Frontier Town Drungfield's Remedies

[Sinderella]

"Well, to us it's more of an occultish thing," she said. "What I described to you is technology to us. Magic is of a whole different beast. Fairy, ghost, dragon, dark, psychic, they're all powers of a more otherworldly nature to the people of my world. Drawing from things that aren't inherently found in a nature--they're more beyond that. Technology, at its core, was drawn from things found naturally, save for a couple things here and there that were enhanced by more magical powers." She hoped that would make sense to someone who seemingly had no idea what fireworks really were.

She visibly deflated then, though it was hard to miss the look of longing that had snuck its way into her eye. "Believe me, I'm in no mood to deal with that shit. I've had enough heartbreak to last me a fucking lifetime, and frankly I'm over it." She shot him a quick side-eye. "Anybody in particular you're worried about, though?"

 

[MintyMimix]

"Ooh, that's an interesting way to look at it!" Ghaspius trilled as he quickly sorted the now collected tools. "Their energies are bit more metamorphic than fixed, but I'd say Pokémon in general occupy a realm between nature and spirit. At least, on my world. Dunno 'bout Forlas."

With a bit of metallic clangs and the shifting of aged wooden shelves, he smiled proudly as he nearly finished getting everything cleaned up. "So it sounds like you use more fixed energies and materials for your cool stuff, which makes sense!" In his own Ghaspius way, perhaps.

"Thankfully, not as far as I can see. Just more was thinkin' about my age. Not too far from thirty and it's still been a pretty lonesome lifestyle, sides sis. But she's gone off to do her own thing too." He turned to the Mawile and offered a tired smile. "S'okay though; gives me time to focus on alchemy studies."

Even so, he tilted his head at Odette's reaction. "Sorry you've had to deal with that kinda thing. Hopin' you can find a good romance when ya get home." The Misdreavus paused. His lips puckered together as a thought crossed his mind. "Would you bring anyone from back home here, if ya could?"

 

[Sinderella]

Odette nodded, happy it sounded like he grasped her explanation. “Pretty much,” she said. At least, that sounded right. If he got it, he got it. That’s what mattered.

“You’re thirty?” she asked. “You don’t look a day over twenty,” she added with a smirk. Perhaps it wasn’t the time, because he suddenly looked tired. “I mean it’s no fun being lonely. But, I get it. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt to have the time to hone your skills…but…I don’t know. Sometimes company is nice. You know, depending.”

She’d have preferred to keep discussing that. But she supposed she brought it upon herself by asking for a remedy to a broken heart. “You and me fucking both,” she grumbled. She shifted in her seat, scrunching her eyes shut as she tried to ward off the thoughts of Guzma’s stupid ass face smiling at her with that mischievous ass grin, or his stupid ass voice calling her those endearing dumbass names he had for her, or his stupid ass body when he wasn’t wearing a fucking—

No.

She could practically feel the blood rushing to her cheeks, and she grunted. No. Fuck him. She didn’t want to think of him like that, not now. But forcing him out of her head only left room for images of Val’s charming smile, and his obnoxious sass, and just everything he was…and her heart shuddered.

Why did the men she liked so much suck?

“I don’t know,” she said in a breath. “That’s a loaded question Ghaspius. I’d say someone from my Pokemon team but I’d probably just be lying to myself.”

 

[MintyMimix]

"Twenty-seven actually, but it's gettin' quicker every year," Ghaspius said, letting out a wistful chuckle, "But thanks, really. Appreciate that."

He scratched his cheek at Odette's odd reactions. Though she hadn't said much, even an airhead like him could see the flustered, uncertain expression on her face.

"Well, I won't pry if you don't want to relive some of those bad romances, but I'm hear to listen if you need it," he said, offering a sympathetic smile. He turned and performed one last inspection of the wares. "Personally, I'd bring sis with me, if only so she could finally meet you human folk. Bet she would be so ecstatic."

He briefly tilted back. "Oh, and while I can't offer ya any of Drungfield's medicine, I could brew somethin' up to help you with any 'anxiety' you might have," he said, making air quotes with his hair.

 

[Sinderella]

"Twenty-six, myself. I try not to think how close I am to that three-oh," she said with an air of agreement. She couldn't help but smile at his insistence at being an open ear. She didn't know if she was appreciative or worried.

"Were you some kinda romance therapist in your own world?" she asked dubiously. Her eyes widened a smidgeon when he mentioned his sister. "And I take it your sister is some sort of human researcher? Are you in a similar field?"

Settling back against the stool, minding the wall behind her, she crossed her arms. "We'd be here all fucking day if I gave you the runaround of my dumpster fire of a love life, I hardly think you'd believe it. I have really terrible and specific taste in men and it keeps coming around to bite me in the fucking ass," she said.

She then pinned him with a questioning leer. "What, you mean like something alcoholic? Do you have some secret master mixologist talents you haven't mentioned yet?"

 

[MintyMimix]

The Misdreavus let out hearty, spirited chuckle at Odette's questions and responses. There was a light reverb to it, though whether that was from his typing or the room's acoustics was unclear. He glazed into a relaxed, knowing smile. He floated a bit closer, though settled on a respectful distance this time.

"Well, 'fraid I can't help ya in matters of taste, but I know how it goes. Dude's rockin' a charm, got some sickly sweet words that takes ya for a ride, then ya realize how they act 'round everyone else," Ghaspius remarked with the shake of his head, recalling his own experience. "Just lemme know if ya wanna exchange stories sometime later. That solidarity's nice to have, ya know?"

After pausing to let the offer hang, he then chuckled again and added, "And I'm 'fraid the only 'therapy' I provide is the kind that involved givin' medicine."

He leaned to the side for a stretch. "I could take a guess at how to mix alcohols, but nah, I'm more of a potions, tonics, and inhalants guy." A satisfied sigh escaped his lips as his body relaxed. "Alchemy's my profession.

"And yup, ya got it — human research is Roya's." His gaze turned wistful. "One of the youngest of the Association. Managed to unearth something the other day and identify that it was something y'all apparently used to do math with. Couldn't get it to work, but she picked up the symbols just like that."

One of his tendrils spun in a circle for emphasis. "Only been able to talk to her this past couple of years through letters, though. Really do miss her."

 

[Sinderella]

"Roya..." she muttered. "That's a really cool name. Yours too, actually. Your parents really knew what they were doing."

A thought occurred to her, and she chuckled. "And it sounds like she found a calculator. Those things saved my ass while I was in school, let me tell you."

Whatever unease Odette had about the romance subject appeared to drain out of her a little. She leaned forward with apparent interest. "Oh, so...sounds like you know a little huh?" Maybe he'd just wanted to commiserate, rather than just listen to her bitch for the hell of it. That, she could get on board with.

"That about sums up my first boyfriend." Her expression shriveled with disgust. "I was absolutely crazy about him. He was the move 'Charm' personified, I used to say. And he was even crazier about me. To the point where it was criminally obsessive, and he had a couple digits in fucking up my life. Real sweetheart type."

She sighed, though it was a little harder to tell if it was airing on the side of aggravated or longing. "But I met my next boyfriend through him, which I suppose was the only silver lining in that. Val." The name coming out of her mouth felt like a tantalizing taboo. It hurt to say, but it still held the same sweetness it used to. "He was...gods, fuck me. He was everything. I don't think I loved another person like I loved him. And what made it worse was that the feeling was mutual. But he just couldn't be in a relationship in his mindset. One of those stupid fucking 'if you love something, set it free' things that made all the sense in the world when he said it, but all it made me want to do scream at him. I still want to. But I know I'd be in the wrong."

Hesitation creeped up on her again, and she steeled herself with a breath. "My current entanglement barely counts as a relationship. Just a fling that got nasty. But then...it wasn't nasty. It was--" So many pretty words balled up on the tip of her tongue. They ended up being blocked by a snarl. "If I see him now, I think I'll throw a rock at him. Because he's an idiot and I really want to throw a rock at his fat fucking head."

A trained ear would hear a waver in her voice, one that indicated a great deal of affection imbued into those words. Affection that, by the look on her face, she didn't look ready to acknowledge. She brushed it all off by gesturing to the misdreavus. "Anyway, those are my three tales of wonder, woe, and willful dumbassery. You're welcome to add to the pile."

 

[MintyMimix]

Ghaspius visibly winced at Odette's compliment, but tried not to make it too obvious. "I-it is a cool name, yeah," he rather hastily added to cover up his reaction. His expression relaxed as he latched onto her next point. "'Calculator'... if I can remember it, I'll make sure to tell her the name! You'll have to tell me all 'bout that stuff later!"

Instead, it was not-therapy-but-kind-of time, and he was more than happy to listen and nod along. It doubled as apprenticeship for Drungfield, didn't it?

"Ogh, I'm so sorry you had to put up with someone like that first guy. Stalkin' like that ain't spooky, that's just creepy," he said, shaking his head in disgust. "My first wrecked my wares in anger, but least he didn't follow me around. Machoke with sweet words but fragile ego. Didn't like when I wasn't praising him."

His hair fell along with his face as Odette bore her heart about her feelings for Val. "Oh, Odette..." he said, tilting to the side in sympathy, "It's gonna hurt to hear, but if he couldn't understand the difference what someone out there said and what his heart said, he might not've been the one..." He voice trailed as his gaze lowered. "Still, that's gotta hurt more than a thousand toxic spikes to the heart. Do ya need a hug, gal?"

He got so lost in trying to sympathize with her second plight that he nearly missed the final one. "Well... ah, dudes can be dumb sometimes, I should know," he said with a chuckle, "As someone that's been on the other side, I think ya might do better with bein' straightforward 'bout whatever's gettin' to ya. Even if it's just for closure."

Ghaspius cleared his throat. "Might as well get into that one. Got wrapped up with a Seviper — no pun intended — who I ended up havin' a few drinks with and we really got talking. 'Bout life, philosophy, all that, and well, he started trying to make a few moves on me." His gems strobed in embarassment. "At the time, all I could think 'bout was my work, so all those offers flew right over my head. Even when he managed to literally corner me and flashed those handsome fangs, I was just thinkin' to myself, 'Oh, he's probably a warrior; that's neat'."

A tendril slid over his face. "Let's just say the next time I saw him while on my travels, I ended up getting a tail smack to face. 'specially when I confessed that I kept thinkin' about him in the evenings after." His eyes rolled up to the ceiling as he briefly recalled another experience. "Least it wasn't like with Eendra..." His voice trailed off into muttering.

 

[Sinderella]

She hadn't missed Ghaspius' wince, and she started to panic over what she'd said wrong. But she stopped processing it when his words about Val struck her. They pierced her heart like a froslass' ice beam, and left the corners of her vision clouding with the smog of heartache. For a moment, she could have sworn she was seeing stars, too.

She felt so stupid, because they weren't words she hadn't heard before. In fact, they were words she'd told herself multiple times since she made it to Alola. Hell, they were words Val more or less said to her--with more of the added nuance of the situation at hand, but still--and yet that never eased the ache they brought. It had been almost two years, and that ache still wouldn't leave. She still found herself clinging to the rest of what he'd said before they parted ways; still found herself understanding where he was coming from and just praying for a turnaround...

Denial was a really awful companion, and it clung to her like a fucking parasite.

Yeah, she thought. I do.

"No, it's alright," she lied. "There was...there was a lot more to it, but--" If she was trying to hide how much she was struggling with the words, she wasn't doing a good job. "I'm okay. Really. But, uh...I'll take one of those inhalants if you have one..."

Rolling her shoulders, she tried to shake off the suffocating feeling of her lingering heartbreak. Focusing on her anger toward Guzma felt like the way to go, but all it did was leave her heart shuddering in confusion. The stupid fucker had to know why she was mad at him, but they'd barely had a chance to speak before she left. As Ghaspius spoke, she found herself wishing they had. Found herself wishing he was here now so they could make up, and so that she could enjoy his presence again like she was doing before they fought. Which was fucking stupid, because he was an idiot, and they weren't supposed to like each other like that, so why the fuck would she--

"Oh Ghaspius," she sighed, shaking her head in sympathy. "The alchemy got to your head! I'm sorry he smacked you though, that's not fucking okay." It sounded like he handled it better than she would have. She might have flown off the handle. "And wrecking your shit is just as abusive. It'd have turned to you sooner or later," she added disdainfully. "Fuck that guy."

At least she wasn't the only one here with a psychotic ex.

"Was Eendra at least slightly more pleasant?"

 

[MintyMimix]

Ghaspius wasn't the most observant of fellows, but even he could see the pained expression on the Mawile's face and somberness in her tone. Still, he didn't want to invade personal space, and instead elected to dig through his bag.

It took a minute, but he managed to pull out a bundle of incense sticks. He unfolded a small mat, placed it on top of the desk alongside a small holder, and burned the tip. The soothing aroma of jasmine and light smoke began to fill the room. A gentle brush against the nose to help release one's nerves.

He handed the spares to Odette directly. "I'd give you the stronger, more psychedelic stuff, but I don't have a lab on Forlas — not yet, at least," he remarked, trying to lighten the mood just a bit with his comments. "And no, I probably wouldn't have bedded either of those guys in hindsight." A knowing light smirk pursed on his lips.

It quickly fell again as Eendra was mentioned. "Right. Imagine first a Goodra runnin' a bakery in the desert. Already a unique sight, right? Caught my eye almost instantly for that," Ghaspius remarked as he shuffled in place. "Now imagine he's like, the sweetest guy you can imagine. Gives food to the poor, remembers your name if you visited his store even once, always asks how your day was, is a total cheerleader for your interests instead of just givin' ya weird looks..."

The red strobe across his gems transferred to blushing face. "And an absolute hunk. I'm talkin' lifts all day, deep melodic voice, tall, handsome, giggled whenever his goop got on ya, knows just the right thing to say..." He let out a sigh. "Stars, I had to be a fool not to ask him out. And in those weeks we were together, it was like heaven."

The Misdreavus's lips quivered. "I asked one day if he'd be willin' to live the nomadic life with me; we'd be travelling merchants together!" His gaze fell. "The thing is though, the village was his home. He lived there most of his life, wanted to start a family and keep the store goin' for generations, and didn't want to leave any of his friends or neighbors behind."

He deeply inhaled before letting out a sharp sigh and stared at the floor. "But me, I couldn't do that. I've got a mission that needs me to travel the world, and someone dear to my heart that's counting on me to make it happen." He shook his head. "We broke up on good terms, but I just... keep thinking about him sometimes. Wonderin' if I really made the right choice. Wonderin' if I ever came back one day if he'd accept me back into his life."

 

[Sinderella]

Whatever Ghaspius had lit up was just what the doctor ordered, despite the doctor not actually being in. With each deep inhale, she felt the ache in her chest slowly start to numb.

"I don't think I'm in any mood for psychedelics, so this is perfect," she exhaled, waving the incense in front of her face and watching the smoke stream up toward the ceiling. She had to wonder if Drungfield would be okay with them lighting things on fire in her office, but she was willing to assume Ghaspius knew what he was doing.

"Well, when and if you do end up with a lab, you'll have most of my coin lining your pockets."

With her heart and head momentarily settled, she handed Ghaspius her undivided attention while she could. She couldn't help but smile at the way he recalled this goodra, with so much love and affection in his tone. Being in that kind of love was unlike anything else, and she felt that in the pit of her soul.

She felt her own mood deplete with Ghaspius', and she tilted her head with the force of her onset concern. "Damn. I'm so sorry," she said. And she left it at that for a few seconds.

"I guess I know where you're coming from," she said, breaking her own silence. "Thinking about the prospects of things going back to how they were." She paused again, like she was contemplating how to follow that up. "Obviously I'm no fucking romance expert, given my spotty history, but you never know what can happen." Her smile that time around was a little pained. "Unfortunately, that's the kind of thinking that's instilled me with this inability to fully let things go. But I don't know..."

Sighing wistfully, she took another whiff of the incense. "When you love something that fucking much, sometimes all you can do is hope a little."

 

[MintyMimix]

Ghaspius's expression brightened just a bit at Odette's remarks, though he let the words hang in the air for a moment. Just as he opened his mouth, she continued. He let out a gentle chuckle at that as his lifted his head.

"No doubt 'bout that," he said, taking a nice, long inhale of the burning incense in return. With a relaxed sigh, he added, "It's that hope that keeps us goin' in the end, don't it? Whether or not folks say it's misguided... it lets us take hold of 'destiny' just a bit."

He craned his neck towards the door as he pursed his lips. "I probably ought to extinguish these for now. Doc might get mad 'bout these makin' for a less sterile place." He cleared his throat. "Not that somethin' this light would affect anythin', but, principles and all that."

Ghaspius offered a gentle smile to Odette. "You can have it take home, though. And hey, I'll show ya my lab, and you show me a good drink. Let's keep in touch. Maybe vent some more 'bout our bad loves when the opportunity arises, eh?"

 

[Sinderella]

Ah, so, Drungfield wouldn't be a fan of the fire. She didn't even think it would have had anything to do with sterilization, but it made at least a little sense to her.

She took that as her cue to let Ghaspius get back to work. She could probably stand to do some training on her own until Drungfield showed up, whenever that was. It wasn't like she was totally clueless.

Sticking the incense sticks into her bag, she gave the ghost a thankful nod. "I appreciate it. And yeah, I have a solid razz-pecha gin and tonic with your name on it the next time you find yourself at Sun Stone," she said. "Perfect venting drink."

She made her way toward the door, but not before throwing out a lazy parting salute. Her hand was barely on the knob before she stopped short, and she was left frowning to herself for a second. She appeared to be contemplating something...

Without warning, she turned back around, lips pressed into a loose line.

"Hey, uh...if you don't mind, I'll take that hug for the road."

<><>><><><><><><><><><>​

 

[Butterfree]

Just making it to Drungfield's office was a heroic ordeal, but make it he did. By the time he was up on the examination table he was ready to sleep for a fucking week, body and aura aching for time to recover. At the same time, his half-delirious mind was abuzz with scientific theories that might or might not pan out (Giovanni didn't seem to think it was related, but then again he was a fucking lunatic), but for the moment, when he started trying to explain it to Dr. Drungfield, it was coming out of him incoherent. He gave up with a sigh and just let the doctor examine him.

Which would be something. His entire body had been burnt, slashed, electrocuted, corroded with Shadow, even after he'd been knocked unconscious. He was still fucking astonished the Reviver Seed had even managed to get him back on his feet at all, much less back on his feet and running anywhere. The lingering, throbbing ache in every muscle in his body still made him kind of wish it hadn't.

 

[Jackie Cat]

A few months into her stay in Fantasy Orrezona, and Laura still hadn't really struck up a rapport with too many of her teammates. Among those she'd met a few times but not gotten to know, one was Dave – one of the older Wayfarers. One of the angrier, swear-ier ones, too, so far as she heard it. From what she knew second- or third-hand, he'd been a geneticist working with hybrids, which was... intriguing. But she didn't exactly plan on bringing that up cold.

For now, all she meant to do was check in on a fellow offworlder who'd had his shit kicked in during the fight with Owen. She'd brought a few things with her – newspaper, novel, sandwich, chilled bottle of beer. She... didn't know what he liked. And she'd use them either way.

She made small talk with the Doc for a minute, then poked her head round the infirmary wall and gave a little wave.

This would be easier if she just asked for an interview, huh...

"Thought you might want company?" she said, instead, wondering if she should introduce herself fresh. What if he didn't even recognise her as a fellow Wayfarer...?

 

[Butterfree]

After the initial examination and application of stitches, disinfectant and berry poultices he couldn't name, Dave'd been left to rest. Everything still ached and stung, but the cool tingling of the medicine made it all a bit more bearable. He drifted off in one of the infirmary's beds, initially waking intermittently with sudden shocks of adrenaline, but in the end he was out like a log, too exhausted even for that.

He woke gradually to faint voices out in the front, unsure how long he'd slept. He blinked at the sunlight coming from the entrance, lifting his head, and found a familiar gray Meowth giving him a hesitant wave.

"Oh, hey, Laura." Dave raised a paw in greeting, struggling with even that. "How's the journalism going?"

For a moment he wondered if she wanted an interview about what went down at the quarry. But no, she'd just asked if he wanted company, hadn't she. He blinked at her again. She was holding... a newspaper, book, a sandwich, a beer, not close to her chest like she just happened to be carrying them in other errands, but forward, like an offer. "...Wait, is that for me?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

"It's going," she said, reflexively. Then, "Actually, it's going pretty well? Nathaniel likes my work, at least."

She set down her little bag of items on the bedside table, and pulled up a stool to sit with the dog.

"You, uh, not had visitors before, while in sickbed?" she asked. "I didn't take you for a flowers guy, took a guess at what you might appreciate."

 

[Butterfree]

"...Huh. Thanks." He reached for the bottle of beer, nice and cold, cracked it open on the edge of the table and had a sip. God. He'd needed that.

"I mean, there was that time I got shot, but I didn't exactly get showered with gifts for that one. Visitors were pretty preoccupied with the bit where one of my coworkers was fucking dead at the time. My mom didn't show, thank God, but if she had it would've been less beer and a sandwich, more Bibles and a prayer, probably."

He reached for the sandwich. Even after scarfing down some medicinal berries, he was pretty fucking hungry. Whether it was that or the sandwich itself, it hit the spot. He nodded approvingly as he munched on it, then raised his eyebrows at Laura. "So, uh, to what do I owe the pleasure? You make a habit of bringing care packages to any Wayfarer who spends time in the infirmary?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Okay, that was a lot to frontload in the conversation. Shot, dead coworker, atheist relief at his mum steering clear. Howls!

Well, at least her care package went over well?

"Ah, sometimes?" she said, trying to arrange something coherent to say while off-balance. "I guess it's more like, I'd like to be in that habit, so I may as well start. Wanna get to know the team better, really."

Laura sucked her teeth, frowning. "I wasn't planning on being in interview-mode, but you have to elaborate on that 'getting shot' thing. Your colleague, too?"

Normally she'd be sensitive about that sort of question, but this guy seemed like he'd just find tact and delicacy vaguely annoying. Fuck it. She wanted to know more about the genetic hybrids thing, anyway, and for all she knew this was yet another 'parallel' to her own shit back home...

 

[Butterfree]

Laura's expression at his description was something. Yeah, it was all a fucking lot, wasn't it. Nonetheless, she just kept on making conversation, talking about wanting to do this more, before asking for elaboration. Bless this girl, honestly.

He swallowed his current bit of sandwich, then reached for the beer for another sip. "Right. Uh. In my universe there's this batshit cult. Think we're committing crimes against God, et cetera. Tried to kill me. First shot missed and hit my coworker who was standing beside me, another grazed my head."

His throat was tightening weirdly. He took another gulp of beer to clear it, with only moderate success. He'd been a dog regularly getting into fights long enough that the memory -- running, blood trickling down his cheek, crumpling to the sidewalk, fuck, I'm dead, fuck -- felt almost alien.

"Obviously, the fuckers failed. I'm still here."