[r] songbird

[CAEDMON]

juno is nice in the morning. there's dew on the grass and it makes elias's boosts squeaky and wet. goodra likes it- she rolls and tumbles around in the grass happily. it's early. too early to be loud, so elias just munches on his bagel and rests on a park bench.

part of him thinks for a moment. how boring his life has gotten. how much sitting down he's done in the past six months. it's quite ridiculous. things are awfully quiet these days. vertigo

[vertigo]

it wasn't life when he wasn't feeling like illness and death.

ismael shuffled from the hotel room to the convenience store, his footsteps as heavy as lead as he tried to buy something from the clerk. the lady had been suspicious of his intents, and he didn't blame her. she most likely thought he was going to steal something. his moment of clear-headedness came a little too suddenly -- and she was shocked, surprised, when he told her that he didn't mean any harm and just wanted some painkillers.

five minutes later, he left behind the store and a stunned clerk. his mind's alertness started to fade again; he didn't know where he was heading, except that it looked like a park that stretched out before him --

-- and then the world slid out of view.

CAEDMON

[CAEDMON]

he's just finished gnawing on his bagel when elias sees the man's eyes close. he falls to the ground, and as his consciousness slid away from view, elias stood and so did goodra, her eyebrows raised and mouth curved into a frown. the dragon hustled over to him, wrapping her sticky arms around his body and lifting him to the air.

elias looked at her sharply. "you can't pick that guy up!" the goodra shrugged placing him on the park bench. "no, what i mean is he's a stranger, and i want you to put him back where you found him. elias pointed to the dirty sidewalk. the goodra looked at him, eyes wide, before shaking her head. "that's my seat, too!" the goodra picked him up. "no, put him down." goodra placed him on the park bench.

elias crossed his arms. if this didn't wake up within a few minutes, he'd have to go to the hospital. and elias really didn't want to take him there. vertigo

[vertigo]

ismael lost sight of the world but not his other senses and consciousness. he felt himself being lifted up by a pair of gooey hands; he wasn't about to protest the help. it took a while -- long enough for the two to have a particularly enlightening conversation.

a wave of nausea washed over ismael, but he fought through it and sat upright on the park bench. "sorry," he muttered, running a hand through his closely-cropped hair. "i shouldn't be out and about."

it was true, and he knew it. but no one had been around; without a pokémon to conduct errands for him, he had to take it upon himself to make small purchases and the like.

he glanced at the person next to him and managed a weak smile.

CAEDMON

[CAEDMON]

elias is just about to get grumpy about this whole situation when the stranger wakes up. he stares at the man, arms crossed. "you should be a bit more careful," he says. goodra nods and puts a hand up to ismael's forehead, checking for a fever.

the guy isn't really acting like he just passed out- he seems alright. obviously it wasn't severe, but elias wondered what kind of syndrome could be troubling him, especially because it acted in such quick bouts. ismael should definitely be staying inside, elias decides. "yeah, you should've stayed in." elias looks at the goodra, then back to the stranger. "i don't know what would have happened if goodra wasn't here to get you off the sidewalk. there are some weird people in this city."

goodra hops up and down and smiles back at ismael, giving him an awfully sticky hug. elias pulls her off, giving her a glare. "why were you even out in the first place?" vertigo

[vertigo]

ismael wasn't running a temperature even if he personally felt feverish, strangely enough.

the teenager didn't protest the hug from the goodra, even if the sensation it left behind was less than desired. he decided that it was the gesture that counted and not the process. "i know," he sighed. he had seen some of those unsavory faces around in the city; grimer's court was especially notorious for such occurrences. "there are bad people around." hisham had warned him about them. he remembered, but cared lesser than he would have liked, especially when he had to find some sort of way to alleviate his pain.

"i went to get some painkillers." ismael briefly thought about adding more to his statement. 'i didn't feel well' was one of the candidates, but from what he had noticed from people's reactions, he looked more sickly than he thought he was. "i had a headache," he added anyway.

CAEDMON

[CAEDMON]

he's not in the hospital, elias knows that at least. if he was- he wasn't gonna have to go walk a mile and a half to get painkillers. clearly he's sick. or there's something going on. goodra doesn't feel any fever, so she looks up to elias and shakes her head.

"yeah." elias says, turning back to ismael. "this town can be violent, or so i hear." he scratches his head. "i'm elias, it's nice to meet you." elias outstretches an arm.

goodra gasps when ismael talks about painkillers. "we've got to take him there!" she says to elias telepathically. elias just looks to her and gives a small shake of the head. she clasps her hands together and rocks them violently, begging. elias sighs and turns to ismael. "would you like us to come with you?" vertigo

[vertigo]

"ismael," said the teenager. "thanks for just now, elias."

he glanced from the goodra to the trainer. they seemed to be engaged in some sort of conversation; it was amusing, but it also made ismael somewhat envious of them. if only he had a pokémon; he could then avoid having to keep his thoughts to himself. "come with me ... where to? the hospital?"

CAEDMON

[CAEDMON]

goodra smiles at ismael while elias talks.

"to get painkillers?" he says, raising his eyebrows. "or, uh, if you've already got them, i'm sure that we could get you back to wherever you came from." elias runs his hand through his mop of blue hair. "wouldn't want you to erm," he begins, not knowing what to say, "wouldn't want this to happen again." he finally stammers out. vertigo

[vertigo]

ismael blinked at elias. wouldn't want this to happen again? oh, he could see why. the teenager staggered to his feet. "i've already got them," he said, "and i understand. you were startled, weren't you?"

he watched the other person for a moment. he bit his lip, then exhaled softly.

"... are you afraid of me?"

CAEDMON

[CAEDMON]

goodra shakes her head. elias nods his head. "a little," he chuckles, uncomfortable. "it's not very often that you see someone collapse like that." goodra shoves him, wanting to be polite.

afraid? of ismael? elias doesn't know how to respond. he blinks, at a complete loss for words. "not scared of you." elias decides, still lost in thought. "i was scared for you. not of you." vertigo

[vertigo]

ismael stood where he was, and kept his distance from elias respectable. "but you barely know me."

kindness was foreign to him.

CAEDMON

[CAEDMON]

elias looks at him. he's not sure what to feel-pity, worry. nothing? nah, he feels something. "so?" he says, tilting his head. "anyone would be concerned." vertigo

[vertigo]

"people usually are concerned for themselves. they're afraid i might do something to them," ismael explained, and his eyes met elias. "but if you really were concerned for my well-being ...

"thank you."

he smiled.

CAEDMON

[CAEDMON]

"what would you even do?" he chuckles. "i don't see how you could frighten anyone."

wait. did that sound rude? it sounded rude, didn't it. "no offense, i mean." it still sounded rude. "like, you...uh, seem like a nice guy." yeah. that's better. vertigo