Steve grinned a bit and accepted the plate.

"I think that's a good plan," he said.

Julie nodded and settled on the couch with her dinner. Though she did feed bits to Electrike and Vulpix.

Steve let his group out so they could eat dinner, and he ended up with Eevee and Shieldon vying for his lap as he gave them bits and pieces.

Julie snorted at that and shook her head, letting Vulpix settle in her lap. Because apparently after dinner was naptime. She did blink when another Eevee came from somewhere in her room to go investigate Steve and his Eevee.

Steve and his Eevee watched as the new one came over to investigate. The new one was smaller than his own, but it didn't seem to be too skittish or anything, so he let the two greet each other.

Julie settled in there for a while, just keeping an eye on everything. A few of the little ones had piled on and around Arcanine, and the little Growlithe managed to get on the back of the couch near Julie's head.

Acranine indulged the little ones and let them pile on top of him. At least they were calming down for the evening. Steve settled on the couch near Julie, one arm around her waist.

Julie ended up leaning against him and turning on a movie for the rest of the night. Once it started to get late, though, she looked at him.

"If you don't feel like heading back to the Tower, you could stay here tonight."

"I don't think the pokemon are going to let Arcanine leave," Steve pointed out quietly, smiling a bit.

Julie laughed quietly. "Looks that way," she agreed. "Guess you're stuck here." She grinned teasingly.

"Guess so," Steve replied, grinning a bit. He pulled her a bit closer to him.

Julie smiled and settled in there to watch another movie with him for a while. At least until she decided she needed to get to sleep.

"Do you need anything?" she asked, looking at Steve as she started moving some of the pokemon who had settled in around them.

Steve shook his head.

"I'm fine here," he replied. "But thanks." He didn't want to impose on her any more than he was already.

"At least let me get some blankets and pillows for you, if you don't want to stay on the bed," Julie said, looking at him.

Steve nodded, getting up and following her. He could carry the blankets and pillows, once she showed him where they were.

Julie moved over to her little linen closet and got down two extra pillows and a few blankets for him.

"Is that enough? I have more."

"It's fine," Steve replied. He leaned down and kissed her cheek softly. "Go on and get some rest, I can take care of myself out here."

Julie nodded. "Alright. Good night, Steve." She hesitated a few more moments before she headed back to her room to get some sleep.

"Goodnight, Julie," Steve replied. "Sleep well." He watched her go, and then went to set himself up on the couch.

A few days passed in that manner, until Julie felt like a few of the pokemon were ready for the next step: being introduced to other people. The rest she left at her apartment with Altaria and Typhlosion.

So she showed up on the main floor of the tower with the little Growlithe walking right next to her, the Eevee starting to explore, and a few others looking around curiously.

Maeve was draped across a chair with a tablet in her lap, reading. She glanced up when she saw Julie and grinned.

"Welcome back, Jules," she said.

"Thanks." Julie grinned and watched the pokemon start to explore. "First batch for stage two of socialization. We'll see how things go today."

"Fun stuff," Maeve said. "Ditto finally decided to venture into Tony's lab, so they're having fun down there with Gardevoir's supervision. Chandelure is around here somewhere."

"Should be fun." Julie grinned and watched the Eevee wander over to go investigate Maeve. She sat down, and Growlithe immediately jumped up next to her.

Maeve looked at the Eevee.

"Hello, little one," she greeted softly, holding out her good hand for the pokemon to investigate.