low hanging clouds [mod]

[Lack]

Pepper thoroughly enjoyed her nice little cottage in Winchester Town. The whole place was enchanted looking, doubly so in the spring. Wearing shorts and a tank top, Pepper roamed barefooted toward the quickly advancing Professor’s Trio Laboratory. On her back was a pull string sack with her sandals, some tennis shoes, and a spare set of clothes in it. She whistled, the tune the theme from a particularly prominent cartoon. ”I’ll let you go in the morning,” Aunt Tomato had promised; she had called ahead, gunning for a meeting before the sun had properly risen and the fog had lifted. ”You’ll be safer then. No strangers.”

She dragged a slender sprig, tender leaves still yet to bud on it. Was she nervous? Certainly. Was she determined to do this?

Certainly.

”Maybe they’d like some flowers,” Pepper mused as she spied a patch of succulent daffodils. She squatted, grasping them all and pulling them up with a flex of her arms. The makeshift bouquet fit into one of her hands, and if one didn’t look at their bottoms or too closely at the truly wild flowers, one might assume they were actually store bought. Confidence boosted, she managed to walk by that ever engaging reminder of the Night Police.

Standing before the door, she switched her switch into the same hand as her gathered blossoms before knocking. Remembering the ritual that all guests performed before entering her aunt’s cottage, Pepper spoke up. It wasn’t loud enough to probably heard much further than five feet from her, but it would certainly be heard through the door. ”It’s Paprika Peppercorn... Parnsip Nightshade’s niece?”

[Kittie]

The spring air was refreshing and greatly welcomed by the ghostly-haired professor, loftily perched on one of the lab benches. Cedar had insisted that the windows all remain firmly shut - you could just never be certain if someone were to try and sneak in these days - but Cedar had gone into town earlier, and Cypress was much less of a rigid authority than her stoic colleague. And so, one of the windows was left daringly open, even as the door was bolted tightly shut. A light breeze, smelling of soft flowers and the rich soil of budding spring, tumbled into lab. Cypress was careful to never leave the window unattended for long.

Mid-reverie, a knock came at the front door. The sun was shining and it was mid-morning - there was not a great chance of this visitor being a great threat. Still, precaution was always necessary these days. Cypress was reassured by the voice that called out. A young girl was at the door.

In a few quick strides, the professor was at the door and swiftly clicking back the combination of locks that kept their laboratory safe and sound. "Yes, hello." she said quietly, swinging open the door and revealing the lab within to the girl on the step. "Welcome to the Trio's Lab, I am Professor Cypress." she said, offering a faint smile to the newcomer.

"Come on in, we'll get you set up with a partner."

[Lack]

Was that clicking she heard? As in, multiple locks? That caused Pepper to tilt her head like a confused puppy; locks? Locks?! Why so ma--oh yeah. To keep the pokemon safe. From thieves! Pepper was complacently smiling by the time that Professor Cypress appeared at the door. She understood, or at least she did in her own mind.

’Yes, yes, what responsible professors!’

”Good morning, Professor Cypress,” Pepper cooed as she entered. She looked around, intrigued. It seemed almost juxtaposed inside; maybe the counter threw her off. She paused. ”Oh, um, thanks, but first!” she mumbled before presented the professor with the flowers in a kind of flourish reserved for only dumb kids or experienced show professionals. ”Tada!”

Of course, regardless of whatever the professor did with the flowers, Pepper with then easily fiddle with her twig. She would look around in excitement, keen little hazel eyes searching for the heralded starters. She’d been told about mudkips; she rather liked them... or oshawotts.

[Kittie]

Cypress' faint smile stretched as Pepper presented her daffodil bouquet. "How very sweet, thank you." she said, accepting the flowers with gentle hands and bringing them to her nose to take in their fresh scent. "I don't think we have a vase around here for these." she said lightly, scanning the lab room with her wide, grey eyes. "I'm sure this will do fine, though." she said, crossing the room and removing a beaker from one of the shelves. She quickly filled it with cool water and placed the daffodils in a windowsill.

"There. They'll be quite happy here, I'm sure." Cypress said, turning back to Pepper with a faint smile still on her face. She brushed down her lab coat with idle hands and nodded in the direction of the back of the lab. "Come along then, Paprika. I'll show you our starters."

Cypress turned, walking silently down the short hallway that led to the habitat room that held their pokemon. She pulled a keyring from her pocket, sorting through several to find the one that would unlock this particular door. "Are you excited for your journey? I suppose your aunt has taught you how to stay safe on the roads."