Gracidea narrowed her eyes on the medallion that was rotating just slightly before her, sunlight glinting off of it’s lovely design while Michael spoke so confidently about his parents’ actions. To her, it seemed suspicious. Why would they need an heirloom to recognize their boy? Wouldn’t they have pictures? Was it truly an heirloom if that were the case, or was it all a story expertly crafted so their child would feel as though he was loved and comply to their will? She was skeptical, and her face reflected that mistrust for a brief few seconds before she made herself smile. All she could do was speculate, after all, and why use her assumptions to plant a seed of such awful mistrust if she couldn’t be sure of his parents’ intentions? That wasn’t fair to Michael, and he was such a pleasant sort...she didn’t want to be one to chase his smile away.
So she smiled, a warm and kind and good smile. Tsubaki, as sensitive towards her trainer’s feelings as always, felt the same protective warmth as Gracidea and hopped up to place her delicate front paws on Michael’s lap, looking him in the eyes before giving him a happy little lick on the face! She wanted him to smile, too. She stepped down shortly after, but sat near the boy as though she wished to shield him from all the bad in the world.
“I’m happy for you, truly,” Gracidea said sincerely, lifting the rose gold chain around her neck to show him her own pendant.
“My parents gave me this necklace. They were vacationing in Sinnoh when my mother found out she was pregnant with me. Their trip had been a comedy of errors because of her poor constitution, so she went to see a doctor in secret one evening while they both tried to cool off. After she found out, she told my father while they were walking through a field of gracidea flowers in full bloom...except this one,” the girl filled with emotion while she looked down at the tiny bud, pale and flushed with pink within a tiny glass sphere, “This one was still closed, so they took it and turned it into this pendant. They gave it to me and named me after the flower…Because they were grateful to have me, and how I reminded them to love each other. They still call me their little bud, even!”
Once more, the lovely young girl beamed up at Michael, “You’re right. Precious gifts like these are always given with heartfelt intent. I’m thrilled you get to meet your parents, and I’m very glad that Parvus snuck up on me today! You helped me recall a lovely memory...so I’m grateful to both of you.”
The girl, once more, reached out to stroke the little yellow puffball named Parvus ever-so-gently. Such a sweetie!