Painted Ghouls

Chapter 8

"Up we go," Brendan heaved, picking Athena up from the floor.

Silently, the human went down the stairs, and hopped off of the last step. Once both of his feet were planted on the floor, he gently set the torchic down. He paused for a few moments to check if he had his hat on, before making his way to the kitchen. With a feeble chirp, the fire type scurried after him.

According to Brendan, it was yet another sunny day outside. Due to such a fact, he decided to go outside as quickly as possible- the sun wasn't even fully past the horizon when he began changing his clothes into a more suitable wear. He seemed excited for the day ahead, and it took a while for the torchic to realize why.

"Today and tomorrow are the last days May is free from research," Brendan said, his hand reaching for the bag of frozen corn in the refrigerator, "so that means we gotta spend a lot of time together. She won't be free for another month or so after tomorrow."

Without a moment to lose, he plopped down a plate of freshly cooked corn in front of Athena. With hunger sneaking all through her frame, she eagerly began to dig in, swallowing a single piece at a time. Brendan, on the other hand, served himself a rather anticlimactic piece of toast.

I don't get how he likes that, Athena thought, her wings flapping as she swallowed a piece of corn whole. It looks so dry and gross. Of course, she wasn't one to judge, for she mostly ate plain corn and berries. Oh well.

Once the two had finished their meals, they departed the house from the back door. Athena was a bit intrigued by his decision- after all, the day prior, the two had to wait for Damien to come bursting into the house before going outside. Perhaps he was just eager to get the day started? Whatever the reason was, she didn't know.

Swiftly sprinting across the gritty stone patio, Athena bounded onto the soft grass. With a sigh of contempt, she allowed her talons to rake through the dirt. No longer was it muddy. Brendan simply walked after her, his hands shoved in his pockets as he looked around. Athena followed suit.

May was in her yard, kicking a rubber ball around. Chasing the circular object was a familiar blue blob of pure energy. Damien. He seemed to be excited when he pounced onto the object, before falling flat on his face as it rolled away.

How does he not get cuts all the time? Athena wondered, her head tilting slightly. He's so active..

"May!" Brendan called, waving a single hand as he picked up the pace, his feet making their way to the neighbor's own yard. The chick pokémon followed suit.

The fellow human turned to face them, a smile plastered on her features. Damien, too, lifted his head to see what was going on with a wagging tail. "Oh, hello Brendan!" she greeted back, walking toward him. Stopping in front of him, she bent down to pat the fire type's head. "And you too, Athena."

To be quite honest, May's way of petting pokémon felt like more of a beating than a pet. Instead of gingerly brushing the feathers and being polite, May chose to have her hand slam down upon the head in such a quick and stern pattern that it was actually painful. To put it simply, it was a lot more violent than necessary.

No wonder Damien is so resistant to injuries, Athena mentally realized. May must pet him so hard that his head became as hard as a rock!

Once she was free from the practice of figurative abuse, the torchic stepped to the side to face Damien. As expected of him, a smile was plastered on his face, all accompanied with his tail fin wagging excitedly. However, he was not in the same spot he was in earlier, for he was trotting toward the scene eagerly. In his mouth were a couple of red lilies.