Storybits I: One-Shot Drabbles
STORYBITS: Drabble
This is the first of what will hopefully be many posts that'll be compilations of several drabbles and storybits written for the Route setting! Because gosh darnit, I do love me some drabbles.
1. What's Eating Jerry?
Context: Anonymous player requested this prompt on an anon fan meme:
"Heather runs into Officer Jerry once more. Despite the fact that her warrent's expired, he's still not very happy with her." (EN ROUTE)
The sun was bright, the Pidgeys were chirping, and the gentle rustle of the wind through the pines was music to his ears on this blessedly peaceful morning.
Officer Jerry leaned back against the rough wooden fence lining the side of the country road leading into Goldenrod City, smiling peacefully and letting the styrofoam cup of coffee he was holding warm his fingers and drive away the early chill.
In the wake of that nightmarish fog that had made all those foreigners seemingly lose their friggin' minds, Jerry had weathered ceaseless subtle taunting from his coworkers, not to mention multiple viewings of .... of that video clip in the staffroom. All day long. He had a thick skin-- you had to when you did this kind of work-- but a man could only deal with so much abuse!
So when his superiors had kindly decided to give him a vacation in the guise of a temporary transfer to Goldenrod City, he'd leaped on the chance like a fat kid on cake: hungrily and with a certain sense of shame for not being able to handle all the teasing. But still, now that he was out here patrolling quiet countryside roads on the outskirts of the city instead of dirty alleys back in Violet, he knew he'd made the right choice. This was just what he needed to recuperate from his ordeal.
"Uh-- sir? Hey, SIR?"
Uh oh.
What the hell was that.
That... that voice... sounded familiar.
Horribly familiar.
Feeling a twinge of phantom pain in a region best left unnamed, Jerry turned towards the source of the sound.
..... oh no.
"Oh-- uh, hi! Um, I just wanted to ask if this was the right way to that Daycare place?"
I-IT WAS HER!!
BUT-- HOW DID-- THE WARRANT--?!
HOW COULD SHE BE---
"... AAAAAAAHHHIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHGH!!!"
2. Safe Up High
Context: Deleted comment, I don't remember what this prompt was. :c (CANON)
It wasn't until the soles of her boots were planted securely on the rooftop that she stopped running-- it wasn't even necessarily that she thought there was anybody pursuing her. It was just part of the thrill.
Panting, open-mouthed, she checked over her shoulder just to be sure, but there was nothing below but the stack of crates she'd scaled-- and, beyond that, the road, painted tangerine by the sun's sinking light. No one after her. They probably hadn't even noticed. She was just that good.
The sixteen-year-old stood all the way up with an out-of-breath laugh, uncurling her fingers to take a look at the spoils of her stroll through the jewelry section of Sears. A set of gold earrings, the cardstock paper the were set in already wrinkled and damp from the sweat of the clenched fist it had been clutched in.
She probably could have afforded them, to be honest-- but then, it was less about the genuine want for something and more about the buzz of excitement that came with getting away with the act.
Slipping them into her pocket, cracked her knuckles and strode off across the concrete rooftop, aiming for home.
She didn't need these shiny little pieces of metal, but then-- did anybody?
Heather wasn't stealing anything that anybody couldn't go without, so she didn't feel bad for it.
3. Berry-Bucking
Context: rodeopony requested a tale of Applejack making Heather laugh! (EN ROUTE)
The sky was clear-- a brilliant blue reserved only for those crisp autumn days where the air had a bite to it that made even the most sluggish of people feel like getting out and doing stuff.
Which meant, of course, that it was a perfect day for apple-bucking.
The trouble was, as Applejack discovered when she strolled through the city's outskirts that morning, there didn't seem to be any apple trees in Johto.
Which was what led her to do what she was doing when Heather, on her way to the pond to let a floaty-wearing Godzilla do some paddling around, walked past and just... paused.
"... Uh, hey there, AJ... why're you... um... kicking a tree?"
Pausing with one foot planted against the tree's trunk, the ex-pony turned around and beamed brightly at the other girl.
"Berry-buckin'!" she replied.
At Heather's blank stare and raised brow, she turned back to the tree to give it another kick. "See, back home, my job's to buck all the apples down from th'family orchard! S'how we make a livin'! These human legs sure don't hold a candle compared to what they can normally do, but I figure if I keep at it, why, I'll be the best berry-bucker Johto ever saw! Might make a pretty penny sellin' 'em to folks who don't feel like climbin' up to get 'em themselves, too!"
WHAM! A particularly hard kick made the leaves on the tree rattle.
Beaming at her progress, AJ continued kicking.
"'Sides, I gotta keep in shape just in case I get turned back into a pony again, and-- hey, whatchu gigglin' about back there?"
She paused in her efforts and looked over her shoulder to Heather, who'd covered her mouth with one hand and was making some very distinctive snerking noises.
"I-- pffft, sorry, no offense or anything," she snickered after a moment, raising her other hand to show she wasn't trying to be mean. "But anyone looking out their window right now to see a random girl kicking a tree is probably wondering what's going on pretty hard right now. Since I don't think any of them would've heard of... uh, berry-bucking."
AJ blinked, then drew herself up with a confident smile.
"Well, you humans look pretty silly whether you're kickin' trees or not, so I won't take that personal! 'Sides, if you could see me doin' this in my OWN body, you wouldn't be laughin', I'll tell you tha--"
She cut herself off with a small gasp as-- having been jostled slowly loose by all the kicking, a single berry snapped off of its stem and fell, hitting her right between where her ears would have been if she'd still been a pony. ... Of course, not having anything close to the firm consistency of the apples she was so used to bucking, the berry merely burst into a small pile of blue mush.
The sight made Heather first gape in surprise at the sheer timing of it all, and then double over, hands on her knees and shoulders shaking with unrestrained (but good-natured) laughter.
Mildly surprised, AJ blinked once or twice... before breaking into a grin, both at the situation and the sight of her buddy laughing so hard.
"... Well, I'll give ya this one. This'd be a pretty silly sight on anypony."
4. There'll Be a Bump and There'll Be a Bruise
Context: miniworth requested Heather teaching Miles and Ken how to smile in spite of everything. (EN ROUTE)
"Boy, they really did a doozy on ya, huh? Guess little shits like that exist in every world..."
Heather dropped the rolled-up, very-much-reddened paper towel in the garbage bin and wiped her hands off on her jeans as she straightened up in front of the very sorry-looking Miles Edgeworth on the bench in front of her. His head was down and his palms were squared flat on the hard wooden seat, and even though he was so very obviously trying to suppress it, his shoulders were hitching every so often. His normally impeccably-neat clothes were rumpled and filthy-- even torn in some places. And although his chin was firmly planted against his chest to hide it, the soiled tissue Heather had just thrown away was evidence of his bloodied nose.
Turning her head to face the other (thankfully mostly-unscathed) little boy standing in this cramped little public restroom (it was a men's room, but Heather apparently didn't give a crap) she had hastily ducked them into, she spoke with an encouraging tone.
"So... what exactly happened, Ken?"
"... Bigger kids, they... beat us in a Pokemon match," he said distractedly, watching his friend with deeply-furrowed brows and a concerned frown. "But instead of taking half our money, they wanted all of it. ... So Miles tried to tell them that wasn't fair and--"
"Yeah, I think I can piece the rest of it together myself," Heather sighed, shaking her head and turning her attention back to the silver-haired boy she'd just spent a good ten minutes mopping up. "You guys did the right thing. S'not your fault some creeps get their kicks by beating up on little kids..." She paused there, looking around the dingy bathroom. "... Not much more I can do in here, to be honest. C'mon, let's get you guys to the Center..."
The up-till-now silent Miles shook his head.
"They're outside, I saw them," he mumbled thickly, lifting one hand to discretely swipe at a smudge of dirt on his cheek. "They were pointing and laughing when they saw you bring us in here..."
"... They were, huh." Straightening up once more, Heather turned and headed over to the open doorway to take a look, kicking some stray toilet paper out of the way as she went. Ken edged over to his friend as she did so.
"... Are you going to be all right?" he mumbled quietly, hands in his pockets.
"... Y-yes. I'll be fine," Miles replied, sniffing deeply before sitting up at last. His eyes were red and puffy, but he watched Heather solemnly as she headed back over to them to deliver the news.
"Yeah, I see 'em out there," the teen said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "But they're not gonna try anything as long as I'm with you guys, so... c'mon."
Miles frowned, eying Heather's proffered hand unsurely. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. As was increasingly common, Ken was on the same mental wavelength as his best friend, and he piped up instead.
"But they're still out there. Can't we... wait a little while? Just until they go? So they won't see..."
Heather arched a brow and looked at them both, hand still raised. When both just stared up at her pleadingly, she let it fall, sighing.
"I'm not gonna stay in this nasty old bathroom forever, and I'm not gonna let you guys, either. You won't get anywhere by hiding from a bunch of stupid bullies. Letting 'em waste your time like that."
The boys shifted uncomfortably, averting their gazes.
Heather let the awkward silence extend for a little while before folding her arms.
"I know it's embarrassing. But you can feel embarrassed for five seconds while we walk past them, or you can let them totally control your whole afternoon by sitting in here for three hours until they get bored and wander off."
They glanced at each other.
Then, slowly and a little sheepishly, Miles hopped off the bench, rubbing his sore nose. "All right... let's go..."
"Ah, ah, ah--" Heather threw out a hand before he could walk too far towards the door. "Hang on. One thing you're missing that you gotta have before you walk outta here."
When she was met by two very confused stares, she pointed to the corners of her mouth and, very conspicuously, poked them upwards. The stares got even more confused, and Ken was the first one to voice the question they both shared.
"... Why?"
Miles couldn't help but agree. They had just been hit and thrown in the dirt by a gang of kids twice as big as them. What reason could there possibly be to smile?
"Because if you go out there still lookin' scared, that's letting 'em know they've won. .... But come out of here looking like you're ready to run off without a care and walk around on some old peoples' lawns or something, man, and that just tells 'em that they're not even worth your time of day. You're so over them. They like, don't even matter. Now c'mon. Let's see those pearly whites."
"... But that's dishonest," Miles pointed out.
"It's called bluffing and it might save your butt one day. C'mon, both of you."
The boys looked at each other again, a little unsurely-- before turning back to Heather and giving it their best shot.
"... Nnno, that's just baring your teeth. Which is also good to do sometimes, but it's not what we're goin' for now. Make it crinkle up your eyes, that way it looks rea-- theeeeeere ya go!"
Clapping them both on the shoulder with a broad grin of her own, Heather turned to the door.
"All right, let's get outta here. When we go through the door, don't even look at 'em. Juuust keep smiling. All right?"
When she got two affirmative nods in reply, she smiled back and shouldered the door open to let them through, making a mental note to come back here once she'd dropped them off at the Center. She'd gotten a gooood look at those guys' faces, and it had been awhile since she'd last busted her knuckles on anything worth the swelling.
This is the first of what will hopefully be many posts that'll be compilations of several drabbles and storybits written for the Route setting! Because gosh darnit, I do love me some drabbles.
1. What's Eating Jerry?
Context: Anonymous player requested this prompt on an anon fan meme:
"Heather runs into Officer Jerry once more. Despite the fact that her warrent's expired, he's still not very happy with her." (EN ROUTE)
The sun was bright, the Pidgeys were chirping, and the gentle rustle of the wind through the pines was music to his ears on this blessedly peaceful morning.
Officer Jerry leaned back against the rough wooden fence lining the side of the country road leading into Goldenrod City, smiling peacefully and letting the styrofoam cup of coffee he was holding warm his fingers and drive away the early chill.
In the wake of that nightmarish fog that had made all those foreigners seemingly lose their friggin' minds, Jerry had weathered ceaseless subtle taunting from his coworkers, not to mention multiple viewings of .... of that video clip in the staffroom. All day long. He had a thick skin-- you had to when you did this kind of work-- but a man could only deal with so much abuse!
So when his superiors had kindly decided to give him a vacation in the guise of a temporary transfer to Goldenrod City, he'd leaped on the chance like a fat kid on cake: hungrily and with a certain sense of shame for not being able to handle all the teasing. But still, now that he was out here patrolling quiet countryside roads on the outskirts of the city instead of dirty alleys back in Violet, he knew he'd made the right choice. This was just what he needed to recuperate from his ordeal.
"Uh-- sir? Hey, SIR?"
Uh oh.
What the hell was that.
That... that voice... sounded familiar.
Horribly familiar.
Feeling a twinge of phantom pain in a region best left unnamed, Jerry turned towards the source of the sound.
..... oh no.
"Oh-- uh, hi! Um, I just wanted to ask if this was the right way to that Daycare place?"
I-IT WAS HER!!
BUT-- HOW DID-- THE WARRANT--?!
HOW COULD SHE BE---
"... AAAAAAAHHHIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHGH!!!"
2. Safe Up High
Context: Deleted comment, I don't remember what this prompt was. :c (CANON)
It wasn't until the soles of her boots were planted securely on the rooftop that she stopped running-- it wasn't even necessarily that she thought there was anybody pursuing her. It was just part of the thrill.
Panting, open-mouthed, she checked over her shoulder just to be sure, but there was nothing below but the stack of crates she'd scaled-- and, beyond that, the road, painted tangerine by the sun's sinking light. No one after her. They probably hadn't even noticed. She was just that good.
The sixteen-year-old stood all the way up with an out-of-breath laugh, uncurling her fingers to take a look at the spoils of her stroll through the jewelry section of Sears. A set of gold earrings, the cardstock paper the were set in already wrinkled and damp from the sweat of the clenched fist it had been clutched in.
She probably could have afforded them, to be honest-- but then, it was less about the genuine want for something and more about the buzz of excitement that came with getting away with the act.
Slipping them into her pocket, cracked her knuckles and strode off across the concrete rooftop, aiming for home.
She didn't need these shiny little pieces of metal, but then-- did anybody?
Heather wasn't stealing anything that anybody couldn't go without, so she didn't feel bad for it.
3. Berry-Bucking
Context: rodeopony requested a tale of Applejack making Heather laugh! (EN ROUTE)
The sky was clear-- a brilliant blue reserved only for those crisp autumn days where the air had a bite to it that made even the most sluggish of people feel like getting out and doing stuff.
Which meant, of course, that it was a perfect day for apple-bucking.
The trouble was, as Applejack discovered when she strolled through the city's outskirts that morning, there didn't seem to be any apple trees in Johto.
Which was what led her to do what she was doing when Heather, on her way to the pond to let a floaty-wearing Godzilla do some paddling around, walked past and just... paused.
"... Uh, hey there, AJ... why're you... um... kicking a tree?"
Pausing with one foot planted against the tree's trunk, the ex-pony turned around and beamed brightly at the other girl.
"Berry-buckin'!" she replied.
At Heather's blank stare and raised brow, she turned back to the tree to give it another kick. "See, back home, my job's to buck all the apples down from th'family orchard! S'how we make a livin'! These human legs sure don't hold a candle compared to what they can normally do, but I figure if I keep at it, why, I'll be the best berry-bucker Johto ever saw! Might make a pretty penny sellin' 'em to folks who don't feel like climbin' up to get 'em themselves, too!"
WHAM! A particularly hard kick made the leaves on the tree rattle.
Beaming at her progress, AJ continued kicking.
"'Sides, I gotta keep in shape just in case I get turned back into a pony again, and-- hey, whatchu gigglin' about back there?"
She paused in her efforts and looked over her shoulder to Heather, who'd covered her mouth with one hand and was making some very distinctive snerking noises.
"I-- pffft, sorry, no offense or anything," she snickered after a moment, raising her other hand to show she wasn't trying to be mean. "But anyone looking out their window right now to see a random girl kicking a tree is probably wondering what's going on pretty hard right now. Since I don't think any of them would've heard of... uh, berry-bucking."
AJ blinked, then drew herself up with a confident smile.
"Well, you humans look pretty silly whether you're kickin' trees or not, so I won't take that personal! 'Sides, if you could see me doin' this in my OWN body, you wouldn't be laughin', I'll tell you tha--"
She cut herself off with a small gasp as-- having been jostled slowly loose by all the kicking, a single berry snapped off of its stem and fell, hitting her right between where her ears would have been if she'd still been a pony. ... Of course, not having anything close to the firm consistency of the apples she was so used to bucking, the berry merely burst into a small pile of blue mush.
The sight made Heather first gape in surprise at the sheer timing of it all, and then double over, hands on her knees and shoulders shaking with unrestrained (but good-natured) laughter.
Mildly surprised, AJ blinked once or twice... before breaking into a grin, both at the situation and the sight of her buddy laughing so hard.
"... Well, I'll give ya this one. This'd be a pretty silly sight on anypony."
4. There'll Be a Bump and There'll Be a Bruise
Context: miniworth requested Heather teaching Miles and Ken how to smile in spite of everything. (EN ROUTE)
"Boy, they really did a doozy on ya, huh? Guess little shits like that exist in every world..."
Heather dropped the rolled-up, very-much-reddened paper towel in the garbage bin and wiped her hands off on her jeans as she straightened up in front of the very sorry-looking Miles Edgeworth on the bench in front of her. His head was down and his palms were squared flat on the hard wooden seat, and even though he was so very obviously trying to suppress it, his shoulders were hitching every so often. His normally impeccably-neat clothes were rumpled and filthy-- even torn in some places. And although his chin was firmly planted against his chest to hide it, the soiled tissue Heather had just thrown away was evidence of his bloodied nose.
Turning her head to face the other (thankfully mostly-unscathed) little boy standing in this cramped little public restroom (it was a men's room, but Heather apparently didn't give a crap) she had hastily ducked them into, she spoke with an encouraging tone.
"So... what exactly happened, Ken?"
"... Bigger kids, they... beat us in a Pokemon match," he said distractedly, watching his friend with deeply-furrowed brows and a concerned frown. "But instead of taking half our money, they wanted all of it. ... So Miles tried to tell them that wasn't fair and--"
"Yeah, I think I can piece the rest of it together myself," Heather sighed, shaking her head and turning her attention back to the silver-haired boy she'd just spent a good ten minutes mopping up. "You guys did the right thing. S'not your fault some creeps get their kicks by beating up on little kids..." She paused there, looking around the dingy bathroom. "... Not much more I can do in here, to be honest. C'mon, let's get you guys to the Center..."
The up-till-now silent Miles shook his head.
"They're outside, I saw them," he mumbled thickly, lifting one hand to discretely swipe at a smudge of dirt on his cheek. "They were pointing and laughing when they saw you bring us in here..."
"... They were, huh." Straightening up once more, Heather turned and headed over to the open doorway to take a look, kicking some stray toilet paper out of the way as she went. Ken edged over to his friend as she did so.
"... Are you going to be all right?" he mumbled quietly, hands in his pockets.
"... Y-yes. I'll be fine," Miles replied, sniffing deeply before sitting up at last. His eyes were red and puffy, but he watched Heather solemnly as she headed back over to them to deliver the news.
"Yeah, I see 'em out there," the teen said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "But they're not gonna try anything as long as I'm with you guys, so... c'mon."
Miles frowned, eying Heather's proffered hand unsurely. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. As was increasingly common, Ken was on the same mental wavelength as his best friend, and he piped up instead.
"But they're still out there. Can't we... wait a little while? Just until they go? So they won't see..."
Heather arched a brow and looked at them both, hand still raised. When both just stared up at her pleadingly, she let it fall, sighing.
"I'm not gonna stay in this nasty old bathroom forever, and I'm not gonna let you guys, either. You won't get anywhere by hiding from a bunch of stupid bullies. Letting 'em waste your time like that."
The boys shifted uncomfortably, averting their gazes.
Heather let the awkward silence extend for a little while before folding her arms.
"I know it's embarrassing. But you can feel embarrassed for five seconds while we walk past them, or you can let them totally control your whole afternoon by sitting in here for three hours until they get bored and wander off."
They glanced at each other.
Then, slowly and a little sheepishly, Miles hopped off the bench, rubbing his sore nose. "All right... let's go..."
"Ah, ah, ah--" Heather threw out a hand before he could walk too far towards the door. "Hang on. One thing you're missing that you gotta have before you walk outta here."
When she was met by two very confused stares, she pointed to the corners of her mouth and, very conspicuously, poked them upwards. The stares got even more confused, and Ken was the first one to voice the question they both shared.
"... Why?"
Miles couldn't help but agree. They had just been hit and thrown in the dirt by a gang of kids twice as big as them. What reason could there possibly be to smile?
"Because if you go out there still lookin' scared, that's letting 'em know they've won. .... But come out of here looking like you're ready to run off without a care and walk around on some old peoples' lawns or something, man, and that just tells 'em that they're not even worth your time of day. You're so over them. They like, don't even matter. Now c'mon. Let's see those pearly whites."
"... But that's dishonest," Miles pointed out.
"It's called bluffing and it might save your butt one day. C'mon, both of you."
The boys looked at each other again, a little unsurely-- before turning back to Heather and giving it their best shot.
"... Nnno, that's just baring your teeth. Which is also good to do sometimes, but it's not what we're goin' for now. Make it crinkle up your eyes, that way it looks rea-- theeeeeere ya go!"
Clapping them both on the shoulder with a broad grin of her own, Heather turned to the door.
"All right, let's get outta here. When we go through the door, don't even look at 'em. Juuust keep smiling. All right?"
When she got two affirmative nods in reply, she smiled back and shouldered the door open to let them through, making a mental note to come back here once she'd dropped them off at the Center. She'd gotten a gooood look at those guys' faces, and it had been awhile since she'd last busted her knuckles on anything worth the swelling.