IC Inbox

[hellablue]

"Hello? Oh, hey. What's up?

Just fucking with you, this is my voicemail. Leave me a message, loser."

Comments

Text 02/02

[toxicodendron_isley]

Hello there.

I saw you were looking to re-home a Dhelmise?

[hellablue]

[Oh, hey. That was faster than expected. Chloe hadn't thought there would be a big market for ghostly anchor. Not in a mean way, just.. it's very niche.

In a weird way, she feels a pang of guilt now that someone's taken her up on it. Not because she's changing her mind, but all things considered Dhelmise had been an alright addition to the team. It's just her own fault for catching it in the first place for all the wrong reasons.

Those are memories she's gotta just let go of.]

yo
yeah im looking to pawn it off on somebody
not for any big reason so dont worry it doesnt have the plague
or anything like that lmao

anything u wanna know about it?

[toxicodendron_isley]

Well, I'd be happy to take them off you hands. I have a great interest in Grass types.

I suppose there's the basics. Their given name. Level. Any eggs or taught moves. A personality quirk I should know about.

They are genderless, correct? Do they have a preferred pronoun that you know of?

[hellablue]

well i guess its mutually beneficial then

youre basically asking me A/S/L in pokemon language lmao
but uh
no name. just dhelmise.
i think level 42? 43? somewhere along those lines
i didnt use her as much as i thought i would
shes got whatever moves she would have at this level tho
not really much to say other than "big spooky ghost anchor"

yeah but i leaned towards "she" and that seemed okay to it

[toxicodendron_isley]

I would have thought such questions would be normal in taking a living creature from someone.

I'm also a Breeder so I like to be well informed.

Is she the shy type? I have over 50 Pokemon at my place and I wouldn't want to throw her straight in at the deep end if she gets overwhelmed.

[hellablue]

no shes pretty chill
she kind of just
does the same thing no matter where we are or who we're with
which is just
float around ominously

[toxicodendron_isley]

She sounds lovely. I'd be happy to take her.

And what should I give you?

[hellablue]

[Oh. Huh. She hadn't actually thought about getting anything in return, honestly. That's a good question.]

awesome
as for something in return idk
i didnt think that far ahead
whatcha got?

[toxicodendron_isley]

Well, obviously there's always the option of cash.

[But if her texting patterns were any indication...]

You're a teenager, yes?

video | february 15, at like 3am because these two never talk during daytime hours

[meteorman]

Chloe. I have something very important I need your input on.

[Ford is sitting in his hotel room. Bug Zapper is out, scrunching around on the bed next to him. Even though he let the little cube out of the PC from time to time in the same way that he checks in on all of his Pokémon, it's still been a very long time since he actually picked up the Charjabug. It deserves to be allowed out and about.

Chloe might notice she has a certain image file suddenly on her gear, being terrible.]

I believe you are supposed to 'tag yourself'?

[Sweet jesus he's trying]

it's because they can only talk during the Stoner Hours

[hellablue]

[boy it's always so awkward when old people try to meme, but honestly she has to cut him some slack because this is hilarious af. The only part she's iffy on is the fact he's, uh, on video. It's fine. She can forgive it this once. It's fine.]

Oh shit. Jaws of life, definitely!

[There's a pregnant pause]

I bet we both know which one you are, huh? Oh- also, usually... people text when they send each other memes. It's less awkward that way, y'know, in case the other person doesn't find it funny. And also just less awkward.

1/2

[meteorman]

Obviously I am Mr. Grizzles.

2/2

[meteorman]

I admit the use of video over text is one of my biases. Much of my exposure to such technology was in universes where video communication is the norm.

[And it's the norm here too, actually, from what he's observed. It's kind of neat.

Bug Zapper skoonches over to him and attempts to burrow into his coat, presumably to find some of that hard candy he likes (as per meme law). Ford reaches down to pick him up with a soft admonishing sound, and maybe he squeezes a little too hard or maybe Bug Zapper doesn't like being picked up or maybe he just really wanted whatever was in Ford's pockets because suddenly the whole screen is full of flashing electrical discharge.]

[hellablue]

[That's. Such an old geezer answer, but whatever.]

I mean, I guess if it's easier for you, but I all I'm saying is-

[But she won't get to finish that thought, because suddenly she's watching a banned episode of Pokemon with how much flashing electricity is happening. Wowza. It takes her a moment to realizes what that means and she becomes a little more concerned.]

Whoa- hey, dude you okay?

[This is why she isn't catching any electric types any time soon. Who needs that??]

cw: talkin' about torture

[meteorman]

[He doesn't answer immediately. In fact for what feels like a very long moment he can't move at all because the electrical current coursing through him has locked up his muscles. He can't even let Bug Zapper go, and it isn't until the Charjabug stops shocking him that he's able to drop it with a flump back onto the bedsheets.

Stanford Pines has been through a lot in his long life. There are things that might frighten some people that he can laugh at because he's already survived them once, long enough ago that the memory has lost its bite. But this wound is a new wound, one only a little over a year old, and for just a second there he was back in the Fearamid dangling fifty feet above the ground while Bill sent shocks through him intense enough to singe his hair, What do you think, pals? Another 500 volts?, and his breathing's gone very ragged and his hands aren't nearly as steady as he'd like. He should be more in control of himself than this, and it frustrates him that he's not.]

I'm -- it's fine. Electric types often shock their trainers.

[It's a weak deflection at best.]

[hellablue]

[That sounds.

Incredibly fake.

Chloe knows that look. That "I'm hiding something traumatic" look. Believe her, she's been there. She went through a period where that's the look she had all the time.]

Hey- don't bullshit a bullshitter. Are you hurt? Do you need life alert?

[She isn't being catty that's just how she talks.]

[meteorman]

[Ford takes a deep breath in and lets it out as a shaky, defeated huff. Yeah, he should have figured that wasn't going to fly. Don't bullshit a bullshitter indeed. He should have known a stoner teenager would be able to spot a lie faster than most.]

I don't believe so. No burns. No broken bones. I've had worse.

[hellablue]

Yeah, great.

[This is the part she could just. Take him at his word and probably avoid an uncomfortable, deep conversation. Those are always weird when you're having them with people you don't know.

But as someone who's had many uncomfortable deep conversations in her lifetime, sometimes they're. Necessary for people. Y'know, to. Heal. Even if just a little.

Ugh, she's too much of a decent person.]

Sooo. Why do you look like you're having some dark thoughts over there, dude?

[meteorman]

[If she had just left it he wouldn't have been surprised. They're... acquaintances, he'd say? Certainly they're not at the point where she could feel obligated to probe. And yet, she is anyway. Is she genuinely concerned about him?

That's... kind of touching.

And anyway he's already tried burying all his issues as deep as he can and ignoring them, and he knows where that leads him and he knows it's not a good place. Now isn't really the time he would have liked to have this out but here they are, and she's asking, and maybe he can try that thing where he extends trust instead of just assuming he'll get burned as a matter of course. He still can't meet her eyes, though.]

I said I've had worse. The last time it wasn't accidental.

[hellablue]

[Sometimes she's really too nice for her own good. She's fully aware that she could've just slipped out of this interaction, but it's true. She's asking. If she doesn't, she'd feel bad knowing he'd probably have a sleepless night and dwell on whatever he's looking dark about.

She's been there. It sucks.]

What's that mean? [There's an implication there, she can smell it.]

[meteorman]

[HhhhhHHH he didn't want to have to say it plainly but she sure is making it difficult not to. Ford can usually brush off the horrible things that have happened to him with an offhand macabre joke, but this is too new and after being reminded of it in such a distressing way he's not in the right mindset to be joking.]

It means the last time I had that much electricity in my system I was being tortured.

[hellablue]

[Oh.

Oh yikes.

Now it makes sense. But damn that's really fucked up, but it's not like she hasn't dealt with her share of fucked up in life. She's seen a lot.]

Maybe from now on don't get cozy with a living PTSD trigger? Geez. [Sorry, that just. Seems like a bad idea.] So how'd that happen, were you in a war like my stepdouche?

[meteorman]

One of the best ways to overcome a fear is controlled exposure to it. That was just... less controlled than it could have been.

[And it's not entirely Bug Zapper's fault. He's barely past level twenty. He doesn't know how to handle his own power yet. The only person Ford is angry with here is himself.]

You could call it a war.

[There's so much to explain and it goes back so far. How does he even begin to tackle it?]

A demon entered my universe intending to begin the apocalypse. Unfortunately for him he entered into an area with a natural protective barrier around it that he and his cronies couldn't pass through, and I was the only one who knew how to lower it. That was the information he wanted.

[hellablue]

[In this case, she's not really sure she agrees with this approach. Under normal circumstances maybe? But putting yourself in a situation where getting shocked fucks you up in the head is probably a little too much in her opinion.

And then he gets to talking about demons and the apocalypse and wow, that's. Not the kind of universe she realized he was from. She knew he was scientific and shit, but- this is news.]

Dude, that's. fucked up. [To say the least.] And you can say it's fucked up, stop trying to be so... proper about it.

[meteorman]

How else am I meant to be about it? It's just something that happened, one more thing in a very long line of them. Obviously I survived.

[And that means he should be able to just... not care. He should be able to just turn off the way his chest still feels tight and his hands are still shaking. It's not like Bill is here, it's not like he's in any real danger, so he has no reason to be upset.

See, Ford is old, and he was raised in a household where showing any sign of weakness was heavily frowned upon. It's difficult still for him to allow himself to do anything other than deflect and insist it's not a big deal, because to a real man it wouldn't be, would it?]