#Just like the early days on rotomblr when I was up all night

[poke-irs-real]

hey. Anyone awake

[gotta-pet-em-all]

📀

Bailey was crouched on the ground, shins full of gravel and blood, when Elle found her. Her brown skin was ashen and pale, arms wrapped around herself to keep warm as her mincinno did his best to share his body heat. It wasn't terribly cold in this part of the mines, but it was isolated, and she seemed to be in shock more than anything.

"I-- I'm sorry, I panicked, I--" Bailey launched into a flurry of excuses, but Elle had already shut that part of her brain off, kneeling to inspect the damage. Mostly superficial, recent, it looked like, but incredibly painful. And all that gravel would be a bitch to pull out for whoever did it.

Surface wounds hurt more than people gave them credit for-- all the delicate nerves under the skin were exposed to the elements, and while it would heal quickly given proper care, Elle didn't have what it took to give that to her. Maybe she could have done it, once upon a time, but it was messy and bloody and would require intensive cleaning before treatment.

She did what she could-- rinsing off the worst of the dirt with her canteen, forcing Bailey into her hoodie despite the other girl's protests. She knew she was being cold right now, and she'd have to apologize later, but this was the only way she could keep it together around this much blood.

"I'm going to call the pokecenter to get us a ride," she said curtly.

"Wh-- no no no, that's too much trouble, I--"

"I'm not asking you." Okay, that was crossing a line, Elle realized. She swallowed hard, closing her eyes and trying to center herself. "I'm sorry. I won't make a fuss out of it if you don't want me to. But we can't stay here, okay?"

"O-okay, just-- don't tell my mom, all right? She worries about me enough." Bailey ran her fingers through her mincinno's fur, breathing a little easier now. "She doesn't need to worry."

"I won't tell her," Elle promised. She called the line and made up a story that was close enough to the truth-- she was exploring with her friend and her friend got injured, and they needed a ride back to the pokecenter, she was sorry for the trouble, just send a ride pokemon please, thanks.

The person who arrived was obviously a miner, maybe even one of Roark's gym trainers who'd donned the volunteer apron to help out on his days off. He showed up surprisingly quickly and gave them both a ride back on the saddle of his aurorus, keeping them entertained with stories from the mines. Apparently they had a friendly betting ring on who won in their training matches, and there was a serious black market for pudding. Pudding, naturally, because their lunches were the only things they were allowed to bet after Roark had caught one man going home shirtless and laid down the law.

In the end, Bailey was so torn up about what had happened, and looked so scared at the idea of going home obviously injured, that Elle had just agreed to let her stay the night. The couch was actually pretty comfy, and they were having curry that night. She passed it off as just a regular sleepover to Bailey's mom, to Faelynn, but her pokemon knew the truth. Celia and Maeral, too, when she told them.

She ended up unwinding next to the bed, Maeral at fir desk sending a couple last minute emails and Celia headed to bed early. Well, physically she was in bed, but in actuality she was scrolling through her phone.

Ah. Ren was asking about what had happened on rotomblr. She leaned back on the couch, and typed up a reply about "Bee," the pseudonym she'd given her friend.