[ORP] What Will Come of Us

[Blood_Goddess]

Ray blinked "didn't like it? What? Never had hospital food before? I saw the way you can eat, don't tell me you weren't hungry." Ray said with a grin.
though it was soft, She knew that Henrietta had been really stressed out after what had happened.

"Oh yeah." Ray said, waving a hand, "Thankfully everyone's going to be okay, live to fight on another day right?" She crossed her arms over her chest, eying the girl for a few moments as she thought, then added "You held up really well back there Henrietta, You handled a stressful situation like a champ." She reached over and tapped a knuckle on Henrietta's head.  

[Suudonym]

As a response began to take form in his head, a rejection of her reasoning and a substitution for his own transgressions that had precipitated to this ordeal, he was struck with an immense clarity. He drew back slightly to look at her, bringing his hands softly to the sides of her face to encourage her to meet his gaze. "It was her decision," he said. "All of it was her own decision. Don't take responsibility for someone else's decision."

He was a hypocrite, he came to understand. He knew, at least in part, that it was folly to blame himself - he knew couldn't predict nor control the consequences that followed his words and actions, yet still he held himself accountable for those consequences, mercilessly. It felt awful, and it felt even more awful to think that Rosie could be feeling the same.  

[Tori Honoo]

Dove moved to press her back against the wall beside ray, her eyes not leaving Henrietta but for a moment. "We'll be okay, I think..." she said softly, finally allowing a true grin at Henrietta's complaints, though them mention of food reminded her she hadn't eaten much of anything all day. "Food does sound...magnificent, though."

Ray took over then, speaking the words Dove thought herself. She was amazed that Henrietta had handled herself so well in such a trying situation, especially being such a young trainer. She nodded her agreement, then looked around the room again, a pang in her chest giving her pause as she looked to Luke and Rosie.

Shaking her head of more useless ideas, she looked around, this time to Yuri as he stared silently out the window.  

[Gwennythe]

"I dunno, I just didn't really wanna eat!" Henrietta was telling the truth and slightly surprised herself. "I guess I wasn't but they said I gotta so I did and it took ages before I could come here!"

There was relief in the grin, familiar even with that new element, that spread across the young trainer's face as she listened to Ray and Dove both say that they were all going to be okay. She wasn't so sure that hospital food really was 'magnificent' as Dove put it, but if you were hungry, you were hungry... That was something she understood.

"Yeah! Definitely live on to fight another day!" She parroted, with enthusiasm that stopped just short of pumping her fist in the air. She would likely have said more, maybe even something about getting back at Rockets, except that now Ray looked her over, then complimented her and tapped her on the head.
Henrietta wasn't sure how true that was, so took the compliment with a bit of guilt in her smile now.
"I didn't really do much..." She admitted, then frowned indignantly as she remembered one of the reasons why she hadn't been able to. "That pokémon ate my 'dex!"  

[Blood_Goddess]

Her hand moved away from her face as Luke pulled away and she found his hands lifting up gently to her face. she lifted her now exposed gaze, glassy tired eyes and cheeks wet with tears.
Any other time she might have been continuous of the fact that she looked a disheveled emotional mess, but she had much more important things to worry about.

Blinking a few times to clear the blurry sheet of tears from her vision as he spoke again, her shoulders relaxing slowly, though the worry and shame in her face didn't fade as quickly.

She knew he was right, logically, morally he was right, As hard as it was to believe, that she shouldn't take responsibility for her family.
Rosie bowed her head a little, as much as his hands would allow her.
"I just...."  

[Suudonym]

Even if she blamed herself, Luke wouldn't allow her the opportunity to hate herself. He moved a hand to sweep aside her hair, brushing a kiss on her forehead before resuming the embrace he had broken. "You don't have to be strong now. We'll support you."

As certain as the words felt, in the face of such immense despair from someone so precious to him, he could only doubt himself. Was he even capable of offering the support she needed, or would he just fail again? And what would be the consequences of that failure this time? The possibility that he could lead his friends towards misery and destruction before even realizing what was happening was too close and too terrifying.  

[Blood_Goddess]

She closed her eyes when she felt a hand move over her forehead, swallowing hard as she tried not to remember the things her sister had done... the screams of her friends in pain. All becasue she had told them that Faleen was a good person... God Faleen WAS a good person, what happened?

Rosie's eyes opened again though when Luke kissed her forehead, then hugged her again.
Blinking quickly a few times, her eyes growing a little wider as she found herself staring at the back of one of the seats, not really seeing it.
Had he just... kissed her?

Amidst the guilt, the worry and a great deal of sadness, there was a light flutter of something else in her stomach. her heart pounding against her headache a little more.

Her posture relaxed a little more, following his words, that she heard, loud and clear.
He wasn't mad at her...
reaching her own arms up she wrapped one around his arm, clinging to him lightly.  

[BlackPidgeot]

Yuri remained quietly by the window, not saying anything, but rather listening to what everyone else was saying around him. They had been through a lot, through situations that most people didn't have to face, that they shouldn't have to face. Their attacker had been merciless, and he knew there was only one way to deal with people like that.

The man's expression darkened at that thought.

Rosie's sister or not, the next time Yuri saw her, he wouldn't show her any mercy either.  

[Tori Honoo]

With Ray talking with Henrietta and her stomach now protesting--though she wasnt sure how she could even eat after all this-- Dove took a deep breath and move toward Yuri. He was starting to look like he might combust at any moment, and she herself almost couldn't stand being in this hospital much longer.

She stood not too far away. "Hey...Do you want to take a walk? I was thinking about finding something to eat..." To ask him was nerveracking, but the offer was sincere, and though she was sure she wasn't his first choice of company, she didnt want to go alone, or leave him there, trapped in his thoughts as he appeared to be. And if he wanted to think alone, he could always decline.

And her last talk with him after the last tragedy had left them at odds...She wanted to know how he felt this time around.  

[Blood_Goddess]

"You did just what you needed to do, you kept your cool but you didn't give up. You didn't contribute to anyone getting hurt." She patted the girls shoulder. "sorry about your dex though! freakin' Umbreon. we'll get you a new one though, no worries. Just takes a quick stop to the Pokemon center." She winked.

"It depends on what you're defining as "okay"" Ray snorted in response, "That might have been round one for some of us, but keep in mind, this kind of thing has been happening for a while in Kodo." a Mossy eye slid over to Dove, then continued over to the still silent Yuri.
"Something tells me, this isn't over. So yes, right now, we're okay, we survived it like any other trial, but who knows how well we will do next time. a rag tag team like us against something that is now very clearly organized." She lifted a corner of her mouth. "And who do not play by the rules. I have a feeling "okay" might be a lot of hope for if we don't start stepping up our game."
there was a slight irk in Ray's voice.  

[BlackPidgeot]

It took Yuri a moment to realize he was being spoken to, but when he did he turned to look at Dove.

"Huh? Yeah, sure," he said before following after her. A walk and some food sounded good.  

[Tori Honoo]

She nodded a bit, then headed for the door, stopping next to Ray and Henrietta again as they passed, not wanting to bother Luke and Rosie. "Hey, we'll be back... I'm going to go find food, if you'd like anything..." She glanced back to the door that led to the rooms and patients, looking for sign of the other brunette. Sera still hasn't shown up. "If you hear anything before we get back... Let us know?"

With that, she stepped outside, taking a deep breath of the evening air, glad to be away from white walls, the sharp smell of the hospital, and the overbearingly heavy atmosphere that hung low over the group.  

[Gwennythe]

There was still some wish that Henrietta could have let Winglet or Gummy out, some fantasy that they'd have blown the Rockets away if she'd been able to, slightly magnified now that they were safe and the event was over.
She accepted Ray's assessment of her though, she did agree that she'd not gotten anyone hurt, but then she'd hardly done anything at all, still, to her mind.
She'd just have to make up for that next time she came across Team Rocket!

"Oh yeah!" Of course, duh; pokécenters weren't just for healing her pals... The information reminded her that she hadn't checked for mail since starting her journey too... Hopefully there'd been no urgent message; she was pretty sure everything was cool though otherwise she'd have gotten more calls on that pokédex that just got eaten! "Oh cool! I can't wait to get another one... Oh, man, but it had some stuff in it; can they make the stuff I had in my old one be on my new one? It had, like, numbers and stuff..." She certainly didn't remember numbers off by heart.

Then Ray was speaking about 'the definition of being 'okay' and how well they might do next time.
She sounded a bit different to what Henrietta was used to hearing, but she wanted to be reassuring and put in her two cents anyway.
"Next time we'll win! They cheated and that wasn't fair, but we'll get them and then they'll get sent to jail!" She sounded confident of their victory, the idea of doing anything more lethal than getting any attacking Rockets arrested didn't seem to be a part of how her mind worked.
She watched as Dove spoke to Yuri and then announced they were going for food.
Surprise, surprise, now that she'd seen people and felt better, the young trainer piped up before the pair left the room.
"Could I have some soda and popcorn?" Henrietta called in response to the offer of 'if you'd like anything' and then, remembering it was a necessary word, quickly added "Please!"  

[BlackPidgeot]

There really was no point in waiting around, Sera wouldn't want to see him anyway. Thus Yuri had no qualms with walking out. Luke and Rosie had each other and Ray could handle her own and keep Henrietta company.

The man did lift a hand as he departed, indicating that he'd heard Henrietta's (and anyone else's) request and would bring it back for her.

Even when they stepped outside though, Yuri was still silent. Even though he was quite grateful for the opportunity to get away.  

[Tori Honoo]

After turning to offer Henrietta a small smile and nod to show she had gotten her order, Dove started her walk down the street, her eyes searching the landscape driven by a small but urgent paranoia--after all, Faleen and Iazay had said they were leaving, but not where they were going...

She stayed quiet a while, respecting Yuri's silence as they walked, her hand absently rubbing the side of her bandages as she tried not to think anymore. After a while, though, she couldn't take her thoughts anymore, and quietly asked, "Are you okay, Yuri?" At least if he gave an answer, be it positive or negative, it would ease at least one fraction of her mind. Though he wasnt physically harmed, she knew the repercussions of just being in such a situation, and though she knew Yuri had faced challenges before, she wanted to be sure.