It had been one of the worst rests she’d ever had.
Oh, not because it was uncomfortable. With how cold she usually ran having Gem, who was a little electric heater, around her belly was quite pleasant. While on the other side, Pomona was a light touch of cool, like a flipped over pillow.
Nor was it because her partners were noisy. Gem might have occasionally let out a small noise, but Hailey was used to sleeping through crashing carts, yelling doctors, and all other hospital noise pollution. Pomona was, well, silent as a tomb.
No, it was because she just... didn’t sleep. Even as Gem wiggled against her belly, as Pomona floated down behind her, literally phasing through the covers, her heart started a staccato beat. One that persisted far longer than she thought that weak muscle was capable of.
Pokémon.
There were Pokémon, in her bed, two even.
Pokémon.
That had practically forced her to bond at ball-point, refusing to hear any of her pleading, her excuses. They'd gently placed forced a binding ball into her hand, making her hold it as they each drew a long, ethereal thread from inside it.
Pomona had considered it for a moment, before daintily tying it around her plush wrist, ending with a big, floppy bow.
Gem had stuck her tongue out as she pulled hers, showing no hesitation as she fastened the cord around her neck, blowing a exaggerated kiss once she was done.
Hailey had expected nothing to happen as she sat there, ball in each hand. Why should anything? But there was a glow, a flash of red, and the strings disappeared, and the balls emitting a short chime. It was then that her heart really kicked into overdrive, a rare sweat forming on her skin. She’d tried to talk, to ask questions, if they… felt… anything.
But Pomona had just placed a single finger over her lips, then pulled her down to bed.
They’d lain there for who knew how long before exertion finally made her pass out. Not long enough to get properly rested, that was for sure.
The rays of sunlight spilling in from the window wouldn’t be so painful if it had been.
Still, she didn’t want to move. Wasn’t sure if she should move. What was the etiquette for sleeping with multiple partners anyway? Not something she’d ever had to consider before. Wiggling out stealthily wasn’t exactly an option, what with the being stuck in the middle, and also the legs not working thing. Any attempt to move would be as graceful and precise as a Spinda ballet, with probably the same amount of casualties too.
So, despite her bladder starting to make itself known, always stubbornly present among all her organs, she decided to stay still. It wasn’t bad yet, and she had plenty of practise enduring it.
Frankly, she was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, it just had to.
Even if Gem and Pomona didn’t realize they’d made a terrible mistake when they woke up, which her brain kept yelling that they would, Carita would walk in some time.
Carita, what would she think to see her little patient in bed with two Mon? The frightening thing was that Hailey really didn’t know. She would normally say she knew the dragon well, too well. However, there was really no precedent for adding another Pokémon to their mix, not really. The few other Mon specialists that had dropped in while the Dragonite had been there had been so disconnected, nothing like this.
Any minute she’d come through the door, and see.
Carita was nowhere to be seen.
Eventually Gem woke up, well kinda. More she flopped over, nuzzling into Hailey’s chest. If she had any tits to speak of maybe that would have felt a little frisky, but alas. Still, the constant static that seemed to cling to the little Mon did feel kind of nice on her skin, tingly.
Pomona, as it turned out, had been awake for ages, even before her. Just laying there, silently, watching them.
Hailey was really going to have to talk to her about that sometime.
Still, with the twos help it was almost insultingly easy to get out of the twin Center bed, and into the green Center wheelchair. If Carita wasn’t going to show up, then the bathroom was calling. Calling so loud that they almost missed the sticky note on the other side of the door.
Hailey, some emergency work has come up, and since, much to my surprise, you’re not doing bad, I figure you can stay here for a few days. I’ll be in and out, but talk to the nurses, they promised me they’d give you some essentials, given that you didn’t pack any. And as for you two, by ‘here’ I mean in the center. If you make me track you down, not even praying to Acreus will save you, get me?-Carita
Hailey read the short note over and over, even as the girls pushed her through the halls. “What if it wasn’t her. I’ve never heard anything less like her!” She mumbled, only half caring if the other heard her. “What if someone’s impersonating her, or has kidnapped her! The Carita I know should have redlined me back to Jubilife the second my pulse stabilized!”
“Kidnapped? She we alert the Rangers that a Legendary has moved into the area? Or just trust them to follow the trail of destruction?” Gem chuckled, with Pomona joining in. It was clear neither of them would take this crisis seriously.
Instead they just wheeled her to front desk, where an Audino managed to recognize Gem and Pomona from a memo she’d been left, before clumsily focusing on Hailey herself. She handed a small pile over the desk; a simple toothbrush with paste, towel with a bar of soap wrapped in paper, and a set of simple clothing, the kind of stuff you’d put on someone that just got out of surgery. Still, they were indubitably cleaner than what she was wearing, even after Pomona’s efforts.
Finally, a small key on a chain. While most of the bathrooms in the Centre were single occupant only, to ease on cleaning time the nurse said, there were some larger ones, which they were sent off to with a stern warning that they had better just help their human out and nothing else.
Hailey could see her eyes unfocus and a confused look come over the Audino’s face as they wheeled her away.
It wasn’t anything special. White tile floors with enough room for the chair to move, white tile walls that would be easy to hose down. A toilet in on corner, a shower with a lip in the other, and a sink. Only strange thing was that there was three people in it.
“I vote tooth brushing first.” Gem said. “No offence, but I’ve stuck my tongue in that mouth, how long has it been?”
“… No comment.” Was Hailey’s only response. Still, it would feel good, there was only so much you could do by swishing some state water around your mouth for days. One problem though, while the washroom was big enough to handle the wheelchair, whoever had installed the sink clearly hadn’t been thinking of people like her. Still, not the first time she’d had to deal with that kinda crap.
It was a bit awkward to stick the brush under the water, but the start was worth it. After living rough for a while the minty taste was almost overwhelming, the taste of clean. There wasn’t any floss, but she did her best to get in all the nooks and crannies, last thing she needed was cavities on to of all her other crap.
Once a good lather had been worked up she bit down, holding the brush while she wheeled over to the shower. A drain was a drain. Only, a hand on the back of the chair stopped her dead.
“Now now, there is no need for that Hailey. If you need help, you only have to ask.” Plush purple arms slid under her armpits, lifting her into the air. Dangling in front of the bathroom mirror, what a way to start the morning. The worst part was she could see Gem trying not to snicker in the reflection.
Still, with all the poise and dignity that benefit her station, she spit before talking back. “I did manage before without people lifting me everywhere Pomona.”
“Of course, but why should you have to now?” It was so hard to tell if she was making a joke or being totally sincere, which made it hard to grump at her.
“Less chatty more brushy.” Gem quipped from her seat on top of the toilets tank, snapping her fingers.
“Since when did Carita crawl into your skin?” Hailey groused, but still the room was filled with the sound of brushing for the next several minutes. Like scratching an itch, it felt good to finally take care of things.
Spit, rinse, spit again.
“So, are you gonna keep doing this in the shower?” It was half snark, but half real question as well.
“I certainly can.” Was Pomona’s only response.
“Hey hey, tall and purple, bring her down here first, gotta make sure she did a good job before we move on.” Gem hopped down, still snapping her fingers.
“Serious?! I’m 27, I wasn’t born yesterday, what has gotten into yo…!” Very reasonable complaining in her opinion was cut off as Gem grabbed her jaw. The Minun was small, pint sized really, but she was still a Pokémon, which meant she had more power in one hand than Hailey had in her whole body.
For a moment Gem just held her in a eye lock, electric blue into dull brown. Then, they closed in a flash, and the Minun went in for the kill.
Or the kiss. Hailey felt herself jump in Pomona’s arms, but one of Gem’s hands wrapped around the back of her head, keeping her from pulling away. What choice did she have but to lean into it? Hailey couldn’t say how long it lasted, but Gem, and specifically her tongue, was in no hurry, seemingly on a roadtrip of her entire mouth. When she was finally released she was gasping, not an unusual thing for her, but not for this reason.
“Hmm, feels pretty clean to me, much better than last time, though technique still needs a lot of work.” Gem smirked while licking her lips. “But what do you think Pom-pom? I’d like a second opinion.”
“Huh? What?” Was about the sum of response Hailey could manage before she was quickly spun around. Pomona’s face was the same as always.
Her mouth sure could open wide though.
One thing was for certain, the Ghost certainly didn’t kiss like she talked.
Mercifully, the shower didn’t go like the toothbrushing.
Hailey was already spending most of it trying to bury her head in her hands, if they’d tried anything… well who knew what would happen.
Pomona still held her through all of it, seemingly uncaring of both the splash of water and the strain of exertion. Without complaint she held Hailey under the flow, twisting her this way and that, all under the direction of Gem, who had apparently decided that she was in charge of all actual cleaning. Cloth in one hand she scrubbed all over, though mercifully there were some areas she didn’t focus on. Hailey would have thanked her if the idea of even acknowledging them wouldn’t have caused her to combust at the current moment.
The clothes didn’t fit her well, baggy and shapeless, but at least they had that clean feeling, and a tie strap on the pants. Sure, they made her look like a escapee from an asylum, but they weren’t caked in sweat.
“No, no, these won’t do at all.” Not everyone was a fan though, as Gem clucked her tongue.
“Well, I’m not exactly going to go around naked like you.” Hailey shot back. “At least Pomona wears something, even if it is part of her… body?”
“I confess, I’ve always had a penchant for fabrics and fashion.” The ghost said, deliberately avoiding the question while giving the somewhat ragged edge of her dress a swish.
“Well, maybe you can help me get some, been ages since I’ve had a set of threads. Lost my last, and only, set when I was ‘emigrating’ from Hoenn, involved a school of Tentacool."
Hailey had a feeling that story was going to get told eventually, whether or not anyone asked or wanted it, but mercifully it was cut short by a presence at the end of the hall as they exited the bathroom.
The figure was tall and broad, especially in the arms, at least six feet tall, if not more by Hailey’s reckoning. Her skin had a reddish hue that complimented her bright yellow eyes well, though it didn’t hide what was obviously a old burn on her right cheek. There was no wondering who the stranger was, at least in the general sense. Black undersuit, red accoutrements, barrette style hat, even if you lived under a rock it was hard to mistake a Ranger for anything but, which meant the rope looped on her belt probably at least occasionally got used for things other than bedroom antics. Probably.
The question was, why was a Ranger staring them down?
“Halcyon Wolters?” Her voice was surprisingly soft for a woman that looked like she climbed mountains and wrestled Onyx for fun.
“I prefer Hailey, but yes, did you… need something?”
Striding up the woman almost shook the hallway, before thrusting a hand out. Tentatively, Hailey took it. Thankfully the woman let her get away with a single fairly limp shake instead of rattling her entire body.
“Bláthnaid Giolla, but you can call me Naddy, with the Pokémon Rangers.” Well yeah, she certainly wasn’t a waitress. “Here to do some follow-up with a missing persons report that was filed.”
“Oh, right, Carita said she filed one but… she found me, here I am, so what’s the issue?”
Reaching a hand behind, Naddy scratched the back of her head, briefly sending her short curls bouncing. “Yeah, we did hear from her, but we’ve gotta make sure y’see. Once a report is filed it can only be closed the proper way. It’s nothing serous, just have to do a bit of a interview, fill out some paperwork, won’t take long.” Then, smiling in a somewhat apologetic way, she added “Private interview I’m afraid, so you two will have to just occupy yourselves for a bit.”
Gem responded by stomping a foot. “Geez, first we don’t get to give you a medical exam, now we don’t get to play Rangers & Rocket’s, I’m telling you Hailey, we’re gonna have to do something about this!”
“Well, we were just discussing clothing.” Both of them knew Gem wasn’t really angry at this point, but Pomona putting her hand on the Minun’s shoulder did have a calming effect. “Why don’t we take a stroll, see if anything catches our eye. Back by lunch?” Naddy gave them a slight nod, but said nothing else.