Valorie
"Well, a bunch really! Like, seriously. A lot." She seemed slightly frurstrated as she said that. Given, she had had enough money on her that was supposed to have been able to last her an entire year, and it wasn't as if her parents never accounted for the fact she might want to buy TMs. She had just been taught from a young age that managing money was important and thus had learned to stress about spending a lot. Suddenly, a thought occured to her. It made her cheeks flush but... Honestly? She was ready to take a risk. She just sort of let go of Mark's hand after a moment and moved her arm around his back, side-hugging him lightly. She was nervous even as she did so, and it was about all she could muster, but she quite desired it.
Mark
Mark noticed that Val let go of his hand. Did he say something wrong? He was quickly corrected when Valorie decided to pull Mark into a side hug. Wonder what brought her into doing that... but nonetheless, Mark was happy about it... so smiled and slowly put his arm around Valorie in the same fashion. He was rather nervous himself... the last time they had been this close was when they were at the beach. But that wasn't exactly a pleasent day for Mark, what with all of the drowning and everything. He let off a small smile.
Outside in the deck Professor Oak gave off his announcement about going to the HoTa Expo. It seemed exciting. He turned his head to Val and smiled again. He was so tempted to tell her how he felt right there and now... it was rather crowded so he wasn't sure how he was going to put it if they were there...
"Um... this is just me thinking out loud but um... you look cute without your beanie...erm... I mean... you still look fine with your beanie and all! Well... you know... eh heh..." Mark said nervously, hoping that would lead somewhere... he blushed for a moment.
Valorie
Valorie felt Mark put his arm around her and foudn herself smiling. He'd accepted it. She was a happy camper, for the time being, her mind temporarily taken off the world around her. Because screw the rest of the world she had hugs from a cute boy. She casually leaned her head against him when he commented on her looking cute. "Thanks..." Words were a bit lost to her now. She was mostly content to enjoy the moment. Yet...
MacKenzie
Meanwhile, MacKenzie was pretty surprised. Were they hugging? As she approached she just sort of considered the implications. Did... she already have a boyfriend? That would be awkward as all heck. It wold also explain why Selene had gotten so angry. Yet... she had to be sure, even if it meant making a jerk out of herself by showing a complete lack of tact. She would step within view of the two, on Mark's side of the hugging. She was looking straight ahead, out at the water. Yet, let there be no mistake. She was there to see them. "Hi guys." She spoke in a familiar tone as if both of them already knew her.
Mark
Mark looked to his side and noticed a fairly familiar girl... It slightly scared him since she seemed to pop out of nowhere. He didn't let go of Valorie though... nothing to be ashamed of after all. Though Mark remembered seeing her one time in the Pokemon Center, he couldn't quite remember her name. Actually... now that he put his finger on it, this was the same girl that just got a boy to kiss her butt. Now it just got awkward.
"Hi um... sorry... what was your name again?" Mark asked. Valorie was leaning her head on him... at least she seemed comfy but he wasn't sure how she would react to MacKenzie being there.
Valorie
Valorie looked up, still hugging Mark but ceasing to lazily lean her head on him. It was that weird girl. The one who did weird things and kinda unnerved her based on her ability to read Valorie's face. She immediately became uncomfortable. Mark might notice her tense slightly. "..."
MacKenzie on the other hand seemed calm and collected as could be. She casually stretched her arms in the air for no apparent reason as she answered Mark. "My name's MacKenzie Quinn. I'm a raikou dorm student. How's it happening?" She seemed to have no regard for the fact that the two had been having a rather intimate moment. She almost seemed to not realize, but of course she was actally just ignoring it.
Mark
Mark felt Valorie Tense up a little bit... though that seems like a proper reaction. This was all awkward... Seeing this... strange girl talking to them during the small moment they were having. Well Mark didn't want to be impolite either... though he still felt like being straight forward about what he was going to say.
"Um... I'm doing good... Saw your battle earlier. Interesting tactic I gotta say..." Mark said, remembering the little scene she had going on earlier. Must have been satisfying to do that to a Suicune student... he looked down at Valorie, still showing concern for her.
Valorie
Meanwhile, Valorie had simply gone silent, staring at MacKenzie as MacKenzie talked with Mark. She didn't know what to say nor what to do. For the moment, she was most comfortable just like this. That is to say, being hugged. She was pretty affectionate at heart, to say the least. It was something she'd come to miss after she'd left her parents to come to the academy. Hugs. She had used to get those pretty often. Not so much at the academy. 'Course, that was something Selene had helped her cope with especially.
MacKenzie
MacKenzie nodded her head, and coughed as if what Mark had said had startled her when he told her it must have been satisfied. It was implied, at least to her, that he was talking about more than the battle. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty cool." She honestly would've rather him have not done what he had done, but it was too late for that. It wasn't like she was going to run from him. That would've been even worse. What was done was done. "Got a bit carried away, you think?"
Mark
Mark sounded rather plain around MacKenzie... Half annoyed for the most part but he didn't really express that to her. But it seemed like bad timing now that Mark was finally getting to hanging out with Valorie...
"Heh... yeah... could have been worse for sure... still that was pretty bad in its own right. Heheh..." Mark joked. He wasn't sure where to go on from there. He still felt kind of awkward... with MacKenzie, not with Valorie.
MacKenzie
MacKenzie glanced briefly at Valorie, finding herself being stared at. She retained her grin as she did so. She then turned her attention back to Mark. "Put that square in his place didn't it?~" She mused over her own words for a moment before becoming serious again. She hadn't come here to talk about her hilariously awkward fight with the suicune dorm boy. "So..." She said, rather obviously trying to change the topic. "You two look really cute together." It was up in the air.
Valorie
When MacKenzie said that, Valorie flushed pink and promptly burried her head against Mark, hiding her face. She couldn't believe what was happening. To her, MacKenzie was ruining this. Sure, she loved the hug even now, but it was being drowned out in how uncomfortable she was being made! Mark would feel her embrace become a bit tighter as she did this.
Mark
Mark very well noticed that MacKenzie was stareing at Valorie... What was her deal? She really just wanted her to leave them alone... Even Valorie was nervous, heck she was burrying her face against Mark practicly hiding her face and tighting her grip.
"Yeah... heh... um... MacKenzie, I'm all up for a good conversation and all, I mean hey, i'm usually the first so start a conversation around here... but could you let us be for a little while? We were kind of talking a little bit ago..." Mark asked politely. If this didn't get her away then he had a backup plan...
McKenzie
A couple of students noticed how Valorie was acting and found it odd. Mainly because her normal attitude was more inclined to be much more hardcore than that. Regardless, for once Valorie wasn't thinking about them. MacKenzie just sort of casually trying to dismiss this. "Aaaw c'mon, it's not like I'm here to bite!"
Valorie
Valorie of course begged to differ. MacKenzie was clearly a vampire. Obsure jokes aside, she just sort of lifted her head to look at MacKenzie again, who was no longer looking at her. She was honestly reaching her limits herself. She cold only stand here and be afraid for so long before her fear gave way to rage and angst. It was only her rather pathetic mood that allowed her to be so docile in the face of someone being so obnoxious.
Mark
She wasn't leaving... and Valorie was tensing up more... Mark had to do something... time for plan B. "Well, I'm sure you aren't but... hmm... Hey how about we make a bet then?" Mark said with a smirk on his face. Not only would this get MacKenzie away, but he could hopefully try to impress Valorie a bit.
"How about a battle? If I win, you leave us two to our own buisness, If you win, then you can go ahead and continue on with your buisness like nothing happened. Deal?" Mark said. Why hadn't Mark thought of this earlier? The only thing he feared was ending up like that Suicune student...
Valorie
Valorie blanked. Mark was... challenging her to a battle? Well she hadn't seen that coming. It was weird being protected, but she decided to accept it. In this case, the alternative was her doing something similar, only a whole lot more angrily.
MacKenzie
Meanwhile, MacKenzie herself was surprised, though she quickly covered it up, reaching up and rubbing the back of her head thoughtfully. "Well my pokemon /are/ pretty wrecked from all that hard fighting earlier..." Melody was her only pokemon on her that hadn't outright fainted. Seemed like a bad gamble from any standpoint to her.
Mark
"Hmm... well... theres bound to be other battles going on in the ship... I mean, surely theres a pokemon center somewhere inside the ship just incase? It's worth checking out. My team's all healed up right now... well one is wandering around the ship but I can manage with the three I currently have. Aw comon don't back out of my challange." Mark said, hopeing to tempt her even further to accept her challange. There had to be some kind of place to heal pokemon around the ship... It would get her away from them for a little while anyways.
MacKenzie
MacKenzie seemed to stare for a moment. The biggest question to her was was this worth using more medicine. She supposed she could go see if there was a nurse onboard. He /was/ probably right. I mean, what if someone got hurt and there wasn't? "Well, alright... But don't go anywhere!~" She then turned tail and walked away in search of said nurse. Phew. Coast clear... for now.
Mark
"phew... well Val, She's gone for now. But I'm gonna have to keep my word and battle her though..." Mark place his hand on Valorie's back. "Are... you alright though? I could tell you were a bit... well... annoyed. Hey it shouldn't be too hard on my part. When I win we can continue chatting. and just hanging out!" Mark said, very confident that the battle would go his way.
Valorie
Valorie watched MacKenzie go. She herself was tempted to just run away with Mark, but of course Mark had to keep his word. She was slightly disappointed, but oh well. Suddenly, she felt Mark's hand move to her back. Mark would find that she quivered a bit at the afformentioned touch. She responded slightly nervously, but attempted to hide how much MacKenzie got under her skin. "Y-Yeah! It's just..." She thought to lie and say it was cold, but decided against it instead hoping Mark would not pry if she gave him a vague answer. "y'know..."
Mark
Mark nodded. "Yeah... I know... eh... but a trainer has to keep his word you know? Don't worry, I've improved alot since the last time we battled. I'll be sure to give a good show!" Mark said cheerfully. "And after that, we can continue on about our buisness like normal. Don't worry Val, I'm not losing this battle. It'll be a piece of cake!" He added.
He wasn't exactly looking forward to the batttle... if anything he kinda hoped MacKenzie would forget the whole thing and possibly get lost in the ship. Then Mark and Valorie would have an excuse to just ignore the whole thing.