- thirty-eighth year waiting -

[nurse_boy]

[coming back from a trip home and the things he lived through and saw there--and having to face up to the fallout here--has left Rory drained, defeated, and depressed. So he's gone outside for some fresh air and to get away from it all. He's currently sitting on a large rock by the pond, trying (and mostly failing) to skip rocks across the water.

Comments

[payback]

[How's this for company, Rory? An Arcanine, apparently unaccompanied, approaching along the bank of the pond, skirting away from the water though.]

[nurse_boy]

[.... what even is that. It's unlike anything Rory's ever seen before. Maybe--maybe if he pretends it's not there, he won't draw its attention. Just like he was taught not to talk to strangers as a child, he was also taught to let unfamiliar animals be. So, keeping a wary eye on the Arcanine, he continues to skip rocks across the pond]

[payback]

[Too bad, Rory... Tad likes people, and he's going to approach, ears forward and alert, eyes focused. Not too quickly, but he's coming closer.]

[nurse_boy]

[oh god, it's like ... the approaching vague horror or something. It looks like it's coming straight for him. Does he have food on his shirt? Biscuits in his pocket that he forgot to take out? No, no, he's still too new to being able to eat again that he wouldn't have even thought to bring biscuits out. His rock tosses begin to slow down, and now he's paying more obvious attention to the Arcanine than skipping rocks. What does this critter want?]

[optimystically]

[AND GUESS WHO ELSE IS OUT BY THE POND? This girl! And she's looking around for something... and stops when she sees Rory]

E-Excuse me! Can I ask you something?

[nurse_boy]

[jumps a little in the midst of raising his arm to toss a rock, startled, and looks over at her]

Uh ... yeah--yeah, sure. Go ahead.

[optimystically]

Have you seen a Pokemon running through here?

He's a bird with a big hat, and dark feathers!

[nurse_boy]

A--

[what? He frowns and squints at her]

Beg pardon, a what?

[perpetualized]

[Jack's been strolling around the grounds for a lack of anything better to do when he spots Rory. They don't know each other well, if at all, really. He's about to leave the man to his thoughts when he remembers the things that River talked to him about and a short conversation he'd had with Amy a while back. So maybe he just needs someone to talk to that understands longevity. And hey, maybe they could just catch up on really old times.]

Hey Rory, mind if I join you?

[nurse_boy]

[he looks over at the sound of Jack's voice and, after a second, shrugs amiable]

Sure. Go ahead. It's Jack, right?

[perpetualized]

That's me. We met briefly during the pirate adventures, but I've also heard about you from our mutual friends.

[nurse_boy]

[he nods, remembering meeting him on that desert island. Everything that happened after that, he'd rather not recall. His eyebrows go up though at the mention of mutual friends]

Oh?

[lone_defender]

[So she's never met Rory in person, but it's not hard to notice a person sitting near the pond thoughtful and failing to skip rocks. Really, her compassionate nature simply can't allow her not to butt in.]

It's all in the wrist.

[nurse_boy]

[she catches him in the middle of a toss and he startles, turning sharply to look at her. The rock goes wide and dunks straight in the water.

He's a bit breathless from surprise]

Sorry, what?

[lone_defender]

[She offers an apologetic smile for the startling, before nodding to his hand.] Skipping. It's in the wrist, not the hand.

[nurse_boy]

[looks from her to his hand to her again, then back to his hand. He gives his wrist an experimental wave before he shrugs a bit dejectedly]

I was never good at this sort of thing anyway.

[tosses the rock; it skips once before plonking into the water]