tapestodiane | 025

[It's probably been a while since the network heard from this guy. It's safe to say he's been preoccupied - between being lightly obsessed with Tetris, the Halloween possession thing happening (which actually affected him more than he cares to admit), the train hijacking and those three days ... he's had a lot to think about. And, in truth, still has.]

[But Christmas perked him up and with the new year just around the proverbial corner he's feeling like things just might get better, and you know what else never fails to lift his spirits?]

[Local wildlife.]

[That's right. So today the network is treated to a video of a group of trees. It's pretty early so the sunlight is warm and yellow and sparkles just so in the snow, and as the video sloooowly zooms in on one tree in particular ... you can see there's a Hoothoot snugly nestled in a hollow of the trunk, looking asleep and kind of ruffled up.]

[It's actually a very beautiful image, because Cooper has a tendency to catch them like that.]

[And then he zooms out. ...no, wait, he's zooming in again - a little closer this time, really focusing on that sleepy little owl. Despite his thing with birds, he can always appreciate them from a distance. And this little fellow is admittedly very cute.]

Look at that.

The spitting image of comfort. Right there.

[He sounds sort of breathless and utterly wistful, then zooms out again just for a pan of the scenery - snowy tree trunks and the little lake behind him. The water isn't all frozen yet so the sunlight gets to show off in the surface there, too, before Coop aims the gear back towards the bird and zooms in on it again.]

Almost makes you jealous, doesn't it?

[Action for anyone in Ecruteak! He's hanging out just on the edge of the forest, stalking the wildlife.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Did you?

[He tips his head a bit, letting his interest show; it's entirely possible that Cooper is talking about the egg he sent, he knows, but there's also a fairly recurring trend around Johto to send mysterious eggs to random beneficiaries, so he decides to do a little further prodding of his own, just to see if he's right.]

An anonymous Christmas gift, I assume?

A rather early Christmas gift, in that case. Not to say that that excludes the possibility of it being one.

_{[He tilts his head slightly as well in a mirroring gesture. He's already very fond of the Absol and appreciates the gesture, whoever it was from, but he's still very curious as to the reason he got the egg to begin with.]}

Perhaps a gift of the standard variety, then. Did you recently do someone a kindness, Cooper-san?

[As he says this, another Eevee, this time in a blue collar, wiggles into his lap and perches cheerfully, ears twitching with delight.]

It might be a token of gratitude.

_{[Which Eevee is that, number four? He keeps count, entertained - yet somewhat absently.]}

Though I make it a point to meet people with kindness and love wherever I can I can't think of any action of mine that would warrant an egg.

_{[There's a tug to his mouth in a sort of halfway smile, though.]}

[Thank goodness they're all color-coded, or he'd never be able to keep them all straight. Especially since half the time he can't keep them straight even with the color-coding, anyway. It's a work in progress.]

That's a modest way of looking at it. What about the encounter on the train?

_{[He's probably doing an excellent job. Coop isn't worried, at any rate.]

[And he raises an eyebrow slightly. Are we heading in your direction, Yagyuu?]}

I've considered it. The majority of the people I managed to help were locals with, I expect, very little means of getting in touch.

[The longer the discussion goes on, the narrower the list of likely suspects becomes. At some point he'll cut it off and leave the rest to circumstantial evidence, but for now he's as much enjoying the conversation as he is probing for answers.

For the moment, he'll take his chance ball and go for a bold play.]

You know, in all this time, I don't believe you've actually mentioned what sort of egg it was. Perhaps that would shed some light on things.

_{[Cooper is quite enjoying this little game himself and the answer comes with a quick, wide grin.]}

An Absol, Yagyuu. The Disaster pokémon.

_{[And then, in a sort of verbal nudge,]}

I believe I only know two people with one, not including myself.

[And therein lies the moment when his ability to keep a straight face and a casual expression comes to his aid, because that was the last piece he needed to produce the whole picture, and he's fairly sure that Cooper has put together the same one himself.

But of course, being Yagyuu, he's not about to voluntarily take the credit unless he's directly called on it, so it's a smooth sidestep he returns--which might well be an admission in itself.]

I certainly hope yours isn't proving to be a disaster, Cooper-san, regardless of its classification. They do make fine additions to a roster.

025 - video

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