[Catchall] Settling In

[pyrodulia]

Who: Agnes and You
What: The process of getting acclimated to a new body and a new world
When: October
Warnings: Mention of Agnes' canonical death (no details), discussion of gruesome use of human remains, cult activity, fire used to destroy important things.

She never actually put any milk in it. She never even drank it. She’d just take it over and sit there, staring out the window into the street for an hour or so, then stand up and leave. I’d go over to clear away her coffee. It was always scalding hot.

The way she always used to order the coffee, it always sounded like she was enjoying it. The order, I mean. Like the phrase “one black coffee with room for milk” was a delightfully novel thing for her to say.


1. Coffee
There was a cafe back home, the Canyon Cafe. Agnes started visiting in 1991, and she was certain that the staff noticed she didn't seem to age a day between then and 2006, when she...before she arrived here in Bottlecap Bay. She'd gotten into a habit, ordering a black coffee with enough room for milk, and then setting with the cup and not drinking a drop. It was the normalcy of the act of ordering she craved.

Here, though, adjustments need to be made. As a Ninetales (what a silly name), she can't exactly hold a mug, so the coffee is prepared and put into a shallow bowl for her. And as a Ninetales, rather than what she was before, she can actually drink it.

She's surprised, with the first sip, exactly how bitter it is. In fact, the look on her face might be comedic for onlookers. There is absolutely sputtering happening, and her tails all standing up straight like a row of exclamation marks.


2. Canopy
For some reason, Rimbombee went out of his way to ensure that Agnes's living quarters up in the Canopy are water-resistant, if not completely impervious to rain, making her more comfortable than some of the other Cheri Berries. In the meantime, though, she can be found exploring the Canopy as a whole or bringing messages from those standing watch to the main building.

There's a restlessness to her that's obvious if you watch her for long. But that restlessness was one she had since she was anchored by Gertrude Robinson. Then, she existed unable to fulfill her purpose. Here and now, she doesn't know what her purpose is.

If you're around the Canopy, perhaps this is a good time to meet the new recruit? After all, she's fully herself instead of Froslass's pet bitch now.


3. Chitin
Agnes has no issues with bugs, in the abstract. But the first time she sees a spider web bridging the gap from the branch of a tree to its trunk, her response is more than a little 'kill it with fire'. Which is especially dangerous considering she's capable of launching a Flamethrower without even thinking about it.

And now the tree's on fire, and the Joltik whose web she just immolated is very upset. Someone should do something about that. Like, now.


4. Wildcard
Catch me on darkersolstice, wherever you get your social media, to plot.

Comments

[pyrodulia]

"Fascinating. I can...set things on fire. I am very, very good at setting things on fire. But this seems like a poor place to demonstrate that."

...she has other skills, and even used those in service of Froslass. But setting things on fire is something she takes pride in.

And did back home.

[no_ufo_ending]

Henry's antennae lay backwards a little with anxiety. Yes, he would like it very much if she didn't demonstrate here. Especially if he's part grass-type. He only knows he's green because somebody told him so, so he's just assuming.

"Sounds useful--especially to keep dangerous Pokemon away." He wonders how much easier of a time he would have had in the Otherworld if he'd had a flamethrower.

[pyrodulia]

"Unless they're water types. Or whatever else may be impervious to fire. It's a very...rock-paper-scissors sort of interaction, it seems. Neat rules and strict boxes for types of Pokemon and their moves. Like you could study hard enough to solve it all, if you wanted."

Beat.

"Must be what the Lum berries are for. Research and optimization. Like Magic: the Gathering players."

[no_ufo_ending]

"I remember there was a club for that back in college," Henry recalls. The Lucario who's name he's forgotten (and he feels bad about that) told him some people here used to be monsters, so it's kind of nice to know that Agnes is from his world. "What is it we do? The Cheri Berries?"

He hadn't asked. He'd just commiserated with the little bee guy about ghosts and curses.

[pyrodulia]

"We're rangers and scouts. Any trouble headed for town has to pass through the canopy, so we'll know first. The Oran berries might be more of a combat-ready force, but I would guess they, like their leader, lack for subtlety."

Agnes pauses, her tone of voice going a little quieter, more wistful.

"Where did you go to college?" She never went, herself; the cult that raised her didn't value a worldly education.

[no_ufo_ending]

"California. It was just a little community college, but they had a good art department. Or that's what I'm told." He hadn't known anything else. "I moved to Maine after. What about you...? What was going on before you got here?"

He feels himself relaxing a little and his little head feelers slowly stand back up.

[pyrodulia]

She pauses to consider the right way to answer.

"I'm from England. Had been living in Sheffield before I ended up here." Before her death, but as she's learned not everyone died before arrival, she isn't going to talk about that. It's probably obvious she's not saying everything, though.

"Had a little flat in town. Had a favorite cafe I used to visit."

[no_ufo_ending]

"I'd love to go to England sometime. The architecture is beautiful." Henry can be a little nerdy. As a treat.

The Flygon offers her a small smile. "Me too. I lived in an apartment in Ashfield. Worked in a store. I was saving up to buy a car."

But now he has wings! So he's feeling some kind of way about that.

[pyrodulia]

Agnes glances off to one side at the sight of that smile. "Before you arrived here, did you think you had a destiny, Henry?"

[no_ufo_ending]

"Not really..." BUT SOMEBODY ELSE SURE FUCKING DID.

[pyrodulia]

"Hm. Perhaps you're lucky, then. Though who knows what being here means? If there's some point to all this."

She does a canine sort of stretch, paws out front, and lets out a bit of a yawn. This body is all sorts of novel still.

[no_ufo_ending]

Henry's mouth forms a grim line. If only they knew what the other was holding back. He'd been in the middle of something kind of important when he got whisked away. He hasn't stopped wondering why.

"It makes me feel kind of insane, actually. Being here suddenly."

[pyrodulia]

"Maybe this is a psychotic break. Or some cosmic punishment. Or reward? I haven't decided which it feels like, yet."

She almost, almost manages to make that sound light and playful. It's the ears, how they visibly droop at the word 'punishment', that betray her.

[no_ufo_ending]

It honestly took a bit for Henry to admit that. He's not great at expressing emotions. But everything is so WEIRD and raw and it just kind of slips out. When she shares her own feelings about it, his antennae droop, though this time out of empathy.

He thinks about how Dolly had comforted him and goes out on a limb. He's a dragon now. What does he have to lose? She doesn't have a hand to hold, so he reaches out to put a claw on her shoulder. He doesn't say anything.

[pyrodulia]

There's an instinctive flinch. Not because she doesn't want to be touched, but because she's not used to being safe to touch. She once kissed a guy on the cheek and gave him a third degree burn. She's never had so much as a high five before.

So she jerks away and glances at his claw, fur fluffing up for a moment before she realizes he's okay. He's fine. She's not a threat to existence, in this world, in this form. And he probably thinks he's the one who fucked up there.

"I'm sorry. I'm just. Not used to being touched."

[no_ufo_ending]

Henry withdraws his pawclaw. At first he doesn't even think about what she says, he just feels like a weirdo for trying to touch someone without asking. See, Henry, this is what happens when you express feelings!

Her words catch up with him though and he tilts his head slightly. What does that mean? "No, I'm sorry."

[pyrodulia]

"It's fine. You're fine. It's not a big deal."

It is a huge fucking deal that she has no idea how to even begin unpacking.

[no_ufo_ending]

He readjusts the roof-sealing tools in his arms and twitches his tail uncertainly. Henry nods again. They can forget it happened. His mind flips through the dozens of things he's had to try and memorize since showing up here.

"Have you tried a pecha berry?" His words come out stilted. There were a lot of berries in this world, turns out. Not that there weren't a lot of berries back on Earth but berries were a Whole Thing here. "They're very sweet."

[pyrodulia]

"Oh?" Right, conversation. Pretending to know how to be a person. Back on track.

"Haven't had a chance yet. They sound good though. No guild named after them, is there?"

[no_ufo_ending]

"Not around here, I don't think."

He wonders if there are countries in this world. With the way the tech is, being a mix of early settlers and literal actual magic, he can't be sure what Pokemon Government is like. Also there are wild Pokemon and that's a whole other thing.

Henry waves his tail for her to follow and starts walking again in search of someone who actually knows how to repair a roof.

"The food at the festival was good. It doesn't seem like anyone around here goes hungry."

I'm tapping out for bed after this one, more tomorrow

[pyrodulia]

"True. At least, not those of us within the city or at the outpost. I hear someone's planning to start a garden out there. They were asking for help on the quest board."

Though how anyone starts growing things in October is beyond her. Agnes couldn't keep a cactus alive back home, let alone vegetables.

[no_ufo_ending]

"Oh, maybe I'll help them." Because he's a grass guy! Makes sense!

And because he still hasn't shaken the image of Firepaw carrying that dead Wattrel in his mouth. He never saw what happened to it, and part of him still hoped that the flying-type had just been a Different Kind of Creature and not a Pokemon but...he thinks he knows. What some of these Pokemon get up to in the woods.

"She's not still there, is she? Froslass?"

[pyrodulia]

"If she is, at least she's not holding court over thralls anymore. It seems her influence is gone, regardless of if she is." Which is, perhaps, an odd way of talking about her and the situation for someone who'd been so doggedly loyal when Froslass was in charge.

[no_ufo_ending]

"Mmn," says Henry. He wants to garden more than he wants to kill other Pokemon, but he wants to Not Be Cursed more than he wants to eat. The frostbite did some serious damage to the very tips of his antennae. 4x weakness fucking sucks. Ghosts. Man.

He can just check. If he sees her, maybe he'll just make a garden SOMEWHERE ELSE.

They step out onto one of the bridges connecting the structures. Henry turns to look down over the forest. Being high up reminds him of being back in his apartment. The forest was so thick, though. It was hard to see what was going on down below.

"Which hut is yours?"

[pyrodulia]

"Over here toward the left. The tree with the golden tint to its leaves."

Her hut, it seems, has already been properly waterproofed to some degree.