[X] My Assistant

[Troy Bolton]

The door slammed as the dark figure entered, the harsh tone mirroring both the mood of the figure and the cinereal downpour just escaped. All work ceases for a moment, as heads turn to greet the latecomer. She removes her hood, sopping wet hair laying like spaghetti on her scalp. "Today, it rained," she announced, to nobody in particular. "Yesterday, there was a sandstorm. The day before, hail. When is Mother Nature going to get its cuss together?" Calmly, she kicks over a wastepaper basket, spurned ideas with tacky bits of gum falling out. Nobody answers her. Not waiting for, or apparently expecting, an answer, she departs to the company bathroom to dry off.

The moment is quickly swept aside as "more of Friday's cuss," and attention is returned to the two major tasks: goofing off and listening to the radios. This inclement weather has been in effect for about two weeks now, starting with a week of nothing but light, spitting rain. Between the cubicles, instant communications buzz - the language of the workforce.

<ceelogreenfan54> is she ever going to come in on time?
<swordinthesweeper> stop complaining, dude. her parents run the company.
<ceelogreenfan54> still, tho'.
<swordinthesweeper> she's sure fine to look at, though.
<ceelogreenfan54> that's a funny joke, dude.
<swordinthesweeper> i could see it now! mr. and mrs. nick cormack. i'll be best man, of course.

ceelogreenfan54 has entered text.

<swordinthesweeper> dude, you there?

"Cee Lo Green fan fifty-four, eh?" A soft voice from Nick Cormack's right ear. He jumps, smashing his head into that of the discussed subject's. Her lip begins to bleed, and she draws a finger through it, pensive. "I'll bet you can't name more than two of his songs. A fitting screenname, though. Says a lot about you- well, as much as age and music preference can." Nick Cormack, a stout fellow with a fantastic paunch and a receding hairline, reels back in his spinning chair, pushing himself as snugly into the corner of his cubicle as he can go. His mouth is open, and his face is one of horror, but not a sound passes between his lips. Casually, the woman (hair still wet) pushes a few things off of his desk before sitting on it, one leg crossed.

"I thought we'd been through this, Nick. Not only am I completely unattracted to your appearance - namely your beer gut and your similarly scented breath - but your personality is even worse." She spoke plainly, one hand shaking through her hair to dry it, spraying drops of water all over the desk. "You send me presents, invite me - a colleague - out to dinner, and try to room with me on the company trip. I'm just." She smashed a small glass paperweight on his desk. "Not." His collection of paper clips spills to the floor. "Into." This time, she goes for the jugular - pulling a key from his keyboard. "You." She then overturns his coffee onto his desk, standing up as she does so. As she leaves, Nick Cormack splutters out a threat.

"I'll- I'll see you at the performance report, Hastur!" She laughs, almost pleasantly. "Who do you think writes them?"

`~`~`~`~

"Boss, we've got to do something about the weather." Friday Hastur did not, this time, sit on a desk, opting this time to sink into a plush leather chair. She sat forward, after complaints from the creature within her shadow of being crushed. "Why us, Friday? We're a company, not the Carcosa Police. Why should we do anything about it?"

"These weather conditions have closed off all paths to and from Carcosa. And nobody's doing a thing about it! Travelers are stuck here-" "Which is a good thing for the industries," butted in the boss, ignored. "-stuck here, business in and out comes to a standstill, most people can't or won't leave their homes. We've got about a third of the regular workforce in because of it. It's not about the police, boss. It's about the company." The boss hemmed and hawwed, pushing in and out his lips in an odd way. Friday had come to known it as his 'thinking hard' face. She indulged him for approximately thirty two point nine seconds.

"Sir, I am an experienced trainer. If you're worried about my protection, don't be. I'll just be heading to the Weather Station, flash a-" Friday caught his look, frowned. "- a bit of important papers, and they can at least tell us what's wrong. Then, I'll deal with it."

The boss was set aback. "You sure, Friday? If it's all the same to you, I'd rather somebody less valuable to the company do this." Translation: he didn't want it to be his ass on the line if something went wrong. Ms. Hastur knew the boss well enough. There were quite a few ways to push his buttons, but only a few right ways of doing so.

"Sir, I'll be doing this, one way or another. If you let me go now, that's a whole day where I'm out of your hair and the company can work smoothly. If you make me stay, I'll reveal to the company the rather rude and personal pictures Nick Cormack had emailed me a while back." Cormack's infatuation with the Hastur bordered on sexual harassment, a well known fact within the company. The boss frowned, made disgusted noises, but Friday knew she'd won. She'd get paid for getting rid of this weather that was destroying her favorite clothes and making it impossible for her to go for a run. But with the boss, you had to go for the whole thing.

"I'll take the prototype with me," she said quickly, "so we can get some stress testing out of it. If things, I don't know how, go bad, I can set this thing up and get some support." Boss stared at her, then buried his head in his hands. "Do what you like, Friday. Do what you like."

"Thanks, boss!" she chirped, hurrying out of the room before he could change his mind. As soon as the door closed, he reached deep into his desk, pulling out a flask of Cape May Whiskey. He took a good swig.

`~`~`~`~`~`~

After buzzing through R & D and liberating both the prototype and a specially water-retardant overcoat, Friday was away from the offices.

Her shadow, though faint, writhed under neath her. <I'm sure there were nicer ways of doing that, Friday.> Eames the Shuppet did not stir from his comfortable seat in the shadow, though his backseat driving was just as effective for it. "Okay, Eames. Duly noted." <Do you even know how to use the prototype?> "Of course I do. I'm not stupid. Set up the tripod, connect it to Dynamics.blob, then send or receive. A child could use it." A mental image, like a shrug, was Eames' only response. "I'm freezing. We're heading to the diner." <But, you said we were going to the wea-> "DINER."

With a lovely chime, the door to the R & E Diner opened, where the majority of Carcosa seemed to be huddled in. It was something of a church replacement for the townsfolk, they'd all come here on either Sundays, or when the end seemed near, and judging by the weather, Friday would wager a guess toward the latter. When it rained, the Diner was one of the few businesses that remained open, other than Hastur Dynamics and the local precinct. Seating arrangements at the R & E were strictly "wherever you can find a seat," which led the businesswoman to slip in the sixth seat with a few strangers. When the waitress came over, she ordered a slice of cherry pie <it's gonna go right to your thighs> and a cup of black coffee. She sipped it, staring out into the torrents of rain.

The roleplay is reserved for Bogart, Sibylline, Donowitz, Decus, Velyoukai, and Staticpulse and is not looking for more members. The usual bunnying clause is in effect - all of it has been agreed upon. Enjoy!

[Staticpulse]

Today, the city of Carcosa is experiencing a torrential downpour. The downpour is expected to last throughout the day and the strange weather patterns to continue for the foreseeable future. Traffic in and out of the city is at a near standstill as the heavy rainfall has created flash flood conditions. The unpredictable weather patterns are making rescue and relief operations-

Altodus closed his cellphone. So much for getting out of here anytime soon. News and weather reports were all saying the same thing - 'We have no idea what's going on so good luck!' Already some unlucky folk were swept away by flash floods, so in the interest of safety the authorities were advising everyone to stay at home. For Altodus, who had no place to stay in town, this meant he was stuck in a diner. Next to an unpleasant overweight man who was currently stuffing his face with what seemed to be enough food to feed a small town.

According to the data Altodus had gathered, the city's usual weather for this calendar month was no where near as chaotic as it was these past few days. There was also a weather station in the city proper, which got Altodus thinking the station might know what was going on. At least, it would make him feel better to yell at them than random diner patrons.

But first, to escape the booth he was trapped in. Previous attempts at persuasion had proven futile (though the man had probably just been asleep) and Altodus was no longer in any mood to be civil. If the overweight man wouldn't move, the only recourse Altodus had was to go over the table. Which Altodus did, taking extra care to step in the man's cherry pie right before he was about to eat it.

"Hey! What's your problem!?" The overweight man grumbled at Altodus. "I've only been sitting here for five minutes and-" But Altodus interrupted the overweight man before he could finish.

"My apologies. You're such a pig I thought you might like a little mud with your pie." Turning from the overweight man, Altodus addressed the rest of the diner. "Alright, listen up! Though my few minutes of research, I've noticed this town has a weather station. Though the powers of inductive reasoning the weather station is the probable cause of the unusual weather patterns."

"Now, I'm going to head over to the weather station and give them a piece of my mind. Who's with me?" Altodus looked around the diner, but no one immediately seemed to jump at the call. Mummers of voices permeated the air, ranging from 'I don't wanna get wet' to 'you're going to pay for that pie'. There was one thing that annoyed Altodus and that was inaction. These people could take charge and do something, but nooooooo, they had to sit on their rump and hope everything blew over. What lazy good-for-nothing...!

[Decus]

Something new everyday...Lacey considered the weather as he sat, still sopping wet, inside of the R & E Diner, still waiting for his order of Cherry Pie, definitely keeps things interesting. The sandstorm seemed to have come from kind of out of nowhere and to have a big rainstorm follow it the next day was a bit off to him, sure, but it wasn't much to complain about. If anything it was even a refreshing change of pace, something different than the normal.

"Whaddya think though, Seth?" he leveled a lazy glance under the table at his growlithe, "Should I have ordered something else?"

The fire dog responded with an excited bark, probably not caring so long as he got whatever might be left over. Not like that would be happening though, since Lacey loved himself some pie. The only thing that was in question was his order of cherry pie. From what he could tell, it was apparently the popular choice and the wait for it had already dragged on for longer than his hunger liked. Whatever though, he could wait. Though he did hope his order arrived before the new arrival's did...

They must have forgotten it...oh well.

Having never received his own pie, he found himself spacing out at the blonde chick's. Maybe he hadn't been loud enough when he gave his order? Whatever. It's not like he'd payed for it or anything, so he could always try to order another one. Or just eat some of the berries he had in his pack...he'd already given some to Seth and Fiske during the wait for the nonexistent pie, after all. Though he could really go for pie...yeah.

"Hey, uh, waitress?" he started to get the serving lady's attention next time she came around, "I ordered a cherry..." and then he lost that train of thought as he slowly turning his attention toward something that seemed somehow...more important. The weather station? It was true that none of the strange weather had been in the forecast until after it had already started, and even then only in uncertain terms, but...how would going to the weather station actually help anything? And why bother? It's not like the weather had been bothering him any or anything like that...although...hmm...I guess it could be interesting to check things out. Not like I was going to do much if I stayed here anyway.

"You guys wanna check out the weather station?" he whispered to his pokemon, completely ignoring the waitress he had called over. Truthfully, he had already forgotten about her and any attempt to regain his attention fell on deaf ears as he was focused on his pokemon. Not that he could understand their responses...he just assumed they meant 'yeah' or 'awesome' or 'hell yeah' or something like that. Excitement always means 'yes', right? Probably...and if not then...whatever. Close enough.

"Yeah, sure, count me in," he announced after standing up from his seat, his growlithe letting out another bark of approval.

[Donowitz]

Nike drank from her coffee cup and listened to her music. Combined, the caffeinated honey filled delicious near syrup drink and the sounds of the Violent Femmes Blister in the Sun were almost, almost enough to make her forget that she had been stuck in this little town for waaay too long. Earlier in the day, she had tried to escape the town by foot. It hadn't gone so well.

So she had returned to this diner, the only place in town she felt like dealing with, absolutely soaked to the bone and limping a little on her left foot. Who knew that rain could make the ground so slippery? She hadn't. Andrea, her meowth, was also far from pleased. He'd been sitting under her chair for awhile now, cleaning himself of all the mud and glaring at a nearby growlithe every once in awhile.

Frowning, Nike turned down the volume on her music player as she saw heard someone talking loudly. He was blaming the weather station for all of this and wanted to go and, pretty much, yell at the people there. That actually sounded like a great idea to Nike. A way to work out her aggressions and to actually be doing something more than just sitting around? Great.

The idea was really almost awesome, but Nike came up with one issue. She had just, finally, dried out, and she really didn't fancy heading back out into the rain. Not to mention Andrea probably didn't want to go back out there either. Eh... Benefits would outweigh the detriments. Hopefully. She whispered to Andrea and placed her cup down on the table before standing up.

"I hope you're right about the problem with the weather starting at the station," she said, feeling Andrea rubbing against her legs, "because I don't want to go back out there and get soaked again for nothing." Nike walked towards the red haired man, Andrea on her heels.

[Sibylline]

Today was not looking to be a good day, yet again. Lileas had thought that things would be nicer outside of Lenoilia, but now she was starting to wonder. Just what was up with the weather in this place? She was completely soaked already, and had been forced to take shelter in some diner that was packed full already. She didn't even have the money to order anything, as much as she would have liked some of that cherry pie everyone around here seemed to be eating... seriously, had anyone ordered anything other than pie? It was everywhere.

It was also getting seriously cramped in this place, but there wasn't really anywhere else for her to go. It was then that her attention was drawn by some guy standing on a table and shouting something about a weather station. She wasn't uite sure what a weather station could do—didn't they just tell the weather? could they really do much of anything about these constant freak storms?—but it had to be better than just sitting around here, waiting for something to happen. That, and the guy she'd ended up sitting next to was starting to creep her out a bit by the way he kept staring at her when he thought she wouldn't notice. She was glad for the fact that she had Sakura, her Sneasel, sitting on her lap here. One look at her claws would probably keep wandering hands away, at least.

"Why not, it's got to be better than just sitting around this place," Lileas replied to the request of the guy on the table for anyone willing to go check out the weather station. She stood up, setting Sakura down in front of her, and made her way over to the gathering of a few others, all of whom also looked like trainers. Well, at least they all had some sort of protection, anyway, which was probably for the best. She wasn't sure what all they were going to be doing, but after the way she'd been living for the past few years, she was always expecting trouble. "Not really sure what a weather station will do for us, but it's better 'n nothing."

[Velyoukai]

"Tch, always someone stirring up trouble, no matter where I go."

Katashi bit back the rest of what he wanted to say and returned to nursing his coffee. If it weren't for the black swelling around his left eye, he might have cared more about the hot blond who'd taken the seat next to his. As it was, though, Francis York Morgan had pestered him to stay in this shitty, xenophobic town even after getting smacked around by a few of the local jackasses. The pricks even had the balls to do it in front of a cop, who had taken one look and then ignored the beating.

It'd taken all his patience and a little more to keep from beating them senseless, but eventually they'd left him alone to lick his wounds. So here he was, having just barely gotten a coffee from a fatass who gave him a stinkeye until cash was flashed, nursing a black eye, some bruised ribs and a bit of broken pride. The cutesy punk girl who'd been on his side was joining the loudmouth kid, though the blond was still sitting so far.

Katashi sighed, downing the last of his coffee and spinning in his seat to face the building crowd. Redhead was getting a small posse together; just enough folks and their battle monsters to do some small-scale damage. A glance at what remained of his coffee and a ghostly imput from FYM was all it took to get him settled.

"Wonder how badly the locals view this shit..."

[Troy Bolton]

As an obnoxious man - clearly from out of town - insulted Mr. Ahlegri, the town's vacuum cleaner repairman and probably one of the nicest people Friday knew, the woman seethed with quiet rage. <Easy,> urged Eames, sensing the emotional spike, <just finish your pie and we'll leave. No need for conflict.> "All right," murmured Friday into the coffee cup, "but any more of this and he'll get it." <And I'd be glad to help,> responded Eames, <but you really need to stop getting so riled up.>

Coolly, Friday dug into the pie, perhaps stabbing it with a bit more vitriol than she usually would have. For a moment, the sweet, subtle flavours of the pie and the deep bitterness of the coffee soothed her, but then the thug sitting across from her had to open his big mouth. "The locals," she enunciated icily, "view this cuss just fine." Without any more words, Friday downed her coffee in one swig and stood up, making sure to cast her shadow over the leftovers of pie. The treat sunk into the shadow silently, and in her head, Friday heard a <burp>.

As she rose, the steady drone from rain crashing down on the roof stopped. There was, for a moment, absolute silence. Then an altogether different noise began to crescendo, like gravel thrown against windows. "Hail," muttered Friday, the monosyllabic word soon being parroted across the diner. Many patrons seemed to be caught in a conundrum - run out and protect their cars, or remain and hope everything will be fine. In practiced gestures, the waitresses of the R & E pulled Pokeballs from their aprons and released their Pokemon - mostly psychic and rock types, though a few bugs were mixed in. Simultaneous requests of "Reflect" led the eyes of said Pokemon to glow with sickly green light, and the windows to seemingly turn opaque. The Reflection walls served their purpose, hail bouncing off harmlessly.

Friday was not to be sidetracked by something as minute as a change in weather. She wasn't going to take any more of this cuss' crap. It was time to stand up for Carcosa. The businesswoman folded her arms, standing up taller and extending her spine. Eames did his part, too, calling up Night Shade to dull the lights elsewhere to focus on Friday. From the way her eyes glittered against the suddenly ambient florescent light to the sudden death in conversation in the diner, she was a bit of a frightening sight.

"Are you going to continue disturbing my neighbors, or are you going to leave? For all of your dandified words, you're just a bully. If it were a different day and I in a fouler mood, I would surely challenge you. For now, though, either get off the counter and leave or sit down." A few of the younger kids cheered, but were silenced by Friday's stare. I didn't do it for you...

"Now, I'm leaving for the weather station. I intend to find out the cause of the weather anomalies - see, us hicks know big words too - and fix them. You're welcome to join me if you can behave yourself." Not waiting or really caring about his answer, Friday turned, starting toward the door. She's already made it through Hail once without too much heartache, thanks to her Pokemon's techniques.

"Eames, up." Grumbling, the Shuppet separated himself from the businesswoman's shadow. "F-14, come out." The business woman tapped a Pokeball in her pocket, releasing the newly-acquired Pidove. Friday knelt, allowing the bird to hop onto her outstretched hand. "Protect, alternate in intervals of two minutes, or earlier, if you get tired." <Right,> said Eames, and F-14 hooted in understanding. Unflinchingly, Friday opened the door outside and stood in the hail, looking unimpressed at the ice stones sloughing off an invisible shield around her. "Are you coming?" she called into the R & E. "I don't like to wait."

[Staticpulse]

How excellent! A good bunch of people to form a totally-not-angry mob. Altodus was glad to see such forthright individuals ready to take charge and try to do something. "Excellent! Very well then, we leave for the weather station now!" Altodus hopped off the table, ready to leave the diner. There were only two things that made him stop in his tracks.

For one, the weather had suddenly changed into pounding hail. The hail was certainly more of an issue than the rain was, mostly on account of pounding hail hurting. It was mildly impressive that the diner staff had pokemon ready to protect their diner with... well, the protect move. Was hail such a concern that residents of Carcosa needed pokemon to protect from it? Or was it merely a response to the crazy weather patterns the town was currently experiencing?

The second was a well-dressed business woman with a penchant for dramatic lighting. No sooner did she block Altodus' path did she go on her spiel, dimming the lights and simultaneously quieting the diner. Again, Altodus was impressed... this woman certainly projected a powerful presence. She was no ordinary girl. Altodus would have responded to her with his own smarmy comments, but she was already leaving by the time he got his words together.

"Hey! Don't you run off!" Altodus yelled at her retreating figure. He released Bombastus, plopping the Swinub atop his head as he followed Friday out of the diner. Outside, the pokemon's snow cloak ability activated and, well, cloaked Altodus and itself in a fine, powdery mist. But now that he had caught up with Friday... he didn't know what to say! He had forgotten his whole 'I'm better than you' speech!

"I, uh... hmph!" Altodus stuttered, trying to think of something that wouldn't make him look like a socially awkward fool. "Look, I, uh... I don't know who you are. But you commanded respect from the diners and those children, people I would assume you've had no or few prior dealings with. That means you're someone who wields power." Right, that sounded pretty insightful. It was good to know this girl could actually go to the weather station and probably do something about this whole affair. Altodus was going for the whole 'strength in numbers' thing, but if this girl could actually do something... perhaps a mob would not be needed.

"My name is Altodus. Altodus Caulier." Altodus would normally extend his hand for a handshake at this point, but with the woman covered in barriers and Altodus covered in snow such a gesture would not be reciprocated. "And you are...?"

"Nub!" Bombastus happily answered his master in the short bit of silence to follow Altodus' question. Altodus couldn't help but chuckle slightly. It was to be determined whether this girl was a 'nub' as Bombastus said.

[Decus]

Shortly after he stood he felt vines tapping him on the shoulder as Fiske let out a horrified cry. Turning around it did not take him long to become equally horrified. That pie...it just...and was that a...burp? Whatever he had just witnessed, it freaked him the fuck out, that much was for sure. The blonde chick freaked him out, yeah, he'd admit that if necessary. It just wasn't normal for shadows to...eat. Not normal at all...not normal beyond even the strange weather patterns. The whole thing just had a bad feel to it, the kind of bad feel that felt worse as the rain's shift to hail happened exactly as blondie stood up. And then her eyes...they were red and not in the sort of way his were at times. They were...just blood-red, not bloodshot and...he couldn't take his own terrified eyes off of her.

It's like...she's a demon.

Lacey's eyes were still glued to her as the light seemed to shift at her command, his hands absentmindedly tugging at the good luck charms tied around his arms. Everything would be okay, right? She wasn't going to hurt him, right? Yeah...everything would be alright as long as he had his charms. The shift in light...it felt familiar...and he didn't like it. Hadn't his fathe—no, he didn't want to think about that. His grip on the charms tightened as Seth looked on confused, glancing between both his master and Fiske, unable to understand why they were both so freaked out.

And then her words came! Oh, how Lacey's fear intensified as he worried that she'd associate him with the red-headed man! There was no question, he would have to join her on the trip to the weather station and explain just how he didn't have anything against the town or anything like that. Even if, he let out a gulp, she had a ghost pokemon. But, no, that shouldn't have mattered because he had his lucky charms. It couldn't hurt him, it couldn't touch him if he had his charms! But, no, he was freaking out...that was bad. And then there was the hail...he really wanted to light up but if he'd be going outside he knew that he couldn't and that was stressing him out even more.

"Ye-yeah, I'll come too," he ran out after both the blonde, red-eyed demon and the red-head had left, catching up with them after Altodus had already given his name, "My name is Lacey and I don't think badly of Carcosa or anything I-I'd just like to see what's going on."

He'd overheard the red-head's assessment of the demon and he...couldn't disagree. He also could not stop tugging at his charms even as Fiske, without order, activated Sunny Day to melt the hail that fell around him.

This post has been edited by Decus: Jan 23 2011, 01:12 AM

[Sibylline]

Apparently someone had taken offence to the redhead's actions, and judging by the reactions of the rest of the diner's customers, she was someone fairly well-known and respected around here... and there was at least a bit of fear mixed in, or perhaps more than just a bit. Regardless, she appeared to have the same plan as the redhead had, and it didn't really matter to Lileas who led, so long as they got to where they were going. A local would probably know her way around the place better anyway, and know the people. Judging by how things had gone here, she might have a better chance of getting the information they were after. Judging by the speed with which she turned to leave after saying her piece, though, it didn't seem like there was much point in answering her, but that suited Lileas just fine.

"Come on, Vellin, I know you can hear me," She muttered as the others were preparing to leave, and a few moments later, the gastly floated out from under the table she'd been sitting at earlier, taking his usual position of floating over her shoulder. Lileas simply tossed her jacket over her shoulders as the others had their pokemon do something or other to protect them from the hail. It was just hail, though, she could tolerate it—it wasn't like she'd dealt with plenty worse than walking in a hailstorm in her life.

Vellin floated off to the side for a moment, apparently taking an interest in one of the others who was coming along, some shaggy-haired guy who seemed a bit freaked out by something. Maybe that was why Vellin was interested, he did enjoy messing with people. He just floated by, though, flashing the guy a grin before returning to Lileas' side, a laughter that would have been creepy if she hadn't been long used to it echoing in her head as he did. She wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to accomplished, but then again, she never really had understood half of what he did.

After a moment's thought, and a quick check with Vellin to see if he was okay with it, she tapped his pokeball on her belt, returning the ghost the the safety inside. She didn't bother to do so much, but this hail did seem to be bothering him a bit, so she figured it was a better idea to keep him out of it if she could. She still had Sakura walking along beside her, after all, and the sneasel didn't seem at all bothered by the hail. If anything, it looked like she was enjoying the weather.

[Velyoukai]

"Get out and Protect me, George."

A red flash of light flared through the hail, followed by the dull roar of Katashi's giant rock snake as it was released into the open. Katashi brushed past the diner's door, poorer by nearly all of his pokeballs thanks to the price of the Protect device he'd just bought from a waitress, but suffered no pain as his Onix's pokemon power protected him from the hail. He grunted and leapt up Onix's back, scaling the beast until he rode atop its skull and watched it slink its way through the street. Eventually, he caught up to the blond and redhead from earlier.

As George's large frame hovered over the others, Katashi grumbled to himself and laid back. He hadn't much on his mind, but getting to the bottom of things was something to do. There was a chance it would endear him to the community, too; getting treated well would be a great improvement to being mugged and beaten.

[Donowitz]

While the power chick in the suit was way awesome, what had happened when she had first stood up wasn't. Wasn't way awesome at all. Nike had prepared herself to deal with the rain. Sure, it'd be horrible getting soaked again, but she could deal. But hail? Little hard pieces of ice falling from the sky? Nope. She sat back down at her seat, watching most of the other people run outside after Power Chick, frowning.

Nike had just picked her cup back up when a waitress came by. Asking if Nike was still planning on following the rest of the people who had run outside, Nike turned her frown on her and complained about not wanting to get pelted on by ice. The waitress smiled, poked a little fun at Nike for 'wimping out' (Nike was not amused) and then offered to let her use a TM for Protect. And it only cost one thousand bucks!

Nike, grumbling and finishing her coffee, forked over her debit card and bought the TM. Andrea, who had gone back to cleaning himself under Nike's chair, was quickly administered the TM. She stood, finally back to no longer frowning and thanked the waitress.

This protect move was going to make things a lot easier. And not just in the hail, either. From what the waitress had been saying, it'd help in snow, really sunny days and all sorts of other nasty weather situations. Things were finally turning around, it seemed to Nike.

"Hey, I'm Nike," she said upon catching up to the group, Andrea running beside her and running a little protect sphere. She looked around herself, finding this little group fairly impressive. A big guy with an onix, Power Chick, some smoker guy and two other people, it was quite the little adventuring squad. Now, if only they turned out to all be good with instruments...

[Troy Bolton]

As planned and expected, several others came running out after Friday. Beside the sufficiently-cowed obnoxious foreigner, there was a twitchy-looking man with a Bulbasaur, a pale girl who looked like she didn't even have any defense from the hail, the thug from earlier (currently riding atop his giant rock snake), and a woman, bizarrely, with an eyepatch. Friday had been under the impression that nobody actually used those anymore. Eyepatch was also pathetically huddling under her Meowth, who looked rather put out. Honestly, she was a little surprised about the travelers' lack of Protect or other suitable countermeasures. In Carcosa, practically everyone taught their Pokemon one of the Protect series of moves, whether Protect or Detect or one of those odd Unova moves. The weather, while it had never been this extreme, had included hail to a regular degree, and to prevent the town from shutting down, the workaround was found.

The businesswoman bit back a grin as the foreigner ran after her, placing a Swinub on his head as if it were an ushanka. His tune changed pretty quick, and he wasn't too dumb, either - he was right. Friday was powerful. "Friday Hastur," she responded, returning his full name with her own. Taking no time to dwell on the Swinub's inclusion in the conversation, - had Altodus actually trained him to do that? - Friday's gaze shifted to the twitchy man, whose Bulbasaur had enacted - is that Sunny Day? <yeah,> - Sunny Day to melt the hail around him, instead dripping very cold spheres of water. By his babble, his name was Lacey and...Was he scared of her? <Oh, yes,> said Eames, his mental baritone smooth as glass, <terrified. I can taste it way over here.> Instead of responding to Lacey, the businesswoman simply glared at him for a moment, as the Shuppet twitched in happiness. Subsiding off of Friday's emotion was filling and tasty, sure, but it did get dull after a while. For a limited time, he could change his diet.

Next came the pale girl, huddled under her jacket. She didn't seem to want to complain, or give her name, so Friday extended the same respect, ignoring her entirely. Stretching out the doors was an immense Onix - you'd always forgot how damn big they were until you see one up close - carrying the thug from earlier. The way the hail sloughed off around the rock snake Pokemon suggested that the thug had acquired Protect. Lastly was the eyepatch girl - Friday was very sorry for calling her that but that was seriously her only defining feature - with a Meowth skittering around her heels. She, too, had Protect.

Friday paused for a half-moment, waiting for any more members of her impromptu and only-partially-wanted group. Once satisfied that there were no more latecomers, she gazed around, only to catch most of them staring at her. Of course, as the local, as the person in charge, she would know the quickest way. People just seemed to cling to Friday - until they were forcibly detached.

"Alright, the weather station's about a twenty minute walk. We're going to be cutting through the forest, so if you don't think you're cut out for battles, might as well head back inside." She paused, looking expectantly for puss-outs. There were none. "Good. Look for the person closest to you." The businesswoman gazed at Altodus as an example. "He or she is your partner. You will stick close to them because there is no way in Leng I'm coming back to find you. This weather has been going on for far too long. Questions?"

There were none.

"Let's go."

[Staticpulse]

It looks like they had a decent group of people following them. One of the women had an eyepatch... Altodus had to ask himself why anyone would wear such a thing in this day and age. Maybe she was a cosplayer or something. The only other notable person was the man riding on an Onix. It was an impressive beast, but Altodus wondered how it was going to fare such harsh conditions. Unless he just planned to ride it out with Protect this whole time? The pokemon might wear itself out before it saw any real battles.

"Ha! You certainly have a good eye, choosing me." Altodus felt a sense of satisfaction that this Friday girl chose him to buddy up with over the others. "You better not disappoint me, then. It would be a shame if you didn't live up to your... reputation." He didn't like people who didn't live up to their own expectations. There were several possibilities for her reputation among the townspeople. So unless Friday had earned it... well, she shouldn't expect any respect from him.

Altodus didn't think going through any woods was such a good plan. Yes, it would offer some protection from the ravages of nature, but the possibility of running into wild pokemon would slow them down. He would much rather take a longer, if safer, route to their destination. Ah, well, he could just yell at Friday if something happened. She was the de facto leader, so anything that happened was completely her fault.

[Decus]

Freaky...Lacey continued his superstitious charm tugging as the demon, Friday Hastur, sent him only a glare in response. Not sure what would have happened without these...he referred to his charms as he considered himself lucky to still be alive. Ghost pokemon were...freaky. And apparently—as the Gastly passed he fought hard to stop his body from trembling—their laughs did not help his opinion of them. An opinion shared by the his trembling bulbasaur, who had long since retreated behind him.

The girl that owned the gastly though...she wasn't so scary. Well, at least she didn't seem as scary as the demon lady. Her hair was about the same shade as his own and, all in all, she seemed harmless...even if she did own a ghost pokemon. His distaste for them...his fear...it ran deep, but she felt...safer. Maybe it was just in comparison, but even if her gastly seemed just as mean-spirited as he imagined all ghost pokemon were...she seemed alright. Yeah, she seemed alright, maybe even a little scared herself or something since she hadn't yet given her name. Finding himself tugging on the pieces of clothe tied around his arms less and less, Lacey decided to go over to her and start a conversation. Getting acquainted couldn't hurt anything, after all and, besides, their surprise group's leader, the demon lady, had told them all to find a 'buddy'. He wasn't sure about becoming 'buddies' with the girl...but he could at least introduce himself. Couldn't hurt, he reminded himself.

"Uh...hey," he was still a little nervous, all things considered, "So that uh...gastly belongs to you? I...didn't catch your name."

At that moment Seth rammed into his legs, distracting him a bit. Oh, sorry bud, he thought as he pulled out the growlithe's pokeball and made him return. Even with sunny day's effect...yeah...the water was still pretty cold. He could handle it but...he really should have thought about Seth more.

Looking back up at Lileas, he noticed that she seemed to have nothing more than her coat to protect her. If he had anything to offer her he mi—no, it probably wouldn't be a good idea anyway. Another guy had brought out an Onix though so...maybe they could both stand under it eventually, but at the same time...he felt that he shouldn't offer anything himself. Exchanging names was fine but, beyond that, he didn't want to get too involved. The Onix guy was probably nice enough anyway. Had a somewhat rough appearance but, as far as Lacey knew, people who looked like that were usually the ones that really knew pain. The good people. Maybe the girl with the eyepatch would be alright too.

This post has been edited by Decus: Jan 23 2011, 01:31 AM

[Velyoukai]

Katashi snorted a little at the fair lady Hastur's orders, but conceded pretty quickly. It wouldn't do to piss off another one of the locals, especially if she was willing to lead them through some forest. At the very least, the people of Carcosa would probably send a search team to look for her if she went missing.

George's rock-hard head lowered to the ground, landing as gently as a rock-snake's elongated, horny head could near the only partnerless person remaining. He hadn't pegged much about eyepatch, other than she didn't look like a hooker, so she probably wasn't about to cheat or stab anyone. Still, better safe than sorry and bleeding out in the middle of a forest, robbed of his dignity and pokemon.

"Hop on, sweetie." He called out to the eyepatch girl, patting Onix's head in front of him. It wasn't ideal, but she could either hold onto his horn or onto his waist, whichever she wanted to risk. "Don't wanna piss off the local mafia donna."

[Donowitz]

It came as no surprise to Nike that Power Chick liked to give orders. And, from the sounds of it, expected people to follow them too. She could do that. As for the whole battling thing? She'd love the chance to do some battling, maybe catch a Pokemon, work out some steam. Andrea, and probably Ella too, would like the chance to throw some moves around, Nike was pretty sure.

She glanced around, unsure on the whole partnering thing. Nike guessed she saw why it was important. Didn't want anyone getting lost in the woods... But it was kinda lame. Oh well, though. No one else seemed to have any objections. She didn't really feel like approaching any of these people yet, though.

So Nike waited till the big muscle-y guy offered him a ride on his Onix. She tossed him a smile, even if he had called her sweetie and hopped on board. Andrea quickly followed. "It's Nike. And thanks for the ride," she said, putting her arms around the Onix's horn thing. Hopefully it wouldn't turn out to be as bumpy as it looked like it'd probably be.