nostabbing | 008 | Goldenrod City

008 | Goldenrod City | Video / Action;

[So as is frequently becoming a habit for Parker these days, this afternoon she's got her Gear out and the camera function working as a means of surreptitiously snapping pictures of things to look at — where "things" is synonymous with "really expensive jewelry because she's standing in a jewelry store in Goldenrod City browsing the wares" — and that's the reason the following brief bout of No-Context Theater makes it onto the Gear Network; evidently, the shopkeeper saw her ~~casing~~ looking at the particularly expensive pieces and decided to come over and make a sales pitch, and Parker opted for just shoving the Gear into her back pocket. She was aiming for the off switch, but in her haste, the record function got bumped instead, and as a result, the whole video is dark but the sound of voices come through reasonably clearly.]

They're very lovely, aren't they? Is there something I can help you with, miss?

...No. Nope, just looking.

Ah, you've been looking at our Shooting Staryu selection. You have excellent taste! That one there with the blue stones would look magnificent on you, you know. Were you hoping to take one home with you today?

[Anyone who truly knew Parker would understand the somewhat uncomfortable reason for the awkward pause here — because presumably she was, albeit not in the way the shopkeeper was presuming — and uh-oh, ohgod, what is she supposed to say here.]

No. Nope, no, just looking today! Just looking.

Well, I hope you'll keep us in mind for a special occasion, then! Our wares make wonderful gifts. I don't suppose you have a birthday coming up?

[There is a long pause.]

Uh, miss? ...Hello?

...Yeah. On Saturday.

Saturday! Well, here, you just come right along here with me and I'll get you one of our cards, and you show it to some handsome young man you know — I'm sure they're beating down your door! — and tell him to come right on down and ask for Felix and we'll have you wearing that piece yet! Just come right alo—

Wait, what? No! What? Hey—

[And somewhere amid the hustle and bustle, the Gear gets bumped again and switches off.]

[OOC: Responses from Parker will come shortly after this post is concluded; she's the pink text, whereas the NPC shopkeeper is orange!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A birthday, huh? I'm on it!

_{[For once he has a decent idea of what to get somebody.]}

What?

[What— oh. Oh, okay. Hi.]

...Hey, Ralph.

_{[For once in some time, the wrecker is all smiles. HE THINKS HE HAS THE BEST IDEA.]}

Hey, Alice. How's town?

It's really good! Sorry I had to take off again. I kinda got kidnapped a little bit.

[It is entirely possible they just kind of showed up at her door and told her to PACK HER SHIT (in more polite terms) and with a mandate like that, well, you ask questions later.]

We'll be back to Violet soon, though! We just had to come pick somebody up.

Don't sweat it. Sometimes you gotta take a surprise trip, y'know? You gonna be back by then, or should I ship it out?

I think we'll probably be back by Saturday, yeah. Sleeping in the forest, you know. Nobody likes that.

[video]

rocketralph - 2013-08-22 23:43 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

nostabbing - 2013-08-22 23:46 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

rocketralph - 2013-08-22 23:47 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

nostabbing - 2013-08-22 23:49 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

rocketralph - 2013-08-22 23:51 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

nostabbing - 2013-08-22 23:57 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

rocketralph - 2013-08-22 23:58 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

nostabbing - 2013-08-23 00:03 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

rocketralph - 2013-08-23 00:11 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

nostabbing - 2013-08-23 00:17 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

rocketralph - 2013-08-23 17:55 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

nostabbing - 2013-08-23 18:13 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

rocketralph - 2013-08-24 01:43 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

nostabbing - 2013-08-25 01:32 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

rocketralph - 2013-08-25 23:39 (UTC) - Expand

[video]

nostabbing - 2013-08-28 02:59 (UTC) - Expand

[There really isn't any reason for him to message Parker since Mondo figures he could probably find her if he really wanted to, but what he heard certainly caught his attention.]

No way, your birthday's on Saturday?

[And she didn't even mention it! Mondo looks momentarily panicked - what is he supposed to do now? He can't move Ishimaru's party forward to accommodate Parker's birthday (though if he could, he certainly would), but just not throwing her a party seems wrong too. He finally seems to come to a decision and locks the feed.]

We're throwing Ishimaru a surprise party on the 31st. I meant to tell you sooner, but... well, everyone arrived and I kinda got overwhelmed, y'know? Point is, you're coming 'cause at least this way we can celebrate your birthday too, even if it is a little late!

[A pause, then,] And what do you want for your birthday?

[So after that whole...y'know...thing out on the route last night, Parker was honestly sort of figuring she wouldn't be hearing from Mondo and Ishimaru until later today. They'd gotten into the city and she'd figured on splitting off for a couple of hours to let them handle their classmate business before meeting up later, which was what had led her to go jewelry "browsing" in the first place. So the call's a little unexpected, and at first she's a touch concerned because she assumes Mondo would be more likely to be calling because of some kind of trouble than anything else, but then she checks the message and—

Ah. Okay. On goes her feed, too, with a fair amount of relief attached.]

His birthday's next week?

[BIRTHDAY BUDDIES. But then the topic of presents comes up and this is Parker, so material possessions momentarily take precedence.]

Money.

Yeah, it is! We've been putting together a surprise party for him, so don't mention it, alright?

[Parker's answer gives him pause though, and Mondo raises an eyebrow.]

Money? That's all you want? No Pokémon or presents or anything?

[He can certainly do money (he's doing quite well for himself here) but... money? Really? It seems so... impersonal.]

[Mondo, have you gotten used to that blank stare of Parker's yet? The one where it's clear that she's missing some key part of what's just been said and you can practically hear the wheels burning rubber in her head as she tries to figure out what it is?

Have that look. What do you mean, money isn't a present...?

She's already told him she's not a bookkeeper and the feed is locked, so it can't be that he's expecting her to say something boring like "an encyclopedia" or a beancake or something...right?]

Nnnn...ooooomaybe? Um.

[...Look let's just. Let's just move on before she starts rattling off suggestions of things she does want, all of which are either egregiously out of any sort of legitimate birthday price range or, y'know. Illegal.]

Cool! Party on his birthday. Okay, yeah, I can bring him a present and help out and stuff.

[Mondo tips his head a bit at that look - that's never a good sign, but he'll come back to that in a moment.]

Great! I've gotta get in contact with the new kids who arrived, but after that we all should be good! I don't think they'll be able to get him presents right now since they don't get much money to start with, but at least being there to show their support'll be good, right?

[With that out of the way, he returns to the previous topic.]

As for money it's... well, it's not something most people give. I mean, unless they're giving gift cards or shit like that - does Johto even have gift cards? - but I think that seems kinda impersonal, y'know? Getting a gift is usually a show of how well you know someone. I'm just really fucking bad at it.

But if you want money, I can give you that! I'm not trying to say you should want something else or anything!

...He can't have a birthday without presents. Don't worry, I'm on it.

[She's got this. How Switch the Aerodactyl is going to handle the possible mountain of gifts Parker is going to haul home with them is anyone's guess, but by god, it is a thing that will happen.

...Oh. Oh. Aha, there's the discrepancy, she sees it now. It's the "how well you know someone" part that he doesn't get, because obviously he doesn't know her well enough to know that money is the right and meaningful gift for someone like her.

AHA, SHE GETS IT NOW.]

I like money a lot, though.

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[video]

[VIDEO - LOCKED]

[VIDEO - LOCKED]

[VIDEO - LOCKED]

[VIDEO - LOCKED]

[VIDEO - LOCKED]

[VIDEO - LOCKED]

mostly locked

mostly locked

locked

locked

locked

locked

video;

video;

Private: Audio

Private: Audio

Private: Audio

Private: Audio

Private: Audio