nostabbing | 011 | Goldenrod City

[It's a legitimately beautiful day in the neighborhood when the video comes on — the skies are partly cloudy but there are streaks of sun in places, and there's no snow on the ground. Rather, a bunch of probably incredibly confused plants have evidently decided that spring has arrived egregiously early this year, and are already starting to bud; the grass around is turning greener with every passing day, and ordinarily Parker would probably approve of that because green is objectively the best color, but today, she's...

Well.

From the looks of things, she's sitting against a tree in black jeans, a T-shirt, and a flannel hoodie over; her hair is long and a veritable mess, because she hasn't bothered to tie it back and she certainly hasn't bothered to brush it lately. And she's not really looking at the camera, despite being the one who intentionally turned it on. There's an equally tired-looking Eevee (one that, strangely, seems to be wearing a little white uniform with red trim) snuggled against her chest, and flanking her on either side are Nate the Mightyena (still in his dapper fedora) and Sophie the Ninetales (still in her diamond necklace collar), snug against her sides as though they're standing guard.

The camera angle is haphazard and sideways — not quite a Myspace angle, but clearly chosen without a whole lot of care for how the picture ultimately comes out.

Probably because it's a good reflection of Parker's mood right now.]

It's sixty-five degrees outside. In January.

[When she speaks, her voice is dull and flat — almost robotic, in the way she's just sort of pushing the words out.]

In January.

[A pause.]

Is the world ending? Maybe the world's ending.

[There's another pause, and this time when she speaks it's under her breath, more to herself than to the camera.]

Yeah. Maybe that's it.

[For a brief time, she doesn't say anything more, and then just when it's starting to look like she's forgotten she's still recording, the camera jiggles as her hand moves, and almost as an afterthought she switches the feed off.]

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[This is somebody Blake shouldn't talk to, and he knows it. The smart thing to do is stick the phone in a drawer and go back to regrouting the kitchen tile (yeah, these apartments are supposed to do their own maintenance, but he couldn't let it slide, the shit was fucking disgraceful.)

He never was real good at leaving well enough alone.

He pulls off his gloves, sits back on his heels, and hits the button to respond.]

There's a corner I used to drive by all the time. There was always this guy out there hanging around, handing out pamphlets about how the end of the world is coming any minute now.

He was there for a good five years. For all I know, he still is.

[Oh, it's this guy. And believe it or not, Parker actually doesn't get mad — at least, she hasn't yet — but that's mostly just because she's too out of it to want to muster the strength to bother.

The saving grace there is, her voice comes out dull and flat, completely lacking in the severity that would ordinarily accompany an accusation.]

Bet you thought he was crazy, right. You punch him, too?

[The lady's not even pissed off to see him. ..that can't be good.

Her voice sounds weird, too. None of the annoying chirpiness or piss and vinegar it usually has.]

Oh, yeah, he was crazy as a soup sandwich. Harmless, though. Never gave us any trouble.

It's a fuckin' beautiful day. What's your problem?

None of your stupid business.

[Again, she can barely even muster the malice of an insult.]

[Blake is disappointed with the quality of your insults, Alice.]

C'mon. You can do better than that.

Don't tell me what to do.

[She does, fortunately, pay attention long enough to flip this over to private, though admittedly she's not really sure why this guy of all people is getting it. Maybe because of what happened in the castle. Maybe because she's just tired.]

Ishimaru won't wake up.

[He's about to say don't tellme what not to do when he's stopped short.

He yanks the phone close to his face.]

What the hell do you mean, he won't wake up?

He won't wake up. He went to sleep and he's not...

...

He just won't...wake up...

[Cop instincts engage.]

Listen to me. I need you to check his pulse and see if he's breathing.

[Sounds obvious, but people missed things when they were freaked out.]

He's breathing. He's been breathing for a couple days.

[If this were about anything but Ishimaru she probably would've hung up by now, but she's not going to shut down somebody who cares about making Ishimaru better. It doesn't matter who it is.]

Everybody's watching him. We took him to the nurses. Everybody says this is normal but it's not normal for somebody to just not wake up—

[Blake's fists unclench.] Good.

[Now this is sounding familiar.]

I've seen this before. It happened with an asshole from back home. He was out for a damn week and then woke up like nothing'd happened.

Everybody keeps saying that.

[That doesn't make it okay.]

It's what happens. Doesn't mean I'm real fuckin' happy about it, and if I find out who or what makes it happen, they'll regret it.

[Going around putting people in comas. Who the fuck does that?]

If you find it you better invite me.

[And woe betide that thing, whatever it is, if they do.]

Got it?

[He gives her a sharp nod. They don't have to like each other. This is something different.]

It's a deal.

[Saying that stirs up a memory.]

You know what's funny? I've said the same thing to a blonde lady once before.

[...This poor kid. On her best day, she wouldn't have any idea where he was going with that, so today she just kind of stares blankly, like the thought process isn't even catching on something to begin with.]

Yeah?

Yeah. Tough lady. About your age, too. She was here a while back, and she wanted to kick the shit out of whoever's keeping us stuck here.

Maybe she did it on her own, cause she disappeared not long after.

Guess she didn't do it hard enough, 'cause the rest of us still are, and they're still doing this.

If that's true, I'll make sure the same mistake doesn't get made twice.

Fuckin' around with kids. The fuck is wrong with people?

011 | Goldenrod City | Video / Action;

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