Game Week of the Multiverse: Misdreavus' House (Lillie, Meggie, Odette)

[Fusion]

<><><><><>

Kora took a deep breath, standing in front of the ghost--witch-themed house. Making apologies was never really easy, and one would expect someone like Kora to be used to apologizing, but no matter how many times he did it just... felt pretty awful. It would have been nice to have Lance here with him as some kinda support, but Kora told himself he had to apologize by himself.

The Zoroark let out a sigh and knocked on the door. "Uh, hello? Lillie? You there?" he waited for a moment, trying to get back some last minute nerves, then said, "It's... It's Kora."

Please don't still be mad...

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"It's... oh." It was that guy. What could he possibly want with her?

Lillie forced on a polite tone. "Hello. I take it you're here for something?"

 

[Fusion]

Kora winced, grabbing his arm nervously. "I just... wanted to say sorry, again. That one little apology at the store didn't really feel right."

He could tell she didn't want to see him, at all, but he still felt he had to apologize right. "And, maybe, just to talk? Maybe?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie figured this was coming. She couldn't just avoid him forever, not as long as they were both stuck in this place. Better to get it over with early and quickly, then. She tried to nod, forgetting she didn't have a head anymore.

"It's fine. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

 

[Fusion]

So far, he was doing a lot better than he thought he would. He wasn't immediately turned down.

"Just wanted to see how you're holding up with, you know, everything? Being a Mimikyu, traveling to another world, ki--" Kora stopped himself almost completely. Finishing that would have been bad. Incredibly bad. Stupid, in fact.

"--uh, keeping on a disguise all the time, which is more Mimikyu stuff, haha..." he tittered, his voice trailing off.

 

[Shiny Phantump]

He was as subtle as a Rampardos at a blown glass exposition. He wanted to know if she was feeling resentful. She didn't want to make him feel any worse, but she didn't have it in her to fake being okay, like she should have.

"It's tolerable. I am... surviving."

 

[Fusion]

"O-Oh, I... see..." God this was feeling more awkward by the second. She... definitely still didn't like him, which stung. But it's not like she had a reason to like him.

"You still... don't like me, right?" Kora winced slightly, gripping his arm tighter. "If there's something you want me to do to make it up to you, I'll do it. Just say the word."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Oh, he wanted to make it up to her. She couldn't think of anything that would reverse the way she was feeling, though. "I don't know. I don't have anything I need to ask for. I just... I don't know what I need or anything."

She sighed. "I'm not adjusting well, and... *that* was a part of it. I doubt there's anything anyone can do to fix that."

 

[Fusion]

Kora's ears fell to the sides of his head and he shut his eyes. That felt terrible, worse than getting yelled at. He would have preferred if she attacked him outright.

"I'm... sorry," he muttered. "I never... I never should have done that. I just..." he turned his face away. "I just wanted to help you have fun..."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie saw how guilty he looked, and immediately felt bad. He'd come to apologize, and she was just twisting the knife.

She reflexively ended up saying "sorry" to him, even though it would probably just confuse him.

 

[Fusion]

Kora blinked and tilted his head, looking at Lillie. That voice was definitely her. It's not like anyone else was there, and Kora certainly wasn't deaf, so...

"...What?" he asked, still finding it hard to believe she actually did say that. It's possible he was going crazy. "Why did... Are you ok?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Oh no. What was he going to think about that?

Lillie stepped back. "I, uhh, sor- Just. It was reflexive. Habit."

 

[Fusion]

"But you're... you didn't..." Kora tilted his head to the other side, staring at Lillie like a confused child. "You didn't... do anything? It was me, so why did you..?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie grimaced. "Well, yes. Like I said, it was reflexive. A learned habit from my upbringing. There's no reason to read too much into it."

 

[Fusion]

This was starting to make even less sense, somehow. Saying Kora was lost was probably an understatement "But you don't even like me... I did a terrible thing, even if I was upset..." he scratched his head. "...I don't, uh... what?"

"I... killed people with you... and I haven't done anything to make up for it... but... I looked upset, and you..." he scratched the back of his head, letting out a confused whimper. Mad plus sad equaled... sorry? He was already shit at math, but even he knew that didn't add up.

A learned habit from my upbringing.

"Your..." Kora blinked, then shook his head. Her upbringing, yeah that would make sense. She was raised as a human. But even as humans go, Lillie is... noticeably different from what he had seen. Kora knelt down to be somewhat closer to Lillie's eye level. "Are you alright, Lillie?"

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie stopped and thought about what to say before answering. That was a question that she'd have to answer carefully. She couldn't say no, but she said yes, he would know she was lying and assume the worst anyways.

"I am as alright as one would expect."

 

[Fusion]

"I am as alright as one would expect."

Kora's face softened, he had heard that answer before. He had given that answer before. "That doesn't mean you're alright, Lillie. That's what I would have said." He sat down on the ground, taking a deep breath, then exhaled. "I know I'm not the one you would want to spill everything to, and I feel like you wouldn't care to hear my story, so... I won't spill it to you."

He looked Lillie in the eye, taking a different tone from before, almost devoid of life. "I'm not... alright, either. I won't act like I know what you're feeling, but I know it isn't good, and I know I didn't help... and I'm so... so, sorry."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

"That doesn't mean you're alright, Lillie. That's what I would have said."

"Of course it doesn't. If I said I was alright, you would've rightly concluded that I was lying. With everything that's happened since I got here, I am not alright in an obvious way."

Of course, it wasn't quite true to imply today was the beginning and end of it. For all his density, he seemed to have already seen through her public persona...

Oh wait, no. That wasn't him, she'd just given up on having a public persona at all when she ended up here. In any case, there was no point continuing to avoid the subject... But she didn't know what there was to say. "Honestly, I couldn't talk about it either way. I don't understand it myself."

 

[Fusion]

"...I don't *understand* it myself."

"It's just... unfair," Kora growled lowly, gritting his teeth. He then let out a sigh, gently shaking his head. "But that's sometimes just... how it is. Confusing and unfair."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but Lee's actually been... helpful with dealing with it, for me," he tittered. "I feel like you'd prefer him over me, which isn't saying much, but I'm sure he'd love to help you, despite how he comes off as. But if not him, I'd be more than willing to..." He winced, turning his head away. He was getting ahead of himself. "...No, nevermind."

 

[Shiny Phantump]

Lillie laughed. "I'd prefer anyone over him, really."

Confusing and unfair, though... Those words felt off to her. Like they didn't apply to her. "I don't know if what happened to me was really unfair," she said, her tone rapidly sombering. "Up until yesterday, it was just the world operating like normal. Then, my being here was a disaster of my own making, so I can't call it unfair. Not unfair to me, at least. Perhaps to my mother."