4.0 Dedicated to its Members and Fans of Pokemon A Pokemon Sandbox RP
Pokémon Dubstep (ft. Lindsey Stirling)
W
elcome Adventurer to EPOCH! A Pokemon Sandbox Rp set in the original region of Nue. Everything you need to know will be in the Guidebook and PokeDex 101!
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RULES
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Sex; When you get under the clothes, fade to black.
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Post by Jeremiah Burton on Apr 26, 2014 5:00:37 GMT -5
I TRIED CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO HANDS
Feet kicked up on the dash board, arms tucked behind his head, and the stereo blaring, if one was expecting a quiet car ride with a certain Jeremiah Burton, oh they would be sadly disappointed. With all the windows down now that they were out of the unforgiving winds of the sandy deserts, the out of season Christmas jingles rocketed out of the good ol' hover craft loud and proud. The stereo wasn't the only musical part of this scene though, but an ever shameless Jerry was belting out the tunes with a jolly air. Was he the only musical member of this jolly caravan?
No, of course not.
Even if his partner-in-crime, Lucas Courtwater, wasn't singing along, a young Growlithe pup sitting in the back on top of bags and suitcases was howling loudly, trying to keep up with all those singing as well. Even in between songs as it would get temporarily silent, Flash was howling and barking away, bouncing about with excitement. It was enough to spark a fit of laughter every now and then from Jerry, although his young Spearow perched on top of his headrest looked less than amused by the situation. Thankfully it seemed that the initial panic of Flash being a fire type seemed to have passed for now as the Pokemon had picked up quickly that Jerry was not as pleased by his bursts of flames as he was. That didn't damage his spirit in the slightest, though.
As the next song began to kick in, Jerry turned to peer back at his canine companion with a chuckle. Flash's jaws snapped shut, ears perking up curiously at the sight of his caretaker's attention. Jerry reached back, carefully pulling him off the stack of cases and set the growlithe on his lap. The Pokemon instinctively laid out on the red head's gut, looking up at him still curiously. “Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, oh what fun it is to ride in a one horse sleigh” he began and grinned as Flash began trying to bark to the next part. As Flash took over the music, Jerry looked over at the driver of the truck-like hover craft they were in.
“How's the steering? Told ya, it's just like a normal car” he chuckled, reaching over to double tap the horn. He settled back in his seat with a snicker and stretched out the best he could in the cramped space. He reached over to turn the music down a little, immediately silencing his Growlithe once more. He could feel his Spearow glaring down at the both of them more so for the volume of their singing than the fact they were singing. Jerry reached up to simply scratch under the bird's beak in a calming notion. Jack's head tilted back at the pleasing notion and he relaxed once more. Jerry's focus shifted back to his puppy, and he grabbed him by the paws to begin making Flash do a little dance to the music. Flash's ears once more perked up at this, confused but not complaining as he was moved to the beat.
“Pfft, this little guy would be great for a coordinator. Maybe I should have left him with Ronnie” Jerry joked, lightly bopping Flash on the nose before he returned him to his little dancing jig. “C'mon, who wouldn't give that adorable wittle face a wibbon~?” he questioned, purposely going into a baby talk voice. Jerry and Flash – the latter forced to – turned to Lucas, Jerry giving his best puppy dog pout and Flash just happy to be involved in all of the excitement. Since both Flash and Jack were without pokeballs, the two had come along for the ride to Unova. It only seemed to cement the fact in Lucas's head that Jerry was going to be keeping them forever, but Jerry was still very much sure that he would let the duo go whenever they wanted to leave. The blond had his doubts, and secretly, so did Jerry, but he wasn't about to give Lucas the pleasure of being right.
Jamming out to them good ol' Christmas songs probably after hitting that Christmas-themed restaurant on the way back home. Jerry has both Jack and Flash with him and he's taken the passenger seat of the truck-hover-craft-thing they're in. I left driving it to Lucas, but can switch it so Jerry's driving if need be
If and when hovercraft technology finally hit Kanto and Saffron City, Lucas was reasonably certain that he would be sticking to "old fashioned" cars for as long as he could possibly get away with it. Not to say that he didn't enjoy piloting the rented hover vehicle through the expansive Orre desert, but there was a difference between gliding around a wide open space and maneuvering down well-defined streets and through traffic. He missed feeling the traction of the wheels on the road, and with the hovercraft there was the unsettling concern that the steering was almost too smooth - the lack of resistance made him want to keep more than the usual amount of focus on driving once they neared Agate Village.
Still, he had been happily singing along with the now off-season music as they made their way through the desert, enjoying the novelty of the hovercraft and cheerfully shrugging off Flash's antics in the backseat. Nothing could really get him down just then - he'd felt better in the last few weeks than he had in the last six months. His head felt clearer than ever after the relaxing and festive stay in Unova. His prediction that Jerry's company would aid in settling his rattled mind down had been a correct one, and even if he still had off-days and the periodic eerie memory, there was no comparison to how it had been before. Everything was almost . . . normal.
They stopped at Krabby Claus and then picked up Lucas' Pokemon from Rosey's, and were now winding their way back through the outskirts of town to Lucas' safe house. Where Lucas was tempted to try taking a nap after the long drive, or at least dozing somewhere with Jerry nearby - he had eased back into sleeping a bit over the vacation, as well. Quiet now and just concerning himself with the road, he smiled and flicked his eyes over as Jerry pulled Flash into the front with them and the pair performed their lopsided duet. Definitely keeping them, he silently confirmed, gaze passing over the Spearow on the dash before settling on the road once more.
“How's the steering? Told ya, it's just like a normal car.”
Lucas smirked again as Jerry honked the horn, rolling his eyes and glancing at the other once again. "It's not bad. I don't think I'll be buying one of these anytime soon, though," he admittedly cheerfully. "It would probably end up through a window on the forty-ninth floor of the Fitzroy building." Referring, of course, to Jerry's penchant for over-the-top and often ill-fated car chases.
At Jerry's further interactions with Jack and Flash, he could only settle into further contented certainty that his friend would definitely be sticking with those Pokemon for the long run. If they guy could only see his face when he was playing with them, he would have to stop denying it. The fact alone that Jerry had ended up so easily readjusting to Flash after finding out he was a fire type was proof enough.
As Jerry joked about Flash going into coordinating, Lucas peered over again and with his eyes still on the road, reached over to rub the top of the Growlithe's head. "He's a first prize winner, I'm sure," he said with a chuckle.
They left the town proper, Lucas pulling off the small street they were on and up to where it turned to gravel on a slight incline up toward the cliffs, rolling green grass on either side of them and view of the water to their left. It was even more refreshing than usual after the hours spent in the sands of the desert. And a major turn from the lights and sounds of Nimbasa. "What are we going to do out here?" he wondered allowed, smiling slightly as the hovercraft glided, unaffected, over the bumpy road.
Post by Jeremiah Burton on May 25, 2014 6:05:38 GMT -5
I TRIED CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO HANDS
“It’s not bad. I don’t think I’ll be buying one of these anytime soon, though. It would probably end up through window on the forty-ninth floor of the Fitzroy building.”
Forty-ninth floor? Jerry smirked and quirked a brow at his friend, freeing Flash from his grasp. “Hey hey… Top floor. If I’m gonna wreck somethin’, I’mma aim high for the prize sir” he countered, immediately followed by eager barks from Flash as if he was agreeing with Jerry’s argument. It wasn’t exactly an argument in his favor, though. If anything it just cemented the fact that Jerry had a dangerous streak. So, while Flash was all for going with Jerry’s flow, Jack the Spearow stared the duo down even further. He fluffed up slightly on his perch before relaxing and settling for going to sleep with the music quieter, now. The red head in his seat let Flash drop onto his chest as Lucas reached over. Both caretaker and Pokemon seemed to perk up at the blond’s agreement that Flash would be a winner for sure.
“Damn straight” Jerry curtly replied, Flash excitedly scrambling to try and curl up as high as he could on Jerry. The red head briefly hoped he wouldn’t get much bigger than he was now given his habit to try and curl up like that on him. The moment he was an Arcanine, he was sure the hound would still think he was a tiny lap dog. That was going to be a fun time, he was sure, but then again part of him was sure that Flash would no longer be there by the time he was an Arcanine. The same for the Spearow staring at both him and the excited Growlithe pup flopped against his chest. However, Jerry didn’t let his mind wander on that matter for long as he tilted his head to look out the window. Watching the town turn into the small street up to place where they were temporarily hiding away from everyone, the young man smiled slightly to himself.
He watched the world fly by as the hover craft smoothly moved them along the gravel to the home away from home ahead of them. The grass and water, the trees and lively nature of this peaceful place was quite the contrast to the barren dry heat of the desert they’d been in before. Though, it wasn’t the stark contrast of the place that had been Unova before they left to return here. What were they doing to do out here? Jerry shrugged slightly as he glanced over at Lucas with a smile. “Party til the crack of dawn?” he lightly joked. Although, with the fun they had had back in Unova, this house would almost seem too quiet and calm, again.
He sighed and started to sit up a bit more properly, Jack hopping from his head rest to settle himself on the luggage in the back. “Maybe we should see about calling Heloise and getting located elsewhere?” he suggested, starting to get ready to get out of the car for when they’d pull up to the house. “Just somewhere a little less quiet, that offers more to do to pass the time” he tacked on, glancing over at Lucas. “Maybe like Snowpoint in Sinnoh? I remember going there once, the snow there is absolutely beautiful” he assured, looking out the windshield as he imagined the snow once more. It was a struggle to recall such old memories at times, but he had replayed those travels so many times again in his mind he was sure he wouldn’t ever forget them.
As the house started to come into view in the distance, Jerry stretched out the best he could in his chair. “I’ll go unlock the place if you want to start grabbing bags to take inside?” he suggested, before holding out his hands for the keys to the house. “You get the first load, I’ll handle the rest, and you get to looking for some Christmas classics on your laptop for us to watch in the mean time? The season ain’t over til I say it’s over” he assured with a very confident grin at his friend.
Lucas rolled his eyes, glancing over to smirk at his friend. Maybe not partying, but staying up until sunrise wasn't exactly out of the question. Especially back here where whatever was in the house had a tendency to wake Jerry at odd hours, and Lucas usually still up and wandering around the house when it did.
Relocating honestly sounded like a good idea even before Jerry sold it with suggesting Snowpoint. Agate Village had never been planned as a permanent settling point, after all. It was a temporary hideout, and it hardly made sense to sit there waiting while nothing got done and nothing happened - let alone possibly waiting until someone showed up and found them. Not to mention with all their comings and goings, from Jerry's first arrival to their Unova trip, there was always the possibility of someone taking notice. Heading off to somewhere new might even be considered the smarter move. And if Heloise had had no issue with them jetting off on nothing more than a Christmas vacation, she would probably be just fine with a more serious relocation. And somewhere slightly less sleepy would definitely be welcome, for that matter, but Jerry's mention of Snowpoint had him cracking another smile and glancing over at him once more. Lucas still remembered him making that suggestion back at the hospital all those months ago, and he would be lying if part of him still didn't really want to go.
You would have thought the pair would have been spoiled on snow after spending the December in Unova, where the stuff was legitimately being generated at department stores, but as though they could really get enough.
". . . You know, maybe we could," he said, nodding. "It's not as though I'm actually in what anyone would consider Interpol custody. At least not at this point." In fact, if nothing else SA Brennan seemed intent on hiding his location from Interpol itself more than anyone else. "If we gave her enough notice to check things out ahead of time, she might not mind."
At the sight of the house he was beginning to wind down from the long driving stint as well, flicking the radio and air conditioning off and shifting down a few of the hovercraft's more unique functions. He dug the keys out of his jacket pocket and handed them over, thinking for a moment. It would be just like Jerry to have them watching Christmas movies well into the new year, and Lucas had zero complaints on that front. "We could leave the stuff for now," he said, smiling over at Jerry as they came up on the house. "I'll just park in the shade; it should be fine for an hour or two . . . I think there's still a bag of those ready-bake cookies in the freezer. I'll make those. We can put a movie on and relax for a while, get everything brought in later." On top of what they had brought with them for the month-long trip, there was also what they had amassed over the course of the break, so moving everything in and getting it put away was going to be something of a task. After driving the whole morning Lucas was ready for both of them to just sit back for a bit.
He pulled around and went to back in at the shady side of the house, positioned so the back hatch was closer to the house's side door for when they did begin to unload.
JEREMIAH BURTON - 620
NOTES
*casually sets it up so they actually go on the run with most of their stuff*
Post by Jeremiah Burton on Jun 17, 2014 20:47:35 GMT -5
I TRIED CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO HANDS
Maybe they could? Jerry grinned at the assurance for his suggestion. From what little he could recall of Snowpoint from his childhood, he had no doubt Lucas would love it. It was the ideal Winter Wonderland with how much it would snow there, and it had so much to do they’d never grow bored like they had every now and then here in Agate. Snowboarding, skiing, sleds, making snowmen, the boys could busy themselves for days out there and the more he thought about it, the significantly more appealing the place had become. He wanted to fall back in the snow already and begin to spread out his arms to make snow angels, and chuck a snowball at Lucas to laugh as the other would dead pan at him for the devious deed.
Although, after the thought of having fun in Snowpoint, he quickly had to remind himself that they really weren’t out here for fun and vacation time. They were out here to keep Lucas safe from whatever it was lurking at home, but they would have to go back at one point or another eventually. He almost wished that when they got back, everything would really be fixed but as it stood, they were holding back information that could be the key to solving the problem presented in Saffron. No matter how one looked at it really, it was most likely that it wouldn’t be fixed until they returned home. Jerry shook his head to get rid of that thought however and looked over at Lucas as he suggested they just leave the stuff for now. He glanced back, debating the option before noting nothing could really spoil or get ruined by staying in the care for a while.
“Works for me” he chimed, taking the offered keys from Lucas. Jerry finally sat up properly in his seat while watching Lucas go through the steps to shut everything down as they pulled up. Once the car came to a stop, Jerry would grab Flash to keep him from sprinting around the car again before opening the door. The moment his door opened, Growlithe and Spearow alike fled from the confined space of the car to stretch out their limbs and wings. Jerry followed their flow, sliding smoothly from his seat and immediately stretching his arms up to the sky upon climbing out of the vehicle. He turned to gently shut the door before starting towards the side door. Humming a Christmas tune merrily as he walked, he flicked through the keys that had been handed to him before he got to the one for the side door. Grabbing the doorknob as if to hold it steady, he was about to slide the key in when a thought occurred to him.
Turning around to see if Flash and Jack were following him, Jerry’s hand turned the doorknob and immediately opened the door with frightening ease. The action made Jerry pause and he slowly looked back towards the door then drifted his gaze to the keys that had yet to touch the locks. Son of a bitch. Mood immediately shot right then and there, Jerry slowly pushed the door the rest of the way open and cautiously scanned the kitchen area. It seemed untouched, but he was still a bit on edge upon discovering the door had been left unlocked the whole time. He took a step inside, before noting a lack of much other than that ghostly presence being slightly more active than usual given the hour. Perhaps they got used to the house being vacant again? Whatever, Jerry wouldn’t concern himself with that matter.
Heaving a sigh, he stepped back to look over at Lucas who was undoubtedly approaching him now. “Hey, I don’t know how, but looks like the door got left unlocked” he began, testing the knob while holding up the keys as if to demonstrate his point. “I know this town isn’t exactly crime central, but there’s always a chance someone was dumb enough to take advantage of the open door. We should probably do a quick walk through” he sighed, pushing the door open wide enough for them to finally start inside. “Just to make sure nothing was stolen, y’know? Can you go check the upstairs and I’ll do a walkthrough of the first floor?” he suggested, glancing back at Lucas as his hands habitually slid the keys in his hand around so each key would jut out between his fingers like a mock-Wolverine.
While the two made their way inside, Flash and Jack remained outside for the time being. Having spent almost all day in a car, the idea of heading into another closed off area wasn’t exactly ideal for the young duo. Jerry left them be as he got to inspecting the cabinets to make sure nothing of significance was taken courtesy of the door that had been left unlocked. Although, had he taken the time to examine the lock, beside the scratches from his own lock picking antics a few months back, a few more scratches were now accompanying those.
Feel free to go ahead with spawning the NPCs throughout the house and taking control of any / all of them. I can deal with whatever NPCs you leave over, and I also am crying on the inside.
Sitting in the driver's seat of a parked SUV and too far away to be sensed, he watched the hovercraft return. Later than expected. They must have stopped somewhere. His lips pursed when the vehicle pulled up to the side instead of parking in the front, but he was not horribly put out. It would make little difference in the end. There were contingencies in place.
The man withdrew the cell phone from where it rested in the center console's cup holder, and again peering down at the parked craft as its occupants prepared to get out, sent out one final text.
Targets here. Wait until they're separated.
Lucas watched for a moment as Flash and Jack celebrated being out of the confines of the car with a small smirk before moving to follow Jerry over to the door. His steps slowed at seeing it pushed open and Jerry not going inside, however. He could already pick up from Jerry's posture that something was wrong.
Unlocked? No. He had locked all the doors and windows in the house before they left. Sure this was Agate Village, sleepiest town in Orre, but he had grown up in Saffron City, and living in the Delamere Building behind a secured elevator had not diminished the natural instinct that was how people in Saffron under no circumstances went around leaving their doors unlocked. He was sure he had checked and rechecked everything even as Jerry was getting in the car and waiting for him. Mood likewise immediately dampened, he moved up beside Jerry as the other pushed the door open the rest of the way and peered inside. Psychic he was not - or at least he was probably not, hard to say after a dozen or so psychically-induced migraines - he had a really bad feeling about this . . .
Quick walk through. Right. If Jerry wasn't picking up on anything yet, then that would probably be OK. Whether they found anything or not, though, he was calling Rikkan after this. No. Not Rikkan. Special Agent Brennan. They were moving to Snowpoint - he did not believe in coincidences, and especially not ones that included finding the door to their safe house unlocked. He had little doubt that Heloise would feel the same.
"Uh, yeah . . . I'll check if the safe was tampered with, or anything," he said, the last part nearly a mutter as he glanced between Jerry and the opened door once more. Was he just being overly anxious again? The supposed haunting was still a pretty well-known local legend. Maybe someone had picked the lock to spend a night alone in here, or something? Could they be that lucky that that was all this was?
He followed Jerry in and the pair split off from each other as Jerry continued on to the kitchen and Lucas turned to take the stairs up to the second floor. He moved cautiously, taking stock of the paintings and other decorations that could possibly be stolen and sold or melted down. Nothing looked out of place, but that didn't stop the anxious feeling.
There was something about a house that should have been empty but wasn't. Like when he had returned home that day and stepped inside and felt something in the air. That phantom sensation that had alerted him to Jerry being inside before the redhead had tackled him. It was not unlike when you walked into a room where the TV had been left on but to an inactive channel - an electric hum, a not-quite-noise you could feel before you could hear.
He entered the master bedroom.
Everything seemed just as he had left it. The curtains were pulled but a small amount of light was still filtering through and giving the room a blue-ish morning air. No one lurking in the shadowy corners, at least as far as he could tell. He flicked the light on. Nope. Empty. But still his nerves were on end and he wanted to get back down to Jerry, as childish as that was. He had lived in this place with a ghost for over six months with little issue but one unlocked door and apparently he was done. Oh well, he had reasons for being overly sensitive. Time to check the safe.
It was behind one of the back wooden panels of the closet organizer. The release for the panel was in the back of one of the drawers. Neither the panel or the release looked like much on their own, so one essentially had to know there was a safe and where it was hidden to be able to figure out how to get to it. There wasn't even anything in it right now, though, besides some antiques that had been kept with the house that were expensive but not much to Lucas' taste. He didn't care about them that much, and so the safe at the moment was just a way to gauge if anyone had been inside or not.
He stepped into the closet, and looked around. Summer clothes and shoes, nothing special going on here. He moved over to the drawer, turned to open it, reached in to activate the release -
- and then out of the corner of his eye through the still-open closet door he saw the man roll out from under the bed, silent as the grave, and neatly spring himself to his feet. Cloth and rope in hand, average height, stocky, looking right at him and for just a split second their eyes met and there was a dreamlike instant of expecting to wake up but Lucas didn't. It was really happening this time. He started to move to react, pulled his hand back out of the drawer and braced himself for this person coming at him head on.
The closet door slammed shut. He hadn't laid a finger on it. In the moment before it closed he saw the attacker burst forward to stop it and he crashed hard into the door, the whole frame rattling but it didn't push open. There was no lock on it but it didn't give way as the man violently twisted the nob on the other side. Somewhere else on the second floor there was a thunderous crashing sound but Lucas was barely paying attention to that now.
NPC downstairs was going for stealth approach, but just gonna try to jump Jerry now that he's been alerted. Just go ahead and get the whole AWFUL NOT OK NPC fight done in your post if you like. //goes back to sobbing now
Post by Jeremiah Burton on Jul 17, 2014 4:43:30 GMT -5
“. . . I’ll check if the safe was tampered with or anything” Lucas assured and Jerry moved to let him make way inside. Watching the anxious glance shot between door and himself, the one eyed psychic offered his friend an assuring look before Lucas would finally venture inside. The Prince of Saffron made his way across the kitchen and Jerry, while heading towards the cabinets to check the expensive dishes, would turn his head just enough to watch Lucas slowly make his way out of the kitchen and out of sight. Once he was gone, Jerry’s warmth immediately melted. The comforting façade he had put up to try and keep Lucas from worrying and getting scared switched to a solemn look in his emerald eye. Steeled and on edge, he got to routing around, not just for what might be missing, but anything that could have been left behind. Small cameras, bugs, tricks and traps, so on and so forth; he was being rather thorough in his search.
Then he felt it.
That itch. It was in the back of his mind, a familiar scratching sensation that was growing into a subtle tugging sensation to give him an of where the source of it was coming from. The rising anxiety, the steadily rising unease as the hair on the back of his neck would rise. It was similar to the feeling he had many times before with the supposed haunting upstairs, but not enough for him to be comfortable dismissing it. This wasn’t the cause of some unnatural phenomenon as the discomfort would simply press him to be on guard but not place a knot in his stomach. His nerves were rattled, the feeling of eyes on him from an unwanted audience suddenly had him very aware that he was not alone. He methodically slowed his thorough search, moving as quiet as his large build could. Time felt like it was slowing down as he carefully shut the next wooden drawer and began to head towards the kitchen sink. His hands, they trembled, the keys that were once loosely held between his fingers were now being squeezed firmly between in place. Moving smoothly, calmly, as nonchalantly as he could, he approached the sink and got to pushing aside the pile of cook books Lucas had set next to it. Though, as he moved the books, his eye would rise to the window, the glass providing a reflective surface and giving him a decent view of the scene behind him.
As he leaned a bit to adjust his angle on the reflection and try to get a better look…
There you are.
He could see the man slowly sliding along the floor beside the island, ducked down and silently approaching. Jerry had to fight his urge to smirk at the sight of this man. Did this intruder really think he could sneak up on him? The only creatures capable of pulling that off were Dark Pokémon, simply because of their typing that somehow cancelled psychic abilities entirely. This was almost sad - how easy it was to catch their little rat - but Jerry wasn’t going to complain. This would be a walk in the park, and some well needed practice. It’d been a while since he had himself a good old fashion fight. He set the keys down and got to pushing back the books as he watched and waited for the man to launch. The glass’s reflection hardly offered the perfect reflection, but it was enough for him to get a good guess of just what he was about to deal with. Judging by size comparison with the counter, they were about the same height, similar build maybe. Jerry started to pull open a drawer to inspect the interior, purposefully turning his back to the man, but he could tell now just with his hyper awareness alone how progressively closer this man was getting.
A second ticked by like a minute, the feeling of his heart beating steadily faster with anticipation. The look on this bastard’s face when Jerry would turn around an—
CRASH!
His eye flew wide open in sudden horror for what would be some of the longest few seconds of his life.
“JERRY! THEY’RE IN THE HOUSE!”
No...
No. No. No, no, no, no.
Adrenaline kicked in as everything clicked and time jerked into high speed. The arrogance from before vanished in the blink of an eye. Jerry was suddenly focused, not a thought distracting him as he counted the suddenly loud steps of the man behind him. Three – with his grip tightening on the drawer handle and giving it the quickest test tilt to judge it’s looseness – two – Jerry would rip around, yanking the drawer from its holdings with practiced ease – one – and turned just at the right moment to slam the man across the face with it. His head would snap to the side, blood spilling and the air vibrating with the distinct sound of a bone most likely being broken. The drawer’s utensils would be sent flying, raining down on the floor and wildly scattering across the kitchen. As Jerry reached the end of the swing, he released the drawer to let it take off in an unknown direction. It loudly slammed into the wall, buckling at the impact and shattering something, though that and the thin line of blood splattered on the window were the least of his concerns.
Not waiting a second for the disoriented man to come back to his senses, Jerry would follow the flow of his previous swing to bring himself almost full circle. Once more facing the island the man had been using as cover before, Jerry promptly slapped his hands down and swung his legs up onto the island. Rolling over the previously scattered utensils, he ignored the feel of the metals poking and prodding into his side as he’d swiftly swivel around to roll off the counter and onto his feet. His hands would find themselves once more on the counter top, but now he stood at the opposing end of the island, looking back just for a moment to see his attacker was managing to get back his bearings. Seeing this, Jerry actually had to pause to admire just how hard this man’s skull must be, like… Arceus, that wasn’t some cheap plywood drawer, y’know?
Back to business though, Jerry turned tail to bolt out of the kitchen, but it’d be as he reached to grab the open door frame to swing himself around that he realized his foe wasn’t just endurable, he was skilled. Before Jerry could propel himself down the hall, he would feel the briefest brush of something gently gliding across his cheek and it wasn’t until he was out in the hall did he spin around and see what it was. Deeply embedded in the wall across from the arch to the kitchen was a very sharpened and well kept knife, and as he studied it for the briefest second, Jerry would suddenly feel the paper cut like sting across his cheek. His eye patch was looser and reaching up to touch it is when he would notice that one of its strings had been cut. Every step he took, the eye patch flopped up to display to the world the ugly scars he tried so desperately to hide and forget.
Stepping back once, then twice, Jerry took one final step back out of his brief observations to get back in gear and get his ass moving again. “LUCAS?!” he called out, turning to race down the hall for the stairs. There were multiple people in this house and Lucas, despite Jerry’s attempts to get him to keep in shape, was possibly not in any kind of shape for their usual back to back showdowns. Taking on more than one guy at a time wasn’t something Jerry was unfamiliar with in the slightest. Spend five years on the streets without a fancy trainer status and Pokémon to keep you safe and it’s a dog eat dog kind of world out there. Not only do you fight with other homeless people that aren’t allowed in Pokémon Centers, but you have to fight with the Pokémon out there as well.
Before he could make the turn in the hall to run for the stairs, Drawer Head had caught up with him and Jerry felt the full impact of this man’s weight knocking him from his momentarily weak footing. Slamming into the ground on his shoulder, Jerry gave a rough grunt before his head jerked to the side to glare at the bloody face of the intruder standing tall over him. The man would raise his foot to kick at Jerry’s head for a fast knock out but with a swift roll to the side, Jerry avoided the attack. The heavy thud of the booted foot hitting the hardwood didn’t even make the one eyed man flinch, nor did the loss of his eye patch. He ended up on his back and kicked up to roll backwards into the formal sitting room, landing on his feet. Stumbling back immediately to move into a firmer stance, Jerry could see the man was already quickly coming for him again.
In three strong strides, he came, fast and furious. The sitting room was turned into the stage for a close quarter wrestling match. Punches, kicks, throws, the duo didn’t hold back as the fight wore on and began to wreak havoc on the room. The coffee table getting kicked up and away, chairs and furniture thrown around to knock the other guy down and try to get this done with as quickly as possible. After a vase was cracked over his head, Jerry managed to kick the man off. With a foot mercilessly crashing into his family jewels, the attacker was immediately knocked back to the ground. But the sight of him already starting to get back up had Jerry exasperatedly snap “Can you fucking not?! Just…” and peel off to exit the room to race down the hall. Once more it would be as he turned to redirect his path that he would get nailed with the next attack.
The next thrown knife went into his arm and Jerry spun immediately to the side into the open door way of the room beside the stairs. He threw himself against the wall and sharply inhaled at the pain. Tightly clenching his teeth, he stared wide eyed at the ceiling as the pain in his arm gave him another rush of liveliness. The feeling of the warm blood rolling down his arm and cheek that contrasted with the layer of sweat nearly sent a chill down his spine as he could feel his senses entering over drive. Heart pounding, blood rushing, he sucked in a sharp breath and flinched at a jarring crash from upstairs that was quickly followed by another right after and muffled shouts of frustration. Jerry looked up and immediately recalled the cry from earlier.
Lucas.
Without thinking for a moment more, he turned to step out of the room, but the moment he did, his head was grabbed and slammed back into the wall he had had himself pressed up against. He was thrown down to the floor and just barely twisted his body in time to avoid landing on the shoulder that the knife was still embedded in. A foot slamming into his chest would knock the wind out of him and have him clawing at the ground as he fought to try and get it back.
“This is it?” the man sighed with a clear sense of disappointment.
Jerry turned his panic stricken gaze up to the man that stood in front of him. The man’s brown eyes stared at him, bored and indifferent. He was looking down on Jerry, unimpressed and displeased like a king dealing with a foolish servant. “She really built you up as this big threat, and this is what I have to deal with?” the man complained, before glancing up at another crash from above. “The hell are those morons doing… It’s a simple grab and go, for the love of…” he grumbled, turning to start out of the room.
Struggling to get air into his lungs, Jerry weakly clawed at the floor to begin pulling himself after the man. So pathetic, he felt so useless as his body gave up everything to focus on getting back the desperately needed air. However, his thoughts would remain on exactly what he needed to do now. He had to get up, he had to get back up and do what it was that he had specifically come out here to do. Protecting Lucas Courtwater, that was his sole purpose in his miserable life. Weakly, he set his hands on the floor to begin pushing him back up as the air struggled to reach his lungs for what felt like hours. It wasn’t even the idea of suffocation that terrified Jeremiah the most at this moment though.
With every crash upstairs, every step further the man got, the horrific thought of losing Lucas again made Jerry struggle more than any fire. Every slam against the doors, every tap of the foot on the wood getting closer to the stairs, the pressing horror of everything he held dear being ripped from him hit him straight to his core.
As he managed to get to his hands and knees and tried to take as many deep breaths as he could to get any amount of air that he could manage, a switch would flip inside of Jerry’s mind. His eye would snap open with a coldness and heartless look that had never once before been seen in what was the window to his soul. Even as he wheezed and slowly started to finally get air in his lungs, Jeremiah Burton began to force himself back up to his feet and he was making for the door as fast as his beaten body would take him.
“You will always be my friend” a voice adamantly assured with just the slightest tremor from a memory of long ago. It was back during a time when Jerry was going to give everything up… “You’re not a monster, Jerry.” When he had given up on himself… “You’re not. I do know you.” After he had lost practically everything that had kept him going for so long despite all the pain, despite all the loneliness… “You were on your own. For a long time and you shouldn’t have been.” Lucas remained. “You shouldn’t have had to deal with all that by yourself.” Even after Jerry tried to push him away, acted so angry and cold… “I still love you,” Lucas had softly assured him. “You don’t have to be alone anymore.” Time and time again, he wondered if Lucas knew how much those words meant to him. “’We’re going to be together forever’ . . . I guess I-I always just believed that.”
He wondered if Lucas knew he had saved Jerry's life that day.
“I’m not done yet!”
The man jumped at the sudden roar from behind, having just made it up a few steps of stairs. Before he could react further than simply looking back, Jerry would seemingly come out of nowhere and grab him roughly by the back of his shirt. With a harsh yank, the unprepared man would be practically thrown from the stairs with the nasty sound of the body colliding with the wall. Moving faster than the stunned man could react; Jerry would knock the man to the floor with a sudden punch to the face. He wasn’t even thinking anymore, letting all the anger and frustration built up inside out on this threat. He yanked the man back up from the ground to shove him hard enough into the wall that the dry wall would crack behind him. Another sickening crack would ring in the air as Jerry would punch the man again and was clearly no longer holding back in the slight. As the man hit the ground, Jerry would kick him onto his back and drop down on him. Ripping the knife from his shoulder, without a word of warning, Jerry would slam the knife down as hard as he could into the man’s right hand, practically pinning it to the floor with the force behind the swing.
As the man would try to roll and grab at his hand to free it, Jerry would simply catch his wrist and slam it down on the floor over his head. Hovering over him, Jerry’s emerald eye was apathetic, cold and uncaring as it watched the man struggle to not cry out in pain. The fear started to finally leak into Drawer Head’s eyes and as he gritted his teeth to try and not give in, Jerry would slowly lean down, getting at least half a foot from the man’s face to make sure he got a good look at Jerry. The burn scars that riddled the right side of his face, while unattractive, played up the fear factor. Especially when paired up with Jerry’s unwavering chilling gaze. As he got closer, another knife from the man’s own belt would be pressed to Drawer Head’s neck. The tip pressed just hard enough to allow the smallest stream of blood as Jerry purposefully sought out the location of the arteries underneath the skin. The man tried to suck himself in and sink into the floor, afraid to move or struggle in fear of the knife being pressed any harder against his neck.
Despite the pain, the soreness and exhaustion, Jerry’s voice was rough, unwavering and full of a controlled rage. His eye would carefully narrow as he asked a specific question.
“Am I a threat, yet?”
The man didn’t answer, the look in Jerry’s eye and previous actions had him not question for a moment what Jerry would do should he say anything wrong in response. Cowardly, he remained silent and Jerry settled for judging his face to get his answer. Yes. Yes, Jerry was indeed a threat and the Burton boy was certain this idiot would not forget that. Watching in minor amusement as the man’s eyes desperately darted up the stairs as the crashes repeated again and again. The power he felt with this man’s life at the end of his blade, the knowledge that the moment he so much as flicked his wrist, this man wouldn’t be a threat to Lucas anymore. It was invigorating to be in control for once like this. He liked it. He liked this recognition of strength, power. Suddenly being respected and not even questioned… Suddenly there was no doubt in his mind that he would never falter and could manage to do anything for Lucas’s sake. Like this, he could protect his precious friend and never fail. Lucas would never get hurt like he had before. He could save him, he could protect him. This was perfect. If he could get this pain in an ass to finally stop causing trouble, Jerry wondered what he could do to the men up the—
Wait. What was he doing?
His eye would slowly widen as the horror of his actions began to set in. He jerked back as if Drawer Head had tried to throw a punch – despite the fact he obviously could not in his current position – and dropped the knife from his hand. Jerry scrambled away on his hands and knees, shoving off the floor and getting up to stare at the man on the floor. Tripping slightly over his own feet when he tried to back away, he hit the wall and a smear of blood from his just mildly bleeding shoulder would be left behind. Jerry’s stomach twisted, knot after knot, and he could feel himself starting to clam up, entering a cold sweat. Oh Arceus, what was he about to do? He wasn’t going to actually… No, he couldn’t allow himself to do that. He wasn’t a monster, he wasn’t a monster.
He wasn't a monster.
The sound of another crash upstairs snapped Jerry’s focus back on task.
He shoved off the wall and started to make his way up the stairs. Getting half way up, there was a thud behind him followed by Drawer Head grabbing onto his ankle and stopping him in his tracks. Looking back at the man, but being unable to really look at him, Jerry nervously tilted his head away and glanced back anxiously as he struggled to get his foot free on the narrow stair case. The bloody and bruised face the man had, that strong smell of blood from Drawer Head’s bleeding hand – and unknowingly his own shoulder – Jerry wanted to get out of there now. Yanking and pulling his leg, latching on the railing to keep from being pulled down the stairs, Jerry was in a power struggle for his own foot.
However, wearing shoes that were not tied tight enough and just a little too big because you were cheap was certainly useful. The tugging back and forth would finally end with Jerry’s shoe slipping off of his foot and the man losing his balance on the steps again. Despite having just one shoe, the moment he was free, Jerry whipped around to charge back up the stairs but he would suddenly pause two steps up at the sound of the man hitting the floor behind him.
There was suddenly an irritating row of pinches at the base of his skull, tugging together to a point before it would mercilessly shoot down his spine and force him to at the least mildly shutter. Time was slowing down again as Jeremiah slowly looked back, expecting to see the man getting up and ready for round three. However, as he turned, his gaze would fall on a limp body laying uncomfortably on the stairs, head smashed on the floor and a puddle slowly pooling down by it. Every muscle in Jerry tensed as he stared at this motionless man on the floor, slowly starting to step back down as he felt like he had just wandered into a nightmare. When he got to the bottom step, Jerry’s sock would unwittingly step into some of the blood on the stairs from the man’s hand. Before he could really think or say a word, Jerry simply pulled his shoe from the man’s hands and slid it back onto his foot. He stared like a deer in the headlights at the limp body on the stairs, seeing no rise and fall of the man’s chest anymore… While Jerry never stopped to check his pulse, or try to even wake him, the fact of the matter had already settled in his mind.
This man was dead.
He wasn’t exactly sure at this moment what he was supposed to feel, but all he knew was that he felt…
Nothing.
Shoe back on his foot, Jerry slowly turned away and continued back up the stairs. He looked worse for wear, but reentering reality with each step, his numbness began to fade. His worry and anger started to come back as he neared the top of the stairs and called out “LUCAS?!” without a waver or moment of hesitation. His voice cried out with urgency, a dire need for some assurance that Lucas was still up there and that he was okay.
Jerry taught him how to fight back when this whole thing had started. Oh, there had been little training sessions before that - a pointer here and there on what to do if he ever got into trouble. Saffron City could be a pretty mean place when it wanted to be, and even barring random acts of violence, being the grandson of one of the richest men in the world marked him as a target for some. Lucas knew that all too well, thanks to the near-incident in Unova back before Jerry had come home. But it wasn't until they had become involved with Saffron's "underground," and uncovered the mystery there, that Jerry had started training him in earnest.
He wasn't that bad at it, despite his looks. Despite the fact that he really took no pleasure in combat at all - even Pokemon battles were nothing but a practical skill he had on the side and rarely, if ever, pursued. He could, when necessary, defend himself. He wasn't Jerry, of course - he wasn't going to last on his own in an five-on-one against some random thugs, or anything. But, usually, faced against someone who wanted to do him or his friends harm, he could step up without making a fool of himself. Fighting alongside Jerry, where the two of them were practically in sync, he could even actually pass for an expert.
It had been a long eight months and one nightmare in a Saffron City alley since he had been in that kind of shape, though.
It was his own fault. He had walked right into Dorothy's trap and put himself in a position to be taken down like that. And she hadn't even expected him to be as stupid as he was - she had had enough men with her to take on himself, Jerry, and probably a handful of their friends with ease. But in the end it had only been Lucas, and with half a dozen or more people pinning him down, what happened next had been a walk in the park. His survival had been a miracle, but it felt almost squandered now. He'd deteriorated in the hospital, he'd let himself slip after the escape to Pewter. Sure he had improved from his hospital low, but left to his own devices in Agate Village, what had he really done besides let himself slowly fall apart? Let the headaches and the silence get to him so that some days he actually forgot to eat? Who knew where he would be if Jerry hadn't come. And even now, many times more healthy than he had been two months earlier, he was in no place to go up against what appeared to be a professional.
But he had to. Because at that moment the only thing between him and that man was a closet door, and even if it was somehow staying closed at the moment, it wouldn't be for long. The man was trying to break it down, now, the door shuddering repeatedly on its frame, loud knocks and thuds ringing through the dark closet as the man rammed his shoulder against it, kicked at it, twisted the doorknob as though he might tear it off.
And Jerry was out there somewhere, with who knew how many others, still fighting for him.
There was no time to puzzle over how the door was managing to hold, and he already had an idea anyway, so quietly he just stepped back from where he had been standing facing the door, beginning to look around. Where could he hide, what could he use as a weapon? He knew his only chance at getting passed the man was to somehow get the jump on him; a straight one-on-one would end with him being quickly overpowered. Considering the closet, though, he might have a slight advantage. It was dark in here, shadowed. It was huge as far as closets went, L-shaped, with plenty of alcoves and shelving to shelter behind until the right moment. He might be able to avoid detection long enough for an opening.
There was a crack, behind him. Wood splintering. He had to move.
He didn't have to win, he just had to get passed him. He had to make sure Jerry was alright. They had to get out of there.
"LUCAS?!"
He stiffened. Alright. Jerry was alright, at the moment, he had heard the warning, now he just had to get down there to him. One of the shelving rods? No, too difficult to pull out of the mounting. The light fixture were heavy but he wouldn't be able to get that thing down with a screwdriver . . . The safe. The antiques in the safe - old, heavy, objects.
A plan was forming. As the assault on the door continued, and he picked up on more crashing throughout the house, crashing that he didn't want to dwell too much on at the moment, he moved back to what he had been doing before. He reached into the drawer and pressed the release. Lucas wasn't even able to hear the click of the panel opening through all the noise, but when he knelt down and pressed on it, it popped out of its place just at it should. He pulled it out, quickly opened the safe. It was packed - vases, candle holders, small paintings and sculptures. Probably priceless, but also kind of ugly and at the moment survival greatly outweighed respect for historical pieces.
He would have one chance.
It seemed as though the second he got into place the closet door finally gave. He could hear it split back with a crack, a heavy thud as it collided with the door jam. Dim blue light flooded the center of the closet but failed to touch him. And then silence.
On the other side of the closet, barely visible behind the slightly ever so slightly ajar cabinet, an overcoat was very gradually slipping off its hanger.
There was no movement for a long moment, and at first Lucas was worried he wouldn't be able to hear the man's progress. Or maybe he was waiting, trying to psych him out. The only noise was the repeated banging from somewhere on the second floor, and the occasional thudding and crashing below. He had to tell himself that that was a good thing. That Jerry was still fighting.
Then, sure enough, Lucas could hear the abrupt brushing of fabric and the rattle of hangers being pushed aside. The man was clearing the space on either side of the door, where the majority of Lucas' clothes were hung up, and where the most obvious hiding spots would have been. He was being methodical and clearing one area at a time, as Lucas had counted on.
The overcoat, he could only hope, was still slipping. He couldn't tell anymore with the contrast in light and shadow made by the opened door.
In his head, he went over what he had to do. How fast he had to move, what he had to prioritize. There couldn't be a second's hesitation or he would lose his chance. Just pretend this is Saffron, he told himself. Pretend this is the backstreet behind FrouFrou, and this is some random guy from the East Rows. Just get passed him, just subdue him long enough to get out. Make it to the street and you're home free. Right.
He could see it coming this time. This wasn't like before. For right now, there was one man. He could handle that.
A cabinet opened, shut. Somewhere in the house glass shattered.
He could see the man's shadow, fuzzy and growing closer. This whole thing would be pointless if he didn't get lucky with the timing, but he would have to take whatever he got. It was a decent plan. Either it worked or it crashed and burned and he would have to just do whatever he could.
The man came slightly into view. Just a profile, just a curve over shoulder and the edge of his face, a gloved hand at his side. Dark clothes, hard to make out much in the shadows. He stood just at the start of the bottom part of the L, another risky place to be besides the door of the closet. Lucas could be right there at his side, waiting for him.
Now. Do it now. Just once let this go right.
And it went. The coat slipped off the hanger, the movement alone caught the man's eye and he began to turn as the garment hit the floor and the crystal sculpture in the inner pocket shattered on impact. And at that moment that the man turned to react to what he thought was Lucas making his move, Lucas burst out of the opposite cabinet and came at him from behind. Swatted the ugliest vase he had ever seen across the back of the man's head, the painted bits shattering away, and used his momentum to follow through by tackling the man into the opposing alcove. Disoriented, the man flailed to catch himself on one of the shelves but Lucas' weight was on him and the pair went to the floor. Vase shards crushed beneath them, Lucas could feel one trying to make its way into his leg, but he quickly got to his feet, ready to run for it right there until he saw the white cloth on the ground next to the man. A small hand towel, years of movie marathon with Jerry made his mind connect it to only one thing. Chloroform. It made sense if they were there to take him, and the next instant he had scooped it up, kneeling with his knee in the now struggle man's back as he stuck the towel down by the other's face. There was a struggle, Lucas was thrown briefly against the side of the alcove, his head instantly feeling like it had been sent soaring but he kept on it with the chemical-laced towel. The man managed to flip himself forward off his back, and jumped at Lucas, trying to go for the towel but Lucas responded by grabbing the front of the man's shirt and pulling him forward and to the side, momentum working for him again as Lucas again threw his weight against the man and held the towel down once more.
It was enough. It had worked. He had gotten through this, at least. The man went limp, and Lucas threw the towel to the side, checking and confirming that the man was still breathing, and not apparently bleeding badly from anywhere. Trying to catch the breath he had been half-holding, he went through the pockets of the man's jacket and quickly located a bundle of zip ties. His head reeling but not completely out of it, he got to rolling the man over on his stomach and tying his ankles and wrists. He then pushed away, holding his head, and it was then that he realized that everything was quiet. There was no banging around upstairs. No sound of the fight below.
Jerry.
Lucas pulled himself to his feet, wavering immediately and holding himself up against the shelves as he gathered himself and began edging toward the closet door. They couldn't have gotten him. Jerry must have won, right? But how about the other one? The other banging in the house? Where had it been coming from, anyway, and why hadn't whoever it was been able to make it over here to help his colleague?
It didn't even matter. He just needed to find Jerry. Then they could run for it.
He stumbled out into the master bedroom, holding his head briefly, his leg stinging enough to tell him that he was probably cut, though not too badly. He had had a lot worse than this.
Jerry. He had to keep moving. Practically just working with momentum again, he pointed himself in the direction of the door and pushed forward through the haziness of his head. How had they been found? Had they been followed from Unova? Had they been waiting here, having found the house while they were away? What had tipped them off? How many were in the house? Were more coming? Where was Jerry, was he alright? Had he been stupid to yell out, earlier? With Jerry's abilities he would be able to sense someone sneaking up on him. What if by shouting, he had only put Jerry in more danger by alerting the attackers to their awareness of them? Why couldn't he hear anyone anymore?
"LUCAS?"
The weight lifted off. Lucas exhaled, pulling himself through the master bedroom door to see Jerry standing straight ahead of him at the top of the stairs. The relief to see him was enough to shake off most of the forming headache, for now.
"I'm OK," he assured immediately, finding his throat dry but he just started across the sitting room area toward him, looking the other over. That he was still standing was the main thing, but Lucas' mind registered the blood trickling down his cheek from a cut, his eyepatch missing to show the scars Jerry hated, and the general wear on him, but nothing that appeared pressing. "You? Are you alright?" he asked as he reached him. He glanced off to the side down the other hall, looking for any sign of more trouble, but there was none and he turned back to Jerry. He was ready to go the second Jerry was. The quiet was too welcoming to be trusted.
The one that was locked in the bedroom escaped out the window and is somewhere outside. Lucas looks a little shaken up and dazed, but no visible injuries.
Post by Jeremiah Burton on Jul 18, 2014 18:08:01 GMT -5
I TRIED CARRYING THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD
BUT I ONLY HAVE TWO HANDS
Making it to the top of the stairs, Jerry was about to head for the jammed door when eyes on him would jerk his head to probably one of the most beautiful sights in the world. Lucas, alive and well, despite maybe a bit disheveled but not enough for Jerry to panic. Every worry washed away at the quick assurance and he felt like he could almost drop in relief right then and there. Lucas was okay, thank Arceus. Everything would be okay, just the sight of Lucas still standing there assured him of that. His eye briefly scanned the hall as Lucas began to approach, not wanting his weakened friend to get caught off guard by anything that may be lurking in the shadows. It was quiet now though, his mind only a buzz with the weakened state of whatever it was that haunted this floor.
As Lucas finally reached him and asked if he was okay, Jerry quickly gave a curt nod despite looking pretty worn. He brought up his hand to push aside some of Lucas’s hair and check if he was really as okay as he said, but the sight of blood on his hand made him redirect it to dusting off his good shoulder. “Are you really asking me that?” he playfully questioned with a tired grin. “I’m like a tank, it’ll take more than a couple of idiots to take me down” arrogantly he declared before glancing down at his hand and recognizing the pain in his shoulder was where the blood kept coming from. He used his other hand to grab Lucas’s and turned towards the stairs, but he paused as he recalled what was at the bottom.
He slowly glanced back at Lucas and then panic struck him for just a moment but never broke the surface. If they went down the stairs, Lucas would see… Jerry reached to his neck where his headband had slipped from his head to loosely hang there. Pulling it off and studying it for a brief moment, he turned around to Lucas, letting go of his hand. “I’m sorry, we totally trashed the place downstairs” he sighed regretfully and pulled the headband onto Lucas’s head quickly but gently. He silently begged his hands to not tremble as much as he could see they were. “We had a lot of fun here, though, so—“ he gave a brilliant grin before yanking the headband down to cover Lucas’s eyes. “—I want you to remember at least the downstairs as a nice place. So, no peeking!” he childishly ordered, but the moment Lucas’s eyes were covered, the joy and glee immediately melted from his face. The previous numbness and relief was swiftly replaced with all the disgust and shame in the world dragging on his shoulders. He felt sick and dirty – like the kind of filth that could never be washed away no matter how hard he scrubbed – but now was not the time to dwell on what he did. Only one thing in his mind was confirmed at this moment though.
Lucas could never know what he had done.
Stepping forward, Jerry’s hands retreated from the headband and moved to grab one of Lucas’s hands to set against the bottom of the headband. Even if Lucas looked down, the way his own hand was pressed to the bottom would prevent the ability to peek. “There’s no one else downstairs, so it’ll be okay” he lightly assured, despite the weak smile and tone nowhere fitting the lifeless look in his eye. “Follow me, babe, and we’ll get out of here just fine” he gently tacked on though part of him wondered if that even needed saying. With Lucas blindfolded, Jerry turned to begin guiding him down the steps, pausing briefly to look back and make sure Lucas could walk just fine. “There’s a small mess near the bottom, but I promise, I won’t let you fall” he assured, carefully guiding Lucas down the steps. As they reached the body on the stairs, Jerry slowed down to use his foot to push the man’s limbs out of the way as quickly and quietly as he could manage. His eye shot to Lucas once more, pulling him to the other side of the stairs and desperately begging for the stairwell to suddenly expand and offer more space for the prince before him to walk without fear of a misstep landing on the corpse and giving Jerry away.
Once reaching the bottom, Jerry’s firm grip on Lucas’s hand would loosen a bit. Either it was because the threat of slipping and falling was no longer as pressing, or because they had gone pass the body without incident, but Jerry’s hand now held Lucas’s much more gently. Guiding him through the hall with a faster pace than before, he didn’t take a chance to look at the scratches in the wood, the blood slowly flowing from the body and filling the cracks and gaps between the floor boards. Steadily gaining speed to a brisk jog, Jerry would make his way through the halls, pass the demolished sitting room, into the kitchen and he almost went straight out the side door when he recalled he’d ditched the keys by the sink. Letting go of Lucas for just the moment, his eye locked on the keys and he’d immediately slide over the island to lean over and snatch them. Knocking spoons and forks to the floor with his slide, he didn’t even stop or hesitate for a moment, just snatching the keys and immediately kicking off the cabinets to slide himself back over and rush back to Lucas. “Sorry, almost forgot the keys” he laughed nearly breathlessly.
Heading outside, with Lucas in tow, he’d jerk back at the sudden harsh dry wind that would zoom pass. “Jack!” he snapped harshly, shooting a glare at the Spearow. Jack immediately followed the flow of his breeze, zooming pas Jerry and Lucas, but it’d be as Jerry turned to see what it was the bird’s Razor Wind had been sent at that he realized there was one more pest to deal with. Or, there was as he saw the man sent tumbling over the railing with the harsh impact of Jerry’s Spearow crashing into his chest. Flash rushed quickly up to Jerry with panicked whimpering, only to be yanked from the ground as Jerry swiftly resumed his path to the car. The doors unlocked themselves and Jerry let go of Lucas finally, not even turning back to look at him as he simply got to sliding across the hood to get to the driver’s side.
“Get in!” he shouted, hoping Lucas would take that as his cue to pull down the blindfold and climb into shotgun. Jerry slid into the driver’s seat, starting the car before he even shut the door. With good reason as Jack would fly in pass his head to settle back down on top of all the luggage in the back. Flash set in his lap, he yanked the door shut and once Lucas was in his seat, Jerry would send the hovercraft zooming back faster than he could turn to look and make sure it was clear to go. The lack of friction made him briefly scramble to get adjusted, but years of stealing cars and high speed chases for show were on his side. With a swift change of gear, Jerry would send the hovercraft zooming down the street at the highest speed he could manage while remaining in total control.
so guilt and feels and silent sobbing while I wrote this. Feel free to ask me to make the post shorter in case Lucas needed to do anything else in the house before they left and feel free to tell me if I need to edit anything in case Lucas would've not allowed Jerry to cover his eyes.
Up close it was clearer how worn Jerry was. There almost seemed to be some sort of pull on him, something besides tiredness in his posture, something missing in his grin that Lucas couldn't place. Even though he gave a slight nod to the playful assurance, his eyes were following the track of Jerry's hand to his shoulder, the quick glance, and he almost wanted to ask Are you sure? but he said nothing. Tried to tell himself he was just anxious, they both were, they had just been attacked. Of course, there was nothing alright about this. That morning, their lunch, the car ride, it already felt like a hundred years ago. Jerry's hand closed around his, the signal that they were leaving, and Lucas moved to follow without a second thought.
But Jerry stopped again, and Lucas' first response was to try to listen, to try to tell if someone else was coming. He couldn't hear anything, though, and Jerry's eye met his briefly when the other glanced back. Checking on him again? He waited for some sort of an explanation, or for them to just start moving again, but instead Lucas watched curiously as Jerry pulled the headband from around his neck. And Lucas could sense it again, how something wasn't right. Jerry was usually the one that could read him like a book, even though apparently no one else could, but in that moment he knew he was seeing something that this time Jerry was trying to hide.
“I'm sorry, we totally trashed the place downstairs.” Well, of course. He had heard all the crashing around. And he had seen Jerry fight plenty of times before - furniture tended to break. It was fine. But Jerry brought the headband up onto his head, and he could see where this was going, and Lucas' brow furrowed, hands starting to reach up to stop him - he didn't need to be protected from everything, he could handle seeing a bit of damage - until he noticed the slight tremor in Jerry's hands, and his throat tightened. Fights didn't bother Jerry. Jerry liked a little bit of action now and again. So was it the threat to him? Had there been a close-call? What was it?
“We had a lot of fun here, though, so—“ Yes, they had. Jerry had shown up and things had been alright. Happy, despite everything. He had felt safe again, hopeful. Together they would sort everything out. And he would always remember that, what Jerry did for him-
Lucas saw that grin. That dazzling, perfect grin. The one that always seemed to blow away Jerry's rough appearance and prove to people just how wonderful he was - that grin that was just for him, standing here amidst their sanctuary-turned-war zone. He saw it, the moment before the headband fell over his eyes.
And he knew.
“—I want you to remember at least the downstairs as a nice place. So, no peeking!”
Because that smile wasn't real. And Jerry only ever really lied to protect him. And, oh Arceus, it was clear now. That weight to him, the way something seemed to be skirting around the edges of his reassuring words. The quiet desperation of it. It was the same way a parent told a child that their meowth had gone on a quest for treasure, so they could hold off just a few more years before the concept of death ever had to enter their heads. Only, really, this wasn't like that at all.
There was only one thing that Jerry would want so badly for him to never see.
Lucas nodded, and it felt like someone else was going through the motions for him. "Alright, Jerry." The words almost an exhale. Just a tired sound, nothing betraying. He could feel a pain forming in his chest heavy enough to drag him right down the stairs. Jerry moved moved to place his hand over the lower part of the blindfold, to hold it down, and Lucas didn't resist. He felt like shivering, but he didn't.
“There’s no one else downstairs, so it’ll be okay.” Another nod. He almost couldn't take how casual Jerry was trying to sound. Not when the reality seemed almost plain as day, now. He wanted to stop him right there, hold him, tell him to just stop pretending, he didn't have to. “Follow me, babe, and we’ll get out of here just fine.” Stop trying to comfort him. “There’s a small mess near the bottom, but I promise, I won't let you fall.” A thousand questions flooded his mind but he shut them down. He nodded again. Jerry started leading him forward and he followed automatically, that trust so ingrained that there was no question, no matter how precarious the situation, if it was with Jerry he would be fine.
Hand slowly coming to grip Jerry's, his feet found the edge of each step before descending. Without the rail to hold on to it felt disorienting, unreal, like if he fell he couldn't be sure where he would land.
When Jerry had come home, Lucas had promised himself that as long as he was alive he wouldn't let Jerry fall into a position like that again. He, unlike just about everyone else in the older boy's life, would do right by him. He would always have a home, food to eat, warmth. He wouldn't be alone anymore, he wouldn't have to rely solely on himself. He would be happy, safe.
He wouldn't have to fight just to survive.
What had he been thinking, when he had pulled him and Jerry into this? That masses of missing people would have no foul play involved? That no one would get hurt? What if he had approached the police again? Shown them everything the Campaign had managed to put together? What if he had shown Interpol? What if he had used his name, his influence, just this once to get something done about it? Would they be here? Would any of this have happened? Why only now, after it was too late, did he realize everything he could have done differently? Who were these people?
Why was it always Jerry paying the price for the evil others had done?
Jerry slowed down. Lucas could hear the faint scraping of something against the hardwood. And then he was pulled to the side, presumably out of the way, and the stairs came to an end.
Jerry could have died. He could have lost him. And yet there was no doubt in his mind that whatever Jerry had had to do, ultimately, it was to protect him. To keep him safe. Because that's what Jerry had always done, no matter the expense to himself. He had crossed three regions and the ocean just to get here. So he would be here if something like this happened.
Down the hallway, then. Jerry's hold on his hand had eased up a bit and Lucas continued to hold on as well, his mind filling in the scene he was blind to.. The crashes and shattering of glass from earlier translating to a path of destruction through the ground floor, a subconscious tug at the back of his mind creating a fixed point at the bottom of the stairs that made his neck burn. The distance they covered was enough to have them nearly out of the house, but suddenly Jerry's hand was gone, and Lucas hazarded enough step forward before stopping, moving his head to face in the direction Jerry had gone. A metallic clatter that instantly connected to silverware told him they were in the kitchen.
“Sorry, almost forgot the keys.” A chuckle, barely there, and somehow Lucas gave a weak smile in return.
Jerry was trying, so he had to, too. If they let themselves, they could probably both go to pieces right then, and there wasn't time. And Jerry didn't realize he knew. He couldn't imagine how he could ever even bring it up. The moment he did, Jerry would . . . Would Jerry ever tell him?
Jerry had taken his hand again, and in a few moments they were outside, Lucas almost running into him as they came to an abrupt stop. Wind ripped past, and he ducked against it. Jerry shouted to his Spearow, there was another crash, and then the sound of Flash whimpering as Lucas remembered the banging from earlier, the other person. But before he could ask they were on the move again, and he heard the click of the hovercraft doors unlocking. Jerry dropped his hand, and he was reaching up to pull off the blindfold even as Jerry shouted to him. The sudden brightness stung his eyes but didn't slow him from scrambling into the passenger's seat, yanking the door shut as Jerry started the engine. As the craft reared back without warning his hand shot out to brace against the dashboard as he put on his seatbelt. Looking back he could see a man laying in the drive, struggling to his feet but quickly receding behind them as Jerry shifted gears and the hovercraft rocketed smoothly down the drive.
They had made it out. His gaze turned from the safehouse - in the past he might have taken one last look at it, but that desire didn't exist at the moment - and back to Jerry. From the passenger's seat he was on Jerry's blind side, which in a driving scenario was usually a good thing. Not so much for trying to read the other's expression, however.
What could he possibly say, now? His eyes flickered back and forth between the road ahead and Jerry, his eyes getting readjusted to the light. The ache in his head hadn't left but he was only just now becoming aware of it again, realization that it was independent of the sick feeling in gut. He could remember how many times his head had been knocking into the shelving, but it was definitely the most trauma it had seen in a while.
His focus shifted back to Jerry, once again studying his profile, how roughed-up he was, the old burn scars that riddled the visible side of his face - he knew Jerry would eventually want one of the spare eyepatches somewhere packed away in their things.. Eventually a darker spot on the shoulder of his black shirt caught Lucas' attention. A growing stain.
"Jerry, you shoul-"
Something caught his attention off toward the cliff line - a cloud of dust thrown up against the blue sky. And then the dark silver SUV creating it as it barreled down the steep path to cut them off.
Nothing about today was going to be easy.
"Jerry," he repeated, this time as a clear signal for him to look. The SUV was nearing halfway down the cliff and only appeared to be speeding up, and instinct told him that this wasn't some tourist out to see the sights. There hadn't been a vehicle besides theirs outside the house - those men had to have gotten there and planned to transport them somehow. And the way the driver handled in the rough terrain said that they weren't exactly an amateur.
A car chase. It was bittersweet how familiar this felt.
Trying so hard to keep himself intact, there was no time for half assed masks and half hearted smiles, Jerry had to get himself in gear. This was no situation where he could make a mistake, everything had to be done right or it was all game over. No restart, cheat codes, or excuses, this was extreme mode and his only shot to get Lucas out of this mess for the time being at the least. As he sent the car zipping back from the drive way, he was briefly thrown off by the lack of friction, and by the sound of Lucas hitting the dash to keep from hurting himself on it. When he heard the click of Lucas’s seat belt though, he wasted no time doing a glance over and merely got to peeling out of there as quickly as the hover craft could manage. With the years of car thefts and chases under his belt, he was fortunate that he could adjust to each varying vehicle pretty quickly, but with the gigantic difference in friction and lack thereof, this was going to be one hell of a ride.
As they sped down the road, Jerry picked up the Growlithe in his lap and quickly plopped him down in Lucas’s to get the Pokémon out of his way. His focus was entirely on the road now with Lucas securely fastened in the seat beside him. With one person dead, the others incapacitated, they’d have plenty of time to get away without having to worry about their car leaving tracks they could follow in the rural road. It seemed like they would be getting out of here just fine and Jerry relaxed slightly until he heard Lucas speak. The tone expressed worry, something had unsettled his friend. For a brief moment, he panicked, even further when Lucas just cut himself off. What was it that had unsettled his friend? Had he seen the mess back there? Swallowing slightly, Jerry pulled up the courage to speak. “I should what?” he asked curiously, eye never leaving the road. The adrenaline rush was fading off a bit and he could feel the pain coming back to his shoulder. However, he gritted his teeth through it, just focusing on driving when once more Lucas would say his name.
This time though, his name was uttered in warning.
Taking a chance to look towards Lucas, he would follow the blonde’s gaze out the window to see the speeding cloud of dust and an SUV’s metallic paint job could be seen glistening in the sun light. Lucas’s warning was enough to alert him they had the same train of thought upon the sight of the vehicle, a car chase. “Son of a bitch” Jerry growled quietly before jerking himself back up right to focus on the road. “Alright, hold onto Flash, this might get rough” he warned sternly. His eye jerked to the sides of the road and he knew that the hovercraft had a significant advantage out here over the four wheeled SUV. It could go anywhere, even over water, while the SUV was stuck maneuvering on the ground where it could find traction. If Jerry could slow it down long enough and get out to the sand where the car would eventually struggle without proper adjustments and they’d be able to get out of there.
Plan set, Jerry continued speeding down the road as he watched the SUV steadily catch up with them. As it got closer and closer, Jerry watched carefully before suddenly he would slam the breaks and turn the wheel to sharply spin off the road and into the grassy field that framed the path back towards civilization. He smirked deviously, seeing the SUV driver swiftly move to follow with ease into the grass. “That’s right, c’mon fucker…” he roughly muttered to no one. This was a good distraction from the previous anxiety for Jerry at least. Lucas would be familiar with this rather competitive side of Jerry as well, as it usually sparked every time he was in one of these chases or a fight of some sort that he started. Trash talking, taunting and pushing buttons, he loved to get a rise out of others in these situations, an old habit back from the streets he never really gave up.
Jerry and his pursuer began to rip the field up, wild Pokémon quickly fleeing the scene as they zoomed through the pasture with no hesitation. The luggage in the back seat swayed precariously about, but paying no mind to potentially breaking fragile items, Jerry simply went right for weaving through the boulders that covered the field. The SUV was keeping pace pretty well and as Jerry carefully swept his way around the boulders, he paid no mind to the fact he even back tracked a bit and was going pass a stone he’d been pass before. He had to time this just right… Just as the SUV vanished behind the boulder Jerry had just swept pass, Jerry would take that as his cue. Moving to seemingly swing around another boulder, Jerry would instead fish tail the car through a smooth and skillful U-Turn in order to once more go back the way he’d come and seemingly vanish from the SUV’s view. The boulder had been massive enough to allow the maneuver and it would take the SUV a moment to realize that the hover craft was no longer ahead of him. The trick would only buy him a minute or so, but putting the pedal to the metal, that would be enough to get a significant amount of distance between the SUV that fought the torn up terrain to catch back up with Jerry’s vehicle.
“Like mother fuckin’ Houdini, now you see me now you don’t. Damn I really wanna keep this car, now” he purred, laughing to himself as he flew back down the road. The SUV was once more sweeping back into view, behind them, but the distance wasn’t hard to notice. It was just a matter of avoiding the heavily populated streets which would be easy as Jerry had spent most o his time just scoping the town with Lucas to know which way to lead this chase out of the way. The SUV was hot on their trail, but Jerry didn’t ease up on the speed as they began to enter the town. Swerving through the outskirts, keeping to the edge of the town and on the roads that had definitely been worn by the sands of time, Jerry looked for the fastest straight line through the yards around him. His parkour had always been about getting from Point A to Point B in the fastest means possible, but that was a bit more difficult when you were in a car. The trees and grass that surrounded the peaceful town began to thin and die out, gradually going from their vibrant greens and fading to gold and slowly dead grass was all that was there amongst the patches of sand. The road was getting harder to see, but Jerry paid that no mind as he sped onwards. He’d travelled this desert without a road before and damn right he’d do it again. Looking back, the SUV was still within sight but as the sand became thicker and thicker, the road vanishing beneath the grains, he could see that his pursuer was getting further and further away. Jerry didn’t relent on the gas pedal for nearly an hour before slowly starting to ease up on the speed as the SUV finally had vanished from view.
With the craft falling back to more sane speeds, Jerry slowly loosened his white knuckle grip on the steering wheel and seemed to ease up physically. His body relaxing, competitive edge easing off, eye softening, he just settled back on driving and took a slow deep breath before letting it out and looking over at Lucas finally in a silent check to see if he was alright. His gaze was tired, worried and, pained slightly courtesy of the fact he’d been enduring the pain of a stab wound in his shoulder throughout the lengthy car chase through Agate Village. The seat and his shirt both showed signs of bleeding. The wound was hardly lethal, but it was still making quite the mess. Flash in Lucas’s lap had curled up in a tight ball, trembling and trying to gather his bearings after the jarring ride while Jack on the back of Jerry’s seat seemed composed like the regal pompous ass he was. However, Jerry’s look of concern was only on Lucas at the moment, before he slowly looked back ahead.
“… You okay?” he gently prodded before adding on “At least for the most part…?” There was no way either of them would be okay after that.
His hands were moving to take hold of Flash before Jerry got the warning out, Lucas' eyes set on the approaching vehicle, holding his focus there for a moment before the glint of the sun forced him to look away. His gaze shifting briefly to the growlithe in his lap, hands set deep in the puppy's fur and absently rubbing small circles but it wasn't clear who was getting more comfort out of it. He looked over at Jerry as the other continued to put on the speed, then looked back over the shoulder of the seat as the SUV fell in behind them.
Jerry had this. A chase here would be nowhere as difficult as one in the city. His thoughts mirrored Jerry's - even without Jerry's history of leading cars through over-the-top pursuits, they had the advantage with the hovercraft. They just needed to put in the distance.
Lucas was shaken up but far from panicked as Jerry led the SUV through the obstacle course of boulders and torn-up earth, pressing back in the seat with a firm hold on Flash. He had the dubious experience of being in a car with him for this kind of thing before and he knew what to expect, bracing himself against the passenger door and framing occasionally to keep himself from getting thrown when the seat belt wasn't enough to hold him down. To his reeling mind most of it was too much of a blur to take in, his eyes everywhere, the flashes of color, the boulders that filled the windshield until the last possible moment.
Jerry's taunts made him look over, his eyes constantly finding the stain from the wound on his arm, mind grappling back to what had happened at the house, before being tossed into the present again. The SUV gaining on them and then dropping back again, Jerry's maneuvering starting to affect the vehicle more and more as the SUV's tires began to get tangled up in their own tracks.
The u-turn did it. Lucas held Flash tight to him, bracing his shoulder against the craft's frame as they fishtailed, creating those crucial few moments where to the SUV it would appear as though they had vanished. The next time the SUV fell in behind them, it was much farther than it had been before, and the distance was growing.
Then there was the town, his last glimpses of it composed of hectic flashes of this building or that, the backstreets he had sometimes used as shortcuts all scrolling by and mostly lost as he continued to check the progress of the SUV. At one point he thought he saw Rosie turning a corner but he could never be sure of it - just a flicker of a familiar dress, and it was gone.
Things were hard to keep track of after that as the view through the hovercraft window shifted from the varied sights of Agate Village and the land surrounding it to the hypnotizing desert horizon. Lucas couldn't say for sure how long they had been driving by that point, or when the foggy feeling had swept into his head again. He would see something far off in the sands and spend what felt to be several minutes staring at it only to blink and realize the object of his focus had been long passed. The hypnotizing sands and sky were doing nothing to help his head and eventually he turned to look down at Flash, all curled up now, petting him and frequently stealing looks at Jerry, watching as the aggression and edge of him began to wane. Lucas couldn't tell him the blood stain had gotten any bigger, but some had smeared on the seat by this point.
It all hit him again, what had happened at the house, and he looked down at Flash once more, hands pressing into his fur. When he raised his head again, Jerry was looking over at him, with an expression that just made Lucas want to apologize again, to do something.
Lucas himself looked worn down, then. Pale, eyes dull, their focus seeming to waver occasionally. Shoulders slumped, he was hunched back against the seat, head tilted forward slightly as he met Jerry's eye before the redhead would direct his gaze forward again.
Jerry asked him if he was alright . . . or mostly, anyway, and it was frightening how many seconds had to pass before he fully processed the question. When he finally caught up he nodded, nothing physically worse than maybe bruises, then took another second to realize speaking was probably better. ". . . I'm fine . . . Are you . . ." The question tasted sour after all that had happened and he trailed off, eyes going to the wound on Jerry's arm again. ". . . Your arm. It's not bad, is it?"
He wanted to do something, a rush of anxiety bringing some brief clarity as he registered everything again. He needed to bandage Jerry's arm, get him another eye patch out, make sure he wasn't hurt anywhere else . . . and comfort him, somehow. Jerry hadn't said . . . tried to hide it, even . . . but Lucas knew what must have happened.
The longer it took for Lucas to answer, the more unsettling the situation became. The chase’s high was beginning to wear off and the silence from his friend just began to bring everything back in an unnerving wave. He glanced over at him and caught the sight of Lucas nodding, but he was clearly out of it. The previous spins and turns, high speeds and stress must have been getting to him. Any other car chase and Lucas may have been staring at Jerry with his usual dead pan disapproving gaze, but they’d laugh it off in minutes. Jerry excitedly retelling the car chase to Lucas with emphasis on all the high lights despite the fact Lucas had been there with him. The blond would roll his eyes and ask him to be more careful in which Jerry would chuckle and make no promises.
Now there was just that long overhanging silence before finally a more coherent answer would ease Jerry a bit. However, not that much as he could simply tell from the other’s tone that he was still trying to get himself back down to earth. Genius, Jerry, take your friend with potential brain damage out on a joy ride. No way that could possibly make his condition any worst, oh no, no! He was so mad, mad at those assholes that broke in, mad at that man that fell, mad at Dorothy, mad at Jared, mad at himself, mad at the world. He had to reel all his anger back in as Lucas started to ask about him and he gave a light chuckling scoff as he took advantage of the fact his only eye was on the side of his face Lucas couldn’t see. It had taken a moment to swallow everything back down and his eye almost gave him away. He reached up to rub his head and ruffle his hair, before once more remembering his eye patch was gone and he had blood on his cheek as well. Arceus, he was a mess.
“Just a flesh wound, babe” he lightly teased, before looking around the barren horizon carefully. There was nothing for miles around them and the only eyes he felt prying at him were the puppy dog eyes of his growlithe, the judging gaze of his Spearow, and Lucas’s pale gaze. Jerry finally just let the craft drift to a stop on top of the sand. Shifting the gear into park, the hover craft held position as Jerry got to unbuckling himself. He left the craft running as he leaned to the side and took to adjusting his chair, leaning the backside of it back so that his shoulder would stop hitting it. No eye patch or headband since Lucas was currently wearing it, to worry about Jerry just got to carefully pulling off his shirt with a sharp intake of breath and dropped it in his lap. The stab wound was now fully visible, along with the trails the blood had flown down his arm and torso. Reaching up to flip the visor down and expose the mirror, he tilted it in order to get a proper view of the wound and gave a disapproving scoff at the sight.
It was nothing he couldn’t fix up himself but as he looked over at his dazed friend, he knew that Lucas needed something to focus on. He strongly debated letting Lucas do it though, as the other just seemed almost as exhausted as himself at the moment, but it wouldn’t be the first time he had the other help tend to his wounds because Jerry insisted he didn’t need to go to the hospital. He pushed the visor back up with his good arm and turned the best he could in his seat to face Lucas. “Hey, the first aid kit should be under your chair I think… Or the glove compartment, I think? I know it’s over there” he informed, reaching over to gently jostle Lucas’s hair to make sure he had the princely boy’s attention. “Anyways, mind fixing me up again, babe? I’d do it, but…” he trailed off, not really giving much reason as he was sure he didn’t need much of one to get Lucas to help him. Anything to get the other focused again and not tuned out, lost in a daze. After the fit of having to nearly scream to get Lucas to snap out of it once before, he wasn’t about to let that happen now. As Jerry brought his hand back, he realized that his hands were still trembling from earlier and he could see even his good hand had some blood on it that was probably not his own. He glanced to Lucas’s hair, before simply settling in place to wait for Lucas to take over medic duty.
Internally hardening up and shoving it all down, he just focused on Lucas. Forcing aside the thoughts of the man abandoned on the stairs and the sound his head made when it hit the floor, he just watched Lucas instead. His eye purposefully watching for any jerk or jolt to Lucas’s movements that would reveal any hidden injury the other might be sporting as well. He wouldn’t let himself falter again like back in the hospital when he’d nearly punched a hole in the wall out of frustration. He wouldn’t put these burdens on Lucas, he’d keep his head up and march onwards through the motions to get his precious friend out of this mess… No matter what. While he was building up this shell of preservation, his gaze remained calm and had begun to warm with the concern for Lucas’s well being. He softened, not letting the internal turmoil leaked out as he did everything he could to make sure Lucas would be alright.
He couldn't read Jerry's expression from this angle, the scars of the burned side of his face almost like a shield now that Lucas couldn't see past. The scoff and chuckling sounded almost as unnatural as it was comforting, and he shook his head slightly. Not out of disapproval, but simply trying to get ahold of reality again and focus. He knew Jerry was just holding things in now, but as much as he wanted to try to reach him, he wasn't sure if either of them could handle a breakdown just now.
Lucas nodded slightly at the assurance that it was just a flesh wound, looking around briefly and then back over his shoulder behind them as Jerry brought the hovercraft to a stop. They must have lost the SUV a while back, and Lucas wondered how long they had actually been driving. He could barely remember what time it had been when they got back to the house.
He cringed a little at the pained noise Jerry made as he removed the shirt, his attention immediately back on the wound, gauging it, and noticing the cut on Jerry's cheek then too. Jerry had had worse, though, which was equally relieving and troubling. For a second Lucas squeezed his eyes shut, again trying to get his bearings and remember where they had first aid kits. They had one somewhere back in the luggage, but there was one that came in the hover craft, wasn't there? He blinked his eyes open once more, noting all the blood. Why did people have to keep hurting him?
Jerry mussed his hair lightly, and Lucas looked up at him, mind backtracking a bit in realization that Jerry had been speaking. It took another moment to catch up, but not so long as the first time, his eyes solemnly on Jerry and getting a little more focused again. Jerry. He had to bring himself back down and get it together for Jerry. He sucked in a breath, Jerry's voice and just the sight of him already starting to reel back the clarity he had lost over the desert.
He saw Jerry's hand trembling, just a briefly glimpse before Jerry moved his hand back but it pulled Lucas' attention in like gravity. Everything kept coming back in waves, and even though it brought that pang of anxiety in his chest that made his heart pound, it was helping him think more clearly.
"Of course . . ." he said, nodding slightly, turning a little int he seat and looking down at Flash still in his lap. Petting him again slightly, he carefully picked up the growlithe and set him behind them between the seats. Petting him once more to calm him, Lucas turned back and blinked, sorting out in his mind "under the seat" and "glove compartment" and finally choosing to check the latter. His movements were slow, measured, as though he were sore or even just a groggy. Not much grace to it but no signs of serious injury either, though as he moved his leg he felt the slightly sticky sensation of the blood that had likely trickled from the cut the piece of vase had made. He would clean that later, once Jerry was settled.
The kit was there, tucked into a mounted shelf in the roof of the compartment. He pulled it out, glancing over to check on Jerry and then opening the kit. Alright, this was familiar territory. This he could do. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could manage for his friend at the moment.
He twisted in his seat, leaning over to beginning the process of dabbing the wound clean, looking up to check with Jerry before starting. He worked, gently as possible, with a deliberate focus at first before muscle memory began to kick in and help with the task. Jerry was quiet, seemingly calm, but in the silence Lucas could swear he sensed something locking up. He was all too aware of Jerry's tendency to steel himself and deal with everything on his own. He had been doing it since they were children. Lucas' work took on careful, tender movements, the need to somehow keep providing comfort strong.
After a while, looking up at Jerry again, Lucas tried to smile a little, a small attempt at easing some of the concern Jerry likely had for him.
". . . Um, at least we have most of our stuff . . . I can find you a clean shirt, and everything . . .' A small nod to himself, deciding that was what he would do next. He looked away to get the bandages. "And . . . uh, good driving, back there." He smiled again and it was a little hopeful, a tumble of words building up in his mind of wishing to assure him that it was okay, they would be alright, Lucas wasn't hurt, and he loved him. He could talk to him . . . would he talk to him? Would he begin to say what had happened back there, did he realize Lucas knew? Would he keep trying to hide it? Why? Well, of course Lucas knew why . . . That line of thought swiftly clamped down on for now and he tore off a bandage. "A-all that 'practice' paid off, at least . . ."
With each pause to respond that came from Lucas, the more worried Jerry found himself becoming. He couldn’t have the other getting lost again, especially not now. Flashbacks to the blond hunched over the sink, his beautiful blue eyes cloudy and lost. The unresponsive face to Jerry’s cries, the blank expression persisting for nearly an hour… Jerry couldn’t handle that right now, he couldn’t sit there and watch Lucas fade away again. Almost tempted to reach over and nudge or tug on Lucas to just demand his attention, it would be then that finally Lucas would respond to agree to the idea. A wave of relief washed over him and he settled down a bit to simply watch Lucas move. It was obvious that his friend was just tired, as there was no cringing or unnecessary tension really. Just slow jerky movements to attest to his exhaustion, Jerry wasn’t too concerned as long as he saw some light coming back to the Courtwater’s baby blues.
Once Lucas had the kit in hand, Jerry turned so the wound was more accessible. He gave a slight visible cringe to the first touch but relaxed as Lucas tended to him. His eye only glanced to the stab wound before looking up to keep a steady gaze on Lucas. The look in his eyes were clearing up, gradually finding focus and leaving Jerry feeling safe to assume he would be fine in a few moments. His gaze slowly trailed away to the mirrors of the hover craft’s exterior, eyeing the desert behind them before surveying the horizon meticulously. It was unlikely they’d ever be found out here like this, it was the middle of nowhere, but Jerry was never the kind to let his guard down so easily in a situation like this. More often than not, Lucas would have to step forward to be the voice of peace when Jerry was on edge. As he overlooked their surroundings, he’d feel the occasional presence of eyes on him from Lucas’s direction before Lucas would speak up.
Turning a curious look over to Lucas, he paused at the sight of a tired little smile on the princely face. Noting the tone and clear unease Lucas demonstrated, Jerry wouldn’t object to a word he’d utter now. All that mattered to him in this moment was ensuring the blond felt safe and comfortable, even if it meant have Flash use his fire to set the world ablaze, he’d do it. Jerry rolled his bruised shoulder – the one Lucas wasn’t tending to – and gave a slight nod at his suggestion. A clean shirt would be good, in this unforgiving blazing sun he couldn’t just simply roam without some sort of cover. Especially given his genetics, he’d burn far easier than Lucas even if they were both pale. With the praise, Jerry slowly gave a warm smile and chuckled softly, nearly laughing at the mention of all his practice paying off.
“Why thank you, a true survivor masters both fight and flight, babe. So, y'know, when my next birthday comes, maybe hooking me up with one of these wouldn't be that bad, heh” he lightly teased, reaching over to gently ruffle Lucas’s hair once again. He slowly stopped though and simply let his hand rest on the younger’s head as he studied him quietly. There was a pause as he just studied Lucas before gently pulling back his hand. It was a bit steadier by now, the panic calming inside thankfully, and Jerry slumped back in the seat to let the blond finish up tending to his shoulder. “Yeah, a clean shirt… Get the baby wipes too so I can clean myself up a bit. I think they’re in one of your bags or might be some in that kit?” he instructed giving a glance over to the kit. His eye slowly trailed up to the mirror and he paused at the sight of his scarred face. “… And if you can find something to cover up part of my face…” he trailed off, letting that simply speak for itself as he just reached up to lightly touch the scratch underneath the burn scars. “We should have enough fuel to make it to the next town, but I know of a small place out here that’s nearby if you’d rather just… Stay out here for the night instead? It'll get really cold out here but I doubt we'll freeze with all the blankets and stuff we got packed up from that winter in Unova” he suggested, looking back towards Lucas for his opinion on where they head to now.