10th pokéball

[ghostytrainer]

Characters: [au2] John Egbert and you
Setting: Dorm Block 1
Format: Starting action, open to whichever
Summary: John returns from ruined Johto after a week and a half. First thing he does? Play network catch-up.
Warnings: None yet save for probably the usual foul language

[It was a strange realization, opening his eyes and realizing he actually felt relief, even happiness to find himself within the now all-too-familiar confines of the tower once more. As much as he hates it here, he'll take it over ruined wasteland of loneliness.]

[He's not sure how long he's been gone, and while he's fairly certain that there are a few people who have missed him (provided he's been gone long enough for people to notice), its' not his friends that he seeks out first. It's a computer terminal just outside his dorm room.]

[But even after he confirms the date, John remains at the terminal in silence for quite some time. He's frowning slightly in concentration, eyes scanning the screen as he goes through the backlog of posts he's missed. Especially the ones from Ruana following her initial Q&A that concerned her game. Just as he thought, her subsequent hint posts only cement in John's mind just how much he doesn't want to play her stupid game that's not actually a game because it's missing the most important component of a game: fun.]

Comments

[longwinded]

[John had been snooping around the tower for the majority of the day anyway. So it wasn't much of a shocker that he was eventually going to end up somewhere around Dorm Block 1. When he spots his double clacking away and scrolling at the terminal he takes this as an opportunity to feel relieved, and to go quietly behind him.

He also takes this as a chance to just stand right next to him, and use his shoulder as leverage. Totally leaning all over his double. Yup.]

That Ruana really is a bitch, right?

[He tsks.]

Welcome back, shortie.

[ghostytrainer]

Mmm. Yeah.

[John only appears to be half listening, eyes still glued to the screen and eyebrows furrowed. This is some pretty intense focusing, apparently. JOhn isn't even giving any sign that he realizes who's talking to him yet.]

[longwinded]

[He's reading over John's shoulder. He has seen all of this stuff. But reading Ruana's messages again were just making him angry. She was a cold hearted bitch, and she found this to be entertaining. None of this was entertaining. He really should have listened to John a while back.

He knocks his head gently against John's.]

You're gone for a week and a half and I don't even get a hey? Rude, if I have to call it as I see it.

[ghostytrainer]

Sorry, hey.

[It's kind of an automatic response. Sorry dude, he's just really into these clues she gave about the starter monsters. You can appreciate a good riddle too, right?]

[What do they mean?]

[tentacletrainer]

[[Rose had been wandering near silently now for a while. No real destination in mind, she just wanted to distract herself some. And thoughtlessly walking around the tower seemed like a good place to start.

But when she caught sight of a familiar form, she stopped. Was it really...]]

John? John!!

[[In coming tackle in three....two......one........

She runs over to him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and just about tackling him to the ground before squeezing him tight.]]

[ghostytrainer]

[John's so engrossed in the screen that he doesn't even notice Rose until she's nearly sending him to the ground with her embrace. Suffice it to say though, that's more than enough to jolt him out of his trance.]

[He smiles a little, returning the hug almost as tightly.]

Hey, Rose. Missed you too.

[He's clearly happy to see her, but there's something about his tone that's more subdued and somber than usual.]

[evokingfool]

[After checking and confirming that Mondo's name was removed from the nameplates at his dorm room, Minato walked away and check the various nameplates as he go.

Some names he remember, others he don't know and a few he knows he didn't see.

He's armed as always, even if it's not night time, as he notice someone at the terminal.]

...Are you checking on something?

[ghostytrainer]

Hm? [The hum is more an automatic response than anything, as John doesn't seem to notice that he has company. At least not at first. After nearly a minute, the fact seems to register and he pulls his eyes away from the screen. He turns to face Minato, offering a small smile with just a hint of tiredness to it.]

Oh uh, basically, yeah I guess you could say that. Just playing catch-up, hahaha.

[evokingfool]

[Playing catch-up? That means he's been out of action for a while. Judging from that tired smile and the one possible way of missing out on things, Minato can reasonably guess why.]

A lot happened. Are you up to speed?

[ghostytrainer]

More or less I think. Unless there have been any big breakthroughs since this last post Ruana made. Or anything worth mentioning that happened that didn't have to do with this stupid monster game.

[awfulsentimetal]

[The Spine has ventured out of the music room, since it isn't night time and the day still seems masquerade monster-free. He spots the young man at the terminal, notes his faint frown, and is struck by the urge to reach out to someone in this damned place.

His approach isn't exactly quiet. Those footsteps are heavy and his movements are accompanied by hisses of steam and the whirr of gears.

There's a wry smile on his silver faceplate when he speaks up:]

Paints a pretty depressin' picture, doesn't it?

[ghostytrainer]

[By now, John's trying a little harder not to space out so completely while he's reading. Even so, hisses and whirrs either go unnoticed or written off as harmless as John fails to react until The Spine speaks. He glances up from the screen, smiling a little.]

Oh, I don't know about that. I think Ruana is sure as hell trying to, but that's hardly anything new. She's kind of a shitty artist though, that's really what's depressing here.

[Sure, the monster thing is awful. But worse things have happened. And from what he can tell going off the network posts, it doesn't look like anyone has been playing the game the way she wants yet. Things could be worse.]

[awfulsentimetal]

[Interesting way to look at it. Of course, The Spine hasn't been in the tower long enough to become inured to this kind of thing.]

Settin' monsters loose on the population is bad enough. I don't wanna contemplate what else she might do to make things worse for people.

[ghostytrainer]

[Having more optimism than is really healthy for one person kind of helps with that. It's probably the reason John hasn't managed to break entirely yet or really even come close to breaking at all.]

It's best not to think about it, really. Nothing good comes out of that type of thinking, if anything you will probably just upset yourself. [He shrugs.] We'll cross the bridge of whatever else she has in store for us when we come to it.

[He extends a hand to The Spine, smiling.]

Pretty sure I would have remembered a guy like you so I think it's safe to say that we haven't met before. I'm John Egbert.

[chainsawn]

[ ... The moment Urotsuki arrives at the terminal, she already sees there's someone there. But that's not a problem for Urotsuki - despite everything that's going on, she's as calm as ever and has all the time in the world. So she lingers behind John, standing there for however long he takes..

Except she doesn't seem to realise she's sort of looking like a creepy stalker because of it. ]

[ghostytrainer]

[Though John has gradually been making a better effort not to let him zone out so completely that he ends up ignoring people, Urotsuki unfortunately makes him do just that. He didn't hear her approach and since she didn't say anything...]

[...well, it's nearly ten minutes before he finally gets the feeling he's being watched. He looks up from the computer and, sure enough...]

Gah! Um. Wow, hi uh... [He totally didn't just jump a little. Not at all.] Can I help you with something?

[chainsawn]

Hi.

[ She just calmly greets him. Like it's the most normal thing in the world to stand still behind someone for ten minutes and not even speak up.. her expression is blank, completely difficult if not impossible to read. ]

I was waiting in line. That's the polite thing to do, right?

[ghostytrainer]

[Oh yeah, totally normal.]

Err... yes. That's definitely polite. But you know you could have just asked! I didn't even know you were there, I could have hurried up. Um... here.

[He logs out of his account hastily scooting away from the terminal so Urotsuki can use it.]

[grancenturio]

[Nessiah has light footsteps, but the jangle of chains will nonetheless give him away to anyone paying attention.]

Quite unpleasant.

[ghostytrainer]

[The jangle of chains faintly registers to John, though it's not until Nessiah speaks that he actually looks up from the terminal screen. He chuckles a little.]

When is it not though, really?

[grancenturio]

A valid point. Are you seeking to determine the identities of monsters or merely catching up?

[ghostytrainer]

A little bit of both, I guess. But mostly catching up. Because for some reason I guess Ruana wanted me to sit out part of her game.

[Seems dumb to him, but whatever.]

[tohko_amano]

[Tohko was walking back to her dorm room to stuff some books in her trunk to eat for later when she saw John looking over the network. She didn't know that he had been gone, but she did see that he was frowning. A bit worried, she wandered over to him.]

John, what's wrong? Are you alright?

[ghostytrainer]

Hm? Oh, hey! [John pulls his face away from the screen, frown quickly turning upside down. He waves a hand dismissively.]

Nah, I'm fine Tohko. Just playing catch-up on Ruana's latest batshit scheme, that's all.

[That was a frown of concentration, a rare look for John, certainly, but nothing to worry about.]

[tohko_amano]

[While it was good that he was alright, that meant two things, both of which did nothing to ease her worry. One, to have missed Ruana's latest schemes, he would have had to miss the urge to avoid the dorm rooms and the fact that people were managing to sleep for days outside them. Two..it was pretty unheard of to have people not checking the network. She did, even if she never posted.]

I see..I'm glad to hear that, but..did she send you back home as well?