silph_co | [action][goldenrod base]

[action][goldenrod base]

[Manaka probably makes for an unusual sight: a young girl, wandering the Rocket base behind a Litwick's guiding flame, barefooted and dressed in a torn and bloodied dress despite looking no worse for wear herself. And that's not even mentioning the elaborate symbol etched on her chest, left in plain view by her tattered clothes.

But the way she must look to other people doesn't occur to Manaka herself. She's too concerned with her surroundings, her eyes wide and raptly intent as she swings her gaze this way and that. Frankly, the walls shouldn't be as fascinating as she seems to think they are, but she stares at them like they're the most interesting thing she's seen in her life.

As she and her apparent guide reach the end of the hallway, the Litwick hangs a left. Manaka only realizes when the light disappears from her peripheral vision, so she skips a step faster to catch up, turning the corner and—

—and bumping directly into another person.

It isn't a very forceful collision. Certainly not enough to knock anyone over. And yet, Manaka staggers a step back, eyes wide and shell-shocked, before her knees just...buckle beneath her. It looks less like a genuine fall and more like her legs gave up on supporting her weight.

For a second, she sits unmoving on the floor, face frozen in an expression of blank shock. Then, she starts to... Giggle?]

I, aha, I apologize! I didn't know you were there.

[It's a strange feeling, half-giddy and half-hysterical, and she doesn't quite know what to do with it. So she just sits and laughs.]

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Manaka noticed that wave, and she couldn't help but giggle again. These creatures weren't like anything she had ever seen before... Almost like little people. Waving her Litwick in front of her, she held held out her wrist for it to perch upon. "Make nice, okay? They're our new friends."

Assumption was rewarded with an-only-slightly-reluctant wave from one of Litwick's stubby little arms, and Manaka smiled, pleased. "Um, Mr. Sullivan," she began as she returned her attention to him, "do you know your way around this place? I just woke up, so Miss Candle was showing me around."

...Friends? They had only just met and started talking because she had run into him. But his expression didn't change or reveal his confusion, only continuing to look calm and placid.

"I have a map I have been using. The receptionist has copies." He didn't want to give her his map; he had made a lot of notes on it about what areas were off limits, what doors required a card key and so on. Assumption brightened when 'Miss Candle' waved to him, tail wagging a little.

Of course they were friends. Everyone was Manaka's friend, whether they realized it or not. After all, what kind of person would rebuff such a cute, innocent young lady?

That interest in cultivating relationships with as many people as possible was something she shared with her Pokémon partner, albeit for very different reasons. For a moment, the Litwick seemed torn about accepting Assumption's good will or maintaining its standoffish jealousy, but... It glanced up to Manaka, and her attention seemed thoroughly intent on Walter now. So, it took off from its perch on her wrist, floating closer to Assumption and offering an olive branch in the form of a silly face.

"Oh! A map, that's a good idea." Manaka clapped her hands together, cheerfully—and willfully—oblivious to any misgivings on Walter's end. "Would you mind showing me the way there?"

Granted, she could probably manage it on her own. But more time with Walter meant more time to ask questions, both about her situation and about him.

Walter nodded once and turned, leading the way. Assumption was quite used to hanging from Walter's arm as he walked evidently, as he wasn't even jostled by the movement and merely giggled at the face the Litwick pulled at him.

He always wore his rocket uniform in the base with his hair tied up according to the Code of Conduct they had been given, although he didn't bother with the cap and domino mask in the base. It helped separate his appearance within Team Rocket and his appearance outside. The only link he didn't alter was Assumption's presence by his side, but if that became too recognisable he would have to swap it so a different Pokemon kept vigil with him in headquarters.

When Walter turned, Manaka followed, padding quietly alongside him. Rather than watching the hallway in front of them, though, her face remained upturned toward his, bright eyes fixed on him. She wasn't surprised when he didn't speak, so she began, conversationally, "How long have you been here, Mr. Sullivan?"

In truth, when she had asked him about knowing his way around, she hadn't just meant the layout of the building. But she had already gathered that he was the quiet sort, so she would just have to prod the information out of him the hard way.

"Not long." He answered softly. "There are far more knowledgeable team members to direct your questions to." A gentle way of suggesting she should go to someone else if she needed to know more after he's guided her to the reception.

From his arms, Assumption was far more inviting to company. He tried to pull a face back to the Litwick, tilting his skull lowered over his face and giving a playful growl.

"Ah, that means we're in the same boat, then!" The subtext to his words was obvious — but that didn't mean he would be rid of her so easily. It made him just as useful, in his own way. "Um, if you don't mind me asking... What was it like for you? When you got here?"

Technically, she didn't even know if the nature of his "arrival" was the same as hers. But he hadn't seemed surprised to find a young girl wandering the halls, out of uniform, which meant that one way or another, the sight hadn't been unusual to him.

When Assumption replied to her silly face in kind, the Litwick giggled an appropriately eerie laugh. Then, pulling her face with her nubby arms, she blew a raspberry back.

Walter thought back to his own awakening in this place. Finding himself lost, beyond Ashfield or Silent Hill, not knowing where Eileen was when just a moment ago she had been trying to talk to him, being stripped of all his powers, given back his mortal body, no presence at the back of his mind gently urging him on his mission.

"Confusing." He settled on. "I had been dead for several years before waking here. I don't know how I am alive."

Assumption giggled, trying to hide his laughter in Walter's arm.

"'Dead'?" Manaka's sunny demeanor blinked out like a blown lightbulb, and for a moment, she was so surprised that she stopped walking. Not just dead, but dead for years. If he had remained aware of the passage of time, had his death been something more, like it had been for her? Shaking off her initial surprise, she hurried to match his stride again. "Ah, it was the same for me! I was dead, but now I'm alive again, and—"

'And whole,' she started to say, but that wasn't true, was it? So many things had been taken from her. Even the mending of her wounds was taking something from her. She wondered if that was the same for him, too.

"I spent such a long time dreaming... At first, I thought this world was just another dream. But it's different, this time. I'm cut off entirely, and there's no way for me to slip back."

It was. For so long he had become the role given to him by the 21 Sacraments, the Conjurer, master of his worlds, invunerable to the monsters within and capable or crossing between his created planes and that of reality. Only focused on that one goal, unable to experience beyond what he had when he had been alive. Now it had all been taken away and he returned to his mortal body, given nothing in return but the gift of two Pokemon and employment within Team Rocket.

Was that what happened when children died? They travel between dreams? ...he hoped so. "I cannot find a way back either. I had been a ghost after my death for ten years, so I am still not used to this."

They had reached the desk. Walter turned to it, then nodded Manaka to the desk. The woman seemed utterly bored and disliked interaction but, as he had determined with Wrath before, largely harmless.

Whatever he was imagining, it was likely far more idyllic than the truth. Inside the belly of the Beast, she had been suspended in a dream-like stasis, mind constantly swimming with visions of imagined worlds and human wishes corrupted by sin. If she hadn't already been accustomed to the massive amount of information contained in the Root, it likely would have destroyed her mind.

She likely would have questioned him further on his nature as a ghost, but before she had the chance to do so, they reached the desk. It took her a moment to realize when Walter gestured her forward, but once she did, she skipped ahead, slapping her hand against the desk to draw the woman's attention. "Excuse me! I need a map, please!"

The woman glanced down at Manaka, producing a map and sliding her gaze over at Walter. She rolled her eyes. "Can you at least control this child?" His expression didn't change, still distant and cool.
"I'm not responsible for her." The receptionist shook her head and returned to her work, ignoring the pair of them after fulfilling the request.

Walter placed Assumption down, satisfied that Manaka wouldn't try to pick him up again. The little Cubone gave a call and a wave as he and Walter went to leave again.

Manaka could have met implication that she needed controlling with offense, but instead, she simply smiled, replying to the clerk's disdain with something sugary. Folding the map neatly in her hands, she offered her a brisk bow, chirping back, "Thank you very much!"

By the time she spun in Walter's direction again, he had already turned to leave. It wouldn't have been hard for her to chase after him, or reach out to stop him. She still had so many unanswered questions, after all! But, in the end, she decided she would let him go for the time being, simply calling after him, "I'll see you later, Mr. Ghost! ♡"

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[action][goldenrod base]

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