13: Paralyze
Normally this kind of situation didn't elicit concern from her; she would look the other way because it generally was deserved or utilized as a defense mechanism, especially in a fight. She obviously felt guilty whenever it happened to a friend or innocent bystander because she couldn't control it every time when contact was made. It was purely a roll of the dice. And this time, the roll was not in the opposition's favor.
Pikachu felt bad because on the other side of the door she was planted in front of, Fox McCloud was laying in there, practically immobilized because of her.
She believed that as his friend and the responsible source for the matter at hand, she was obligated to enter that room and be prepared for whatever he was going to throw at her, because she was one-hundred percent unable to foresee how Fox would react after all that had just gone down. It had all started as a harmless practice match; he approached her earlier that morning seeing if she was interested in sparring on one of the newer stages Master Hand had recently had programmed in. Obviously, she acquiesced.
She opted for her standard Pikachu form, so she was hopping around and narrowly dodging all of Fox's attacks. After landing a few kicks on her small mouse body, unknowingly to her, her Static ability was activated and the next kick landed by Fox was his ultimate downfall to laying on the ground, unable to move, leaving Pikachu to panic from the other side of the stage. Despite not having full knowledge of her own powers- which was a tad embarrassing in her honest opinion but she kept that to herself- she eventually believed her ability was instinctually activated in a time of crisis.
Understandably so since Fox was pretty much kicking her ass the entire match.
But here she was.
Pikachu's mind went into overdrive as she attempted to will herself to enter the infirmary room and seek out the afflicted vulpine, but her body was acting as though she was the one who was paralyzed.
She cursed herself under her breath; why was she so nervous anyway? It was Fox. The pilot was an incredibly cool customer, but her anxiety and paranoia was whispering to her about how he was going to be pissed at her and not happy whatsoever to see her enter the infirmary, especially when he has no means of escape. It was ridiculous what the mind could come up with when you were alone with your thoughts.
She remained planted for another ten minutes, enduring a recurring pattern of no thoughts whatsoever to suddenly every single thought in the world screaming at her within her mind. It was too much. It reduced her body to numb nothingness, unaware of any activity surrounding her at the moment.
She snapped out of her daze when the door in front of her opened, Dr. Mario stepping out of the room. His eyes lit up as they landed on the blonde, and he approached her quickly.
"Oh good, you're here finally."
Pikachu resisted the urge to flinch. Finally? As in they were expecting her? Or more specifically, Fox was?
"Sorry," she forced out. "I got caught up."
Dr. Mario merely raised an eyebrow at her as she felt a layer of nervous sweat coat her back. He continued to stare her down for a moment before responding.
"No matter I guess. You're here now. Fox was asking about you."
Another flinch. "He was?"
The doctor chucked to himself at her neurotic expression. "He was indeed. I would entertain you with why he was asking, but you might as well go find out for yourself."
Pikachu felt the desire to turn down the offer climb up her throat before swallowing it back down. What kind of person, no, friend, would she be abandoning someone she caused harm to, especially when they were apparently looking for her?
"Okay, thanks."
Nodding at her, Dr. Mario quickly scrambled away from the girl. She stayed still, watching as he rounded the corner down the hall before finally reaching for the door handle leading her to what basically felt like her doom.
The door creaked obnoxiously, making her want to cut and run more than she did before; the added attention to her loud entrance was unwanted, and she prayed that when she walked in that Fox would already be preoccupied by something, anything that would divert his attention from her. Peeking in slowly, she surveyed the room, unable to locate the vulpine in question. She noticed a curtain drawn in the corner, realizing that Dr. Mario likely did that as a respect of privacy for anyone who wandered in, unaware of Fox's current condition.
Having her body completely into the infirmary, she closed the door behind her gently, continuing to eye the white-walled area around her.
Cautiously, she spoke up after finding her voice. "Fox?"
"Back here."
The immediate response made her nearly jump out of her skin- to say she was expecting him to be that fast on the draw was a big fat no. She tip-toed to the source of the voice, slipping past the curtain.
Seeing Fox made her scowl bitterly, more to herself for putting him in this position rather than the actual sight of him. He was laying flat on his back, legs and one arm sticking out completely straight. His head was propped up at a slight angle on a pillow, and his remaining arm laid across his stomach. His white jacket was discarded from his bottom, folded neatly on the visitor chair next to the bed.
"There you are," he chuckled. His voice, despite sounding friendly and as normal as Fox sounds, made Pikachu's stomach churn uncomfortably and she resorted to focusing on the white garment instead.
"Did Dr. Mario help you shed the jacket?"
"Yeah. I got warm pretty fast thanks to the medicine."
Pikachu found herself frowning again. Mustering up the courage, she looked him in the eye. He stared back at her, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, voice gentle.
"I should be asking you that," she spat out quickly, and felt heat rise to her cheeks in embarrassment. "I put you in this position…"
He chuckled again, raising the arm that was propped up on his stomach and pointing lazily at the lone chair. "You can sit down you know."
She immediately strode over to the chair, pulling it quickly to the side of the bed. Tossing the jacket on the back of the chair, she plopped down in it and turned to him, eyes almost expectant.
Fox's eyes widened slightly, looking around before meeting hers again. "What?"
Another scowl. "You're taking this too well."
Fox's eyes rolled. "You're being too hard on yourself. It was an accident."
The frown deepened. "Yeah but you're laying here, probably bored out of your mind because of me. Aren't you upset?"
"Well," he began, looking thoughtful. "If there's anything I'm upset about, it's probably that it took you so long to get here." He looked at her again, shooting her a dazzling smile.
Pikachu felt her mind go blank and her heart accelerate. Shaking her mind of the intrusive thoughts, she fisted her hands tightly before continuing.
"Sorry," she choked out. "I didn't come because… I was scared you'd be mad at me."
Her eyes refused to meet his, searching the less-than-glamorous room for anything to attract her attention so she didn't have to focus on the source of her heart palpitations.
"You're ridiculous," he laughed.
Despite not wanting to look him in the eye before, she now wanted nothing more than to glare at him. "Excuse me?"
Turning his head to her again, Fox paused for a second before continuing. "You're beating yourself up over something that seems like it's out of your control."
"Fox, you're laying here because I basically paralyzed you."
"Temporarily," he pointed out. "Dr. Mario has some great stuff- I can already move one arm and my neck, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to sit up soon."
She sighed with a shake of her head. "You just look so… pathetic like that."
Fox let out a short laugh at her statement. "You know that's not a good way to flirt with someone."
Pikachu's ears shot straight up and her face flushed a deep crimson at his latest joke. "Who said I was flirting with you?!"
The vulpine grinned at her again, and she felt her face, somehow, get even hotter than it was before. She decided that although he wasn't mad with her, that probably screwing around with her was as good enough of revenge as he could get without anyone's feelings really getting hurt.
She still didn't like the position he put her in regardless.
Fox merely smirked at her, likely due to the current condition her face was in. She was scared it was pure pink and crimson and she could swear that her heart was pounding so loud that he would also be able to hear it.
"I didn't come here so you could poke fun at me. I was worried about you."
"Yeah, yeah," he dismissed her with a wave of his currently operating hand. "And I was worried you weren't going to show up."
She tried so hard not to hiss at him; obviously he was having too much fun now taking advantage of her flustered state. And the worst part for her was that any and all comebacks had dissolved in her mind, so she was left as the blushing mess.
"Well I hope this is entertaining you," she stated bluntly.
Another smile escaped him. "I'd be lying if I said it wasn't making me feel better."
Standing abruptly, she gave him a pointed look. "Well, since you seem to be doing so much better, I'll get going."
She began to make her way to the door as he called out to her. "You sure you don't want to spend more time with poor ole me?"
Stopping in her tracks, Pikachu peered back at him over her shoulder. She said nothing, opting to stare him down as he returned her stare with a cheeky grin of his own.
Finally, she spoke.
"You hungry?"
He attempted what she took to be a shrug as he mulled the question over. "Yeah, I'd say I am."
"I'll get us some food then."
Opening the door to exit, she turned on her heel to face the now exposed vulpine, the sole occupant of the infirmary and flashed him a smile of her own. "I'll be right back, okay?"
He chuckled with a weak nod. "I'll be here then."
