LuckyBlackCat

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

The house was as Jess remembered it, and yet off somehow. The warm cream colour of the walls, the old-fashioned furniture, those were the same, but the feeling of belonging wasn't there. This was part of a life she'd left behind long ago. Or rather, a life the girl in the wall photo had left behind. A teenaged brunette grinned in the picture, carefree as she leaned against railings by a sunlit sea, her dad smiling beside her. Now, both were gone, the girl replaced with a shell of a person traipsing through a building she'd once called home.

Part of the out of place feeling was doubtlessly coming from Roxy. The anchor trailed behind, barely speaking. On some level, Jess wished she could make her feel more welcome, as her mother was making every effort to do despite her distrust. Even if she could, though, it wouldn't be a good idea. There were good reasons why Roxy distanced herself from others.

"Would either of you like anything?" Jess' mom asked. "Any coffee?"

Jess weighed the options in her mind. What was it to be, jitters from too much caffeine, or jitters from too many disturbed nights' sleep? Either would get in the way of acting normal. "That'd be great, thanks," she replied, knowing that refusing or asking for decaf could hint at the nervousness she tried to conceal.

What she'd really like was a comfortable, relaxing break for all three of them, but that wasn't going to happen.

Pokemon Spiral

Sophia Danvers

Mesalon Pokecentre

@fer1323 @Heckno12 @AbysmalDemon @Dusksong @Noxx

"What?" Sophia looked up in shock as it dawned on her what Oscar was saying about her family. "You think... You think it's all about reputation for them? You don't understand! It's more than that! I mean, how would you feel if you went out of your way to help someone and all your effort went to waste?"

She bunched her fists in her lap. "On the subject of helping others, with the way things are going, we'll need more than just smiles. We'll need people with the strength, the skills and the drive to make a difference. Dammit, Oscar, I'm saying we need people like... people like y-" She reined in the last word. No way was she letting that slip to someone who'd insulted her family, to someone whose smug little smirk seemed to mean he was treating this as a game. If so, she wouldn't let him win that easily.

"Ugh, nevermind." She looked away for a moment before turning back and changing the subject. "Training and patience, huh? Yeah, like I haven't been trying that my entire life."

Notes

Pokemon Party: Gothita "Lacey" lv14, Purrloin "Grimalkin" lv13, Staryu "Arcturus" lv13, Darumaka "Lumas" lv11, Shuppet (currently unnamed) lv11, Bronzor (currently unnamed) lv11
Pokemon in PC:
Inventory: Pokeball x1, TM33 (Reflect)

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

At the music Roxy settled on, Jess resisted the urge to dig her nails into her palms. This was what her dad had liked to listen to. Not wanting to make the anchor feel guilty, she kept this to herself despite the memories it brought back. Throughout the journey, she only spoke to give directions.

As much as she wanted to talk more, what could she say? She'd never exactly been a party animal before all this, but she hadn't been terrible at interacting with people either. A simple conversation shouldn't be difficult. One wrong word, though, could add to that already overwhelming stress Roxy did her best to contain.

The journey seemed to take so long that at one point, Jess wondered if she'd gotten the directions wrong until familiar surroundings came into view. Not much longer now, she thought, even if to them - especially to Roxy - it would still take a good while.

Finally, her mom's house came into view. The sight should have brought relief, but all Jess could think about was how to get through the weekend incident free. "Well, we're here," she said, attempting a hint of a smile as she pointed out the building. Act normal. She inwardly repeated Roxy's words over and over while the car pulled up. Act completely normal.

She climbed out and dragged her suitcase along the path, trying to keep her back straight and look reasonably confident, although she couldn't help jittering as she rang the doorbell. Footsteps sounded, and her mom pulled open the door, greeting her with a smile.

"Hey, how have you been? Come on in!" Even though her mother's eyes were lit up with joy, Jess noticed the dark circles were still there. This weekend was meant to be a time of happiness, but as Jess stepped into the hallway and tried to convince her mom everything had been great, she wondered how much stress everyone would go through over the next few days.

"I knew you'd start readapting just fine," her mother continued, a trace of skepticism clear in her voice and seeping through that good cheer like drizzle on an otherwise pleasant day. A reminder she knew there was more going on than anyone would admit to. "And you," she said, her voice taking on a slight strained quality as she turned to Roxy, "how are you?"

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

"Sorry!" Without another word, Jess climbed into the car. Her ribs started tightening as if the small, closed space contained little oxygen. Calm down, Roxy's the one suffering, she kept telling herself. She couldn't make the situation any better, than much was clear, but she didn't want to make it worse by letting the panic she took on show.

As Roxy flipped between radio stations, Jess tried to focus on the snippets of music that faded in and out from the static. At least they both had that as a distraction - not that it did much to ease the anchor's feeling of being trapped.

It was only when the car started moving that the empath spoke again, guiding Roxy while looking out for street names and images she recognised from the map. It was only a small way of helping, but it was something. Then again, like Roxy had said, nothing could help in any significant way right now.

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

Another shudder ran through Jess as her words brought on a flare of annoyance in the anchor. Way to try to reassure Roxy by saying stupid thing after stupid thing. "Well... I mean I'm not going to claim to understand completely," she admitted. Even if she picked up on the feeling of time slowing down, that didn't mean she had any idea what it was like to directly experience it - or why Roxy felt that way. How presumptuous she must have sounded. "And about the lessons, a learner in the driver's seat probably wouldn't make things any less stressful... Unless it'd give you something to focus on. Uh, what would you prefer to do?"

Hoping she hadn't said the wrong thing again, she hauled her suitcase into the back of the car. Maybe driving lessons would be mutually beneficial, or maybe they'd be yet another burden on the woman who'd already put herself out for her in many ways. If that was the case, she'd wait. Once the shield strengthened enough, she'd be able to get lessons from someone else, not out of ingratitude but so that Roxy wouldn't have to torture herself. Who knew how long it would be, though, until they could safely be apart?

She opened the door to the front passenger seat, ready to climb in if Roxy wanted to stay behind the wheel.

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

Jess grimaced at Roxy's answer. "I'm sorry, I know..." She trailed off. Her words weren't empty ones, she really did know, having taken on that warped sense of time from the anchor before - but the last thing Roxy needed was a reminder of someone intruding into feelings she tried to keep locked away.

Guilt spread through her as she trudged outside, not just about the weak attempt to cheer up Roxy. There it was again, that loneliness welling up in the anchor and leaking out, like a wound that kept opening up and bleeding instead of healing. Because I keep opening it up, the empath thought.

She cringed again as the anchor asked if she wanted to drive. She appreciated that Roxy was trying to give her more freedom, but... "Uh, well, I haven't had actual driving lessons yet," she admitted. "I did a theory test and was going to, but then... Umm, that plan got put on hold. I can give you directions, though."

She'd thought she'd already mentioned this, before the drive from the cabin to Roxy's place, but that day had been such a whirl of ups and downs, she wasn't sure if she fully remembered such a detail among more significant ones. If she really had told her, given everything the anchor must have had to think about, Jess didn't blame her if what she'd said had slipped her mind.

Pokemon Spiral

@OtomostheCrazy Just posting up the link here so we both have it as a reference: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7customgame-765755975

Pokemon Spiral

@OtomostheCrazy Ok, gym team is ready if you want to try now.

Pokemon Spiral

@OtomostheCrazy Yep! I'm remaking the Showdown team for the gym leader and will let you know when it's done.

Pokemon Spiral

@OtomostheCrazy Mesalon, the town with the Normal type gym leader. Is Deneb still in the gym?