Gite, the Beartic

The rain was subsiding. I would have been happier about that if I hadn’t spent the last three hours in the streets, soaking my fur. Thank goodness I’m an ice-type, I don’t think I could have kept going with this cold.

I approached the house with the address and knocked on the door. Luckily, the Breloom living inside was fast. Less time I’d have to be under this weather.

“Hello, I have a package for Daniel.”

“Ah yes, that’s me! Thank you!”

I opened the water-proof bag and prompted him to grab the box by himself. I didn’t want to make it wet with my paws, anyways. He held his package and inspected it for a bit before giving me a satisfied smile.

“Thank you so much! Here, have this, I think you deserve it for coming here under the rain.” He rummaged through a small satchel on the table next to him and gave me something. I extended my paw to feel a few coins landing on it.

“I… Thank you, sir!”

He smiled and closed the door gently. Finally, a tip. It had been a while since I got the last one.

Since this was the last delivery of the day, the bag for the packages was empty. I used it to protect the money from the rain. Not that it would matter much, considering they’re made of metal, but I refused to hold the coins in my paw during the rest of the day.

With a deep breath, I made my way back into the Mailing Service building. The rain was weak at this point, but that only made it worse in my eyes. Of course the rain would only be there for the period of the day I needed to be outside. Just my luck.

When I arrived, I went directly into the room where all the employee’s lockers were stored. I wasn’t the only one there, however.

“Oh my, I didn’t know you were assigned the underwater deliveries.” He teased. “Let me get you a towel.”

The Delibird turned around to one of the shelves and grabbed a towel, but when he turned back, he was greeted to a pretty angry stare from my part. It immediately made him frown.

“Sorry, just trying to lift the mood.” He threw the towel at me, which I easily grabbed. “Bad day today?”

“You could say that, Reck. The damn rain making me look like an army of Blastoise just went ham on me.”

“Yeah, I can imagine. I was lucky to have inventory management today.”

“But it wasn’t only that. I received some news during my lunch break.”

“Hmm? Did you visit someone?”

“More like that someone visited me. But yeah, I met with my father at the park. It had to be pretty important since he didn’t care about the rain.” I finished drying my fur and threw the towel into the container for dirty clothing. “My mother died.”

“O-oh, oh shit, Gite…” Reck said, approaching me as I sat on the bench with my head low. “I’m so sorry…”

“Yeah, I… I had been putting off paying my parents a visit because of this job. I need the money after all.” I said. Some tears were starting to form in the corner of my eyes, but I was too tired, both physically and mentally, to properly cry. “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her.”

Reck put a wing around my back. It didn’t get far, considering how small he was, but at least it made me feel a bit better.

“You know I’m here for whatever you need, right? You know I have contacts, if you need something to happen.”

“No, I… I think I’m fine. But thank you. It’s just going to be hard to keep my mood up for the clients, but I’ll do what I can.”

Reck and I have been friends for years, ever since I started working here. We’ve had each other’s backs for a long time. That’s how he confided in me about his contacts. Turns out, one of his deliveries was for none other than Palkia. They just chatted a bit, but after multiple deliveries, turns out he’s friends with them. And of course, since Legendaries talk with each other, he began being known within them. He could ask for a favor from a Legendary, maybe make me forget about my mother’s death, or maybe let me talk to her spirit one last time.

But I didn’t want that. It was the easy way out, and my mother didn’t raise a quitter. The grief would hurt, it would break me apart, but I was strong enough to deal with it. Thanks to her.

“You should ask for a free week, at least. You’ve done a really good job here, I don’t think the boss would reject it. Besides, you know she’s cool enough for that.”

It wasn’t a bad idea. Flora was usually very kind, only getting angry when something disastrous happened. And Reck was right, I had been doing very well lately. No late deliveries, and none in a bad state. Maybe it was worth a shot.

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer, It’s been a long time since I had a break anyways. I think I need it.”

He patted my back with a soft smile. “Take all the time you need, girl. And again, if you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“In a dark alleyway, doing one of your famous ‘after-dark deals’?” I teased him.

“Hah! Exactly!” He chuckled.

He had told me about those some months ago. Apparently the money he got from the mailing service wasn’t enough for him, so he had to resort to doing some shady deals from things that normally weren’t in markets. Things like Gummis and the like. I never imagined it from him, but desperation is a bitch sometimes.

“Anyways, I should get home. All that counting and package marking has tired the crap out of me. I’ll see you soon, okay? Hopefully, in a week, and not before that. I want to see you take your break.”

I smiled as he winked at me and then waddled out of the room. He was a nice friend to have around.

I got the coins from my bag, got my belongings from my locker, put the bag in and went upstairs to Flora’s office. The door was slightly open, like always. She never liked to have it closed in case there was an emergency. And besides, she always tried to be open with her employees. The open door made a difference, a small one, but a difference nonetheless.

I knocked on the door anyways, I didn’t want to seem rude.

“Come in!”

I opened the door and faced the Cacturne, she was in the middle of paperwork, as usual.

“Hey, Flora.”

“Oh, hi Gite! What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to ask… Do you think I could get a paid week off?”

She didn’t respond right away, which wasn’t a good sign, but at least she didn’t say no yet. “I know you, Gite. You never ask for paid leave. What’s the matter?”

“I just got news that my mother passed away.”

That was enough for Flora to widen her eyes. “Oh, I… I’m really sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay, I just… I think I need some time to myself.”

“And you’ll have it, don’t worry about it. You’ve been doing great lately, you deserve it. Starting tomorrow?”

“If you wouldn’t mind…”

“Of course not!” She wrote something on a piece of paper. “I’ll need you to sign here. You know, paperwork stuff.”

I knew Flora well enough to know that she wouldn’t take advantage of me, so I risked it and signed the document without reading it. I was too exhausted to try to make sense of it, anyways.

“That’s all, then. I hope you enjoy your week. And again, my condolences, Gite.”

I nodded, the situation making itself more and more real in my mind. I left the office, and eventually the building. It stopped raining, at least. I could make my way home without problems.

When I got home, I closed the door behind me and leaned against it. A sense of melancholy rushed over me as the delivery work wasn’t there to distract my thoughts anymore. My mother was dead, it was hard for the information to get into my head. It didn’t feel real.

I went to my room, going across the small corridor that connected it with the rest of the house. In that corridor, I saw the wooden carvings I did with my mother when I was little. I always had an obsession with carving, and my parents were so amazing that they learned about the hobby just so they could do it with me. I saved these first carvings as a memento, to never forget about my childhood. Now, it also served as a way to remember her.

My room was as messy as usual, my early work entry never let me take my time to clean it up, especially since I also worked on weekends. But now the work wasn’t the one forbidding me, it was the sorrow that I started feeling when my mother’s death finally dawned on me, making its presence real.

I laid on my bed and broke. I couldn’t hold the tears anymore, so I cried for what felt like hours. I didn’t even bother having dinner, I think I would’ve thrown up if I tried to eat anything.

It was at that moment of self-pity that I realized how little I was enjoying my life. Every day was fixated on work, doing all I could to get a pay that I could sustain myself on. And when I wasn’t working, I was here, laying in bed and stressing myself over how close I was to the end of the month.

It was a terrible situation, but I couldn’t escape it. Every possible thing I could do to change my life required money, money that I didn’t have. Some people might appreciate this routine, but not me. It was that routine that made me miss the last moments of my mother.

Maybe I did need Reck’s help, or maybe I could join him in whatever shady trades he did. Not that I thought I had the nerve for it, but he started out of necessity, necessity that I feel too now.

“Mom… What do I do…?”

With a sigh, I closed my eyes, brushing away the few tears that were still present. My head hurt from thinking about all that, I needed sleep. Fortunately, it came sooner than expected.