♕ 001 // Action for Route 29

[lackingbeauty]

What the 'ell is goin' on 'ere? Use this damn thing fer wha-

[The video feed flicks on to show a woman's face far too close up, brow furrowed, looking quite disturbed.]

ndklanadfnkla

[Switching from text to video, she apparently doesn't know what the hell to do with the Pokegear either.]

Dagger? Wendy? Peter? Jumbo-

[The video is shaky, and only shows... a rather ponderous bosom.]

Doll? Snake?

- Joker?

[She waits, as if for a response. But the only sound is wind rustling through the trees and grass.

Another minute, before the video feed moves too fast for the feed to really pick up- grass, grass real close, black.]

... I'm goin' mad.

Comments

[lackingbeauty]

[Somewhere along the line the faint had turned in to something more like sleep, and being put to bed had aided in her getting some decent shut eye. Simply put, she'd been exhausted from the get go, not having really slept two nights previous, having been spirited away in the dark of the previous one, only for it to be morning suddenly and then waiting up past midnight for Joker's arrival.

But the nightmares set in soon enough. There were dragons... and they killed everyone. Jumbo, Doll, Peter, Wendy, Dagger, Snake and Doc- two dragons, one soft and innocent looking and the other sharper, fiercer, and-

Still mostly asleep, Beast's brow had furrowed and she'd begun to toss and turn.

Before wakefulness began, and with the return of consciousness, the return of the memories of what exactly had happened to her.

Sat bolt up right almost fast enough to get whiplash, inhaled with a sharp gasp, eyes wide.

- Where... ?]

[awesmazings]

[After being told firmly that he wasn't allowed on the bed, Buster had taken up a spot on the floor nearby to watch Beast as she slept, still curious about the stranger. When she suddenly sat up, he jumped so hard that his nails scraped against the wooden floor, startling Jimmy into jumping as well. The Lillipup hurries past the bed and runs over to Jimmy's legs, hiding behind his ankles with his huge ears pinned as his trainer watches Beast, letting out a shaky sigh with his hand gripping the front of his shirt.]

M..Miss? ...it's okay....everything's okay.

[He hesitates, then remembers the note.]

Joker will be right back.

[lackingbeauty]

[Beast was on guard already, and at the movement elsewhere in the room she instinctively reached for the knife she kept beneath her pillow-

Except this wasn't her pillow. Or her bed. Or her tent.

That's right.

Eyes focused, tried to let her brain catch up. Boy. Jim. Jimmy. Something? Dog?

She felt foolish the moment she said it, but at the same time...]

Where's the bloody dragon?

[awesmazings]

[Jimmy blinks a few times, a bit taken off guard by the question.]

Dragon?

[...Dragon...dragon....oh.]

Oh! You mean Ariel, right? She's probably back with Joker right now.

[lackingbeauty]

Shit-

[Cursed under her breath, even as she struggled to extricate herself from the blankets that had gotten tangled about her leg(s), apparently intending to go somewhere. Like right now.]

Where's Joker, then?

[An irrational fear, perhaps- that if she let him go off somewhere again something bad night happen. Something worse than being stuck in this too-strange, too-foreign place was. But she couldn't let that happen. It was already too much of her fault for her to stand any more.]

[awesmazings]

[Jimmy doesn't approach Beast, but he does hold up his hands a little, shaking his head.]

Ah- He just went out to pick up a couple things. He'll be right back, okay? ...You should probably stay here until he gets back.

[lackingbeauty]

Where the 'ell is 'ere?

[She tore off the blankets finally, swinging first real leg then "ceramic" one out, putting weight on one then the other, a practiced movement before she stood, marching to the window to look outside.]

[awesmazings]

Cherrygrove City! It's not all that far from New Bark.

[Jimmy answers, his eyes tracking Beast's movements as she makes her way over to the window. Meanwhile, Buster sneaks out a little from behind his trainer's feet, padding softly across the floor over to where Beast is standing, edging over close enough that he can sniff cautiously at her leg.]

[lackingbeauty]

A name a someplace real 'd be appreciated.

[She didn't like this. Not these happy go lucky sounding naming towns she'd never heard of, nor the altogether foreign view outside the window.

- Nor the dog sniffing at her leg. Beast looked down and stiffened, stomping her foot to try and startle it back from her.]

An' control yer damn dog!

[Beast is not swayed by cuteness very easily, it seems.]

[awesmazings]

[The Pokemon yips a little with surprise and scrambles back to Jimmy, claws scrabbling frantically against the floor as he makes haste to get away.]

Hey...

[Jimmy frowns, lifting a foot when Buster hides behind his legs again, ears back as he stares up at Beast from a safe distance.]

These places are real. You wouldn't be in them if they weren't!

[lackingbeauty]

An' dragons 'r real, too, then?

[By the higher pitched and more heavily accented her voice was getting, it was apparent that she... well. Wasn't taking it very well.

The last hold out before she'd have to give in and accept it.]

I've been spirited away t'some fantasy land a animals, then?

[awesmazings]

[Jimmy nods, slowly. He can tell Beast is upset, and overwhelmed by all of this...it's hard, since he's well used to weird animals being the norm back home. Heck, the weirder thing for him was the fact that this place had humans everywhere.]

Yeah. ..but it's gonna be okay, I promise.

[lackingbeauty]

[Beast's norm, and the norm in this place, well-

Let's just say they didn't add up.]

An' I can trust ye, surely.

[She might have been kinder- all of their circus had something of a soft spot when it came to children. But the last child they'd trusted had betrayed them, and it made her sharper in response to innocent looks.]

All a this'll jus' be okay, magic like.

[awesmazings]

[Perhaps Jimmy would have understood, if he knew. For the time being, he leans back against the wall until his shoulders are touching it, feeling Buster shaking a little behind his ankles.]

Look- this place is pretty safe. There are some....pretty weird things here, but they're not going to hurt you. Especially if they're with Joker.

[And from the way Jimmy's talking, it sounds like he trusts the man a great deal.]

It might not be okay now, but it will be. I know it might be a little scary...I've been here a couple months, and stuff happens still that I don't get.

[Really, he's toning down his experience quite a bit...he wasn't scared or disturbed at all when he showed up, but he's also not like most people.]

And there are good people here. People that will talk to you if you're having problems, or there's something that you really don't understand.

[lackingbeauty]

[If she's with Joker. Nothing bad would happen if she was with Joker.

She'd believed that once. But now... she wasn't sure anymore.]

That doesn' make this better!

[Grit out, digging in her heels and refusing, one last push of denial, to accept that she might be stuck there, that those weird animals might be real-

That any of it might be real. Fists clenched, and she left the window heading for the door instead/]

I'm goin' out.

[To find Joker. Maybe she still believed after all.]

[awesmazings]

[Jimmy stiffens, and in a split second decision, he quickly moves from the wall to put himself between Beast and the door.]

Wait! ...Please. Just...please wait until he gets back, okay?

[lackingbeauty]

[Beast was not a tall woman- even in heels. But she drew herself up to full height, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and all but glowering down.

- Yeah, this was how she got that reputation at the circus.]

Ye don' move in three seconds an' we're goin' to 'ave a problem.

[Looked like a big problem.]

One...

[awesmazings]

[Jimmy is rather tall for his age- rather tall- and he stands his ground and lifts his head slightly when Beast starts counting, seemingly intent on staying put.

Joker said to stay, so he's staying, and he's making sure Beast stays too.]

[lackingbeauty]

[That height doesn't seem to intimidate Beast either- judging by her facial expression, she's quite confident that she could move him- physically if need be.]

Two.

[awesmazings]

[NOPE, STILL NOT BUDGING.]

[lackingbeauty]

[Knuckles tighten, and a muscle in her arm twitches, preparing for her exit- through him if need be.]

Three...

[pipers_son]

[BAM!]

IIIIIIIII'M BAAAAAACK!

[That sure is the door being kicked open, whistling just barely past Jimmy's back and slamming into the wall. Joker's arm is busy with at least five different plastic bags hanging from the crook of his elbow. Behind him, right at his feet, Claw and Fang have two more hanging from their mouths.]

[awesmazings]

[The sigh of relief Jimmy gives comes out as more of a wheeze than anything as he quickly steps out of Joker's way- and by extension, Beast's- skirting past her and picking up Buster in the same motion. Yeah nope he's going to the other side of the room with his dog because he can tell when he's not exactly wanted.]

[lackingbeauty]

[Beast just.

Stands there.

- Mainly because the sudden entrance shocked her and she's trying not to show how startled she was.

Though it does sort of show, seeing as she forgot to. You know. Say something.]

[pipers_son]

[It's a ringleader talent. Sometimes to keep the show going without a hitch, you have to make yourself the show, and Joker's been so long at it that it's just second nature to make himself a spectacle.]

[Considering how Jimmy looks when he glances over at him from the corner of his eye, good thing he did.]

[Joker doesn't miss a beat, however, just waltzes in and lets the bags drop from his arm to the floor.]

Glad ta see ya awake~! Had us all right worried, but c'mon now, have a drink a water and somethin' ta eat or you'll really faint. Oh, and Jims, got yer favorite.

[Multiple of things Jimmy likes, actually, one whole bag getting tossed to him before Joker reaches into another and holds out a water bottle to Beast.]

So, did the two of ya play nice while I was gone?