[CLOSED] - ACTION

[insidescoop]

WHO: Carly, Connie, Rose, & Greg (AND POKEMON)
WHERE: Routes 13-14
WHEN: Feb 10 - 16
WHAT: Small Mingle for bringing Connie into the travel group!
WARNINGS: Nah

[[OOC - Given the number of people involved, this seemed easier with a Mingle style set up; basically, pick and choose who to tag, or expect tags from when tagging in and go from there.]]

Route 13 is, at least to start, a welcome break from Route 12. Having carried a caravan carefully across the docks and walkways, the idea of no longer worrying about sliding off into the frigid waters is a welcome one indeed- especially for the one driving it. Before they can all properly set out upon it however, it's time to get the fourth member of the party.

One quick video call after setting up camp for the night, and Carly's already setting up the best signal she can to tell Connie where they are.

Namely, the Pumpkaboo. The large ghostly pumpkin is supported nicely atop the caravan, glowing belly eyes creating the perfect beacon as Carly cups her hands and shouts to an incoming cyclist.

"HEYYYYYY~! OVER HERE~!"

The team has finally united.

It's going to be a bit cold for a while, but the upcoming trek- in Carly's opinion- should be worth it at least right? They can spead tasks for camping across each other, catch up, talk...

Maybe some talks will be a little more awkward than others. Oops.

Comments

Connie

[conniemaheswaran]

a. dirk is a terrible influence (ota)
"HEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Connie waves at the group as she bursts through the mist, pedaling Carly's bike at a frankly unsafe speed. After spending so much time on the slippery boardwalks of Route 12, it's refreshing to actually be able to bike at full speed.

Now, time to make an awesome first impression.

Connie turns on a dime, sliding towards the caravan horizontally. The classic Akira slide. She's done it before, so it should be a breeze, right?

Except that was on a Lion and this is on a bike with wheels still slick with condensation and now she's crashed going flying and landing flat on her face whoopsy-daisy

"ouch"

b. TRAINER CONNIE WANTS TO BATTLE
Once the group gets on Route 13, it happens roughly every thirty minutes. One moment, the caravan is laboriously navigating the maze. The next, Connie spots another trainer out of the corner of her eye and she's hopping out of the caravan to battle the poor, unfortunate soul.

This happens twice an hour. At least. It's amazing the caravan is making the progress it is, really.

It's almost evening, and after sending the latest aspiring trainer packing, Connie flops flat on her back, panting. Her battling Pokémon—Nemean, Naga, and Chandrahas—are likewise exhausted. Chandrahas isn't even levitating, Nemean's curled up next to Connie and snoozing already, and Naga's limp as she curls up on Connie's stomach. Artemis is making the rounds, gently poking each of the injured with a stick and using their Heal Pulse to refresh them, but they're all clearly exhausted. (Amy boops them all with her snoot. It isn't particularly effective, but it's adorable.)

"So. How did I do, guys?"

it may be time to stage an intervention,

c. take your bets is he going to go grey or lose all his hair first (closed to greg)
It's been a while since Connie and Greg have had some proper human bonding time. (Granted, it was kind of a moot point now that everyone is human, but still. It's the spirit of the thing.)

So as the caravan makes camp on Route 14, Connie sits on the shore, battered fishing rod in her hand. "I'm curious, how different is fishing in this world? I mean, you obviously have to battle the 'mons you fish up, but is there anything else?"

C

[cometkin]

"Well, you can fish for food too," Greg explains. "That's what I was originally trying to do when I caught Holy Diver over there." He points a thumb at the shiny Frillish. "I figured out the difference in what you catch, though. See, if you cast your hook into the part of the water that looks normal, you'll get something you won't have to battle and you can just eat. But see those darker shadows? Cast into one of those and you'll need to battle whatever you fish up."

He shrugs. "Me, I just want food. I don't fish over the dark shadows anymore."

Re: C

[conniemaheswaran]

"Eh, I've been looking for a new addition to my roster anyways!" Connie slings her rod across her back like a sword, posing. "I'm sure it'll be no problem to fish up a good potential member."

It will definitely be a problem, but Connie and Greg don't know that yet.

"C'mon, let's get started." Connie sits down and casts her line into dark water, smiling.

Re: C

[cometkin]

Well, how bad could her new friend end up being? Holy Diver hadn't been too hard to tame after all.

After a moment, Greg shrugs and casts his line into the brighter water.

[conniemaheswaran]

A few moments pass, idle chatter passing between the two. Catching up, discussing how weird the world is, the works.

Then something tugs on Connie's rod.

"Oooh, I think I- WOAH!" It tugs a lot harder, almost sending Connie pitching into the water. "WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH! A LITTLE HELP HERE, GREG?"

A- CONNIE NO

[insidescoop]

Carly keeps waving. And waving. And-

"OH!! OH NO!! CONNIE, SLO-"

Andddd that's a crash.

"AAaAAAAAaaaaaAAAAA!!" Carly runs over in quite the panic to say the least. "Oh no!!! Connie are you alright..!?"

[conniemaheswaran]

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good." Connie groans, pulling herself to her feet. "Been through a lot worse, trust me.

"...sorry about the bike."

connie are you sure that's what you should be worried about right now

[insidescoop]

"The bike was like ten bucks, you're definitely more important than the bike..!!" For. More reasons than that but regardless. "Why did you even come in that fast..!?"

[conniemaheswaran]

"I was trying to win an argument with Dirk.

"More importantly!" Connie raises an index finger. "I won."

"Suck shit, Strider."

A

[lifebloomsanew]

"Oh dear!"

Now that's certainly an entrance! Rose has been sitting by the campfire, bundled up and helping Doofy carve the little wooden figures he liked to make - his teeth couldn't manage the fine details yet. But as Connie crash lands in arrival, the massive woman is up on her feet and approaching quickly to offer help.

Despite being in a large pink overcoat and scarf, it's obviously Rose Quartz in the literal flesh. There's really no mistaking her.

"Are you alright?"

Re: A

[conniemaheswaran]

"Ugh, my head," Connie groans, sitting upright and clutching her forehead. Okay, maybe that hadn't been her best idea. (At least she'd proven her point to Dirk that it was nigh-impossible to pull the Akira brake off.) "Thanks, but I'm-"

Connie blinks, finally processing who she's looking at. She gets up without a word and brushes past Rose.

rude much,

Rose Quartz

[lifebloomsanew]

Goodness, what an exciting evening!

Rose has returned to her log by the campfire, settled back in with Doofy the Bidoof at her feet and Looloo the Wooloo dozing against her side. Her and Greg's tent is set up a bit a way from Carly's caravan, but she likes sitting by the fire even in the winter. It's roaring away and more than enough to banish the worst of the chill, and her coat and hair do a good job of taking care of the rest.

She's attempting to knit. It's a skill she's made many attempts at over the last two years, and she keeps returning to it, determined to manage something other than an uneven scarf or what could generously be called a blanket.

[conniemaheswaran]

One moment, Rose is knitting away without a care in the world.

The next, she looks up from her project and Connie is sitting right across from her, arms folded and expression icy.

She doesn't say a word. Connie just stares at Rose with inscrutable intent. The pressure from her gaze is Annoyed Pearl-tier.

[lifebloomsanew]

Rose honestly has no idea what's going on. All she knows of Connie has come from Steven and Greg, and the picture painted doesn't at all match the cold young woman that's joined them tonight.

She's not certain what to say when Connie joins her, silently, looking upset. While she's encountered all manner of reactions from those who've come from home, she doesn't even know this girl! The strange response serves simply to confounds her further.

So she only offers a small, curious smile and reaches down to soothe her Bidoof, who's hackles raise and teeth bare at the energy coming off of Connie. He doesn't know what's going on either, but it doesn't look like this human means anything friendly towards his trainer...

i need to get a properly angry icon

[conniemaheswaran]

"You know, I could understand doing it once. You were young, you were dumb, you probably still didn't conceive Gems below your standing as people yet.

"But twice? Twice? How the hell did that happen, Rose?"

yes connie,

keep being frustratingly cryptic,

surely that will help matters,

[lifebloomsanew]

Rose blinks, taken aback.

"I'm....sorry?" She keeps a hand on Doofy, more to soothe him than anything - the little beaver-like Pokemon isn't a true threat to anyone.

But she gathers enough to be able to respond a bit more. Her tone is pleasant, but clearly confused and nervous.

"I'm not quite sure what it is you're taking me to task over, but we've never met before...and I'm afraid you have me at the disadvantage of not knowing what you even know about me. That's...intimidating on its own. Could we start over? Steven and Greg have said such wonderful things about you...."

She had been looking forward to meeting Connie. She was important to Steven - very much so - and Greg thought the world of her. But it's terribly unsettling, the familiarity and intimacy with which she's been addressed out of nowhere.

Re: Rose Quartz

[cometkin]

"Rose?" Greg asks later that evening, when they're snuggled up all close with their sleeping bags mated together so that they make one big sleeping bag. "Are you okay? You've been... kinda quiet since me and Carly went to get more firewood together. Was it something Connie said?"

He frowns. There's so many things she could have told her about that Rose might feel guilty about. Starting with... well, anything that happened because she'd faked her death all those years ago.

"I promise, no matter how scary it was when it was happening, we all got through everything that Homeworld threw at us before Steven got them to change their minds. Even when Blue put me in the zoo."

[lifebloomsanew]

Rose is quiet at first.

It's nice, just being bundled into the conjoined sleeping bag with Greg. It wasn't as though Gems didn't enjoy physical closeness, but it's so much more as a human! How warm he is, how soft and comfortable to lie against...it's so much more noticeable and meaningful now that she's a human and feels it the way humans do.

"You shouldn't have had to."

Her voice is quiet and she twists a bit of hair around one finger. She hadn't wanted to bring it all up, there was no reason to spoil everyone's mood or make a big fuss over it. It was over and done with.

"But it's not exactly that...I just don't think Steven's friend likes me very much. It's alright, I should have realized of course she knows everything, too. Everyone does now, don't they?"

[cometkin]

Greg lets out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. He hadn't been able to make out exactly what Connie had been shouting about when he and Carly went to get firewood--one of the hazards of being a rock musician was that your hearing wasn't as sharp as it could be now that you were getting on in the years--but he'd been able to guess a bit with the tone.

"We do," Greg admits, nestling in closer to Rose and twisting a finger around a pink curl. "There's... not really any changing that. But, listen-- I don't know if it helps or not, but it doesn't change anything for me. Sure, you were Pink Diamond before you were Rose Quartz... but before I was Mr Universe, I was plain old Gregory Demayo. We love each other for the people we became, not the people we started out as."

[lifebloomsanew]

"It really doesn't change anything?" Rose shifts to meet Greg's eyes, curious and nervous at the same time. "Not even a little? Greg..."

She knows full well the things Greg has learned about her. How could it really not change what he thought, how he felt, in some way?

"You don't have to be nice just because you're happy to see me again. I wasn't going to talk about anything with a stranger but... I know all the problems I caused for you and Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems..."

And they'd just been thrown back in her face violently, echoing her own thoughts and self-berating.

Beatdown (Maheswaran Style) - Dirk Meetup, Anyone Can Tag into Thread

[conniemaheswaran]

After a long, arduous (made moreso by the tension between Rose and Connie) journey, the caravan finally arrives at the outskirts of Fuchsia City at the meetup spot organized by Carly and Connie's mysterious friend, Dirk. The end is in sight.

Except... Connie isn't anywhere to be found as the group rolls up to the Great Orange Jackass himself. Not inside the caravan. Not looking for more Pokémon in the woods. She's just disappeared.

(Out of the corner of Dirk's eye, there's a momentary rustle of movement in the brush that's just as quickly gone.)

Whatever, Connie will probably show up sooner or later. It's time for Carly to make some introductions!

[uber_marionettist]

That little rustle is the only cur Dirk needs to go from 'no one's normal levels of paranoia except for Dirk Strider' to 'lethal force at the slightest provocation.' Admittedly, this is not as wide a margin as most people would assume, and in fact has nothing to do with Connie Maheswaran or promises made after insulting his sick ink.

It does mean, however, that he approaches the caravan with a fancy santa in hand, a Rapidash flanking him on the other side--which is to say, on his right. Its presence also has nothing to do with Connie. He just really likes horses.

So he's tense, he's alert--his spine straight, his grip on the fancy santa secure.

A 5'5", bescarred man in a black tanktop, wearing an expression so impassive, so inscrutable around his triangular shades that it's... basically nothing. Like he might as well not have a face.

The previously mentioned tattoo is pretty expressive, though.

[insidescoop]

Dirk why are you this way.

"Okay everyone, we're here! And this is-" When Carly arrives on the caravan, she pauses as they pull up. No doubt the rest of the crew is staring as well, but the point is that this is the exact kind of distraction keeping her from realizing Connie is Missing. "...Dirk why do you have a Santa in February?"

This is an important question, which distracts her from that Terrible Tattoo as well.

[cometkin]

"Maybe it's a prop for their rap battle?" Greg suggests. He holds out his hand so Dirk can shake it. "Hey, man. I'm Greg Universe. Connie and my son are best friends back home." He frowns a little. "Huh. You're older than I thought you'd be."

[lifebloomsanew]

Rose isn't quite as exuberant as she often is when greeting someone new, but considering the last time... she's still working through some things. But she's with Greg, towering over the party in a blaze of bright pink winter gear, and offers a warm smile.

"Welcome to our camp, it's so very nice you could join us."

Oh, goodness, he doesn't look very happy to be here either...