[FIN] Down and Out

[BlackFireKitsune]

It had begun raining a little not long after she'd left, but she hadn't noticed. Even as the sprinkle quickly turned into a downpour, she'd only noticed because it started getting in her eyes, but though she'd finally noticed, she didn't care. The rain had turned into a heavy storm, lightning crackling across the sky and thunder crashing overhead. It had driven every sane person indoors, except for those that absolutely had to be somewhere and chose to run as fast as they could, huddled under umbrellas and in raincoats.

Seraphine was not one of those sane people.

Instead, she trudged at the same pace through the rain, the rain soaking through her clothes and making her hair cling to her back and her face, but still she continued to walk, her gaze and indeed her entire demeanor completely and wholly downcast and miserable. It didn't matter to her that she was out in the rain or the severe thunderstorm, it didn't matter to her that she was absolutely drenched, it didn't even matter to her that she might get sick from being out so long in the downpour. It didn't even matter when, as she had begun ascending some stairs towards the park, she slipped and fell onto them. It had taken her a few moments to even register that she'd fallen, but even when she'd processed it she didn't move except to sigh forlornly. Well, not like it mattered anyway...  

[BlackPidgeot]

When the storm had started, Yuri had run for cover with Repede and Astal. The three of them taking shelter under the awning of a restaurant right next to the park. He stood there with a few other folks, waiting for the tempest to pass.

However, something caught his eye along the steps leading from the street and into the park itself. Someone was crazy enough to be walking around in this weather and without even a rain coat. Not only was that a spectacle enough, but the girl, at least he thought it was a girl, fell. When she didn't get up though, Yuri's brow furrowed in concern.

Without a word to his Pokemon, Yuri left the cover of the awning and ran towards the stairs. Repede watched in silent understanding while Astal just sat there and blinked.

Sliding down the handrail to where the girl was, Yuri hopped off and bent down next to her. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked in a raised voice so as to be heard above the thunder and the rain.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

At some point she realized she probably should be grateful that she hadn't landed on and injured her already injured arm, but she was still so miserable about the amputation that she really couldn't bring herself to actually feel glad. She further realized that there was someone talking to her, and she probably should have heard them coming if she'd been paying attention. Another realization that the owner of the voice expected a response coaxed a short reply from her: "Yeah."

Except she didn't move.

Another realization that said owner of said voice probably expected her to get up, but she had disappointed so many others already, what was one more? ...no, that probably wasn't good. With a soft sigh, she shifted to put her hand under her to push herself up to at least sit, even if the action was only mechanical and all she really cared to do was just continue laying there in the rain. At least it wasn't walking in the rain. That took more effort.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Well there was a response but the lack of movement drew a frown.

"Are you crazy? You shouldn't be out here like this," he said as a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a loud boom of thunder as if to emphasize his point.

As she moved to push herself up to sit, Yuri reached for her other arm where her wrist would be. But ended up grasping an empty sleeve, which caused him to blink in surprise.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"No," was her reply to his question, figuring he'd expect a response to that one as well. When his hand grabbed not her arm but her empty sleeve, she similarly blinked and tilted her head to gaze at it, and had she not already been in such a miserably depressed mood, she might have begun crying then and there. Luckily she wasn't, though, so after blinking at it she merely sat up fully with her good arm and let her short one hang there listlessly, then raised the back of her hand to one eye to rub at it, as if to get the rain off. Not that it did much anyway, considering the persistent downpour above them.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri was only surprised for a moment and quickly pushed it aside. He was now drenched as well and this girl wasn't moving. He couldn't exactly leave her there like this. Not only was she wet and putting herself in harms way but there was clearly something wrong with her. Kinda reminded him of a certain red headed boy.

Without so much as asking permission, the man picked her up and slung the girl over his shoulder. She didn't weight that much so it wasn't difficult. He then started going back up the stairs to head for the shelter of the restaurant.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

She blinked when she was suddenly scooped up and thrown over the man's shoulder, and by the time they were halfway there she had realized that this was probably something she should've been embarrassed about, being carried in such a way. Luckily embarrassment was a feeling she hadn't had in a couple of weeks, and thus merely hung there silently as he carried her to wherever it was he was bringing her to.  

[BlackPidgeot]

When the girl didn't even protest, Yuri knew there was something wrong. Usually such an action would get him yelled at, at the very least. More likely it would result in kicking, screaming, and getting slapped. He was suddenly very glad he found her instead of some scumbag who would take advantage of her.

Once they got back to the restaurant where it was dry, Yuri asked an employee for some towels and something warm to drink before putting her down.

He then bent down to the girl's level with a frown. "I dunno what's going on with you but its pretty stupid to be walking around in a storm like that."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The thought that anyone with less noble intentions could have taken her and taken advantage of her had not even occurred to her - but even if it had, she probably would have reacted to that exactly as she had reacted when the rain had started, as she had reacted when it started storming, and how she'd reacted when she fell on the steps; by not doing anything about it at all.

Once he'd set her in the chair, her head bowed yet again, as per usual since the accident, and she rubbed at an eye again. "M'sorry," she mumbled softly in apologetic tones, hardly even noticing when he squatted in front of her. She dropped her hand back to her lap where her shortened arm rested, locks of her hair still stuck to the sides of her face that she didn't even give any indication of noticing, and her sad, unfocused gaze pointed down at her knees.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri just sighed lightly at her reply. However, now that he was able to see her face a bit more clearly, the man paused. Then a slightly surprised look flashed across his features. She looked... kinda familiar. Surely it couldn't be...

"Sera? Is that you?"

His eyes went back down to her arm, looking at the partly empty sleeve before looking up at her face again. Okay, she definitely wasn't like this the last time he saw her.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His surprised tone and question drew her gaze to his face, and she blinked briefly. While she hadn't realized it had been Yuri, she hadn't exactly been actively looking to see who it was that had helped her and carried her here. "Yeah," she replied quietly, wilting a bit. He hadn't even known it was her, the whole time he helped her? Now that made her feel worse - not that she could really fall too much farther than she already had, but still. It was just one more depressing thing tossed onto the pile that insisted on burying her.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri certainly hadn't intended to make her feel worse but well... Sera wasn't exactly looking herself at the moment. In fact he was pretty concerned the more he looked at her.

"What happened?" he asked, wondering why on earth she looked so miserable and well... what the hell happened to her arm.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Sera was not at all looking herself at the moment, in clothes and shoes she normally never even considered wearing, her hair undone and without even a hint of make-up on her face. She obviously wasn't acting herself, either, given her reticence and clear lack of her usual sass and attitude. His question was one she'd answered before, and the feelings associated with it had numbed to the point where it didn't bother her anymore. "Car accident," she answered simply, her gaze dropping again.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri was silent for several moments. ... Wow. Life sure had thrown a bunch of crap at Sera lately. She had gotten shot not too long ago and now a car accident? Despite the fact that she and him hadn't gotten along so well in the past, he felt sorry for her.

Eventually the restaurant employee returned with some hand towels and a cup of hot chocolate.

"Damn you're soaked... What were you doing out here?" he asked in as gentle a tone as he could muster. Trying to hand her a towel so that she could dry herself off a little bit.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

She received the towel in her hand and blinked down at it, appearing to not know what to even do with it, so she simply sat there with a dry towel in her hand while she continued to drip rainwater onto the restaurant floor. His question confused her briefly, as if he'd asked something really complicated that took a lot of thought to find the answer to. "Walking," she replied hesitantly as she raised her gaze to him again. That was what she was doing, wasn't it? She thought so... Nothing else came to mind that she might've been doing, like going to get anything in particular.