Chapter three of srge's present, and I have to say, I'm surprised so many people like it! Is srge telling you all to review behind my back or something? Seriously, I don't normally get these many reviews from people I've never (or hardly) met before for any of my other stories…eh, whatever.

Characters for Chapter Two:

Tsukuyomi the Male Absol, is Celia's Pokemon

Celia Rosemary, works at a café

Timothy Hunter, the poor boy who died in his brain

Martha and Stuart Hunter, Timothy's mother and father

Robert and Brigitte Hunter, Timothy's brother and sister

The next morning, Tsuku got his roommate.

Unfortunately, he didn't get to see his roommate for the first week, because apparently the patient was 'too damaged to be seen without hurling', as one of the nurses said when he asked. Sighing and shaking his head at that (I have died before, so I doubt this would shellshock me or anything….), he just let it be as he tried to focus on conquering the oddities of being human.

"Don't you remember how to eat with a spoon, Timmy?" His 'mother' smiled at him and took the utensil from him to feed him herself. "Gosh, you're so silly!"

Kill me again, he mentally grumbled as he reluctantly opened his mouth for the soup, or at least give me a damn clue to where Celia is.

"Oh, but that would be too easy!"

He could imagine Mewtwo saying that. He growled and focused on trying to coax Martha to let him try again. This time, after a few mishaps including ruining her good shirt, he got it right, and he glowed a bit with pride as he thought, well, this isn't too hard after all!

"Alright, Timmy," the nurse came in, waving a plastic cup at him, "it's time for a urine sample!"

He frowned.

…Shit.

Eventually, he got the hang of his 'business' as well as dressing and undressing, but he still felt awkward using his hands. Not used to opposable thumbs, sometimes he'd misjudge and throw the cups of water onto his 'mother' instead of drinking it. The doctors, of course, made up that he was recovering, but he knew they found it odd. Damn humans and their thumbs.

After a while, the curtain that hid his roommate was removed, and he saw a little boy strapped to the bed with an oxygen mask over his mouth and IVs feeding him regularly. Apparently, he was a victim from a fire in an apartment, and the nasty burns all over his body were evidence. It seemed that he had very low chances of living, but his father was very wealthy and kept him there for extensive help and many, many skin grafts.

At least, that's what Tsuku gathered from nurse chatter, anyways. They did love to gossip.

One day, as he was walking around the hospital room (he was still shaky, so they gave him one of those walkers that the elderly used to walk around) for exercise, he stepped beside the bed with the boy and got a real good look at him as he slept. He had pretty pale brown hair, almost a soft purple color, and his eyes (when open) were a stunning turquoise blue. He would have been the epitome of adorable before the fire.

After a while of him standing there, the boy seemed to notice his presence and his eyes fluttered open lazily, peering at the once-Absol with a half-lidded gaze. Despite him not being able to speak with the oxygen mask, his expression said it all:

Kill me…please…I can't live on like this.

Tsuku stared at the boy for a moment more before glancing at his heart rate, seeing it was relatively normal. Then, he moseyed on to the other side of the bed and slightly jerked at the IV in his arm. The boy flinched, and the beeping increased in his panic and aching.

"Is that what you want," the once-Pokemon asked him quietly, "to feel pain?" When his gaze did not change, he told him, "Despite what you may think, Death is not an escape to a numb life. It only brings more pain than you had while living."

The boy's eyes glazed over in semi-consciousness as he was too exhausted to do anything more than just sleep, and Tsuku sighed and went back to his bed to sit on the edge and put his head in his painfully human hands.

I want to reach out to him…but how can I explain that he doesn't want to die?

Suddenly, he felt a chill, and he raised his head up to glance around the room. Although nothing was there, he thought he heard someone say with a dark chuckle, "You cannot explain matters to those who refuse to listen." Then, as the cool breeze seem to leave the room, he looked around and saw that the window was closed. The AC hadn't been changed, and the wind couldn't have gotten in through the glass….

Tsuku couldn't remember how many days had passed by now; all he knew was that the boy was gone and he had the room to himself again. As he coped with the mental stress of needing to find Celia and the physical stress of his body getting used to moving, he tried to occupy himself with other things.

He tried painting, but it ended up looking like something worthy of a psychiatrist session of ink blots. He tried poetry, but he couldn't seem to get past the first line of any poem he started. He tried reading, but he got bored after the first chapter and threw the book down. The only thing he could do was watch the television and be bored to tears by the bad shows on.

You would think a man brilliant enough to create the television would also be bright enough to make some good damn shows to go with it, he commented silently as he watched a terrible soap opera about the 'end of the world', but his quiet mocking of humans' intellect was interrupted when a small knock on the door broke through to him. Coming back to reality was rocky, and he cleared his throat to sound more authoritative as he told whoever it was to come in.

The door creaked open, and a curly redhead poked her head in through the crack to look at him nervously. After a moment of standing there unsure of what to do, she opened it up fully and walked in, followed by a dirty-blonde haired boy that looked rather annoyed. He seemed younger than both her and Tsuku, and he seemed to be aspiring to be a Trainer because he had the trademark vest-and-cap outfit that seemed to be 'all the rage' in Hoenn nowadays.

Wait, maybe that means I'm in Hoenn after all! A bit glad at that information, he decided to look indifferent instead of glaring like he had planned to earlier. They walked up to him, the girl nervous and the boy annoyed, and then it became completely quiet as the two didn't move to start a conversation.

Shit, I'm not good at that…. But, since they weren't going to, he was left to do it, and so he sighed heavily and asked, "Yes? What do you want?"

"So it is true," the girl whispered, and she turned to the other and asked, "Can you believe he forgot about us, Robby?"

"I say he's just pretending." The younger boy, probably not even seven yet, scoffed as he glared at Tsuku. "He just wants the attention, like always."

Little shit, I'll show him attention! Tsuku narrowed his eyes at the boy. "I presume you are supposed to be my brother, Robert Hunter, otherwise known as Robby?" As he continued to glare at him, he turned his gaze to Brigitte. "And you're Brigitte, my sister."

"Yes!" She went over and hugged him happily, exclaiming, "Oh, I'm glad you at least know our names!" Then, as if feeling awkward for not getting a hug back, she let go and smiled sheepishly. "It's a start, at least."

"Oh, come off it, Brig!" Robby glared at the former Pokemon and shouted, "He's just yanking our chain!"

"He's never done that before," she scolded him harshly, and as he pouted she told him, "Now stop whining before I tell Mom and Pa how bad you were today."

"Hmph, whatever." He turned around and walked out, leaving the other two to stare after him as he walked to the ice cream machine. After sighing, Brig turned back to Tsuku and said, "I'm sorry, Timmy, but…he's happy you're back, too. He hasn't been the same since…well…you know…."

Actually, I don't. Deciding to leave it be, however, he instead asked her, "Could I ask you a favor?"

"Hm?" She tilted her head curiously, looking at him closely before nodding slowly. "Yes, ask away."

"Could I…have a nickname? A different one, of course." When she looked at him confused, he sighed and explained, "I want to be called…Tsuku."

"Can I ask why?"

"I'd rather you wouldn't."

She sighed, but relented. "Alright, I'll tell everyone else to. Take care, alright?" When he nodded mutely, she sighed lightly and quietly left the room, closing the door behind her as if not to wake a sleeping baby. As she went to probably take care of her younger brother, Tsuku let out a heavy, angry groan.

Why must there always be a catch to every offer?

Alright, that's all I have for this update! I don't want to progress too much too fast, so y'all will just have to deal with the "slowness" some reviewers are complaining about. Although, someone did say it was going too fast…oh, well, I can't please everyone. And besides, this IS supposed to be a present for srgeman, so it isn't here to get me a bunch of reviews (although all are extremely appreciated). Hope srge and the others who like this story will stick around for a bit longer! Auf Veidersehen, meine Freunde! (I think that's how you say it…correct me if I'm wrong.)

Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),
~DL ('Dragon Lover')