maskormenacelogs | Begin Again, Oh, Begin Again

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Nonah 004

Entry tags:

Begin Again, Oh, Begin Again

WHO: Margaret the Eevee, Sadie Doyle, Manabu Yuuki, Terry McGinnis, Matt McGinnis + anyone who logically would be at their house, I guess?
WHERE: Nonah 004
WHEN: Evening August 3rd
WHAT: Meeting the housemates
WARNINGS: A lot of cute.

Margaret is pretty happy. This is true both in general and right now. She's not sure if being here is an extension of her role as a Pokemon, but the government agents complimented her fur (one even helped her brush it out so she could look her best for her housemates; what a nice guy) and they gave her a file explaining the situation, which is more than the spirits back home did. After some talk, she was able to get a backpack not unlike the one she had back home to put her file, some apples and a juice box in, and she was ready to meet some new friends. At least here they were used to people showing up randomly, right?

She has to jump several times to hit the doorbell, but once she does she smooths out her mane a little, straightens up and smiles brightly. When the door opens, she beams at what will be the first of many new friends to come.

"Hello! My name is Margaret, and I'm your new housemate. Oh, but you can call me Maggie, if you'd like. It's so nice to meet you!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow.

Those band camp kids sure are aggressive this week; even with school out and the town just crawling out of another disaster, they're still pushing those fundraiser candy bars?

(And naturally, nobody else was really raring to jump up and answer the door, so it falls to Manabu, who can't really shut out kids.)

He sighs, then straightens up, and opens the door, bracing for the awkward, rehearsed sales pitch. Instead, he gets a cheery greeting from...the empty air in front of him.

"Aa, nice to meet you..."

He blinks, then blinks again. "...too..."

Wait, what? Housemate? Where? Manabu leans out, looking left and right of the front steps, frowning.

"Uh--hello?"

"Down here," she says, cheerfully. She'd forgotten how tall some humans could be. She raises a paw, both to get his attention and to greet him. Her tail wags a little in both nerves and excitement. "I'm sorry for arriving this late at night. Apparently the government was confused and thought I was something called a 'fox', whatever that is. But we've got that sorted out now!"

He looks down as directed and proceeds to stare with an expression that starts as blank, then gradually grows more confused and surprised.

There's a little puppy on the doormat talking very cheerfully about the government. It's very strange. Manabu blinks, then blinks again, slower. A beat after she's finished, he makes a soft 'huh' sound, then glances over his shoulder and back down again.

God, but he can't actually be straight-up rude, even to talking dogs. Foxes. Critters.

"Oh, umh...So you're...living here?"

"Uh-huh," she nods, twisting her head to use her teeth to tug on the zipper of her backpack, pulling out her file with some difficulty after a moment. She stands on her hind legs to hand the paperwork to him. Once he takes it, she can speak again.

"This is Nonah 004, right? That's where I'm supposed to live, now. I told them I could dig a cave or something for myself, but they said 'imPorts' benefit from being around other imPorts and I... well, I was sort of hoping we could be friends?"

It's very fascinating to watch her fidget with that backpack like it's just a thing dogs do; like Manabu ought to just see that kind of thing go on every day. Like if Ace just straight up pulled a switchblade out on him next time he was denied table scraps...

Actually, not like that. That's scary. Manabu shakes that thought out of mind.

Still dumbfounded, Manabu bends down and takes the folder from her as offered, accepting it more out of habit of being polite than any intention of reading it.

Huh. So...I didn't know there were talking animals here, too. Well, here now, since apparently she's new.

"A--" The question? Which house? Right-- "Mm, yeah. This is the right house. Uh, here--"

He steps backward and to the side. "You can come in."

It's not as easy to use as her old backpack, but it's new and sturdy, so she thanked the government people anyway. She'll get used to it, eventually, even if it takes a bit.

Her tail wags in earnest and she smiles again. "Great! A lot of the houses here look alike, so I wasn't too sure if I was in the right spot. Thanks... oh, I didn't catch your name."

She trots in, chirping a 'thank you' for him getting the door, wiping her feet on the mat out of habit before looking around curiously.

"Oh, uh--" He closes the door once she's hopped in. "Manabu. Manabu Yuuki. It's...nice to meet you..."

It's a little weird, still, talking to a tiny furry creature. But how's this any weirder than having a 30-something foot tall robot for a friend? Realizing that helps him falter less.

"Umh, I think Terry might still be at work? But Sadie's still in..."

He glances at the empty martini glass sitting on the coffee table. Maybe that's the only one for today.

"It's nice to meet you too, Manabu. Thank you for getting the door for me."

She pads over to the coffee table, sniffing the air. There's probably three humans living here? She thinks. That's confirmed by Manabu, but that's not bad. It's a pretty big place, after all, so they won't be crowded.

"I can't wait to meet everyone," she smiles, tail waggling happily. "You know, they figured out a job for me, too? I was surprised, since everyone here seems to be human, but they were nice enough to come up with something. So don't worry, I can buy my own food, and things like that."

She hops up onto the couch and manages to shimmy out of her backpack, looking around appreciatively. This is a nice place. A bit big, but it was made for humans, so that's fine. At least the couch is comfy.

While Maggie gets situated on the sofa, Manabu picks up the empty glass and hastens over to the kitchen, leaning in before stepping through, in case he's intruding on someone. But no, no sign. He frowns. It is getting late...maybe she's turned in for the night?

"Oh, ah?" he calls in response, snapping out of it and putting the glass in the sink. He steps back into the living room, tilting his head at her. It's like...talking to a stuffed animal...cute, but weird. Definitely weird.

He pushes a small smile on, because dammit, he can be polite. "That's good to hear. Though, if you need any help, you definitely can ask..."

Maggie can smell that several humans live here, but they all have jobs, right? And most humans sleep at night, too. While the Eevee species usually did the same, being Ported in had left her internal clock screwed up. She'd probably spend a few days with her sleep schedule out of sync before she settled into rising at dawn and sleeping when the moon rose like back home.

"Well, I may need help with whatever the 'computers' here are. A government agent tried to explain it to me, but I have a hard time typing with my paws." She tried, though. Valiantly.

"I could imagine so," Manabu agrees. He can't imagine typing going over too well to be of any use, never mind trying to get the touchscreen capabilities on the communicators to work.

That actually brings a thought to mind. "Aa...what if I set your communicator up to respond to voice commands? That might go over easier for you in that sense."

Maggie's tail begins wagging again, and she smiles at Manabu warmly. "That would be wonderful! We didn't really have communicators back home, we just used mail. Which wouldn't work here, obviously."

She kind of wants to nuzzle him, but they don't know each other that well yet. Too bad; his hair looks soft.

"Eh?" Mail? He looks faintly confused. "We...we have mail here, too. There's still paper delivery and an email system through the communicators...Or, uh...are you talking about some other form?"

...Pigeons, maybe? If she's from a world of talking animals, then it would make sense that maybe the mail carriers are animals, too, right?

"Pelippers are usually the mail deliverers back home. Or Wingulls. I knew a Ledyba that was one, too, although he only did local deliveries. Mail the way this world does it seems to take a bit longer."

Poor humans. Life without flying messengers kind of sucks, she guesses, although mostly she misses how personal it felt to greet the local mail Pelipper, talk about his day, and take the mail from his mouth before trotting into the house to spread it out on the table. It was so homey. Someone just dropping it off seems rather impersonal.

While Maggie explains, Manabu moves, sitting on the opposite end of the sofa with the kind of distance reserved for acquaintances and muted uncertainty. He's polite by upbringing, but he by no means is any good at masking his moods: by the way he sits with his hands folded for lack of use, it's clear he's uncertain of...something. He couldn't say what, but it's mostly the lack of useful things to do in the midst of conversation.

"Aa...I see," he says, not...completely seeing, but he's got a fair guess. His money's still on pigeons. His eyes flicker down to her backpack, hesitating only a moment before piping back in. "Um, did you want me to set up your communicator? I'm sure I can figure that out pretty quickly..."

Maggie pads over to him - the couch isn't big, after all - and turns so her backpack is easily reachable. "That would be great, thanks. I'm glad I got you for a housemate; navigating everything has been interesting, so far, but it's a little overwhelming."

Here, have a small nuzzle to the side of your hip, Manabu. You're a good human.

"I can understand that," he says, gingerly rifling into the tiny bag and snagging the communicator out. "Even folks used to going to different planets or things like that still have a lot to adjust to."

She nudges him just as he's starting to turn it on. He blinks, glancing down at her, smiling despite himself. It kind of reminds him of the way his dog back home on Tobito would nose him.

Just a few moments of tapping around menus to find the accessibility options, and...

"Aa, here." He holds it down to her level. "In a second, it's gonna prompt you to say your name, then respond to a couple questions so it can register your voice."

"I traveled quite a bit back home; I thought I was sort of done being amazed by things, but there are a lot of new things here I never imagined." She gives him a gentler smile, her ears tilting down for a moment. "You remind me of my friend Sheldon. He was great about helping me adjust to things back home after I lost my memory, just because he wanted to help, and he never asked for anything in return. You both have good natures."

Her ears perk right back up. "Thanks!"

She clears her throat, and clearly speaks her name, and goes through the set up questions with remarkable ease, considering she was expecting it to be difficult since it's from another world.

Lost her memory? Manabu frowns faintly, eyebrows lifted, but he remains quiet out of courtesy so she can get her communicator calibrated to the sound of her voice.

There's a pleasant little beep at the end of it; Manabu peers down at the screen to verify.

"Aa. Looks like it's set. So any time you need to do something, like call a person or number...you just start a command like that. Make sense?"

It's a long story. For the moment, she's content not to relive it and instead focus on the communicator. She studies the screen and nods at his question.

"Thank you, Manabu. This makes sense, even if it's new stuff to me." Have another nuzzle.

"Ehe..."

This is very weird, but not bad. Manabu scratches at his cheek, trying to think of what else someone with no thumbs would need right away.

"Mm...what else...Food?" Hopefully she doesn't need to frequent a manual can-opener. "Or what other things would you need help with?"

"I usually eat apples back home. And Pecha Berries. Do those exist in this world?" she looks at him, clearly not joking. The human world is a total mystery to her. "I guess I can't do the shopping myself anymore like I could back home until I get better at finding my way around. But once I get paid I'll pay for my food, I promise!"

"Well, in that case," Manabu's shoulders shrug up a little, "next time I have to go pick things up, you can come with me and pick out what you like. That way it can be added to the list. I don't know about those berries, but apples are pretty easy to come by. How's that sound?"

"That sounds great! And I can carry things, too. I'm used to carting things around in my backpack when I'm working Rescue Team duties. Although here, I got a new job - what's a 'cuddle therapist'? It's in my file but they never explained what it was," Maggie admits a little sheepishly, ears wiggling slightly.

Cuddle therapist? That gets a blank blink from Manabu. He shakes his head a little.

"I have no idea," he admits. "I mean--it sounds harmless enough? But I guess you won't know until you see what it's about..." It sounds a little childish just from the title, which leads him to assume it's something around the same demoralizing area as the job he'd been lumped with upon returning.

"At least, if it turns out to be something you don't like, you can easily resign from it..."

"It's at a Children's Hospital, if that helps? I know what cuddle means, but what's a 'therapist'?" She looks at him, confused. This world, man. It's so weird.

"Aa, well..." He scratches at his cheek as he thinks about it. "They're like...kind of like doctors? But not really...They're there to help out. I mean, in this context, it...sounds like you'll be there for someone who needs a hug."

Which...might not be too far off for someone who looks as she does. She's basically a walking plush toy, from what he can see.

"I can do that!" She smiles, relieved. "I don't know a lot about humans, but I can do hugs and talk to human children, no problem. Especially if they're sick. They probably need some companionship that's not a doctor."

Maggie pauses, thoughtfully. "Should I wear something to this job, or can I just show up? What do therapists wear?"

"I mean," Manabu tilts his head, smiling crooked, "if they don't give you a uniform there, I don't think you'd need anything except maybe a badge to state you're staff..."

He shrugs. "But I guess you won't know until you go there, right?"

"What do human children like talking about? I want to be a good cuddle therapist, and you're human. You were a child once. So... you can help, right?" She looks up at him expectantly.

"Uh, well..."

He grimaces a little, but just for a moment. Sure, he's been a kid...a kid raised on a completely different planet, definitely not surrounded by super powers or talking animals.

Actually...

"I think they'd probably want to know what you're all about, actually." He shrugs his shoulders a little. "There's nothing like you here, I don't think, and most kids here really like imPorts and powers and stuff..."

Uhhhh. Sadie has just wandered downstairs, ready to pour herself her next drink or few, when she spots the newest arrival. For a long moment, she pauses; then she calls back to the rest of the house.

"Hello? Did someone purchase a dog? There's one standing in our house! It doesn't look very well bred, perhaps you should take it back!"

"I'm not a dog, actually." Maggie's ears twitch in obvious annoyance, but she's polite enough. "My name is Margaret and I'm an imPort. I'm your new housemate. And my species are called Eevee."

Oh dear, the furry thing as talking to her now. Sadie looked down at her empty glass, then back up at the thing. No, it hadn't been absinthe, that couldn't be it.

"I see," she said. She did not see. "I'm Sadie Doyle. Mrs. Sadie Doyle. Will you need some sort of kennel?"

"Just like every other imPort, I have been assigned a room in the house. Back home, I had a house of my own, but building one here would take too long and be pretty hard. So I got a room here instead."

Okay, clearly this human doesn't understand how housemates work. Best to explain it to her as clearly as possible. "Kennels are for animals. Not sentient, talking, feeling people. I am not an animal. I am an Eevee. Margaret of Rescue Team Crystal, certified Gold Rank. I have held down a job, worked with people, and saved lives, Mrs. Sadie Doyle. I am not mindless and you're being kind of a jerk."

Yes, yes, it all sounds very reasonable up to the point that most imPorts are not fluffy little dogs. Or perhaps she is a fox? There is a certain pointiness to the nose that could indicate a fox, though perhaps she's a certain breed of terrier.

Sadie pauses for a long moment to consider what she's just heard.

"Are you certain you don't want a kennel for your room? We could get you a comfy little pillow for the inside, to sleep on."

"Ma'am, I am a person. You do not put people in kennels. I may be the first Eevee here, but that doesn't mean you can shove me into a cage." She shakes her head in disbelief. "Are you sick? Maybe you're running a fever or something. No healthy person tries to shove their housemate into a kennel..."

She takes her file out of her backpack - unzipping the backpack with her mouth is pretty easy now that she's used to it - and puts it on the couch. "Here, maybe you should read this. I was assigned a room. Not a kennel. A room." Said slowly, in case the human really is sick and is having issues keeping up.

That was a rather impressive display of dexterity! Sadie was certain that the little talking dog would do very well if she chose to compete at shows, but it was probably not the right moment to suggest such a career.

"We could put the kennel in your room," she suggested.

"What is wrong with you? I am a person. People don't go in kennels. Should I be using smaller words?"

Shaking her head, she jumps off the couch and pads over towards the kitchen. "Where's the medicine cabinet? I think you're running a fever or something."

"Well you're clearly sentient, dear, but you're also an animal," Sadie said, as though Margaret could possibly have missed it. "Wouldn't you be more comfortable with something more your size?"

She trailed partway after her new, err, housemate, wondering if the medicine cabinet would require opposable thumbs.

"Humans are animals. I've seen humanoids dwell in much smaller spaces. Surely you only require a 6 by 6 enclosure for comfort?" Maggie's not sure anything short of blatantly throwing this logic in the face of this human will work.

The medicine cabinet isn't hard for an Eevee paw to turn. One of her toes is near-opposable, and it works. She squints at the labels, sitting atop the counter. "Hmm... is a fever what causes this sort of behavior? Oh, but this is Dayquil, we need something you can have at night. Huh, a lot of these have worse side effects than the original problem. Humans are strange."

"A bed six feet wide in every direction sounds divine to me!"

Provided it was made of quality materials, of course. But absolutely she'd enjoy a king size!

"Not nearly as strange as some of the inhumans I've known," Sadie said. "But if you think about it, that's something that brings all of us together!"

"Yet the idea of treating me how I want to be treated is too strange for you, huh?" Is it too late to swap housing assignments? She likes Manabu, but this human isn't very bright and she doesn't seem to possess personal skills.

Sadie paused. "I don't see how that's connected," she said. "If you don't wish to have a kennel, you don't have to, dear. I was merely thinking of what you'd be most comfortable with."

Also she was struggling to wrap her mind around being housemates with a talking animal. But comfort too.

"I'm going back to the kitchen to pour myself another glass, would you like one?" she asked, gesturing back to the way they'd come.

"I explicitly said I didn't want a kennel and you kept on talking over me. What I find comfortable doesn't actually seem to matter to you? Not as much as your idea of what I should like does. It's... really irritating. Like how Gengar's gang would act back home when they'd taken someone hostage," she notes, practically to herself, since Sadie seems to be thick as a brick and twice as self-centered.

Shaking her head - no telling what this woman would try if Maggie turned her back on her - the Eevee trotted towards Manabu's room instead. "No, thanks. I'm going to go hang out with someone who's actually nice to me. You go do... whatever it is you do." Far, far away from her.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Begin Again, Oh, Begin Again

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I'm sorry for this

You monster.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

this poor child does not deserve Sadie

Sadie why are you like this

She just....doesn't understand talking dogs/foxes/pokemon...

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject