July Catch-All

[friendlyflower]

Who: Flowey & Firepaw, Emporio, Lusamine, and others?
What: Quests (Learning Aides, Growing Harvest), maybe some meetings/interactions
Where: Southern forest, the city gardens, around the city
When: Throughout July
Warnings: Pokemon battling (violence/injury), Flowey's trauma (mentions of/themes of depression, depersonalization, guilt, child death, murder)

Comments

Quest: Growing Havest

[friendlyflower]

[Flowey had arrived early to the garden to steal some of the plants' nutrient-fortified water. When Lusamine finally arrives, she has a little bandana on her head as if to protect her fur from dirt. He doesn't doubt that if they made embroidered garden gloves for little ferret paws, she would wear them.

He's been avoiding her as much as he can without her catching on, admittedly-- the only thing scarier than a Pokémon who probably wants to kill him is one who wants to love him. But, she finally confronted him in that gentle "I could kill you if you betray me" way of hers and asked if he wanted to garden with her.]

Howdy! I was waiting for you! [He puts on a smile, just for her. It clearly doesn't meet his eyes.] Ready to get started?

Quest: Learning Aides

[friendlyflower]

[Firepaw and Emporio are all set to leave with the scholar, Tinkaton, when Flowey shows up. As it turns out, Tinkaton was expecting him as her third guard.

The few minutes that follow are filled with rather unprofessional squabbling between Flowey and Firepaw until Emporio gets them to work together. Flowey- while not apologizing to Firepaw for how he acted on Firepaw's bithday- does put on a smile and promise to 'play nice'.

For the little it's worth, he sticks to his word. Firepaw explains to Emporio- quietly, while Flowey tries to keep Tinkaton out of it- what happened, though he leaves out Flowey claiming to be a mass murderer. Flowey notices.

The fog has begun to recede, but Flowey thinks the woods are just as wretched as ever. The sun only manages to shine a few beams through the thick canopy-- it makes him feel like he's back underground. He never thought that odd claustrophobia would ever be comforting.

Just as time begins to slip through their fingers- it's been an hour and they've walked for what feels like a day- Tinkaton solidifies her theory: the paths can't shift when they're being observed. Flowey curses himself for not thinking of that sooner. Soon, they come across some sort of landmark and Tinkaton studies it while Flowey rests.

He's so tired. The benefit of a reset was that it brought him back exactly as he was-- no scars, no aches, no exhaustion. He can't do that now, and he won't let himself lie down in the hospital. He won't end up comatose. Every time he begins to drift off in his dorm, even, he fears he'll never wake up. He doesn't want to wind up like them.

Flowey almost takes the opportunity to talk to Firepaw privately. Almost. He'll probably just mess everything up again even if Firepaw is dumb enough to forgive him. It doesn't matter-- he's waited so long that Tinkaton is ready to go back to town.

Unfortunately, the paths have shifted again, and even Tinkaton's strategy proves ineffective, as if the woods are adapting to them. Fortunately, a helper appears: a Buizel who offers to guide them home.

Yeah, right. Flowey immediately thinks it's too good to be true (what idiot helps someone without expecting a reward? Even he's only doing this to move up in the guild rankings), but the others seem to accept their help, and so he guesses that's what they're doing.

Flowey keeps his grumbling mostly to himself-- at least, until he notices that the Buizel is getting them even more lost. Finally, his patience has worn thin.]

Anyone else notice this moron is just as lost as we are? We passed that tree with the notch twice already. We're going in circles.

[This proves true, despite his brash way of saying it-- the others may notice their own scents or pawprints on the trail. The forest has begun to cover them, but they're still fresh.]

A wild medical appointment appears

[dripdrive]

[In a previous life, Anasui had studied to be a medical student. Before he ended up in prison for... reasons, he had a part-time job where he worked at the hospital and thus was familiar with the hustle and bustle of a clinic. Despite his natural inclination to dismantle things, Anasui was still somewhat interested in going into medicine, which was why he frequently spent time volunteering at the PokeClinic whenever he wasn't grumbling about the Archive's organisation system.

Today, Anasui's been asked to help out with tending to the day patients - people coming in with wounds or illnesses that don't need emergency medical attention. He's stationed in the entrance of the clinic but when Flowey appears, he raises an eyebrow. Whether Flowey is here by choice or because he's been dropped off here for a checkup by someone else, Anasui stares right at the Sunkern.]

What the hell happened to you?

[Unfortunately, despite his experience, Anasui is not known for his bedside manner.]