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]

She didn't look back at the jigglypufff. She paused for a brief second as she thought about what the Jigglypuff said. She couldn't help a small laugh, though she wasn't sure if it was out of nerves or a genuine reaction herself. She spoke, "Of course I do! If I didn't then I wouldn't have invited you in the first place-or stuck around. In fact-if I didn't like you-I would have probably just used the crowd to lose you." It was...a brutally honest admission. She figured she probably shouldn't have said such a thing, but it was starting to feel as if it didn't really matter any more.

No matter what she said, she was probably going to upset the jigglypuff, right? So might as well just babble with whatever she wanted. "C'mon now, what else? Any little thing-even if it's just that you liked the color of something. Keep going."

"H-huh, right..." Alki said softly, staring down at her lap, and the bedding that lay atop her right hand, folded over and over so that the blood wouldn't be in sight for the average passerby. She was sure she'd be reprimanded by both Yera and, eventually, Darcy, if she kept the cut in sight. So all she had to do was keep it out of sight, hidden away, and no one would notice it, so then nobody would care.

Alki blinked in response to the sudden honesty from the Deerling. She hadn't really expected her to be so straightforward... But in a way, it made her feel slightly better. She was usually met by rushed, bumbled reassurances that she was an amazing person, and she never believed them. Darcy was too naive to see just how bad a person Alki was, and nobody else knew her well enough to say she was truly good.

But all Yera had said was that she was worth her time, and that was better than nothing.

When she was prompted by Yera to think of another thing that had made her happy, she was a bit quicker than the first time. She took her bag off of her ear with her left hand, being careful to keep her right completely still. She was greeted by a plush Skitty. A small, bitter smile appearance on her face as she reflected on how distraught Darcy would've been if she'd have been there. But she wouldn't know... Alki wasn't going to worry her. She wasn't worth Darcy's worry...

"I-I like the plush toys we made... A lot... I really like Skitty... " Alki said quietly, get voice growing in strength, as she tried to imagine up what other things she'd enjoyed about the night. It was hard though... She still felt some pain in her wrist, and she still felt so frustrated with herself, over everything...

"Skitty's cute," the doe responded. She could feel something wet on the back of her shoulder by now. She assumed it to be tears still, but she didn't look back. Instead, she was just driven to subtly pick up the pace. She felt...oddly tense. Everything went so wrong. She wanted everything to go so right. At this point, the silence felt as if it would be far more damning than forcing herself to converse further.

"We have a delcatty that pops by the shop every now and then with her daughter. They always order a Pecan Pie with a side of Pecha Sweets. The daughter's a little weird though, she always tries to go after my heels like she wants to play." The deerling kept her eyes ahead as she prayed for the guild to come into sight.

"Keep going," she urged.

Alki nodded along, considering what the Deerling had to say as she tried hard not to touch her cut. Now that the immediate emotion was gone, something else had taken it's place. The mentioning of Skitty only served to reinforce that new emotion, entrench it in her mind. Why had she done that? What had been the purpose? If Darcy ever saw, she was going to be horrified, and now Alki would have one more thing to lie to her about to avoid that... Alki whimpered softly, even as Yera told a story about a Delcatty. It didn't sound like Darcy.

She asked her to keep going. How could she? That... That was just about it. Nothing had really gone well at all, not since her introduction to Yera... But she didn't want to just say that. That'd make her upset with her once more, and she wanted the night to get better, not worse...

"T-That sounds cute..." Alki observed quietly, attempting to steady her voice. "I... I-I've b-been meaning t-to ask, t-the shop, c-can I... C-Can I h-help? I'm... I-I'd like to be useful, a-and I'm n-not a very g-good guild member, and... I-I'm not usually like this. I-I c-could help, a-and... y-yeah..." She suggested, too unsure in her own pitch to sell herself remotely decently. It was a lie that she wasn't usually like that... She was just usually better at hiding it.

Even still, she wanted to help Yera... Maybe make up for tonight, at least a bit, over time...

The deerling's gut wrenched as Alki whimpered. What did she do wrong there?? Yera made an active effort to not skip a single beat of her act. Happy and ready to go-go-go, conceal, don't feel, don't let them know. All of that non-sense that was terrible for mental health. She absolutely noticed the lack of an answer to her question, but at the very least, it was a question she could...answer? Without being terrible? Hopefully?

"You can come by and offer help, but ultimately it's up to Aries. I don't know if he's willing to let in new hires just yet, but hey-who knows?" 'Maybe he'll like you a lot better than me.'

Keep talking. Just keep talking.

"Did you see anything interesting around the festival back there?" she asked, even though she was there with the jigglypuff throughout the entire time.

Alki nodded, quietly absorbing the information that Yera offered. She'd love to make herself useful, and if she was busy helping them around the shop, then she could avoid the responsibilities that were expected of her as a guild member. She didn't want to do guild jobs, because she might get Darcy hurt, and if she got Darcy hurt more, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to live with herself. The jigglypuff nursed her wound, counting down the seconds until she was back in her room. She wanted to make it up to Yera, but she just didn't feel up to it right now...

"I-I'd like t-to help..." Alki said softly. It was true that it'd be a good way to make up this disaster of a night to Yera, but in truth, it'd also give her an escape from the stresses and worries that seemed to plague her, everywhere she went. Being a guild-member was the worst of it, by far. But there were other things too... Being a thief was scary, because if she messed up, she might ruin all of her new friends' livelihoods... Being a student at Peak was scary, because she couldn't read, and it was only a matter of time before people figured that out. Then they'd bully her for being stupid. Which she was.

Maybe helping out Yera and Aries' would be less scary...?

It took her a few seconds to realize that she'd been asked another question. Interesting...?

"I-I thought t-that s-some of the c-costumes w-were pretty c-cool... I w-wish mine w-was cool..." The jigglypuff's voice was quiet and unconvincing. She couldn't really remember any of the costumes, except for the Pikachu dressed as a Mimikyu. Why had she been scared? He'd even seemed nice...

A new wave of guilt washed over her as she reflected more and more upon her fear. Just because she'd almost died didn't mean she had to be scared... But she couldn't help it! She was just a coward...

Not only was it a lie to say Alki's costume was cool, but it also wouldn't work or help. That much she knew. So, she needed to focus on something different, "Well, at least you put in the effort for a costume! You also even came out in the first place. Aries had this little combee costume all planned out, but he didn't ever end up making it or going out in the first place." Much to her disappointment. She honestly felt as if she should have known better by now. Anything fun was bound to be killed by Aries' anxiety.

She hated how salty she was about it. The deerling forced herself to continue on, "So, what are your plans for tomorrow? I have to help Aries with cleaning up the shop and serving tables..."

Alki's shoulders seemed to sag as she remained silent while Yera spoke. Aries' costume sounded like it would've been cute. While she had sort of enjoyed the process of making the costume, and even showing it off to Darcy, much to the Skitty's confusion, she could understand why he wouldn't have come out to the festivities today. After today, she probably wasn't going to come out in the future either. Everyone said it was such a happy holiday, but she hadn't enjoyed it much at all...

Yera asked her about her plans for tomorrow, but she couldn't think of anything. "Sleep..." Alki said, her voice steadying slowly, the disappointment and bitterness still there, but at the very least she wasn't stuttering every word, and she was more audible. "I k-kinda just want to sleep, a-and just... I dunno..."  Her eyes trailed down to her arm, hidden by layers of white cloth. She'd need some way to hide it...

'"Actually, I sorta need a r-ribbon... Do you t-think..." She wanted to ask if it would make her prettier, or if people would like her more if she had one, but that was a silly question. "N-No, n-nevermimd..."

Sleep sounded nice. It would have been nice to take a day off and just sleep all day, but with Aries around it felt like every day was a work day, even if he closed up shop. Normally she enjoyed working there, but it seemed like tonight all of the little grievances she had with the shop was steadily surfacing. Still, she wasn't going to quit.

Alki spoke up. They were nearing the guild now. The balloon was quick to dismiss what they wanted to say. A ribbon...? "I don't have a ribbon on me," she commented casually despite the odd suspicion she felt. "Why do you want a ribbon?"

"Why...?" Alki let the word ring in the air, blinking stupidly as she tried to think of what to say. It should have been easy. After all, she'd thought of the exact reason just seconds ago: to look prettier. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was a lie. She didn't really care one way or the other about being pretty. But she did care about her cut, and what might happen if someone found out. She was also tired of lying. About everything... She felt guilty. What would they think if they knew what she did? Of course, she knew it was right to punish herself, because nobody else did. But they wouldn't see it that way... But she was so tired of lying...

"I cu... She began, after a painfully long silence. She could still feel the awkward pain that she couldn't fix in her wrist. Nor did she want to. She was about to confess that she'd cut herself, but she didn't want Yera to know. Lying was bad, but it would be worse if she found out. Nobody had to know, and she didn't deserve the help they would try to offer anyways.

"I c-can't... Um... E-expect... A-anyone to like m-me if I d-dont... Look... P-pretty... R-right?" Alki lied, shifting uncomfortably on the Deerling's back. She felt horrible. But it was necessary to lie... With any luck, Yera would believe her, or at the very least, not question it too much.

She'd been too busy with her thoughts to even notice their destination approaching. "H-Hey, l-look, the guild..."

The guild. Yera was relieved to see it. She wanted nothing more than this nightmare of a night to end. A nightmare that was entirely her own fault in her eyes. The doe relaxed her trot a little, now that the destination was in sight it was easier to bear with the darkness. She kept her attention on the jigglypuff's voice still, the silence doing little to soothe her. She thought about changing the subject out of desperation, but the jigglypuff finally answered.

"Mmm...no?" she disagreed, still keeping her tone to be as normal as she possibly could, "Looks don't really matter when it comes to whether or not people like you-at least the kind of people that matter." The doe couldn't help but laugh, "I read this one book once, it was about a beautiful ninetales that turned down a poor Hatterene in the midst of a blizzard-because she wasn't as lovely as other Hatterene...even though he had plenty of room to take her in. So the hatterene cursed him into the body of a Garbodor to teach him a lesson."

"Moral of the story, attractiveness attracts the shallow...so I guess in a way being unattractive has its perks? Either that or just...don't mess with Hatterene."

Alki nodded along, feeling distinctly guilty at the fact things had gone her way. Yera didn't deserve to be lied to, especially not lied to by someone like her. But the alternative was worse. She was just sparing the nice Deerling the worry. She'd already done so much for her, and Alki had already ruined her night in so many ways, that she didn't want to cause any more worry. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her wrist, pressing it against her stomach.

"Yeah, m-maybe you're right..." Alki said softly, swinging one foot over the Deerling's back, so that she was now sitting sideways. It didn't matter if it made her pretty or not. She just didn't want anyone else to see the cut. They were at the guild now, finally. So... It was over?

"T-Thank y-you, Yera, I'm s-sorry to be such a big nuisance..." The pink orb hopped off the Deer, before turning, and giving her a small bow. The sheet still covered her wrist, at least, she hoped it did. "U-Unless y-you need anything more f-from m-me... Good night...? I w-won't be S-So sad next time..."

She wanted there to be a next time, but she wasn't sure if there ever would be. She wasn't sure she deserved a second chance either...

They stopped at the door to the guild. Yera always did find the gates to the guild to be rather...intimidating. Her eyes lingered on the door as the jigglypuff hopped of. Was Aries' superhero-Skylar in there or was she off enjoying the holiday like Yera should have been? The doe wasn't given much time to think of it. Eyes lingered down to the sheet, but successfully deceived by the appearance of just holding the sheet.

"Actually," Yera spoke up, "Could I speak to your sister? I'd love to meet her-even if it's a little late out. I'm a little busy for the next few days, so this might be my only opportunity for all I know!" Her smile felt disgusting. It was a lie. She wasn't happy or pleased with herself. Being happy was a lie as well as the request to just meet the legendary skitty. There was more she needed to talk about with the feline-important things that she needed to be made aware of if not already.

"D-Darcy...? Um... Sure..." Alki pressed the sheet tighter against her arm, nodding. She wasn't sure why Yera wanted to talk to her sister at this time of night. It seemed more than a little late... Was Alki in trouble? Well, she wasn't about to complain. She deserved to be in trouble... The balloon walked up to the Deerling, and awkwardly hugged her leg with her uninjured off hand. "S-Sorry for everything..." The balloon said softly. Yera was probably going to say something, that she shouldn't be sorry, or that it wasn't her fault, or that she'd made her night better. Those were lies, all of them. And she didn't want the Deerling to waste her breath on something the both of them knew to be false.

Before she could say anything, Alki teleported back, towards the guilds front door, still holding the wadded up blanket. With one last, forlorn smile directed to her would-be friend, she went inside.

The halls were unlit. Of course they were. Who was awake this time of night? Only nocturnal Pokemon, and most of them didn't need a lot of light anyways. She navigated the pathways rather easily, without finding another soul. Thank goodness... She didn't want to talk to anyone except Darcy.

As she cracked open the door to their room, the girl saw her sister, asleep on a pair of cushions. A witch's hat and cloak was propped against the wall, and it was easy to assume that it had been her costume. All she wore now was a green sleeping cap, dotted with white spots. A bucket of candy (as well as a few fruits) leaned against Alki's own bed. A book and a burnt out candle lay in front of Darcy. How long had she been awake? She wished she didn't have to wake her up...

"Darcy...?" She whispered from the doorway, with no response. She walked up, closer to the Skitty. She softly nudged the kitten, and she heard her mumbling. So she was waking up...

"Darcy, wake up..." She said again, to which the feline began to move. After a few attempts at incoherent speech, the Skitty finally stretched, and turned to look at Alki.

"W-What... Time...?" She asked, to which her sister interrupted.

"Please, Darcy, j-just... Um, a... F-friend is outside, a-and she wants to talk t-to you, j-just... Umm... P-Please? Her name I-Is Yera a-and she's really nice, um... W-We... S-she had a rough night. Please don't keep her waiting..." Alki said. Her roundabout, stutter filled explanation seemed to do the trick, as Darcy nodded. Even sleep filled, it was difficult to miss how nervous Alki was. She hoped it wasn't too bad...

"S-sure, just... G-get some sleep, yeah? I... I'ma be r-right there..." She softly nudged the balloon as a yawn overcame her. She hoped the contact would bring her comfort, but she couldn't stick around to find out. Alki needed sleep, and she wasn't about to ask her to come, so it seemed to be her responsibility... "Good night..."

And then she left the room, walking through the hallways as if still in a dream. Maybe she was. She felt so exhausted, and still so sleepy... She had forgotten to take her cap off. She pushed the doors to the guild open, and yelped at the sudden blast of cold air. At least it somewhat woke her up...

She was yawning again...

The Skitty looked around, in search of a Deerling, before her eyes finally settled on one, standing by the main gate. She managed a small smile, despite her exhaustion, before she began to trot off to the doe.

"Yera, right? I'm... A... Ahhh..." She began, interrupting herself with yet another yawn. At this rate, she was going to be sleeping in till noon... "Alki's sister. Sorry... Um, she said you wanted to talk to me about something? Can't... Um... I-It wait? I don't mean to be rude, it's just really late, and... Um..." Well, if she was here, and she'd waited for her, it probably couldn't wait, could it? Darn.

"Sorry, nevermind... That was just the sleep talking. What did ya want? And happy Halloween to ya!" Despite the late hour, her bleary, sleep filled eyes still managed to conjure some cheer. However, she couldn't stop wondering... Just what was so important to prompt a visit at this hour of the day...?

The bloody deerling looked almost spooky herself in the torchlight. She accepted the jigglypuff's hug, but wasn't permitted much of a good bye or a rebuttal for the apology. Of course the jigglypuff would still think she was the cause of this ruined night, because that was just Yera's luck. She took in a deep breath and waited in the bitter cold for the so-called sister to arrive. Still she had yet to notice the blood on her shoulder that would likely be visible to the skitty once they arrived.

She shivered by the time the skitty arrived, with very much warranted concerns of whether or not she'd get sick from tonight...in more ways than one. She should have brought a coat...and a paper bag of some sort.

The skitty introduced themselves and of course, was bothered by how late it was. She was tired to, but at the same time she felt so wired up from stress that sleep didn't exactly seem like an option to her. "No, it can't." It probably absolutely could have, but Yera didn't know when else to do it especially if she lost the nerve to later.

"Happy Halloween, now for the Unhappy News," It was hard and fast, but Yera just wanted to get this over with, "I'm very much concerned with your sister's mental health and you need to get her to a therapist. She's had very serious sounding talk of...er...killing herself, and overall it seems like she could use the assistance. You're her sister, so this should be your responsibility. Are you aware of this?"