Spring Cleaning

Brie adjusted her wind breaker after she set a box down and smiled up at the clear skies and brilliant sun that shone down on Groveheart. A good day for cleaning out old things she didn’t need anymore, as was tradition during the Spring Fiesta. Bread and Butter were ‘helping’, batting at each other and playing hide and seek in the boxes she had opened for sorting out her belongings. She really didn’t have it in her to rewash the clothes the pair were getting Eevee hair all over, and she really hoped that whoever got her old clothes weren’t allergic to the fur either. The woman also didn’t have it in her to stop the pair from enjoying themselves. It kept them out of her hair for the most part, and was adorable to boot.

She looked out over the overgrown city, pride in her chest and a grin on her face, exhilaration coursing through her at just living here, thriving, and doing what she wanted with her life. It was something she was proud of, and knew her parents would be too, if she could reach them. They were back home, far away from the Fog, the Nera, and all the sometimes terrifying fusions that called the region home. Her smile wavered for a moment. She missed them, but one day they’d see each other again. She knew that much. 

Red and black eyes peered down at her from the awning spread over the front of her shop, and Brie nearly jumped out of her skin when she spotted them, her brain taking longer than it should have to register what she was seeing. Doubling over, hand to her chest as if that’d keep her heart behind her rib cage, she panted thanks to the surge of fight or flight that raced through her system. “Amaranth!”

The primarily ghost type Pokemon gave his version of a snicker, before he fully became visible to her, his stick of a tail wagging back and forth happily at his prank working. At hearing their trainer yell, several other sets of paws raced down the stairs at the side of the shop, and Bread and Butter stopped short in front of her, looking around for the threat.

“Vee!” Both Pokemon yelled at their son when they spotted him, fur bristling in annoyance.

“It’s OK, it’s OK! He just scared me.” Brie quickly said, gesturing her hands towards the ground to try and break the tension building. Amaranth made a whistling noise that almost sounded remorseful, and she looked up at him. The little brat wasn’t sorry at all! “Amaranth… just… go inside and watch the store. Bread, Butter, hop up.”

She pointed to the bike leaning on its kickstand, a small trailer of boxes hitched up to it. It wasn’t the safest thing to do, but she didn’t have any other way to do the deliveries in a timely fashion, let alone before the sun went down. Bread and Butter started that way, but promptly were distracted by the boxes strapped down to the trailer. Little noses sniffed and prodded the boxes, and Brie shook her head. “Those are the exact same boxes from earlier, guys.”

The two looked up, as if not comprehending, and she wondered if they were lacking in brain cells that day. Sometimes it was hard to tell. She snapped her fingers and pointed at the bike basket at the front of the bike. The two scrambled off the trailer and toward the basket as instructed and she shook her head again, smiling despite her annoyance. Amaranth went through the Pokeflap in the shop’s front door, and Brie double checked the door was locked. For safety reasons, she didn’t lock the pet door, but she didn’t want just anyone walking into her sandwich shop while she was gone on this errand.

Once triple sure everything was set, she mounted up on the bike and with a little effort, the three were off to the donation center to drop off the boxes full of old clothes and items she didn’t need anymore. Some old knick knacks, old pots and pans still in good condition, and stuff like that. It felt good cleaning up her home and giving back to her so supportive community. This was not just a yearly celebration for the city, but also a yearly tradition for Brie to clean up her home and bring in the clean, fresh energy that came with it. This was what life was about, truly.