Reach & co March + April Catch-All

[notyourmonster]

Who: Reach and others
Where: Jubilife and the Fieldlands
When: March 11th - April 31st
What: Catch-all for hijinks and shenanigans involving Reach! They're getting settled into their job on the Security Corps, figuring out the lay of the land, and making friends and acquaintances, among other things. Prompts in the comments!

Comments

Between a Rock and a Hard Place - OTA

[notyourmonster]

Reach is learning to get more comfortable in this place, bit by bit. Their time's already pushing the upper limit of how long they usually stay anywhere outside Limbo, but with no sign at all of any way home and not much to gain from striking out alone, they're learning to live with the idea of actually getting a proper lifetime in for once.

How exactly that might work out for them and whether or not anyone might come knocking to fuss about not doing their job were among the things they were pondering, then, as they strode about on lookout. Those were the thoughts that also got abruptly interrupted when they spotted movement along the cliff faces of the western Fieldlands, accompanied by a plaintive hnnnnnnnn. If not for the distict growling character of the noise, Reach would have assumed it was simply more of those Combee, but instead what they found was a small...creature?

Look, technically all Pokemon are creatures. But they really don't know how else to describe this one. It might have been a dog or something, until they pried its head free to reveal...some kind of saurian...thing? With no eyes. And feathers. And-

A dragon! It's a dragon. This is Reach's inevitable conclusion when a gout of yellow and magenta fire blasts them in the face from that doofy Muppet-y maw.

"Ooookay. Alright. Look. I just wanted to help you, bud." Snap. Snap. Chomp. Probably best to hold this one at arm's length. Or maybe...shadow arm's length? Ever since the Wallflower fiasco they've been reticent to use any of their powers, but when they try to summon up a helping hand they're pleasantly surprised to see the familiar dark shape extend from their shadow and up into the air with no discomfort at all. "...Perfect."

That's one eyeless dragon dog thing semi-safely restrained out of biting range. No amount of disgruntled NnnnnNNNnnooooo's is going to change it, either.

"Come on, bud. Lookin' after wildlife might not be my job, but if I'm gonna live here proper I might as well look at the...slightly less big picture. Let's get you some medical attention."

And this is where Reach is when you find them: strolling cheerfully across the plains, followed by one eerie black appendage that's toting a very angry Deino several feet off the ground. The little beastie is making quite the racket, too, in his own grouchy rasping way.

[ghostlyecho]

This place, for all that it is strange and unfamiliar, is starting to grow on Paige. Her new boss is a tangible human being and not just an overwhelming sense of nameless, formless dread. Not only does he ask her to do things instead of just mind controlling her long enough to show her how to do a task, the tasks are more exciting and let her stretch her legs and breathe fresh air. She's out gathering berries today, for example. With the help of her little Cubone, Espresso, she even caught a new friend in the process.

(The idea of pokemon and battling and catching is still cool to her. Reminds her of some video games she used to play back when she was alive.)

Paige is on her way back to the Village when she crosses paths with Reach. The weird void arm and the overall appearance of Reach causes her to freeze. This is a person, she knows instinctively, that has been touched by death, and that knowledge puts her in a strange and sour mood for a moment before she shakes herself a bit and forces a smile.

"Heading back to Jubilife?" She calls out, figuring they're going to the same place and might as well walk together. And, as she gets a bit closer - "Aw, is your friend okay? He looks a bit scuffed up."

[notyourmonster]

Not for the first time, Reach comparatively doesn't immediately register that Paige is dead. Though it may not be the norm here in Hisui, they've certainly been to places before where people had similar characteristics naturally. It's only as they draw closer that they start to get that familiar feeling, not just of a line pulled out of place, but of a soul who has evaded Limbo's touch.

It's something that makes them pause, just briefly, and consider her in some long silence before they reply. They're no Lantern; technically speaking guiding the dead is not their calling, though it is still somewhat in their nature. But what would they do, even if they were one? They don't have a Scythe or a lantern with which to ferry her to where she needs to be. And without directly examining her lines, there's no telling if she's not already where she needs to be. Whatever entity had brought them all here was much stronger than your average Toin, after all, and might even be something more akin to their dad. Which is admittedly weird to consider, since Xakkob is...well, very very different from that thing.

Whatever the case, Reach finally concludes with no small amount of staring that they can't do anything about this potentially dead woman, and there's no immediate reason that they should. So, having made up their mind on that, it's back to vacation time.

They crack a casual smile and shrug. "Oh, he's not a friend just yet. I just noticed he was stuck n' might be hurt, so I'm tryin' to get him patched up. Just gotta find some berries."

[ghostlyecho]

There is. A remarkable amount of staring going on.

Paige withers under the gaze of this strange person, regretting engaging with them at all. She should have known better, especially having recognized the death-touch on them. The closer she gets and the more they stare, the more she realizes it's not the kind of death-touch of a CUSTOMER, but is more like that of her BOSS(es??).

She's about to leave, assuming she's unwelcome in their company, when they speak again. How casual and relaxed. How...bizarrely dissonant.

"O-Oh. If it's just berries you need, I have quite a few here." She raises the basket on her arm, heavy with assorted fruits and herbs. "Some pecha, cheri...I think there's an oran or two hiding in here."