Hearsay: Pokémon AU, Bill/Lenore
Title: Hearsay
Fandom: Pokémon
Characters/Pairings: Bill/Lenore (OC of light_touched)
Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Word Count: 2022
Summary: Bill doesn't pay much attention to rumor. Lenore realizes it's part of their line of work.
Author's Notes: Commission fic for light_touched; her prompt was something involving Bill, Lenore, and the steampunk AU I had created. Any OOCness was completely not intentional. *headdesk*
In most of the Goldenrod Underground, one could hear the deafening roar of the subway system. Along neat tracks running like veins beneath the city, metal trains clattered from one station to another. Steam howled from their chimneys and up the vents every few feet down their routes. People chattered in wait on each platform or shopped in the plethora of stores tucked away under the city streets.
However, at Queen's Cross, there were no trains, no people. The dull rumble of faraway cars could be heard, but otherwise, the din here was comprised of the steady drip of water on stone.
It suited Bill McKenzie just fine.
He stood on the platform with a piece of paper in one hand and the other resting on the strap of a brown, leather satchel slung over his shoulder. By his side, a clefairy stood, her pale pink fur glowing brightly with the light of Flash. Looking up, he peered down the darkness of the tunnel. The other end terminated at a brick wall; he knew all too well that it wasn't always there.
"Well, this is rather anticlimactic," he muttered. "there's nothing here. I thought for certain…"
His voice trailed off, and his clefairy looked up at him. Shaking his head, Bill turned to look behind them at the unoccupied shops. Each one was boarded up, but the dust on their signs and windowsills was thin. He also knew the wall blocking the tunnel hadn't been there for very long; these shops weren't closed a month ago. That was a known fact throughout the city, alongside the whisperings about sightings of strange creatures, the circumstances of several disappearances, and countless other not-rumors murmured throughout the city.
Those were things Bill heard, but he very rarely paid much attention to the chatter of busybodies beyond a passing notice. Sure, the concern for his own safety at that particular moment was spawned by what he knew from the rumors, but he had more important things to worry about than what he couldn't verify, than what may or may not exist and what may or may not directly apply to what he was doing right then. One of them was in those shops.
"Clefairy, shine a light on the signs, please," he said.
She complied with a trill as she bounced towards the row of buildings. Her glow illuminated the painted letters on the signs above them to reveal each one in turn: a bakery, a paper shop, a jeweler, a flower shop.
"Stop!"
Clefairy halted where she was and turned to look at her master. He stepped forward, his dark eyes studying the sign.
Chopin Flowers was a rather unassuming shop in his opinion. Its façade was brick and boards - plain, just like every other shop face. The only decoration it had was the red rose painted side the white letters of its name. There was no reason, Bill realized, to assume there was anything special inside.
That was why he pulled a hammer from his satchel and proceeded to smash open the door. After all, there was always something special in unassuming buildings. That was how Bill's world worked.
A few minutes of prying and splintering later, the boards came off and landed on the floor with wet thuds. In the noise, Bill thought he heard something else - a scraping, rattling of rocks, an oomph from a disembodied voice. Pausing, he motioned for Clefairy and pointed to the tunnel. She twitched her ears and swiveled, shining her light on the rocks by the platform. Was the hole in the wall bigger? The question floated through Bill's mind and stayed there just long enough to create a cold sense of uncertainty inside him. He considered checking, but the door to the shop was open. Turning back to his task at hand, he pressed his lips together and finally put his hammer back in his pack where it belonged. With that, he started forward, cracking open the door and walking inside.
Right away, he gagged. The stench of rotten flowers and heavy pollen filled the room. He held his nose and backed up until he stood in the threshold.
"Clefairy," he whispered. "Stand in the doorway and give me some light. Don't come any further."
"Do you need some assistance, Mr. McKenzie?"
Bill tensed at the sound of the female voice. Whirling around, he saw the silhouette of a woman standing between him and Clefairy. Beside her was the outline of a tall, slender Pokémon.
"Use Flash," the newcomer drawled.
At once, the shadow next to her burst into a brilliant, white light. Bill shielded his eyes for a few seconds until slowly, he pulled his arm away and squinted at the figures.
The glowing pokémon was undoubtedly a gardevoir; although they didn't exist in the Johto wild, Bill had seen a number of trained ones from tourists.
However, the woman was one he had seen numbers of times. He recognized her analyzing, pale eyes from newspaper photographs. Her thing frame and green skirts were those that he had seen sauntering down the road past his shop more than once. But that time, he believed, was the first time that smirk was turned on him.
"Dr. Stone," he said.
She raised her eyebrows. "You've heard of me."
"Naturally," he replied with a nod. "Very few people in this city haven't. You're one of the most reputable doctors in Goldenrod. What brings you down here?"
"Curiosity," she told him with a matter-of-fact tone. "As for you? Rumor has it that it's very rare for you to leave your workshop, much less come to a dangerous place like this."
At once, Bill turned away from her to hide a dark expression.
"Rumor says a lot of things that aren't true. That's why I rarely pay it any attention."
Dr. Stone smiled lightly. "Is that so? Not to any of it?"
"Not at all."
Bill started to walk further into the shop. As his companions followed, the shop interior became illuminated to reveal almost everything intact. Pots stood quietly on shelves. Plastic and ribbon waited to be cut on a bench. The till and counter looked as if they were ready to be used for another work day. The only strange elements were the dead plants: flowers in the pots and wrappings and bouquets - all dead, wilted, and brown, if not slush on the floors. Dried petals carpeted hardwood. There was even a dead bellossom in a corner. Starved, Bill suspected. Dr. Stone was coldly silent at the last one; she knelt to examine it but said nothing regarding its condition.
None of this was what Bill was looking for. Quietly, he pulled a pair of heavy leather gloves from his pockets and slipped them on. Then, he started digging in the pots, hoping Dr. Stone wouldn't notice.
He didn't realize the bellossom wouldn't hold her attention for long.
"If I didn't know any better," she said, "I would say you're looking for something, Mr. McKenzie."
He was suddenly aware that she was close to him, peering over his shoulder. With a cry, he jumped and spun around, eyes wide and startled.
"Don't do that!" he hissed. Then, upon noticing his tone of voice, he cleared his throat. "It's not polite to sneak up on someone."
She smiled in return. "May I be of assistance in your search?"
"I'm not searching for anything," he responded, a little more bluntly than he had meant. All he wanted was for her to leave so he could conduct his business in peace, without prying eyes watching his every move.
"It's all right," she told him. "I know you must be here on official business related to the Knights."
He stopped and stood straight. The key and chain around his neck suddenly felt heavy and hot beneath his clothes. How did she know he was a Knights? The organization, its purpose, everything was so secretive even its own members were largely unaware of who else was in it. To normal civilians, it was more or less a rumor. As a result, Bill eyed the woman cautiously.
"Oh, you shouldn't be too surprised that I know about the Knights," she said. "My brother attended your initiation ceremony. Don't you recall being inducted by Knight Silver?"
Bill slowly went back to his search but kept part of his gaze - the part just out of the corner of his eye - on the doctor. Stone. As in Steven Stone, keeper of the Silver Key. He almost felt stupid for not realizing the woman's connection with him.
"Besides…" She wandered behind the counter and played with the register. "What else would Goldenrod's most brilliant mechanic and inventor be doing at Queen's Cross, the most infamous spot beneath the city? Surely, you aren't here for inspiration. There are quite enough rumors concerning you and your work already."
Bill dug into another pot. Still nothing. "Is that so?"
"Oh yes. They call you mad."
"They may call me whatever they like."
"It doesn't concern you, Mr. McKenzie?"
At that single question, he faced her with a stern glance. "Why should it? What they say about me hardly changes who I really am."
She refused to look up from the till. Instead, she pressed a button on its face and stepped back to let the drawer snap out with the chime of its bell.
"Do any rumors at all concern you?" she asked.
"No," he replied. "Not those about people. Most of them can't be true anyway."
Her hand closed the drawer. She strolled around the counter and towards him. Bill wanted to step backwards and away from her, but there was something about the way she smiled, something about the way the shadows played across her smooth face that made him stop. A strange, painful feeling hit his heart, and he felt his face grow hot. Soon, she was close to him. A little too close, actually.
"Perhaps you should," she told him. "Some of them worry me, and I would like to know they aren't true."
"They… they aren't," Bill replied softly.
"Mm. Perhaps." She pulled away from him. "but if you had paid much attention to hearsay, Mr. McKenzie, you would have known one important fact."
Involuntarily, he sighed with relief. Yet, his eyes wouldn't tear away from her as she sauntered back towards the door, her gardevoir in tow.
"What would that be, Dr. Stone?" he asked idly.
Turning to him, she pulled a key on a chain out from under the neck of her dress while her gardevoir placed a hand on her shoulder. Watching Dr. Stone lift her other arm, Bill felt his heart drop.
"That I was inducted last week," she told him. "I believe you were looking for this."
She flipped her free hand and opened it palm up. In it sat a small jewel that glowed faintly with its own violet light.
"Seed of the Star Flower, purported to have come from another dimension," she recited. "I was looking for it as well. Always check the till first, if not the safe."
Bill simply stared at her. He knew he should be lunging at her, trying to wrestle the seed from her grip, but he suddenly realized that for the first time in his life, he couldn't move, couldn't think. So, he stood like an idiot, his mouth slightly open and his arms limp at his sides.
Dr. Stone closed her hand and gave him one more smile.
"I seem to have won this round," she said. "I'm sorry. Please don't think any less of me. I would certainly be interested in becoming acquainted with the real you, not the one I've heard so much about. Call it a fascination."
She stopped to tap Gardevoir's hand. The psychic began to glow with a blue aura this time, dimming the interior of the shop. Bill knew what was next, yet he still couldn't move.
"Good day, Bill," Dr. Stone said. "I hope to see you again."
Then, with a flash, she was gone, and Bill was left in the darkness of the shop.
Fandom: Pokémon
Characters/Pairings: Bill/Lenore (OC of light_touched)
Genre: Gen
Rating: G
Word Count: 2022
Summary: Bill doesn't pay much attention to rumor. Lenore realizes it's part of their line of work.
Author's Notes: Commission fic for light_touched; her prompt was something involving Bill, Lenore, and the steampunk AU I had created. Any OOCness was completely not intentional. *headdesk*
In most of the Goldenrod Underground, one could hear the deafening roar of the subway system. Along neat tracks running like veins beneath the city, metal trains clattered from one station to another. Steam howled from their chimneys and up the vents every few feet down their routes. People chattered in wait on each platform or shopped in the plethora of stores tucked away under the city streets.
However, at Queen's Cross, there were no trains, no people. The dull rumble of faraway cars could be heard, but otherwise, the din here was comprised of the steady drip of water on stone.
It suited Bill McKenzie just fine.
He stood on the platform with a piece of paper in one hand and the other resting on the strap of a brown, leather satchel slung over his shoulder. By his side, a clefairy stood, her pale pink fur glowing brightly with the light of Flash. Looking up, he peered down the darkness of the tunnel. The other end terminated at a brick wall; he knew all too well that it wasn't always there.
"Well, this is rather anticlimactic," he muttered. "there's nothing here. I thought for certain…"
His voice trailed off, and his clefairy looked up at him. Shaking his head, Bill turned to look behind them at the unoccupied shops. Each one was boarded up, but the dust on their signs and windowsills was thin. He also knew the wall blocking the tunnel hadn't been there for very long; these shops weren't closed a month ago. That was a known fact throughout the city, alongside the whisperings about sightings of strange creatures, the circumstances of several disappearances, and countless other not-rumors murmured throughout the city.
Those were things Bill heard, but he very rarely paid much attention to the chatter of busybodies beyond a passing notice. Sure, the concern for his own safety at that particular moment was spawned by what he knew from the rumors, but he had more important things to worry about than what he couldn't verify, than what may or may not exist and what may or may not directly apply to what he was doing right then. One of them was in those shops.
"Clefairy, shine a light on the signs, please," he said.
She complied with a trill as she bounced towards the row of buildings. Her glow illuminated the painted letters on the signs above them to reveal each one in turn: a bakery, a paper shop, a jeweler, a flower shop.
"Stop!"
Clefairy halted where she was and turned to look at her master. He stepped forward, his dark eyes studying the sign.
Chopin Flowers was a rather unassuming shop in his opinion. Its façade was brick and boards - plain, just like every other shop face. The only decoration it had was the red rose painted side the white letters of its name. There was no reason, Bill realized, to assume there was anything special inside.
That was why he pulled a hammer from his satchel and proceeded to smash open the door. After all, there was always something special in unassuming buildings. That was how Bill's world worked.
A few minutes of prying and splintering later, the boards came off and landed on the floor with wet thuds. In the noise, Bill thought he heard something else - a scraping, rattling of rocks, an oomph from a disembodied voice. Pausing, he motioned for Clefairy and pointed to the tunnel. She twitched her ears and swiveled, shining her light on the rocks by the platform. Was the hole in the wall bigger? The question floated through Bill's mind and stayed there just long enough to create a cold sense of uncertainty inside him. He considered checking, but the door to the shop was open. Turning back to his task at hand, he pressed his lips together and finally put his hammer back in his pack where it belonged. With that, he started forward, cracking open the door and walking inside.
Right away, he gagged. The stench of rotten flowers and heavy pollen filled the room. He held his nose and backed up until he stood in the threshold.
"Clefairy," he whispered. "Stand in the doorway and give me some light. Don't come any further."
"Do you need some assistance, Mr. McKenzie?"
Bill tensed at the sound of the female voice. Whirling around, he saw the silhouette of a woman standing between him and Clefairy. Beside her was the outline of a tall, slender Pokémon.
"Use Flash," the newcomer drawled.
At once, the shadow next to her burst into a brilliant, white light. Bill shielded his eyes for a few seconds until slowly, he pulled his arm away and squinted at the figures.
The glowing pokémon was undoubtedly a gardevoir; although they didn't exist in the Johto wild, Bill had seen a number of trained ones from tourists.
However, the woman was one he had seen numbers of times. He recognized her analyzing, pale eyes from newspaper photographs. Her thing frame and green skirts were those that he had seen sauntering down the road past his shop more than once. But that time, he believed, was the first time that smirk was turned on him.
"Dr. Stone," he said.
She raised her eyebrows. "You've heard of me."
"Naturally," he replied with a nod. "Very few people in this city haven't. You're one of the most reputable doctors in Goldenrod. What brings you down here?"
"Curiosity," she told him with a matter-of-fact tone. "As for you? Rumor has it that it's very rare for you to leave your workshop, much less come to a dangerous place like this."
At once, Bill turned away from her to hide a dark expression.
"Rumor says a lot of things that aren't true. That's why I rarely pay it any attention."
Dr. Stone smiled lightly. "Is that so? Not to any of it?"
"Not at all."
Bill started to walk further into the shop. As his companions followed, the shop interior became illuminated to reveal almost everything intact. Pots stood quietly on shelves. Plastic and ribbon waited to be cut on a bench. The till and counter looked as if they were ready to be used for another work day. The only strange elements were the dead plants: flowers in the pots and wrappings and bouquets - all dead, wilted, and brown, if not slush on the floors. Dried petals carpeted hardwood. There was even a dead bellossom in a corner. Starved, Bill suspected. Dr. Stone was coldly silent at the last one; she knelt to examine it but said nothing regarding its condition.
None of this was what Bill was looking for. Quietly, he pulled a pair of heavy leather gloves from his pockets and slipped them on. Then, he started digging in the pots, hoping Dr. Stone wouldn't notice.
He didn't realize the bellossom wouldn't hold her attention for long.
"If I didn't know any better," she said, "I would say you're looking for something, Mr. McKenzie."
He was suddenly aware that she was close to him, peering over his shoulder. With a cry, he jumped and spun around, eyes wide and startled.
"Don't do that!" he hissed. Then, upon noticing his tone of voice, he cleared his throat. "It's not polite to sneak up on someone."
She smiled in return. "May I be of assistance in your search?"
"I'm not searching for anything," he responded, a little more bluntly than he had meant. All he wanted was for her to leave so he could conduct his business in peace, without prying eyes watching his every move.
"It's all right," she told him. "I know you must be here on official business related to the Knights."
He stopped and stood straight. The key and chain around his neck suddenly felt heavy and hot beneath his clothes. How did she know he was a Knights? The organization, its purpose, everything was so secretive even its own members were largely unaware of who else was in it. To normal civilians, it was more or less a rumor. As a result, Bill eyed the woman cautiously.
"Oh, you shouldn't be too surprised that I know about the Knights," she said. "My brother attended your initiation ceremony. Don't you recall being inducted by Knight Silver?"
Bill slowly went back to his search but kept part of his gaze - the part just out of the corner of his eye - on the doctor. Stone. As in Steven Stone, keeper of the Silver Key. He almost felt stupid for not realizing the woman's connection with him.
"Besides…" She wandered behind the counter and played with the register. "What else would Goldenrod's most brilliant mechanic and inventor be doing at Queen's Cross, the most infamous spot beneath the city? Surely, you aren't here for inspiration. There are quite enough rumors concerning you and your work already."
Bill dug into another pot. Still nothing. "Is that so?"
"Oh yes. They call you mad."
"They may call me whatever they like."
"It doesn't concern you, Mr. McKenzie?"
At that single question, he faced her with a stern glance. "Why should it? What they say about me hardly changes who I really am."
She refused to look up from the till. Instead, she pressed a button on its face and stepped back to let the drawer snap out with the chime of its bell.
"Do any rumors at all concern you?" she asked.
"No," he replied. "Not those about people. Most of them can't be true anyway."
Her hand closed the drawer. She strolled around the counter and towards him. Bill wanted to step backwards and away from her, but there was something about the way she smiled, something about the way the shadows played across her smooth face that made him stop. A strange, painful feeling hit his heart, and he felt his face grow hot. Soon, she was close to him. A little too close, actually.
"Perhaps you should," she told him. "Some of them worry me, and I would like to know they aren't true."
"They… they aren't," Bill replied softly.
"Mm. Perhaps." She pulled away from him. "but if you had paid much attention to hearsay, Mr. McKenzie, you would have known one important fact."
Involuntarily, he sighed with relief. Yet, his eyes wouldn't tear away from her as she sauntered back towards the door, her gardevoir in tow.
"What would that be, Dr. Stone?" he asked idly.
Turning to him, she pulled a key on a chain out from under the neck of her dress while her gardevoir placed a hand on her shoulder. Watching Dr. Stone lift her other arm, Bill felt his heart drop.
"That I was inducted last week," she told him. "I believe you were looking for this."
She flipped her free hand and opened it palm up. In it sat a small jewel that glowed faintly with its own violet light.
"Seed of the Star Flower, purported to have come from another dimension," she recited. "I was looking for it as well. Always check the till first, if not the safe."
Bill simply stared at her. He knew he should be lunging at her, trying to wrestle the seed from her grip, but he suddenly realized that for the first time in his life, he couldn't move, couldn't think. So, he stood like an idiot, his mouth slightly open and his arms limp at his sides.
Dr. Stone closed her hand and gave him one more smile.
"I seem to have won this round," she said. "I'm sorry. Please don't think any less of me. I would certainly be interested in becoming acquainted with the real you, not the one I've heard so much about. Call it a fascination."
She stopped to tap Gardevoir's hand. The psychic began to glow with a blue aura this time, dimming the interior of the shop. Bill knew what was next, yet he still couldn't move.
"Good day, Bill," Dr. Stone said. "I hope to see you again."
Then, with a flash, she was gone, and Bill was left in the darkness of the shop.