Eevee TF Series Part 3-VII

Eevee TF Series
Part 3
Chapter VII

A stern, purpling face sat obscurely in the shine of the reflective elevator doors, with green eyes blazing hot enough to etch a pair of holes into the flat surface. Cathy Ruck was a ticking time-bomb waiting to go off, and her unlit fuse was dangling above the heat of any foreseeable excuse. Her fingernails dug small trenches into her palm as her fist clenched white and cold. Without a moment's notice she was prepared to discharge a slew of severed heads and swears across the hospital interior. The host of pale interns that had accompanied her stood hostaged along a nearby wall. Avoiding any form of eye contact, they waited in silent anxiety for whatever sort of wrath the unchecked beast was brewing behind her darkening face and thunderous green eyes.
"Where the hell are those..." she exhaled sharply as her wrist shot up to her face to measure how long she had been boiling. The intensity of her glare may as well have been enough to shatter the glass on her watch. She expected no response to her ramblings, of course, and her students were smart enough to know she did not want any response- all except one, who shuffled nervously before breaking the stiff silence.
"Perhaps they got lost?" As his peers anxiously darted glances between him and the motionless white coat, he quickly realized his mistake and plastered himself against the wall. Before she turned her scornful eyes to him, his face had dived towards the floor to avoid them, but to no avail; the fuse had been lit.
In seconds her stone-like face approached his, half-grumbling. "I'm sorry, I don't see how that's possible. I mean, how many floors did we go up? Four? Did we go up to Pediatrics?" She turned back toward the elevator and started pacing around in a vehement rant. The medical staff around her began to take notice and took a few steps back, avoiding the fray. "It sure sounds like it because apparently some people here can't seem to count! I told them to go up ONE floor. One! Is it too much to ask to take on just a bit," she held up her almost-pinched fingers, "a bit of responsibility?" Her hand fell back to her side in a frustrated slap.
The ding of an elevator sounded, immediately silencing her. Quietly preparing for another rant her head spun toward the slowly opening doors, which opened to a tall man in a white overcoat similar to Cathy's. With an unknowing smile he glanced between her and his clipboard and walked across her stage and past the relieved interns. The empty elevator closed behind him. With a deep breath, Cathy turned around and continued her pacing.
"Where the hell..."

--

There was absolute silence from the crowd as a cool crimson glow faded into view from within the closed capsule perched on the table. The silence was broken by a loud echoing sound like thunder beneath a high-pitched hiss. The ball suddenly sprang open, exposing a furnace of bright red energy inside. There was a fluidity to the energy as it spun about randomly and broke off into small dissipating eddies. A loud swirling sound grew the red energy shot out of the ball in a tall geyser, arcing back and striking the surface, where an orb of bright light collected and reflected in the curious spectators' eyes. The ball snapped shut behind it, and the light stream was severed. Slowly, the energy began to coalesce and conform into a small mammalian shape with a head, body, and notably small legs.
The hazy silhouette began to clarify beneath the receding red hue, revealing a body covered in toast-brown fur. A pair of large ears protruded from the top, and a cream-white mane of teardrop tufts decorated the small neck. A large brown fluff of a tail swished around playfully behind the body.
The head inclined upwards and two thin brown eyelids shot open to reveal a pair of tall, deep, resonant eyes. The creature smiled wide and yawned with a squeaking voice, Eevee-Vee!
The mid-morning sun shining through a wall of clear glass pane windows shimmered in the large brown eyes, which covered nearly half of the curious face. The small head looked up at the face of Ron first, and then saw Corbyn beside him. Hearing breaths of excitement, it spun around to see the gathering of other humans to whom he was being introduced. The brown ovals expanded as the tiny body was overwhelmed with excitement. His love for attention and affection quickly became evident. Within seconds he was bombarded with a healthy dose of both. He readily absorbed everything and responded with his own array of affectionate gestures and high-pitched Vee's.
Valencia stooped from her chair with few words. "Would he- would you mind if I held him?" she said in anticipation, gently stroking the soft fur in front of her. She was quickly and unabashedly infatuated. Through her slow and careful words she tried to sound apologetic for her earlier doubts. She knew she should have asked before petting, but neither Ron nor the Eevee seemed to mind. However, it mattered a great deal to her: she felt like the luckiest person in the world for having such an opportunity. She had no other idea of how to react to a real, living pokémon, much less one so capable of commanding her naive heartstrings.
"You can certainly try, Val- just watch out; he's a bit of a scamp."
To this, Eevee responded with a scrunched-up face of hurt resentment. He hoped to discredit his friend by obediently pouncing into Valencia's lap before she could pick him up. However, his rogue nature could not be hidden for long, as Valencia's face was soon covered with the soft pink tongue. Noticing the wide pupils drunk with excitement, Ron tried in vain to quickly apprehend him. The miscreant fox scrambled his way up to perch on Valencia's head and played with silky brown strands of her hair, turning it into a matted, tangled nest.
"Oh, s- stop that!" she managed amid a fit of laughter. She reached up her free hand and tried to regain control over the energetic scamp. He quickly gave up on her head and playfully jumped at her raised arm, pawing with clawless paws and biting with tiny, futile teeth. "I see what you mean!" She secured him with both hands and passed the bundle gently over to Eric, who gratefully accepted the gift before suffering the same fate and releasing the furball back onto the table.
At that point, Ron grabbed the pokéball and returned it to his pocket. His arm shot with a short grunt and snatched up Eevee by the scruff of the neck. He struggled around indignantly, trying  without success to appease Ron with a lick or two. With a casual smirk, Ron passed him over to Corbyn, who had wordlessly been musing and grinning at the whole spectacle.
In a matter of seconds the process was repeated. Just like the others, Corbyn's smiling face was soon covered in moisture, and on his arms were shallow dimples from small, dull teeth. Between chuckles he thanked the fox with a quick kiss to the forehead. Spitting strands of fur from his lips, he glanced back at Ron. "Wonderful kisser, though I think he'd like to give some lovin' to Uncle Ron," he joked as he passed Eevee back.
Ron grimaced, "Oh I got plenty already- he makes a better alarm clock." He offered Eevee up to Crystal, looking for any sort of telling gleam in her eyes.
She shook her head politely and put up her hand, "No, thanks." Eevee insisted, however, leaping out of Ron's grasp onto her shoulder. He started to play around with her necklace but soon gave up and fell asleep on his new perch, tired from excitement. Receiving yet more unacknowledged praise from the wetted audience, he effortlessly encored them with a squeaky yawn and the steady rise and fall of his chest.
Ron reached back into his coat pocket and brought out the pokéball, with the rounded button pointed towards the exhausted guest. A beam of light shot out and enveloped Eevee, undisturbed as he dissolved back into a packet of energy. The red light shot inside the button, which faded back to a natural gray-white color. He held it up just a moment longer to be sure Eevee was secured inside, and returned the ball to his pocket before sighing and leaning back in his chair. The damage his friend had delivered made him chuckle as he saw the delighted, enthused, and shiny-wet faces of his recovering companions. Each was engaged either in drying their faces or finger-combing their hair back into an acceptable position, all laughing in delight. Most elated was Valencia, whose face was grinning with restrained laughter and whose eyes were still clenched behind stray locks of hair. "He's quite the little rascal, isn't he?" She laughed, running her fingers across her forehead, and opening her eyes at Ron.
"Indeed, he is!" Ron returned, patting the lump in his coat pocket.
"But he's so adorable!" she added.
"Indeed, he is!" he repeated. Everyone around him nodded in agreement.
"So if nobody else is going to ask the big question," Corbyn turned to him, looking at him with a pseudo-suspicious face. "Where exactly, did you get that?" He pointed a finger at the lump in Ron's coat pocket.
Ron slowly followed the finger down to his coat. "Walmart...? $40?"
"You know what I mean, R- really? Nice." Corbyn brushed some fur from the respectably cheap coat. "No but like, how did someone as boring as you come across that thing? I mean did it just fall from the sky and land in your lap or did you get that from Walmart too? Cuz if so I know where I'm going after school today."
With a pause, Ron smiled and considered. He looked to Crystal, but she offered no help. She simply looked invested, waiting to see how he planned to explain himself as if their twilit meeting never happened.
A sigh blew through his tired lips. He saw all of the other attentive faces locked onto his. Being the center of attention usually isn't so bad unless you have to sell an unbelievable story. Luckily, he thought, his friends were close enough that they'd be at least somewhat believing of his story. He felt some pride with his new-found significance. He continued casually, trying not to sound eccentric. "To be honest, I just found it yesterday." He wasn't surprised to see some eyebrows rise around him. "I was looking for my hotel, and I happened to find this thing," he poked the lump, "right outside! I mean yeah, it may as well have fallen in my lap. I had no idea what it was until this morning . He actually woke me up, so we're not really on the best terms." The others pictured the scene and laughed.
"Lucky! He is so cute!" Valencia sighed.
"How is that even possible?" Eric spoke up. "I mean... they're not real, right?" The slim anxiety in his voice glanced between everyone else in the room for agreement.
Everyone looked at Crystal, who looked like she was going to say something. "Erm..." She blinked her eyes with pensive thought. "There are just some things in life that don't really have answers," she concluded with a shrug, "I dunno."
The others sat in silence for a moment, not totally satisfied.
"Say, Ron," Corbyn chimed in, "what hotel are you staying at anyway?"
"The Black Cat. Why?"
Corbyn's face lit up. "Niiice! That's where I'm staying! I guess you're lucky to be staying there, huh?"
"You mean- how they allow animals?"
"Nah, I mean you've got me there to protect you, genius." His tongue shot out in a tease.
"Yeah, I suppose that is a good thing," Ron replied with the same sarcasm. "Where are you?"
"I'm on the left side of the second floor, you?"
"... Just around the corner."
"Nice. Hey, don't we have somewhere to be right about now?"
"Oh damn," Ron looked at his watch. "Haha yeah, Cathy's not going to be happy when she finds us. We've been here for like twenty minutes."
Crystal looked up in agreement. "How about we find her instead? The sooner the better." She got up and stretched a bit. Her gaze looked over to the panoramic windows for another look and then walked across the icy-white tiles to the elevator. The draft was picking up again, and she embraced her exposed arms. The others also got up and did the same. Each peered over the table through the window at the scene below and followed Crystal, who was waiting by the doors. She pressed the only button available, and waited.
Eric held up a finger for attention. "So, wait a minute. We should come up with an alibi right?"
"Good idea, man," Corbyn replied thoughtfully, with his hand over his mouth. Without a second thought he turned around and gave Ron a swift kick to the knee, sending him to the floor.
"Agh! What the hell Corb?!"
"You tripped and fell up the stairs, remember? You were a crying mess for about 20 minutes." Corbyn smiled and offered Ron his hand, helping him up.
"Well, you could have given a warning, you know."
Corbyn shrugged and his tilted his head back a bit. The elevator made a ding, and the door opened for them. Everyone darted in, except for Ron who limped over to the corner. Crystal shook her head at him with a smirk and pressed the button on the console with a "1" on it. The elevator descended.