>>1838816“It’ll be okay, Aria. Come on, just… let it out.”
She cries in my shoulder, her hands clenching my shirt as hard as she can. I’ll let her get it out of her system, she’ll run out of steam soon enough. I feel sorry for her, though. Maybe I should’ve done something about it?
This changes things, though. I was planning to leave her behind at some point, as I was growing tired of her thinking she had a license to be a lecherous old man to me just because she’s a girl. How can I separate from her now? The only thing she has left to protect herself is an injured Horsea. We have a few Potions, but they’ll take a while to have an effect. Until then, she’s defenseless. She’s… also emotionally vulnerable right now. We’ve had our differences, but I care about this girl, I do.
Her crying stops after a while, but we stay embraced. I have to let her be the one to decide when it’s over.
“I *sniff* think I’m alright now” she announces and looks up.
Her face looks terrible. Red eyes and some snots running down her nose. I reach to my backpack and grab some paper to hand it to her. I didn’t bring handkerchiefs, but I have a lot of toilet paper, it will have to do.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” I ask.
She nods and starts walking. I want to talk to her about it, but she’s not in the mood right now.
a) Tell Aria to stop. Go back there and teach that bug trainer a lesson… but leave most of my money with her. Just in case.
b) Follow behind Aria in silence. The bug catcher is probably not the last trainer we’ll meet; I have to save the strength of my Pokémon.
c) Try to cheer Aria up.
d) Write in.
