World Tree MUSH

     After a rather adventurous day out in the World Tree, Miwa is enjoying relaxing a bit back at home. After downing some shrimp tacos from the stand by her beach, she is now just laying on the beach looking up to the sky as she casually munches on a malasada, with a few more in the bag sitting next to her. 

     She smiles as she sees some Swablu and Altaria fly over the beach, they were just too adorably fluffy to not be happy to see. She finally tosses the last of that malasada into her mouth and lets out a blissful sigh as she stretches a bit before laying back in the warm sand and closing her eyes.

It was a calm, relaxing day...

So it was likely a bit of a shock when a raven of darkness appeared behind Miwa with a loud, ear piercing caw. From its darkness, Raven appeared, the bird form swirling into nothing. The small girl glanced down at her and... "Ah. Miwa. I was... looking for you," she said softly, giving a gentle smile.

"Do you have some time? I would like to speak with you?" Oddly, the girl seemed a bit... different. Namely, she seemed more nervous and shy, for some reason. Her cloak wrapped tightly around her, hiding the majority of her form. Granted, it was also sunny. And she was known to have a bit of an.... aversion to the light. Came with being a shadow mage.

     At that caw Miwa's eyes blink open, and by the time they've turned toward Raven and focused on her, she only catches the last of the bird form vanishing and Raven standing behind her. She turns and sits up so she can look at Raven more easily, and quickly takes note of how much more nervous she seems than the last time they met. 

     "Everything ok?" She asks in a somewhat worried tone, and after glancing around the beach, which was not empty, as it hardly ever was. "Do you want to go somewhere more private? Maybe my grotto?" She asks as she turns back toward Raven.

Raven shook her head. "No. I'm fine. Everything is fine. No. Better than fine. Everything is... good." And she wasn't really... one to use that word lightly. "I just... ahhh... was hoping to ask you some... advice. As you are... I mean... you... have a..." And her cheeks were reddened, showing even under the hood's shadow.

"I wanted to ask you for some... relationship... advice. As I have started one and I am not quite sure I have been doing it... correctly. I've read a few... books on the matter." At least two dozen.

"But I know first hand knowledge is usually better for these things and I have... questions."

     Miwa blinks, clearly looking a little surprised at what Raven was asking her, but also glad that she was doing better than fine at the moment. Eventually, a smile forms on her face and she holds back the urge to giggle a little at how unexpected it was that someone would ask her for relationship advice. 

     "Well, I'm very happy for you Raven, and I'd like to meet the lucky guy sometime, but sure, while no one has asked me anything like this before and the only relationship I've ever been in is with Ash, I'll try my best to answer whatever you ask."

Raven nodded and then sat down besides her. She was.... twitchy. Her legs crossed, one of them kept bouncing. While normally she was so calm and still, this was borderline running around for her. "It's... just... I'm not sure how to..." She frowned and closed her eyes.

"I don't really know how you do this... girl friend... thing. I've been watching other girls at the school and it's... weird. They're weird. But I can't really... do what they do. I can't really hold hands for him. And I am definitely not going to shriek like a brain dead owl and then tackle him in some kind of... hug, of all things," she said with a shake of her head.

"But... I also... want him to like... like... me..." she mumbled gently, her voice getting very soft.

     Miwa goes quiet for a moment as she tries to think of how to tackle this question, since as far as she was aware, shows of affection like holding hands and hugging were part of what you normally do to show your partner that you like them, and want to be more than just friends. Even though her only personal experience was with Ash, she'd seen plenty of similar showing of affection between couples in the audience and crowds for her past performances. 

     "Well, um... What does he like? If you don't want to hold hands or hug or anything like that, maybe you could give him some gifts, perhaps also with notes hinting at how you feel? Or, maybe there is some sort of social thing you can do together that you both will enjoy?"

Raven sighs and nods. "Well... I... what... kinds of gifts do you give? Gift giving isn't exactly something I'm very familiar with. We didn't have much of... that sort of thing in Azeroth," she said with a sigh, crossing her arms, her leg still twitching. "And ummm... I'll be hosting a thanksgiving dinner soon. I'm... bringing him to that. I figure it's a good time to introduce him to my... friends..." she said, her cheeks once again gaining a new coating of red.

"And I know he likes... banjos. And slacking off. He's also... cheerful. And... nice. And he's part jackal. That's... like a dog, I suppose. Maybe a bone? Or a collar?" she said, confusion mixed in ehr voice. Oh gosh she really had no idea...

     A cheerful banjo playing jackal-person? Now Miwa is even more interested in meeting this guy. "Hmm, I definitely want to meet him now. But on topic, hmm, a new banjo would be a pretty big and expensive gift better saved for a special occasion. Maybe get him some purple picks with a raven emblem on them? I would make sure he wears collars before trying that, could be taken the wrong way if not. Bone might be fun though if he's not into chewing it maybe play it off as a joke?"

Raven nodded, mentally taking notes. "Raven... emblem picks. I like that. It seems... sweet. Something a normal girl would do. Thank you. and yes, a bone. A... joke. I could make a joke. Then. It was a joke," she mumbled softly.

Then she cocked her head to the way. "How could it be taken the wrong way? I mean... it's a collar. Dogs wear them. Sometimes cats. OH! Because Jackal isn't quite a dog, is it?" she asked, nodding. "Right... I've... never... really been good with animals. They don't like me."

     Miwa pauses, looking at Raven as thinks for a moment for how to explain. Further stalling, she carefully dumps another malasada from the bag onto one of her flippers and offers the bag to Raven before munching on the donut-like pastry. 

     "Well, I've never met a jackal before, but some people put collars on Pokemon. It can be rather cute depending on the relationship between the Pokemon and its trainer. But since I don't have a trainer, if someone tried giving me a collar, it might give the impression they were trying to exert dominance over me or take away my freedom."

Raven would take one of the treats, staring at it curiously. But, slowly, she'd move it to her lips and take a single small, soft, delicate bite. She rolled those words over and over again in her head.

Finally, she spoke up. "I... see. No. I have no desire to have dominance over him or anybody else. I have enough trouble with controlling my own life, let alone another person's," she said softly, shaking her head. She then paused and hummed. "Granted. I guess if anyone could help him control his life, considering his family, it would be me..." she mumbled. "But no. He's not a... pokemon. I would... imagine it is something like a necklace? Maybe I should give him a necklace."

     Miwa nods again, smiling. "Right, helping him to gain control of his life is good, trying to take control of it yourself not so much. If there's one thing I've learned in my time with Ash, it's that it's important to share the relationship equally. Though lately, I haven't been terribly sure what we should do together since we are so different. I have a feeling he feels the same way, or maybe he's just busy with work. I think he's been mostly trying to do things he thinks I would like, but you know Ash too, do you have any ideas of things he would like to do?"

Raven glanced to her, then gave a soft cough. Oh, she had seen... more of Ash than she cared to admit. She'd felt the things he felt, seen into his inner workings, his mind... "... To be honest? I'd suggest normalcy. Things that are just... normal. He... doesn't have the best base for that. With his history," she said gently.

"Although, you might want to speak with Ordis about it. He could give you a lot of advice about things that he'd enjoy."

She then hummed and... "But no. You're not terribly different. At least, you don't feel that different. Appearance wise, you two are as different as could be. But on the inside? You're both good, kind people. Strong and... very similar." She cringed. "Though... I'm not sure it's... alright for me to tell you that. I'm sorry. But... my magic lets me.... pick up a lot. On things like that."

     Miwa laughs a bit and nods. "I had forgotten you could do that. I guess you know a lot more about Ash and me than anyone else besides ourselves. I appreciate your insight, even if in my heart I know what you say to be true. I more meant I felt our interests were different. Though even there, I feel like Ash likes music and spending time with me in new places, so maybe I'll lean into that some... Also, he was talking about upgrading my grotto some a while back, so that's something we can work on together."

Raven nodded. "There, yes. And... sometimes... you don't need to do things together. I'll be honest. Damian and I don't actually seem to like a lot of the same things. But... he is a... relaxing presense for me. He helps me regather myself. It is... odd. How nice it is to just have someone nearby..."

She blushed and glanced off to the side. "Even if... sometimes.... they can be obnoxious," she said with a shake of her head. She then got to her feet. "I should go, though. It has been nice, tlaking with you. And than kyou very much for all of your advice. It really means a lot to me... truly. It does. And I do hope you two continue to do well. You're... a good presense for Ash. He needs someone like you in his life, he really does."

     Miwa grins a bit at Raven as she speaks of Damian, who is apparently the jackal in question, being obnoxious. "Well, you have to take the good with the bad I guess, Ash has his moments too. But it's worth it. I also enjoyed talking with you, and hope we can spend more time together sometime. I'd like to know you a little better. But in the meantime, I hope you and Damian can continue to be a positive force in each other's lives just as you see Ash and I are for each other."

Raven nodded. "Of course. IT would be... nice. And I do hope you'll be able to attend the thanksgiving dinner. It'll be at that space tower of Ash's. So... please come, if you can," she said. She then turned and once agai nwould be enveloped in darkness, disappearing into dark wisps, leaving the other girl alone on the beach.

And soon appearing somewhere else, rubbing her skin. Oh my gosh, she was in there about TEN SECONDS! HOW DID SHE SUN BURN?! Even a little, seriously?!!!