OPEN [video and action]

[purifyingroots]

Who: Millennial Tree Cookie and YOU!
When: The first half of February
Where: Violet City and the Ruins of Alph
What: A man who used to be a cookie who used to be a tree adjusts to life as a human!
Warnings: n/a

video; recorded in the Ruins of Alph

[No matter which world Millennial Tree Cookie finds himself in, there’s something haunting about ruins such as these, the worn but still-standing evidence of beings and civilizations long dead. Perhaps it’s the direct familiarity of such structures that affects him so; even while watching all that happened across the land, there was something special to watching a great city and temple be built up around him - and profoundly sad about seeing those structures very nearly abandoned.

Nearly. Much like how, though whoever built these structures seems to have vanished, there are still the Pokemon - such as the Golett he’s come across now, whose presence seems to have… completely distracted him both from keeping Thunder Cub from messing with his Gear (enjoy that blur of a Luxio bounding away, as she loses interest seconds after turning the camera on) and from whatever effort he might have been making at figuring out one of the puzzles in here. It’s fine, he probably wasn’t going to solve it anyway.

Instead, he’s crouched down to greet the Golett.] Hello, little one… you live here, do you not? I certainly hope you have an easier time navigating this place than I have.

[Thunder Cub, meanwhile, stares suspiciously at the Golett from behind her trainer. You’d better not try anything, mysterious Pokemon she’s just met!!]

action; Violet City

[It only makes sense that it’s always when he’s around a lot of humans that he finds himself most acutely aware of his unfamiliarity with being one. Not that he’s ever self-conscious, exactly; it’s less a matter of worrying about how he looks to the real humans around him than simply noticing how easily they seem to navigate the city, the purpose with which they go about their days. Even the ones that just seem to be meandering about, exploring the city or window-shopping with friends, seem to have a kind of direction and confidence to their actions.

...Meanwhile, Millennial Tree Cookie has been so distracted by humans’ ability to navigate their own city that he no longer has any idea where he is in the humans’ city.

At least it’s not… a huge deal that it will probably take him some time to find his way back to the Pokemon Center. For one thing, he owns a coat now. For another, Flame Pup the Arcanine was adamant that he accompany his trainer today.

So, when Millennial Tree Cookie sits down on a bench, it’s a matter of seconds before his gigantic fire dog hops up onto the bench to drape himself across his lap. He doesn’t really even fit on the bench, but he’s doing his best, and MT doesn’t really have the heart to tell him to get down, so…

Well, he can take the time to fix his hair a bit. Which really just means disentangling it, extracting any bits of debris it’s picked up trailing on the ground behind him… you know, fixing it, like putting a bandaid on a burst water main fixes it.]

Comments

[fortuna_tenax]

[ As her cold faded- and she was still taking her medicine, but come on, there was only so much of sitting or laying around that she could take- Jinx had started going out to train her pokémon again more- not for as long, and with plenty of to-go hot drinks throughout the day, of course. And as she's on her way to one now, she pauses- one, because that's a huge dog, and two, because she knows that man. He was a cookie. ]

You! You're not wandering out in tissue paper anymore! [ she almost sounds proud when she says this. ] I didn't think you'd be this far. Have you been okay?

[ (don't mind the slight scratchiness to her voice, or her slight distance. ) ]

[purifyingroots]

[Millennial Tree Cookie looks up with his fingers tangled in his hair, working through a particularly bad knot - but the nightmare happening in there right now is immediately forgotten when he sees the nice girl who yelled at him about his clothes.]

Yes, I have a coat! [He's very proud of that fact.] I have tried to make my way quickly - and I believe I am well, so far.
[You know, he hasn't, like... died or lost any extremities or anything like that yet, which, so far as he can tell, means he's doing okay at maintaining this body.] What about you?

[fortuna_tenax]

[ Oh yikes. Did no one tell him about brushes? She'd have to fix that. ... Oh God was someone going to have to tell him about like, bathing and stuff. She refuses to sign up for that, she's going to get one of the other adults she's met for this because she ain't havin it-

Ahem. ]

I am legitimately proud of you for not freezing to death considering you didn't know that was a thing. [ She means it. And even looks relieved! ] I think I made it here faster than I was supposed to, but it's fine. More to do here than Cherrygrove anyways.

Oh- uh. Well, I got sick? But I'm getting better! It's fine. We're not going to talk about that. [ Ah, the prideful teenager. ] ... You, uh, you good there? Do you have a hair brush? It might work better than your hands.

[purifyingroots]

[...See, if she hadn't specified that they "weren't going to talk about it"--

Okay, he still would have been worried. That was inevitable, given how very fragile humans apparently are.] Getting better? Are you sure that you are well enough to be walking?

[...He'll still answer that second question, though, if only briefly. He shakes his head, finally getting part of that tangle loose.] I do not.

[fortuna_tenax]

[ She just stares at him, completely deadpan. ]

If I have to spend one more day in bed, I am going to lose my mind. [ And then she switches to proper emoting again. ] But I'm not staying out long, and I'm still taking my medicine and drinking lots of hot drinks.

[ Jinx frowns just a tiny bit at that. ] Come with me- if we don't treat your hair well, it could get matted up. Matting close to the skin can be really painful.

[purifyingroots]

[He relaxes, just a little bit.] ...If you are sure you are taking sufficient care of yourself, then.

[But he will be keeping an eye on her now.]

I suppose that would be a problem-- ah. Flame Pup, it's time to go. [He nudges the gigantic dog in his lap, who... with some reluctance, finally starts to move in the general direction of, very slowly, removing himself from his Trainer's lap.

This might take a couple minutes.]

[fortuna_tenax]

I have good people to help, don't you worry.

[ Ah, dogs. She's... grown acquainted with how clingy they can be. But one he's able to stand, Jinx wastes no time leading him to the nearest shopping center. Finding a suitable brush is child's play for her vain self, but once it's paid for, she can't help but give him a blank but piercing look. ]

... We're gonna go get hot chocolate, and I'm going to get all that junk out of your hair.

[ Thankfully, there's a cafe just near by. And once again, Jinx is leading the older man around- and it's spacious enough that the arcanine can still remain at his master's side. The warmth is certainly welcome, and she gestures for him to sit down. ]

[purifyingroots]

[Millennial Tree Cookie, for his part, trails behind her like the confused, still-lost (both figuratively and literally) tree man he is, all the way through the store (apparently unaware of any odd looks he might get for the state of his... everything).]

Oh-- yes. Thank you. [Yeah, he's just accepted his current role to be "following this child around town because she's the one who knows what's going on".

Besides, he is finding that he enjoys the experience of going from cold weather to a warm space. Amazing.

He sits down where Jinx directs him (carefully making sure not to sit on his hair, he's learned that much), and Flame Pup flops down by his side, his tail thumping on the floor.]

I... appreciate that you've gone to so much effort for my sake.

[fortuna_tenax]

[ The first thing she does, after taking a sip of her hot chocolate, is looking through his hair for any lingering sticks, leaves or anything else and gently working it out. This would... certainly take a while, but she didn't raise herself to be no quitter. ]

Don't sell yourself short- not everyone will listen to the advice they're given or divert themselves when corrected. ... But you're welcome.

[ And once she's gotten as much as she can out, Jinx begins to brush his hair. Every knot is gently and slowly worked out, and hoo boy there are a lot. Hopefully he wouldn't get bored, but at least he also had a hot drink, and his gear if he truly needed entertainment. ]

[purifyingroots]

I suppose not. But I see no reason to resist such advice, when most here clearly know more than I do about living as a human. [Turns out watching a species for its entire existence until it goes extinct doesn't necessarily tell you much about how to... be one.

Fortunately, Millennial Tree Cookie is nothing if not patient. He holds carefully still as she works on his hair, sipping his drink every so often.] ...Hot chocolate is very good. I never tried it back in my own world.

[fortuna_tenax]

Fair enough.

[ Once the brushing is complete- and oh boy is it complete- Jinx pauses for a moment... before twisting it into a braid. As someone who'd been taking to ponytails more on the road, she made a point to have at least one band around her wrist at all times, and this was no different. ]

There, it should be easier to manage like this. And hot chocolate's great! Perfect at any time, but especially a cold day.

[purifyingroots]

[He almost looks over his shoulder when he feels her start doing something else, but, probably fortunately for Jinx's ability to get the braiding done and for his not having his hair pulled, stays still. It seems like she knows what she's doing.

So he doesn't look back until she seems to be well and truly finished, and smiles brightly at her.] Thank you! Where do you learn these techniques?

[...Okay so it's not like the idea of braiding hair is totally new to him, he knows humans did it sometimes and so forth. But, for one thing, it's not something he knows how to do and that makes it impressive. For another, he knows humans usually learn things like this from older family members, so... in the end, it may just be an old tree's strangely roundabout way of trying to get to know more about this girl who's helped him so much.]

[fortuna_tenax]

[ Honestly if he had moved, she would have just moved his head right back. She don't play around, even with tree grampas. Still, she's pleased he likes it. ]

Oh- uh... I was pretty young when I first started? I think I saw my mother do it and tried to copy what she did. But I don't quite remember... but I also didn't start doing it again until some time later, when I grew my hair out again.

[ Goodness, that was like. A decade ago. Those memories were so blurry, it was hard to tell what was real sometimes. ]

[purifyingroots]

You seem to have done quite well, given the break in your practice. And having learned simply through observation, as well!

[There's some audible admiration in his voice, even for something as simple as a braid. She seems so young, a pause of even a few years would have been such a huge portion of her life so far; it's incredible, how beings that only live a few decades can retain skills for such proportions of their lifespans.]

[fortuna_tenax]

I. I guess so?

[ The worst part about how blithe this man is is that he's 100% completely sincere and it's a lot for her to handle at the moment. Once she's sure the braid won't come undone too easily, she takes a seat finally. ]

So how have you been managing out with your pokémon?

[purifyingroots]

[He absolutely doesn't perceive that his whole attitude might be A Bit Much. He smiles fondly down at his Arcanine, who looks back up at Millennial Tree Cookie and thumps his tail on the floor, as he answers her question.]

I believe things are going quite well; everyone who has joined me so far has been wonderful to work with and get to know, even if... some are a bit difficult. [He means Bitingbird.] And Flame Pup has been as dedicated as one could hope to compensating for the weather.

[fortuna_tenax]

At least you're safe there. [ Looks at both of their foolishness................ Immediately never talks about it again. ] It's good that you've got a good team building up though.

[purifyingroots]

Yes - I could not be more grateful for them.

[Even Bitingbird.]

How has your own team been progressing?