Sp00ks [Halloween 2019] [Open]

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"I'll be back later tonight...and I'll bring back some gummis for you!" her voice sang out to the little skiddo in the back of the shop.

"Have fun!" his voice rang back with a certain tone to it she was all too familiar with. It was a cheerful one, but it made her nervous. She didn't normally leave Aries alone much anymore, but he didn't seem keen on coming along with her on her lovely stroll. It was kind of a relief to be honest. It was a little tiring to have to accompany him all day an reassure him about every bump in the night.

She needed some her-time anyways. A stroll through the lovely Grassveil to gaze upon the costumed trick or treaters and look upon the ever so "terrifying" decorations people place on their lawns was more than enough of a treat for her. Of course, she wasn't exactly a fan of the dark. So, she carried with her a trust lantern-on-a-stick. A satchel hung over her shoulder with a lantern held just above her, like a walking light post. The light swung back and forth with a cutesy zubat figurine on the top of it. She didn't have a costume herself, but she didn't quite need one where she was going.

The little deerling was not only going on a walk to have a look around, but going to a social event. It was a little theater of sorts being performed in the town square. It didn't start for a while, but she could hardly resist the idea of watching aspiring actors play out a grand story. With her secured lantern protecting her from the spooks of the darkness, she made her way along the street with a melodious tune to her hums. Anything helped to keep the gnawing fear of the dark night around her lonesome self at bay.

[max of one other person before you must ask to join, mada's reserved a spot]

Food-that was it! Ahhh she probably should have brought some from Aries's shop...though stock was so low, would he have even let her? ...What was she thinking? Of course he would. It was just a matter of whether that was good for the shop or not.

"Uh...they should? A-And i'm not entirely sure on what the show'll be about...I kinda just heard there was going to be one so I wanted to go watch. They don't really hold those a lot around Grassveil...or if they do I rarely hear about it..." She was glad to completely abandon the last topic. She wanted nothing more than to relax again. Relax with her Sacchi plush toy.

"Let's uh...let's go look," the deerling trotted along with a faster pace. She was certain that the stage would be held closer to the town center, where there was a much larger space open for such a thing. She just needed a quick glance around to see if there were any stalls for any confections of sorts..."But...what do you hope it's gonna be about?" she spoke, unwilling to plunge into an awkward silence.

"Y-Yay. Food!" Alki said plainly, throwing her hands in the air as though she were excited, but she couldn't really muster the energy to sound truly thrilled. Of course, she wasn't exactly upset with this development. It was just... hard for her to be as happy as she saw other kids being sometimes. Especially for something as banal as snacks. Not a big deal at all! It's not like she wasn't going to eat a bunch of them, and then feel incredibly guilty about eating so much later. No way! That wasn't in her future at all!

The jigglypuff placed a hand to her mouth, pensive as she reflected on what the play might be about. She'd never gone to one, so it was hard for her to guess, and if Yera didn't know... Well, they'd be going in blind! And that was... Well, equal parts scary and exciting. She wasn't really sure how to feel. The Deerling seemed eager to go to the show... Or perhaps leave the previous conversation behind? Either way, Alki picked up her own pace as well, letting her hand fall back down to it's neutral position. The night-wind blew softly, picking up the rims of her costume along with it, threatening to blow her costume away. She held it in place with her hands, a worried look on her face before looking up at Yera.

"W-What do I h-hope for it to be about...? I'm... W-Well... N-Not s-sure..." Alki said. What did she hope? She wasn't really used to being asked that question, even still. What did her thoughts matter anyways? She was hardly the important one here... "W-What do y-you want it to be about...?" She asked instead, not wanting to answer the Deerling. What if she gave the wrong answer...? What if she disagreed? She'd much rather hear what Yera had to say instead...

Confections...confections...there honestly wasn't a whole lot to choose from. There were some Pecha Berry snow cones, but it was already so cold outside, how could they possibly think that would sell well? The deerling's eyes wandered as she kept an ear out for the jigglypuff's response. She hoped she could get the fairy type onto some sort of long drawn out thing, but it appeared that the puffball pulled out the reverse card.

Her eyes were taken off of her surroundings as she instead looked down to the ground in thought, "Well..." she started up, "Romances...are always kinda cute." She muttered. "I don't like it when they're sad though. I read this one story about a forbidden romance, but the lovers died at the end. I...I couldn't get it out of my head for weeks." She gave a nervous laugh, "Kind of pathetic right?"

Alki's eyes glazed over the sweets and treats that seemed to abound the immediate area. There was so much! Snow cones, and cookies, and brownies, all of unknown ingredients and origins, although she imagined there were Oran or Pecha berries. Maybe Sitrus as well? She never could remember which berries tasted well and which ones didn't. The Jigglypuff's ears flattened as she searched for a vendor, but none was there. Maybe he was talking to some other vendor...? Well, she couldn't really wait, Yera seemed in a rush... But she really wanted that snow cone.

There were a lot... There was no harm in it! No one was looking at her anyways... At least, it didn't seem like it. Yera seemed to be looking at the ground in thought. And there was a fairly large crowd... In one Swift movement, Alki reached up onto the table to swipe a snowy-cone. It seemed delicious! Except... Well, she felt guilty. What if the owner was a nice Pokemon? She didn't want to steal from nice people... Alki reached into her bag and pulled out a coin bag. It was a lot of coins... How much did a snow cone cost...?

Oh boy... She didn't know! And Yera was walking away... She didn't have time! Alki plopped a bag of her coins, roughly 500 Poke, before rushing off to rejoin Yera. She hoped that'd cover it.

Although a bit cold... She teleported to catch up to Yera, just in time to hear her begin her response. Ro... What now...? Lovers... Was a romance where people loved each other...? And if they died... Well, that wasn't pathetic, was it? Crying over a death... Even if it was in a story... Alki couldn't imagine not crying. It was sad! Especially if it was a forbidden... What? Ruhmance? "I don't think there's anything pathetic about that... Alki said, absently licking at her treat. "I-I mean, d-dying is sad when it's not in a story, r-right? Why... Would it be any different there...? Alki said, thinking back to her own past thoughts. Dying was sad, huh...? It'd make Darcy really sad... So why did she find herself wanting it from time to time? She was selfish, wasn't she...

A wave of emotion came over the girl's face, and her pace slowed as she explored this trail of thoughts. Of course, she couldn't wallow. She didn't want the nice Deerling to think there was anything wrong with her. Instead, she said the first thing that came to her mind in order to continue the conversation.

"I-I wish I were in a romanch..." She muttered, averting her gaze from Yera. It was love, right...? Wasn't that a nice thing...?  A thing people wanted? Truthfully, she was pretty sure that Darcy was the only person who really loved her, but... Well... How did love work exactly...?

She wasn't really sure. But romance was good for people, right?

Yera's frown only continued to remain unsteady as uncertainty and self-awareness wrestled with her. She was so caught up in her own little world that she hadn't even noticed the actions of the jigglypuff. When she looked over to Alki, the fae had somehow materialized a snow cone in her hand! The shock of it was enough to draw her out of the pit of self-loathing even if only briefly. The long look on her expression shifted into a surprised and mildly lost look.

She was tempted to ask where the jigglypuff got that from, but ultimately decided that would simply make a fool of herself. Instead, she answered the Jigglypuff's question, "Well...yeah, it's sad when people die but...it's a story. It's not real. The characters never existed and the story never took place. I don't know, it just seems like it might be a bit silly or...childish to care about "people" that never did or will be alive...especially for so long." She briefly contemplated her words a second longer before she added on, "Well, in fictional works any way. Events based on reality seem more reasonable but-..."

Her face suddenly felt warm. A blush rooted from shame and embarrassment took its place. This was absolutely pathetic of her. She just shouldn't have said anything. Of course the child here was going to do and say anything she could to validate her, they hardly knew anything didn't they? That was how young kids worked, right? "But uh-" she continued with a sudden stop and a desperate glance around her vicinity, "I'm...going to go get a snack. D-Do you want to go find a seat for us or come with me? It looks like the stage is just over there," she gestured with a nod in the direction of a growing crowd of pokemon just off towards the central square.

This dice is not existing.

“Well, s-sure, they’re not real, but...” Alki paused, unsure on how to proceed. What the deerling said felt wrong, but she wasn’t exactly sure how to respond. It’d help if she herself could read. Then she’d have more of a framework to work off of. She’d only ever had stories read to her, but it was practically the same, right? “I m-mean, w-what’s so bad about feeling bad for someone who suffers, r-right? It’s… I m-mean, I think it’s sweet. If you feel bad for people who, uh, a-aren’t real, t-then you’ll prolly have even more sympathy for real people, r-right? It’s… l-like practice, I guess.”

Alki slowly trailed off, unsure of what it was, exactly, she was trying to say. She blushed and turned away, laughing nervously as Yera seemed to get embarrassed. She’d said something wrong, hadn’t she? Oh… “I-I mean, t-that’s just… U-Um, ...For what it’s worth, I feel the same way, sometimes… ” She added hastily, before nodding along as Yera said she was going to go get a snack. She already had one, but she was almost done, and it was so sweet… It tasted very good! ...And she sort of wanted more…

“Y-Yeah, I… t-think I’ll c-come with you, i-if that’s alright…?” Alki said nervously, edging closer to the Deerling. She wanted another snack, but more than that, she wanted to make sure that they wouldn’t get separated, or even worse, that she wouldn’t be abandoned by Yera. Was that selfish of her? ...Probably. But that was ok. She was used to being disappointed in herself. She looked up at the Deerling with pleading, guilty eyes before managing a small, nervous smile. “...P-Please?”

This dice is not existing.

She'd hoped she'd get a bit of time to herself and recollect herself, but Alki was unwilling to give her that. She was already about to head on her way, but the Jigglypuff's voice stopped her. "Y-Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that!" She was forced to answer. There was no way she could just say "No." to this kid, especially when she was the one to make it a decision in the first place.

The deerling turned and started her trot into the direction of the first stand to catch her attention: Pie. She hardly cared for what she was going to get, her mind was far too focused on what the jigglypuff told her. Maybe the fae had a point, but...well, she just couldn't bring herself to agree. A story was a story. It was silly to get so worked up over it.

"Hello Ma'am, what can I get for ya?" The slurpuff over the small counter chimed cheerfully. There was a small set up behind him with several pokemon working away at makeshift stations. how were they even baking pies like this-oh hello that's a really-really-REALLY big charizard acting as a stove of some sort???

She froze to the spot, her lips tightly sealed as she gazed upon the beast. He hardly paid any attention to her, but she sure as hell couldn't take her eyes off of it. She didn't even see the carracosta with a police badge that accompanied him. She was far more focused on the strange glazed over look the fire type had. He followed instructions given to him, but it seemed...off-putting.

"Ma'am?" the slurpuff tilted his head curiously before he followed the doe's gaze. Once the slurpuff understood, he seemed to give a hearty laugh, "Eh, don't worry about him lil'miss. It's just some community service-Officer Cost'll make damn sure he doesn't try anything even if he wanted to!" This tidbit of criminal background information only served to scare the doe more.

((Ding-Dong, Garnet's poppin in for a cameo, GLHF Alki.))

Alki walked alongside Yera, following her to the deserts once more. Her own was long gone, and now she was interested in seeing what else the festival had to offer. She heard another cheery looking Pokemon offer their assistance to them, but Alki said nothing. She was more interested in sticking close to the older Pokemon. However, as the silence progressed, Alki stepped forward shyly, unsure on what to say. She supposed Yera had seemed somewhat on the skittish side, like herself, but to be completely silent for so long after someone had adressed her? Even Alki wasn't like that!

Well... That was a lie. She was like that. Sometimes. But the question still remained... Why was Yera so frightened...?

"A-Are you..." Alki began, intending to attempt to reassure the Deerling. Once she saw what it was that was frightening Yera, however, she too stood still, her mouth suspended open mid-sentence. That Charizard seemed familiar... Wasn't that the one who'd gone on a rampage in the city center? Or close to it, anyways... Hadn't he been the one to hurt the nice Vaporeon...? Although, well... He was hardly the only one to blame...

Alki began to shuffle closer to the Deerling's leg, her warmth a small comfort in the wave of re-emerging emotions that accompanied the memories regarding the Charizard. She'd almost gotten Skylar... That was her name, right? The Vaporeon...? She'd almost gotten her killed because she'd wanted to be important in the fight, and threw some stupid orb. She hadn't even known what it did! She'd thought she'd did, at the time, but because she barely had a functioning brain, she'd thrown it, and then the Charizard had targeted her... And then what would have happened...?

Really, she was more to blame than the Charizard. At least she was leaving the guild, and hopefully going to do something where she couldn't potentially hurt people like that... There was no way she could get anyone killed as a thief! And... Well, she was tired of only ever screwing things up. First she'd failed to heal Sova's leg, and then she'd almost gotten Skylar killed, and she'd gotten her own sister tortured...

"Aheh..." Alki managed, a small, bitter laugh escaping her. She was happy to be leaving the guild. All she'd ever done was ruin other people's lives... And there was a certain irony in seeing someone like the Charizard being punished when she was probably the worst person present... But why complain? It was selfish. She was sure of it. But she liked having someone be nice to her, and as much as she knew she deserved it, she didn't want to be punished. Alki laughed a bit louder now, looking up at the Slurpuff.

"S-So, i-is that how they punish outlaws...? If I were a c-criminal, and I got caught, t-they'd make me help b-bake cakes...?" It was a hypothetical question, and it was a bit funny. Mostly, though, she only felt disappointment in herself. Or maybe anger...? She didn't really understand why she didn't get arrested sometimes, after all the trouble she'd caused. At least she was going to make up for it, eventually. Hopefully.

"S-Sorry, t-that... It's just... w-weird, I guess... U-Um. I-Is... B-But, what if t-the criminal d-didn't know how to bake cakes...?" She asked, hoping to humour herself enough to drive away the bad memories. Besides, it'd be nice to know! She certainly didn't know how to bake a cake... Just... on the off chance she screwed up and got caught one day. Of course, it wasn't really an off chance, was it? She always screwed up.

Yera was...completely oblivious to this conversation. Her only response was to continue to sit and stare at the beast from her tiny little position. She could vividly imagine the charizard easily deciding to roast and snap her up in a single bite. Deerling such as herself were tiny in comparison to the beast that baked pies. She tried in vain to swallow her fear, but all she could do was regret coming here.

The slurpuff, meanwhile, was happy to answer the jigglypuff's question, "Well uh..." albeit uncertain, "He's a bit of a different case." The slurpuff looked back at the Charizard as he scratched his head. The walking puffball continued, "He's got this weird thing that's been runnin around makin' people all violent and stuff. He didn't really wanna do everythin' he did, so he's kinda gettin off easy. He technically didn't even have to do this, he volunteered. Cost's got all kinds of precautions in place in case he shows signs of goin' rampant again, so he'll be able to stop 'im and bring him back before anythin' bad happens."

"Kinda feel bad for the guy, honestly. But the real outlaws though, the ones that do it just cuz they wanna," the slurpuff laughed, "Those guys don't get any kinda mercy. I'll tell you what. I heard there's this bounty out for this one chick that'll be the end of her if they ever get a hol' of her. Mir-something-or-other."

The fae looked back to the duo, "So you two wanna pie or you wanna just chitchat? Honestly I'm fine with either!"

----

Garnet's work on the pies were steady and methodical. The hazy look in his eyes looked distant, as if he weren't really there. The voices off to his side caught his attention enough for a lazy look over in their direction. He could see the slurpuff, a deerling, and...a familiar face. His eyes locked on the jigglypuff, his work being put on a pause as he stared at the balloon.

There was something about her that seemed important to him. He couldn't remember what, but it seemed...really important. He seemed to freeze to the spot as he studied the jigglypuff, struggling inside himself as to why this pink balloon of all things caught his attention most out of all of the pokemon he'd seen today.

"W-Wait..." Alki stammered, turning to the Slurpuff with wide, fearful eyes. Of course, she wasn't going to give her secret away that easily, but this was a very frightening development. The girls ears flattened as she placed her hand on the counter, standing on her toes so as to try and match the Slurpuff's height. "S-So... d-do they just... k-kill outlaws who do stuff on purpose? W-What... I-Isn't that... U-Um, unfair? W-What if they h-h-had... a g-good r-reason to... Um... b-break crimes, err, laws, a-and... the crimes weren't t-that bad, a-and..."

Alki coughed, pausing. It just seemed awfully wrong. So jut beause somebody did something illegal on purpose, they died? Or... Well, the Slurpuff had technically said meeting their end, hadn't he? But... that's what he meant! "I-It's just... s-surprising." Alki said, coughing again, before reaching into her bag for a pouch of money, and extracting it. "I-I'll... Um, Y-Yera, what... w-would you like?" She asked, turning her back on the money to look at her friend -- no, companion.

The Deerling still seemed terrified of the Charizard. Her eyes were wide and ears bent back and it almost looked as though she was ready to bolt at any second. Alki looked back at the Charizard, who now seemed to be looking at her. Alki's own eyes widened once more. Darcy wasn't nearby at all, and if the Charizard attacked... Well, she'd seen just how powerful she was, and she wasn't sure just how strong this Policemon was... The girl cleared her throat, before nudging Yera softly. She wasn't very brave, or very strong, but she did have items, and she was willing to lie if it made the Deerling feel better.

"H-Hey! D-Don't... Um, d-don't worry. My sister, s-she, u-uh, fought him once! And... it... w-wasn't as scary as you might think. I even helped! A bit..." Alki said, a hollow laugh escaping her. She hadn't helped at all, and had only made things worse, but if a lie like that could make her feel better, if there was even a chance, she'd take it! "A-And, I-I've gotten a b-bit stronger s-since then, s-so... Um... Y-Yeah..." She trailed off, swinging her body softly from side to side. "W-Would you like s-some cake...?"

"Woah, woah there now-" the slurpuff was quick in an attempt to intercept the Jigglypuff's misunderstanding. He failed, however, as the little girl seemed fully ready to accept this detail as fact. The slurpuff's eyes were wide with shock, mouth slightly agape. Once the jigglypuff finished, he corrected, "Don't you go jumpin' to conclusions like that. The one I was talkin' about had some real crimes under belt-theft, murder, and even killin' some of our local law enforcement."

The slurpuff shook his head, a smile dawned as he gave a nervous chuckle, "The world's not nearly as cruel as that lil'miss. Punishment all depends on the crimes, steal an apple get a slap on the wrist, do it again, and that slap'll get a lil' harder."

He looked over to Yera when Alki addressed her, uncertain of what exactly make of these two and this particular situation. One seemed about half-scared to death and the other...well, the doe seemed practically comatose from where he stood.

Yera snapped back to reality at the touch of the jigglypuff, still as nervous as ever about the charizard just before them. The deerling's glance raced between the Jigglypuff, the slurpuff, and the charizard for a few seconds with a quiet whine. Her hooves shuffled as she struggled to determine whether she should just leave now or if she was obligated to buy something now that she'd wasted everyone's time.

Alki said that the charizard wasn't as scary as she thought, but it didn't do much to ease Yera's mind. Whether it was strong or not, fire was still fire. With another hesitant and quiet groan that left her wishing she could just speak like a normal pokemon, she simply nodded. She couldn't say no at that moment. This slurpuff could have asked if she wanted to get set ablaze by the charizard and she'd probably still nod.

Speaking of the fiery not-dragon, his attention was still focused on Alki. He didn't say anything, but there was no aggression. Instead, his brow knit together in concentration. He needed to figure out what the significance of this little puffball was. It was important, but why was it? He broke eye contact only to turn to the nearby carracosta. Hushed voices mumbled to one another under the ambiance of the crowd as the two spoke.

Alki breathed a sigh of relief as the Slurpuff spoke up, seeming to correct her earlier mistake. Usually, she would've felt moritified almost immediately upon realizing her mistake, but this time, she was too busy being relieved to be embarrassed. So that meant that if she and her friends ever did get caught, they weren't going to be killed! The girl let out a small, nervous laugh at the thought. Although... they were going to be stealing more than apples. Maybe the slap on the wrist would be particularly hard...?

She felt an odd urge to ask further questions, but that didn't seem like too good an idea. If she got more and more specific, then they'd become suspicious, right...? And the police officer was right there... Instead, she simply nodded her head, her bag bouncing up and down with the movement, before smiling. "T-Thank you! I-It's just... o-one of my friends, once, s-she, um... s-stole an apple, a-a-and," Alki lowered her voice, bouncing closer to the Slurpuff. "W-Well, s-she's nice, s-so... I-I w-was just worried, for a bit. S-Sorry..." She managed a sheepish smile and a blush, before turning to Yera.

Her attempts to console the deer hadn't panned out at all, it seemed. She still seemed terrified, but Alki couldn't help but wonder why. Had she simply not believed her lie? Even if she hadn't, the police officer was still right there, and if she had, she had little reason to be scared. ...Maybe it was something else?

Yera nodded at her question, however, and any thoughts or attempts at deciphering her behavior were left by the wayside. Instead, Alki turned to the Slurpuff, smiling. More sweets! She'd like that! The Charizard's presence still weighed heavily on her mind, but she only forced her smile to grow wider. Unnatural, perhaps? Maybe... But she didn't want to dwell on what had happened last time she'd seen the Dragon.

"W-What, um, k-kinds of cake do you have...?" Alki asked softly, sneaking a glance at the Charizard every so often. He wasn't looking at her anymore, but she'd felt acutely aware of him staring at her. Was he angry...? She did still have that Orb, right...? She'd brought them? Oh boy... Placing both her hands on the counter with her bag of money, she used her left foot to bring her bag closer to her, hoping the motion would be obscured by the stand. She didn't want to get attacked again...

Alki perked up one of her ears. Was it just her imagination? Or was the Police Officer and the Charizard talking? What about...? "U-Um, Cakes! What cake do you recommend? C-C'mon Yera! You too! I-I dunno w-what you like..." Alki blurted out, loudly. She was getting worried, and she needed something to distract her... Her face was visibly worried, but she turned away from the Slurpuff (And the Charizard behind him), to look at her friend. Everything would be fine! Hopefully... But she did tend to have bad luck...

Her eyes couldn't help but look at the charizard every other second or so. She could hardly keep her focus on what was in front of her with the big beast just over there. Alki spoke to her, but it was still difficult to hold herself together for longer than two seconds. More awkward and strangled sounds escaped in her feeble attempts to speak.

She grew desperate to simply get a single word out-any word would do. Do something Yera! Don't just stand there like an idiot! What kind of cake did she want?!? Was that even the question? What did Alki ask her?? Through all of her labored breathing, racing thoughts, and distracted attention, she finally amanged to speak a single word our in response to Alki, "C-Cake."

...And that was it.

The Slurpuff raised an eyebrow, both at Yera's vague answer and at the strange wide smile the Jigglypuff gave him. "Uhhh..." the fae was at a loss of words himself. "Well...we got Strawberry Shortcake..." he offered, "And Chocolate..."

The slurpuff was absolutely baffled and bewildered by the duo's behavior...but shrugged and placed the order down for the chefs of the little makeshift bakery to carry out. He was about to ask the deerling what she wanted, but the jigglypuff's question caught his attention once more. The slurpuff sighed and shook his head, "Look, kid, I already said, "even if he wanted to" and that Mr. Cost has precautions set up in case he does. The guy doesn't want to do that kind of stuff. He's uh...sick. So all they gotta do is narrow down how to treat the symptoms and then he won't do that kind of thing."

"Got it?" he asked, though he didn't really wait for an answer. Instead, he looked to the deerling, "And what flavor of cake do you want?"

More uncertain and rather embarrassing noises escaped her, but she couldn't quite put together any coherent words or sentences. She didn't even know what she wanted, how could she possibly answer this?? Her mind struggled and struggled as she wished for this encounter to end. Anything to make it end. Finally, she forced out a word, "...Cake."

The slurpuff raised an eyebrow, "Cake flavored...cake..." he confirmed. Out of sheer embarrassment, the deerling could only nod.