How can I care for another being when I can't even care for myself?

[umbreon-blacky.livejournal.com]

Who: Blacky, Vinnie
What: Blacky sucks at raising things
When: BOXING DAY.
Where: Vinnie's dorm
Warnings: EVERYTHING IS DRAMATIC



Blacky was not cut out to be a mother. Or a big sister. Or the owner of a simple plant. Luckily for Casca, she'd been able to send him off to someone who could take care of him before he even hatched. Gamera and Melanie, unfortunately, were stuck with a very inept caretaker for the time being.

Gamera had come down with the flu just as Blacky got over hers (she probably passed it on to him), and she could swear the bonsai tree's leaves were looking more wilted than they did the day before. Was it possible for a plant to catch the flu too? No matter how hard she tried to push it out of her mind she kept thinking of the aquarium she had in her office last year, and how everything in it had gone belly up. Everything kept dying.

Vinnie knew plants. He was a plant. Partially. Since he was the one who gave her this particular plant, he was definitely the person to go to for help. It was also a bonus that he was on the same team as Marie, who just so happened to be a Squirtle. Maybe he'd have some tips for taking care of Gamera until Raiden came back.

Or else she was in big trouble.

So she grabbed the plant, left Gamera in a nice warm bed watched over by Leon (so she hoped) and practically tore through the campus to the boy's dorms. It took all her self-control to knock delicately on Vinnie's door instead of pounding on it. Hopefully he was actually in.

Comments

Gamera Status

[goaheadnblunder.livejournal.com]

[Gamera has the bed, left with soup and hot cocoa by his new playmate Naval before she left town with Kamek, and was totally not in the kitchen when Goose's wine bottle (http://badasscopters.livejournal.com/46342.html?thread=581894) exploded in Leon's face shortly after Blacky left due to Kamek's curse (http://geometricmagic.livejournal.com/14599.html?thread=297735).]

[punchtheflowers.livejournal.com]

Vinnie was, at the time, cozied up under his heat lamp with one of the books he'd received for Christmas. No, not that book. (http://i.imgur.com/S7SdQ.png) He'd already tried reading that one, and it'd been too much, even for him. It wouldn't be right subjecting his three remaining bonsai and his newest potted flower to such new and inventive expletives. On the other hand, the science of lasers wasn't the most invigorating reading experience, and he was feeling the weight of drowsiness creep up on him.

That's when the knocking shook him out of his stupor. Vinnie was neither expecting nor, honestly, wanting visitors at the time. Apart from the physical weariness, his head was a mess. The people he'd inadvertently hurt had more or less forgiven him, but the guilt still hung over his head. Coupled with his weakened state, he was feeling more than his fair share of self doubt. The fact that he received any gifts at all from people outside of his team was an encouraging sign.

Eventually, he'd have to deal with his handicap as well. But right now was not that time.

Not bothering to throw on a shirt, Vinnie had to drag himself out of bed and away from the warmth of his lamp. With the bandages off, two massive scars were visible, marring the intricate tattoo that sprawled across his body.

The Venusaur opened the door with a sigh, but upon seeing Blacky, the tired tone in his voice quickly lifted. "Whadya wan-- oh." Blink. "Hey."

[umbreon-blacky.livejournal.com]

"Hello." Blacky hadn't really seen much of Vinnie since the attacks, so she had no idea what to expect other than that he was clearly well enough to have been released from intensive care... Not that it counted for much, as she knew from personal experience.

She wondered how much he knew of what went on at the school after the fight. Because of that fight.

When she realized she'd been staring, she diverted her gaze down to the bonsai in her arms. "I, ah, hope I wasn't interrupting anything. I was hoping for some advice on a few things."

yeah matching icons

[punchtheflowers.livejournal.com]

Apart from the scars (which were still delicate and pink and partially scabby), the flesh wounds from the fight had been taken care of easily enough. Knowing giga drain helped immensely. Still, it was obvious that the Venusaur was nowhere back to full health. Blacky might've remembered him looking a lot less pale in class, and on top of that, it seemed like he hadn't gotten a decent night of sleep in days.

As awkward and exhausted as he felt, the sight of the bonsai plant in Blacky's arms was seeing an old friend again. Vinnie's demeanor brightened up already. "Yeah-- I mean, no, you're not interrupting. Umm..."

Oh, he should probably invite her in instead of having her stand in the hallway all day long. He took a quick glance inside. Dorm room status: predictably, a mess. Apart from the clothes strewn across the floor, there was also ribbon, card and wrapping paper, all left over from the rush of Christmas.

"You can come in if you want? I mean, I haven't cleaned up ever, but Sonny's out right now." Vinnie held the door open a bit wider as he offered - from where she stood, Blacky could probably get a good view of the setup he had for his potted plants.

*SPENDS FOREVER ON A TERRIBLE TAG*

[umbreon-blacky.livejournal.com]

"Mm, I'd like that." Even if the place was a lot more cluttered than she was accustomed to - especially since clearing out most of her old belongings - and smelled vaguely of some cheesy snack food. She wasn't sure if that was appetizing or nauseating at the moment.

But the array of potted plants looked better tended-to than the floor did. Did Vinnie consider them to be more like friends or more like family? Either way, it would no-doubt break his heart if she failed to keep Melanie alive. She sighed and set the bonsai down among the others. At least it didn't seem as wilted as she imagined it was.

"You certainly do have a green thumb, don't you...? I'm afraid I'm not so talented."

[punchtheflowers.livejournal.com]

Blame Sonny for the snack food smell. Doing his best to emulate a good, shirtless host, Vinnie pulled up the chair from his desk so Blacky could take a seat, and plopped down on the edge of the bed.

"S'part of the job description," he shrugged. It came so naturally to him that he really couldn't make a big deal of it - but the Venusaur proceeded to introduce the rest of his potted plants.

"The other three girls are Valentia, Chloë, and Marley. Jude's new, and Sonny got me Reilly for Christmas." He pointed to the bonsai, pink flowers and spider plant, respectively.

"So uh... what exactly did you need to know?"

[umbreon-blacky.livejournal.com]

"...Ah..." If it were up to Blacky, none of the plants would even have names. She couldn't exactly tell plants apart unless they were remarkably different in colour or size. But she hadn't even grown up with a grass type and had no deep-rooted DO HO HO appreciation of them. Perhaps it was time for that to change.

"...Everything. I'd like to know how to keep i-- keep her from dying."

Come to think of it, taking it out into the cold on the way here was probably not the best way to start. And then she'd have to do it again on her way home. OH NO.

[punchtheflowers.livejournal.com]

All this plant care knowledge was second nature to Vinnie, so he looked a little perplexed that something so common sense needed special instruction. Where was he supposed to start with this advice...? He scratched his head.

"Well... you really just need to water her regularly, and give her fertilizer a few times a year. Not too much water though," he amended, recalling some of his experiences with a certain Lapras on his team. "Just enough so that her soil doesn't dry out.

"It's pretty simple. She won't die if you're attentive."

[umbreon-blacky.livejournal.com]

That sounded simple enough. There had to be a catch.

"How much water is too much? How much is too little? Should it be filtered or fresh? Mineral water? What sort of fertilizer? What sort of music does she like? And how much do you know about Squirtles?"

[punchtheflowers.livejournal.com]

So many questions what. Vinnie's head spun a little trying to keep up the the barrage of questions. How could he help, uh... his eyes darted around the mess of his room until they spotted his old watering can. Picking it up, he also grabbed a pen, proceeding to draw a measuring line on its side.

"Here, just... about this much water, twice a week should be enough. You can borrow the can, I just got a new one for Christmas. And tap water is fine. I can lend you the fertilizer too."

"She likes any sort of music as long as it makes you happy, y'know? It's your..." He made a thinking face, trying to find the right word for it, "energy that really does it. Plants can tell that sorta shit."

Then that last question. Wait. That didn't have anything to do with plants. "...I know Marie, does that count?"

[umbreon-blacky.livejournal.com]

Tap water up to the line twice a week. It really was simple. What a relief. She was worried about the comment about energy, though - besides having a pretty dark aura by default, she'd been especially glum lately. Would a plant be able to tell if she was faking it? Maybe she should make an actual effort to cheer up for real. For Melanie's sake.

"Thank you." She idly ran her fingers along the watering can's spout uhuhuhuhu. "Goodness, I was worried it would be far more complicated than that."

As for the subject of Squirtles...

"You and Marie have been on the same team for some time, haven't you? I, ah, recently found myself on the same team as a Squirtle. I'm taking care of him while our trainer is away." Officially calling Raiden her trainer out loud to somebody else was so strange. But it felt good. "But he's come down with something. I- I think it's just the flu, but I'm not sure. It could be more serious."

[punchtheflowers.livejournal.com]

Oh, was that what had her so worried? Vinnie gave a little sigh of relief - Squirtles, luckily, didn't need specialized care like Charmanders did with their tails, or Bulbasaurs with their, well, bulb. That made things a lot easier. "It's probably nothin'. I mean, it's the season for colds anyway, Marie used to get them too. I think if he had shellrot or something, it'd be pretty goddamn easy to tell.

"You've been givin' him fluids and lots'a rest, right? Do you, uh," okay, Vinnie was actually kind of tired, and if he were a Squirtle too he might've just wanted to withdraw into his shell, but he was compelled to extend his help anyway, "want me to take a look at him?"

[umbreon-blacky.livejournal.com]

...Shell rot. Shells could rot what really she had no idea OH NO WHAT IF IT WAS ROTTING RIGHT NOW... No, she definitely would have noticed if there was something wrong with his shell. Unless it was the kind of thing that once you noticed it was way too late.

"Ah... No, I just wanted to make sure that there isn't some terrible Squirtle disease that seems like a regular flu until it's too late. But I had caught the flu after the... after the attacks. It makes sense that it would have passed on to him. But thank you."

For some strange reason she was not feeling very reassured at all. SHELL ROT NO.

BACKTAG COUNTRY I'M SO SO SORRY OH GOD FORGIVE ME

[punchtheflowers.livejournal.com]

For some reason, the Blacky still didn't look like she had much peace of mind on the matter. Oh boy. He wasn't the greatest with words most times, so this comforting thing was far from his forte.

"Well, shellrot's not like fungi infections where you don't know you're screwed until you start growing parasite mushrooms. But that's more of a Grass Pokemon concern," he added hastily, realizing how horrific that sounded. It'd been on his mind quite a bit while he was in the hospital. Even the slightest chance that he could've caught fungal spores was terrifying to think of. "There's no way a Squirtle could catch that."

The mention of the attack though, that... oh, instant guilt. Maybe action would solve this instead. "If you're really worried, I could take a look? I mean, I'm not 'xactly a doctor, but if it makes you feel better..."