48. Action (for Goldenrod)
[Well, they say that the holiday spirit shows up in the most unusual of places...]
[The dogtags around Heather's neck jingle and click against her round locket as she shoved boxes of Revives as far back into the shelves as she could manage.]
[Ugh, stocking shelves, stocking shelves, stocking shelves. It's not that she hasn't done her Christmas shopping yet-- she's gotten most of it done, actually. But there's still just a liiiiittle left, and either way, it didn't make being stuck at work on the 23rd any nicer, either.]
[Not to mention, now that there's finally some nice weather, she'd much rather be ou--]
YOU. TEMP.
[OH GOD WHY.]
[Heather freezes, eyes wide, and turns sloooowly around.]
.... ye-eeesss?
GET OUT. YOU HAVE THE DAY OFF.
... The day off?
[Heather's voice sounds incredulous. No-- beyond incredulous. She sounds like someone just told her-- and then backed it up with irrefutable evidence via mathematics, experimental studies, and the hand of God coming down from the sky and saying DUDE, THEY ARE SO CORRECT-- that mankind actually originated from a cosmic mishap involving Pee Wee Herman, a time machine, two oranges, and a bowl of dead sea monkeys.]
[That's how incredulous her voice sounds.]
You're giving me the day off?
DON'T YOU LOOK ALL SURPRISED! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I AM A VERY GRACIOUS WOMAN!!
... Right.
DON'T GET USED TO IT. IT IS JUST IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HOLIDAY. BACK IN MY DAY, WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE HOLIDAYS.
... Uh... well... thanks, ma'am--
AND YOU'D BETTER BE BACK HERE AT THE CRACK OF DAWN ON THE 27TH. I CAN'T DO ALL THE WORK AROUND HERE YOU KNOW.
[A pause.]
.... AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR HANDS. HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
[And with that little mind-screw out of the way, the supervisor Psycho Bitchmonster of Death turns away and skulks malevolently off down the aisle.]
... well, that was surreal, but...
[LIKE HELL SHE'S GONNA STICK AROUND HERE! Goldenrod City, look out. Heather is gonna go out and appreciate some SNOW, dammit. Shoving the rest of the boxes hastily into what little space was left on the shelf, Heather climbs down from the ladder and just-- ... DASHES.]
[Tugging a Pokeball out of her pocket, she lets Cujo out (because she'd more or less been expressly forbidden from having him out with her while she worked, because apparently it was bad marketing for Growlithes to try and eat the toothpaste display, but at the same time, ever since the Glitch Incident, she wasn't too keen on leaving him in her room while she worked...).]
[As usual, the Growlithe instantly bounds alongside her, tongue flapping out of his mouth happily as he frolics. OH BOY, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO TODAY.]
C'mon, Cooj, let's head to that Underground place-- I can finish grabbing gifts for people and we can get some of those hot candy chestnut things that are probably bad for you but that I let you have anyway because I'm a terrible own-- .... HEY! W- ... where're you going?!
[In the middle of listening raptly to Heather's barely-started monologue, Cujo had just... suddenly turned tail in a flurry of creamy fur and gone TEARING off in the opposite direction, leaving Heather with no audience except for his rapidly-disappearing hind end.]
...
H-HEY! Get-- get BACK here, you mutt--!!
[SHIT SHIT SHIT IF HE DESTROYED SOMETHING SHE PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE GETTING THE DAY OFF ANYMORE BECAUSE SHE'D BE IN HUGE TROUBLE SHIT FUCK CRAP.]
[Cursing, Heather THROWS herself after the dog, narrowly dodging several customers and more than a few coworkers carrying heavy displays. A tallish construction worker is forced to do a near-pirouette just to avoid clocking her on the head with one of the ladders he's carrying. Heather shouts apologetically over her shoulder as she passes.]
SORRY, SHAWN.
[Cujo, meanwhile, is on a MISSION. For what? Heather has no idea. But SOMETHING. Because she's fairly sure she has NEVER seen him run with this kind of determination before, EVER. She's only just barely staying on his trail-- he's running too fast for her to catch up with. Occasionally she gets glimpses of him up ahead, but JEEZ is it hard to struggle through this crow-- ... wait. Wait. Oh shit, he's-- ... is he going for that guy with the--....?]
Cooj, NO!
[Too late, the man carrying a large crate marked 'DELICATE CONTENTS' turns. Too late, the expression of abject horror appears on his face. Too late, he opens his mouth to cry out.]
[And then eighty pounds or so of excited dog careens into him, knocking him, several displays, and the contents of the crate all over the place.]
[Heather comes skidding to a halt in front of the wreckage, face frozen in a mildly horrified grimace.]
[MISTLETOE.]
[MISTLETOE EVERYWHERE.]
[And in the middle of the enormous pile that spilled out of the crate is Cujo, rolling around on his back and making loud snorfle noises, ears splayed out on either side of his head like dumb-looking little wings. His tail is casting sprigs of the spiky-leafed little plant everywhere with each enthusiastic wag.]
... Cujo.
[The Growlithe rolls over and looks up at Heather happily, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Like this picture except with mistletoe and a Growlithe.]
Cujo-- you are-- you friggin'--
WHAT IS THAT RACKET OVER THERE!?
...S-shit!
[Heather urgently reaches down to grab the dog with some difficulty around his pudgy middle and haul him out of the pile.]
We gotta get outta h-- ACK! Dammit, STOP! Cujo, STOP, you idiot! Come ON!
[Attempting to shove him back down and stop him from CLIMBING her to try and eat her hair in his spastic joy, Heather turned and ran from the scene of the crime, with a mistletoe-covered Cujo in tow.]
[... And if she'd taken a moment to stop and assess the situation better, she might have noticed that in the struggle, a fairly sizeable sprig of mistletoe was stuck right on top of her head.]
[Oops.]
[ooc: Heather will be running around town doing various Heather things like shopping for gifts, sticking it to the man, and frightening small children. Aaaand unless someone points it out to her... she's probably not gonna realize she's got the kissing equivalent of a 'KICK ME' sign. Feel free to encounter her anywhere in the city! Cujo will also be happy to dispense ~*~DOGGY KISSES~*~ to anyone too close to any of that mistletoe.]
[HAVE FUN.]
[The dogtags around Heather's neck jingle and click against her round locket as she shoved boxes of Revives as far back into the shelves as she could manage.]
[Ugh, stocking shelves, stocking shelves, stocking shelves. It's not that she hasn't done her Christmas shopping yet-- she's gotten most of it done, actually. But there's still just a liiiiittle left, and either way, it didn't make being stuck at work on the 23rd any nicer, either.]
[Not to mention, now that there's finally some nice weather, she'd much rather be ou--]
YOU. TEMP.
[OH GOD WHY.]
[Heather freezes, eyes wide, and turns sloooowly around.]
.... ye-eeesss?
GET OUT. YOU HAVE THE DAY OFF.
... The day off?
[Heather's voice sounds incredulous. No-- beyond incredulous. She sounds like someone just told her-- and then backed it up with irrefutable evidence via mathematics, experimental studies, and the hand of God coming down from the sky and saying DUDE, THEY ARE SO CORRECT-- that mankind actually originated from a cosmic mishap involving Pee Wee Herman, a time machine, two oranges, and a bowl of dead sea monkeys.]
[That's how incredulous her voice sounds.]
You're giving me the day off?
DON'T YOU LOOK ALL SURPRISED! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I AM A VERY GRACIOUS WOMAN!!
... Right.
DON'T GET USED TO IT. IT IS JUST IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HOLIDAY. BACK IN MY DAY, WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE HOLIDAYS.
... Uh... well... thanks, ma'am--
AND YOU'D BETTER BE BACK HERE AT THE CRACK OF DAWN ON THE 27TH. I CAN'T DO ALL THE WORK AROUND HERE YOU KNOW.
[A pause.]
.... AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR HANDS. HAPPY HOLIDAYS.
[And with that little mind-screw out of the way, the supervisor Psycho Bitchmonster of Death turns away and skulks malevolently off down the aisle.]
... well, that was surreal, but...
[LIKE HELL SHE'S GONNA STICK AROUND HERE! Goldenrod City, look out. Heather is gonna go out and appreciate some SNOW, dammit. Shoving the rest of the boxes hastily into what little space was left on the shelf, Heather climbs down from the ladder and just-- ... DASHES.]
[Tugging a Pokeball out of her pocket, she lets Cujo out (because she'd more or less been expressly forbidden from having him out with her while she worked, because apparently it was bad marketing for Growlithes to try and eat the toothpaste display, but at the same time, ever since the Glitch Incident, she wasn't too keen on leaving him in her room while she worked...).]
[As usual, the Growlithe instantly bounds alongside her, tongue flapping out of his mouth happily as he frolics. OH BOY, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO TODAY.]
C'mon, Cooj, let's head to that Underground place-- I can finish grabbing gifts for people and we can get some of those hot candy chestnut things that are probably bad for you but that I let you have anyway because I'm a terrible own-- .... HEY! W- ... where're you going?!
[In the middle of listening raptly to Heather's barely-started monologue, Cujo had just... suddenly turned tail in a flurry of creamy fur and gone TEARING off in the opposite direction, leaving Heather with no audience except for his rapidly-disappearing hind end.]
...
H-HEY! Get-- get BACK here, you mutt--!!
[SHIT SHIT SHIT IF HE DESTROYED SOMETHING SHE PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE GETTING THE DAY OFF ANYMORE BECAUSE SHE'D BE IN HUGE TROUBLE SHIT FUCK CRAP.]
[Cursing, Heather THROWS herself after the dog, narrowly dodging several customers and more than a few coworkers carrying heavy displays. A tallish construction worker is forced to do a near-pirouette just to avoid clocking her on the head with one of the ladders he's carrying. Heather shouts apologetically over her shoulder as she passes.]
SORRY, SHAWN.
[Cujo, meanwhile, is on a MISSION. For what? Heather has no idea. But SOMETHING. Because she's fairly sure she has NEVER seen him run with this kind of determination before, EVER. She's only just barely staying on his trail-- he's running too fast for her to catch up with. Occasionally she gets glimpses of him up ahead, but JEEZ is it hard to struggle through this crow-- ... wait. Wait. Oh shit, he's-- ... is he going for that guy with the--....?]
Cooj, NO!
[Too late, the man carrying a large crate marked 'DELICATE CONTENTS' turns. Too late, the expression of abject horror appears on his face. Too late, he opens his mouth to cry out.]
[And then eighty pounds or so of excited dog careens into him, knocking him, several displays, and the contents of the crate all over the place.]
[Heather comes skidding to a halt in front of the wreckage, face frozen in a mildly horrified grimace.]
[MISTLETOE.]
[MISTLETOE EVERYWHERE.]
[And in the middle of the enormous pile that spilled out of the crate is Cujo, rolling around on his back and making loud snorfle noises, ears splayed out on either side of his head like dumb-looking little wings. His tail is casting sprigs of the spiky-leafed little plant everywhere with each enthusiastic wag.]
... Cujo.
[The Growlithe rolls over and looks up at Heather happily, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Like this picture except with mistletoe and a Growlithe.]
Cujo-- you are-- you friggin'--
WHAT IS THAT RACKET OVER THERE!?
...S-shit!
[Heather urgently reaches down to grab the dog with some difficulty around his pudgy middle and haul him out of the pile.]
We gotta get outta h-- ACK! Dammit, STOP! Cujo, STOP, you idiot! Come ON!
[Attempting to shove him back down and stop him from CLIMBING her to try and eat her hair in his spastic joy, Heather turned and ran from the scene of the crime, with a mistletoe-covered Cujo in tow.]
[... And if she'd taken a moment to stop and assess the situation better, she might have noticed that in the struggle, a fairly sizeable sprig of mistletoe was stuck right on top of her head.]
[Oops.]
[ooc: Heather will be running around town doing various Heather things like shopping for gifts, sticking it to the man, and frightening small children. Aaaand unless someone points it out to her... she's probably not gonna realize she's got the kissing equivalent of a 'KICK ME' sign. Feel free to encounter her anywhere in the city! Cujo will also be happy to dispense ~*~DOGGY KISSES~*~ to anyone too close to any of that mistletoe.]
[HAVE FUN.]