"Here, it's this key," said Roxie. She handed Cheren back the car keys, holding the clinking keys by a single, silver key pinched between her fingers.
Cheren scowled, taking the keys from Roxie. With the silver key in hand, he slipped it into the key slot on the steering wheel lock, turning it and hearing a satisfying click. He grabbed the red handles of the springloaded bar, pressing it in and collapsing the thick iron bar just enough to slip the hooks off of the steering wheel. The bar sprung out again in a moment, catching Cheren by surprise. He immediately stuffed the steering wheel lock in the backseat, down by Hilbert's feet.
"I thought you said you knew how to operate a car?" asked Roxie, a look of skepticism in her eyes.
Cheren gave Roxie a passing look of disgust as he flipped through the keys on the key ring, adjusting his sitting posture on the fabric bench of the car seats. He watched Roxie take a long sip of her 'mysterious' paper-wrapped bottle, feeling her arm reach behind the backrest as she rested in the seat.
"I wasn't planning on driving an antique tonight," grunted Cheren, slipping the key into the ignition. "I bet this doesn't even have power steering."
"It's a car, alright?" Roxie gave Cheren an annoyed, frustrated glance. She waved a hand, gesturing to the wheel. "We're in it, now drive. Great Sky..." she cursed.
As Cheren turned the keys, the front of the car rumbled, the engine suddenly kicking on with a loud roar. The whole body of the car shuddered, rocking the benches of the car lightly. Both Cheren and Hilbert lurched with surprise, Roxie remaining unfazed. The lights beneath the dashboard flared up, glowing in their faded colors, the red hand of the speedometer jumping briefly before dropping down, glowing among the various different numbers. A more modern tape deck came to life in the marbled wood housing of the center console, the screen flashing with bright green digits as it pulled in broadcast FM. Quiet, crackling country music streamed from the speakers by both Cheren and Roxie's legs.
As the car engine settled, rumbling and thundering in its metal enclosure, Roxie let out a groan of realization as she pulled from the bottle again, setting it down in her lap. She reached for the stereo knob, going to adjust it, but Cheren swatted her hand away. She gave him a patronizing look, before Cheren reached down and turned the stereo off.
Reaching for the gear shift beside him, Cheren hit the clutch and popped the car into reverse. The car rolled back, the suspension of the car squealing with the old breaks as Cheren eased the vehicle around and out of the parking space. He then stopped it, pointing down the path. His hands fumbled with knobs around the steering column, accidentally triggering the window wipers and the hazard lights.
"Here," Roxie interrupted Cheren's fumbling. She reached over, flipping a switch down by the keys, turning on the headlights, lighting the path ahead of them.
Cheren scowled quietly, watching as out of the corner of his eye, Roxie started to fumble with the stereo again, pulling a cassette from the glovebox and popping into the slot. He felt along the arm rest for the switch for the windows beside him, instead finding a plastic handcrank. Holding the knob, he cranked hard, slowly lowering the windows, replacing the smell of cigarettes with the smell of the night and the Unovan sea nearby.
Trees swarmed past the windows of the car, the headlights of the car panning over them as the road sloped down and turned, Cheren keeping the wheel steady as the car followed down the curving road. The suspension of the car creaked as the road leveled out, pointed straight through the fields that the road cut through.
Cheren breathed a sigh, taking the wheel with only one hand. His face glowed ethereally in the dim lights of the dash, the headlights and the moon being the only source of light. Just beneath his legs, the steady thump of quiet rock and roll music came from the speakers.
A thump from beside the car made Cheren flinch, looking over. He caught a glimpse of Roxie's naked legs as she rested her boots her side of the dash, glowing in ghostly hues in the glow of the stereo. He quickly turned his attention back to the road, steadying the car again as the road swayed left.
"Eyes on the road, loverboy," Roxie droned quietly.
Cheren gave a disparaging look Roxie's way, but kept his focus on the road. In the reflection of the windshield, he saw the glow of Hilbert's face as he gave a coy smile, his face aglow as he faced his phone. Just beside him in the windshield's reflection, Cheren saw the hammered, chalky blue soles of Roxie's glam rock boots.
"Can you please take your boots off of the dash?" asked Cheren.
Roxie gave an unamused, slightly drunk look. "This is my dad's car," she said. "I'll put my feet where I want."
Shaking his head, Cheren refocused on the road.
The long sedan rolled around a corner, entering the short drive lined with perfectly-aligned houses. The engine hummed, brakes squealing quietly as the car eased in, slowing. One of the front tires rolled up on the curb, pulling the corner of the car over onto the short driveway, putting the chrome bumper just over a planter dividing the houses just before it stopped. All at once, the squealing engine shut off, the lights from the headlights dimming in an instant.
Three of the four doors popped open. Cheren just barely stepped outside of his seat, cranking the handle that raised the windows with long, grueling motions. He felt the car rock, Roxie throwing the door open and hopping out onto the driveway, then immediately slamming the door shut. Cheren groaned, stepping out and shutting his door.
As Roxie took a few, petering steps outside of her door, she tipped the paper-wrapped bottle back, draining it and throwing the bottle back, wiping her lips with her sleeve. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Hilbert slowly opened his door, stepping out.
Hilbert took his first few steps from the car when a brown bagged bottle was offered to him. His eyes followed the arm that held the bottle, bringing him to Roxie's cocky, smirking face.
"Care for a taste?" asked Roxie.
From behind the car, Cheren scowled, fumbling with the lock on the door. He momentarily considered the steering lock, then cursed himself.
Hilbert shrugged, taking the bottle. He lifted the bottle to his lips, gingerly, then slowly tipped back. As he lowered the bottle he suddenly felt Roxie's hands on the bottom of the bottle, keeping it up, holding the neck to his lips. Hilbert choked, spurting up beer around his lips. His adam's apple bobbed like a fish on a line as he fought to swallow it all. Roxie then took the bottle away, and Hilbert had a moment before he choked and his stomach threatened to vomit. He hunched over, holding his knees, coughing and wheezing.
"What the hell was that...?" Hilbert asked between loud, choking wheezes. He spat on the sidewalk, all he could do not to throw up.
Roxie flipped the plastic door on the trash barrel right in front of the lawn, tossing the bottle and bag in, hearing the empty clinking of the bottle as it fell. She let the plastic door fall and clatter, shaking off her arms and letting out a loud burp.
"Needed to finish the bottle off," Roxie said, sounding almost incredulous that Hilbert hadn't thought of it. "This is your mom's place. Do you really think I'm going to bring something like that bottle in?"
Taking the collar of his white shirt, Hilbert's eyes narrowed at the thin trail of yellowing beer stain on his shirt. Popping it over his nose, he could smell the rancid beverage. He wiped his lips on his hands and immediately smelled them, finding a similar stench.
"Jeez Roxie, the hell? Your beer is on me!" Hilbert raised his voice.
Roxie suddenly lunged at him, immediately shushing and covering his mouth. She held her hand to his face while Hilbert protested and grabbed at her arms, trying to get her off. Hilbert succeeded in wrestling her hand off of him, swatting it away, but when Roxie stepped a little closer and he grabbed at her, she swatted his arm away, then pinned him against the car.
"You wanna tell her I just gave a minor something to drink? You wanna tell the whole neighborhood?" Roxie hissed.
"Roxie—Great Sky—Will you get off of me? You just tried to drown me!"
"What? I—You—I drowned you? Well I—How dare you abuse my generosity, Hilbert Black! I oughta—"
"Professor Juniper!" Cheren exclaimed, breaking the grumbling argument. He hopped around the hood of the car, trying to catch a glimpse of the dimly lit figure standing in the doorway, his sneakers clapping on the driveway. "What a lovely surprise!"
A dark figure appeared, backed by the glowing inner lights of the home. Professor Juniper's hair looked disheveled, golden brown locks of hair sticking out loosely from her bun. In the darkness of her overshadowed face, only the twinkling glint of her eyes was visible, looking watery and glossy. Her stance seemed to waver on the front steps to the door, having a hard time standing.
"Hey...!" Juniper began. She cleared her throat, blinking several times, staring down at Cheren blankly. "Um..."
While Roxie and Hilbert tried to remain silent, Hilbert roughly shoved Roxie off of him, making no noise at all, sending her stumbling back a few steps. He took the opportunity to step off from the car he had been pinned to, taking a few steps forward, moments before he felt the stiff toes of Roxie's boots slam into the back of his shin. He stopped in his tracks, groaning and stifling his pain, letting the pain pass through his leg as Roxie slowly walked up the driveway.
Cheren continued to smile with excitement, watching the Professor take a few steps down the the path towards the driveway, holding the railing as tight as her weak fingers would allow, her legs moving as slow as possible. He took a few steps towards the bottom of the path she was descending from, watching her come down, momentarily offering to help but then retracting out of fear of humiliation, looking sheepish and concerned for the Professor.
Though the Professor looked healthy, something was unusually young in her outlook; there was an extreme exhaustion in her features. Though she was present physically, there was a certain emptiness to her eyes, a certain deludedness in her smile. She held her arms out beside her like her lab coat was twelve sized too big, her legs moving stiff and as though each step made her stumble.
"Hey, Cher... Cheric... Cherry!"
Juniper snorted. Her face seized up slowly, her dimples popping as a sickening smile appeared on her lips. Her hand left the railing just long enough for her to smack it in delight, incredibly satisfied with her joke. She let out an uncharacteristic, uncompromised guffaw, snorting again and laughing, sinking and peeling over as she let out a hysterical, maddening laugh.
Cheren looked on in confusion. His face faltered as the Professor slowly stumbled down the rest of the steps, holding herself over the edge of the railing, a few locks of her hair falling out of the bun as she leaned over and giggled silently, limp as a ragdoll. He walked up alongside her, afraid to touch her.
Roxie turned to Hilbert, a placid look on her face.
"Now that's what being 'drowned' looks like," she hissed. "Don't take my graciousness for something so willy-nilly."
Hilbert stood just inside the house, watching as Juniper, with an arm slung over Cheren's shoulders and another slung over Roxie's, descended the steps outside of the house and walked towards her sedan on the street. Roxie and Cheren stumbled in their steps, being careful to lead and make sure they weren't moving too fast for Juniper, keeping pace and bearing her evenly distributed weight.
Something caught Hilbert's attention as he stood there. Behind him, his mom cleared her throat.
"Hey kid... Are you taking the Professor?" asked Darlene. She smiled sleepily on the couch, nestled deep in the fluffy cushions, her arm still slumped over her forehead.
Hilbert put on a smile, looking past her for a moment before reaching down and grasping gently for her hand. They shared a moment, looking at each other and smiling.
"I'll be right back. Just around the block. Cheren will follow and drive me back."
"Good," she smiled, blinking lazily. "Don't be out too late, okay?"
"You have my word," said Hilbert.
Holding her hand, Hilbert lightly shook it, running his thumb over her knuckles. He frowned, something seemed off. Squeezing her hand, he figured it out.
"Mom, your hands are really cold," said Hilbert, a questioning, curious look in his eyes.
"My arm just fell asleep, a little numb, that's all," she said. She nudged him, knocking his hand away sleepily. She stretched, yawning, nuzzling herself deeper into the cushions of the couch. "Go get the Professor home. I don't want to have to worry about you tonight."
The smile on Hilbert's face returned. He pulled away, seeing Roxie and Cheren hanging around just outside Juniper's car. He gave one last look before stepping out the door, heading down the path.
The suspension of the car creaked, the whole body of the car lurching forward as the front wheels hit a dip in the road. The rear wheels immediately sent the car rocking again, the engine revving up again beneath the hood of Juniper's car.
The revving of the engine was near silent inside the car. Hilbert felt the car lurch slightly, the headlights bobbing and waving over the rising road ahead. He held the wheel steady, keeping his foot on the pedal tense as he eased the car forward, the speedometer hovering around the '35' mark. Taking a hand from the wheel, he rubbed his palms on his jeans, cleaning the sweat from them, switching hands and rubbing the other hand on his other pant leg. He raised the brim of his hat, keeping it from his eyes, giving full view of the road ahead of him.
Juniper snorted again. She then rolled forward with the rocking of the car, letting out a cartoonish laugh, laughing hard and loud. The car rocked again and she launched herself back into her seat, her head rolling against the headrest, her face frozen in a twisted, open-mouthed smile, her lungs choking for air as she let out another, incredibly loud laugh. She held her arms close around her torso, not quite sure what to do with them. A wild gleam had appeared in her eyes, masked by the hazy, strewn-about strands of hair that had fallen from her bun.
"Aha... Haah! Eheheh..." Juniper wiped away a tear, regathering her composure slowly, giving a sleepy smile as she looked ahead at the road. She took in a deep breath, exuding a small, petering laugh.
As Juniper's laugh faded out again, the quiet, warm-sounding old rock returned into the humor of the situation had worn off, the smile faded a long time ago. Hilbert was completely focused on the road.
"My goodness, that's too much..." Juniper breathed. She reached for the water bottle in the center console, pulling it out and popping the latch on it. Half of what she drank dribbled down her lip and over her chin, all as she drank noisily from the bottle, giving out a loud gasp of relief when she finished. In the darkness of the car, she tried to secure the lid back on, fumbling through the darkness.
"I've... I think I lost the joke," said Hilbert.
"I have too," said Juniper. Before Hilbert could speak or say anything, Juniper cleared her throat loudly, grabbing for the knob on the stereo. "Gosh... What is this? This is great! Oh, Great Sky..." she stifled a belch. "Turn it up Hilbert!"
Hilbert didn't reach for the knob, but his ears picked up as the volume levels of the song skyrocketed, the car speakers thundering with the doowop sounds of the old school music. As he tried to focus on the road, Juniper's voice pierced his ear, singing along and getting only half of the lyrics right. Her voice was a shout, blaring out the music that played. Instinctively, Hilbert reached down for the knob and turned it down halfway, keeping it a decent level. As Juniper's singing persisted, he finally turned it all the way down.
"You're... You're gonna lose... Yeah... You're gonna... Gonna lose..." Juniper sang, her voice lowering slowly to a mumble as she realized the music had disappeared. Her eyes were shut, but she forced them open slowly, looking around the car. "W... Where did the music go...?"
"It was a little loud," said Hilbert, seeing Juniper watch him from the corner of his eye.
"But... Why? Why did you turn it down...?"
Hilbert cleared his throat. "Uhhh... You know... I was afraid that you'd hurt your hearing...?"
"I'd hurt my hearing... I'd hurt my hearing! Yes...! The audio levels in this car far exceed—" Juniper cut herself off with a burp, her head rolling limply as the choke of air escaped her. "Thank you... Thank you for that..."
The road finally leveled out. Juniper's sedan lowered as the road came to a flat area, curving around an island dividing the road and bringing the car to a yield. The car stopped at the marked line, giving Hilbert the chance to look out the side, seeing the last few cars pass down the stretch of highway. The car rolled forward, the engine picking up and sending the car down the road, down the straight and level path. At the far end of the highway was a stoplight. The car road out the rest of the road and came to the redlight, the turn signal flashing on.
Hilbert eased the breaks, feeling the car ease to a halt. Over the hood, just barely above where he could see, the line disappeared moments before he stopped. He sat back, breathing a sigh, hearing the doowop music return in the silence of the idling engine.
"You're doing great," Juniper smiled, sleepily. Her head rested against the divider of the side windows, stretching out the seatbelt strapped across her torso.
Hilbert nodded silently. "Thank you."
Though Hilbert was staring down, looking at the glossy, immaculate hood of the car, he saw the reflection of the stoplight change to green. He returned his focus to the road, switching pedals, the car rolling forward and heading around the median, the engine picking up with a press to the gas pedal, humming and sending the car down the road. Though the sides of the street were lined with sparse trees, the roads were much cleaner, featuring sidewalks and streetlamps. The rolling of the tires was a dull rumble, not the bouncing, rocking venture it was earlier.
"Your mother tells me you're—" Juniper hiccuped. "—you're in some kind of music-playing—some kind of music—a band. Is that right...?"
"Yeah. 'Some Girls'."
"Pardon...?" Juniper hiccuped.
"Oh! Um, our band. It's called 'Some Girls'."
The car roared. Over the smooth surface of the road, the car flew down, passing deeper into the small town. A sign whipped by, reading 'Old Aspertia Town'. The other lone car on the road, on the right lane, slowly crawling down the road, was passed by quickly as Hilbert took things quick behind the wheel of the car, letting the speed slowly increase. The brake lights on the rear of the car glowed a bright red as the road narrowed, bringing the car into more of the homely sights, slowing down as the car passed the first few shop fronts.
"'Some Girls'...?" asked Juniper. "How many girls do you have in your band...? Darlene... Your mom only said one."
"We don't know who the drummer is," said Hilbert. "We... Um... Don't exactly have a regular bass player either. Right now it's just myself and Roxie, who is a girl."
"Heh... Eheh... Is this Roxie cute?"
Hilbert went to protest, opening his mouth and rapidly stringing together a sentence, but stopped himself. He instead steadied the wheel of the car, moving it a lane over with ease, giving Juniper a passing look.
"You met her tonight," said Hilbert. "What do you think?"
Juniper gave a blank stare, looking off into the distance past Hilbert, at the black night that passed by, the many different store fronts appearing just beyond the street. Realization dawned on her slowly, and she sat back in her chair, staring out the front of the car, her head sliding side to side with each movement of the car. She let out a loud gasp of realization, her eyes forcing shut and her head falling forward into her hands, her whole body slumping over.
"Ohhh! Roxie... Roxie! Yes! I'm so sorry Hilbert... I don't know what's happening right now... I should've known that..."
Hilbert let out a small snort, grinning. "No worries."
The turn signal switch flicked up behind the wheel, Hilbert keeping his thumb over the end of the switch. The car turn signal flashed at the end of the car, a green arrow pulsing on the dashboard. Hilbert let the car roll around the corner, entering a stretch of road surrounded by topiaries on either side. The island dividing the two lanes had a set of tall, manicured shrubs dotting the center all the way down, surrounded by very short red-flowered coverings. Between the sidewalk and the street, an array of rounded shrubs divided the two, filled in by deep green lawns. At the far end of the road, the white walls of a laboratory glowed.
"You know how I never gave you your Pokemon...?" asked Juniper, shuffling in her seat, trying to sit herself a little more upright to help with the view. Her glazed eyes glowed at the sight of her lab.
Hilbert swallowed. "Yeah, I remember that."
Juniper gave Hilbert a smile. "I know the cut-off is twenty, but I'd still get you one... I owe your mom too much... A lifetime..."
Hilbert stared out of the windshield with a pained expression. He eased the brakes, bringing the car into the circular, pool-like culdesac cap at the end of the road. Cranking the wheel, the slowing car moved around to the far side of the ring, coming to the sidewalk's edge.
"That's fine, Professor. I—" Hilbert began. He was cut off.
"But I understand... Honey, I totally understand. Not everyone was made to be a trainer, and that's not a bad thing. They were made for more important things in life. Tasks that only the Great Sky can give."
Juniper's sleepy, lazy gaze moved with her wobbling head. She looked out the window beside her, looking up the stairs to the lab, seeing the door swing open.
"My goodness... Someone's working late..." Juniper mumbled.
Leaning down to see out of Juniper's window, Hilbert caught a glimpse of the figure approaching the edge of the steps.
With long, dark and bluish hair trailing down over her back, smooth and uniform, swaying down around her hips, Fennel descended the steps. A large lab coat adorned her figure, buttoned around her torso, swaying around her naked legs. A pair of glassy blue eyes appeared far larger than they were beneath her glasses. She moved delicately, descending the stairs as quickly as she could, but moving careful and watching her unsteady steps.
Hilbert caught himself staring. Though he wanted to make sure that Fennel's wobbling, unsteady legs made it down the stairs, he was paying attention to the way they moved, the way the muscles flexed beneath the smooth, glossy skin. He shook off the warmth he felt grow in his shoulders, catching it before it spread up his neck.
Juniper's hand slapped and smacked lazily along the console in the door, trying to find the window controls. Her finger eventually found the tab switch, pressing in and making the motor go just slightly. She forced her finger down, the window rolling down about halfway before her finger slipped. Blinking steadily, she looked down into the dark of the car, seeing where her hand had slipped. The snapping footsteps of Fennel's flats approached just outside the window, making Juniper's head whip up and to attention, looking through a haze of her own hair to see her.
"Fennel...! Hey! Fennel...!" Juniper half-exclaimed. Her hands fumbled with the console on the door, getting the window down just a few inches before she lost it again. Just outside her vision, where she wasn't paying attention, the lower half of Fennel's torso filled the window space as she reached down for the door handle, popping it open. The armrest console slid out beneath her arm, making Juniper's arm flop forward.
The lights in the car turned on, a gentle chime playing as the door opened. The outside air slipped in through the opening, the sounds of the car engine apparent, up until Hilbert turned the keys back and kicked the engine off. All of the lights in the car choked and flashed for a second, before they all turned on.
As Fennel reached in, finding the Professor's arm and grabbing for it, Juniper lazily slapped Fennel's hands away. Her head drunkenly rolled back in the seat, a ridiculous, sleepy smile appearing. "Fenfen, stop... That tickles...!" whined Juniper.
Hilbert slipped the keys out of the ignition. He fastened his hat tighter to his head, grabbing his seatbelt and releasing it.
"Hey Fennel," Hilbert said, trying to keep it less than obvious that he was enjoying someone else dealing with Juniper.
Underneath the roof of the car, Fennel squatted down, her normally dreamy expression disappeared when she saw Hilbert. She ignored Juniper's catlike toying, her clumsy, outstretched arms reaching to play with Fennel's pink glossy earrings. Her expression held for a moment, looking over Hilbert for a long, frightened moment.
The smile on Hilbert's face faltered after a moment, soon turning to confusion. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Hilbert, I need to talk with you as soon as you can," said Fennel. "It's urgent."
Hilbert popped the door on the driver's side open. He stood up, stepping out on the smooth pavement of the laboratory circle, getting around the door quickly and shutting it. He lingered on the side of the car, looking over to where Fennel's head had popped above the car's roof to see where he was going, moments before it popped back under the car. He sighed, looking out over the empty evening town, frowning.
"I mean, I'm right here," said Hilbert. "What's going on?"
Fennel's head popped over the roof the car, looking over to Hilbert and meeting eyes with him, her eyes wide and frightened. Juniper's hand continued to lazily reach up and paw at Fennel's face, getting lazier and lazier, reaching down over her neck and collarbone, moments before Fennel gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her away. When she went to speak, her eyes went away, her lips biting nervously. Her head disappeared back down, fumbling with Juniper as she undid her seatbelt and got her situated.
Scowling, Hilbert quickly moved around the hood of the car, the lights still on, casting his pants in a blinding blue and making dark shadows far beyond the car. His sneakers scraped against the streets, moving hastily over towards the open passenger door, towards Juniper's grumbling.
Fennel had managed to sling Juniper's arms over her shoulder, getting her arms up beneath Juniper's shoulders. Planting her feet in the ground, legs squatting, Fennel got ready to hoist Juniper from the car when Juniper let out a loud, sudden croak. Hilbert appeared behind and beside Fennel, leaning up against the rear passenger door of the sedan, making Fennel wince with surprise.
"Fennel, what's going on? Is everything alright?" Hilbert asked.
As Fennel went to reply, Juniper's flopping arm got a swing at her face. The wide, oval-shaped glasses adorning Fennel's eyes were caught in Juniper's raking fingers, pulling halfway over Fennel's ears. Forcing her eyes shut, making a sour face, Fennel blindly reached to get her glasses back, missing and further losing her grip on Juniper, making her slouch against her.
"It's not bad... To be on the mooooon!" Juniper wailed, her shrill voice seeming halfway melodic to her half-awake brain.
"Great Sky..." Hilbert groaned. He moved in quickly, prying Fennel's glasses from Juniper's clutches. He came around behind Fennel, squeezing the arms of the wire glasses over her cheeks and getting them halfway on, stopping momentarily to smooth her hair back to get the glasses on before Fennel groaned and waved a hand, egging him on, getting the rest of the glasses on. Once Fennel had her glasses back on, her eyes opening and looking through where her hair had stuck down beneath the lenses, Hilbert came around the other side, getting himself between Fennel, Juniper and the door, helping Fennel get her grip beneath Juniper's shoulders.
Grunting, letting out a loud, battling groan, Fennel hoisted Juniper up out of the seat, launching herself a few steps back, Juniper's legs dragging and scuttling behind her on the sidewalk. She backpedaled quickly, moving back several feet before she forced herself to a stop, groaning under Juniper's weight.
Hilbert had gotten out from between her and the door moments before, breathing heavily, watching as Fennel helped ease Juniper back towards the steps of the laboratory. He adjusted his hat, shutting the door back on the car, blindly reaching for the keyfob and locking the car, shutting the lights off.
"There's more... More more more... More... Puuuuddiiiing..." Juniper crooned, her head rolling side to side on her shoulders.
Squatting down, Fennel took a deep, exhausted breath and launched herself up the first few steps to the laboratory. When she felt the heels of Juniper's sneakers catch on the first step, she slowed to a total stop, lowering Juniper just enough to drop her on the steps. She felt the resistance as Juniper's rear touched down, sitting on the step, the rest of Juniper leaning back slowly on the steps until Fennel finally relinquished her grip beneath Juniper's arms.
Fennel's spine popped unusually as she stood up. The flower clip in her hair came loose in her fingers as she pulled it out, squeezing the springtrap and taking a moment to brush her hair aside, smoothing it back into uniformity around her glasses and out of her eyes. As she placed the clip back into position, clamping down at the end of her swooping bangs, she paused where she stood at the top of the first landing of pure white stairs. She looked down, making eye contact with Hilbert at the bottom.
Hilbert took the first few steps from around the sedan, bringing himself to the foot of steps, Juniper's half passed-out, sprawled body sitting on the steps between himself and Fennel. He kept his gaze affixed to Fennel, seeing her pause and hesitate when she saw him.
"Fennel, what's going on?" Hilbert asked.
"I... I..." Fennel began, but she couldn't get the words out. Something was keeping her.
At the steps, Hilbert took the first stair, heading up the array of stairs, stepping around Juniper's sprawling form. He didn't say anything, just heading up the steps.
At the top, Fennel stared in total fear. Her hands hovered over where the flower clip was supposed to tuck neatly into her hair, instead frozen in the position, watching eternally as Hilbert ascended.
When Hilbert reached the top, he faced Fennel, stepping closer.
"Fennel... What's wrong...?"
Fennel was silent. She swallowed, pressing on, finishing putting the clip into her hair. When she had finished, she cleared her throat, taking a deep breath through her nostrils and straightening her posture.
"Your... Um... Your mother..." Fennel began, quietly.
"What about my mother...?" asked Hilbert. His voice trailed off. All the answers he needed were in Fennel's eyes.
Down the road another sedan rounded the corner, tires squealing, the headlights wobbling as the suspension of the car did a lazy job of straightening the vehicle. The car, half a mile away, hurtled towards where Hilbert and Juniper's car was. The familiar brown hood of the car passed beneath a streetlight, the familiar color of Pop Roxie's car. It was Cheren.
At the bottom of the steps, in the laboratory circle, Pop Roxie's old brown sedan came in wheeling off the street, wheels squealing as it came to a halt on the outer rim of the curb. The whole body shook, bouncing back and forth on the suspension as the tire rolled against the raised curb and suddenly stopped. The lights and the roaring engine cut out, the driver door swinging open suddenly as Cheren stepped out of the driver's side, looking up to where Hilbert and Fennel were.
Though Hilbert gave a passing look to Cheren just beyond the steps, he looked up towards Fennel, seeing that she had turned away and was looking down at her feet. She made a strange, unusual choking noise with her throat, like she was holding back.
"Hilbert, Roxie called," Fennel said, as solemn and controlled as she could manage. "Your mother had a heart attack."
Hilbert's gaze was dead, staring off in the distance past the steps.
All at once, the dam suddenly broke for Fennel. The tears she had been holding back exploded out in a gasp. She went across the landing to Hilbert, throwing her arms around him.