she doesn't hear the man with the shock of blue hair. she doesn't see the marshtomp with its torn-up face. she just feels heat. 

flames crawl up the walls, but she realizes quickly that her biggest threat isn't the fire itself. smoke dives greedily down her throat and runs horrid, scratching fingers over her eyes. 

she hunkers low to the ground and she turns blindly, looking for the door. she's no help to anyone if she's dead. but the frame gives way. wood cracks and plaster falls. from outside, oleg's beeping grows more insistent. 

he tugs on the pants of the blue-haired man, pointing and screeching. 

KING WAYLAND

☉

she reaches, grasping through tongues of flame. she hadn't expected it to be so loud. a starving roar all around her, consuming the world. and a whimper in front of her. small hands finding her own, hot to the touch, but everything is hot. 

until it's not. 

water douses her and the child she swaddles close to her. she gives in to the pulling, heels stumbling, and both of them are carefully tugged out of the building. 

shapes are still blurry. fresh air tries to force its way through her throat, past the acrid, hacking coughs as her body tries to repel the pollution. someone takes the kid out of her hand and she hears crying. she hears thank-you, thank-you, thank-you over and over and over again, and then further away.

this woman, this mother, she falls to her knees in front of sasky's savior, as paramedics rush to put an oxygen mask on her daughter, and she says, 'you saved him. thank you. thank you.'

oleg's beeps are even more rampant, but these ones are excited. one moment he's there, still pinching the man's pant leg, and the next he's on his shoulder, alien legs swinging like a child's. 

"i'm okay," sasky croaks, warding off fussing hands. there are others who need attention more. she looks up, eyes still smarting, red rimmed. the woman and child are gone. all that's left is the stranger. 

"oleg," she chides and coughs again. "sorry. you're probably, like, his best friend right now." more hacking coughs. "gross. i can't believe that! oh my god, i could have died." she blinks rapidly; tears are still streaming down her cheeks. from the smoke? from the shock?

"you saved our lives."

KING WAYLAND

☉

it's actually kind of hard to see through her puffing eyes. and the smoke is still pretty thick. paramedics are rushing around. the fire department is finally here proper. she overhears them confirm no one else is in the building and a huuuuuge sigh of relief leaves her, but it's cut off with another hacking cough. 

ew, is she going to be hacking up this stuff all night now?

she spits it on the ground and grimaces. oleg's concerned enough that he leaves his post, teleporting again to meet sasky on the ground. he pats her knee affectionately and then spreads out his arms, wheeling around in circles around their blushing savior. 

"no, um...oh, i probably should. oleg knows recover, but i don't think he can use it on anyone but himself. maybe gastro....ohmygosh, i had gastrodon on me! i could have used rain dance."

oh, papa's gonna be so mad at her 'cause the first thing he's gonna ask is did you assess the situation? did you remember what team you brought with you?

now it's her turn to blush from embarrassment. 

"my throat hurts so bad. is there an ice cream shop around here?" her eyes light up. "can i treat you to ice cream?! y'know, for saving me 'n all."

KING WAYLAND

☉

no!! she is the best and brightest of her class! she's just bad at putting it to practice, okay? but she's working on it and that's all that matters. 

she checks herself over. the adrenaline hasn't entirely faded away, but her clothes aren't singed. her hair is a little burnt and does not smell very good. she doesn't smell very good, what with all the smoke, and honestly she just kind of wants to peel them off and sit in the shower and maybe have a good cry. 

but she has to thank him first! for saving her life! 

"they got their hands full already," she reasons and then does a little spin in front of him. "and 'sides, look, i'm fiiiine. nothing a little ice cream can't cure. and c'mon, i budget for my ice cream splurges. this'll just count as my next three." she looks at his swampert. "okay, five, if your water pupper wants some too.

"come on! it's right down the street!" and she skips backward, eyes glittering. 

KING WAYLAND

☉