The Anonymous Package
Debby yawned as she entered her home, a small stump house on the outskirts of Capim Town. She took out a Light Orb from her tail bag to banish the darkness of the evening and set it on her table where the rays of light painted all the bare walls of her domicile. It was a simple home with a barebones kitchen, a dining table and a bed. Stacks of boxes were lined up against the northern wall, filled with mementos and old letters. She never found the time to unpack, all her time taken up by her work.
It had been a long day at work, and the Delibird was exhausted. As fun as the day had been, she needed her rest for tomorrow and waddled into her bed to lie down. The extra weight in her tail bag reminded her of the last order of business. She still had a package to deliver.
With laboured movements, she dug out the parcel and read the label; Debby the Delibird, Delibird Deliveries. A package for her, from an unknown sender. She’d been in town long enough to be recognised, so receiving mail wasn’t exactly surprising. The lack of sender was however. She stared up at the mysterious box between her wings as she laid on her back, turning it this way and that for a few minutes.
Kaz was the obvious guess for a sender, Debby smiled. The Linoone had been working with her for a while now, and she couldn’t ask for a better friend. But, she hadn’t mentioned her birthday to him, nor was it Christmas, so perhaps it was something he found at the market for her. It’d be kind of like him to send one anonymously, she thought.
Debby turned the parcel again, eyeing the details. It was in mint condition and in her trademark packaging, which means it was sent from the office to the office. Which ruled out her family back north or friends elsewhere. Still, she’d met a lot of people since moving in and the sender could be any one of them.
An unpleasant thought crossed her mind as she pondered. What if it was sent by one of the mail thieves? Perhaps they wanted to take revenge on her for her Presents. That didn’t feel right however, Debby knew petty Pokemon were dime a dozen out there, but surely the thieves would reflect on their actions and change after receiving their punishment. One Rattata had pleaded with tears in his eyes to turn his life around, so eager to take the opportunity to live a better life. The number of mail thieves in Capim Town had dropped nearly to zero anyways, so they clearly had no ill will towards her anymore.
The shadows around her grew darker as the Light Orb started to run out, letting the moonlight to wash in to replace the artificial. Debby sighed before picking the package open with her beak. She needed to open it before she was completely enveloped by the darkness and out of energy. The box flipped open and Debby reached in to take out its contents.
Debby had to feel around for the item in the growing darkness. Her wings connected with something soft and long, furred even. It felt like a pillow of some kind and had a fresh scent of paper on it, comforting the tired mailmon as the grasp of slumber begun to take hold. She blinked slowly as she pulled the soft thing out, what little light remained showed it was beige or brown, but that didn’t matter to Debby.
Hugging the comfortable pillow tightly, Debby fell asleep. In her dreams she flew across the skies with Kaz, bouncing on soft clouds and building snowmen out of the white fluff as they talked about their pasts, though she couldn’t recall what was said come morning.The opened package fell to the floor beside her bed as Debby shifted in her sleep, dropping out a small card onto the floor:
Saw this at the market yesterday. Thought you’d like it. I got a Delibird one for Linoone too.
--Deliah
The Next Day
Debby took a moment to lay on her back and breathed in deeply as she awoke. "Another day, another delivery." She muttered the familiar mantra to herself, still mentally processing the change in immediate environment from her dreamscape. The walls of her home slowly brought Debby back to reality as she blinked away the distractions of yesterday. She was still stuck holding a life sized plush of a Linoone and blood began rushing into her head as that fact finally registered. "Darn, this is what momma warned me about..." The embarrassed Delibird buried her head in her pillow, trying to block the comfy plush from her thoughts to no avail.
"Good evening Deb, you done for the day?" Linoone greeted Debby in the office, although today's greetings were shared after their rounds. She'd purposely avoided him throughout the day until now to prevent any mishaps, but this meeting was inevitable.
Debby replied to her friend with her usual cheer. "Sure am, hon!" Expertly hidden behind the exquisite mask of joviality laid her true feelings, as undefined as they were at the moment. Looking at Linoone made her head spin, so instead she buried her face in paperwork to find any reprieve.
Linoone looked over the counter at his co-workers, his eyes lingering on the Drifblim quietly packing a large crate. She usually stared at the pair in silence, but Delilah had been oddly quiet and distracted today. It didn't take much to know why though, the plushies she'd gotten for the pair were... Not subtle. Well, may as well entertain her, he thought. "Hey Debby, how do you feel about dinner today?' He stayed silent for a moment before continuing with an awkward cough, "There's a festival and a whole bunch of stalls with cool games open tonight, so I was thinking we coul-"
The words were cut short as Debby replied with more enthusiasm than he'd expected. "Sure hon! That'd be lovely!"
Wait. What did she just agree to? Meeting at the festival with Kaz? Debby looked up at him in surprise as the last few seconds replayed in her head. He'd just invited her for dinner. There wasn't anything odd about that, they'd eaten together plenty of times before. So why did today feel so different?
Linoone stared at her in surprise, she'd practically shouted and even cut him off. She needed to play it cool. "Sorry hon, been a long day. But I can't decline an invitation from y'all. Heard it really picks up after sunset, I'll close up and meet y'all there." Debby turned to the Drifblim next. "Delilah? Y'all can mosey on outta here too. I'll take care of the shipment."
Wordlessly, Delilah turned around and floated to the door and giving Linoone a small wave with a ribbon. He assumed it was meant to be taken as a thumbs up, but she lacked a thumb to up. Instead he just returned the wave as he stood in the post office, unsure of what'd just happened. He'd just invited Debby on a date, apparently. That was... A thing. The damn balloon had wrapped both of them in her games and they were playing along too. He really didn't need to ask Debby out, but-
"Y'all think she's fine? Gal's been real quiet all day." Debby broke the silence as the two were left alone, genuine worry overriding any fluster from her voice.
Linoone nodded as his thoughts were interrupted and stood up to leave as well. "I'm sure she's fine. I'll meet you at the festival later!"
"Hoot, It's a date!" Debby piped up after him as the door closed. She sat there in silence as her brain went into panic mode again, staring at the closed door and praying that he didn't come back to ask her to repeat herself.
Linoone slowly sat against the red wall of Delibird Deliveries. If he was a human, he would've had perfect camouflage to blend in against the structure. "Date, huh." The reality of the situation started to become clear as he sat in silence. Cyndaquil is going to be so jealous if he finds out.