01x. Action for Ecruteak City - Fourth Wall Event

[ardent]

[It's been a little while since Ishimaru's been here, and he can be found in...well, the exact same place he was last time he made a broadcast from this area - several stories up, on top of the Tin Tower. However, there's a marked difference from the last time he was up here - whereas he was a bit excited and generally getting his enthusiasm for life fired up and raring to go back in September, he's currently standing stock still in the center of the roof, his expression the sort usually reserved for those who have just had either a religious experience or a really, really spectacular acid trip (that may or may not have culminated in a religious experience, because hey, who are we to judge how these things happen). At least he's...not quite crying, though wow does he look tempted.

He's holding something tightly in his hands - a pair of somethings, really, the first being a ridiculously vibrant feather that glitters in various colors when it catches the light; the second is a small gold pouch containing...something light, from the look of it, but it's difficult to say. Either way, he's seeming a bit overwhelmed.

...to the point that he hasn't...quite noticed the Eevee horde that's trooped up here after him just yet, um. He'll probably wonder where the hell those came from once he's done, but for now they are just kind of...wriggling excitedly and once in a while bouncing, like they're trying to start some sort of tiny, fluffy mosh pit.

...Dangans, man.]

Comments

[gummyfrogs]

There ain't no good reason to be hanging out on rooftops. You know what happens to people who hang out on rooftops? They get — pushed off the damn building and shoved into harnesses and dropped and — cautionary tale, my man, do not hang out on a building.

Take my advice, just round up your little Eevee brigade, head back down the stairs, get your feet on the ground, and go find yourself a nice restaurant or coffee shop or...play place or somethin'.

[ardent]

...I think I know what you mean; my sister tried to get me in one of those harnesses once.

[......]

That happens often?

[gummyfrogs]

Whoa, whoa. That's nasty. Don't go around telling people that. I don't care how freaky she is, there are some things other people just do not need to know. That is confidential information on a need-to-know basis, and I did not need to know.

[ardent]

[WHAT]

But you just mentioned it yourself!

[gummyfrogs]

Yeah, but I don't know your sister.

[ardent]

Well, I didn't know her either until recently! She's a really great person, though, when she's not trying to make me jump off of buildings!

[gummyfrogs]

...So you've got a sister you've barely met before and she's trying to get you to jump off of a building.

[...]

Do you have, like, a massive inheritance coming or something?

[ardent]

Not at all! And I don't see what that matters anyway, because we aren't related!

[gummyfrogs]

So your adoptive sister is trying to kill you.

[...]

So is she the redheaded stepchild, or...?

[ardent]

No, she's blonde!

[gummyfrogs]

And no wonder you're not related.

[He shrugs, reaching instinctively for his smartphone — which, as he rediscovers when his hand comes away, is in fact his PokeGear — and rapid-firing a series of buttons with smooth and practiced ease.]

Look, I'll tell you what. What's your sister's name, I'll let you know if she's got anything hinky going on.

[ardent]

Ah...no, that's not necessary, believe me!

[gummyfrogs]

[Beep beep bop boop.]

Kiyotaka Ishi...maru. ID registered April 23rd of this year, network postings in that time measure two thousand and change, most hit contacts include Mack-oto Neggy, Oo-oh boy I'm not even going to try that one, and Alice...White...

[...]

Alice White?

[ardent]

[What the gently caress - ]

...Y-Yes. That's my sister!

[gummyfrogs]

...Your sister is Alice White.

[...]

Harness-wearing base-jumping blonde-haired Alice...White.

[...]

Oh my god.

[ardent]

Yes, that's -

[Oh.]

...You know her, then?

[gummyfrogs]

Oh my god.

[He's just.

...

Oh my god.]

You're Parker's dead little brother and Heaven is Pokemon.

[ardent]

[That gets a sharp flinch from Ishimaru, but his response is immediate.]

Don't tell her - please don't tell her, she doesn't know!

[gummyfrogs]

[Whoa now, hold on there, no need to — wait, hold up.]

...What do you mean, she doesn't know, she's the one who told us about you. She specifically said she didn't tell anybody ab...

[...]

The hell is going on here?

[ardent]

[Ishimaru just shakes his head at that.]

I...I met her here. We got along very well and she became my sister, but she doesn't know I'm dead.

Please don't tell her.

[gummyfrogs]

...Parker's here?

[Yeah, that's probably the most important thing to establish right now, even aside from the "apparently this shouty uniformed kid is dead" thing.]

And you...adopted her?

[ardent]

[...uh.]

...Yes?

[gummyfrogs]

...Okay, you know what, we're cool, your secret's safe with me. I respect that. Bump it.

[He extends one fist in a companionable sort of way.]

I don't know if she mentioned me or anything, but I'm Hardison. We, uh...we work together.

[ardent]

[...and somehow that has fixed everything. Even if he really isn't sure how. But you know what, let's not question that for now.]

Oh, so you're Hardison! She's mentioned you, yes!

[He just kind of looks at that fist there for a moment before kind of completing the gesture.]

For...morale?

[gummyfrogs]

[Well, that gets a chuckle out of him.]

I guess you do know Parker.

[WAIT FOR IT.]

So she mentioned me, huh?