valid, still were no more so than her owrries, although he seemed to prefer dismissing what was making her actually excited for once.
[17:42] <Luxray> "You worry yourself too much, Ren. I know it's natural based on your upbringing, but we control the area now, not humans. If he wants to even think about jutting in, I'll pump so much electricity into that metal barrel it'll curl back on itself from the heat and blast him in the tibia."
[17:43] <Luxray> A joking prod against her side followed along with another side comment, "And based on prior events, you'd know better than anyone about how potent that can be, eh?"
[17:45]  * Ren` flicks Luxray a wan smile from the last comment, nodding slightly as her muscles gave a faint twitch at the numbness she had felt for... quite a while afterwards. "... I'm fine around humans, Lux. Sort of part of the job description. What I'm worried about are humans that might decide to take matters into their own hands with small pieces of metal. Didn't have to worry about THAT on the Plateau."
[17:49] <Luxray> "Again, don't focus on that. That's something we'll deal with as the time comes, or simply just inform him ahead of time, if you're comfortable around them." he replied, muscles silently twitching, a small gleam in his eye reflecting the scant rays of sunlight quickly disappearing off in the horizon as he turned to face her again.
[17:51] <Luxray> "What you *should* be focused on..." he began to say, before suddenly overtaking his words with unexpected movement, his legs bounding from against the ground as he propelled himself forward and against her. The resulting impact just behind her shoulder brought them into a short roll against her will, before leaving them both half-atop each other in an awkward pose, his tail twitching from earlier excitement as he glared at her pseudo-menacingly,
[17:51] <Luxray> as he glared at her pseudo-menacingly, edges of his fangs now the stars of the show as a muddled reflection of his dar fur lined the inside of their curve. "... is on keeping up with my feline reflexes, my dear.~"
[17:55] <Ren`> The impact from the sudden application of lion to linoone knocks the breath from her as the pair tumble and roll, her claws gripping instinctively onto the tumbling mess of fur that was Luxray hitting her from a standing start. Her breath pants in response, short, adrenaline-fuelled breaths panting against his muzzle as her body lies awkwardly around his.
[17:56] <Ren`> "... So I've gr-- heh, grown... complacent with the lack of... necessity. Rest assured I'll run rings around you, catboy." She pauses, gulping air into her winded frame. "... Or, at least, rectangles."
[17:57] <Luxray> "I think just about any recognizable shape will do you well enough, my lethargic Linoone. Just make sure that you switch it up often enough to keep me guessing, or the answer to who's more crafty in our little tussle will come so quickly you'd find it fit to label it a Leafeon in heat."
[18:01] <Ren`> "That's... if you even know where I'm... gonna pop up. Last I checked, you and dirt... don't get along, do you? Can't hit what... you can't see, you know. Even with that static of yours."
[18:09] <Luxray> "Good luck finding dirt underneath all these leaves, Ren hon, or snow, if we end up waiting that long to show off. Either way, it works against you. Burning leaves from my heated bolts? Conductive frozen condensation melting into your matted fur? I think the playing field will be just as even for us both as you'd like to deny."
[18:13] <Ren`> "... All the more for an interesting battle, right?" She pauses, her breath slowing down as the surprise starts to wear off, breath coming easy now despite the lion's position half on top of her. "Vying for the same slim advantage... Hope this is going to be as interesting as you make it out to be.
[18:13] <Ren`> Might as well put on a bit of a show for the legions of adoring fans that wouldn't know a battle if it hyperbeamed their ass."
[18:18] <Luxray> "Let's see.... exaggerated sparks flying about? Vicious primal roars from a slender frame like yours before catapulting into my shoulder like you always do?... Hmm, I don't *possibly* fathom how we could manage to make it look interesting at all" he replied with a heavy dose of sarcasm, before a swift paw came from the side to swat against her partially exposed tush.
[18:18] <Luxray> "Although having an opporutinity to see this fine battle-honed ass swinging around again is more than enough of an incentive for me. Grawr~ ;3"
[18:21]  * Ren` flicks her ears at the comment, kicking faintly in response to the albeit held-back hit. "... Don't be losing focus, Lux. You don't want to lose sight of the business end of your sparring partner, do you?" That little point is accentuated with a gentle headbutt. Gentle comparatively anyway, her head bonking into the Luxray's leering muzzle.
[18:23] <Luxray> "Making contact with that rump in itself is enough of a prize for me, if you want honesty." he answered, before grunting slightly at the tap against his skull and ears as the two found themselves staring into each other's eyes, his tail involuntarily wrapping itself around one of her legs as it gave quick, playful tugs.
[18:24] <Luxray> "But I suppose you're right, no sense excessively admiring that little piece of heaven when I could have it *and* another personal little victory at my feet." he added, before leaning his muzzle forward to meet hers in a teasing, yet serious, embrace between their lips.