002 ☄ "the only way out is up," she whispered. "a leap of faith." ☄ ᴏᴘᴇɴ

[dusknoir]

Characters: Morty, Froslass, and YOU.
Setting: Summertime in the cafeteria.
Format: Whichever!
Summary: One very uncomfortable Morty and an even more uncomfortable Froslass try to be decent human beings.
Warnings: Nothing.

[It's summer in the Tower cafeteria, and Morty does not like that one bit. This warm weather is not what he's used to at all. As a result, he's dressed rather oddly, like he doesn't exactly know how to Deal with warm weather in the clothes he had been given; the scarf and headband were gone, his hair was tied up, and the sleeves of his sweater had been rolled up to above his elbows. (He kept brushing his fingers over them as if he felt they needed to be pulled down.) Attempting to keep some degree of composure even in these... unusual circumstances, Morty is sitting at one of the cafeteria tables, staring rather numbly at the floor, the table, anything. Eventually he takes out Froslass' Pokéball and starts rolling it around. So thirsty... so thirsty. So thirsty, oh, for the love of Lu--]

[Morty's head snaps up.]

[He grabs the Pokéball and gets up, only staggering a little bit from the oncoming headache, and rushes over to the kitchen door behind the cafeteria. He filters with a loud clamor throughout the room and eventually gets to the back, which turns out to be what he was looking for all along... the freezer. Considerably warmer than it should be in light of the fact that it's a freezer, but there was still some lingering cold... a little bit.]

[Shortly afterward, the freezer was filled with huge buckets of ice, provided by darling Froslass -- who looked about to faint when she went back into the Pokéball -- and a truly staggering amount of plastic cups were sitting around on some of the nearest cafeteria tables. Shortly afterward, a peculiar Fire-type looking like a chandelier was flying around the cafeteria, moving said buckets of ice into the main room as well; Morty was reasonably sure that everyone would get the idea that they could help themselves. The ice was melting quickly. Sure, the water was a bit warm, but he certainly wasn't complaining.]

Comments

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki was still in his pajamas, though his robes had dried out they were made for the constant cold winds of Tai, not for this heat. He at least had his shoes on again, even if they were a bit warped from all the rain.

He fought dizziness as he made his way to the kitchen, bloodsickness and dehydration mixing with hunger making him feel light headed. Still he refused to call Sanshi out of his shadow and struggled on alone.

His thought was actually to find the freezers, even if they weren't working there might be water there...

So he was quite surprised to see a strange creature flying with a bucket of ice and he rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating.]

[dusknoir]

[The creature turned around when it noticed Taiki staring, but the bucket continued to fly; being a chandelier, this Ghost-type had no arms, but it could psychically move the objects independently.]

[It chirped as a form of greeting, but did not offer that Taiki take one of the buckets and drink out of it; in fact, the little guy didn't seem to be aware that other people were suffering in this heat at all, because it certainly wasn't. This was actually much nicer than it was back in Ecruteak. So cold out there. Idly, the Chandelure wondered if it couldn't be like this all the time...]

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki grinned at the chirping, there were lots of strange creatures here and many of them were friendly. Like the one Dave had.] Hello...

[dusknoir]

[Chandelure made another one of those noises. It... didn't seem to be able to speak a language Taiki was familiar with. Whoops!]

[Meanwhile, a wild Morty appears, walking up from behind the two of them. He wanted to ask initially why Chandelure had stopped with the moving of ice, but changed that plan when he realized that the little guy had made a friend.]

Hello there.

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki smiled at the creature again, not minding that he couldn't understand it, and opened his mouth to talk again when there was a second voice and Taiki snapped his mouth shut.] Sorry... um... hello...

[dusknoir]

[This poor kid didn't look too comfortable with Chandelure, so Morty beckoned the creature back over with a flick of his wrist. It returned to orbiting somewhere around his general area. Meanwhile, Morty smiled in what he hoped was a comforting manner at the child; he was beginning to realize that, like back in his world, there were some people who just didn't take to his beloved Ghost-types.] It's quite alright, my friend. Was Chandelure here causing trouble again?

[notagiraffe]

[Actually it's you he's nervous of Morty, not your pokemon, he likes strange creatures, humans scare him.] No... sorry... he's nice...

[dusknoir]

[Chandelure rests on its Trainer's shoulder, not sure what to make of this; truthfully, Morty isn't sure what to make of it either, so he kneels down in an attempt to get closer to Taiki's eye level.] Is something wrong?

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki shook his head and dropped his eyes to the floor] No... sorry... I didn't mean to disturb you...

[dusknoir]

[You look sad, child. Let big brother morty fix this. He reaches out a hand, hoping to rest it on the boy's shoulder but willing to pull back or wait if he flinches.]

It's you I'm concerned about here.

[notagiraffe]

[He bites his lip but doesn't quite flinch, not wanting to upset or annoy the man.] Sorry... I'm okay...

[dusknoir]

[Okay, now he looks really worried... but the expression soon morphs into another reassuring smile.] Well, if you're sure.

[notagiraffe]

I am... sorry... [He attempted a nervous smile to show how okay he was.] Um... I'm Taiki...

[dusknoir]

[FINALLY! Success!]

And I'm Morty.

[notagiraffe]

"It's... nice to meet you Morty..." Another nervous smile.

[dusknoir]

Nice to meet you too.

[He stands up again.]

Taiki, are you thirsty?

[notagiraffe]

[More feet shuffling but then he nods] Very...

[dusknoir]

Come with me.

[He starts walking.]

My friends and I have been making water all morning. You can have some, if you want.

[notagiraffe]

[Taiki hurries to keep up, glad at the offer of water.] Do you have enough... sorry... I don't want to take it if it's for your friends...

[dusknoir]

It's for everyone.

[notagiraffe]

Oh... okay... [He supposes he counts as an everybody... he guesses... maybe... he still feels bad...]

[dusknoir]

Come on, then. Let's get you something to drink.

[DOOP DOOP DOOP over to a bucket!]

[notagiraffe]

[Shy smiles as he follows him.]

[dusknoir]

[And Morty promptly fills up a cup of the water and hands it to Taiki.]

Drink it quickly, it might actually evaporate if you're not fast.

[notagiraffe]

Sorry... [Taiki did so, gulping it down thirstily.] Thank you...