Poppin' Arms ~ Dorms

[TheGOAT]

“You couldn’t have just talked to him?”

Astrid was hot. Steam wasn’t quite coming out of her ears, but this wasn’t the first time she’d said something to that tune, and dammit, it was getting old.

Mincinno recognized as much and went for the low-hanging fruit. “Cool down a lil’, frosty. And no.” He did that stupid thing again—his tail flicked at the tuft of fur sticking up off the bridge of his forehead. It was a sign that he wasn’t listening. “That guy? He wasn’t a bad Pokémon, but he wasn’t gonna hear me either. It’s not ideal, but shit, a lotta folks settle things with battles instead. The issue is resolved and we’re both still alive, so I call it progress.”

One or two hairs on the back of Starr’s neck were beginning to rise, matching Astrid’s. Subconscious, probably, but still. Starr felt it too.

“I… know. I’ve seen it,” Astrid said, turning to face her. A hint of accusation here, a hint of disdain there. Her mask was fucking crumbling. Subtlety—so much for that—had graduated to passive aggressiveness that Astrid was used to receiving, not wielding, “It’s how you settle your differences, right? Why talk when you can be a Pokémon and fight?”

She dreaded—dreaded—where she was going with this.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Astrid had gone cold suddenly. Starr narrowed her eyes, her brain still processing the sudden shift in the conversation. Except it hadn't been that sudden at all, had it? This was just more of the same weird-ass grudge based on literally nothing again, wasn't it?

"Okay, two things," Starr said, turning to stare Astrid directly. "One--yeah, I guess Pokemon like to battle to work their shit out. That's what they keep telling me, anyhow. And two--where the hell is this coming from?"

 

[TheGOAT]

“Y—”

Nope. Astrid caught herself. She wasn’t going to get very far by lobbying charges against this girl, right?

Taking a deep, heated breath through her nose, she began again. “…This team is straddling a very thin line. We have a common goal to save a world, but, but some of us can’t even get along still. You didn’t like me from the very first day, after all. Right Starr?”

But there it was again. That accusatory tone was creeping in, echoing off the walls of her own skull, making things worse. She was getting louder with each breath, each syllable. She was digging a hole deeper and deeper, and right now, she did not, could not, would not care. The invisible shovel she wielded—in a literal sense: her tongue—might as well be deemed a weapon of deadly force. That was where this was headed.

She did a good job hiding how terribly nervous she was. “Your fight with Curio before the first battle was stupid and reckless. You’re both too valuable to risk that. And now… n-now Brisa? It happened again?”

To my fucking friend. My friends, both of them…

Hurt gleamed in Astrid’s eyes, veiled somewhat by an icy facade. “Wh-what even—I don’t… do you just have trouble understanding Pokémon or something? Is that your problem?”

 

[Chibi Pika]

“…This team is straddling a very thin line. We have a common goal to save a world, but, but some of us can’t even get along still. You didn’t like me from the very first day, after all. Right Starr?”

There it was. Again with this bullshit. Why the hell was this Vulpix allergic to minding her own business.

"I literally already told you that that was personal bullshit that had nothing to do with you. What the fuck more do I have to say for you to believe me?" Starr demanded, unable to keep the exhaustion out of her voice.

“Your fight with Curio before the first battle was stupid and reckless. You’re both too valuable to risk that. And now… n-now Brisa? It happened again?”

"What? The hell does that have to do with anything? That was like a month ago and we're cool now so I don't even know what you're trying to--" But Astrid kept going, unfazed by Starr's protests, and then she got to Brisa, and--

"Brisa?! She was the one who--!" Starr's words abruptly cut off. How the hell did Astrid know about that? No one had seen it, and Brisa... she hadn't told anyone about the argument at the bluff, so then why on earth would she...? It didn't make any sense. That whole fight was Brisa's fault. And almost every inch of Starr was screaming for her to throw that fact in Astrid's face, except for that one part of her that didn't want things to go back to the way they used to be.

Hurt gleamed in Astrid’s eyes, veiled somewhat by an icy facade. “Wh-what even—I don’t… do you just have trouble understanding Pokémon or something? Is that your problem?”

Starr gaped at Astrid in stunned disbelief, and no matter how hard she told herself that this bitch's words didn't matter, those words still felt like knives.

"I've been trying my damn hardest to do that ever since I fucking got here," Starr spat, her words cold and quiet. "I don't have to take this kind of bullshit. Just what the hell do you even want from me? What do I have to do to get you lay off?"

 

[TheGOAT]

"Brisa?! She was the one who--!"

Astrid’s tails, caught in a subconscious pattern of lashing back and forth, froze suddenly. “Brisa was…? What do you—”

But Starr wasn’t done yet. Oh well. It probably wasn’t important.

"I've been trying my damn hardest to do that ever since I fucking got here," Starr spat, her words cold and quiet. "I don't have to take this kind of bullshit. Just what the hell do you even want from me? What do I have to do to get you lay off?"

“Fucking, I don’t know! Talk to me like a normal person! Stop attacking my friends, maybe! It’s like you have some, some weird grudge against me! Or them, or the whole—it’s like you think you can do and say whatever you want to people!” Goodness sake, for a split second there she was beginning to sound like Mincinno. Oh, the befuddled looks Helli would be giving her right now…

In part for the blunt language, yes, but also because she happened to be glowing.

…

Inhale. Exhale. White and yellow danced across the edge of her vision.

“I…”

It burned. It burned so deep, giving her energy, shooting adrenaline through every limb. And it frightened her like nothing ever had, sneaking up on her like an Ariados in the jungle, like a Sharpedo treading waters just shallow enough to slip into the shadows.

A battle ensued, violent and internal. Shadows seeped out of her heart, swirling in her brain, coursing through her arteries—vioces of her friends cried out, distantly calling her name for some reason—but her Radiance wasted no time snuffing it out. For a brief moment they mixed together, and she had tasted it: the Blacklight state. For a brief moment, she couldn’t breathe at all.

No. Astrid shook her head furiously, clinging to a shred of reason. The Shadows were gone as quickly as they had appeared. “I—I just…” And then out the door she went.

 

[Chibi Pika]

“Fucking, I don’t know! Talk to me like a normal person! Stop attacking my friends, maybe! It’s like you have some, some weird grudge against me! Or them, or the whole—it’s like you think you can do and say whatever you want to people!”

There were a million things Starr wanted to shout back at her. Like, "I tried that and it still didn't satisfy you" or "You're the one with the weird-ass grudge" or "I didn't fucking attack them" but all of her rage died in her throat the moment that Astrid's eyes started glowing bright white with a flicker of black, and Starr tensed up, not knowing if she had to be ready for a fight here in the dorms holy shit what. But then the Vulpix finally managed to pull herself away, and with a broken look, she raced out the door.

Starr stared after her in stunned disbelief, stifling the urge to scream. God fucking damn it if she was gonna be hated, why couldn't it be for something she actually DID. Did Astrid just fucking hate humans or something? Every damn time it came up, things always fell apart immediately--it just had never happened on this level before. Was she literally about to use her fucking Radiance?!

A burning frustration was crackling in Starr's chest. She slammed a paw against the wall with a resounding thud and resisted the urge to keep going until she put a hole through it. God dammit why did this keep happening with so many people. She didn't want this.

Bob was rolling around in a tight circle on her bed. Starr felt the briefest flash of desire to hurl it into the wall, but it fizzled into nothing just as fast. Then she felt sick.

With a heavy sigh of exhaustion, Starr brushed the shade into her bag and set it on the shelf nearest her bed. Then she collapsed face-first onto her pillow and didn't move.

<><><><><>​

 

[Cresselia92]

Hot body. Harsh breaths. Sweat in the ears. Yes, there was no doubt: he was ill.

Why? For once that things went smoothly and he was happy about everything, why did he have to fall prey of an unknown sickness and suffer like this? He could hear his father’s ghost laughing in the back of his mind, relishing on his misery and weakened body and spirit.

Icetales shivered under his refreshing sheet, which he draped over his entire body in an attempt of keeping his body temperature as low as possible. Though that was becoming harder and harder for him to maintain by the minute, as he struggled to even channel a couple of snowflakes.

Worst of all, he was alone in the room. His roommates were nowhere to be seen, he couldn’t use telepathy because Diyem was missing, and he felt too weak to even reach for his badge and call for help. He started tearing up. Why? Just why?

Tok. Tok. His ears flicked. Icetales could hear Petram, bumping into the leg of the bed and trying to reach out for him. Oh, the poor thing. The Vulpix could feel the jolts of concern and desperation sent to his brain…

“Skkk… haaa…”

…but what could he do? What could he say?

“Kaaah…”

Icetales closed his eyes, praying that someone could come check on him soon. Then, he felt like the entire room had grown even hotter. Almost searing.

“Hssss…”

“H-help… please…” cried out Icetales quietly, clutching the sheet harder.

“Kksss-dddd-daddy?”

Icetales flinched. Who was there?

“Daddy…?”

Curious, Icetales poked his head out of the sheet, forgetting about his disheveled tufts. And then, his eyes widened in shock. In front of him stood a small fire Vulpix, but with body proportions that were much closer to a Fennekin. Its body was dark and translucent, with gleaming light purple eyes staring at him in worry. In the middle of its belly floated the Ultra Stone, kept in balance by the ghoulish matter that constituted the entity’s body.

Despite the dizziness in his mind, Icetales quickly connected the dots and realized what had just happened: Petram had hatched! If he felt any better, he would have surely hugged that small thing, but he could barely move his paws at the moment.

Petram leaned closer, eyes and ears oriented toward him. “Oh, Daddy! What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Icetales felt a strange tingle in his body at being called ‘Daddy’, but that was immediately drowned by a sense of nausea.

“I-I am afraid so…” stammered Icetales, holding his sheet tighter. “Perhaps it’s flu, or food poisoning. I cannot tell, my… mind is in shambles right now…”

“Oh no! This is bad!” cried out Petram, his tails jolting upright. He frowned. “I’ll go look for someone! You wait here, okay? Okay!”

Without another word, Petram hopped off of the bed and bolted toward the door. With a swift push, he opened the door and raced down the corridor. He had to save Daddy!

 

[Namohysip]

It didn't take long for Petram to find someone who had been wandering the dorms in search of something to cure her own ailments--boredom. But when Petram had come to seek assistance, Cal found her cure, but also didn't know how to help. That made for a very simple call...

In no time, Owen had arrived next, running with his tail waving behind him. When Cal mentioned that he'd probably not want to bother someone like Icetales with his heat, his scales rapidly shifted from red to a deep green. The Charmeleon looked more like a forest creature, now, with a large, lightly gold daffodil on the end of his tail and a thick coat of leafy feathers.

"Icetales?" Owen asked. "Are you alright?"

Wishkeeper emerged from his shoulders and did a routine scan of the area, as well as Icetales himself.

 

[Cresselia92]

Haze. Only a thick, black haze clouded Icetales's head. He could feel himself like slipping into the void, never ending and boiling.

The only sounds Icetales could hear were his own harsh breaths and the inner cackling of his demons. But then, a voice cut through the veil of darkness...

"Icetales?" Owen asked. "Are you alright?"

That voice sounded familiar, and yet there was... something else in the tone. Gathering all the strength he had in his body, Icetales shook the sheet off of his head. He blinked and focused on the others, trying to ignore his migraine: a dark Charmander, a green Charmeleon and a spectral Charizard.

...Wait, green Charmeleon? Was he...

"S-Sir Owen... is it thee?" he croaked, before taking another breath. Even talking had become harder.

"Oi, Daddy! I brought help!" shouted Petram, wagging his spectral tails. "Did I do good? Yes? Yes?"

Icetales attempted a smile. "Oh, t-thou did goo--" He winced and fell again on the bed. "Uuugh... my noggin..."

"Whoa! Don't overexert yourself, Daddy!" exclaimed Petram, frowning. He turned to Owen. "No, Daddy isn't alright. He... woke up like that, sweating like crazy and huffing harder than a locomotive! He went to bed to rest a bit, but he only got worse." He whimpered. "Can you... help him, please?"

 

[Namohysip]

Owen stepped toward Icetales again and first brought a hand over his forehead. Wishkeeper did a closer analysis of Icetales to see if it had any biological origins, or perhaps Blacklight origins. He was sensitive to that sort of thing.

"Have you tried a Heal Seed?" Owen asked, producing one in advance.

Cal crossed her arms. The Charmander Shade looked to Petram. "Hi, by the way. You're his?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales shook weakly his head. "N-no... I drank some t-tea, but..." He took another breath. "Did nothing, and... I didn't have Heal S-Seeds with me..." He paused to gather his strength. "It's... worth a try, I reckon..."

While Icetales dragged himself toward the border of the bed, Petram turned to look at Cal and waved his paw. "Oh! Hullo there! Yeah, I'm Petram, his son!" He grinned and wagged his tails, before tilting his head. "Or, well, I think I'm his son. I could very well be his daughter, if he so desires. I'm not picky with my gender~!" He leaned forward, blinking with curiosity. "And you are...?"

 

[Namohysip]

"My name is--"

Owen glanced at the Charmander.

"--Cal. And I'm sort of in the same situation. I mean, I guess I'm not really like that, but you know how it goes, right? It's almost the same thing, I guess, even if we're still just Shades..."

Owen handed the Heal Seed to Icetales and waited. "What does it feel like?" he asked.

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram scratched his head. "Hmmmaybe? I mean, I still dunno much about myself because... well, I was just a rock mere minutes ago, and now I've got these!" He started showing off his body parts. "Legs! Mouth! Ears! Tails... six of them! It's," he sat on his haunches, "wow, so overwhelming! And I have these weird memories that never belonged to me and yet they feel so... mine?" He rubbed his chin and unconsciously floated in midair. "Hmmm... Veeery strange, yep! Just... what are we?"

There was a brief silence, with the only sound being Icetales chewing on the Heal Seed. Petram glanced temporarily at Icetales, who was munching as if he was eating rocks, before glancing again at Cal. "And, huh... You've been alive for quite some time, didn't ya? How does it feel like to be... well, shall we say... a walking stone?"

Meanwhile, Icetales had finished eating his Heal Seed and waited. He felt something akin to a comforting wave flowing inside his body, and he sighed in relief. "Yes, I am feeling... a tad better..." He dragged his sheet on his body and stared at Owen. All he wanted was some distraction from his malaise and talking was a good panacea for him. "...So, thou... evolved, Sir Owen..." He smiled. "How... did that feel like? And," he glanced at Wishkeeper, "who is that sir by thy side?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I guess it's all I really know, so I'm used to it," Cal replied. "Sure, I have old memories, too, but I know they aren't mine, even if they feel like mine, and, uh..." She shifted her weight, very briefly looking uncomfrotable. "Well, you know." Back to chipper. "Not really worth thinking about!"

"It kind of happened in the middle of an encounter. You don't have to worry about that right now; you can learn about it later. But I'm kind of used to evolving, where I'm from. That's another long story... And this is, um, this is Wishkeeper. He's my Shadow, but, don't worry. He's friendly."

Wishkeeper waved, silent.

"Nobody can hear him, though. We can switch places if you ever want to talk to him."

 

[Cresselia92]

Petram shrugged. "Yeah, I'd say so. Better than starting from scratch, I guess. Like, can you imagine if we needed to learn everything?" He shuddered. "That'd be awful! Very awful! So, um, let's just enjoy the ride, yes~!" And so, he twirled on himself twice before grinning. "And hey! Nothing is stopping us from creating our own memories, no?" His purple eyes started shining like stars. "There is so much we can do!"

"Oh." Icetales stared at the shadow, before waving his leftmost tail. Even that simple action felt almost like running a marathon, so he simply relaxed. "Fancy... meeting thee. I thou desire to confer with me... um, I am not opposed to that... but thy choice..."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen smiled a little, then glanced over his shoulder at Wishkeeper. He seemed to want to speak to Icetales for some reason, and Owen decided to put some faith in that.

Cal, nodding toward Petram, then turned her attention to Owen with a hint of nervousness. The first time they'd switched, it was in public. Here, with just a vulnerable Icetales, would that be okay...? Well, Owen probably knew that it was safe, somehow... Even Cal wasn't sure what went through his head sometimes.

The Charmeleon opened his eyes and looked at his hands, squeezing them. "An improvement from being a Charmander, at least," he said. He sounded the same, but the intonation was slightly different. "Icetales--how are you feeling now?"

Sprouting from behind Wishkeeper was a Charmander, despite Owen's current form. That made things easy, at least. If Wishkeeper was in control, the phantom was a Charmander, Owen; otherwise, a Charizard, Wishkeeper.

"When did this illness start?" Wishkeeper went on.

 

[Cresselia92]

Icetales flicked his ears, having detected the subtle change in voice despite the mild dizziness shrouding his mind. Though, he preferred to not focus too much on that, as just overthinking made his headache worse.

"Hmm, I am... recovering, albeit a tad slowly. Whatever happened to me... it got me good, huh?" He chuckled dryly, before placing a paw under his chin. "When that happened? Golly, thou... art asking plenty, sir. My mind is a... storm right now..."

"I could try to tell what I sensed and what I remember, if you wish," offered Petram.

However, Icetales shook his head. "N-no, I... I need to recall what I have done... by myself..."

Petram nodded, but he still showed great concern. He could clearly detect the sick vibes through their telepathic link, which was an uncomfortable sensation to feel. If only the process worked backwards...

But well, he could still be helpful. He stared hard at the room, looking for the phantom of Grandfather. The last thing his "Daddy" needed was for his ghosts to make him feel worse, and he wanted to prevent that.

"...Ah, yes, the when..." muttered Icetales at last, his memories coming back to him. "It was... the day following the party, perhaps. I was... working on some plans to craft... something, and I suddenly felt a bit hot." He looked toward the floor. "I dismissed that, however, believing that I was merely feeling fatigued... I was making some physical effort, after all. But then, I... started feeling lethargic and despondent..." He frowned. "I suppose... I was so focused on my studies that I... well, ignored the initial signs..."

 

[Namohysip]

Wishkeeper nodded, sitting down next to Icetales. "Then you overworked yourself. Perhaps it was a matter of fatigue and exhaustion that has overcome you, now that the party and cleanup is all over? Is there anything else that you think it could be?"

Wishkeeper made sure to speak slowly, giving long pauses between his sentences so Icetales could process it all.

 

[Cresselia92]

Wishkeeper nodded, sitting down next to Icetales. "Then you overworked yourself. Perhaps it was a matter of fatigue and exhaustion that has overcome you, now that the party and cleanup is all over? Is there anything else that you think it could be?"

Icetales narrowed his eyes. "...Overwork? Um... It might have been that, yes... I don't recall anything else that could be a potential source of malaise..."

He focused on himself and stretched his tails. Yes, they were regaining some strength, which made him smile faintly. Even his headache started fading away, but he could still hear some faint whispers in the back of his mind. He sighed — what if the exhaustion wasn't only physical, but also mental? His phantoms were growing stronger and more intense, and he couldn't deny that fighting his own mind every other day drained his mental stamina.

"Unless... this resulted from accumulated stress, perhaps? My mind has been plagued with a few... um... not-so-pleasant thoughts and memories, and this entire heroic quest... well, it doesn't help much..."

 

[Namohysip]

"Overworking is not merely physical," Wishkeeper said, nodding. "It's clear to me that most of your exhaustion has been mental. If you want my opinion... you should stay resting here with someone you like talking to. Maybe I can get an easy board game to play."

Cal crossed her arms. "I... sort of feel like something's bothering you, too," she said. "Everything alright?"