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!
EPOCH uses the Manga and is built on the Original ideas suggested by our members.
We are more than just a Pokemon RP, we're a friendly community with a goal on being a memorable experience for those that look in.
Golden Rule: Treat others as you wish to be treated. If you find yourself content with being an asshole EPOCH and its members will not tolerate you.
RULES
Understand We're All Human. Respect the staffers as well as your fellow members and guests. We all have flaws, tempers and quirks. Be patient with one another, but if issues involving other members come up please don’t just grin and bear it. Contact a staff member, informing them of what's going on so they can address and resolve the situation. The staff won't know what's bothering you unless you tell them.
EPOCH is PG-13. Proboards’ Terms of Service:
Sex; When you get under the clothes, fade to black.
Violence; Do not go into extreme nauseating detail.
Cursing; This is so fucking allowed, but don't go overboard.
Suggestive Content; In avatars, signatures and templates can attract the wrong kind of attention. So be careful.
Another day in the office was not exactly set in the same context for Richelle Jace as it would be for the common worker. Another day in the office meant another day in a literal prison. She wasn’t alone, her interviewer situated across from her with ever patient eyes watching her. He waited and waited, his patience far surpassing that of a saint’s as she was sure she saw the hour hand on the clock behind him pass the twelve twice by now since the last time she said anything to him. Food mostly untouched was spread out in front of her but she was ready to once more fall asleep in the wheely chair she’d been secured to.
The hand passed the 12, again.
The door rattled suddenly as a muffled shout broke the silence and a look of concern briefly crossed her interviewer’s face. He once more begged for her to say something, anything, but Ricki just shut her eyes and let her head fall back. Sleep, that’s all she wanted right now. Her eyes remained shut as the door flew open and another man angrily shouted something she didn’t care to listen to. The interviewer nervously chatted with this angry voice before – Stomp, stomp, stomp.
She felt the back of her head was suddenly grabbed and before she could react, her face was slammed on the table. She flailed and kicked, only for her head to be brought up slightly and slammed again. Another struggle before up and slam, struggle, up, slam, repeat. It was after it was repeated once more before she was yanked up to her feet to meet a pair of differently colored eyes glaring at her with unadulterated rage. At this point she was so dazed she couldn’t understand what he was saying until he was probably at the end of his rant.
“Now, are you going to cooperate, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?”
“I’ve always been well known for being difficult” she bragged, before suddenly her hair was yanked up to the point she had to stand on her tip toes to keep all of her weight off of it. In a swift movement, her head was sent flying back down at the table, but just before she hit the desk –
She jolted forward to sit up right with a sharp intake of breath. With that fast movement, it was only common sense that a dizzy spell would be the first thing to greet her upon her awakening in the hospital bed. Her right hand came up to hold her face prior to the young woman just falling back on the bed in a soft thump. She didn’t really even register her surroundings as her arm moved to rest over her eyes to shield them from the light of the mid-afternoon sun.
A dream, a nightmare, a memory, whatever it was, it was over with and already forgotten in the first several seconds of being conscious. She didn’t bother to dwell on that fact as she just tried to get her breathing back in check. She felt awful, weak and ill, her head light and her body ached. Had she gotten sick? She didn’t remember vomiting or anything wrong that would have prompted this sensation. She tried to move her arm, but it couldn’t even lift from the bed before it just went limp, unable to move. The odd motion caused her to lift up her right arm and allow her to look down and finally see her surroundings.
Too groggy and disoriented to get worked up over the confusion over her environment, her scanning of the place would allow her to figure it out simply by the contents of the room. A hospital room and she was the patient. What did she do this time? A brief test of moving her body made it clear she wasn’t going to be moving her arm and leg for a while. Nothing seemed to be broken at least, but judging by the skin her hospital gown didn’t cover, it was clear from the bruising she had certainly taken a beating from whatever it was that put her in he—
Her whole body froze before slowly relaxing as the memories smacked her in the face like a freight train. Her arm lifted up off her face entirely to fall back on her pillow revealing a surprised look on her face. The memories started from Diglett Cave, to the warehouse, and eventually to the events that had transpired in Celadon. The final memories twisted her surprise look to one of horror as she suddenly started to move her right arm to act as a support to push her torso up. The painkillers in her system right now were not too strong, allowing her to feel the dulled ache of every movement still. Not enough to make her stop moving, though. She was sitting up once more and already looking around in panic.
Jason? No, he wasn’t there.
Rep? Nowhere to be seen, either.
Her pokeballs? Gone. Rep probably took them to get fixed.
Her bag? On the otherside of the room.
She frowned to herself upon the discovery that she was truly alone at this moment, and with the bag out of reach, there was no way to call for Jason. She tried to slide and move on the bed, but she didn’t get far before giving up for the time being. Her gaze drifted to the side to eye the familiar set up that would allow her to call a nurse, and she honestly debated doing so.
After a long moment of thought, Ricki ended up deciding against it and simply shifted her focus to the window. Her troubled gaze drifted from the cloudy sky and down to the ground far below her window. It was pretty bright outside despite the overcast and it slowly occurred to her that that was partly due to the fact the ground was covered in snow. The sun was pretty high in the sky judging by how the light looked behind the clouds…
How long had she been asleep?
By The Way; Don't know why but felt like starting out with a dream sequence / flash back thing. If I need to edit this / add more, give me a heads up and I'll do that before you get back. Also, it's safe to say Ricki had been pretty much out of it for the 24 hours following arriving to the hospital. You're free to decide if Jason has just now come to see her, or if he'd been there the day before.
Despite the fact that a full two days had passed since the incident involving Vane and his flunkies, Jason still felt nearly as exhausted as he had the morning after the confrontation - and that was saying a great deal, especially considering that very little of that night had been spent idle. While he had remained nearby long enough to make sure that the police and emergency services had managed to recover Ricki and take the disabled Rockets into custody, pretty much the entirety of that evening had been spent tracking down the few remaining Rockets that had been smart enough to flee before then. No loose ends - that, above all else, was the one lesson he had gladly carried over into this new life. Beyond that, however, it had merely been an issue of waiting for Ricki to wake up. The hospital staff, while initially questioning who he was on arrival the morning after that, had assured him that she was not in mortal danger or critical condition - she was certainly hurt, yes, but nothing permanent. That, however, had done very little to assuage the guilt that Jason had been feeling, or to allow him to sleep since then. Largely because he knew what would come next.
The Rockets they had dealt with were still alive in spite of the anger that had overtaken him when he had confronted Vane, largely at Ricki's insistence - something that Jason was immensely grateful for in hindsight, but that presented complications. They still had legal rights, some of which entitled them to visitors and communication with the outside world, even if it was monitored, and it would only be a matter of time before their superiors found out what they had been doing, assuming it hadn't been orders from above to begin with. Ricki's life in Kanto was over - they could not stay in the region, and it had been a grievous mistake on Jason's part to even consider going back in the first place. Exiting the region undetected would be difficult enough to begin with, but doing it while being searched for would be next to impossible without leaving a trail of some sort. Wherever they went, they'd be followable, and that meant more than an end to Ricki's life in Kanto. Jason had not been exaggerating when he had put forth the possibility that her friends and family would be put at risk by allowing Vane to live - information regarding who she was as a person would lead them right to her friends and family if they went anywhere near them, and he knew enough of the woman to know that she would blame herself if that happened. Asking for help from them was not an option, not unless they didn't care who got hurt.
The only problem, however, was how to explain this to Ricki. He had tried to do so before, and while she seemed to understand Jason had to make absolutely sure that she grasped the full scope of what he had tried to convey to her. It was a conversation he did not want to have and his guilt kept yelling at him to simply try and allow her to continue living a relatively normal life with none of the paranoia that he lived with on a daily basis, but either way he looked at it the choices would not be fair ones. She would either be forced to adopt the lifestyle that he had, cutting herself off from everyone she knew and loved up to now, or go back relatively carefree to recover, putting both them and herself at risk in the process. It was an ugly choice, but one that she needed to be informed of.
Box tucked under one arm as he made his way down the hospital hall, Jason would pause for a moment as one of the windows into Ricki's room came into view, and more than that, movement within it. Had one of the doctors stopped in to check on Ricki as usual? Probably not - he'd all but memorized their schedule at this point since arriving in the hospital as he had rarely let the room or its inhabitant out of his sight, and it had only been a quick stop to the convenience store and a powerful need to eat that had torn him away from it in the last few minutes. Resuming his walk, though, Jason would approach the door to the room and lightly knock on it twice before reaching for the handle and easing it open a few inches to peer inside.
Post by Ricki Jace on Jan 14, 2014 21:22:19 GMT -5
I have 839 WORDS for JASON THAM
Staring at the ground below, her mind slowly began to fade away from her previous panic to wrap around the idea of playing in the snow. It looked pretty well packed out there; it could be good for some funny snowmen. Maybe she could make an igloo or tunnels for Pester to run around in. Or maybe a snowball fight, it’d been a while since she’d had one of those. A soft smile formed on her face as she began to fantasize the war in the snow, a quiet chuckle even escaping her. She was imagining just nailing Rep in the face with a snowball, but knowing her Lucario, he’d come back at her with a vengeance.
Two snowballs to the fa—
Knock, knock.
Ricki blinked a few times in surprise at the noise, the knocks being just enough to pull her from her self-made distraction. Her gaze finally broke from the window to drift back to the door. She didn’t say a word, seeing it was already being pushed open by whoever it was on the other side of it. The few inches offered her little view of who it was, and she slowly leaned back on her bed to try and get a better look at the person trying to come into her room. The light headed woman let her head slowly fall to the side as she eyed the door in a silent curiosity for a moment. “You can come in?” she spoke up, quirking a brow at the frog in her throat. Having just woken up from a long slumber, a croak accented her words. She pulled her head back up right as she gently rubbed her throat. Her gaze moved from the door and down to her lap as she inquisitively prodded at her neck. The motion stopped when she felt an odd smooth and cold texture that her brain registered as a band aid. A band aid on her neck? She was briefly confused before looking up at who it was now coming into her room.
“Jason?” she merely breathed upon the familiar sight of his figure emerging from the door way. The moment he was in the room entirely, there was no doubt in her mind that it was him. She seemed relieved by the sight of him at first, before her relief would turn to concern. She pulled her hand from her neck to set her hand on the bed as she leaned slightly towards him. She would’ve leaned further, or even gotten up to head over to him, but she could feel the light tug of the IV drip in her arm denying her from moving further and her leg wasn’t cooperating. She was stuck in that spot, an unnerving revelation to her but she focused her mind on other matters.
“Are you okay?” she immediately questioned, a rasp joining the frog when Ricki decided to speak a little louder. She shut her mouth and cleared her throat, though the action stung slightly. The sudden activity was making her head feel light again, the drained woman still a bit out of it. She leaned back, glancing to her arm, before looking back up at Jason. “What happened? Did he—I mean… Did you—No, um…” she hesitated speaking, a usually loud and proud Richelle Jace trailing off to an awkward silence as she found herself unsure of what she could say here. There was so much she wanted to ask about, so much she wanted to talk about, but she wasn’t used to this situation. Out of her element, and in a setting she loathed, it was understandable that she was out of sorts at the moment. Her hand came up off the bed to hold her spinning head as she tried to calm the storm of a light head and signs of a subdued headache coming apparent with the dull ache following suit.
Jason was exhausted; she’d managed to notice that just from the way he held himself, the bags under his eyes, and simply the look in his eyes. She almost wanted to tell him to go to sleep, but now that she’d seen him, her mind was shooting off a series of questions. Her good leg rose up to allow her to slump against it, turning away from Jason to just curl up the best she could on the bed. Eyes shut, face buried in the palm of her hand, she tried to organize her thoughts. After a moment, she let out a rough half-hearted chuckle. “Sorry” she sighed, sliding her hand off her face. She still leaned on her leg as her hand slid to her neck, fingers idly rubbing the cool surface of the band aid. She looked over at him and smiled sheepishly. “I just woke up, I probably should wait before I go twenty questions” she commented, before her eyes finally noticed the box he had. She didn’t ask him about it, but simply offered a curious tired look upon seeing it.
So, Ricki was awake - a huge relief already, although it was largely tempered by Jason's own physical exhaustion and paranoia concerning the entire mess. It was a good thing, that he wouldn't deny, but by and large they were still in the same position as before - with the mass bruising and the arm and leg injuries the trainer wasn't going to be moving any time soon, and Jason couldn't help but feel that would be the least of his problems. As he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him, the man couldn't help but notice Ricki's attempt to move from the bed, and yet another concern entered his head. Knowing Ricki, chances were that she would not be content to simply sit in place and heal - if he had any word to describe her after the last few months, "restless" would probably be the most appropriate. The kind of injuries that she had were not going to heal overnight, especially not with Ricki's eating habits, and in that moment Jason was already starting to regret some of the items he'd brought in the box tucked under his arm - not like there was much he could do about that now, though, and at the very least it would help with his guilt a little bit. Beyond that he'd just need to keep an eye on what Ricki did until she finally recovered.... which meant that he would probably be devoting most if not all of the time he had available to that particular chore. The next few weeks were going to be interesting at the least.
"I'm fine, and so is everyone else. They were all arrested when the police showed up, no casualties on either side." Jason said, stepping away from the door to pull up one of the chairs next to Ricki's bed and moving to sit. Beyond that, however, Jason didn't elaborate - more than that, he didn't particularly want to. What had happened back in the Rocket's building was.... new for him, and not in a good way. It was the first time that anything had really been that personal for him, and he had understood why separating emotions from work was one of the first lessons he'd been taught after being taken - and strangely enough, Jason couldn't help but be thankful for that. He had not been in control of himself that night, and as much as he didn't want to admit it things might have ended up very differently if Ricki had already been unconscious when he had reached her. In any case, that was neither here nor there - Jason had never really been one to dwell on the past or what might have happened, there was little point to it. It couldn't be changed, so there was no use in putting time or effort into thinking about those things when the present was what mattered.
"Don't worry about it, you just woke up." Jason replied, simply sitting there for a few moments as the trainer seemed to fumble with her words - understandable enough given the sudden shift in scenery and situation from when she was last conscious, assuming that the memory of it all had been in her head from the moment she woke up. Which, frankly speaking, was fairly obvious given the last questions. Almost as soon as her voice faltered, though, Jason noticed her eyes edging towards the box he was holding, and without further delay Jason would hold it out for her to take - and on opening it she would find several things contained within. Most notably, the remains of her figurine collection, all having been recovered from the room before the police arrived - while many of them were broken and in various states of disrepair, those that remained even remotely intact would be contained within cocoons of bubble wrap to prevent further damage, along with Ricki's PokeGear and the other small valuables collected on the off chance that the local law enforcement would have kept them all as evidence. Tucked into the far corner of the box in what little space remained, a small package of powdered doughnuts, just recently picked up as an afterthought only minutes ago - the least that Jason could think of along the lines of beginning to apologize for the mess.
"I didn't know how much of it you wanted to keep, but the Gear seemed important at least."
Post by Ricki Jace on Jan 24, 2014 17:29:36 GMT -5
I have 1,201 WORDS for JASON THAM
“… no casualties on either side.”
She rattled her mind briefly for what ‘casualties’ meant, before the definition clicked. She relaxed at that moment, rather relieved that no one had died that night. He’d listened to her, and kept his hands clean. She knew he’d have a cleaner conscious without another death on his hands. Vane, despite not deserving it, would live to see another day, but most likely, he’d be seeing nothing but bars and orange prison suits for a while. Although a part of her mind wandered if Jason was lying, and said that to avoid upsetting her. Then her thoughts pointed out that this was Jason, Mr. No Curses, No Lies, and Virtue, and she dismissed the very thought of him covering his deed. After the week she’d had, she doubted he’d bother trying to cover up anything else for a long time. She wouldn’t really appreciate being lied to, and at this moment, she was just happy she wouldn’t have to really think about how she would’ve reacted if Jason had dropped the bomb of Vane’s death on her.
With the questions she had struggled to say now being answered, she seemed a little looser, no longer having that worry weighing on her. She apologized for her struggle to speak, before he went ahead to assure her it was no issue. She couldn’t keep down a small tired smile in response to that, especially when he handed her a box following her curious glance. If she would take the moment to consider the situation, she may have found this whole thing absolutely mind-blowing. Jason was this ex-assassin, a man with a lot of blood on his hands, and there those hands were, offering her a box full of her things and a small present for her as well, a sort of beginning to a silent apology.
She took the box from him, settling her leg down to provide a flat surface with her lap. She set the box down and pulled apart the flaps with a curious hum as he offered a very basic description of the contents. Well, she knew her Gear was in there at least. She pulled it out first, flicking it on and almost immediately broke out with laughter when the first thing to greet her was the image Ramona had sent her a few weeks back. Druddigons were so fabulous. Her tired smile grew upon seeing the image, and she briefly went through the settings, wondering if Vane had messed with anything he shouldn’t have touched, or if there were any messages she’d missed. She did notice several unknown phone numbers had attempted to call her phone, probably concerning her work, so she’d worry about those later.
Looking up and around for a moment, Ricki’s eyes locked on the tray that was built onto the side of the bed, typically pulled out for food to be set on it. She reached over and pulled it over to set the Gear on it so not to lose it on her bed. With the Gear set aside, her focus went back to the box, and she pulled out one of the bubble wrapped figurines. First of all, yes, bubble wrap, and secondly, yes, figurine! She briefly used her teeth to peel off the bit of tape holding the wrap in place and immediately seemed to light up upon the sight of her Entei figurine being mostly intact. Part of his silver mask had been broken off, but for the most part, he seemed to survive the Figurine Apocalypse. She set him on the tray, the bubble wrap was held down by the gear, before she looked back inside with a sudden new eagerness.
Despite the fact everything in the box was originally her’s, other than the package of donuts she’d yet to notice, it was just a relief to be able to see everything again. A little broken and damaged, sure, but almost everything was here. No reset button, no loss forever, she still had her things from her travels, her little bits of memories. She was ready to pull the bubble wrap off the next figure, before her eyes caught sight of a few loose pieces. She lightly pushed them around; in her mind already noting which piece belonged to which Legendary. “How good are you with a hot glue gun?” she briefly questioned, seeming lost in distant thoughts, as she picked up the broken off tail of her Articuno. She studied the place it had broken at, lightly brushing her thumb over it before glancing back in the box. Even if Jason didn’t take up the task of gluing everything together, Ricki would more than likely do it herself, but insist on slaking glue instead of hot glue.
As she dug through the box once more, she’d hear the shift of plastic and looked to the side to see the package of powdered doughnuts. She blinked a few times, confused and surprised to see it as she hadn’t been carrying any snacks in her bag. She picked it up and looked over at Jason, before glancing back down at her favorite treat. With a light flustering of her cheeks, she grinned as it clicked in her head just where the donuts most likely came from. “Thank you” she chuckled lightly, before using her teeth once more to pull the bag open. Whether or not she was supposed to really start eating right off the bat wasn’t a thought that concerned her at the moment. She was just glad to have something offered to her that wasn’t some cheap meal thrown together to just make sure she didn’t starve. She set the open package on the table and plucked out a donut. Popping one in her mouth, she took the second one and offered it to him with a curious hum.
Though, in the process of turning to him with the offered snack, Ricki’s eyes briefly caught sight of her bag just before moving to Jason. Right… Inside the bag were things of his. She waited for him to either take or deny the donut. ( If denied, she’d just put it back in the package. ) Ricki looked back down at the box and carefully slid it so it was set to the side. She wiped off her mouth and chewed carefully as she considered her thoughts, before looking over at Jason.
Her brief peppy nature had seemed to dim as she began to consider what she was about to do. She pointed across the room over at her duffel bag and swallowed. “Can you grab my bag?” she requested softly. “I… Uh…” she paused, suddenly considering just what she did and the potential it had for upsetting Jason. The hesitance suddenly made it very clear she’d done something. “There’s something of your’s in there” she mumbled, glancing back to her box, her hand moving from the air to gently come back and lightly rub and scratch at the band-aid on her neck. She reached over to the package of donuts and popped another one in her mouth, chewing slowly with the intent of making it an excuse to not speak anymore.
By The Way; A brief moment of happiness by terrible terrible things because the sooner it's out there, the better she's sure.
As Ricki began to sift through the box's contents, Jason simply remained silent for the most part. He was at least somewhat glad that she was happy with his apology, as well as the fact that what had been intended as a peace offering of sorts was apparently not entirely necessary in that respect, although it once again kind of drove the fact home that he wasn't what most would consider normal. In all honesty, he had somewhat expected anger from her - she was definitely more than entitled to it, considering what he'd kept from her and the resulting consequences that had come of it, and while he was admittedly rather relieved at the unexpected reaction it admittedly confused him as well. Still, that was neither here nor there, and he wasn't going to voice a question to ruin the moment for the trainer - he'd been responsible for enough over the last few days, and the focus now was on making sure she recovered, not reopening wounds and issues. Which, awkwardly enough, would make addressing the other needs and issues that were directly related to the last few days more than difficult without tempting fate in that regard - Ricki had never exactly been one to hold back with her opinions or emotions, and Jason did not like his odds when it came to broaching a subject as sensitive as the recent kidnapping without touching a nerve.
"I've never really used one before, but I can try to repair them if you want. I learn pretty fast and it's the least I can do." Jason replied, snapped back to the situation by what was seemingly just an off handed question, Ricki herself still taking the time to inspect the recovered figurines in the box. Not a task he honestly thought possible, but they had the pieces... and maybe they hadn't been smashed too badly? A bit optimistic in his personal opinion, but there wasn't much harm in trying to do it. If it worked, it worked, and one less thing broken from the mess. If it didn't.... well, it didn't, and they'd still have what was left. At least assuming that Ricki didn't try to leave the bed before she'd at least healed enough to safely move on her own - forcing her to try and repair them herself would definitely be a way to keep her in place for at least a few hours, and Jason almost immediately regretted so openly volunteering to try and do it himself. Well, it was still an option - he'd just have to watch how he worded it, and to be honest she was probably far better suited to try and repair them than he was, especially considering that she actually knew what the Pokemon were supposed to look like. Short of Ho-oh and Lugia from the League incident years ago, Jason hadn't seen any of the creatures before and had never gone sifting through the trainer's belongings to be able to recall how the other broken ones originally appeared. With Ricki's next words, however, Jason felt at least some of his guilt alleviated and the beginnings of a small smile, only to be put on guard again by what immediately followed.
Some of his things? What was she talking about? As far as he knew, Jason had left nothing - at least not physically. No evidence of his presence at the scene, and as for anything else... he didn't have anything for Ricki to have recovered. He hadn't owned anything during his time with Team Rocket that he hadn't been wearing and taken with him when he'd left them two and a half years ago, and what little material possessions he did own were in a safe place, hidden inside of an inn towards the city outskirts. What had Ricki found during her time with her abductors that could even be considered as belonging to him? Eyes following Ricki's finger, Jason paused to get up from his seat, crossing the room to reach the indicated back and slowly unzipping it open - only to calmly stop on seeing the papers inside and the contents of the first few on the top before calmly zipping the bag shut. While he was very interested in hearing how she had gotten her hands on the papers when she had been barely conscious at best when he'd left her, there was a more pressing concern forming in his head.
"Ricki, who else has seen these? Who else knows that they exist?" Jason asked, voice calm and measured. As things stood it would be tricky enough with the Rockets in police custody - as far as Jason knew he'd done a nearly perfect job of staying off of police radar over the years, and while they might have known of his existence, there was no real substance to it. They didn't know what he looked like or have any evidence to point towards him being real apart from the work he did while stuck with Team Rocket - no evidence that could have helped them identify him, and that was liable to change now that the people who knew who he was were in cells. There wouldn't be much to their claims aside from the fact that most of their stories would be identical, but were there to be concrete, physical evidence to support their claims.... things would be messy enough if the police decided to follow up on their word even without that.
Whether or not Jason would take up the task of fixing the figurines, Ricki was pretty sure she’d end up taking over the project herself. She had spent plenty of times just looking at the things, toying with them, and at the moments of the greatest boredom, playing with them, it would be relatively simple to remember what part went where. If Jason had ended up taking the job of putting the pieces together again, she’d take on the task of telling him what went where. Probably a fun project and a way to kill the time without putting stress on her body. It could only hold her at bay for so long, though. Ricki was an energetic person, someone who couldn’t stay still for too long unless she was just too tired to move. She was a lazy active person, what a contradiction.
The thoughts about the figurines were all lost and forgotten as attention shifted to address more serious matters. A once light and calm atmosphere now growing slightly tenser as Ricki brought the focus to her bag containing something of Jason’s. His own small smile she’d briefly noticed was gone in an instant at the words and she immediately regretted her idea of bringing that up now. The sooner the better, she silently reminded herself. As Jason got up to get the requested bag, Ricki continued her slow chewing process on the donuts, looking back up from the box to watch him cross the room.
He opened the bag, and immediately closed it.
“Who else has seen these? Who else knows that they exist?”
Guess the papers slid into view after the little amount of stuff remaining in the bag got jostled around. They were still there though, which meant Rep had kept a good eye on the bag. Ricki swallowed the donut and studied her friend for a moment. Those were simple questions to answer. “As far as I know…” she trailed off, once more recalling the content of the files in full. When she started back up, she managed to keep her own voice calm and used a solemn voice that was for relaying information, though she still carried the tired croak of a worn throat. “Besides the people involved in the making of them, just Vane, the uh… Guy with the miss-matched eyes, the person who interrogated me first, and myself…” Ricki’s gaze drifted out the window, head rising up slightly as she realized it had once more started snowing outside. Hopefully, Rep was alright in the cold.
“From the people I saw with us on the way here, I don’t think the interrogator was with the group that was holding up that building… All those other guys didn’t know that much, either. Just doing what they were told, playing guards for the king of douchebags himself” she tacked on, turning her gaze back up to Jason. She hesitated for a moment, part of her wondering if it had been a bad idea to take the file. Though, she wasn’t sure what the repercussion for that would be since it wasn’t in Rocket’s hands and it definitely wouldn’t find its way into the hands of the police, either. She was vaguely familiar with police work from her days as a teenaged rebel. You get shoved in an interrogation room, evidence slapped down on the table, and some guy lecturing you angrily. Though, she’d get away with a slap on the wrist most of the time, her mother or Arcane helping with that.
Still, in this case, those files were going to be most likely brought up by Vane in an attempt to take Jason down with them. With how she’d gone about replacing the files’ papers, surely the police wouldn’t bother pursuing that lead any further, though. They most likely may have already talked to Jason about this situation, and got a bit of an idea of what he was like. Ricki could only think of how that had gone, but hoped they had formed the same kind of mental image of Jason that she had had when she first met him herself. He was just some introverted goody-two shoes who grew up probably very sheltered, and didn’t socialize much. Now with that image of Jason in mind, having the psychotic asshole that was Vane, who had been caught red handed with a beaten up kidnapped woman, suddenly declaring this awkward guy was an assassin? And the file he’d probably ask them to look at was full of nothing but blank paper? Do not get paid enough for that crazy bullshit, she could practically hear some old grumpy officer say.
Post by Jason Tham on Feb 14, 2014 18:26:21 GMT -5
I DON'T WANNA BE BROKEN
I HAVE 922 WORDS FOR Richelle Jace
Less people than expected, but still more than Jason had hoped. Vane, simply put, would complicate things - Jason knew people like him, and he probably wouldn't hesitate to trade the police information in exchange for a deal, and if Vane convinced them them that he had been hunting someone dangerous the authorities just might work with him. As for the other one, though, that was a loose end, and Jason didn't like those. Loose ends meant trouble, and usually in ways that you did not expect or see coming until they were already there and you were unprepared to handle them. He had no idea if the other Rocket Ricki was talking about had been arrested, or if it was another one from a different hide out - they had transported her to Celadon from wherever she was being held before that, and for all he knew there might have been one more member from the cell running free. Worse than that, there was no way to confirm it short of a line up of all the Rockets that had been arrested, and Jason didn't like the idea of her moving just yet - especially not given the other developments. If there was still a cell member loose, moving Ricki around in the open like that would be foolish at best, and even assuming that he had been caught, attempting to confirm it was just as likely to end with Jason himself arrested if they had Vane talking and they went to the station to confirm it. All of this, simply put, just led back to the earlier thoughts that Jason had been considering - it was no longer safe for either of them to remain in Kanto or Johto, and he should never had returned from Sevii.
As much as Jason wanted to bring up the fact that they needed to leave the regions as soon as possible, however, there was a time and place for doing so. Attempting to leave even just the city, nevermind the hospital itself, would not help with Ricki's recovery, and with her injured as she was the stress of travel would only complicate things - even worse, it would slow both their progress and her ability to heal. As far as the hospital itself went, however, they were safe - Team Rocket was not the boogeyman it once was, and they wouldn't dare attack a building in as public a manner as would be needed to reach them there. Both of them had time, at least as far as that went - at the very least she could take what time she needed to heal enough to properly move again, and once that happened then they'd be able to leave, and it would be then that he would bring the subject up. On that note, however, a thought occurred to Jason. When he had managed to finally reach Ricki before, he hadn't paused to check her wounds beyond the fact that they were not lethal or life endangering - beyond that, however, he had done nothing but call for the paramedics. While he knew exactly how much damage the human body could take and exactly how to inflict it, Jason's skills as a healer were laughable at best unless it involved the bare basics of bandaging and disinfecting a flesh wound.
"Next time the doctors stop by to visit, ask them about the shape you're in? I'm no nurse or healer myself, and I didn't get much chance to check before. It'll be helpful to know exactly how far you've got to go." Jason said, leaving the bag where it was but still within eye shot as he stood and began to make his way back to the chair from before.
"Also, is there anything I can do regarding your Pokemon? I thought I saw Rep out earlier on the way back."
Post by Ricki Jace on Feb 15, 2014 18:57:05 GMT -5
I have 1,332 WORDS for JASON THAM
In response to her explanation of the files, Jason had fallen silent. Nothing new there as she knew he had always been a quiet person, though it made her wonder what was going through his mind a lot. Especially now knowing the burden he bared for the things he’d done, she briefly wondered if when he was left to get lost in his own mind how many times the past came back to haunt him. She regretted many of the things she herself had done, but it all seemed to pale in comparison to the man across the room. As he just stood there in thought, Ricki almost wanted to prompt him to explain what he was going on inside his head, before he finally broke the silence with a question.
She just gave a nod, inwardly noting that she was planning to do that anyways. Even without seeing it, she knew she was getting a dosage of painkillers and with her arm and leg being hard to move, they may have been numbed or simply the muscles just refused to move. Hopefully it wasn’t some sort of sign of paralysis; she had had her head banged multiple times whilst in captivity. She was no medical expert either, though, so it was all about what the doctor had to say about her condition. She could see the clipboard at the end of her bed and she lightly prodded at it with her foot when Jason asked another question. She looked up at him, blinking a couple of times, before immediately a train of thoughts struck her concerning her Pokémon.
She rubbed the back of her neck, hand once more sliding to lightly scratch at the band aid. “He probably went to get the pokeballs fixed…” she started off to give reason as to why Rep may have been wandering around. “All of them were busted so no one’s been able to get out for the past week. Heh, hopefully it won’t cost much, if anything, to fix them” she mumbled, looking over at her bag. Rep probably took her wallet just in case. “When he gets back really they just need to be let out to get some fresh air after being trapped for so long” she stated, looking over at Jason. “Food, too, would be good. Just some generic stuff from the local store will do the trick. They’re not picky. My wallet should be in my bag, if not Rep has it, or well…” The last option for where her wallet may have been was too obvious she didn’t bother to suggest it.
“I didn’t have Pester or Nibbler out this time, so they shouldn’t cause any kind of trouble. If Spooker does take off, just leave him be, he always comes back. Part of the deal we had when I caught him, I let him go off like that when he wants so long as he always comes back” she lightly chuckled, offering a small smile as she thought about her Pokémon. They were probably worried sick and absolutely anxious after being inside those pokeballs for so long. She made a note that when she was more fit to move around she’d have to ask Jason to switch out her current team for the Pokémon on her PC so they could run around as well. She plucked one of the powder donuts from the plastic wrapping and as she popped it into her mouth, there was another knock on the door. Without waiting for a response, the knocker would open the door and poke his head in.
The nurse who had knocked paused when he registered the sight of the patient being awake and eating. Well… That was definitely a good sign. Smiling delightfully at the sight, he made his way into the room, merrily greeting them with a “Good afternoon.” He walked over to pick up Ricki’s clipboard and pulling a pen from his pocket to start scribbling something down. “How long have you been awake?”
Ricki blinked a couple of times, before slowly shrugging. She swallowed the donut, and whilst wiping the powder from her face with her hand, she got to the task of answering “Not that long. I woke up just a bit before he got back, so I dunno… Almost an hour?” With a shrug, she shifted her focus to the box Jason had brought her and quietly began to toy with the pieces while the nurse got to the task of twenty questions about her current condition. Yes, she was sore, but it was bearable. Yeah, groggy, headache, light headed. She didn’t put up much trouble as they went through a basic check-up, including checking her heart beat, blood pressure and such. The young man going through the process was a bit put-off by her nonchalant nature of speaking about her condition after the week of Hell she must have been through, but he avoided pushing any buttons that may trigger a switch in mood. The psychologist and doctors could deal with that. After the routine was complete, the nurse settled the remaining notes. “So, what’s the overall damage?” Ricki asked, once more subconsciously scratching at the band aid on her neck.
“Well…” he paused to glance at the notes on the clipboard that had been made. He seemed hesitant to list off all the wounds, but with a glance at Ricki, he simply settled for a look towards Jason instead. “Nothing too severe. Both wounds to her arm and leg were stitched shut, and will feel numb for a while” he started, before once more looking to Ricki who just seemed curious to hear what he had to say. “You have severe bruising on your ankles, shins, arms, and over all torso… We also caught signs of a concussion, but it’s only mild and should be fine within the week. There were mild burns to the back of your thighs, but they’ve already begun to heal on their own. We just cleaned the wounds and wrapped them up. They’ll just have to be changed every once in a while to keep the bandages fresh.”
Ricki blinked a couple of times at the mention of the burns, before recalling the initial shock that had been the first thing to drag her into this mess. She nodded at the words, and without prompt, the nurse proceeded to explain that it was best that she rest for a couple of weeks. He pointed over at the doughnuts with his pen and gave a light teasing smile to her. “And, of course, might be wise to not snack too much.”
Ricki simply retorted by plucking a doughnut from the package and popping it in her mouth. The nurse merely laughed at the response and set the clipboard back in place, pocketing his pen. He looked back over to Jason with smile and explained “A doctor will come by later to get a better look at her, but I feel safe to say she’ll probably just need to be here for a few days to make sure everything has started to heal properly… I, also, believe a few officers may be interested in talking to her, along with one of the therapists, just some protocol for this kind of situation.” The news turned Ricki’s content state into one of slight irritation. She didn’t like talking to cops, and she was pretty sure if she talked to a therapist, she’d lose her temper. The nurse didn’t seem to catch her mood change though as he simply moved to start heading out of the room to continue his route through the hospital. Ricki swallowed down the doughnut and slid her hand back into her hair, pushing her bangs back in a messy fashion.
“Away from one interrogation and on my way to two more” she mumbled mostly to herself, shutting her eyes. At least time her head wouldn’t be smashed into a table if she didn’t want to talk.
By The Way; I am not medicla-literate so sorry if the nurse's dialogue is off? Can edit post if need to, make it shorter in case there's a section you know Jason would've cut in at, etc. Don't mind at all.
Post by Jason Tham on Feb 19, 2014 19:24:32 GMT -5
NO LONGER WILL I HAVE TO REWIND THE PAST
Jason knew that much from having seen the balls when he had found her, but it was good to know that they were getting fixed - staying locked in the Pokeballs couldn't have been comfortable for the creatures inside, and Jason himself would feel far more at ease with the knowledge that he wouldn't be the only one watching out for Ricki come the next hour or two. He'd already gone at least two days without sleep, and he had no desire to go a third - it was something he had done in the past but never aspired to again. Rep as well, for that matter. Lucario were well known for being incredibly loyal, and Jason had a feeling that the creature had slept about the same amount as he had since getting Ricki to the hospital - that was to say, not at all, and there was a point where it would start proving detrimental to the creature's health. One thing led to another, and while Jason had found the Pokemon slowly beginning to grow on him, especially after their last little jaunt, that was also going to stress the trainer out sooner or later and lead right back to the reason they weren't leaving then and there. As for the cost of repairing the orbs, chances were that the local Pokemon Center would repair them for free, and if not he would foot the bill with his own earnings from the last couple of months - Pokeballs didn't cost much, and the only real bit Jason saw any conceivable difficulty with was transferring the Pokemon from one orb to another given the registration system that was in place to stop other trainers from stealing Pokemon that had been caught.
As Ricki started to go over the individual quirks of her Pokemon, what to worry about and what not to, Jason simply listened as he finally made his way back over from the now closed bag and to his earlier seat. Two things to be immediately grateful for - Ricki's two most active Pokemon were apparently in her personal storage, something that would make watching them infinitely easier. While Pester was normally quite manageable - the critter's mind was actually laughably basic and easy to anticipate once you got past the idea that all Pokemon weren't made equal in terms of personality and ability - watching both him and Nibbler would've been the difficult part. Pester, for all of his hyperactivity, was swayed by three things - warmth, food and small, moving objects. Nibbler, on the other hand, was far less predictable, and Jason didn't like his odds at keeping just the one Pokemon under control, let alone both of them at once. A terrifying thought, to put it mildly, and Jason's mind was preoccupied enough with the hypothetical damage control that he almost didn't even notice the nurse open the door behind him, glancing back only when Ricki paused to speak to the man and ask him the same question that Jason had asked her moments before, to which she had merely toed the chart at the end of the bed.
All in all, it was really far better than Jason had expected, and as the nurse continued to speak the man found himself almost unconsciously relaxing. If the wounds to her arm and leg were the worst of it, they would probably be on their way in less than a couple of weeks - the wounds wouldn't be healed by then, but in this case it was apparently more quantity than quality. A good thing, too - one of the big concerns Jason had when he had initially seen her was the possibility of broken ribs, a favorite choice with interrogators. Lots of pain, slow to heal but with minimal risk of permanent or lethal harm - thankfully, however, not the case here, although what the nurse said next had Jason concerned. He knew that the police would want to speak to Ricki eventually, but he had figured there would be a little more time until they made their move. While the visit was fairly standard at first glance, especially if she wanted to pursue any sort of legal action against Vane and his compatriots, Jason also had to wonder how much more there was to it. Vane, as he had mused earlier, was still a concern, and there had been at least ten Rockets in that building that were in far worse condition than a single captive could have put them in - and with so many stories matching up among those arrested, they would want to compare those accounts against the one individual who was the victim in it all. While their collective word would carry weight, much of how the situation was handled would fall onto Ricki's testimony.
"... I hate to say it, but talking to them is probably going to be the best way to keep Vane in prison, at least for a while. It'll give you the opportunity to explain exactly what he did and formally press charges, although I'm not sure I should be here for that. I'm not ruling out the possibility that he told them about me, and I don't want to risk providing his claims with fuel if the police find me here." Jason said, waiting until the nurse had left the room before speaking. Blunt, but also to the point - the last thing he wanted to do was complicate the matter any more than he already had, and his presence there would definitely begin to make people start to wonder about Vane's earlier claims if they hadn't been already. More than that, all the evidence that the police would ever need was in that bag not more than two meters away from the both of them - not something he wanted to leave laying around given who was likely to be paying Ricki a visit.
Post by Ricki Jace on Feb 26, 2014 16:35:27 GMT -5
I have 774 words for JASON THAM
By The Way; One week time skip Ricki made her way to the elevator, feel free to have Jason either inside of it, or whatever you think'll be the most amusing
Ricki slowly looked over at Jason as he informed her that the chat with the police would be the best way to get Vane to stick in jail. She sighed and looked up in thought, before letting her head simply fall to look back at her box of trinkets. She rolled slightly to turn her back a bit to Jason and just dug into the box to pull out another bubble wrapped figurine while he spoke. Blunt and valid as always, Ricki took a moment to glance back over her shoulder at him before just nodding and returning to the box. “Got it” she softly commented, before just sliding to lay there and toy with some of the bubble wrap in silence.
What was she going to tell them…?
It had been a week of being in the hospital, a week of occasionally talking to police, psychiatrists, and now it seemed like everything was ready to finally be closed. Ricki had managed to cement Vane’s jail time, and played ignorant to the fact she had been saved by some masked crusader that the captured kidnappers insisted had come in to kick their ass. She even started to call this mysterious figure her ‘Tuxedo Mask’ when asked by anyone, though she didn’t let any conversation focus on that too long, and would smoothly transition topics to other subjects of interest. Like how much better she felt, what she would do if she could see that calico eyed freak Vane, and her zany tales about the scars she had. She was certainly lively in front of nurses but when finally left to just her, Jason, and / or her Pokémon, she relented. After the week she went through, she was really still recovering from everything. Sleep was hard to get with how many times she’d jolt herself awake from a nightmare she couldn’t recall, or when she’d try to get up, only to get put back in place on the bed and lectured.
The live wire had lost her spark for the time being, but she was trying to work on her own remedy for that. Just a few minutes ago, she had asked Jason to go grab her something to eat from the cafeteria. She anticipated some sort of healthy buffet with a small dessert on the side, but she hoped he’d take his sweet time so she could at least enjoy freedom for a few minutes. Once the door was shut behind his back and he was no longer in sight of the windows, Ricki gradually moved on the bed to the edge. She had hardly walked much if at all with her injured leg so the moment she tried to place weight on it, the young woman nearly crumbled. With a swift twist, she managed to catch herself with her good arm, though.
Her golden eyes trailed over the hospital room, before stopping on her bag that had been moved to her bed side table. She made her way over to it, dug around for a few seconds, before pulling out a pair of black old sweats. In a couple of minutes of shifting and maneuvering, she managed to tug them on, then her focus went to the crutch leaning against the wall a few feet away. She gave a small smile at the sight of it and slowly made her way over. Just some fresh air, that’s really all she needed right now. Shoving the crutch under her shoulder and finally starting to make some actual decently paced progress to the door, she grinned to herself.
Upon getting to the door, the bare footed young woman slowly pushed it open and looked around, seeing the hallway was practically empty minus a kid in a wheelchair seeming to be waiting for someone. Ricki held up a finger to her lip in a silent gesture to keep this quiet, before she started to step out. Hobbling her way down the hall, she did her best to avoid bringing attention to herself while heading for the elevators. The floor was so cold, and the world outside was still covered in snow, so she had a feeling that even if she did manage to get out through the front entrance, her feet wouldn’t be able to handle the cold. So, she decided to go for another means of an exit. Once the elevator would open, Ricki had no intention of going down, but instead of going up to the highest floor she could. She wasn’t sure how she’d manage the stairs, but once she found the roof access, she’d get her kick from up there.
Post by Jason Tham on Mar 20, 2014 10:27:22 GMT -5
NO LONGER WILL I HAVE TO REWIND THE PAST
A week gone by, and if Jason hadn't known any better he would have sworn that Ricki had dealt with the police before in her past - not in the way that most people typically did, either. While he had made a distinct effort not to be seen around her much save for by the hospital staff as avoiding them was a practical impossibility, from what little Jason had seen and heard of the proceedings Ricki was exceptionally skilled at misdirection, almost seemingly in proportion for her rather poor ability to lie - rather than repeatedly deny his involvement she had only done so once or twice, and then proceeded to answer the questions with sarcasm and treat them as jokes before changing the subject. Seemingly back to normal by most accounts, but people didn't recover that fast, not without being damaged in less obvious ways beforehand, and it showed. Not in front of the police or hospital workers, but definitely when left on her own or during the few times Jason had stopped by to check in on her. It wasn't anything overly obvious, but more a feeling of fatigue that she seemed to give off, and the fact that she didn't seem able to really sleep - all in all, honestly good things as there was something very wrong if Ricki was just able to shrug that off and put it behind her so easily. It was a healthy manner of coping with the incident, and Jason wasn't going to worry about it unless it stuck with her for more than a few weeks - hopefully, however, it wouldn't, especially given the fact that the woman had been assigned psychologists, none of whom seemed overly concerned when they knew she wasn't looking or aware.
At least her appetite seemed to be coming back, though, judging from how much she was eating again, a fact that Jason couldn't help but reflect on as he rode the elevator down to the hospital's ground level. Another relatively good sign as far as recovery went, and as the metal box came to a stop and the doors slid open the man would waste little time as he left and began moving down the hall towards the hospital cafeteria, pausing only a moment as the food service workers glanced over his way and took note of his presence before returning to their duties - whether or not that was a good or bad thing, Jason still couldn't tell. Obviously they were aware of him and recognized him on site, but after the first day he had made a conscious effort not to eat as much as he usually did - frankly speaking it hadn't seemed to be well received the first time, and more than that it was the realization that he and Ricki were on a budget now. Jason was pretty sure he knew how they'd been found the first time, and he had no intention of repeating the incident again anytime soon - and so, without taking much time to stop and talk with anyone he would wordlessly move through the cafeteria, grabbing a tray and picking out a few relatively modest food items from the line up. Relatively, anyways - probably just enough to fall short of Ricki being full given how much she usually ate, and after paying for the meal he would leave the room and head straight back to the elevator before using his elbow to press the button for Ricki's floor.
Doors sliding shut and the floor under his feet gently lurching as the elevator began its upward climb again, Jason's mind would begin to briefly wander once more, this time namely to the documents Ricki had stolen from the Rockets. The more and more he thought about it, the less likely it seemed that she had been able to actually wipe all mention of him from their records. No slight on her part, but the organization was nothing if not methodical, with some of the most valued people within it being glorified accountants and money movers - redundancy and back ups were almost mandatory when it came to things of importance, and it didn't seem likely that the files Ricki had access to were the only copies in existence. Regardless of that, though, the real question was what to do with the ones they had in their possession. He'd managed to smuggle them out of the hospital, but to be perfectly frank they were borderline useless at best in his or Ricki's hands - short of intending to turn himself into the police, an action that would frankly fix nothing, there wasn't much to be done with them save destroying what was basically incriminating evidence. A thought that, honestly, he liked - aside from the possibly therapeutic value he doubted that Ricki's Arcanine or Typhlosion were getting much exercise, and Jason couldn't help but feel that they would probably enjoy it as much as he might.
With only a few moments having passed, however, the elevator would again come to a stop, doors slowly sliding open - not, however, to something Jason had been expecting or something that he really liked. Standing directly in front of him instead of the bed where she was supposed to be, held up by a crutch tucked under one arm and dressed in black sweats rather than a hospital gown was Ricki - obviously with the intent to go somewhere, and it didn't take long for her earlier request for food to take on a double meaning, the brief look of surprise on Jason's face passing after only a moment to settle into a far more neutral expression as he simply remained silent for several moments, eyes locked onto the young woman and food tray still in hand.
Post by Ricki Jace on Mar 25, 2014 12:41:18 GMT -5
I have 707 words for JASON THAM
By The Way; But Jason... Snow
Shifting quietly against the crutch, a small hint of paranoia pulled at her mind to lead her to look back over the area behind her. It was a simple work area, nurses and doctors buzzing about but nothing urgent pressing them to rush, yet. Quirking her brow, she glanced back in the direction of the child she’d seen earlier had been, noting a nurse heading that way. She wondered for a moment what that kid was there for, but the thought was nothing she’d investigate. It was a means to pass the time as she waited for the elevator to come up to her flo—Wait. Ricki’s head snapped to look up at the elevator’s glowing numbers to see it was coming up to her.
But, what were the odds?
It didn’t take her that long to put on the pants and grab the crutch to hobble down here right?
Wrong… As usual.
The elevator doors slowly slid open like a gate way to Hell. The gatekeeper seemed displeased and Ricki could only stand there for a long awkward moment. She slowly glanced over her shoulder as if to try and find out if maybe he were staring down another forsaken soul, but it was just Ricki alone awaiting judgment. Her eyes hesitantly went back up to meet the dark blue gaze that just seemed to be waiting for her to even try and barter her way out of this one. She even began to open her mouth, creaking out an awkward grin that was going to clearly attempt to turn this into some sort of joke. The lie was scrambling to form in her mind but it wasn’t nearly as fine cut as the ones she had shot towards the police. Spewing bullshit off the top of her head was very much different from reciting a tale she had practically memorized prior to the time it was needed. Especially when it was growing dangerously obvious that the man between her and freedom did not look to be in the mood for it at all.
Biting her tongue, the grin shrinking away, Ricki merely cleared her throat. She glanced down at the tray of food he brought and suddenly found her appetite was lost. Not because the food presented was gross, even if it wasn’t something to write home about, but simply because it looked like nothing more than a tool to her at the moment. It was supposed to keep him stalled long enough for her to get outside somehow before someone noticed she was gone, but her plan had failed. There wasn’t even a word that needed to be uttered between them, his look said a thousand things all summarized in one way.
Get back to bed.
With a heavy dejected sigh, she turned around and began to make the walk of shame back to her bed. She was almost flustered in appearance as she went, catching a curious glance from a few passing nurses, but she paid them no mind. As she walked, she almost just wanted to throw the crutch down and ask to be carried, but she was already anticipating some sort of lecture or increased watching duties as a result of this escape attempt. When she made her way back into the room, she just went straight to the bed, leaning the crutch up against the wall in a vain hope that Jason wouldn’t move it. She cautiously turned to push herself up into place but rather than moving to properly lay on the bed, the flustered young woman just flopped back on the mattress to let her head crane back and stare out the window longingly at the falling snow.
“I wanna go outside” she finally softly muttered, reaching up to grab the tray connected to her bed and carefully drag it over to hover over the vacant part of the mattress for Jason to set the tray down. “I was just going to stand around for a bit, really, nothing too bad” she tacked on, as if hoping the mention that she hadn’t planned to go running around and building snowmen would have Jason give her some sort of break. It was unlikely though, and she sadly knew this.
Thankfully, things turned out to be a lot simpler than Jason had initially expected, although in hindsight..... exactly what he had been expecting to follow that, he couldn't say. It wasn't like Ricki was in any condition to try and make it past him and into the elevator or attempt to use the stairs, and as the woman turned around and began to hobble back to her room Jason would steady the tray between the wall and one hand before pressing the button to close the elevator doors and moving to follow her. Still, though.... it didn't exactly take a genius to figure her out. Ricki got bored fairly easily, and Jason more than anyone else knew what it was like to be stuck somewhere and forced to deal with the reality that going anywhere fast wasn't an option, and it was that thought - or rather, realization - that made him finally relax as he walked down the hall behind the hospital patient. Wheels still turning in his head, Jason didn't say anything as Ricki finally fell back onto the hospital bed, making no real attempt to get settled in. Placing the food on the bedside table and within her reach, Jason would simply pause as she spoke before moving to leave the room again, taking the crutches with him as he closed the door.
Sympathy was a funny thing. Almost every logical thought in his head was arguing to keep her locked up in the hospital, her room if possible in a best case scenario until she was ready and able to run or at least fend for herself again, but as Jason had noted before.... he did understand where she was coming from, and that more than anything else was what stuck out in his mind. Frankly speaking there really wouldn't be much to differentiate himself from the people that had done it to him if he kept her there, and the ability to choose was something he held in a fairly high regard. More than that, he frankly owed her - the recovery of her belongings earlier barely even began to cover something worthy of being called an apology for what happened, and as Jason continued to make his way down the hall and to one of the hospital storerooms he figured it was a calculated risk at best. The chances of anything happening in broad daylight was minimal, and more than that... well, it was a small price to pay if it kept her happy. Finding what he was looking for, Jason would exchange it for the crutches he had taken and begin making his way back to Ricki's room, folded up wheelchair in hand as he opened the door again and entered the room again.
"Finish the food first at least, and make sure you've got something a bit thicker than just sweats on?" Jason said, moving back to the seat he had taken to regularly occupying by her bedside, wheelchair remaining folded up next to him.
Laying carelessly across the bed, Ricki's head slowly craned to follow his movements as he set the food down. Muttering her desire, she noted Jason physically stopped moving for a moment before he started up, again. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she turned her attention away from him to study the food he'd gotten for her instead right up until she heard the sound of the crutches being moved. Ricki's head tilted to stare back towards him as he picked them up, walking away with them. Dropping back down on the mattress with a heavy sigh, she knew he would do that. It was too dangerous, it would be too risky, you're in no condition to be moving about...
Ricki immediately sat up the moment she heard the door open and she whirled around on the bed. Looking back, she was just in time to see the door shut, Jason no longer in the room and her crutches were gone. She didn't even know how to respond to that at first, simply staring at the door in brief disbelief of his dedication to get her to stay put. Gradually it sank in though, and the frown returned. Her eyes turned back to the food he had brought her, but with her appetite having been killed, all she could manage was to prod it thoughtlessly with the fork on the tray. After a long moment, she slowly slid to finally properly settle herself in on the bed. It was clear she wasn't going anywhere.
She wandered if he would come back, if maybe she had made him upset or angry. He didn't look happy at all when he saw her outside the elevator and she could only let out a heavy sigh. Way to go, Richell. His past had caught up to him, and she knew she was a pretty big factor in the reason the big bad in Jason's life had managed this. Why else would they choose to kidnap her and try to use her to get to him? Maybe if she hadn't plastered stupid posters everywhere with her number on them, maybe if she hadn't dragged him around and brought so much attention to them when she got angry in public...
Setting her elbows on the tray, she buried her face away into her hands, just frustrated with herself. She was so selfish. Her problems paled in comparison to his and here she was just trying to convince him to let her go outside. He put up with her antics, he dealt with her messes, and now that they were in the middle of something neither of them could have controlled, she was hardly helping. He had every right to lock her up, but she prayed that maybe he would change his mind. Bringing her hands from her face, Ricki eyed her meal once more, poking lightly at it before she finally began to just slowly eat for a lack of anything else to do. It'd be by the fourth bite that once more the door opened.
Switching her focus briefly from the food and to the door, Ricki managed a double take before her eyes locked on the sight of a wheel chair in Jason's hands. Did he... No way, he wasn't--
“Finish the food first at least, and make sure you've got something a bit thicker than just sweats on?”
Ricki froze, staring at Jason genuinely surprised. He was going to let her go outside? He actually got her a wheelchair for that very cause? She opened her mouth, shutting it and simply followed Jason to his seat with her eyes. Swallowing back a bite of food she'd been nibbling on, everything seemed to finally be sinking in. He was really going to let her go. He was probably going to be the one pushing her around in the chair, but... Well, she wouldn't complain about that. Her face started to brighten up once more, her previous gloom fading for a more favorable grin at him. Finish her food? Bring it on. Thicker pants than sweats? Well, she could just layer up with her baggy jeans, or just wrap herself up in her blanket.
“Alright!” she chimed with a new enthusiasm, turning her focus down to her food. It admittedly didn't look much more tempting after Jason's offer, but she was always one to persevere when dealing with an obstacle. “Thank you” she commented, before pausing and slowly glancing over at the wheelchair. The smile grew a bit more, the excitement undeniable. Outside, fresh air, snow and a temporary freedom from the hospital's small stagnant room? The simple gesture of taking her out was like the opening of the biggest box on Christmas morning for her. “Really, thank you, Jason” she repeated with softer tone, pure genuine gratitude being fairly obvious at that point. She gave a warm smile, before looking back down to begin eating as he requested.
As she dug in, she did take a moment to ask “You got something to eat, too, right?” Of course he would feed himself just fine, Ricki had no doubt Jason had some sort of feast at one point or another today, but she just wanted to be sure. When she'd woken up, he looked exhausted, clearly sleep had evaded him somehow. He looked a bit better now that she herself was awake, but the air was still mildly thick with tension of knowing that his resting period they were in could only last for so long before they needed to get out of there.
