nostabbing | 004 | Goldenrod City

[It's late afternoon, it's eighty-six degrees and sunny, and here on a Goldenrod City park bench sits Parker with her hair pulled back in a ratty braid that dangles forgotten over one shoulder. She's basically commandeered the whole bench at this point, even though she's only occupying one small end of it; the rest remains wholly unusuable because it's covered in all manner of stuff, from Pokemon plushies to coin purses to potted plants to other odds and ends you might find at the prize counter of an arcade (and yes, there's a red-and-white Pokeball tucked away in there, too).

But despite the heaps of stuff (and the Poochyena in a fedora standing guard over it nearby, and the Vulpix with the diamond necklace for a collar sifting through it with interest), Parker doesn't seem particularly happy as she hangs out on the bench, silent but for the sound of the pencil scratching idly over the sketchpad propped against her knees. One word for her demeanor here might be "indifferent"; another few that could probably also fit would be "apathetic", "detached", "listless", or even just plain "bored".

Page by page, she's filling the sketchpad with drawings that, to all appearances, she couldn't care less about. Which might be more accurate a description than one might expect, really; this time, appearances aren't deceiving.

But eventually she sets the sketchpad aside, screws up her face for a ninety-second impromptu theater of Frustration: The Facial Expressions, and then reaches for her Gear to posit a burning question to the network: ]

~
Hey, so.

How do you know when you like stuff?

[...What? IT'S A SERIOUS QUESTION. ಠ_ಠ ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh, yeah, like tasing people. You know, 'cause sometimes they don't...

[...wait.]

...go...down...the first time...

[WAIT SHIT NO ABORT ABORT ABORT]

...Just kidding!

[NO SERIOUSLY SHE WAS KIDDING LOOK AT HER LAUGH AT HOW FUNNY THAT JOKE WAS THAT SHE'S TOTALLY KIDDING ABOUT, YUP.]

[ blink. ]

[ why's Alice getting so awkward and nervous? ]

[ blink. ] What's tasing mean?

[ she must feel relieved that Xiaoqiao is 1000+ years out of date when it comes to weaponry. though she does kind of expect it to mean something violent. ]

Is it like how you have to slap someone a few times in the face to knock them out? [ with a giant metal fan? ]

[. . .

SING HALLELUJAH.]

Yeah! It's just like that. Well, kind of. Same idea, but less blunt force trauma.

Huh, that sounds convenient. [ must research further. ]

Buuut...I don't think it's really like that. I mean, liking something isn't usually painful. [ but it's okay! they can figure this out! ]

Don't worry, if you really like something it's not hard to figure out! I think it's easiest if you just try it and don't question whether you like it or not. Just keep it simple, try it again if you want to and if you still want to keep doing it after a couple of times, you probably like it! [ it's like her and siege weapons or dancing. ]

What if I can never find anything that I want to keep doing, though?

...why would that happen? There are a lot of things to do and there are always new things to do, you'll definitely find something!

I dunno. Maybe some people are broken and just don't like anything.

If someone is broken then you put them back together! A person isn't like a thing that you can give up on or throw away.

[ she smiles a little bit, gentler than usual. ] I don't think Alice is broken though. Next time we see each other, I'll show you all the things I like to do! If none of that is fun then we'll keep looking for something else!

[...Oh.

c: ]

Okay. Yeah, the next time I can get off from my...job, we should do that. Yeah.

Oh right, jobs here are very important! If you leave your job they shut you away in prison. [ it's the coziest prison she's ever seen but it's still a prison. ]

But that's okay I can wait! [ ...ish. ]

Yeah, and nobody wants that!

[Ha-HA-ha-ha...yeah.]

What city are you in right now?

Hm...still Violet City. I guess I should move on soon, but I wanted to make sure I caught everything interesting first. [ literally. though she barely keeps any of them. ]

I should try and get down there soon anyway. I need the badge from that gym so I can fly places.

Oh, that's right! I just got mine not too long ago. It'll make traveling a lot easier, that's for sure.

Has Alice challenged any of the other gyms?

004 | Goldenrod City | Text / Action;

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