at this such a time in his life, nothing is more beautiful to him than death itself.

what a naive child i was back then, before you, my stars.

a shorter, lacking tattoos, glasses wearing sam carter came down the stairs with alecto, his gengar, flopping down the stairs behind him. he paid alecto absolutely no mind, as the gengar was often flopping around ridiculously.

the moment he saw somebody his age sam stopped, contemplated, looked at his clipboard, then looked up to the girl once more.

"are you miss dacal?"

[attr="class","sambr"] Dolores Dacal

"J-just Dolores..." The girl meekly replied. Her mother would be considered a 'Miss'. She herself was still an unsullied maiden whose heart had yet to be claimed, and likely never would. She was prepared to die of old age, alone and unmarried.

Her eyes were drawn to the bouncing Gengar, and she grinned widely, feeling a strange kinship with the Ghost type. "Ah... Hello." Her Haunter also flew around its evolved form in circles, cackling all the while; a customary greeting among fellow Ghosts.

"I was just done examining the body." The young mortician explained, pointing at the Arcanine behind her. "We will proceed with the embalming... U-unless you wanted to run your own examination?" She said, nervously twiddling her index fingers.

samuel carter

☉

"dolores, then." sam makes a mental note that dolores likely doesn't know will remain with his eidetic memory until the day he would be six feet under pushing up sunflora.

alecto is not bothered by the haunter floating about him. as a matter of fact, the gengar watches the haunter without moving his body, eyes rotating in a very ghostly manner. like a noctowl's head. never actually moving his body to follow.

sam pays him no mind, as this is normal behavior for the dope.

"mm..." moving over, he gives a once over of the canine before shaking his head. "no, i trust your work. you come with high enough recommendations that i see no reason not to trust your judgement. based on what i can see, you should hold more confidence in your work. you are very talented."

[attr="class","sambr"] Dolores Dacal

A faint blush graced the girl's cheeks when Sam called her talented. She wasn't used to receiving compliments, but she didn't try to sell herself short. Her apparent lack of confidence stemmed from her inability to work with other people.

"Alright, let's begin..." The young mortician fetched a weighty canister containing the embalming fluids, wiping her sweat afterwards. "These chemicals are specially made. They preserve the color of the fur and are eco-friendly. Due to the size of the subject, six injection points are recommended. One on each paw, one on the head, and one on the abdomen." She explained in a scholarly manner, while putting on a surgical mask and a pair of gloves.

Dolores carefully injected the Arcanine's front right paw with the needle, focusing solely on her work as a way of escaping the anxiety of human interaction. "Don't worry... I'll make sure you look very beautiful for the public viewing." She whispered to the deceased Pokémon.

samuel carter

☉

there is something about her mannerisms that cause sam to relax. perhaps it is the fact that she speaks to the dead. they are, in fact, able to hear. or else ghost pokémon would not exist, to an extent.

though where ghost pokémon come from and the reason for their existence verses the scientific notion of evolution and where humanity stands amidst the chain alongside pokémon is often a topic of conversation sam has enjoys. not that many others do, it takes too much brain power and humility to admit that humans and pokémon might be cut from the same cloth.

hard to put that on a tinder profile. mega 'he's a 10 but' vibes. so knox prescott tells me.

but the past is the present and the memory continues. young sam's eyes watch her work. he eventually takes a seat, to take away the pressure that he might be overshadowing her negatively. he's an equal to her in this work. his mother sees over the tower, she is their superior. he is just an observer.

"given the care and precision you give, he will look more than acceptable for the viewing. i can see why my mother hired you."

[attr="class","sambr"] Dolores Dacal

"Thanks..." Despite wearing a face mask, one could tell that Dolores was smiling. She was gradually warming up to the man. It would be hard not to when he was showering her with an unprecedented amount of praise.

Feeling the good vibes, Chuckles gave the two humans an all-knowing look, before giving his trainer a gentle poke, as if to tell her that she should try being more sociable.

"S-so, how long have you been working for her...? Your mother I mean." The girl hesitantly asked. Chit-chat was essential in their line of work. It helped normalize what was otherwise a dreary and macabre process.

samuel carter

☉

"she began work here at the pokémon tower before i was even born, and i've been helping her out since i can remember."

seemed silly, of course, because who works for their mother the second their able. but he's always been there cleaning headstones or helping people clean up or set up for funerals. trying to elevate as much of the work for his mom as possible. because she always tried so hard and pretended she didn't need the help, but hugged him with near tears thanking him for always being there for her and keeping her strong.

"more frequently as of recent, when her illness surfaced."

admitting that felt... hard; almost too difficult. but at the same time, elevating. therapudic.

[attr="class","sambr"] Dolores Dacal

Dolores came to an abrupt stop when Sam mentioned his mother's illness. She quickly resumed her work without saying anything, until another poke courtesy of her Haunter forced her to break the silence.

"I've been helping my parents for as long as I remember too. I didn't get officially hired into the family business until I was eighteen, of course. They say it's easier if you start out young. Apparently, normal people can't stomach... this." She vaguely gestured at the death and decay surrounding them.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mother..." The young woman added in a solemn tone.

samuel carter

☉

i can stomach this... but i never really have been normal, have i?

understanding all too well what she means, he doesn't touch the topic too much. while he's not ashamed of how weird he can come off at times, he doesn't go around advertising it either. because that usually ends up with somebody in a hospital bed or body bag; and not him.

"no need for an apology. she's receiving the treatments she needs, despite the oppression of team rocket at the moment."

thanks to connections with both sides, his mother was able to receive the best treatments she could ever need. always good being the sexton's friend, even better when the sexton themselves needed a favor and happened to cut a few deals for genius doctors along the way.

[attr="class","sambr"] Dolores Dacal

The mere mention of the crime syndicate was enough to send a shiver down the girl's spine. Even Haunter's perpetual smile turned into a frown. "Do you think it's true what they say... That Team Rocket is going to take over Kanto?"

It wasn't a reality she wanted to accept. Team Rocket already controlled various aspects of the region from the shadows, but if the League fell, then there would be nothing stopping them from fully taking over and ruling with an iron fist.

"I don't want to live in a world ruled by Team Rocket." Dolores lamented, knowing full well that she was too weak to prevent that outcome. "The tower is filled with Pokémon that they killed, after all..." She added, clenching her fist.

samuel carter

☉

[attr="class","samknox2"]

[attr="class","samknoxw"]the question has been asked to him so many times that his answer comes out almost too quickly.

”only time will tell.”

it’s a cop out, to most. to others, it’s a nugget of wisdom. for sam, it’s the truth. only time can tell what the future holds by unraveling it gently. a truth that he holds strong to even as he grows older and matures.

”make no mistake, the tower is filled with pokémon killed by the league, as well. death takes no sides, so neither do me or my mother. our purpose is to put to rest those who pass on, not judge how it is that they pass.”

there is a small silence, a silence in which alecto licks a nearby wall for apparently no reason at all other than a desire to taste the plain white wallpaper.

”in this building, it is best to remain as neutral as possible. we take work from both sides, as the pokémon tower is a faction-less ground. we’ve been raided by team rocket and we’ve been nearly closed down by the league.” he holds no true tone as he speaks, remaining completely placid. it’s almost robotic.

”to respect the dead is to accept the living are flawed. the pokémon we put to rest here hold no side. as for the realm of the living? no matter who controls the territory of kanto or johto, the pokémon tower will continue to server the regions without bias, so the dead may rest in peace.”

[attr="class","samknoxt"]Dolores Dacal

Sam's unwavering neutrality was stunning. She didn't know whether to praise him or call him out. "I know that people just as bad as Team Rocket exist in this world. I know that better than most..." Dolores replied, her voice trailing off. "Death may take no sides, but I'm--"

I'm alive.

That's what she wanted to say, but was she really? She didn't live her life, not in the same way other people her age did. For all intents and purposes, she was a ghost nobody even acknowledged the existence of, unless they needed a punching bag. What opinion could she have about the worldly state of affairs?

"I'm nearly done with the embalming." The young mortician said after a long pause. "Cleaning comes next. I would really like your help with that, because this Arcanine is quite big." She requested, pulling her face mask down and staring at Sam with pleading eyes.

samuel carter

☉

[attr="class","samknox2"]

[attr="class","samknoxw"]sam waits in comfortable silence for dolores to finish the sentence she started. death may takes sides but i’m—-

but then, dolores changes the subject. he lets her. some people change the subject when he shines against them the bright light of reality.

all people are both good and bad, doesn’t matter which banner their raise. opinions are what color people, not reality.

to sam, reality is a stark yet monochrome pallet.

”i have the time.” sam stands, making his way over to begin washing his hands and getting the proper outfit on. gloves, suit, the whole nine yards. ”alecto don’t lick that.”

just as the gengar was about to stick his tongue into one of the outlets, sam voices he should stop, so he does. alecto gives a snicker in return before waddling over to sam and wiggling his little fingers in a plea to be wet.

without even looking, sam flicks water at alecto. the gengar gives a happily wide open mouth to catch the droplets before mimicking sam putting his attire on, looking like a goof.

”everbody cleans differently. is there a particular order you prefer to clean in?”

[attr="class","samknoxt"]Dolores Dacal