awesmazings | Voicemail

_{[She breathes in wetly and rubs at her eyes with a hand. She's almost shaking with relief and fear, both at once, and she nods before she remembers he can't see it.]

[She's practically whispering when she says "okay", and when she says what number the room is, but then she just curls into herself and that's how he'll find her when he gets there, just hugging herself in the middle of one of the two beds with some pokémon giving her worried looks as she's just all tension.]

[She does look up at him sharply when he enters, though. The door is unlocked. Her eyes are wide but then she hurriedly moves towards him and moves to bury her face in his chest.]}

[When Jimmy gets outside, it's raining. Not hard, but enough to make the ground a little wet as he runs down the sidewalk to the hotel with Leader hot on his heels. By the time he makes it to the building he's well out of breath, but that doesn't stop him from sprinting from the lobby to where Molly said her room was.

He isn't surprised when she immediately latches on to him when he enters the room. Carefully, he moves down to one knee so he can reach her more easily, putting his arms around her so he can draw her close. In this situation...he really doesn't know what exactly to say to comfort her, but that's not going to stop him from trying.]

...Don't worry Molly. I'm here now, okay? You're not alone.

_{[She's really, honestly crying when he hugs her back and she clings to him even tighter, sobbing into his jacket and he's a little wet from the rain and she's not even really noticing. He's right there and he's not gone and he's not dead.]}

Sorry, I- _{I got scared, I didn't know what to do-

[In that scared, unsure, shaky tone that really says it all. But she keeps talking anyway, a hurried rush of stressed little words.]}

I can't see h-him I can't see him I can't see anyone ...

[Jimmy frowns, letting Molly hold onto him as tightly as she needs to. It's clear that she's both upset and terrified, so he's really glad that he and Joker happened to get back to town when they did.]

It's okay. It's okay...

[He murmurs, gently petting her hair in a way that he hopes is soothing to her. He can feel his Manectric hovering nearby, standing guard in the still open doorway to make sure nobody comes in uninvited.]

Don't cry...it's gonna be alright.

_{[It takes her a while to calm down enough to stop doing that thing where you're crying so hard you can't even really breathe, but she gets there the longer he just exists there and she can feel him touch her like that and she gets to hang onto him. There's more words in there, initially, half apologies and clipped off explanations but after a while she's just crying and after another while she's calmed down enough to lean on Jimmy and just rub her eyes with her hands.]}

I've never ... I hadn't ... I didn't think that's how people went away.

_{[She says, after those minutes have passed, a hand grabbing the collar of his jacket firmly. Voice still small, but not quite so tight.]}

Yeah. I'm...really sorry.

[People come and go very suddenly here. When Rose and John left...it was a lot for Jimmy to have to take in all at once. It was numbing, considering how fast it happened. There one day, gone the next. He liked Shaun, too...and he knew that Molly liked him.]

...C'mon. Let's sit on the bed, okay?

[He offers, keeping his arms around her. He doesn't plan on letting her go until she's ready, and he's more than willing to stay for as long as he needs.]

_{[There's a nod, but she still says right where she is for another few moments before she moves and takes his hand, makes sure he's right there with her, all but tugging him onto the bed with her when she curls up again. There's some pencils littering the blanket.]

[Aria comes up with a quiet, worried little chirp, and Molly pets her idly with her other hand. But yeah, it's exactly that - numb, kind of, after the initial panic. She's still scared. Feels shaken in so many ways. But suddenly it's hard to even consider it real.]}

Thanks.

_{[Quietly. She's not quite looking at him and keeps rubbing at her eyes, but she means that. That he was there, and that he just came over like that, and that he cares about her.]}

[Jimmy is quiet as she leads him over to the bed, sitting down carefully so as not to sit down on the scattered pencils. Leader follows only after nudging the door shut with his nose, walking over to the edge of the bed. He doesn't attempt to get on it like he might have in Jimmy's room, but instead lies down on the floor near their feet.

He shakes his head with his frown easing up somewhat, smoothing the wrinkles on his jeans with his free hand.]

Don't worry about it.

[He almost says "I'm just glad you're okay" but eventually decides against it. Even he can see that she isn't, at least right now. All he can do is be here for her. And for a long while he's just quiet, letting the sound of the rain outside cover the silence.]

We can talk about something, if you want...or we don't have to. Whatever you feel like doing is okay.

_{[She hesitates, and it's pretty visible, the way she does it. Because there's both an urge to say something ... anything actually, about her home and about her fear and about her power cause she knows he'd listen, she trusts that he would, but at the same time it's too scary for her to really touch on. Like if she says something about that maybe she won't stop thinking about it ever.]

[So she bites her lip and then asks carefully,]}

Did ... did someone you know disappear from here too?

[Jimmy blinks, a little surprised by the question at first. It takes him a moment, but he does answer.]

Yeah. Two people, actually.

I'm sorry.

_{[She's quiet, head bowed; hair shielding her a bit. But she keeps a light hold on him because she honestly doesn't trust him to still be there if she lets him go right now.]}

Did they ever come back?

No, not yet. I miss them, but...I'm not too sad about it. They came from the same world, so I think wherever they went back to, they're together right now.

[He lifts a hand to rub the back of his neck, smiling slightly.]

I'm taking care of some of their Pokemon, too, so there's no way I could forget about them. Guava was a gift from one of them, actually. So was this jacket.

[Jimmy chuckles, gesturing to the still-damp green jacket he's wearing.]

_{[She gives him a pale, momentary smile. It's a good thing that he's, but she doesn't feel like she can be yet. She's too scared. It really hurts. People just disappear all the time and she can't even find them. So when she looks down the smile is gone and she's fighting another sob that makes her voice tight.]}

Blaze is here. And ... and I can ... I can take care of him but I wish he'd come back cause Blaze is gonna miss him too ...

He might, Molly. ...and he might not.

[Jimmy gives a small shrug at that, looking down at his hands.]

But I think he would be really glad to know you're taking care of his Pokemon for him in the meantime. Usually they just...go away when other people do, but sometimes they end up with friends.

[He has yet to realize that he's got quite a few new additions of his own.]

I don't think he will.

_{[She says that in a way that might have been dark, but she's upset enough that it comes out more like a choked, strained voice that makes it sound like a whine.]

[Lifting her free hand to rub at her eyes again, she sniffles and drops her voice,]}

I'm scared. I can't even see him.

[Jimmy has noticed that Molly keeps saying that. "She can't see him". Well, that much is obvious...and he almost wants to ask what she means, but he refrains for the moment.]

Is there anything else I can do for you...?

Can I ... if you're here, can I come over for a while? I don't want to be here.

_{[She asks in an almost apologetic way, but she does ask. There's almost a sense of claustrophobia right then about the prospect of staying in that hotel room when it's too empty. And too full. The pokémon are still keeping quiet, but their eyes are on her, and she doesn't want to look at how many there are.]}

Of course you can. When I'm in town here, I usually stay at the circus tent. We've got a place for performers in the back, and there are some cots back there. It's not quite like a hotel room, but it's got a lot more space and you can stay for as long as you'd like without worrying about paying or anything.

[He brings an arm gently around Molly as he talks, pulling her closer to his side.]

I wanna stay in town for a little while anyway. I missed the gym badge, here. So...you can stay with me while I'm here.

_{[She feels relieved in a way he might very well notice, from how she relaxes before she leans into him, hugs him tightly around his stomach, almost hiding her face in his side.]}

Thanks.

_{[Muted, but grateful.]}

I hope you never disappear.

...I hope I don't too, Molly.

[He hugs her back, resting his cheek against the top of her head.]

I'm gonna try real hard not to.

_{[She hugs him tightly for another few moments before she pulls away and looks around the room. Again, she quickly wipes at her eyes, and tucks her hair back from her face.]}

Can we go now?

I just ... need to recall everyone and pack but it won't take long. Can you stay here until we go?

We can! I won't go anywhere. It's raining right now anyway, so maybe it'll have stopped by the time you're all packed.

Oh.

_{[She looks out the window - hadn't really noticed. Aria chirps next to her and Molly picks her up and gives her a kiss, but afer that, she moves away from the bed to start picking things up.]

[She's quiet, and she keeps glancing at Jimmy to make sure he hasn't vanished, but she makes quick work if it. She picks up Shaun's sketchbook when she finds it and hangs onto that, and a few other of his smaller items, and recalls the pokémon and all. She has a moment where she can't find her maps and is a little stressed about that, but once they're found and tucked securely into her backpack, she pulls on her own jacket and stands in front of Jimmy with an almost nervous expression.]}

Can we go now?

_{[Just asked again. To be sure.]}

[Jimmy nods, looking out the window himself. It's still drizzling, but a few raindrops wouldn't kill them or anything. He gives Leader a quick rub behind the ears before offering Molly his hand as he stands up.]

Sure we can. C'mon, let's go.

_{[She gratefully latches onto his hand and holds it tightly as they go. She let Aria stay out, and she's nestled in close to Molly's cheek, claws gently dug into her jacket.]

[For the most part, again, Molly stays silent. But just keeps hold of Jimmy and her backpack once she's deposited some of the pokémon in the computer and they're out in the rain.]}

[audio, april 8 -> action]

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